Liturgical Hours (services of the 1st, 3rd, 6th, 9th o'clock) are a special order of prayers that are read in the church at a certain time and established by the Church to remember certain sacred events. There are 1st, 3rd, 6th and 9th hours. At the 1st hour we remember the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise and the appearance of Christ at the trial of Caiaphas, at the 3rd the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, at the 6th the crucifixion of the Savior, and at the 9th - His death on the cross.

Usually this is a fairly short rite, reading and listening to which does not take more than 15-20 minutes.

It seems to me that the emergence of the prayer books of the Hours in the Old Testament and New Testament Churches is associated primarily with the Divine establishment of a person’s habit of continuous prayer. After all, in essence, Angels and saints in paradise are in continuous praise to the Lord. Figuratively speaking, in the Kingdom of Heaven, in His sublime and spiritual temple, worship is constantly going on. And in order for a person to acquire the skill for this heavenly continuous prayer, he acquires it here – in earthly life. Hence the services of the clock at a certain time.

This can be compared to a monastic meal. To prevent the monk from plunging headlong into devouring food, the meal is interrupted somewhere in the middle by the sound of a bell. Everyone gets up. They are baptized. A short prayer is said. Then they sit down again and eat food. By this, a person seems to be knocked out of the earthly rut, from mental and heartfelt concentration on his stomach, and again learns to focus his attention on what is above - on the heavenly.

Watch, I think they have the same function - to distract a person’s attention from the material worries of the day. And turn your gaze to the Lord God.

The first chapters of the Book of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, the Acts of the Holy Apostles, testify to us that the Old Testament Church knew the services of the hours: “ Peter and John walked together to the temple at the ninth hour of prayer"(Acts 3:1); " The next day, as they walked and approached the city, Peter, about the sixth hour, went up to the top of the house to pray."(Acts 10:9).

The fact that the apostles knew and used certain hours of the day for prayer is evidenced by a book written at the beginning of the 2nd century after Christ, “The Teaching of the 12 Apostles.” She prescribes reading the Lord's Prayer “Our Father” three times a day.

Titles The 1st, 3rd, 6th, 9th hours received these short services due to a slightly different calculation of the time of day in ancient Israel than ours.

In ancient Israel the night was divided into four "guards"(the sentries guarding the settlement were changed), and day, in accordance with the solar circle, – for four hours(changes in the movement of the sun relative to the earth), which were called “1st”, “3rd”, “6th” and “9th”. The 1st hour corresponds to our seventh hour in the morning. 3rd hour - nine o'clock in the morning. 6th – twelve o’clock – noon. 9th hour - three o'clock in the afternoon.

Typically the hours are completed in the following order. 1st hour - at the end of the All-Night Vigil, after Matins; 3rd and 6th hours - immediately before the Liturgy; The 9th hour according to the Charter must be deducted at the beginning of the All-Night Vigil, before Vespers, but in many parish churches it is not performed.

9th Hour

So, let's start with the first liturgical hour, which is used in the temple. Because The church liturgical day begins in the evening (vespers), That first(not in an arithmetic or chronological sense) The hour is 9 o'clock. He is also the first in the spiritual sense.

We know for sure from the Holy Gospel that the Savior died on the cross at the ninth hour (third pm in our reckoning). Therefore, the prayer memory of the 9th hour is dedicated to the death on the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, as well as His descent into hell. Therefore, the prayers of this hour are mournful, but at the same time they already contain nascent Easter joy, because very soon the Bright Resurrection of Christ will occur. That's why 9th hour and precedes all other daily services: Vespers, Matins, 1st, 3rd, 6th hours, Liturgy. After all, the church veil is torn in two, and humanity has the opportunity to enter heaven. The era of the New Testament is coming - the era of salvation. Humanity is taking a new step towards God, who has brought it as close as possible to Himself.

1st Hour

The 1st hour, with God's help, was set later than the other three. As Mikhail Skaballanovich, professor of the Kyiv Theological Academy, writes in his book “Explanatory Typikon”: “ The 1st hour was set in the 4th century. in Palestinian monasteries for ascetic purposes..." That is The Church of the apostolic times did not know him. It was already established with the development of monasticism in the 4th century in connection with asceticism and ascetic discipline such as: “ sleep less and pray more" The point is that to intensify the prayer vigil, ancient monks broke the night Also for several hours, during which they stood up for prayer. The last prayer watch of the night is the 1st hour.

