Contents
List of abbreviations used 1. Evening prayers: 2. Morning prayers: Introduction Structural analysis of cell prayers Table. Comparison of the final litany of Compline and Midnight Office with [B18] Historical development of cell prayers in Rus’. The emergence and formation of cell rules (XI–XVI centuries) Manuscripts of the Joseph-Volotsk Monastery (late 15th–17th centuries) Consolidation of cell rules in the practice of daily prayer (XVI–XIX centuries) Final formation and current state (XX–XXI centuries) Modern practice of personal daily prayer in the Greek and English-speaking Churches Conclusion Appendix. Composition of the corpus of evening prayers in the manuscripts of the Joseph-Volotsk Monastery

List of used abbreviations1

1. Evening prayers:

[ВI] – troparia of repentance, incipits1: “Have mercy on us, Lord…”, Glory: “Lord, have mercy on us…”, And now: “The doors of mercy…”

[В1] – 1st evening prayer of St. Macarius the Great: “Eternal God and King of every creation…”

[В2] – 2nd evening prayer to St. Antiochus: “To the Almighty, the Word of the Father…”

[В3] – 3rd evening prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian: “Lord, Heavenly King, Comforter, Soul of Truth…”

[В4] – 4th evening prayer of St. Macarius the Great: “What I will bring to You, or what I will repay to You…”

[В5] – 5th evening prayer: “O Lord our God, who have sinned in these days…”

[В6] – 6th evening prayer: “O Lord our God, in the worthlessness of faith…”

[В7] – 7th evening prayer to St. John Chrysostom: “Lord, do not deprive me of Your heavenly blessings…”

[В8] – 8th evening prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, for the sake of Thy most honorable Mother…”

[В9] – 9th evening prayer of Peter of Studium: “To Thee, Most Pure Mother of God, I, the accursed one, fall down and pray…”

[Q10] – 10th evening prayer: “Good Mother of the King…”

[В11] – 11th evening prayer: “To the Angel of Christ, my holy guardian…”

[В12] – kontakion and troparia to the Mother of God: [В12a] – “To the chosen Voivode…”

[В12b] – “Glorious Ever-Virgin…”

[В12c] – “All my hope…”

[В12d] – “Virgin Mother of God, do not despise me…”

[В13] – prayer of St. Joannikia: “My hope is the Father…”

[В14] – prayer of St. John of Damascus: “Master Lover of Mankind, will this tomb really be my bed…”

[В15] – troparia:

[В15a] – “Enlighten my eyes…”

[В15b] – “Wake up the protector of my soul…”

[В15с] – “The Most Glorious Mother of God…”

[В16] – prayer to the Honest Cross: “May God rise again…”

[В17] – “Loosen it, leave it…”

[В18] – “Forgive those who hate and offend us, O Lord, Lover of Mankind…”

[В19] – confession of sins: “I confess to You, the Lord my God and Creator…”

[В20] – “In Your hands…”

2. Morning prayers:

[UI] – Trinity troparia: “Rising from sleep…”, Glory: “From bed and sleep…”, And now: “Suddenly2 the Judge will come…”

[UII] – prayer to the Most Holy Trinity: “Rising from sleep, I thank Thee, Holy Trinity…”

[U1] – 1st morning prayer of St. Macarius the Great: “God, cleanse me, a sinner, for I have never done anything good before You…”

[U2] – his 2nd morning prayer: “Rising from sleep, I bring the midnight song to Ti, the Savior…”

[U3] – his 3rd morning prayer: “To You, Lord, Lover of Mankind, I have arisen from sleep…”

[U4] – his 4th morning prayer: “Lord, Who through your many goodness…”

[UV] – his 5th morning prayer (from the Kiev-Pechersk prayer book): “Lord God, Almighty, accept from Your Heavenly Powers the trisagion hymn…”

[U5] – 5th morning prayer to St. Basil the Great: “Lord Almighty, God of hosts and all flesh…”

[U6] – his 6th morning prayer: “We bless you, O highest God and Lord of mercy…”

[U7] – 7th morning prayer: “I sing of Your grace, O Lady…”

[U8] – 8th morning prayer: “My many-merciful and all-merciful God…”

[U9] – 9th morning prayer: “Holy Angel, stand before my damned soul and my passionate life…”

[U10] – 10th morning prayer: “My Most Holy Lady Theotokos…”

[U11a] – prayer to the saint: “Pray to God for me…”

[U11b] – “Virgin Mother of God, rejoice…”

[U11s] – troparion to the Cross: “Save, O Lord, Thy people…”

Introduction

Prayer occupies one of the most important places in the life of every Orthodox Christian. In an effort to follow the commandment of the Apostle Paul to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17), during a certain historical process in the Orthodox Church, a daily circle of worship was formed, consisting of eight services: Vespers, Compline, Midnight Office, the first, third, sixth and ninth hours and pictorial ones. For a long time they remained an ideal example of not only church, but also home prayer. However, over time in Rus’, in the practice of personal Orthodox piety, these liturgical sequences began to be replaced by a body of special prayers, which has several names: “prayer rule”, “cell rule”, “evening and morning prayers”. These prayers are the most common version of cell prayer in the Russian Orthodox Church. But, despite their wide distribution, the corpus of prayers itself in its historical formation is poorly studied in modern theological science, and the number of publications on this subject is currently negligible. This degree of research into evening and morning cell prayers, together with their daily performance by every child of the Russian Orthodox Church, determines the relevance and novelty of this work.

The issue of terms deserves special attention. By calling the home prayers of the laity with the words “cell” and “rule”3, the Church thereby emphasizes the connection between the monastic and secular lifestyles, striving towards one ideal – the Lord Himself: be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect (Matt. 5:48). This idea is developed by Saint Athanasius (Sakharov; 1887–1962): “This name for home prayer not only of a monk, but also of a layman is typical – “cell rule.” It indicates that home prayers, both for monks and laypeople, should not be something disordered, random, but should be precisely the RULE, i.e. must be compiled according to a known rule, must have a more or less definite order and possible constancy”4. The name of modern collections of cell prayers – “Prayers” – is also very interesting. The Greek version of this word is “Εὐχολόγιον” – this is how, in the liturgical practice of the Greek-speaking Local Churches, a book similar to the Russian Missal and partly the Trebnik is called. Actually, the prayer book in our understanding in Greece is “Προσευχητάριον”, which can be translated into Russian roughly as “prayer book”. But it also does not contain the body of prayers that is used in the modern practice of the Russian Orthodox Church.

An interesting point is also the fact that among Russian books the first “Prayer Book” is not a collection of prayers for home use, but the “Trebnik of Peter the Mogila” published in 1646, on the title page of which its full name is given – “EYXΟΛΟΓΙΩΝ, albo Prayer Book, or Trebnik”.

The purpose of this work is to study the historical development of the body of evening and morning prayers; to achieve it, the following tasks were set:

1. Consider the structure of the evening and morning rules, differentiate its elements into two groups of prayers: those taken from the liturgical rites and those brought from the practice of cell monastic prayer.

2. To explore currently available liturgical monuments that shed light on the genesis of cell rituals in Rus’ from the moment of its Baptism to the present state.

3. Carry out a comparative analysis of the Russian cell rule with home prayers used in the practice of the Greek and English-speaking Local Orthodox Churches.

To compare information from manuscripts and printed books with the modern corpus of evening and morning cell prayers, we took the “Prayer Book,” published in 2010 in the Moscow Sretensky Monastery5.

Structural analysis of cell prayers

The idea of ​​dedicating a certain time during the day to God is quite ancient. The Church of Christ, being the heir of the Old Testament Church, absorbed and rethought all its experience. This applies to worship in general and daily prayers in particular. Therefore, it is necessary to note that Christianity adopted the very principle of performing home prayers and its basic ideas from Jewish piety, dissolving it with the salt of the Gospel teaching6.

The first Christian community, of course, at the beginning of its existence did not have any clearly recorded rites of daily prayer that were different from the Jewish tradition. After the events of Pentecost (see: Acts 2:1–4), special gifts of the Holy Spirit were poured out in the Church on all believers, one of the manifestations of which was the charismatic principle in worship. However, already in such an early monument of Christian writing as the “Didache” (2nd century), there appears a desire for some ordering of the prayer life of Christians,7 which, having gone through a certain path of development, finds its completion in the formation of specific regulations for the performance of liturgical sequences, which for a long time determined both the public and private prayer practice of Orthodox Christians.

However, subsequently prayers arise that are intended specifically for private performance. The exact time and place of origin of the body of evening and morning prayers used today in the prayer life of the children of the Russian Orthodox Church is unknown to modern liturgical science.

