The order and explanation of the all-night vigil
The all-night vigil is celebrated every Saturday and on the evening before a feast. As the name itself shows, it is a service that lasts the whole night. In the most ancient period of Christianity the worship of Christians persecuted by the pagans was performed at night, unnoticed by the enemy. This service began late in the evening and lasted almost until dawn. Great Vespers
The all-night vigil comprises Great Vespers, Great Matins and the First Hour. The rule of performing them at night has today been partly changed: they are performed in the evening, though on Athos and in some other monasteries it has remained unchanged.
Great Vespers begins thus: the Royal Doors are opened; the priest with the censer and the deacon with a lighted candle cense the holy table and the sanctuary.
The censer in the priest's hand symbolically signifies the action of the Holy Spirit at the creation of the world, and the lighted candle in the deacon's hand the light of divine wisdom.
During the censing the priest and the deacon say nothing, which means the following: when God created the world, man did not yet exist; God created him last of all His creatures. At the censing the sanctuary represents paradise, the priest Adam, the deacon an angel, and the holy table the tree of life.
The deacon comes out through the Royal Doors onto the ambo and says in a loud voice: “Arise! Master, bless.” The priest makes the sign of the cross with the censer before the holy table and says the exclamation of the all-night vigil: “Glory to the holy, consubstantial, life-giving and undivided Trinity…”. He finishes the exclamation and three times calls the faithful to worship God: “O come, let us worship the King…”. After this the choir begins the singing of the 103rd psalm, in which the creation of the world and of man is described with the greatest artistic beauty: “Bless the Lord, O my soul; O Lord my God, thou art very great…”. During the singing of this psalm the priest and deacon cense the whole church.
Such a solemn beginning of the service reminds us of the creation of the world and of the sinless state of the first people in paradise, when they did not yet know what fear and shame were, and with pure heart and boundless love glorified the Creator of the world, in Whose image they themselves had been created.
The procession of the priest and the deacon through the church at the censing means Adam's walking in paradise together with the angel.
The priest and the deacon go into the sanctuary. The priest gives away the censer, the deacon puts out the candle, and the Royal Doors are closed; all this signifies the fall of people into sin and their expulsion from paradise.
After their sin and their offence against God's justice, people fell into sorrow and want. Therefore after the psalm the great litany is read, in which Adam, in the name of all mankind, entreats God for forgiveness and mercy. The great litany is the lament — the weeping of Adam and of his race over the loss of paradise. At this time the priest reads in the sanctuary seven secret prayers, in which he asks the Lord to hear our supplication, to teach us the fear and the love of God, to let us pass the days of our life without sin, and to make us worthy to dwell in the promised Kingdom.
The worshippers standing before the closed Royal Doors represent our distant forebears, who stood before the gate of paradise and bitterly bewailed their grievous state. Bitter repentance for the fall into sin and hope in God's mercy are expressed in the psalms that are sung after the great litany: “Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, and has not stood in the way of sinners…”. These psalms have been brought into the service by the holy Church so that, after the reminder of the sin of the first people, the faithful may also be reminded that a person's salvation depends on God's mercy, and that a person will attain salvation only by fulfilling God's will.
After the small litany a hymn gathered from the psalms is sung: “Lord, I have cried unto thee, hear me; attend to the voice of my supplication when I cry unto thee…”. In this hymn the history of the Old Testament Church up to the prophet Moses is told. After the verses of “Lord, I have cried” the stichera are read, where the history of the Church after the prophet Moses is told: how God heard the entreaty of the people and sent them prophets, who prophesied of the Saviour of mankind, the Messiah. The stichera end with a special verse to the Mother of God. In it is given the Christian teaching about the birth of Jesus Christ from the most holy Mary.
