RUSSIAN LITURGY

The first Typikon (book regulating all of the liturgical services in the Byzantine liturgy) brought from Constantinople to Kiev was that of Patriarch Alexis Studite of Constantinople; for the liturgy in the monasteries, the Typikon of St. Theodore Studite of the 9th century was the model. Various other Slavic liturgical books composed by Bulgarian and Serbian monks made their influence felt in Russia. In the 14th century a return to Greek usage was effected by the Russian Metropolitan Cyprian when he enforced the use of the Diataxis of Philotheus, Patriarch of Constantinople.

With the development of cultus to native Russian saints, the increase in liturgical influence from Serbia after the fall of Constantinople (1453), and the lack of centralization in Russia, varieties of usage developed, which the great Synod of Stoglav (1551) was unable to reform. Patriarch Nikon (1667) purified the Russian liturgical rite by taking as his model the Greek liturgical books, which were themselves based on the usages promulgated by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Paisy, and supplemented by Andrew the Greek. His liturgical reforms were opposed by a section of the faithful, who broke away, calling themselves the Old Believers or Old Ritualists.

During the 17th and 18th centuries Latin influence was felt, especially in the Kievian theology and liturgical practices, and these were gradually accepted in the ritual books printed in Moscow. The Greek formula of absolution in the Sacrament of Penance, for example, was always deprecative (i.e., in the third person, "May God forgive …"). Through Latin influence on Peter of Moghila, the indicative formula in the first person, "I forgive …," was accepted in the 1677 edition of the Trebnik, or ritual book, for administration of the Sacraments. There was a weak protest in the centuries that followed, but by then the Russian rite customs had become a part of a standing tradition.

The liturgical books are numerous. The Service Book (Sluzhebnik) contains the fixed parts of the Liturgies of St. John Chrysostom, St. Basil the Great, parts of that of the Presanctified Gifts, along with the litanies and prayers for Vespers and Matins, and the Graduals and benedictions appropriate for all occasions. The Book of the Hours (Tchasoslov) corresponds to the Greek Horologion and contains, in addition to the Hours, those fixed portions of Vespers, Compline, Matins, Midnight Service, and so on, that are executed by the singers and readers. The Oktoikh contains the eight tones according to which various changeable parts in liturgical services are sung. Here are found the canons and hymns sung during Little and Great Vespers, Compline, Midnight Service, and Matins, the hymn for the day (Troparion), and the Collect hymn (Kondiakion). This book contains eight complete sets for each service for every day in the week, since each day of the week is sung in a different tone. The Mineya (i.e., monthly) is a collection of large books, one for each month, containing the order of services for all the fixed days of the liturgical year and giving a history of the saint or saints commemorated on each day. It includes the prayers in honor of each saint for Vespers and Matins with some special prayers for the Hours, liturgy, Compline, and the Midnight Service.

The Postnaya Triod (Fasting Triod) contains the changeable parts of the services for each day of the Great Fast of Lent. It is called Triod because the canons have only three odes instead of the customary eight found in the Oktoikh. The Tzvyetnaya Triod (literally, the Flowery Triodion), also called the Pentikostarion, contains the order of services from Easter until Pentecost. The Tchinovnik is the pontificale containing those fixed portions of the liturgy that are celebrated by a bishop. The Apostol contains the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles, Graduals, Introits, and Anthems for each day, and the feasts. The book chiefly appealed to when there is doubt concerning the intricate order of church services as found in the Russian rite is the Typikon, or Rule, which contains regulations for all possible contingencies. The Trebnik, or Book of Needs, contains all the Sacraments except Holy Orders and Holy Eucharist, along with various services such as the reception of converts and tonsure of monks. The Moliebny contains prayer services for different occasions and in honor of individual saints. Finally, the Irmologion contains the theme-songs of the canons along with the Akaphists or long services of song in honor of Our Lord, the Mother of God, St. Nicholas, and other honored saints.

Bibliography: h. wybrew, The Orthodox Liturgy (London 1989). h. -j. schulz, The Byzantine Liturgy (New York 1986). r. f. taft, Liturgy of the Hours in East and West, 2d. rev. ed. (Collegeville, Minn. 1993).

[g.a. maloney/eds.]