The prayer rule is a special “paraliturgical” text that has no analogues in Orthodox worship. However, some prayers in the evening and morning rules are borrowed from liturgical rites, therefore the question of the emergence of a body of cell prayers is closely related to the question of the genesis of liturgical rites, which requires separate research. First of all, in both evening and morning prayers there is a so-called “ordinary beginning” – the oldest part of modern worship, which in the 2nd–14th centuries went through a path of development from one Lord’s prayer (“Our Father”) to its modern form8.

If we take the two bodies of daily prayers separately, then they show borrowings from the liturgical rites, mainly Great Compline and the Midnight Office for evening and morning prayers, respectively:

1. In the evening rule from Great Compline: [BI] – troparia for the 2nd Trisagion, [B12b] and [B13] are read before dismissal, [B15a] and [B15b] – troparia for the 1st Trisagion on Monday and Wednesday, [В18] is not read in the temple, but is printed as an appendix to Compline. [At15 s] – troparion of the first hour of the Trisagion on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. [B17] is in the figurative sequence after the Creed. [B12a] is the first kontakion of the Akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos.

2. The morning rule is brought closer to the Midnight Office: Psalm 50, Creed, [U5] and [U6]. Also taken from the Book of Hours are the initial cell prayers before the Midnight Office: [UI] and [UII]. [U11b] and [U11c] are used in worship as troparia.

[В18], in addition to what is printed in the Book of Hours as an appendix to Compline, its composition is in some way similar to the final litany of Compline and Midnight Office:

Table. Comparison of the final litany of Compline and Midnight Office with [B18]

Basically, only these cell prayers, which are included in the liturgical rites, have prototypes in Greek; the exact source of the appearance of the remaining prayers is unknown. Among other prayers, the Greek original is known only [В3], [В7], [В20] and [У9] (the latter is printed in Greek liturgical books as an appendix to Little Compline). The lack of prototypes of the remaining prayers in Greek, although perhaps still a matter of further research into undetected manuscripts, is currently a significant problem in liturgical science in determining the source of the corpus of evening and morning cell prayers.

Due to the presence of similar features, it is assumed that cell prayers have become established in the practice of Orthodox piety as some kind of “economic” replacement of liturgical sequences in the daily prayer rule of a Christian10. It is known that in ancient times the laity, following the example of the monastic way of life, tried to perform ordinary services at home, without replacing them with any kind of succession. Gradually, such daily services as Compline and Midnight Office began to disappear from parish life. At first, the laity made up for the lack of conciliar prayer in the church by performing the indicated rites in private, but then, as we will see later, rules began to appear, which at first were only an addition to the main services, but later completely replaced them and replaced them. Therefore, evening and morning prayers are called “domesticated” versions of Compline and Midnight Office, respectively, incorporating, on the one hand, the practice of conciliar church observances, and on the other, cell monastic prayers11.

Historical development of cell prayers in Rus’. The emergence and formation of cell rules (XI–XVI centuries)

It is not possible to determine the exact time of the emergence of cell prayers other than church services in Rus’ due to the almost complete absence of any sources. There is no doubt that the most ancient norm of home prayer after the formation of divine services was the private performance of church services. Rus’, which adopted Orthodox Christianity from Byzantium in 988, along with it adopted the Byzantine tradition of piety: the rules of church services and the way of life of an Orthodox Christian, which also includes cell prayer.

We can observe the earliest version of a special personal prayer rule during the period of dominance of the Studite Rule in Rus’ (XI-XIV centuries)12. Among his services there was a “rite of agreement,” a brief version of which was prescribed to be carried out privately13. We find its oldest descriptions in the Books of Hours of the 13th–14th centuries: RNL.Q. paragraph I.57; RNB. Soph. No. 1052. The researcher of this rank, E.E. Sliwa notes that its composition is similar to modern morning prayers: in both sequences there is the usual beginning, [UI], the Creed, which, in turn, goes back to the rule “even if the Angel of the Lord gave the great Pachomius”14.

We find separate evidence of private church celebrations in Ancient Rus’ in the monument of ancient Russian literature “The Life of Boris and Gleb”, which tells that on the eve of his martyrdom, the holy passion-bearer Boris (†1015) ordered Vespers to be performed, and in the morning – Matins15. In the “Instruction to the Brethren” by Novgorod Archbishop Luka Zhidyata (11th century), the importance of prayer before going to bed is emphasized: “Don’t be lazy about going to church for matins, mass, and vespers; and in your cage, going to sleep, first pray to God, and then lie down on your bed”16. From these evidence we can conclude that at least in the first centuries of Christianity in Rus’, home prayer was the private performance of church services, which fully reflected the Byzantine practice of piety.

According to available sources, from the middle of the 14th century in Rus’, rites distinct from liturgical rites, intended for private performance, began to appear. It is very difficult and, probably, even practically impossible to accurately determine the source of their occurrence. And although there are some assumptions about their foreign origin (for example, through the influence of cell rules from Holy Mount Athos)17, none of these hypotheses can provide accurate documentary data.

The earliest known source of a separate cell-based sequence of evening prayers is the ktitor’s charter of the Chudov Monastery (at the turn of the 1360s–1370s), in one of the chapters of which there is a corpus of prayers with the following title: “if anyone pleases, he also performs these prayers in his cell, when the monk must eat.” It includes: five main prayers ([Q1], [Q5], [Q11], [Q10] and [Q8]) and several additional ones ([Q12b], [Q12c], [Q12d] and [В13])18. The inclusion of this body of prayers immediately after Great Compline in the Psalter with the eulogy of St. Cyprian of Moscow (c. 1430)19 became the next stage in their popularization and dissemination of the very idea of ​​​​creating private collections of cell prayers; this process received its greatest development at the end of the 15th–16th centuries. The special significance of this collection lies in the fact that, according to Hieromonk Dalmat (Yudin), a researcher of the corpus of evening and morning prayers, it “was an archetype for the subsequent tradition of the composition of the Psalter with its continuation in East Slavic literature”20.

Manuscripts of the Joseph-Volotsk Monastery (late 15th–17th centuries)

Rich material on the question of the genesis of the prayer rule is provided by manuscripts from the library of the Joseph-Volotsk Monastery, dating from the end of the 15th century to the 17th century. Naturally, a common feature for most manuscripts with prayers (services of the Book of Hours) is the presence of those prayers of the cell rule that were borrowed from the liturgical rites21.

The psalter from the end of the 15th century among the services of the daily circle also has a special rule with an inscription similar to the body of evening prayers from the Charter of the Chudov Monastery – “if anyone pleases from the most active monks, he also performs these prayers alone in his cell, when he should eat sleep”: [В1], [В2], [В5], [V11], [V10], [V8], [V12] ([V12b] slightly changed), [V13] (“My hope is God, my refuge is Christ, and my Patron is the Holy Spirit”) and dismissal22. This corpus of prayers is a model for subsequent books, which are largely based on this tradition of cell prayers, slightly differing or supplementing it (see Appendix).

The psalter of the late 15th century also contains standard evening prayers, but has several short prayer addresses before dismissal: “My protection, my Lady, my Lady Theotokos,” “My protection, the holy Guardian Angel, given to me by God,” “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, bless, sanctify, protect us with the power of the Cross,” “Lord my, Your strength is the will, not mine” or “My Lord, whether I want or not, save me, the accursed one”, “My Lord, as you will, help us”, “Having given birth to the never-setting Light, Pure Maiden, enlighten my mind and glorify Thee”23.

The handwritten Psalter with prayer (c. 1550) offers short prayer addresses to the Lord, the Most Holy Theotokos and all the saints and the same prayers, except [B2], after the dismissal the prayers of St. Cyril of Turov are placed24. Separately recorded [В7]25.

The Psalter with the Book of Hours of the 16th century has a special beginning for the monastic rule, which contains: [U1], in 4th place there is a prayer that is attributed to St. John Chrysostom and in some places is very close in content to [B14]26; after the great party – similar NIOR RSL.F. 113. No. 57 (152) prayers for “the most active monks”27.

The Psalter with the Book of Hours and the Paschalia of the 16th century before the Midnight Office contains a small sequence performed by a monk alone in his cell, among whom is present [U1]28. In “skillful prayers” – [В5], first part [В7], [У10]29. This manuscript offers unique material: a significantly expanded corpus of prayers for the “most active monks”: [V1], [V2], [V5], [V11], [V10], [V8], similar in content to [V14] prayer “Lord, see the trouble my…”, prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian “Lord my God and my Savior…”, [Q16], [Q9], [Q12], [Q13] and dismissal30.

