Does anyone have the music (Byzantine psaltiki or Western notation) of the kathismata sung during the procession with the bier on Good Friday?

Greek, Arabic, French, or English would be fine.

Are you talking about the Lamentations or something else?

Fr David Straut

Glory to Jesus Christ!

If you are talking about the Troparion of Holy and Great Friday, the Metropolitan Cantor Institute has it.

Go to http://metropolitancantorinstitute.org/LiturgicalCalendar.html,

Click on "Vespers" on March 21.

The Troparion is on page 36 of the document (Adobe page 38)

Deacon El

Matta, perhaps you are thinking of the Aposticha during the procession of Vespers with the Plashchanytsya/Epitaphios?

Matta - if you want the complete text of Psalm 118, Lamentations and with music, Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Boston published it in book form a number of years ago - I presume it's still available from them.

You can find the music with selected verses of the Lamentations in Father Michael Gelsinger's Orthodox Hymns in English.

To be merciful to the Slavs and Slavophiles among us, among those of the Greek outlook, the Procession takes place at Orthros, after the Great Doxology. In Athens it's incredibly wonderful.

Enjoy!

Fr. Serge

Matta - excuse my density regarding the reference to Good Friday... you are likely speaking of the anticipated Orthros for Holy and Great Saturday (Jerusalem Matins) with the procession of the Epitaphios which is done Friday evenings in some places in the Greek and Melkite traditions, rather than our Ukrainian tradition of taking the procession of the Plashchanytsya with the Apostikha at Vespers.

I thought in the Greek practice the procession was done at the conclusion of the Doxology - not during the Stasis of the Kathisma with the Lamentations. Anyhow, Fr. Seraphim Dedes has the Greek melodies for the Lamentations to English text at http://sgpm.goarch.org/ematins/Music/Lent/Holy_Week/MW-Lamentations1.pdf
http://sgpm.goarch.org/ematins/Music/Lent/Holy_Week/MW-Lamentations2.pdf
http://sgpm.goarch.org/ematins/Music/Lent/Holy_Week/MW-Lamentations3.pdf

Yes, the Greek practice is to have the procession after the Great Doxology. Rather than simply walking with the Epitaphios (often carried in the decorated "kouvouklion" canopy), many make four stops and chant litanies, thus making this into a Liti procession.

For some reason, many in the Greek liturgical family have taken to re-chanting the Lamentations during this procession. So, the procession will begin while singing "Agios o Theos", then the first stop is made, then the First Stasis (or perhaps just the first verse) is chanted as the procession continues, then the second stop, and so on. My guess is that this stems from a desire for variety during the procession coupled with the popularity of the Lamentations.

It's really not according to any Typikon, but it seems to be a very widespread practice, at least in the US.

Dave

Pardon me, for the confusion!
I did not realise that the practice was not widespread. Yes, I meant the anticipated Orthros of Saturday before Easter celebrated in the evening of Good Friday.

I have since found an old book for the Good Friday service and transcribed the Byzantine psaltiki into music with Western notation, and we have translated the kathismata into English. So thanks one and all!

The kathismata are special hymns chanted during the procession. They are not the lamentations, which are sung much earlier in the liturgy.

"Our Ukrainian tradition"? This may come as a shock, but I have been in many Ukrainian Churches where one may enjoy the Orthros of Holy Saturday sung on Good Friday night. It's quite enjoyable.

Fr. Serge

Matta No problem with all of the variations in practice.

I suggest Fr. reread my post just a bit closer which dealt specifically with the timing of the procession; I don't recall precluding the anticipated Jerusalem Matins. Anticipated Jerusalem Matins is quite common, actually, amongst Ukrainian Greek Catholic and Orthodox parishes, sans the procession which takes place during Vespers as I noted. And yes, the procession with the Plaschanytsya does occur during the Apostikha of Vespers which is indeed "our Ukrainian tradition".

If Father indeed has seen this procession take place during Jeruslem Matins in a Ukrainian Greek Catholic parish, this would be news to me - Dolnytsky and other Ukrainain Greek Catholic typikons don't seem to indicate this possibility. It may be equally shocking that I too have also enjoyed many times (and will again this year) the Yerusalimsky Utrennya anticpated on Friday evening; but alas, no procession with the Plashchanytsya -that occurs at Vespers in "our Ukrainian tradition".
FDRLB

Don't north Slavs (i.e. Russians and Great Ukrainians) also do the procession exclusively at Holy Saturday Matins? The only difference seems to be that Slavs don't take the Shroud into the sanctuary after the procession, like the Greeks do, right? It seems to me that it's only the Galicians (and those from the Carpathian regions?) that do the procession at Vespers.

As for doing the procession at Matins in Ukrainian Catholic Churches: I have both seen it done in the past (at St. Elias in Brampton every year - they do it both at Vespers and Matins) and was in a procession of the Shroud at "Jerusalem Matins" in a service of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic tradition in Ottawa, Canada, this past Friday.

Dolnytsky is good (except for the whole part about doing the procession with the Most Holy Gifts), but, in my opinion, two processions are always better than one. In the case of Jerusalem Matins, it also presents a good transition between the regular part of Matins and the concluding section with the readings.

