The Service of The Akathist Hymn For the Fridays of Great Lent
Arranged for use with a Priest or as a Reader Service
Note: The Translation of the Akathist Canon, is based primarily on that found in The Old Orthodox Prayer Book, published by the Old Rite Church of the Nativity, but with numerous. The End result is a new text, all the mistakes of which the webmaster takes full responsibility. The Akathist itself is taken from the Jordanville Prayer book (as found on Bishop Alexander’s Web Site), with one change made to the first line from Ikos 7, one change to Ikos 12, and two changes to the 13th Kontakion to make the text more in accordance with the original Greek..
The Akathist Canon and Hymn is laid out such that it can be used in a service with a priest or as a Reader Services. The texts of Small Compline are available on this site: both for use with a Priest, and as a Reader Service. This is presented in hopes that those who either belong to parishes which have no Friday evening services scheduled during Great Lent, or who are isolated from a parish, will find this beautiful service helpful in their Lenten struggles. In most Russian parishes, there is a Vigil on the Friday of the Fifth Week, which does not consist of Small Compline, as laid out below. The Lenten Triodion gives the order for that service, and of course if one belongs to such a parish, they should attend that service if they can. I present here the Greek order, for those who do not.
The Order of Service
On the first four Fridays of Lent, at Small Compline, immediately after “It is truly meet…” we chant the Akathist Canon followed by the Stasis which corresponds to the week:
- First Stasis of the Akathist (first Friday)
- Second Stasis of the Akathists (Second Friday)
- Third Stasis of the Akathists (Third Friday)
- Fourth Stasis of the Akathist (Fourth Friday)
On the fifth Friday of Great Lent, according to Greek practice, the Akathist Canon and Akathist Hymn are chanted in their entirety at Small Compline, according to the order given at the link below:
Akathist Hymn and Canon as chanted on the fifth Friday of Great Lent according to Greek Practice.
The Saturday of the Akathist Matins, according to Russian Practice (but note that for the canon of the temple, it has the canon of St. Jonah, and so you will need to adjust the text to fit your parish).
Note: None of the daily troparia normally appointed for Small Compline are used, neither is the troparion for the Temple. Instead, a Kontakion is used, as noted in the material linked above.
For those who want more complete rubrics, as well as the Byzantine Music for this Service, see The Service of the Akathist Hymn, published by Holy Transfiguration Monastery.