The psalter from the end of the 15th – beginning of the 16th century contains an insertion written in a handwriting different from the main part of the manuscript, where in the sequence “how to begin your rule in the cell” [U1] is attributed to a certain “Mark the monk”31. The regulations for holding an all-night vigil after the dismissal contain a very brief (“Hating”) instruction to read, probably [B18]32. The manuscript contains the original version of the prayers “for the most active monks”: [V1], [V2], [V5], [V11], [V10], [V8], [V16], prayer “against the blasphemous demon”: “May your illness turn on your head…”, [V12a], “He rejoices in You…”, slightly modified [V12b], [V12c], [V12d], [V13] and a dismissal, after which [V7] is added. Similar versions of the RSL NIOR are also given. F. 113. No. 59 (211) short prayers33.

In the Psalter from the first half of the 16th century, among the prayers before reading the psalms, there is [U1]34, after them and the words of St. John of Damascus “On the tenderness of the soul” there is an interesting section: “On lying down on the bed. And pointing with his hand, he spoke to his mother (Damaskynov),” after which there was placed the prayer “O Master Lord and Lover of Mankind, will not my grave be my bed…”, very close to the modern [V14]35. This manuscript also contains the later theological basis for [B19] “The Everyday Confession of Sins,” attributed to the monk Callistus Xanthopoulos († c. 1350)36. By analogy with the above-mentioned manuscripts, there are initial prayers before the Midnight Office, where there are [U1] and [UII]37, after the Midnight Office there are prayers in private: slightly different [U18]38, [U5]39, [U6] (“the prayer of the ether”)40. In the sequence of the Saturday Midnight Office among the trinities on “And Now” – the 2nd trinity from the beginning of the morning rule41. After the 1st hour, it is offered, “if you want,” its “hourly” (between hours), which is not performed in the temple, but only in the cell42.

A special group of manuscripts are the canons, the main and most of the contents of which, as their name implies, are various canons, but there are also some additional prayers. It should be noted that not all sources have exactly this name, so they are called canons conventionally. Manuscript from the late 15th – early 16th centuries, RSL. No. 73 (309) already has the inscription “The Eve of the New Miracle Worker”43. An interesting feature of the canon of the late 16th century is the inclusion of the second part [В7] and [В3] in the “Confession to the monk Christ God every day”, placed after “The rite is for the separation of the soul, when the brother begins to faint”44. In another canon dating to the same time, after the canon to the Holy and Life-Giving Trinity, several prayers are added, among which there is [B18]45. In the same manuscript, among the “skillful prayers” for monks, there are: [U7] (with the inscription: “The Midnight Song to the Most Holy Theotokos in letters”) and [B16]46. In the canon, also dating back to the 16th century, among the usual prayers “for the most active monks” are placed: a special prayer “against the blasphemous demon” – “The Lord, the all-evil devil, forbids you…” (after [B10])47 and a commemoration (after the dismissal)48. In the cannon of the 17th century there are special “prayers for every day in the cell of the monk after matins,” among which: in third place – [U3], in fourth – [U1], in fifth – [V5], in sixth place – [U10]49.

The Book of Hours with additional articles of the 15th–16th centuries has a slightly modified order of prayers “for the most active monks”: [В1], [В11], [В5], [В10], [В8], [В12], [В13] and dismissal, after which it is suggested to read [B18]50. In the Book of Hours of the third quarter of the 16th century [U1] and [UII] are placed after the canon to the Holy and Life-Giving Trinity and the hypnosis of eight voices51.

The manuscript of the mid-16th century, which has no beginning, but is conventionally called the “Prayer Book,” contains cell prayers for the Midnight Office, which, among other things, include: [U5], [U6], [U8]52. Among the prayers for Matins are [V5], [V9], [V11], [V10], [U3], [U1]53. An interesting point is also the change in the initial heading before the prayers “for the most active monks”; now they are offered for reading to the laity as well – “these prayers are said according to Nephimon from the most active monks, monks and laity”54. The corpus of prayers itself has been significantly expanded: [V1], [V2], [V3], the second part [V7], [V8], a short prayer of St. Isaac the Syrian: “In Christ the fulfillment of the truth…”, [V5], [V11], [V10], [B12d], [B13], dismissal, several short prayers to the Cross of Christ, [B16], prayer “Thou shalt depart to the devil from the whole house and from the foundations of it…”, prayer “for the departure of the soul” (“we do not know when death will come”55) – “O Lord God Almighty Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…”56.

In the liturgical collection of the late 16th century there is “The Rite of When One Should Eat to Sleep”: [BI], the prayer of St. Basil “Lord and Lord…”, [B1], [B2] (addressed not to the Lord Jesus Christ, but to the entire Holy Trinity), [B5], [B11], [В10], prayer to the Cross “The guardian cross is most powerful…”, [В16], [В8], [В12], [В13], three special prayers to the Most Holy Theotokos, a prayer to the Lord, “It is worthy to eat” and a note with requests of a personal nature57. Separately recorded is [B7]58 attributed to the Monk Pachomius, and [B18]59 is also present.

Consolidation of cell rules in the practice of daily prayer (XVI-XIX centuries)

In connection with the final transition of the liturgical life of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 15th century to the Jerusalem Typicon, cell prayers also changed. The well-known monument of the mid-16th century, “Domostroy,” instructs the laity to perform a sequence of church services at home: in the evening – “vespers, evening service and midnight office”, in the morning – “matins and hours and a prayer service with prayer”60. It should be noted that this book reflects not the actual, but the ideal order of organizing family life, so it is quite possible that these recommendations were not a general rule in Rus’.

The origin of the idea of ​​the “Prayer Book” as a book for personal prayers is associated with the activities of the scribe Francis Skaryna (c. 1490–1551). It is assumed that around 1522 he published the “Small Travel Book”, which included: the Psalter with devotions, the Book of Hours, eight akathists, eight canons, the Six Days, the Canon of Penitence and the Sequence of the Church Assembly. The actual prayer rule as such is not contained in this monument, but it is believed that it was it that became the prototype of the prayer books, since it included the Book of Hours with instructions for the performance of services by the laity, which once again confirms the practice of performing liturgical services in cells61.

Subsequently, the printing houses of the Holy Spirit of the Vilnius Brotherhood and Prince Konstantin of Ostrog became the main centers for the development and establishment of collections of cell prayers. The first book among the Church Slavonic press, which contained prayers specifically for cell use, was the collection “Everyday Prayers” published in 1595, compiled according to the charter of the brotherhood of the Holy Spiritual Church in the city of Vilna. Among other things, it included prayers for midnight, morning and “for the coming sleep.” The next stage of development was the publication in Ostroh of the Psalter with Resurrection (1598), its compiler took as a basis three rites from the collection of the Vilna brotherhood and combined them into two sequences – the prayers “rising from sleep” and “for the night”, which were subsequently enshrined in the collections of the Vilna tradition. Somewhat later, another tradition of prayer rules appeared, associated with the activities of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra printing house opened in 1616. Based largely on the collections of the Vilna Brotherhood, the Kiev-Pechersk scribes changed the composition of the prayers: some of them were removed, but “Worship to the monk for every day according to the rule” was added, which was subsequently edited several times. In some modern editions it is placed in the evening prayers after [В15]62. A characteristic feature of further editions of the Kiev-Pechersk tradition is the presence of [UV]. A feature of the publications of the Moscow Printing House is the printing of only two traditional sequences – the “sleeping” prayers and the order “how to begin your rule in your cell”63.

Morning cell prayers, unlike evening prayers, appear quite late – one of the earliest known versions (16th century) was published by A.V. Shishkin in his article “Morning cell prayer rule according to the RGADA manuscript. Syn. type. (F. 381). 220, XVI century.” They are performed “every day after Matins” in the following composition: the initial prayer is “Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee, despising our sins. Glory to Thee, our God, All-Holy Trinity, glory to Thee”; “I slept and fell asleep and arose, for the Lord would protect me” (Ps. 3:6); the prayer “Glory to Thee, our God, Lover of Mankind…” with the addition of a petition to the Guardian Angel; [U3]; “God, cleanse me, a sinner, and do not forsake me…”; [В5] with replacements: instead of “in these days” – “in this night”, instead of “peaceful sleep” – “peaceful day”; first half [B7] (relating to 12 noon); [U10] with minor changes; “Now falling down, the Most Pure Lady Theotokos…”; dismissal64, after which for each day of the week special prayers are offered to “the holy monk Cyril Mnich, Venerable Turov”65. The importance of following the cell prayer rule for priests, deacons and “everyone who learns the word of God” is also emphasized in another monument – the RSL. TSL-basic (F. 304–1), 793, 16th century.66 Morning and evening prayers (occupying one page) are also found in the Euchology of the Russian Orthodox Church. No. 450 of the Alaverdi Church Museum (dating from the 16th century), but, unfortunately, its descriptor, Professor K.S. Kekelidze does not provide their text67.

