www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Using the Troitsja

CHRISTOS VOSKRES!

Hi gang!

My parish is considering using the Troitsja again during Divine Liturgy.

I remember it being used when I was a small kid and then seeing it again at some parishes in the Cleveland area.

I seem to remember it was carried to the front during the "Only Begotten Son", the Creed, the Our Father and the "I believe and profess" prayer before communion.

Does anyone else's parish still use the Troitsja and if so, when?

thanks!

Paska krasna Nas vitajet!

mark

Christos Voskrese!
Dear Mark, are you referring to the Paschal trikerion (troitsa)? At our parish the priest holds it for all processions, entrances and incensations between Pascha and Ascension. When he blesses throughout the Liturgy he holds the Paschal trikerion. The exception is at the Small Entrance since we don't have a deacon (yet) and the priest has to carry the Gospel, I carry the Paschal trikery for him in the entrance procession.

We only use the Paschal Trikirion during the services of bright week.

ilya

Voistinu Voskres!

I believe Mark is referring to the large sized trojca held by one of the faithful at certain parts of the Liturgy in the Carpatho-Rusyn tradition. (I believe I have seen it in some Ukrainian churches too.)

Mark, in my experience, the "trojca rubrics" are purely local custom. I have seen it most often held during the Gospel reading, possibly during the Epistle as well. In some places, you will see a cadre of gentlemen hold multiple trojci and single candles during this time. The trojca is also often carried in outdoor processions. My parish had one gathering dust in the closet, so this Pascha, I cleaned it off and gave it to our youngest and newest server to carry during the procession. Everybody thought he was so cute in his tiny stichar holding a giant trojca.

Dave

Dear Mark, if you are talking about the wooden Hutsul-styled troitsa, with the intricate woordwork, inlay, little wooden bells, etc. we only use those on Theophany (Yordan, Bohoyavlennya) during the Liturgy when the altar boys use those instead of the big candles and then we use them later at the Great Blessing of Waters when the priest extinguishes three of them during the blessing prayers of St. Sophronius of Jerusalem.

Dear Subdeacon Randolph - Christ is risen!

At Theophany does your priest extinguish the candles in the water, one by one?

I have seen the troitsa used throughout the year during the reading of the Gospel - in Slovakia, that is.

Spasi Khristos -
Mark, monk and sinner.

XB!

Here [htc.faithweb.com] is a pic from Pascha at my parish of our priest's son carrying a trojca. He is six years old, our newest server, and this was his first time serving and his first "official duty" as such.

Our Parish uses the Troitsja all the time. During the liturgy one man carries the three branched 'troitsja' forward while two other men carry a single candle stick. They go forward to the tetrapod during the Gospel reading and then again for the great procession around the perimeter and up the center isle to the tetrapod. The Troitsja is alos carried for all processions outside around the Temple. There are two types I have seen. One is self loading which is spring loaded to use standard candles and one type that are large candles.
Using the Troitsja should be reintroduced in all parishes. This is a 'visual' which adds to the liturgy to remind us that God the Father, His son, and the Holy Spirit is present!!
Christ is Risen!!

Hi all,

I too remember the use of the trojca a while back at my former parish. We had a new priest assigned, and he restored many customs, including the use of the trojca. It was mainly used during the reading of the gospel, held by one of the ushers. He also used it during the blessing of holy water on Theophany, dipping the lit candle in the water. It was used until the priest was reassigned and the new priest never used it. I haven't seen it used at any other Rusyn parishes since. A local OCA parish I recently attended used it at the reading of the Gospel.

XPICTOC BOCKPECE!

Father, bless! Did your finals come out well?

Yes, that is how we do it. With the triple reading of the prayer "Great art Thou, O Lord, and wondrous are Thy works" one troitsa is extinguished in the water vessel each time the prayer is read. We use the traditional carved wooden troitsas with inlay and beeswax candles.

In the Galician tradition the troitsas were held for the Gospel, usually on feast days but in most places the larger processional lanterns have generally taken their place with the altar servers (with the exception of Theophany in our case).

I'm sure in some Hutsul or Boyko areas in Ukraine, and possibly into Bukovina, especially on great feasts, you could still find this practice. It seems nearly every Ukrainian family I know has one either on their dining room table or in our case in our bright corner which gets moved to the dining room table for Svyatij Vechir, Pascha, Shchedrij Vechir, etc.

This triple blessing of the water with the troitsa at the Great Blessing of Waters at Theophany seems to be unique to Galician/Rusyn usage. None of the versions of the Great Book of Needs from Kyiv/Pecherska Lavra, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kharkiv, Belgrade or Voronezh that I have seen indicate the practice of dipping three troitsas at this point of the Great Blessing of Waters. I don't believe it is an Athonite practice, either.

CHRISTOS VOSKRES!

Hi gang!

Sorry, I haven't had time to get back to your responses. I have a very dear friend who is returning home to Slovakia after a year at Catholic University. We've been getting last minute things and shipping textbooks and other things to the Seminary in Presov and Kosice.

CHTEC was correct about the TROITSJA (see me later to pick-up your KUPIE DOLL).

In my parish, we used to have a LARGE TROITSJA that was solid beeswax (I made some GORGEOUS pysanky from the stubs). Now we have one of the yucky plastic things with the fake rubies and parafin inserts.

I've seen one carry the TROITSJA for the Gospel reading followed by several men carrying single candles (this was at St. Eugene's in Garfield Heights).

Thanks for all the help, I pass the info along and let you know what's happening.

Paska krasna Nas vitajet!

mark

AAHH NOT PARAFIN...
Pure beeswax is the only way to go. And it burns slower and drips less.

The tradition of the troitsa has wonderful iconic connotations of the Trinity. Yet another beautiful tradition of the Carpathian peoples I hope is maintained or restored.

If anyone was having trouble with the link I posted, please go to the following page:

http://htc.faithweb.com/pascha/

And click on "Paschal Midnight Procession"

The second photo down is of the server with the trojca. (And yes, our trojca is one of those metal spring-loaded things... but it's better than nothing!)

Oh, and I'm the guy with the censer in the Great Friday pics, and in the grey cassock/white stichar in the Paschal pics.

A trojca used to be carried by the starosta or some elder during gosple reading at the St. Nicholas OCA parish in Whitestone NY in the 1950's or so.

Christ is Risen!
At our Byzantine Ruthenian Catholic parish, the ushers are instructed to use the troica four times during the Divine Liturgy:

�Let us stand and listen to the Holy Gospel"
--- to end of Gospel

�Let us love one another so that with one mind we may profess�
-- to end of Creed

�Holy, Holy, Holy�
--�Moreover we offer You this spiritual sacrifice� at the end of the Epiclesis

�And make us worthy, O Lord, that we may with confidence��
--�Peace be with you� after the Our Father

We have been doing this for many years. It is a very natural part of the Divine Liturgy for us.

Hope this helps,
Deacon El