Also, as an aside, "our Ukrainian tradition" in this case would, I think, more accurately be "our Galician tradition."

Oh yeah: CHRIST IS RISEN!!!

Just worth noting, in the Metropolia, at least in those parishes that use the Levkulic books, the procession with the Shroud at Great and Holy Friday Vespers takes place during the singing of the Troparion: The Noble Joseph, which is simply repeated until the procession makes it back to the Tomb.

Likewise according to the Levkulic book the Shroud is moved to the Altar from the Tomb immediately before Resurrection Matins while the Troparion: When You descended to death, O Immortal Life is sung.

Fr. Deacon Lance

XB! Christ is Risen!

I would agree with "Galician Usage" being perhaps the best term (that certainly was what I was intending) since many Ukrainian Orthodox churches also of that provenance take the procession at Great and Holy Friday Vespers.

It may be perhaps more complex than just simply "Galician"; I understand some parishes of the KP also take the processions both on Good Friday and also on Holy Saturday. I have a priest friend of the KP here in the US who does both processions. It would be interesting to see what Pochaiv does.

We used Archpriest Roman's Great Friday and Holy Saturday booklets this year and I did see his notation for the optional Jerusalem Matins procession; I had forgotten until looking over these last week that he indeed takes the second procession as well during Jerusalem Matins at St. Elias.

I am also pleased you took it in Ottawa. I think the dual processions are indeed beautiful and certainly have precedent in the larger Kyivan tradition. One problem I think in Galician parishes is that Jerusalem Matins very often occurs in anticipation on Friday night and the procession has just being completed in the afternoon.

In our case the folks at the UGCC missions I work with would definitely not mind the second procession. I know I would certainly love to do it. Something to work on for next year and thanks for the reminder - I can rework the schedule next year so we can do both processions.

I also don't disagree at all with your comments regarding Dolnytsky.
FDRLB

hmm seems to be some confusion here--at least to me!

In the Melkite (Greek) tradition, we have a procession with the shroud (epitaphion) after Vespers (which is usually celebrated in the morning or early afternoon of Good Friday). At the end of the procession the icon of the body of Christ (which had been taken down from the cross on the imitation Golgotha earlier in the service) is placed in the bier.

In the service of Orthros of Saturday of Great & Holy Week, which we celebrate in the evening of Good Friday, we carry the bier in procession (which itself contains the shroud and the icon of the body of Christ, and the book of the Gospels).

This year we stopped the traffic and carried it around the block, chanting the kathismata and troparia of the feast, holding candles.

Perhaps not as much confusing as a great diversity of practices.

In the typical Ukrainian Catholic (Western Ukrainian or "Galician") usage there is usually only one procession with the Plaschanytsya (Epitaphios) at Vespers of Great and Holy Friday. The Epitaphios is brought out and during the Aposticha of Vespers there is a procession, ending around the "Now O Master You kept Your promise/Now You shall dismiss". In many places at the end of the procession the epitaphios is held over the church doors and everyone process underneath. The Epitaphios is placed in the bier and then Noble Joseph is sung.

Jerusalem Matins is usually taken in the church without a second procession in typical Ukrainian Catholic parochial usage.

But some places, as Daniil has correctly pointed out and which is certainly laudable, there is also a second procession during Jerusalem Matins. I think ideally that is what should be done, but that is only my opinion and is not reflected in the majority of Ukrainian Catholic parochial usage nor in the Typikon (Dolnytsky) which has come to predominate.

In the Greek parishes (Greek Orthodox) around here the Great and Holy Friday Vespers procession is much simpler and inside the church during the Apostikha of Vespers, and the outdoor procession is only taken during Jerusalem Matins. The priest and servers carry the Epitaphios around the inside of the church while everyone kneels. Papadeas' Good Friday book, still used quite a bit in Greek parishes in the US, indicates the people all kneel inside the church during the Good Friday procession.

To further complicate matters, in the Russian tradition there is not much of a Great and Holy Friday Vespers procession at all - the Epitaphios is brought out from the north door, taken to the bier, and placed into the bier during the singing of "Noble Joseph" at the end of Vespers. The outdoor procession generally only takes place during Jerusalem Matins. At least that is how I have observed it in ROCOR or Moscow Patriarchate parishes in the US.

It would seem in the holy places processions were taken during both services. In the Russian development the Jerusalem Matins outdoor procession has predominated, and the Great and Holy Friday Vespers consists of the clergy simply bringing the Epitaphios from the Altar and then placing it in the bier. Amongst the Western Ukrainians and Rusyns the practice has developed of favoring the Great and Holy Friday Vespers procession over Jerusalem Matins.

The Greeks have yet different practices, sometimes taking an indoor procession on Great and Holy Friday while everyone kneels inside the church, and taking the outdoor procession during Jerusalem Matins in a much more ornate way, and sometimes taking both outdoors.

I think this shows much variation, even locally, in the practices, as well as outdoor vs. indoor practices.
FDRLB