Over the past several Bible Study sessions we have been reviewing some of the services that we hold at our parishes. To supplement this, I have included below some information regarding the various Cycles of services and Feasts that are celebrated in the Orthodox Church.
Daily Services – A daily service cycle are services that take place in a twenty-four hour time period. In most ancient cultures they view this cycle’s beginning as sunset. During this time the church observes the following services and prayers in this order: Vespers (Daily or Great), Compline, Midnight Office, Matins, First Hour, Third Hour, Sixth Hour, and the Ninth Hour. That is the basic daily cycle however there may be other prayers observed to complete the cycle such as the inter hours (prayers that are read in between the 1st, 3rd, 6th, 9th during certain periods of fasting), prayers before and after meals, morning and evening prayers, and as well the commemoration of the living and for the deceased. The Divine Liturgy can be placed in the cycle normally where the sixth hour would fall. The daily cycle is normally not followed in a parish setting because it is very intense and very in depth and can be impractical for a parish to follow it strictly. However, as far as I am aware most monasteries do observe it to the extent that their daily lives allow but it usually differs from monastery to monastery.
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