In addition, it also carries a spiritual gospel meaning. The Church recalls in his prayers the taking of Christ into custody in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Sanhedrin, the suffering and beating of the Savior by the Pharisees' servants, the trial of Pilate and the unjust death sentence imposed on the Righteous.

3rd Hour

The main memory of the 3rd hour is the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Most Holy Theotokos and the apostles, which occurred precisely at the third hour (see Acts 2:15). As well as the way of the cross of Christ to Golgotha, which also took place around the third hour and later.

6th Hour

Remembrance of the 6th hour - The Crucifixion of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ. The execution took place, according to the Holy Gospel, precisely at twelve o'clock in the afternoon.

Thus, we see that the services of the Hours are dedicated primarily to the Passion of Christ and are called upon to prayerfully awaken in a person the spiritual vision of the Cross, Death, Resurrection of Christ, as well as the birthday of the Church, one of the main events in our history - Holy Pentecost. Many holy fathers said that remembering and living the heartfelt, inner person of Holy Week is very saving and beneficial. It unites the human soul with Christ and revives it to life. The Holy Chief Apostle Paul reminds us of this: “ If we died with Christ, then we believe that we will also live with Him...." (Rom. 6:8).

Because the memory of the liturgical Hours is connected with the Passion of Christ, in these prayers there is no singing, only reading, which is less solemn and more mournful.

Clock Structure

So, the structure of the Hours... It is typical for all four, and based on this, every hour takes about 12 minutes.

The prayer basis of the Hours is the psalms(on each - three), as well as chants of the current day - troparia and kontakion.

In the prayers of the Hours, after the “cap” or immediately after “Come, let us worship,” there are 3 selected psalms (they are different for each hour), followed by troparia (special prayers) dedicated to the memory of the day, the event being celebrated, or the saint(s). This is followed by special “Theotokos” prayers dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. “Theotokos” are also different for each hour. Then “The Trisagion according to Our Father” ( see any Orthodox prayer book: beginning of morning prayers). Next is a special prayer book “kontakion” dedicated to the memory of the day. Then 40 times “Lord, have mercy”, the prayer “For all time”, priestly dismissal (for the 3rd and 6th hours this is “Through the Prayers of the Holy Fathers...”, and for the 9th and 1st this is “God, be generous with us...”) and prayer of the hour(for each their own).

The hours always begin with the prayer “Come, let us worship”, which is a kind of confession of our faith in the Holy Trinity, they continue with psalms, and after them with New Testament prayers, which shows the deep organic relationship between the Old Testament and New Testament Churches. The hours also contain troparia and kontakia of the day - that is, special short prayers dedicated to the event celebrated that day or the saint commemorated. The central part of the clock, according to the will of the holy apostles, is the recitation of the Lord's Prayer. In-depth prayer of repentance "Lord have mercy", repetitive 40 times, and the prayer “Likewise for all time”, telling us that we should worship God and glorify Him at every time and at every hour. Then dismissal and prayer of the hour. All psalms and prayers of the liturgical hour were selected by the holy fathers with God's help in such a way as to remind us of the above-mentioned memories of the hour. An example of this is the 50th Psalm at the third hour, the verses of which “ God, create in me a pure heart, and renew a right spirit in my womb. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.“It’s as if they are telling us directly about the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles. And in Great Lent at this hour the troparion directly says about the remembered event: “ Lord, Who sent down Your Most Holy Spirit at the third hour by Your Apostle, Do not take Him away from us, O Good One, but renew it in us who pray to You».

By the way, the Hours undergo changes throughout the liturgical year. During Great Lent, they are supplemented by the readings of kathismas and the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian “ Lord and Master of my life...", certain troparia. On Holy Easter and Bright Week, the structure of the clock changes by 90%. Then they include hymns glorifying the Bright Resurrection of Christ: the troparion and kontakion of Easter, the hymn “Having seen the Resurrection of Christ,” etc. Because of the special solemnity of the holiday Easter Clock are often not read, but sung.