The body of evening prayers is gradually being developed. In the canon of 1636, it already acquires a special name – “bedroom prayers” and has the following form: [V1], [V2], [V5], [V11], [V7], [V16], [V10], [V8], [В12], [В13]68. Despite the difference in structure with the modern prayer rule, in this monument we can already see almost the complete composition of the evening prayers.

In 1643, as a result of the work of the associates of the Kyiv Metropolitan Peter Mogila, the book “Half-Rule, or the rule of true Christian life, containing the Psalter, Book of Hours, Book of Months, etc.: various prayers and canons” was published69. This is the earliest monument where the corpus of cell prayers is present in relative completeness; it was it that subsequently served as the basis for the publication of collections of evening and morning cell prayers by the Moscow Printing House70. Here the following features of the morning and evening prayers attract attention: firstly, these are the endings [UI], which are set in accordance with the modern practice of singing the choruses of the Trinity on Mondays of Lent (1st ending: “through the intercession of Thy disembodied ones have mercy on us”, 2nd: “through the prayers of Thy saints have mercy on us”, 3rd: “through the prayers of the Theotokos have mercy us”, and the first troparion is indicated in the 1st tone, the second – the 2nd, the third – the 3rd), some additions in [UII], as well as in [U5]; after [U7] comes [V7], in tenth place there is a prayer from the canon to the Guardian Angel – “Holy Angel of Christ…”, the prayers end at [U10]71. In the “prayers for the future sleep”: after [В6] [В7], [В8] and [В9] are omitted, so it follows immediately [В10]; after [В13] – “It is worthy to eat” and dismissal with the commemoration of Saints Anthony and Theodosius of Pechersk; after [В14] – “Worship for every day to the monk according to the rule, you should always eat spati”, [В15], ends with the prayer [В16], after it – the order of thoughts before going to bed72. Absolutely the same order is proposed by the Psalter, published in Kyiv in the same year (1643)73. It also offers, after morning prayers, the above-mentioned “Everyday Confession of Sins” by Callistus Xanthopoul74.

As has already been noted, subsequently it was the “Half-Ustav” of Metropolitan Peter Mogila that became the basis for the reference books of the Moscow Printing House in terms of cell successions. Thanks to the works of the resident of the Chudov Monastery, monk Euthymius, as a result of the book consultation carried out under Patriarchs Nikon (1650s) and Joachim (1670s), there is a combination of the Moscow and Kyiv traditions of the practice of cell prayer, which, having passed a certain historical path, found its completion in the publication of the canon in 1679. It is this monument that contains that version of the cell rule, which, despite attempts at the end of the 17th century to shorten the “prayers for going to bed,” guided the children of the Russian Church until the beginning of the 20th century and which continues to remain a model of home prayer for all Orthodox Christians in Russia after the final consolidation of the body of evening and morning cell prayers in one of the last editions of the Moscow Synodal Printing House of the Psalter with Recitation (1914)75.

Final formation and current state (XX–XXI centuries)

Despite the fact that by the 20th century the body of morning and evening prayers was already fully formed, certain discrepancies continue to be found in prayer books.

The prayer book of 191276 does not contain the Creed after the 50th Psalm77, after [U5] immediately follows [U9]78, after the usual prayers (with a full commemoration). In the evening after [V3]: [V5], [V7], [V10], [V11], [V12a], [V12b], [V12c], [V15a], [V15b], [В13], “It is worthy to eat” and dismissal, then – “Prayer said in private”: [В17], [В18], “Everyday confession of sins, said in private together with evening prayers or especially” – [В19] (shortened in comparison with the modern one), “when you go to bed, sign cross yourself and say”: [В16] (with a short version), “when you fall asleep, speak”: [В20]79.

The Psalter of 1913 offers unusual endings to cell prayers. In the morning: immediately after [U10] – “Glory, and now”, “Lord, have mercy” (without indicating the number, most likely three times), “Bless”, “Lord Jesus Christ, for the sake of prayers…”80. Evening prayers end at [В16]81, after which the meditation before bed, already known from the monuments of the 17th century, is offered82. It can be said that in its endings this publication follows the tradition of the “Half-Ustava” of Metropolitan Peter Mogila.

The prayer book of 1915 contains the same sequence of morning prayers as in the prayer book of 1912, only after their completion a slightly abbreviated [B19] is given with the following inscription: “Everyday confession of sins, spoken alone together with the morning prayers, or separately”83. The order of evening prayers is also slightly different: [В3] and [В20]84 are missing.

It is difficult to say anything about the development of the corpus of morning and evening prayers in the subsequent decades of the 20th century due to the lack of sources. It can be assumed that, due to the persecution of the Russian Church by the communist authorities, cell prayer “froze” in its state; believers prayed according to the already formed pre-revolutionary tradition (which could differ somewhat from place to place).

Towards the end of the 20th century, the modern practice of reading morning and evening prayers was formed, which was consolidated by the vast majority of publications. We can only mention a few of them. Thus, in Saratov in 1994, a “Prayer Book” was published, which contains slightly shortened versions of morning and evening prayers. Morning prayers consist of: [UI], [UII], 50th Psalm, Creed, from [U1] to [U5], [U9], [U10], [U11a], [U11b], [U11c] and commemoration85. Evening: [VI], [V1], [V2], [V7], from [V10] to [V16], after – immediately [V20]86. Apparently, this reduction in the prayer rule was justified, on the one hand, by the urgent need to publish a book for the prayer life of new Christians, of whom there were a great many at that time, and on the other hand, by the lack of funds for publishing a full-fledged prayer book.

A few words need to be said about those proposals regarding cell prayer that are present in some modern publications. An interesting experience is the publication of the “Book of Hours for the Laity”87, the compilers of which invite the laity to diversify their prayer rule by using the services of the daily circle instead of the usual morning and evening prayers. According to priest Theodore Ludogovsky, “the publication is based on a very sound and very simple idea: to offer much more traditional church texts as an alternative to the “traditional” morning and evening prayers. It’s hard to argue with this approach: what could be better than those prayer books that the Church created many centuries (or even millennia) ago and preserved to this day?”88. This Book of Hours contains several options for cell prayer: in the section “Morning Sequences” – Midnight Office, Matins and 1st Hour89; in the “Evening Consequences” – 9th hour, Vespers and Compline90.

The same goal is pursued by the publication of “The Canons of the Mother of God for Every Day”91: “It will be gratifying if a modern believer gets the opportunity to pray with the Church, not in spite of, but in accordance with its thousand-year-old charter. To join your voice and your heart to the church’s statutory prayer, finding in this like-mindedness and unity with the holy fathers, who inspiredly glorified the Mother of God, and with our ancestors, who for centuries turned to Her intercession with the same words – what could be more valuable for someone who cherishes the liturgical heritage of the Church?”92.

Paying attention to such proposals, however, one should not downplay the importance of that body of evening and morning cell prayers, which have been traditional for the children of the Russian Orthodox Church for four centuries. It is known that one of the main conditions for a Christian to achieve the Kingdom of Heaven is his constancy in the matter of salvation, including in the feat of prayer: “Having chosen for yourself a prayer rule commensurate with your strengths and spiritual needs, try to fulfill it carefully and unfailingly: this is necessary to maintain the moral strength of your soul, just as daily… consumption of healthy food is necessary to maintain bodily strength”93. In the conditions of modern man’s life, the prayers that we now have, although to some extent a “simplification” of the ancient tradition of performing church rituals at home, nevertheless represent the minimum that is called upon by its constant fulfillment to remind the Christian of the need to enter the Kingdom of Heaven by the narrow gate and the narrow path (cf.: Matt. 7:14).

