Dawn Matins: why are the songs of Moses and Solomon sung in the church?
The sun rises, and the psalms are replaced by ancient hymns of victory. Why do Christians sing the songs of the Old Testament, and how did the morning service become a poetic encyclopedia?
The pre-dawn part of Matins is left behind. With the sunrise, there is a change in the structure and character of the service. If the first part consists mainly of psalms, the second part has very few of them.
The central place here is biblical songs. These are God-inspired odes of the Holy Scripture, born at special moments in the history of salvation and spiritual renewal. They were sung by prophets and righteous people during times of victory and deliverance from troubles, in repentance and thanksgiving, and in anticipation of the coming of the Messiah.
The Church initially perceived them as the pinnacle of biblical poetry and included them in the structure of the morning service. Already Saint Athanasius of Alexandria speaks of their use, mentioning the Song of Moses and the hymn of the Babylonian youths; while Saint John Chrysostom calls the latter a festal hymn sung by “the whole universe”. Thus, from ancient times, biblical songs have been not a private embellishment but a common church form of prayer and praise to God.
From four to nine
In the first centuries of Christianity, only four biblical songs were performed at Matins — one from the Pentateuch, one by Solomon, and one or two from the prophets. However, by the 6th century in the East, the number of songs used had increased to fifteen, and by the 7th century, the practice of singing nine songs was firmly established. This order has been preserved in the Orthodox liturgical tradition to this day.
- The first song, beginning with the words "We will sing to the Lord," is a thanksgiving hymn of the Israelites after crossing the Red Sea (Ex. 15: 1–19). Seeing their salvation and the destruction of their pursuers, the people sang praise to God: "We will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously..."
- The second – "Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak" – is a reproachful speech of Moses addressed to the Israelites in the desert to awaken them to repentance (Deut. 32: 1–44).
- The third – "My heart rejoices in the Lord" – is the song of Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel, sung in thanksgiving for deliverance from barrenness (1 Sam. 2: 1–10).
- The fourth, beginning with the words "O Lord, I have heard Your speech," is composed of verses from the book of the prophet Habakkuk and contains a prophecy about the coming of Christ (Hab. 3: 1–19).
- The fifth – "My soul yearns for You in the night" – is a prayerful address to the coming Redeemer from the book of the prophet Isaiah (Is. 29: 9–19).
- The sixth – "I cried out to the Lord in my distress" – is the prayer of the prophet Jonah in the belly of the whale, perceived by the Church as a prototype of the resurrection of Christ (Jon. 2: 3–10).
- The seventh – "Blessed are You, O Lord God of our fathers" – is the praise of the three youths thrown into the Babylonian furnace for their faithfulness to the true God (Dan. 3: 26–56).
- The eighth – "Bless the Lord, all works of the Lord" – is the continuation of this praise, addressed to all creation (Dan. 3: 67–88).
- The ninth song has a composite character. First, the song of the Most Holy Theotokos "My soul glorifies the Lord" (Lk. 1: 46–55) is sung, during which the censing of the church is performed, then it is joined by the song of the prophet Zechariah "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel" (Lk. 1: 68–79), sung at the birth of John the Forerunner.
Choir vs. choir
Initially, like the psalms, biblical songs were sung antiphonally, i.e., alternately by two choirs, with a short refrain after each verse. Thus, the refrain for the first song was: "We will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously"; for the second song from Deuteronomy, different refrains were used for different parts of the text; for the third – "Have mercy on me, O Lord"; for the fourth – "Glory to Your power, O Lord"; for the fifth and sixth – "Have mercy on me, O Lord"; for the seventh – "Praise the Lord, all works, and exalt Him forever" and so on.
Echoes of this method of performance are noticeable now in the Twelve Great Feasts when special festive refrains are are added to the second part of the ninth song. The texts of the biblical songs are contained in the Irmologion and the Followed Psalter. The Irmologion offers 3 versions – Lenten (full), weekday (shortened), and festive (even more abridged). Chapters 18 and 49 of the Typicon provide detailed guidance on which days and in what form they are to be performed.
The connection of times
Currently, in our Church, biblical songs are rarely performed – only on weekdays of Great Lent, but even then they are perceived by many as an addition to the canon. Yet in reality, it is the opposite: the hymnographic genre familiar to us, the canon, is based on biblical songs; from them it receives its number of songs and verses and is connected to them in both form and content.
The canon consists of two main types of hymns: irmoi and troparia. In our previous publications, the word “troparion” referred to the main hymn of a feast; in this context, however, it denotes a single stanza. The irmos (from the word “connection”) serves a linking function: it connects the troparia dedicated to the celebrated event with a biblical song, which in itself may not have a direct relation to that event.
This connection is achieved in various ways. Sometimes it takes the form of a theological reflection on an Old Testament event from the biblical song in the light of a New Testament feast; sometimes through artistic parallels between events; or simply by conveying the general mood of the biblical song, symbolically indicating the relationship of the celebrated event to the whole history of salvation.
The architecture of prayer
Initially, the canon consisted of only one song. Troparia were attached to the biblical song of the Babylonian youths (the current eighth). Later, the ninth song was added on the same principle, resulting in a two-song canon. Later, troparia began to be attached to one of the regular songs of the day (Monday – 1, Tuesday – 2, Wednesday – 3, etc.), thus forming a three-song canon – for a long time the most common form of the canon.
From it originated the Lenten Triodion and the Festal Triodion, as well as the custom of performing triptychs at the Vespers of the forefeasts of Christmas, Theophany, and some other feasts, such as the Transfiguration. For Saturdays, the canon took a more expanded form – with four songs – and later, in liturgical practice, the canon of nine songs became firmly established.
