Prokimen

Prokimen goes back to the usual for the ancient Church responding song of psalms, in which the whole psalm was sung, but after each verse a refrain was added - the most important or famous verse of the same psalm. In the IV century, the Laodicean Cathedral recorded the established tradition, according to which the psalms were not sung directly one after another, but were divided by readings. Thus was laid the custom of biblical readings, divided by the singing of psalms. Towards the end of the 4th century, one verse began to stand out from the psalms sung at the service: according to John Chrysostom, “a strong verse that contains high teaching .” From the custom of folk singing of this only one verse from the psalm, prokimen arose. In its form, close to modern, prokimen was recorded already in the VI century in the story of John Mosch and Sophronius of Jerusalem about their visit to the Nile of Sinai .

In Latin liturgical rites, a performance similar to that of the Proximate Psalm is called a responder. In the Mozarabic rite , Psallendo is sung in a similar way (literally “for singing”) - the verse is read and then sung (it is, in the narrow sense, called psallendo ), then the second verse ( versus ) is read, then the first half of the first verse is read, and the second - sung.

In the West Syrian liturgy of the Apostle Jacob, the reading of the Apostle is preceded by a whole psalm, and not by the penny (in contrast to the Jerusalem version of the same liturgy). Thus, among the Jacobites , who separated from the Orthodox Church after the Council of Chalcedon , the process of turning the psalm into prokimen was not completed.

The following sections describe the prokimna of Orthodox worship.

At Vespers, the prokimen is sung after The Quiet Light and, in its meaning, should precede the reading of paremias . Although paremias are not always read at Vespers, prokimen never drops. Vespers prokimen is defined for each day of the week and does not change depending on holidays, saints remembrance days (about exceptions - below). Prokimny on Vespers of each day of the week are as follows (it should be noted that the liturgical day begins with Vespers, and thus, the Vespers of Mondays are performed on Sundays, Tuesday - on Mondays, etc.):

• Sunday : “ Lord reign, clothed in a baldness ” ( Psalm 92 )
• Monday : “ Now bless the Lord, all the servants of the Lord ” ( Psalm 133 )
• Tuesday : “The Lord hears me, always cry unto him ” ( Psalm 4 )
• Wednesday : “ Thy mercy, Lord, will marry me all the days of my belly ” ( Psalm 22 )
• Thursday : “ God, in thy name, save me and in thy strength with your judgment ” ( Psalm 53 )
• Friday : “ My help is from the Lord, I made the heavens and the earth ” ( Psalm 120 )
• Saturday : “ O God, you who are my intercessor, thou willst prey me ” ( Psalm 58 )

All of the listed pimps are sung in verse 2.5 (the most common version), and Sunday - in 4.5, that is, by the rank of the great pimp, although the letter is not. Thus, the special prokimen of Sunday distinguishes this day from among the other days of the week. Moreover, if Saturday coincides with one of those holidays in the evening of which a special great prokimen is supposed to sing, then the great prokimen, according to the Typicon , is transferred to another day in order to keep the obligatory Sunday prokimen in its place.

Exceptions to the above rule:

• Great pimples - see below.
• On weekdays of Lent, Vespers connects to the clock on which the Psalter is read. Vespers on these days are selected from the psalms read before on the watch, and, therefore, are changed daily. Since these days at the Vespers there are two paremias , each of them is preceded by its own prokim. Thus, at the Lenten Vespers, two prokimas (rather than one) are sung, changing daily (and not fixed for each day of the week).

Great prokimin is called Vespers prokimen , performed not in verse 2.5 (as usual), but in a larger number of verses. There are four great prokimns in modern Orthodox worship:

• In the evening of the holidays of the Resurrection , Fomin of the Resurrection , Pentecost, and the Nativity of Christ : “ Who is the great God, like our God; Thou art God working miracles ”( Psalm 76 ),
• On the evening of the feasts of the Epiphany , Transfiguration , Ascension and Exaltation of the Life-giving Cross of Christ : “ We have created all our God in heaven and on earth, a tree of great pleasure ” ( Psalm 113 )
• On the evening of Forgiveness Sunday , the second and fourth resurrection of Great Lent : “ Do not turn Your face away from Your servant, as I grieve, I will soon hear: hear my soul and deliver it ” ( Psalm 68 ),
• On the evening of the first , third, and fifth resurrection of Great Lent: “ Have thine possession unto those who fear you, Lord ” ( Psalm 60 ).
• In the evening, during the whole Bright Week , the great prokimas are also sung.
• On Bright Monday : “ Our God in heaven and on earth was all created, the tree of pleasure, created ” ( Psalm 113 ), in
• On Bright Tuesday: “ With my voice to the Lord I cried out, with my voice to God, and hearkened to me” ( Psalm 76 ),
• Into the Bright Wednesday: “ Say My God’s prayer, and do not see my prayer” ( Psalm 54 ) ,
• On Bright Thursday: “I will love thee, Lord, my strength, My Lord 's affirmation” ( Psalm 17 ),
• On Good Friday: “I have given the possession of those who fear you, Lord ” ( Psalm 60 ).