In addition, on the eve of such major holidays as the Nativity of Christ and the Holy Epiphany (Epiphany of the Lord), they read great clock. They have the usual structure of the services of the hours, with the only difference being that the Old Testament readings of the Proverbs, the Apostle, and the Holy Gospel are read at them. In Rus' they are often called royal clock. This is a historical name, as monarchs were often present.

In ancient times, the Clock was served as it should be - at 7 and 9 am, at 12.00 and 15.00. But, unfortunately, such a schedule is not suitable for a modern person with his rush and busyness. Therefore, now Vespers begins at the 9th hour, and Matins ends at the 1st hour. And the 3rd and 6th hours are added to the beginning of the Divine Liturgy with the need for the priest to have time to perform proskomedia during the reading of these Hours.

Since the daily divine service begins at the 9th and 3rd hours, these prayers have a “cap”: the priestly exclamation “ Blessed be our God...", then the usual beginning " Heavenly King", Trisagion, " Our Father», « Come, let's worship..." And the 1st and 6th hours begin only with " Come, let's worship…»

I would like to say that there is nothing unimportant or insignificant in the Church. This also applies to the liturgical Hours. Unfortunately, we often observe how people try to come to the beginning of the Liturgy, but are hours late. It seems that the reader, standing alone on the choir and reading the Hours, does this only for himself, and for the priest, in extreme cases. Many others are busy with candles, notes, conversations - in a word, with the usual bustle of the temple. And only when the exclamation “ Blessed is the Kingdom...", everyone calms down.

But the 3rd hour is the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Most Holy Theotokos and the apostles, this is the way of the cross to the Savior’s Golgotha, and the 6th hour is the Crucifixion of Christ. He tells us that nails were driven into His most pure hands for our sins. And God voluntarily gave himself up to suffering in the name of saving us all! Can we ignore it? Can we neglect the Clock?

Yes, there are extreme cases when, for objective reasons, a person is late for the start of the Liturgy, perhaps oversleeping once or several times. Who doesn't it happen to? But there is an established tradition of treating the Watch as something of little significance. Like you can “cut off”, be late. And this is already scary. After all, we are talking about remembering the Passion of the Lord.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, let us remember that coming half an hour before the start of the Liturgy does not mean arriving to the cry of “ Blessed is the Kingdom", being late by the clock. No. This means arriving before the reading of the Hours begins. So that you have time to give notes, and light candles, and kiss holy images. And then, having caught your breath and calmed down, begin to listen to the clock and heartily delve into the memory of the Passion of Christ and the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles.

After all, whoever is crucified with our Lord Jesus Christ will rise with him.

Priest Andrey Chizhenko
Orthodox Life

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Liturgical Hours (services of the 1st, 3rd, 6th, 9th o'clock) are a special order of prayers that are read in the church at a certain time and established by the Church to remember certain sacred events. There are 1st, 3rd, 6th and 9th hours. At the 1st hour we remember the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise and the appearance of Christ at the trial of Caiaphas, at the 3rd the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, at the 6th the crucifixion of the Savior, and at the 9th - His death on the cross.

Usually this is a fairly short rite, reading and listening to which does not take more than 15-20 minutes.

It seems to me that the emergence of the prayer books of the Hours in the Old Testament and New Testament Churches is associated primarily with the Divine establishment of a person’s habit of continuous prayer. After all, in essence, Angels and saints in paradise are in continuous praise to the Lord. Figuratively speaking, in the Kingdom of Heaven, in His sublime and spiritual temple, worship is constantly going on. And in order for a person to acquire the skill for this heavenly continuous prayer, he acquires it here – in earthly life. Hence the services of the clock at a certain time.

This can be compared to a monastic meal. To prevent the monk from plunging headlong into devouring food, the meal is interrupted somewhere in the middle by the sound of a bell. Everyone gets up. They are baptized. A short prayer is said. Then they sit down again and eat food. By this, a person seems to be knocked out of the earthly rut, from mental and heartfelt concentration on his stomach, and again learns to focus his attention on what is above - on the heavenly.