Thus, having examined the emergence and formation of the body of evening and morning cell prayers, we can conclude that the path of their historical development in Rus’ is a rather long and complex process, which has three main stages of its implementation: 1) the emergence and formation of cell prayers (XI-XVI centuries); 2) consolidation of the body of evening and morning prayers in the practice of home prayer of the children of the Russian Church (XVII-XIX centuries); 3) the final formation and consolidation of cell prayers in their modern state (XX–XXI centuries). Initially, the norm for home prayer in Rus’ was cell-based church services. Subsequently, cell prayers, different from the liturgical rites, emerged, which were a monastic addition to church services. Subsequently, the prayer rule, formed from two sources – liturgical rites and cell monastic prayers, gradually replaces church services in home prayer. However, during the period of its formation (late 14th–17th centuries), evening and morning prayers were represented by many options. The modern prayer rule is a synthesis of two traditions of cell prayer – Moscow and Kyiv, the final merger of which was first presented in the 1679 edition of the canon. The further development of the body of evening and morning prayers consisted in the final consolidation of the formed tradition of the cell rule.

Modern practice of personal daily prayer in Greek and English speaking Churches

The practice of Local Churches (except for those that have been influenced by the publications of the Russian Orthodox Church) does not know a body of evening and morning prayers similar to the Russian rule. The Greek prosevchetarians offer the laity a continuation of church services for cell prayer. Thus, the “Small Prayer Book” (Μικρὸ Προσευχητάρι) in the morning prayers (πρωϊνὴ προσευχὴ) contains abbreviated sequences of the Midnight Office (μεσονυκτικὸν) and matins (ὄρθρος). The Midnight Office consists of the usual beginning, [UI], “prayer of thanksgiving” (εὐχὴ εὐχαριστήριος) [UII] (“Ἔκ τοῦ ὓπνου ἐξανιστάμενος, εὐχαριστῶ Σοι, Ἁγία Τριάς…”), “other prayers” (εὐχὴ ἑτέρα) “Δόξα Σοι, Βασιλεῦ, Θεὲ Παντοκράτορ…” (“Glory to Thee, O King, God Almighty…”94), “Come, let us worship…” (three times) and the 50th Psalm (Ψαλμὸς Ν΄), Creed (Τὸ Σύμβολον τῆς Πίστεως), “prayer of repentance” (εὐχὴ κατανυκτικὴ) “Κύριε, ἀγαθήν μοι τὴν ἡμέραν ταύτην δώρισαι καὶ ἀναμάρτητον…” (“Lord, grant me this day good and without sin…”)95, short prayer appeals to the Most Holy Theotokos (“Ὑπερένδοξε, ἀειπάρθενε, εὐλογημένη Θεοτόκε…” – “Glorious Ever-Virgin, blessed Mother of God…”96) and all the saints “” πάντες Ἃγιοι…” – “Holy apostles, prophets, martyrs, saints, reverends and all saints…”), the shortened midnight office ends with the prayer “Ἐπὶ τῷ Θεῷ καὶ Πλάστη μου “I commend my soul and body to my God and Creator…” After this, there is a rubric offering two options for continuation – either ending the prayers with the words “Δι’ εὐχῶν τῶν Ἁγίων Πατέρων ἡμῶν…” (“With the prayers of the saints our fathers…”), or continuing the prayers by reading Matins from the Six Psalms. (Ἑξάψαλμος) and further practically without changes97. Evening prayers (ἑσπερινὴ/βραδυνὴ προσευχή) consist of the usual beginning, the prayer of the 9th hour (“Δέσποτα Κύριε Ἰησοῦ Χριστέ, ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν…” – “Master Lord Jesus Christ our God…”), Vespers (ἑσπερινός), Small Compline (μικρὸν ἀπόδειπνον)98 with Akathist (Οἱ “Χαιρετισμοὶ” τῆς Θεοτόκου) with some additions: [В12c] (“Τὴν πᾶσαν ἐλπίδα μου…”), “Ἐπὶ Σοὶ χαίρει…” (“He rejoices in You…”), [U9] (“Ἁγιε Ἄγγελε, ὁ ἐφεστὼς τῆς ἀθλίας μου ψυχῆς καὶ ταλαιπώρου μου ζωῆς…”), [В12a] (“Τῇ ὑπερμάχῳ στρατηγῷ…”), [U11b] (“Θεοτόκε Παρθένε, χαῖρε…”), “Τῇ πρεσβείᾳ, Κύριε, πάντων τῶν Ἁγίων καὶτῆς Θεοτόκου…” (“Prayers, Lord, all saints and the Virgin Mary…”), concludes Compline exclamation “Δι’ εὐχῶν τῶν Ἁγίων Πατέρων ἡμῶν…”. After the end of this sequence, a memorial was placed, compiled “according to the repentant prayers of various saints” (“εὐχὴ λεγομένη μετὰ τὸ τέλος τῆς Ἀκολουθίας “” At the end, two more short prayers are offered: 1) “Ἀνακλιθείς, λέγε” (“When you lie down, speak”): “Ἐν τῇ σκέπῃ τῶν πτερύγων Σου σκεπασθήσομαι καὶ ὑπνώσω…” (“In the shelter of Your wings I will cover myself and sleep…”); 2) A slightly different Greek version [В20] – “Μέλλων δὲ ὑπνοῦν, λέγε” (“When you go to bed, speak”): “Εἰς χεῖράς Σου, Κύριε, παρατίθημι τὴν ψυχὴν καὶ τὸ σῶμά μου…” (“In Thy hands, O Lord, I commend my soul and body…”)99.

However, it should be noted that the practice of the Greek cell rule is not limited to this option. Other prosevchetaries contain, for example, a short version of the morning and evening prayer (σύντομη πρωϊνὴ καὶ βραδυνὴ προσευχή), consisting of the usual beginning and the Creed. In the evening prayers, the 9th hour (Θˈ ὥρα)100 is offered in its entirety before Vespers. In the Greek-English Oxford Prayer Book, morning and evening prayers are radically different from the above rules. Morning prayers in it consist of the usual beginning, [UI], Psalm 120, Creed, [UII] (“Having risen from sleep I thank you, O Holy Trinity…”), prayer “Glory to you, O King, almighty God…” (“Glory to Thee, King, God Almighty…”), [U6] (“Webless you, most high God and Lord of mercy…”)101, 12 priestly (sic!) prayers at matins (“Αἰνοῦμεν, ὑμνοῦμεν, εὐλογοῦμεν καὶ εὐχαριστοῦμεν σοι…” – “We praise, hymn, bless, and give you thanks…” – “We praise, sing, bless and thank Thee…”, prayers for the departed from the Midnight Office (“Μνήσθητι, Κύριε, τῶν ἐπˈ ἐλπίδι ἀναστάσεως…” – “Remember, O Lord, those who have fallen asleep in hope of resurrection…” – “Remember, Lord, in the hope of the Resurrection…”)102, prayers of St. Eustratius from the Midnight Office (“Μεγαλύνων μεγαλύνω σε, Κύριε…” – “I magnify you greatly, Lord…” – “Gloriously I magnify Thee, O Lord…”)103, “It is truly right…” (“It is worthy to eat”), [U11b] (“Virgin Mother of God, Hail…”), troparions according to “Now you forgive…” from the Lenten end of Vespers: “Baptist of Christ…” (“Βαπτιστὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ…” – “To the Baptist of Christ…”), Glory: “Pray for us…” (“Ἱκετεύσατε ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν…” – “Pray for us…”), And now: “Beneath your compassion…” (“Ὑπὸ τὴν σὴν εὐσπλαγχνίαν…” – “Under Your compassion…”), [B13] (“The Father is my hope…”), [В12c] (“All my hope…”), the morning prayers end with a litany from the end of Midnight Office and Compline104. Evening prayers are very brief: the usual beginning, troparia from Great Compline “The day has passed…” (“As I come/reach/pass to the end of the day…”), then or a prayer for children (“Κύριε Ἰησοῦ Χριστὲ, ὁ προσδεξάμενος τὰ παιδία ἐλθόντα πρὸς σέ…” – “Lord Jesus Christ, who received the children who came to you…” – “Lord Jesus Christ, accept the children who come to You…”), or for adults (“Κύριε ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, εἴ ἥμαρτον ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ταύτῃ…” – “Lord our God, if I have sinned in anything today…” – “Lord our God, if those who have sinned on this day…”, followed by the 50th psalm, first (“Κύριε, οἰκτίρμον καὶ – “Lord, do not rebuke us in your anger…” – “Lord, do not rebuke us with Thy wrath…”), prayers of light, “At every time and at every hour…” (“Ὁ ἐν παντὶ καιρῷ καὶ πάσῃ ὥρᾳ…” – “And at all times and for every hour…”), [U11b], “Through the prayers of our holy fathers…” (“Through the prayers of our holy fathers…”) and the two above-mentioned short prayers (“I shall be sheltered in the shadow of your wings and I shall sleep…” and “Into your hands, Lord, I entrust my soul and body…”)105. Another source even contains different evening and morning prayers depending on the day of the week106.