The Royal Doors are opened, which signifies the prophecy of the opening of the Kingdom by the Saviour's coming. The priest, who symbolically represents the Saviour come into the world, goes out of the sanctuary with the deacon by the north door and stands before the Royal Doors. This coming out of the clergy is called the “little entrance” of Vespers. The candle that goes before the clergy signifies the Saviour's forerunner, John the Baptist; the coming out by the north door and the coming to the Royal Doors is Christ's earthly journey.
Having received the priest's blessing, the deacon makes the sign of the cross with the censer in the Royal Doors and says in a loud voice: “Wisdom! Let us attend.” Here, as at the Liturgy, the exclamation “Wisdom” is meant to draw the attention of the faithful to the divine moment taking place. The priest and deacon go into the sanctuary and venerate the holy table. The faithful understand the priest's entry into the sanctuary through the Royal Doors as the very coming of the Saviour, and meet Him with the greatest divine joy in the following hymn: “O gladsome light of the holy glory of the immortal Father, the heavenly One…”. Likening the Saviour to light, the faithful confess that only Christ's teaching was able to lead mankind out of darkness and set it on the true path.
The making of the sign of the cross with the censer in the Royal Doors signifies the prophecy of the Saviour's suffering on the cross, while the venerating of the holy table signifies that Jesus Christ after His ascension will sit in glory at the right hand of God the Father; and the coming to the high place, Christ's second coming to judge the world. Then the prokeimenon of the day is sung with its verses, gathered from the psalms. Every day of the week has its own prokeimenon, which is why they are called “prokeimena of the day.” In the prokeimenon the content and the meaning of the feast or important event being kept are briefly reflected. So, for instance, on the eve of Sunday it is sung: “The Lord reigns; he has clothed himself with honour,” that is, the Lord reigns and is clothed with glory.
On great feasts, after the prokeimenon of the day, the paremias are read, or selected passages from the books of the Old and New Testaments, in which is given a prophecy about the day being kept, or an explanation of it, or the praise of the saint of the feast. If the paremia is from the Old Testament, the Royal Doors are closed; if from the New, they remain open.
After the paremias the augmented and the supplicatory litanies are said, between which is read: “Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this evening without sin…”. In this prayer the faithful ask God that they may pass the night quietly and in peace. After the supplicatory litany, while the priest reads the secret prayer in which he asks God for heavenly grace to protect the faithful from the evil one, the worshippers reverently bow their heads.
Then the stichera “on the aposticha” are read. “Stikharon” comes from the Greek word “stikhirarion”; these are hymns that are self-melodic, since they are themselves the heirmos and are sung to their own melody, different from other hymns. In the readings of the aposticha the history of the Church after the Babylonian captivity is told.
Then the prayer of St Symeon the God-receiver is read: “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace…” (Luke 2:29–32). In this prayer the righteous Symeon, gladdened by the sight of the Saviour and assured of the salvation of mankind by the saving grace of Jesus Christ, asks God for earthly death. The prayer carries the thought of the Old Testament righteous ones' expectation of the Saviour of the world, the Messiah. After “Lord, now lettest thou” the beginning prayers are read and the troparion of the saint of the day or of the feast is sung. This is followed by the prayer of righteous Job: “Blessed be the name of the Lord from henceforth and for evermore…” (Job 1:21; Psalm 112:2). And the thanksgiving 33rd psalm is read: “I will bless the Lord at all times…”.
Vespers ends with the priest's blessing of the people: “The blessing of the Lord be upon you, through His grace and love for mankind…”. Here Matins is joined to Vespers.
On great feasts, to create a festal mood in the church, a whole series of prayers and actions to be performed in the middle of the church is included in the all-night vigil, which are called the litia and the blessing of the loaves. The word “litia” means intensified prayer (and indeed, “Lord, have mercy” is sung here 40, 30 and 50 times). The litia is performed in the back part of the church, near the doors. In ancient times it was performed so as to give the catechumens, and those who were doing penance and had no right to enter the church, the possibility of taking part in the common prayer.