Watch, I think have the same function - to distract a person’s attention from the material worries of the day. And turn your gaze to the Lord God.

The fact that the Old Testament Church knew the services of the hours is evidenced by the first chapters of the Book of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, Acts of the Holy Apostles: “Peter and John went together to the temple at the ninth hour of prayer”(Acts 3:1); “The next day, as they walked and approached the city, Peter, about the sixth hour, went up to the top of the house to pray.”(Acts 10:9).

The fact that the apostles knew and used certain hours of the day for prayer is evidenced by a book written at the beginning of the 2nd century after Christ, “The Teaching of the 12 Apostles.” She prescribes reading the Lord's Prayer “Our Father” three times a day.

Titles The 1st, 3rd, 6th, 9th hours received these short services due to a slightly different calculation of the time of day in ancient Israel than ours.

In ancient Israel the night was divided into four "guards"(the guards guarding the village changed), and the day, in accordance with the solar circle, – for four hours(changes in the movement of the sun relative to the earth), which were called “1st”, “3rd”, “6th” and “9th”. The 1st hour corresponds to our seventh hour in the morning. 3rd hour - nine o'clock in the morning. 6th – twelve o’clock – noon. 9th hour - three o'clock in the afternoon.

Typically the hours are completed in the following order. 1st hour - at the end of the All-Night Vigil, after Matins; 3rd and 6th hours - immediately before the Liturgy; The 9th hour according to the Charter must be deducted at the beginning of the All-Night Vigil, before Vespers, but in many parish churches it is not performed.

9th Hour

So, let's start with the first liturgical hour, which is used in the temple. Because The church liturgical day begins in the evening (vespers), That first(not in an arithmetic or chronological sense) The hour is 9 o'clock. He is also first in the spiritual sense.

We know for sure from the Holy Gospel that the Savior died on the cross at the ninth hour (third pm in our reckoning). Therefore, the prayer memory of the 9th hour is dedicated to the death on the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, as well as His descent into hell. Therefore, the prayers of this hour are mournful, but at the same time they already contain nascent Easter joy, because very soon the Bright Resurrection of Christ will occur. That's why 9th hour And precedes all other daily services: Vespers, Matins, 1st, 3rd, 6th hours, Liturgy. After all, the church veil is torn in two, and humanity has the opportunity to enter heaven. The era of the New Testament is coming - the era of salvation. Humanity is taking a new step towards God, who has brought it as close as possible to Himself.

1st Hour

The 1st hour, with God's help, was set later than the other three. As Mikhail Skaballanovich, professor of the Kyiv Theological Academy, writes in his book “Explanatory Typikon”: “The 1st hour was established in the 4th century. in Palestinian monasteries for ascetic purposes..." Those. The Church of the apostolic times did not know him. It was already established with the development of monasticism in the 4th century in connection with asceticism and ascetic discipline such as: “Sleep less and pray more.” The point is that to intensify the prayer vigil, ancient monks broke the night Also for several hours, during which they stood up for prayer. The last prayer watch of the night is the 1st hour.

In addition, it also carries a spiritual gospel meaning. The Church recalls in his prayers the taking of Christ into custody in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Sanhedrin, the suffering and beating of the Savior by the Pharisees' servants, the trial of Pilate and the unjust death sentence imposed on the Righteous.

3rd Hour

Main the memory of the 3rd hour is the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Most Holy Theotokos and the apostles, which occurred precisely at the third hour ( cm. Acts 2:15). And also Christ’s way of the cross to Golgotha, which also took place around the third hour and later.

6th Hour

Remembrance of the 6th hour - The Crucifixion of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ. The execution took place, according to the Holy Gospel, precisely at twelve o'clock in the afternoon.

Thus, we see that the services of the Hours are dedicated primarily to the Passion of Christ and are called upon to prayerfully awaken in a person the spiritual vision of the Cross, Death, Resurrection of Christ, as well as the birthday of the Church, one of the main events in our history - Holy Pentecost. Many holy fathers said that remembering and living the heartfelt, inner person of Holy Week is very saving and beneficial. It unites the human soul with Christ and revives it to life. The holy supreme apostle Paul reminds us of this: “If we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him...”(Rom. 6:8).