In addition to the designated Greek-English prayer book, there are English sources offering other versions of the prayer rule. In particular, the prayer book “Orthodox Daily Prayers” published by St. Tikhon’s Theological Seminary (Orthodox Church in America) contains an order of evening and morning prayers that is almost identical to Russian practice with minor differences: there is [UV], after [U10] – [U11b], [V12b], prayer appeals to the Heavenly Ones To the powers, to all the saints and patron saint, [U11s]. This is followed by “It is worthy to eat” and the usual vacation107. Evening prayers are interrupted at [B18]108. The publication of the St. Vladimir Theological Seminary contains an abbreviated version of the morning prayers, its features: after [UII] and “Come, let us worship…” (three times) a reading from the Apostle and the Gospel is offered, after [U5] – [U9] and the following prayers, in the dismissal it is proposed to insert the name of the patron saint of the person praying (“N., the name of the patron” saint”) and the saint of the day (“N., the name of the saint whose memory is commemorated on this day”)109. Evening prayers are also significantly shortened and have the above-described features of English prayer books110.

The prayer book “Daily Prayers for Orthodox Christians” also follows the Russian practice of daily prayers, but has, in addition to those mentioned above, several special differences in morning prayers: in [U10], when listing sins, it is proposed to add the personal sins of the person praying (“some will insert here specific sins and passions which affect them”), after it – [U11b], a troparion to the Mother of God from Lenten the end of Vespers “Under Your tenderness…” (“Under thy tender…”), [В12b], short prayer appeals to the Heavenly Powers, all the saints and the patron saint, [U11c], “It is worthy to eat,” “Glory, even now,” “Lord, have mercy” (three times), “God, be gracious to us…”, insertion of a psalm verse – This the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it! (Ps. 117:24). This is followed by a commemoration, again “It is worthy to eat” and dismissal111.

Thus, we can conclude that the foreign practice of performing daily prayers is not limited to any one version of the cell rule, but contains a variety of sequences that are common in specific church districts or even parishes. To some extent, this depends on the canonical affiliation of a particular parish, which chooses the traditional rule for the Mother Church for the prayer life of parishioners.

Conclusion

Thus, as a result of the study, the following conclusions can be drawn:

1. Evening and morning cell prayers are a complex body in composition, in which an eclectic combination of liturgical rites and cell monastic successions can be traced. Not all of the modern prayers have their prototypes in Greek, so the question of the exact place and time of origin of the corpus of prayers under consideration is open in modern liturgical science.

2. It is also not possible to accurately determine the time and place of the appearance of special cell prayers in Rus’. It is known that initially Christians performed church services at home. Later (from the mid-14th to the beginning of the 16th century), special cell prayers began to appear (among them, fragmentary prayers taken from liturgical rites are present), and the oldest of them are prayers “for the most active monks, when they should eat sleep,” which later served as the basis for evening prayers. Morning prayers were formed first in publications of the Kyiv tradition, and in the Moscow tradition much later, starting from a small prayer before the Midnight Office and up to the modern state.

3. It should be noted that early cell prayers were only an addition to church services left at the discretion of the worshiper (evening prayers after Compline, morning prayers before the Midnight Office), but not their replacement. However, gradually these prayers supplanted and replaced the liturgical rites; this process ends in the 17th century. The inscription is changed from prayers “for the most active monks” to “bedroom prayers”, and “morning prayers” are placed separately. The body of evening and morning prayers itself goes through a certain path of historical development, expressed in the combination of two traditions of the practice of cell prayer – Kyiv and Moscow.

4. The practice of prayer life of Orthodox Christians in Greek- and English-speaking territories (except for those Churches that have been influenced by the publications of the Russian Orthodox Church, and those territories that are canonical units of the Russian Orthodox Church) does not know a body of evening and morning prayers similar to the Russian cell rule. Basically, they adhere to the ancient tradition of performing church services in their cells, although often in a modified and shortened version.

The study of the corpus of evening and morning prayers is just beginning in modern liturgical science. Unfortunately, at the moment it is impossible to give exact answers to many questions related to the genesis of the prayer rule, but it is possible that in the future, as a result of the work of liturgists, new sources will be discovered that will shed light on aspects unknown today in the formation of the body of evening and morning cell prayers. Here, research can be conducted in three main directions:

1. Searches for possible prototypes of prayers missing from divine services in Eastern and Western liturgical monuments, in the works of the holy fathers. The question of whether the inscriptions of cell prayers correspond to reality deserves special attention. Perhaps some inscriptions of prayers are pseudepigrapha, then the work of the liturgist will have to consist, if possible, in establishing the true authorship and in searching for those passages from the patristic works that could, in their content, serve as the basis for composing one or another prayer.

2. The discovery of new monuments that can tell about the history of cell prayers in Rus’ during the period of the dominance of the Studite Charter (XI-XIV centuries), revealing the details of the compilation of the first cell prayers and, possibly, indicating the work of these compilers with some foreign sources.

3. Of course, every person who considers himself an Orthodox Christian should strive for conscious prayer, to be able to say along with the Apostle Paul: I will begin to pray with the spirit, I will also pray with the mind; I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding (1 Cor. 14:15). Therefore, work on the interpretation and comprehensive theological analysis of the corpus of evening and morning cell prayers seems to be in great demand. This work is also important as proof of the substantive value of the prayer rule, which is disputed by some researchers due to the “almost complete absence of a biblical element (only Ps. 50 in the morning rule)”112 in cell prayers, with which we cannot agree: in addition to Ps. 50, the Lord’s Prayer is present in the evening and morning prayers (see: Matt. 6:9-13), in addition, many words of the prayers are based on the Holy Scripture.

Of course, our work does not pretend to be a complete study of the chosen topic; only the currently available material was considered, which, unfortunately, is now very small. The real theme of the genesis of the body of evening and morning cell prayers, of course, still awaits its detailed development, which is of great importance for the entirety of the Russian Orthodox Church, since these prayers constitute the daily household rule of every Orthodox Christian in Russia and testify to us of the spiritual tradition of piety that was preserved among the Russian people and passed on from generation to generation.

Application. Composition of the corpus of evening prayers in the manuscripts of the Joseph-Volotsk Monastery

* * *

Notes

Next is the incipit immediately after the title.

In the old version – “in vain.”

Compare, for example, with the ancient monastic practice – the “rule of pslamopenia” (κανών τῆς ψαλμῳδίας).

Athanasius (Sakharov), St.. On the commemoration of the dead according to the charter of the Orthodox Church. Kyiv, 2008. pp. 464–465.

Prayer book. Psalter. 5th ed., rev. and additional M.: Sretensky Monastery, 2010.

See: Bradshaw P.F. Daily Prayer in the Early Church: A study of the Origin and Early Development of the Divine Office. Eugene, OR, 2008, pp. 25–26. For more information on the practice of Jewish prayer before and during the advent of Christianity, see: Ibid. P. 1–22; Zinovkin A., priest. The practice of daily prayers in the intertestamental period // Materials of the annual scientific and theological conference of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy. Proceedings of the international conference “Parish ministry and community life”. St. Petersburg, 2015. pp. 58–64.

See: The Teachings of the Twelve Apostles. Ch. VIII // Early Church Fathers. Brussels, 1988. P. 21.

See more details: Explanatory Typikon / Comp. M. Skaballanovich. M., 2016. P. 460–466.

The appearance of this petition is similar to the appearance by “Orthodox Christians” in the troparion to the Cross instead of commemorating the royal power.

See: Zheltov M., diak. Canons of the Mother of God in the daily prayer rule of an Orthodox Christian // Theotokos. Canons of the Mother of God for every day. M., 2006. P. 188.

See: Sveshnikov S. Morning and Evening Prayer Rules in the Russian Orthodox Tradition // Orthodox Prayer [Electronic resource]. URL: http://www.orthodoxprayer.org/Articles_files/Sveshnikov-Morning%20&%20Eve%20prayer.pdf (access date: 05/31/17). Cap. from the screen. Language English

See: Zheltov M.S., Pravdolyubov S., prot.. Divine service of the Russian Church, X-XX centuries. // Orthodox encyclopedia. T. “ROC”. M., 2000. P. 485. For more details, see: Pentkovsky A.M. Typikon of Patriarch Alexius the Studite in Byzantium and Rus’. M., 2001. pp. 195–222.

See: Makariy [Veretennikov], archimandrite. Time and worship // Alpha and Omega. M., 2010. No. 2 (58). P. 337.