At the litia the holy Church asks of the Lord God, by the prayers and intercession of the most holy Mother of God and of all the saints, mercy and prosperity for the God-preserved nation, for the patriarch, the clergy, the laity and all Orthodox Christians; the freeing of captives, the healing of the sick, the protection of the world from fire, earthquake and other disasters. The priest ends the litia with the prayer “O Master, plenteous in mercy…”, which the worshippers hear with bowed heads. After this the clergy move to the middle of the church, to a small table on which five loaves, wheat, wine and oil are placed to be blessed. By the blessing of the loaves we remember the Saviour's miracle of feeding five thousand with five loaves, and the most ancient custom of Christians of bringing bread, wine and oil to the church, which after the prayer were given out to the faithful. That is why today too the blessed bread is given out to the worshippers at the end of the service, while the blessed oil is used at Matins, after the reading of the holy Gospel, for the anointing of the faithful. Great Matins
After the aposticha, “Lord, now lettest thou” is sung, followed by the beginning prayers and the troparion of the day, during the singing of which the deacon censes the table with the loaves prepared for blessing three times. At the end the priest reads the prayer of the blessing of the loaves: “Lord Jesus Christ our God, who didst bless the five loaves…”. The evening service ends with the prayer of righteous Job, the 33rd psalm and the priest's blessing of the people.
At the all-night vigil, Matins begins immediately at the end of Vespers with the reading of the six psalms: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” These are the words with which the angels at Bethlehem glorified the Saviour's nativity. That is, this part of Matins announces to the faithful the incarnation of the Saviour of mankind, the Messiah.
In the psalms there is speech of the enmity and of the persecution and oppression by which the prophet David was surrounded; but under the name of David we should understand our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and under his misfortunes all those torments and sufferings that awaited the Messiah to come.
During the reading of the psalms the priest reads twelve secret prayers, in which he thanks God for the night that has passed and asks the Lord for the strengthening of Orthodox Christians, the forgiveness of sins, faith and love, and their dwelling in the heavenly Kingdom.
The reading of the secret prayers by the priest during the reading of the psalms means that, although the Saviour was among the people until He was 30, the people knew nothing about Him. The reading of the six psalms itself signifies John the Baptist's preaching of repentance. That is why, during the reading of these psalms, in some churches the church is lit less brightly.
After the six psalms the great litany is read, after which the glorification of Jesus Christ, God incarnate for the salvation of the faithful, is solemnly performed: “God is the Lord and hath appeared unto us; blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” This place in Matins signifies the baptism of Jesus Christ and the manifestation of the Holy Trinity. That is why at this time the church is lit more brightly.
After “God is the Lord” the troparion is sung. In the resurrection troparia the Saviour's trampling down of hell and His victory over death are glorified. After the troparion the psalms of David are read according to a certain order. In ancient times the faithful were allowed to sit while they were read. In the psalms is given the Old Testament prophecy about Jesus Christ. After the kathisma the stichologies are read, where the Saviour's suffering and death are depicted more clearly. The stichologies are followed by the small litany. After this the most solemn part of Matins begins. The Royal Doors are opened and the holy Gospel is carried out into the middle of the church. The church is lit still more brightly. The choir begins the singing of the 19th kathisma: “Praise ye the name of the Lord; praise the Lord, ye his servants…”. This hymn is also called the “Blessed are.” The priest and the deacon cense the church.
The opening of the Royal Doors and the carrying out of the holy Gospel signify the appearance of the Saviour risen from the dead. The procession of the priest and the deacon through the church with censing means the great joy of Christ's apostles and of the myrrh-bearing women, called forth by the resurrection of Jesus Christ; and the placing of the holy Gospel in the middle of the church, that the Saviour, after His resurrection from the dead and before His ascension, spent forty days on earth and appeared to people. On great feasts, after the “Praise ye,” the clergy in the middle of the church, before the icon of the feast, sing the magnification in praise of the feast or of the saint. At the paschal Matins the troparia are sung here: “Blessed art thou, O Lord, teach me thy statutes. The assembly of angels…”, in which the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is told, and the myrrh-bearing women to whom an angel of God appeared.
