Our Liturgical Tradition
Situating our liturgical tradition
Among the many Churches claiming derivation from the Apostles, we can distinguish perhaps six ritual ‘clans’. Within the Byzantine clan, the Slavic liturgical family is associated with the ancient region of Rus’ – extending north-east from the Carpathians and the Black Sea. And within this Slavic family, there is a Russian ‘branch’ of that family, historically centred on Novgorod and the various Rus’ cities on the plain enclosed by the Volga River – and, in time, Moscow.
This Russian branch began to develop many of its currently distinctive liturgical features from the time of the separation of the Moscow Metropolitanate from the Roman Papacy in the 1440s, just before the Fall of Constantinople. The tradition then underwent nearly 500 years of development, including major reforms under Patriarch Nikon in the middle of the seventeenth century.
So it was, when St Leontiy (Leonid) Fedorov was appointed in 1917 as first Exarch of our Russian Greek-Catholic Church, that this Russian liturgical tradition was the one embraced by our Church. Pope St Pius X had already advised our Church in 1908 to observe the Russian liturgical tradition faithfully and in all its integrity, “nec plus, nec minus, nec aliter” (no more, no less, no differently).
Ethos
When experiencing the Russian liturgical tradition, the overall impression in the Services is of a serious but richly warm and heart-centred piety – in a word, ‘dukhovniy’ (Spirit-filled, Spirit-led). One is struck perhaps by the following distinctive features, in no particular order:
Iconostasis. This ‘wall’ of icons is prominent in the temple, and derives from the templon, a barrier between the altar and the rest of the temple. Ceiling-high iconostases were a 15th century development in the Russian tradition. In other traditions, the equivalent architectural feature is usually lower and more transparent, such as the use of altar rails in Western temples. The doors and curtain in the centre of the iconostas are opened and closed at various points within the Services.
Singing. Most audible elements of the Services are chanted throughout, rather than being done in a speaking voice.
Standing. Worshippers generally stand for the Services. Pews, which developed in the West after the separation of the Moscow Metropolitanate, have not been adopted.
Bows. Prostrations accompanying the sign of the Cross are frequent, and of two kinds – ‘to the earth’ (with knees and upper body on the ground) and ‘to the waist’ (with hand reaching to the ground, more commonly seen on Sundays).
Litanies. A large component of the Services are the various litanies led by the deacon, to which the most common response is, “Lord, have mercy”.
Use of the whole temple. Many elements of the liturgical tradition are done in the middle of the temple, where the clergy pray surrounded by the laity, rather than liturgical actions being confined to the altar.
Use of leavened bread for the Divine Liturgy, and distribution of the mixed Holy Communion by way of a liturgical spoon.
Engaging senses other than just the ear. Not only through the abundant use of icons, incense and lamps, but also through the various kinds of ritual eating that occurs in the Services including the blessed loaves with wine at Vigil and the koliva at memorial services.
Frequent serving of non-Eucharistic Services. We typically find Vigil or other ¡¥hours of prayer served, as well as molebny (short services for a particular need or to a saint) and panikhidy (short memorial services for the dead). Serving of a daily Divine Liturgy is uncommon outside monasteries.
Monastic influence. The Services contain many elements typical of monastic rather than urban ritual, such as long consecutive prayers, and readings from the Psalter, with a relative lack of responsorial repertoire directly involving the laity.
Joining of Services. The combination of multiple Services back-to-back, to form larger units, such as Third Hour-Sixth Hour-Liturgy.
Historical notes
In 1911, a few years before St Leonty (Leonid) Fedorov was appointed as our first Exarch, the staff and students of the Kiev Theological Academy attempted to serve an All Night Vigil (the liturgical hours of prayer held on the evening before Sundays and festivals) that was in full accordance with the Ustav (order of liturgical services), rather than being in the abbreviated form used everywhere, even in monasteries.
At 6pm the Vigil began. At 1:50am, the Vigil ended. It is reported that: One student, a lover of sleep, left the church several times, undressed and lay down on his bed, but, unable to fall asleep because he knew that a few steps away such an original, unheard of service was taking place, he returned to the church. Some even proposed, for the next Vigil, to sing everything to the Great Znamenny Chant, which will lengthen the vigil service by three to four hours.
The expectation of lengthy services (at least from the typical Western perspective), as well as the practical necessity of abbreviation especially in village temples, betrays the largely monastic origin of liturgical services as handed down to Slavic communities in Eastern Europe. These traditions (some of which are shared with other Slavic and Byzantine Churches) originate from various sources in Constantinople and Palestine.
Some notable elements and steps in the history of our liturgical practices are as follows:
Litanies, priestly prayers, lectionaries and the order of the Divine Liturgies and Mysteries deriving from the imperial rites of the Great Church of the Holy Wisdom in Constantinople in the fourth century.
Poetic texts newly composed during the 5th to the 7th centuries in Jerusalem.
As an indirect effect of Iconoclasm, incorporation of the foregoing with a Palestinian psalter and hours of prayer, along with newly composed hymnody, at the beginning of the 9th century ¡V under St Theodore at the Monastery of St John the Forerunner at Stoudion in Constantinople. This Studite compilation came to prevail through much of the Christian East.
In 987, according to the chronicle called the Tale of Bygone Years, the agents of Great Prince St Vladimir Svyatoslavich reported back to him recommending adoption of the liturgical religion of the Greeks at Constantinople: ¡§We did not know whether we were in heaven or on earth, for on earth there is no such splendour or beauty, and we are at a loss as to how to describe it. We only know that God lives there among men, and their service is fairer than the ceremonies of other nations; for we cannot forget that beauty.
Around the turn of the millenium, an adaptation of the Studite compilation (see above) at the Lavra of St Sabbas the Sanctified near Jerusalem. This Sabbaite synthesis increased the amount of psalmody and hymnody, and provided for the All Night Vigil service (comprising Vespers, Matins and First Hour) on Saturday evenings, to accommodate monks in isolated desert sketes, for whom travel to attend separate services through the day and night was difficult.
Over the next four hundred years, the Sabbaite synthesis spread to Mount Athos, and supported by the Hesychast Fathers, eventually spreading to Constantinople itself, and finally in the 1300s northwards through the various kingdoms, grand duchies and republics then governing the lands associated with the ancient region of Rus’ (parts of modern-day Belarus, Russia and Ukraine) – supplanting the Studite traditions.
The establishment of the Moscow metropolitanate in 1325, later patriarchate, was an impetus for the development of a specifically ‘Russian’ liturgical tradition.
Alongside the spread of the Sabbaite synthesis, ‘great znamenny’ chant developed in north-eastern Rus’.
Coinciding with the advent of the printing press, the 1600s brought several waves of ‘corrections’ to the Services, culminating in those mandated under Patriarch Nikon.
The Enlightenment inspired abbreviations of the Services in practice, as Baroque culture and the St Petersburg Court became influential. Western European musical styles also came to dominate in many temples. An early 20th century concern in Russia to reform the Services failed to flourish, impeded by (among other things) the turbulence of the Great War.