See: Plum E.E. The rite of the Kuroglaze – cell and cathedral succession in the studio tradition // Heritage of monastic culture: Craft, art, art. St. Petersburg, 1997. Issue. 2. pp. 14–17.

See: Likhachev N.P.. The personal life of the holy noble Russian princes Boris and Gleb: Based on a manuscript from the end of the 15th century. St. Petersburg, 1907. B. n.

Luka Zhidyata, ep. Novgorod. Instruction to the brethren // Historical anthology for studying the history of Russian church preaching with a general description of its periods, with biographical information about the most remarkable Russian preachers (from the 11th to the 18th centuries inclusive) and indicating the distinctive features of the preaching of each of them / Comp. priest M.A. Potorzhinsky. Kyiv, 1879. pp. 60–61.

According to the priest. Sergius Sveshnikov, such a hypothesis is put forward by Archpriest. Georgy Kochetkov (see: Sveshnikov S. Op. cit.).

See: Charter of the Chudov Monastery in the 1360s/70s. State Historical Museum. Syn. 329. L. 9–9 vol.

See: Psalter with Resurrection, ca. 1430 NIOR RSL. F. 173.I. No. 142. L. 184 vol. – 186 vol. // STSL: Official website: [Electronic resource]. URL: http://old.stsl.ru/manuscripts/medium.php?col=5&manuscr ipt=142&pagefile=142–0001 (access date: 05/31/17). Cap. from the screen.

Dalmat (Yudin), priest. Morning and evening prayers as part of printed collections of private prayer: the emergence and path to Moscow bookishness // Bogoslov.ru [Electronic resource]: website. URL: http://www.bogoslov.ru/text/5233602.html (access date: 05/31/17). Cap. from the screen.

See p. 268–269 of this work.

See: Psalter with retribution, con. XV century NIOR RSL. F. 113. No. 57 (152). L. 439 vol. – 442 // STSL: Official website: [Electronic resource]. URL: http://old.stsl.ru/manuscripts/f-113/57 (access date: 05/31/17). Cap. from the screen. The same order is in other manuscripts: Psalter with prayer, 16th century, Met. Daniel. NIOR RSL. F. 113. No. 56.1 (149.1). L. 275 rev. – 278; Psalter with invocation, 1st half. XVI century NIOR RSL. F. 113. No. 62 (235). L. 268 rev. – 271; Canonnik, con. XVI century NIOR RSL. F. 113. No. 75 (314). L. 148–151.

See: Psalter with retribution, con. XV century NIOR RSL. F. 113. No. 59 (211). L. 198–199 vol. // STSL: Official website: [Electronic resource]. URL: http://old.stsl.ru/manuscripts/f-113/59 (access date: 05/31/17). Cap. from the screen.

See: Psalter with retribution, ca. 1550 NIOR RSL. F. 113. No. 55 (140). L.385–386 // STSL: Official website: [Electronic resource]. URL: http://old.stsl.ru/manuscripts/f-113/55 (access date: 05/31/17). Cap. from the screen.

See: Ibid. L. 348–348 vol.

See: Psalter with Book of Hours, 16th century. NIOR RSL. F.113. No. 58 (203). L.3–5 // STSL: Official website: [Electronic resource]. URL: http://old.stsl.ru/manuscripts/f-113/58 (access date: 05/31/17). Cap. from the screen. The same material is repeated in other manuscripts, for example: Psalter with retribution, con. XV – beginning XVI century NIOR RSL. F.113. No. 61 (214). L.173–175; Prayer book, ser. XVI century NIOR RSL. F.113. No. 96 (405). L.1–3.

See: Ibid. L. 221 rev. – 224.

See: Psalter with Book of Hours and Paschalia, 3rd quarter. XVI century NIOR RSL. F. 113. No. 60 (213). L. 339 vol. // STSL: Official website: [Electronic resource]. URL: http://old.stsl.ru/manuscripts/f-113/60 (access date: 05/31/17). Cap. from the screen. They are repeated in many subsequent manuscripts: Canon, beginning. XVI century NIOR RSL. F. 113. No. 72 (299). L. 7; Canon with additional articles, con. XV – beginning XVI century NIOR RSL. No. 73 (309). L. 93 rev.

See: Psalter with Book of Hours and Paschalia, 3rd quarter. XVI century NIOR RSL. F. 113. No. 60 (213). L. 451 rev. – 453 rev. A common place for other manuscripts, for example: Psalter with ascension, con. XV – beginning XVI century NIOR RSL. F. 113. No. 61 (214). L. 287 vol. – 288 vol.; Canon, beginning XVI century NIOR RSL. F. 113. No. 72 (299). L. 128 v. – 129 v.; Canonnik, con. XVI century NIOR RSL. F. 113. No. 75 (314). L. 156 rev. – 158; Prayer book, ser. XVI century NIOR RSL. F. 113. No. 96 (405). L. 18–19 vol.

See: Psalter with Book of Hours and Paschalia, 3rd quarter. XVI century NIOR RSL. F. 113. No. 60 (213). L. 454 rev. – 462 rev.

See: Psalter with retribution, con. XV – beginning XVI century NIOR RSL. F. 113. No. 61 (214). L. 173 vol. // STSL: Official website: [Electronic resource]. URL: http://old.stsl.ru/manuscripts/f-113/61 (access date: 05/31/17). Cap. from the screen. In following the all-night vigil, as usual, it is attributed to St. Macarius: Right there. L.186.

See: Ibid. L.192.

See: Psalter. NIOR RSL. F. 113. No. 61 (214). L. 229–233.

See: Psalter with retribution, 1st half. XVI century NIOR RSL. F. 113. No. 62 (235). L. 9–9 vol. // STSL: Official website: [Electronic resource]. URL: http://old.stsl.ru/manuscripts/f-113/62 (access date: 05/31/17). Cap. from the screen.

See: Ibid. L. 13 volumes – 14. Also available in other manuscripts: Prayer Book, ser. XVI century NIOR RSL. F. 113. No. 96 (405). L. 8 rev. – 9 rev.

See: Psalter with retribution, 1st half. XVI century NIOR RSL. F. 113. No. 62 (235). L. 189–190.

See: Ibid. L. 210 vol., 211 vol. They are repeated before the canon of the Life-Giving Trinity, which is sung “every week before Matins instead of the Midnight Office” (Ibid. L. 425 vol. – 426). Also available in other manuscripts, for example: Canon, con. XVI century NIOR RSL. F. 113. 74 (311). L. 1 volume – 2 volumes; Canon, XVI century. NIOR RSL. F. 113. No. 76 (319). L. 274–276. Sometimes only [UII] is given, for example: Book of Hours with reading and some extracts, 3rd quarter. XVI century NIOR RSL. F. 113. No. 84 (362). L. 77–77 vol.

Often placed in manuscripts after the daily midnight office, alone or in conjunction with some prayers, for example: Canonnik, 16th century. NIOR RSL. No. 76 (319). L. 283 rev. – 285; Book of Hours with additional articles, XV–XVI centuries. NIOR RSL. No. 83 (349). L. 19–20. In some, after Compline, for example: Book of Hours with prayer and some extracts, 3rd quarter. XVI century NIOR RSL. F. 113. No. 84 (362). L. 120–121.

One of the features of [U5] is based on the Greek tradition: after “and having cleansed us from all filthiness, carnal and spiritual” – “creating us temples of your honorable and holy Spirit.”

See: Psalter with retribution, 1st half. XVI century NIOR RSL. F. 113. No. 62 (235). L. 218 rev. – 220 rev.

See: Ibid. L. 221 vol. All the trinities of the morning rule, as now, are given among the trinities on “And now” of the first three voices, see: Ibid. L. 274 rev. – 275 rev.

See: Ibid. L. 231 vol. – 233 vol.

See: Canon with additional articles, con. XV – beginning XVI century NIOR RSL. F. 113. No. 73 (309). L. 1 // STSL: Official website: [Electronic resource]. URL: http://old.stsl.ru/manuscripts/f-113/73 (access date: 05/31/17). Cap. from the screen.

See: Kanonnik, con. XVI century NIOR RSL. F. 113. No. 74 (311). L. 201–203 // STSL: Official website: [Electronic resource]. URL: http://old.stsl.ru/manuscripts/f-113/74 (access date: 05/31/17). Cap. from the screen.

See: Kanonnik, con. XVI century NIOR RSL. F. 113. No. 75 (314). L. 35 rev. – 36 rev. // STSL: Official website: [Electronic resource]. URL: http://old.stsl.ru/manuscripts/f-113/75 (access date: 05/31/17). Cap. from the screen.