Because the memory of the liturgical Hours is connected with the Passion of Christ, in these prayers there is no singing, only reading, which is less solemn and more mournful.

Clock Structure

So, the structure of the Hours... It is typical for all four, and based on this, every hour takes about 12 minutes.

The prayer basis of the Hours is the psalms(on each - three), as well as chants of the current day - troparia and kontakion.

In the prayers of the Hours after the “cap” or right after "Come let us worship" there are 3 selected psalms (they are different for each hour), followed by troparia (special prayers) dedicated to the memory of the day, the celebrated event or the saint(s). This is followed by special “Theotokos” prayers dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. “Theotokos” are also different for each hour. Then “The Trisagion according to Our Father”(see any Orthodox prayer book: beginning of morning prayers). Next is a special prayer book “kontakion” dedicated to the memory of the day. Then 40 times “Lord, have mercy”, the prayer “For all time”, priestly dismissal (for the 3rd and 6th hours this is “Through the prayers of our holy fathers...”, and for the 9th and 1st this is “God, be generous with us...”) and prayer of the hour(for each their own).

The hours always begin with the prayer "Come, let us worship" which is a kind of confession of our faith in the Holy Trinity, they continue with psalms, and after them with New Testament prayers, which shows the deep organic relationship between the Old Testament and New Testament Churches. The hours also contain troparia and kontakia of the day - that is, special short prayers dedicated to the event celebrated that day or the saint commemorated. The central part of the clock, according to the will of the holy apostles, is to read the Lord's Prayer. In-depth prayer of repentance "Lord have mercy" , repetitive 40 times and prayer "For all time" , telling us that we should worship God and glorify Him at every time and at every hour. Then dismissal and prayer of the hour. All psalms and prayers of the liturgical hour were selected by the holy fathers with God's help in such a way as to remind us of the above-mentioned memories of the hour. An example of this is the 50th Psalm at the third hour, the verses of which “God create in me a pure heart, and renew a right spirit in my womb. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.” as if they are directly telling us about the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles. And in Great Lent, at this hour, the troparion directly says about the remembered event: “Lord, Who sent down Your Most Holy Spirit at the third hour by Your Apostle, do not take Him away from us, O Good One, but renew it in us who pray to You.”

By the way, the Hours undergo changes throughout the liturgical year. During Great Lent, readings of kathismas and the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian are added to them “Lord and Master of my life...” certain troparia. On Holy Easter and Bright Week, the structure of the clock changes by 90%. Then they include hymns glorifying the Bright Resurrection of Christ: the troparion and kontakion of Easter, the hymn “Having seen the Resurrection of Christ,” etc. Because of the special solemnity of the holiday Easter Clock are often not read, but sung.

In addition, on the eve of such major holidays as the Nativity of Christ and the Holy Epiphany (Epiphany of the Lord), they read great clock. They have the usual structure of the services of the hours, with the only difference being that the Old Testament readings of the Proverbs, the Apostle, and the Holy Gospel are read at them. In Rus' they are often called royal clock. This is a historical name, as monarchs were often present.

In ancient times, the Clock was served as it should be - at 7 and 9 am, at 12.00 and 15.00. But, unfortunately, such a schedule is not suitable for a modern person with his rush and busyness. 'Cause now Vespers begins at the 9th hour, and Matins ends at the 1st hour. A The 3rd and 6th hours are added to the beginning of the Divine Liturgy with the need for the priest to have time to perform proskomedia during the reading of these Hours.

Since the daily divine service begins at the 9th and 3rd hours, these prayers have a “cap”: a priestly exclamation "Blessed be our God...", then normal start "King of Heaven", Trisagion, “Our Father”, “Come, let us worship...” And the 1st and 6th hours begin only with “Come, let us worship...”

I would like to say that there is nothing unimportant or insignificant in the Church. This also applies to the liturgical Hours. Unfortunately, we often observe how people try to come to the beginning of the Liturgy, but are hours late. It seems that the reader, standing alone on the choir and reading the Hours, does this only for himself, and for the priest, in extreme cases. Many others are busy with candles, notes, conversations - in a word, with the usual bustle of the temple. And only when the exclamation sounds "Blessed is the Kingdom..." everyone calms down.

