At St John the Forerunner
At St John’s we use the translation of the Psalms published by Holy Transfiguration Monastery. Some of the Psalms in the Antiochian Service Book are from that translation, and some are not, so please be aware that you may encounter some differences in that regard throughout the week. If you have a Psalter published by Holy Transfiguration Monastery, please feel free to bring it to the services along with your Holy Week Book.
For Monday Bridegroom Orthros:
On pg 15 of the service book, you will find a section entitled The Little Litany; on pg 16 you will find a section entitled Kathismata; in the Kathismata section there are three hymns. In our service on Great and Holy Monday, we will read the 4th section of the Psalter, then we will sing the Little Litany, then we will chant the first hymn from the Kathismata section. We will then read the 5th section of the Psalter; we will sing the Little Litany (the priest will say a different exclamation at the end of the litany), and we will then chant the second hymn from the Kathismata. We will then read the 6th section of the Psalter; we will sing the Little Litany (again, the priest will say a different exclamation at the end of the litany), and we will chant the third hymn from the Kathismata.
For Tuesday Bridegroom Orthros:
On pg 110 of the service book, you will find a section entitled The Little Litany; on pg 111 you will find a section entitled Kathismata; in the Kathismata section there are three hymns. In our service on Great and Holy Tuesday, we will read the 9th section of the Psalter, then we will sing the Little Litany, then we will chant the first hymn from the Kathismata section. We will then read the 10th section of the Psalter; we will sing the Little Litany (the priest will say a different exclamation at the end of the litany), and we will then chant the second hymn from the Kathismata. We will then read the 11th section of the Psalter; we will sing the Little Litany (again, the priest will say a different exclamation at the end of the litany), and we will chant the third hymn from the Kathismata.
For Wednesday Bridegroom Orthros:
On pg 206 of the service book, you will find a section entitled The Little Litany; on pg 207 you will find a section entitled Kathismata; in the Kathismata section there are three hymns. In our service on Great and Holy Wednesday, we will read the 14th section of the Psalter, then we will sing the Little Litany, then we will chant the first hymn from the Kathismata section. We will then read the 15th section of the Psalter; we will sing the Little Litany (the priest will say a different exclamation at the end of the litany), and we will then chant the second hymn from the Kathismata. We will then read the 16th section of the Psalter; we will sing the Little Litany (again, the priest will say a different exclamation at the end of the litany), and we will chant the third hymn from the Kathismata.
For the Vesperal Divine Liturgy on Thursday:
On pg 370, the service book states, that there are four litanies which are omitted “in ordinary Antiochian and Greek practice”, and the book only includes the prayers that the priest offers at the end of those litanies. However, we always do the complete litanies, and you will recognize them from our usual Sunday morning Divine Liturgy.
For the Vesperal Divine Liturgy on Saturday:
Beginning on pg 633, there is a series of three Old Testament lessons—the first is from Genesis; the second is from Jonah; the third is from Daniel. However, the complete service contains fifteen Old Testament lessons—the first lesson is from Genesis and the last lesson is from Daniel, but, in between those two lessons are thirteen other readings. Our service will include all fifteen Old Testament lessons.
For the Paschal Divine Liturgy:
On pg 752, the service book states, that there are four litanies which are omitted “in ordinary Antiochian and Greek practice”, and the book only includes the prayers that the priest offers at the end of those litanies. However, we always do the complete litanies, and you will recognize them from our usual Sunday morning Divine Liturgy.