All of these early forms of the canon are characterized by the absence of irmoi and a small number of troparia – usually two to four in each song. This ancient form is still preserved in supplicatory canons.
It is quite possible that irmoi and troparia were initially conceived not as a replacement for the refrains to biblical songs, but as their addition. Only over time did the practice of alternating the verses of biblical songs with the troparia of the canon become established, which was fixed by most Typikons.
The echo of history
According to the Typicon, biblical songs are to accompany the canon only at Matins. In all other cases — at Vespers, the Midnight Office, supplications, anointing, funerals, memorial services – refrains are attached to the troparia: "Glory, O Lord, to Your holy resurrection," "Most Holy Theotokos, save us," "Holy (name), pray to God for us" and the like.
Until the mid-17th century, not only biblical songs but also all the troparia of the canons were sung. However, this excessively prolonged the service and often led to polyphony (when different parts of the service were read simultaneously to save time). As a result, the hierarchical authorities even had to prohibit the singing of the canon. Nevertheless, of course, singing the canon is not forbidden in the absence of polyphony.
The number of troparia in the canon is also directly related to the biblical songs. Since these songs vary in length, the shortest one – the sixth song of the prophet Jonah – was taken as the standard. In the biblical text, it consists of 8 verses, and in the liturgical version – 11, to which the obligatory “Glory” and “Now and ever”, as well as the irmos, are added. Thus, there are 14 troparia in each song of the canon. A smaller number is allowed, but not more, because the troparia must alternate with the verses of the biblical song, and there are simply not enough verses for a greater number.
The Typicon always specifies an even number of troparia, which is related to the antiphonal performance of the canon by two choirs and the equal distribution of hymns between them.
Canon structure
Over the course of its historical development, the structure of the canon gradually changed. The original connection of the irmoi with the texts of the biblical songs weakened, the Troparia of the Trinity and later the Theotokion troparia were abolished. The most noticeable change was the disappearance of the second song from most canons. Due to its strictly penitential content, it has been preserved only in some canons of Great Lent.
Even so, according to the Typicon, a sung festal canon is still substantial in length, so its performance is divided by two interludes, which occur after the third and sixth songs. These pauses, including the litany, sedalny or kontakia with ikoi, and readings of instructions, are intended to give a rest from singing the canon and revive the attention of the listeners.
The canon concludes with a lamp-lighting hymn (which, in content, glorifies God as the Giver of light) or an exapostilarion (from the Greek word “sent out”), which is connected to the practice of sending the singer into the middle of the church to perform it.
The breath of praise
At the conclusion of the canon, the psalms of praise (148–150) are sung. These have been part of Matins since ancient times and, due to their joyful character, are never omitted, even on Pascha night. On weekdays they are read, while on feast days they are sung to a specific melody (tone) along with several stichera, forming a single hymn that begins and ends with the words: “Let every breath praise the Lord.” This emphasizes the continuity of praise as the life of the Church.
Following the psalms of praise is the morning doxology, beginning with the exclamation: “Glory to You, who have shown us the light.” According to the Typicon, the doxology may be read or sung, but the sung form is the more ancient. In its structure, it combines the angelic praise of the Nativity of Christ with a prayer for the preservation of humanity in truth and instruction in God’s commandments.
The doxology concludes with the Trisagion and the final troparion, as well as litanies and dismissal. In ancient times, as mentioned in the previous article, the Gospel was read not at the Polyeleos, but here – at the end of Matins, after the Great Doxology (as is still done today at Matins on Holy Saturday).
Light and oil
The conclusion of Matins was, in certain cases, supplemented by special rites. One of these is the morning litia (similar to Vespers, but much shorter), which involves going out into the narthex while singing a single solo sticheron — whether a sticheron of the church, of the saint being celebrated, or a so-called Gospel sticheron (associated with the Gospel reading).
On the days of great feasts, it could be accompanied by the prayer “O Master, Most Merciful” and anointing with oil, a practice dating back to the Lavra of St. Sabbas the Sanctified, where from the 5th century the monks were anointed with oil from the lamp burning at St. Sabbas’ tomb, symbolizing the blessing of the abbot upon the brethren.
Over time, this anointing spread to other festal services. In the modern practice of our Church, it is usually performed after the Gospel reading at the Polyeleos and is often perceived as the central moment of the service, although originally it was merely a local addition.
Lessons for the laity
Another possible addition to Matins is the reading of the instructions of St. Theodore the Studite. This originated from the Studion Monastery, where the late abbot, during his lifetime, instructed the brethren of his monastery three times a week and bequeathed to his successors to continue doing so after his death.
These instructions are delivered in the same manner as John Chrysostom’s catechetical homily at the Paschal Matins, that is, read by the abbot or another authoritative figure.
For the laity, it is not necessary to read the full instructions of Theodore the Studite, as they are primarily concerned with monastic life. However, Saint Theophan the Recluse notes that even laypeople can find much that is useful in them. It is also possible to read more accessible texts, such as the “Catechetical Discourses” by Saint Cyril of Jerusalem or the dogmatic works of John of Damascus. The most important thing is not the quantity read, but careful reflection on what is absorbed by the heart and mind.
We have now concluded our consideration of Matins, and all this information will help us not only to understand the order and meaning of church worship more deeply, but also to organize our own home morning prayer more consciously. Next time, we will explore some additional variants of the morning service, which will be useful for home practice.