See: Ibid. L. 163–165.

See: Canonnik, 16th century. NIOR RSL. F. 113. No. 76 (319). L.40 rev. – 41 rev. // STSL: Official website: [Electronic resource]. URL: http://old.stsl.ru/manuscripts/f-113/76 (access date: 05/31/17). Cap. from the screen.

See: Ibid. L. 43 rev. – 45.

See: Kanonnik, XVII century. NIOR RSL. F. 113. No. 95 (394). L. 856 rev. – 857 rev. // STSL: Official website: [Electronic resource]. URL: http://old.stsl.ru/manuscripts/f-113/95 (access date: 05/31/17). Cap. from the screen.

See: Book of Hours with additional articles, XV–XVI centuries. NIOR RSL. F. 113. No. 83 (349). L. 132–134 vol. // STSL: Official website: [Electronic resource]. URL: http://old.stsl.ru/manuscripts/f-113/83 (access date: 05/31/17). Cap. from the screen.

See: Book of Hours with reading and some extracts, 3rd quarter. XVI century NIOR RSL. F. 113. No. 84 (362). L. 140–141 vol. // STSL: Official website: [Electronic resource]. URL: http://old.stsl.ru/manufacturers/f-113/84 (date of access: 05/31/17). Cap. from the screen.

See: Prayer Book, ser. XVI century NIOR RSL. F. 113. No. 96 (405). L. 20–21 vol., 25–25 vol., 27–28 vol. // STSL: Official website: [Electronic resource]. URL: http://old.stsl.ru/manuscripts/f-113/96 (access date: 05/31/17). Cap. from the screen.

See: Ibid. L. 36–37 vol., 39 vol.– 40, 43–43 vol., 44–45.

Right there. L. 143.

Right there. L. 45.

See: Ibid. L. 143–150.

See: Collection of liturgical services, con. XVI century NIOR RSL. F. 113. No. 102 (419). L. 169–190 vol. // STSL: Official website: [Electronic resource]. URL: http://old.stsl.ru/manuscripts/f-113/102 (access date: 05/31/17). Cap. from the screen.

See: Ibid. L. 193–196 vol.

See: Ibid. L. 200 rev. – 202.

See: Domostroy. M., 1990. P. 40.

See: Verkhovskaya M.A. Personal prayer rule in the liturgical practice of the Russian Orthodox Church // The Light of Christ enlightens everyone: Almanac of the St. Philaret Orthodox Christian Institute. Vol. 12. M., 2014. pp. 105–106.

See, for example: Ruler. Kyiv, 2010. pp. 298–303.

See: Dalmat (Yudin), priest. Decree. Op.

See: Shishkin A.V. Morning cell prayer rule according to the RGADA manuscript. Syn. type. (F. 381). 220, XVI century. // Bulletin of PSTGU. 2005. No. 14. pp. 159–160.

See about them: Rogachevskaya E.B.. Cycle of prayers of Kirill of Turov: Texts and research. M.: Languages ​​of Russian Culture, 1999.

See: Denisov D.V.. The practice of personal piety in Rus’ in the 16th century: Articles on the Eucharistic discipline and cell rule in the manuscript of the Russian State Library. TSL-basic (F. 304–1), 793, XVI century. // Bulletin of PSTGU. 2005. No. 14. pp. 163–164.

See: Kekelidze K., prot.. Liturgical Georgian monuments in domestic book depositories and their scientific significance. Tiflis, 1908. P. 132.

See: Kanonnik, 1636. NIOR RSL. MK No. 420. L. 361 volume – 367 // STSL: Official website: [Electronic resource]. URL: http://old.stsl. ru/manuscripts/staropechatnye-knigi/1514 (date of access: 05.31.17). Cap. from the screen.

The first book with the same name was published back in 1622 in Vilna, see: Dalmat (Yudin), priest. Decree. op.

See: Dalmat (Yudin), priest. Decree. Op.

See: Ancient Kiev-Pechersk prayer book. Kyiv, 2008. pp. 12–16, 32–34, 38–40.

See: Ibid. pp. 58–60.

See: Psalter. Kyiv. NIOR RSL. MK No. 460. P. 1–38 // STSL: Official website: [Electronic resource]. URL: http://old.stsl.ru/manuscripts/staropechatnye-knigi/1691 (access date: 05/31/17). Cap. from the screen.

See: Ibid. pp. 39–57.

See: Dalmat (Yudin), priest. Decree. Op.

The texts of the prayers are given in two columns in Church Slavonic and Russian, headings in Russian.

See: Prayers and chants of the Orthodox prayer book. Rep. ed. 1912 M., 1994. P. 5.

See: Ibid. P. 8.

See: Prayers and chants of the Orthodox prayer book. pp. 16–21.

See: Psalter. Rep. ed. 1913 Kozelsk, 1997. P. 327.

See: Ibid. P. 341.

See p. 286 of this work.

See: Prayer book. Petrograd, 1915. P. 17.

See: Ibid. pp. 22–28.

See: Prayer Book. Saratov, 1994. pp. 3–12.

Right there. pp. 13–19.

Book of Hours for the laity: with parallel translation into Russian / Transl. from Greek hierome Ambrose (Timroth). M.: Synchronia Society, 2015.

Lyudogovsky F., priest. [Rec. on:] Book of Hours for the laity: with parallel translation into Russian / Transl. from Greek hierome Ambrose (Timroth). M.: Synchronia Society, 2015. 256 p. // Bogoslov.ru [Electronic resource]. URL: http://www.bogoslov.ru/text/4922459.html (access date: 05/31/17). Cap. from the screen.

See: Book of Hours for the Laity: with parallel translation into Russian. pp. 15–88.

See: Ibid. pp. 151–214.

Theotokos. Canons of the Mother of God for every day. M.: PSTGU, 2006.

Right there. P. 5.

Ignatius (Brianchaninov), St.. A word about the cell prayer rule // Ascetic experiences. T. 2. Rep. ed. 1904 M., 1996. P. 175.

It is not used in worship, but is still printed at the beginning of the Book of Hours (see: Book of Hours. M., 2009. P. 5).

There is an inscription: Εὐχαὶ ἕτεραι κατὰ τὸ μέτρο τῶν 24 ὡρῶν τοῦ νυχθημέρου.

The Slavic translation of this prayer [B12b] is somewhat different from the Greek original.

See: Μικρὸ Προσευχητάρι. ΦΥΛΗ, ΑΤΤΙΚΗΣ, 2003. Σ. 11–43.

The Greek Lesser Compline after the 50th Psalm still has the 69th and 142nd Psalms.

See: Μικρὸ Προσευχητάρι. Σ. 45–96.

See: Ἱερόν Προσευχητάριον τοῦ Ὀρθοδόξου Χριστιάνου // Ψαλτική [Electronic resource]. URL: http://psaltiki.gr/files-pdf/apps/prayerbook-all/prayer_book_2014.pdf (access date: 05/31/17). Cap. from the screen. Language Greek

With the note: “Said daily, except on Saturdays.”

With note: “Said on Saturdays” (“Read on Saturday”).

With the same note.

See: ΠPOΣEYXHTAPION. An Orthodox Prayer Book. Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 1–11.

See: Ibid. R. 12–17.

See: ΠΡΟΣΕΥΧΗΤΑΡΙΟ ΚΑΘΕ ΜΕΡΑ ΠΡΩΪ ΚΑΙ ΒΡΑΔΥ // Ἅγια Μετέωρα – Holy Meteora [Electronic resource]. URL: http:// agiameteora.net/index.php/%CF%80%CF%81%CE%BF%CF%83%CE% B5%CF%85%CF%87%CE%B5%CF%83/6209-prosefxitario-kathe-meraproi-kai-vrady.html (access date: 05/31/17). Cap. from the screen. Language Greek

See: Orthodox Daily Prayers. St. Tikhon`s Seminary Press, 1982. R. 14, 22–23.

See: Ibid. R. 88.

See: A Manual of Eastern Orthodox Prayers. St. Vladimir`s Seminary Press, 1983. R. 1–11.

See: Ibid. P. 12–19.

See: Daily Prayers for Orthodox Christians: A prayer book following the Tradition of the Russian Orthodox Church / Dr. John (Ellsworth) Hutchison-Hall. St. Eadfrith Press, 2012, pp. 14–20.

Sopova A., Zheltov M., priest. Book of Hours: theology of daily prayer // “Tatiana’s Day” [Electronic resource]. URL: http://www. taday.ru/text/384810.html (date of access: 05/31/17). Cap. from the screen.