The Royal Hours
"Hours" — are a short service,
established by the Church to remember several holy events. There exist the
first, third, sixth and ninth hours. The first hour remembers the banishment of
Adam and Eve from heaven, and the appearance of Christ at the trial before
Caiaphas. In the third — the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, in the
sixth — the crucifixion of the Savior, and in the ninth — His death on the
cross.
The hours are usually performed in the following
order. The first — upon completion of the all-night vigil, after matins; the
third and sixth — immediately preceding the liturgy; the ninth according to the
bylaws should be read prior to the all-night vigil, before vespers, but in many
local churches it is omitted. The fundamental prayers are psalms (there are
three in each), as well as the chants of the current day — the troparions and
kondakions. But three times in the year a special order for the hours is
established, which in the liturgical books are called great, and among the
common people: royal, or tsar’s. The common title came
out of the ancient traditions of Byzantium:
the Emperor himself was required to be present at these hours, forsaking all
his governmental duties. Russia
took on the traditions of the Byzantine church services, and our faithful
sovereigns unwaveringly complied with this rule.
The great hours are served the day before
Christmas and Epiphany, on the so-called "eves" (January 6 and 18),
and are dedicated to these holy events, and also on Great and Holy Friday — in
commemoration of the Lord’s Passions. Besides the psalms, in each hour (and
they are performed in order, from the first to the ninth) there are readings
from the Old Testament containing prophecies about the coming day, a text from
the Apostles and a Gospel reading. Besides this, special troparions are sung.
If any of the eves fall on a Saturday or Sunday, then the great hours are
performed on the preceding Friday, and no Liturgy is served that day.
There are no faithful sovereigns in Russia
any longer, but the tsar’s hours do not stop being such. For the Heavenly Tsar
presides in the churches with His grace. Let us not forget about the great
hours, because the celebrations of Christmas and Epiphany begin with them, and
they preface Pascha (Easter).
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