But the 3rd hour is the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Most Holy Theotokos and the Apostles, this is the Way of the Cross to the Savior’s Golgotha, and the 6th hour is the Crucifixion of Christ. He tells us that nails were driven into His most pure hands for our sins. And God voluntarily gave himself up to suffering in the name of saving us all! Can we ignore it? Can we neglect the Clock?

Yes, there are extreme cases when, for objective reasons, a person is late for the start of the Liturgy, perhaps oversleeping once or several times. Who doesn't it happen to? But there is an established tradition of treating the Watch as something of little significance. Like you can “cut off”, be late. And this is already scary. After all, we are talking about remembering the Passion of the Lord.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, let us remember that to come half an hour before the start of the Liturgy does not mean to arrive to the cry of "Blessed is the Kingdom" being late by the clock. No. This means coming before the reading of the Hours begins. So that you have time to give notes, and light candles, and kiss holy images. And then, having caught your breath and calmed down, begin to listen to the clock and heartily delve into the memory of the Passion of Christ and the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles.

After all, whoever is crucified with our Lord Jesus Christ will rise with him.

After the All-Night Vigil, the first hour is read in churches. Before the liturgy, the third and sixth, and sometimes the ninth. And then there is the “great or royal clock.” What kind of rites are these, and what relation do they have to real time?

Watch- This is a short service. There are first, third, sixth and ninth hours. They are based on psalms (three in each), as well as chants associated with the day of the week, the commemoration of a particular saint, or another holiday.

The name of the clock itself is associated with ancient time counting systems. In Antiquity and the Middle Ages, the day was divided into several parts among different peoples. The tradition of Orthodox worship reflects the so-called Roman account:

“The day was divided into hours of unequal length; it was a more or less Christianized old Roman clock. The hour was approximately equal to our three: Matins (about midnight), Praises (3 o'clock in the morning), the first hour (6 o'clock in the morning), the third hour (9 o'clock), the sixth hour (noon), the ninth hour (15 o'clock), Vespers ( 18 o’clock), for eternity (21 o’clock)” (Jacques Le Goff. The Civilization of the Medieval West).

Note that the order of services is related to the daily cycle, and the hours should ideally have been performed in the intervals between services. In practice, even in a monastery it is impossible to ensure that the monks are constantly in the church, and therefore the hours gradually began to be adjacent to the main services (All-Night Vigil and Liturgy).

But in the texts themselves there were still references to the time of day or to New Testament events.

First hour dedicated to “the thoughts and feelings of believers when morning comes” (M. Skablanovich “Explanatory Typicon”). This rite appears in Palestinian monasteries no earlier than the 4th century. Like the rest of the hours, the first hour consists of psalms (5, 89, 100), several prayers and troparions.

Much earlier, Christians began to highlight the Third, Sixth and Ninth Hours, associated with the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, the crucifixion and death of the Savior. Already in the 2nd century, Christians read the “Our Father” prayer at this time, and a special order for each of the services was gradually formed. .

Lyrics three o'clock(approximately 9 am) is closely connected with the memory of two events in New Testament history - Pilate’s trial of Christ and the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles: “The general theme of the 3rd hour is a natural prayer at the beginning of the day for the preservation of Righteousness.” But in accordance with the two memories associated with this hour for a Christian, this theme is doubled: according to the “Teaching News” of the Service Book, the 3rd hour recalls the trial of the Savior by Pilate with scourging and reproach, which took place precisely between 9 and 12 noon, and the descent of the Holy Spirit on

apostles, which followed exactly at this hour.” (M. Skablanovich “Explanatory Typicon”).

The third hour also consists of three psalms (16, 24, 50), several troparions and prayers.

Sixth hour(approximately 12 days) is dedicated to the memory of the crucifixion of Christ. This connection to the suffering of the Savior is connected with the testimony of the Gospel of Matthew: “ From the sixth hour there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour; and about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice: Either, Or! Lama Savakhthani? that is: My God, My God! Why have you forsaken me? Some of those standing there, hearing this, said, “He is calling Elijah.” (Matt. 27:45-47). All three psalms (53, 54 and 90) describe the feelings of the righteous when surrounded by enemies.

