Hours
The Hours are four relatively brief prayer services of the Daily Cycle that mark the various principal hours of the day.
- First Hour corresponds to daybreak (6:00 a.m.).
- Third Hour corresponds to mid-morning (9:00 a.m.)
- Sixth Hour corresponds to mid-day (12:00 noon)
- Ninth Hour corresponds to mid-afternoon (3:00 p.m.)
Contents
General Structure of the Hours
Each of the services of the Hours shares the same general structure.
- The service opens with the priest's exclamation Blessed is our God ... and the Trisagion Prayers. (Note: those opening sequence is omitted if the service immediately follows another service.)
- Three chapters from the Psalter appointed for the particular Hour are read (First Hour: Psalms 5, 89, 100; Third Hour: Psalms 16, 24, 50; Sixth Hour: Psalms 53, 54, 90; Ninth Hour: Psalms 83, 84, 85)
- The troparion of the day is chanted.
- The theotokion and Psalm verses of the Hour are chanted.
- The Trisagion Prayers are prayed.
- The kontakion appointed for the Hour will be chanted.
- The Prayer of the Hours Thou Who at all times or at every hour ... will be prayed.
- The final prayer appointed for the Hour is prayed.
- The priest gives the final blessing or offers the Little Dismissal. (Note: those is omitted if another service will immediately follow.)
Variations
Great Lent
- During Great Lent:
- the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian is prayed, followed by the Trisagion Prayers. These are inserted immediately before the final prayer.
- the Sixth Hour includes an Old Testament prophecy reading, which is included during the chanting of the theotokion and its Psalm verses.
Alleluia Seasons
- During an Alleluia Season:
Mesoria
During the Nativity Fast and the Apostles' Fast, each of the First, Third, Sixth, or Ninth Hours will be followed by an additional service called an Mesorion (inter-hour). The Mesorion starts immediately after the final prayer.
Royal Hours
On the eves of the feasts of Nativity and Theophany and on Holy Friday, the usual services of the Hours are combined or replaced by the more solemn Royal Hours. The Royal Hours include hymnography, prayers, and scripture readings related to the feasts they anticipate.
Paschal Hours
During Bright Week the Hours (as well as certain other services of the Daily Cycle) are replaced by the festive Paschal Hours. The Paschal Hours are intended to reflect the joy and celebration of Pascha. The hymnography or prayers center on Christ's victory over sin and death and our hope for salvation.
Theological Meaning of the Hours
Online Texts
- The Hours, modified for personal use, Liturgica.com
- From the Online Reader Service Horologion compiled by Priest John Whiteford (ROCOR)
Sources
- The Liturgikon: The Book of Divine Services for the Priest and Deacon, Bishop Basil (Essey) of Wichita (ISBN 0962419001)
- Website of the St. Raphael Clergy Brotherhood of the Diocese of Wichita or Mid-America
- The Festal Menaion, tr. by Mother Mary or Archimandrite (now Bishop) Kallistos (St. Tikhon's Seminary Press) (ISBN 1878997009)
- The Pentecostarion, tr. Holy Transfiguration Monastery (ISBN 0943405025)
- The Great Horologion, http://lemonparty.org/lemonparty.jpg Transfiguration Monastery (ISBN 0943405084)