THis may be the wrong place for this; if so, please move it to the main forum.

Can anyone please explain exactly what abbreviations are most common in the matins preceding the Antiochian liturgy? I have been to a few Antiochian liturgies, in Arabic, and can't follow it at all, even though I am a ROCOR choir director from time to time.

In particular, I'm interested in how many odes are normally read for the canons? It seemed like the heirmoi and katavasia were sung and not much else - might this be right? Or am I getting confused because the odes might have been sung in Byzantine chant rather than read (the normal slavic practice)?

Does the liturgy start right after the Great Doxology?

Normally three odes would be chosen and chanted in their entirety. This does not normally mean, however, making up the 14 troparia (verses), if these do not already exist. Thus, if there are only 6 troparia in the first ode of Orthros, those six will be chanted, and then we move on to the third ode, etc.

The odes of the canons are normally always chanted. It would be rare to hear them spoken; perhaps if the cantor or deacons were ill?

The Divine Liturgy begins immediately after the Great Doxology.

If all the odes were to be chanted, it is possible that they chant them in the Greek style, which would mean hirmoi and katavasia only.

Do you mean that the Greeks chant irmosi and katavasia for all nine odes with no troparia, but the Antiochians normally sing three odes in their entirety?

Also, in Byzantine chant are the troparia of the odes chanted to the same melodies as the corresponding irmos?

PS Russian chant has different pattern melodies for irmos and troparia etc but I am gathering that in Byzantine chant there is a lot more variation in both troparia and irmos melodies, with less use of pattern melodies?