On days when, according to the charter, the great prokimen is supposed to sing, the clergy must enter the evening (even if the evening is daily, like on Sunday evenings of Lent) and the ordinary prokimen of the day of the week is canceled. An exception to this rule: coincidence of such day with Saturday , in this case the prokimen of Sunday is sung at Vespers, and the great prokimen is carried forward one day earlier.

In the morning, with rare exceptions, there is only the reading of the Gospel on Sundays and holidays, as well as in the days of memory of some saints. These readings are also preceded by the proximate.

In the twelfth and temple holidays, even when they coincide with the resurrection, the prokimen of the holiday (from Minea or Triodi ) is sung . On Sundays, which does not coincide with the twentieth and temple holidays, the Sunday prokimen of the ordinary voice is sung (for the osmotic system - see Oktoih ):

• Voice 1: “ Now I will rise, saith the Lord, I will put in safety the one whom they want to catch ” ( Psalm 11 ).
• Voice 2: “ Wake up for me to the judgment that you have commanded, a host of people will be around you ” ( Psalm 7 ).
• Voice 3: “ Tell the nations: the Lord reigns! therefore the universe is firm, will not be shaken ”( Psalm 95 ).
• Voice 4: “ Arise to help us and deliver us for the sake of Thy mercy ” ( Psalm 43 ).
• Voice 5: “ Rise, Lord, my God, offer up your hand, for you reign forever ” ( Psalm 9 ).
• Voice 6: “ Lord, build up your strength and come to save us ” ( Psalm 79 ).
• Voice 7: “ Rise, Lord, my God, raise up your hand, do not forget your oppressed to the end ” ( Psalm 9 ).
• Voice 8: “The Lord will reign forever, Your God, Zion, into generation and generation ” ( Psalm 145 ).

On the Great Matins of Monday , Tuesday , Wednesday , Thursday, and Friday, the Gospel is read, but the prokymnos are not relied upon before it, on the matins of Great Saturday there are two prokimnas: before the paremia and the apostolic reading .

Typically, the succession of hours does not include readings from the Scriptures, so the clocks are usually absent on the watch. Exceptions:

• The Great Hours (on the eve of the Nativity of Christ and Epiphany ; Good Friday ) - readings and, consequently, rentals at each hour,
• the sixth hour on the weekdays of the six weeks of Lent (before reading from the prophet Isaiah ), on Great Mondays , Tuesdays and Wednesdays (before reading from the prophet Ezekiel ),
• first hour on Maundy Thursday (read paremia).

The liturgies of St. John Chrysostom and St. Basil the Great always read the Apostle and the Gospel . The reading of the Apostle is preceded by the Prokim. The rules for choosing a proxima for the liturgy are more complicated than for matins or vespers. For example, when Sunday coincides with the Mother of God holiday, two prokimns are sung (Sunday of the ordinary voice and the Mother of God), on weekdays, to which the memory of the saint has fallen, two prokimns (day and saint) are sung, and so on. On Sundays, if they do not coincide with the twelfth Lord's holidays, the prokimen of the ordinary voice is sung (osmosglasiya system - see Oktoih ):

• Voice 1: “Budi, Lord, Thy mercy be upon us, also as rejoicing on Thee” ( Psalm 32 )
• Voice 2: “My forgiveness and my singing is the Lord, and be quick to save me” ( Psalm 117 )
• Voice 3: “Sing to our God, sing; sing our kings, sing ”( Psalm 46 )
• Voice 4: “As you exalted your work, Lord; he made all wisdom "( Ps. 103 ),
• Voice 5: “You, Lord, have been preserved and kept from this generation and forever” ( Psalm 11 )
• Voice 6: “Save, Lord, Thy people and bless Thy inheritance” ( Psalm 27 ),
• Voice 7: “The Lord will give forgiveness to His people, the Lord bless his people with peace” ( Psalm 28 )
• Voice 8: “Pray and repent on the Lord our God” ( Psalm 75 ).

• Skaballanovich M.N. “Explanatory Typicon”, Ch. "Prokimen evening"
• Pimps of the liturgy on Liturgy.ru
• Matins of matins on Liturgy.ru
• Vespers on Liturgy.ru