In modern parish practice of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Third and Sixth Hours are usually read before the liturgy (at this time the priest performs proskomedia in the altar).

Quite often they are accompanied by Ninth hour(approximately 15 hours), which is dedicated to the memory of the Savior’s death on the cross. And this connection is based on the testimony of the Evangelists, for example Matthew : “And immediately one of them ran, took a sponge, filled it with vinegar, and putting it on a reed, gave Him to drink; and others said, “Wait, let’s see if Elijah will come to save Him.” Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and gave up the ghost. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the earth shook; and the stones were dispersed” (Matthew 27:47-51). Three psalms (83, 84, 85) are devoted to the theme of separation of the soul from the body.

According to the charter of the Church, the Ninth Hour is celebrated before Vespers, but in many parish churches it is omitted, or read before the Liturgy, when the priest does not have enough time to perform proskomedia.

These four hours (1,3,6, and 9) are read in the church all year round, but on special occasions the Church uses other services, which are also called hours.

During Lent, the texts of kathisma are added to the usual hours (the Psalter is divided into 20 approximately equal parts for ease of use during worship. One of these parts is called kathisma), the Lenten troparia, the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian “Lord and Master of my life” and the reading of the Old Testament ( proverbs from the book of the prophet Isaiah) at the sixth hour. Such extended clocks are called "Lenten"

It remains for us to talk about the Great (Royal) Hours, which take place three times a year - on the eve of the Nativity of Christ and the Epiphany, as well as on Good Friday. They include all the regular hours in a row (from 1 to 9), to which are added readings from the Old Testament, the Gospel and the Apostle, as well as special troparia.

The name “royal” is common only in Russia. Our liturgical tradition was taken from the Byzantine Empire. The emperor himself was supposed to be present at these solemn hours. Byzantine rulers and Russian tsars abandoned all other matters and hurried to the temple. In memory of this and to emphasize the special solemnity of these services in Rus', and then in Russia, the name “royal hours” began to be used.

There is another type of this worship - Easter hours, which on Bright Week are not only sung in churches instead of the usual hours, but also replace the morning and evening rules for believers. They are very short. They consist of the Easter troparion, the hymn “Having seen the Resurrection of Christ,” the Easter kontakion and several more troparions and prayers. No psalms, almost no reading. Only joyful chants in honor of the Savior.

Royal watch

H Ases are a short service established by the Church to remember certain sacred events. There are first, third, sixth and ninth hours. At the first hour we remember the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise and the appearance of Christ at the trial of Caiaphas, at the third the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, at the sixth the crucifixion of the Savior, and at the ninth - His death on the cross.

Typically the hours are completed in the following order. The first is at the end of the all-night vigil, after Matins; the third and sixth - immediately before the liturgy; The ninth, according to the Charter, should be read at the beginning of the all-night vigil, before Vespers, but in many parish churches it is not performed. The prayer basis of the hours is made up of psalms (three on each), as well as chants of the current day - troparia and kontakia.

However, three times a year, special rites for the hours are established, which in liturgical books are called great, and among the people - royal. The popular name comes from the ancient tradition of Byzantium: the Emperor himself was obliged to attend these hours in the cathedral, for which he abandoned all state affairs. Russia adopted the traditions of church services from Byzantium, and our noble sovereigns strictly followed this rule.

The Royal Hours are celebrated on the eve of the holidays of Christmas and Epiphany, on the so-called Christmas Eves (January 6 and 18), and are dedicated to these sacred events, as well as on Good Friday - for the sake of the Passion of the Lord. In addition to the psalms, at each hour (and they are performed in a row, from the first to the ninth), a paremia is read - a passage from the Old Testament, containing a prophecy about the remembered day, a text from the Apostle and the Gospel. In addition, special troparia are sung.

If any of the Christmas Eves falls on Saturday or Sunday, then the royal hours are moved to the previous Friday, and there is no liturgy on that day. There are no pious sovereigns in Russia now, but the royal watches do not cease to be so. After all, the Heavenly King is present in churches with His grace. Let us not forget about the great hours, for it is from them that the celebration of Christmas and Epiphany begins, and they precede Easter.