THE OFFICE OF VESPERS

 

DAILY VESPERS

    After the conclusion of Ninth Hour, the priest begins Vespers as indicated above for Great Vespers, and before the holy doors he reads the Prayers of Light. At the conclusion of the Psalm, Bless the Lord, O my soul, he says the Great Litany. After the exclamation, the kathisma is read, and then, the little litany. However, on Sunday evening and on feasts at Vespers, there is no kathisma, but after the Great Litany, the choir sings, Lord, I have called, with its stichera according to the rule. There is a censing by the priest as usual.

    At the conclusion of the stichera, the choir sings O Joyful Light . . . and then the priest, standing before the holy doors, says, Let us attend. and the prokeimenon of the day and Vouchsafe, O Lord . . . are read.

    The priest says the litany, Let us complete our evening . . .  After the exclamation, Blessed is the might of thy kingdom . . . , the choir sings the aposticha according to the rule. After its conclusion, the reader says, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant . . . . the Trisagion; and after Our Father, the priest says the exclamation. Then the troparia are sung.

    The priest, coming out of the sanctuary, and standing before the holy doors, says the litany, Have mercy on us, O God. After the exclamation, Wisdom, and the choir: Bless. The priest says, He Who is, is blessed . . . and the rest, and then the dismissal. And the choir sings the Many Years.