Little Vespers and the All-Night Vigil

1. Tolling the Bell

Toward sunset, the server comes to the Rector for the signal that it is the time to ring the bell for divine service. Having received a blessing, he goes and carries out the duty of tolling the bell as laid down in the order of the Church Typikon. The toll for Little Vespers is rung on the small bell and lasts as long as is takes the ringer to read Psalm 50 or the Creed three times; then, after a short pause, he rings a little chime with the small bell and the chiming bells.

2. The Ninth Hour

When it is time for the reading of the Ninth Hour, the priest serving comes to church and vests in a stole. Having vested, the priest stands in the narthex (if the Ninth Hour is being read there), or on the ambo before the holy doors (if the Ninth Hour is served in the church) and pronounces the initial exclamation: Blessed is our God, always now and ever, and to the ages of ages.

3. The Normal Beginning

The reader begins the order for the reading of the Ninth Hour by answering Amen. He then says the prayers of the Normal Beginning: Glory to Thee, O Lord ..., O heavenly King ..., Holy God ..., Glory ..., Both now ..., All-holy Trinity ..., Lord have mercy (three times), Glory ..., Both now ..., Our Father. ... The priest pronounces the usual exclamation: For Thine is the kingdom. ... The reader answers: Amen. He continues to read the Ninth Hour with Lord have mercy (twelve times), Glory, now and ever. O come let us worship ..., and Psalms 83, 84, and 85. Glory ..., now and ever. Alleluia (three times). Lord have mercy (three times). Glory. ... The troparion appointed for the day (or of the feast or saint). Both now ..., the Theotokion of the hour: Thou Who for our sake ..., the verse of the hour: Forsake us not utterly ..., and the Trisagion Prayers.

4. The priest pronounces the usual exclamation: For Thine is the kingdom. ... The reader: Amen and the kontakion appointed for the day. Lord have mercy (forty times). Thou Who at all times. ... Lord have mercy (three times). Glory, Both now and ever. More honorable. ... In the name of the Lord, father, give the blessing. The priest responds: God be merciful to us and bless us. ... The reader says Amen and reads the Prayer of the Ninth Hour: O Sovereign, Lord Jesus Christ our God....

5. If the service is celebrated in the narthex, then the Lesser Dismissal is now given. The priest: Glory to Thee, O Christ our God and our Hope, glory to Thee. The people (choir): Glory ..., Both now. Lord have mercy (three times). Give the blessing. And the priest says the dismissal: May Christ our true God, through the prayers of His most pure Mother, of our venerable and God-loving fathers and all the saints, have mercy and save us, for He is good and loves mankind. The people answer this by singing Lord have mercy three times, and all (priest, reader, choir, brethren, and laity) leave the narthex and enter the church, where Little Vespers is begun.

6. If the service of the Ninth Hour is held in the church, then the dismissal is omitted and Little Vespers is begun immediately after the Prayer of the Ninth Hour.

7. Little Vespers

The priest, standing before the holy doors, begins by saying: Blessed is our God, always, now and ever and to the ages of ages. The reader: Amen. O come let us worship ..., and he reads Psalm 103 (the evening psalm) Bless the Lord, O my soul ... in a quiet and tender voice. After the psalm: Glory ..., Both now ..., Alleluia (three times), Lord have mercy (three times). Glory ..., Both now ..., and immediately they sing Lord I have cried in the tone of the Sunday. The first choir sings the verse: Lord, I have cried (as at Great Vespers), the second choir Let my prayer. ... The ensuing verses of Psalms 140, 141, and 129 are omitted. Having sung the verse From the morning watch ..., the first sticheron from the Octoechos is sung by the first choir. The second choir sings For with the Lord there is mercy ... and the second sticheron. The first choir sings Praise the lord all ye nations ... and the third sticheron. The second choir sings For mighty is his merciful kindness ... and the fourth sticheron. Then is sung Glory ..., Both now ..., and the so-called Lesser Theotokion, a sticheron in honor of the Mother of God, which is found in the order of Little Vespers in the Octoechos, immediately after which the reader reads: O Jesus Christ, Thou gentle light ..., after which the priest and the choir sing the prokeimenon.

8. The evening prokeimenon The Lord is King is proclaimed by the priest, two and a half times (and not four and a half as at Great Vespers). The priest: Let us attend. Peace be with you all (at these words, turning toward the people, the priest blesses them). Wisdom! Let us attend. Prokeimenon in the sixth tone: The Lord is King, and has put on glorious apparel. The first choir sings in the sixth tone: The Lord is King. ... The priest, the verse: The Lord has put on His apparel: and girded Himself with strength. The second choir sings: The Lord is King ... in the same tone. The priest sings the first half of the prokeimenon: The Lord is King. The first choir completes the second half of the prokeimenon: And has put on glorious apparel.

9. Immediately after the prokeimenon, the reader begins Vouchsafe, O Lord ... and after this are sung the Aposticha.

10. The Aposticha are found in the Octoechos, in the order for Little Vespers of the Sunday in the appointed tone. The first choir begins to sing the first resurrection sticheron. Then the second choir sings the verse: The memory of His name is from age to age and the first verse of the stichera to the Mother of God of the Octoechos. The first choir sings the verse: Hearken O daughter ... and the second verse to the Mother of God. The second choir sings the verse: Thy face ... and the third verse to the Mother of God. The first choir: Glory ..., Both now ..., and the Theotokion for Little Vespers in the Octoechos (of the Aposticha). Immediately after this has been sung, the reader begins: Lord, now lettest ThouThy servant depart in peace ... and the Trisagion Prayers. The priest, the normal exclamation: For Thine is the kingdom. ... The first choir sings Amen and the Resurrection Troparion, the second choir: Glory ..., Both now ..., and the Theotokion of the Resurrection Troparion.

11. Then the priest, on the ambo, pronounces the Lesser (shortened) Litany of Fervent Supplication, which has just four petitions.

Priest: Have mercy on us. ... People:...