Matins: why we sit while reading psalms and why a monk needs an "alarm clock"

After the Hexapsalmos and morning prayers, the Great Litany is read, familiar to us from the evening service, followed by the troparia of the day. After these, as in Vespers, the kathismata are read. The only difference is in the more complex order of reading, which is regulated by the 17th chapter of the Typikon.

From its content, it follows that the kathismata are read throughout the year, except for the Paschal week. In the early centuries, when few psalms were read (1–3), it was assumed that the psalms would be sung "in tone" (a specific melody), chanting a small doxology after each (now it is "Glory, and now" and the thrice-repeated "Alleluia, glory to You, God" and "Lord, have mercy"). Sometimes the alleluia refrain was even added to each verse of the psalm (as "Blessed is the man" is now sung at Vespers). Later, around the 4th century, when the number of Psalms in the service increased under the influence of monastic practice, they began to be read and a whole antiphon, a group of Psalms, was concluded with a “doxology.” As the readings increased, the custom of sitting during the kathismata also became established.

In addition to the familiar "Glory to You, God," there were other ancient refrains: "Have mercy on us, Lord," "Save us," "Be merciful to us," and others. And the thrice-repeated "Lord, have mercy" is an echo of the prayers that are now part of the 12 morning prayers we discussed last time. Gradually, these prayers were shortened and rearranged, and today they are no longer read during the kathismata, even in the small litanies.

A monastic "alarm clock"

The very word “kathisma” comes from the verb “to sit,” indicating the custom of listening to the Psalms while seated. This is also confirmed in Chapter 31 of the Typikon, which mentions a special “alarm clock”—a monk whose duty is to wake those who have fallen asleep. “He who finds someone dozing quietly rouses them,” and after performing three prostrations in the middle of the church (to fully wake up), “he returns and sits in his place.”

In the East, there were stasidia for this purpose - wooden chairs with folding seats and high armrests. In them, one can both sit and stand, leaning on the armrests with hands and against the wall with the back.

In our churches, this function is served by the benches along the walls, which, of course, are not as functional, but still make the service more “humane” for the faithful and serve as a reminder of this liturgical feature.

Originally, the word “kathisma” did not refer to the Psalms, but to short hymns (called “sedalny” in Church Slavonic) that served as a transition to the readings, during which sitting was permitted. Over time, as more Psalms began to be read and they came to be used not only as prayers but also as instructive readings, the practice of sitting gradually extended to the Psalms themselves. In the Greek tradition, kathismata are even read facing the people, like teachings, emphasizing their didactic character.

What should a layperson read?

After the sedalny, the Typikon prescribes instructive readings. The 17th rule of the Laodicean Council states: "Psalms should not be recited continuously one after another in church gatherings, but there should be a reading after each Psalm."

Chapter 10 of the Typikon explains what these readings should be. First, they are interpretations of the Holy Scriptures (of the passages that are read or will be read during the service), and second, patristic teachings, as well as the lives of the saints.

Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) says that everyone should read what corresponds to their way of life: "The hermit should read the fathers who wrote about silence; the monk living in a community – the fathers who wrote instructions for monastic communities; the Christian living in the world – the holy fathers who delivered their teachings generally for all Christianity."

The Typikon, being a monastic communal rule, observes this principle by listing books exclusively for monks living in community, without mentioning St. Symeon the New Theologian, St. Isaac the Syrian, or others who wrote instructions for hermits.

Consequently, for our own home worship and instructive reading, we should choose only those teachings that are suitable for worldly life.

The mysteries of the polyeleos

At the end of the readings begins the second part of Matins – the polyeleos, performed during festive services.

The name means “very merciful chant,” because during its performance the verse “for His mercy endures forever” is repeated many times. The polyeleos includes Psalms 134 and 135. Originally, Psalm 136 (“By the rivers of Babylon” – now sung only three times a year before Great Lent) was also part of the polyeleos. Together, these formed the first “glory” of the 19th kathisma and were performed on Fridays.