After these troparia and the small litany, the hypakoe and the antiphon are sung — particular verses in which the redemption of man by Jesus Christ is praised. Most often the first antiphon of the 4th tone is sung: “From my youth up many passions war against me…”, in which the saving grace given to the faithful by the mercy of Jesus Christ is spoken of.
After the antiphons the Matins or festal prokeimenon is said, after which the holy Gospel is read. There are eleven resurrection Matins Gospels in all. They are read in order, Sunday by Sunday. In them is told the resurrection of Christ and how He appeared to the apostles after the resurrection. On feasts the Gospel of the feast is read.
To glorify the Saviour risen from the dead, the faithful sing the following hymn: “Having beheld the resurrection of Christ…”. If a feast has fallen on an ordinary day, then this hymn is not sung. Instead of it the hymn of the feast is performed.
The deacon, on the ambo before the icon of the Saviour, reads the prayer: “O God, save thy people…”. After the priest's exclamation the faithful venerate the icon placed in the middle of the church and the holy Gospel. Here the anointing with oil takes place too. Anointing the faithful with oil, the priest says: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen”; that is, in the name of the Holy Trinity he anoints the faithful with blessed oil and expresses his firm faith that those who receive it with faith will receive healing and relief.
When the anointing with oil is finished, the holy Gospel is carried back into the sanctuary and the Royal Doors are closed. The reading of the heirmoi begins. The whole canon, that is, the series of church hymns appointed for some saint or feast, consists of nine heirmoi. Each heirmos, in its turn, consists of troparia, in which are given the history of the Church and our own praise of God and of the saints. After the third, sixth and ninth heirmoi the small litany is read. Since the ninth heirmos is dedicated to the most holy Mother of God, before this heirmos the deacon lifts the censer before the icon of the Mother of God and says the exclamation: “Let us magnify in song the Theotokos and Mother of the Light.” The singers praise the most holy one with the following hymn: “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour…” — with the refrain: “More honourable than the cherubim…”.
After the heirmoi it is sung three times: “Holy is the Lord our God,” and the exapostilarion is read, in which the thought is carried that the faithful must be enlightened in mind and made pure so as worthily to glorify the Lord God. This is followed by the reading of the 148th, 149th and 150th psalms: “Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord from the heavens, praise him in the highest…”. In these psalms the prophet David calls everyone and everything to the glorification of God, for the fall of man into sin is the sorrow of the whole world as well. The same thought is carried in the stichera on the Praises.
The Royal Doors are opened, and the priest, lifting up his hands, exclaims: “Glory to Thee who hast shown us the light.” These words of the priest carry us back to the most ancient period of Christianity, which reminds us once more that in ancient times the all-night vigil lasted until sunrise. The priest, in the name of the believing people, thanks God for the coming of a new day and for our seeing the light of the sun again. By the visible light the faithful understand also the divine light of faith, of which they have become partakers by the mercy of Jesus Christ. The choir sings the glorification of the King of glory: “Glory to God in the highest…”, which it ends with the hymn to the Holy Trinity: “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.” With this hymn creation glorifies the Creator: both the angels and men, both the heavenly and the earthly Church, glorify the Maker of the world.
After this the troparion of the feast is sung, and on a Sunday the troparion of the resurrection, according to an odd or an even tone: in the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th tones is read: “Today salvation has come to the world…”, and in the 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th tones: “Thou didst rise from the tomb and didst burst the bonds of hell…”. In these troparia there is speech of Christ's resurrection and of the hardships that befell the apostles in preaching Christianity.
Then the augmented and the supplicatory litanies are said. Matins ends with the great dismissal, in which, by the prayers and intercession of the most holy Mother of God and of the other saints, mercy and salvation for the faithful are asked of the Saviour risen from the dead. The Royal Doors and the curtain are closed.
To Matins is joined the First Hour, with which the all-night vigil ends.