Over time, St. Theodore the Studite developed a system of alleluiaria for the solemn chanting of these Psalms, and the polyeleos was moved to the festive Matins of non-Sunday days.

The performance of the polyeleos has undergone many layers of different traditions and local typika, and its structure has been repeatedly complicated. Today, it is practically impossible to perform the polyeleos in full according to the Typikon, as this would require enormous time, resources, and the suspension of other established traditions.

Currently, the polyeleos is performed on all Sundays throughout the year in conjunction with the "troparia after the blameless" (they received this name because they follow the 17th kathisma, also called "blameless" after the second word "Blessed are the blameless in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord"). In addition to these troparia, which celebrate the event of the Resurrection and begin with the words "The angelic assembly" (hence their second name), there is a special edition of them in the burial rite for the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos in modern worship. Previously, similar special troparia also existed for other significant feasts.

For example, on Palm Sunday: “The angelic assembly was amazed, seeing You ascend to the throne, glorified with palms and branches, borne on the chariots of the cherubim, hearing ‘Hosanna’ to the Son of David,” and other similar troparia on the same theme.

On Great Thursday: “The angelic assembly was amazed, seeing You converse with Your disciple, secretly offering Your Body as food, yet washing the feet of Your servants, O Savior, and being betrayed by a friend unto death.”

On Great Saturday: "The angelic assembly was amazed, seeing You given to the grave and wrapped in a shroud and myrrh, like a dead man, whom Joseph placed in the tomb, holding all in His hand" and so on.

Until the end of the 17th century, the Slavic liturgical tradition included the practice of singing the “troparia of the blameless” even on weekdays commemorating individual saints.

Meeting with the Gospel

In modern practice, selected Psalms and magnifications are also sung during festive Matins. Historically, the magnifications arose as special troparia for the antiphons and the “blameless”, only later developing into a separate short hymn of praise in honor of the feast or the saint’s virtue. Besides Matins, magnifications may also be sung at molebens and processions.

At festive Matins, short antiphons based on the Psalms of the 18th kathisma are sung. Their composition is traditionally attributed to St. Theodore the Studite, who believed that for monks it was more appropriate, instead of the solemn chanting of the “blameless” and festive antiphons, to use penitential hymns. These have an ascetic and instructive character and serve as a prayer for spiritual purification and the preparation of the faithful to hear the Gospel.

After them, a prokeimenon is chanted according to the tone of the week or feast, followed by the call, “Let us pray to the Lord.”

Why is it here? Of course, it refers to the very prayer before the reading of the Gospel, which should be read at this point, but due to a misunderstanding is recited among the other prayers during the Hexapsalmos, as mentioned earlier.

Here, the psalmic verses of praise “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord” are also sung. Historically, this is because in the early Church the Gospel was not read at the polyeleos, but at the end of Matins, after all the Old Testament readings, the psalms of praise, and the Great Doxology (as is now done at Matins on Great Saturday).

Before the actual reading, the proclamation is made: “And let us pray to be deemed worthy to hear the Holy Gospel of the Lord God,” while the choir sings the thrice-repeated “Lord, have mercy.” As many may have guessed, this form of petition comes from the time when the Gospel reading was preceded by a litany.

The liturgical exclamation liturgical exclamation "Wisdom! Let us attend. Let us hear the Holy Gospel" indicates the need not to sit, but to stand upright.

The Typikon also gives a detailed description of the rite of kissing the Gospel after its reading. It includes three bows and brief prayers. In this way, we express our joy at hearing the Gospel message and show our reverence, symbolically directed, of course, not to the inanimate book, but to Christ Himself.

The psalmic portion of Matins concludes with Psalm 50 (when it is a weekday Matins and the polyeleos is not performed, the psalm follows the sedalny and readings). After it, a short prayer is said: “Save, O God, Your people” – a remnant of the ancient penitential litany, reflecting the spirit of this psalm.

Originally, this was also the place for the priestly prayer, which has now been moved to the time of the Hexapsalmos and is read there as the tenth prayer. Thus ends the first, predawn, part of Matins.