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Canonarch
A canonarch is a lead cantor, or reader, in Eastern Christian churches of the Byzantine tradition. The canonarch ensures that other readers chant from the correct texts and use the proper tones. The canonarch preserves the canonical order in the liturgical services through proper use of the Typicon. The canonarch also reads the verses of the prokeimenon and related texts. In some churches many of the duties of the canonarch are assumed by deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ..., such as chanting the verses of '' Theos Kyrios''. References * Parry, Ken et al., editors. ''The Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity''. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2001, p. 111. * Simmons, NikitaTroparia, Sessional Hymns and Kontakia in the East-Slavic Singing Traditi ...
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Theos Kyrios
''Theos Kyrios'' (Greek: Θεὸς Κύριος, "God is the Lord", or "The Lord is God") is a psalm response chanted near the beginning of the Matins service in the Rite of Constantinople, observed by the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches. It is based principally on Psalm 117 (Septuagint numbering). The refrain is composed of verses v. 27a and 26a. ''Theos Kyrios'' comes after the Great Ektenia (litany) and precedes the apolytikion (troparion of the day), and is chanted in the tone of the week. While the Typicon (book of rubrics) prescribes that the verses should be chanted by the canonarch standing in the center of the nave, in the Byzantine practice the verses are intoned by the psalmist. In common Slavic practice they are chanted by the deacon standing before the icon of Christ on the iconostasis; if there is no deacon, the verses are commonly read by the priest. Text The order of ''Theos Kyrios'', as served at Matins is as follows: :''Canonarch:'' n the ...
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Cantor (church)
In Christianity, the cantor, female chantress, sometimes called the precentor or the protopsaltes (; from ), is the chief singer, and usually instructor, employed at a church, with responsibilities for the choir and the preparation of the Mass or worship service. The term is also used for a similar task in Reform Judaism and in Ancient Egypt. Generally, a cantor must be competent to choose and conduct the vocals for the choir, to start any chant on demand, and to be able to identify and correct the missteps of singers placed under them. A cantor may be responsible for the immediate rendering of the music, showing the course of the melody by movements of the hand(s) (''cheironomia''), similar to a conductor. Western Christianity Roman Catholicism A ''cantor'' in the Roman Catholic Church is the leading singer of the choir, a ''bona fide'' clerical role. The medieval cantor of the papal Schola cantorum (papal choir), Schola Cantorum was called ''Prior scholae'' or ''Primi ...
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Reader (liturgy)
In some Christian denominations, a reader or lector is the person responsible for reading aloud excerpts of scripture at a liturgy. In early Christian times the reader was of particular value due to the rarity of literacy. Catholic Church In the Latin liturgical rites of the Catholic Church, the term '' lector'' or ''reader'' means someone who in a particular liturgy is assigned to read a Biblical text other than the Gospel (reading the Gospel at Mass is reserved specifically to the deacon or, in his absence, to the priest). But it also has the more specific meaning of a person who has been "instituted" as a lector or reader, and is such even when not assigned to read in a specific liturgy. The Second Vatican Council's '' Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy'' confirmed that lectors featured among those who "exercise a genuine liturgical function" within services such as the Mass. The office was formerly classed as one of the four minor orders in the Latin Church. ...
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Eastern Christian
Eastern Christianity comprises Christianity, Christian traditions and Christian denomination, church families that originally developed during Classical antiquity, classical and late antiquity in the Eastern Mediterranean region or locations further east, south or north. The term does not describe a single Communion (Christian), communion or religious denomination. Eastern Christianity is a category distinguished from Western Christianity, which is composed of those Christian traditions and churches that originally developed further west. Major Eastern Christian bodies include the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches, along with those groups descended from the historic Church of the East (also called the Assyrian Church (other), Assyrian Church), as well as the Eastern Catholic Churches (which are in communion with Holy See, Rome while maintaining Eastern Catholic liturgy, Eastern liturgies), and the Eastern Protestant Christianity, Eastern Protest ...
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Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th centuryAD, it endured until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. The term 'Byzantine Empire' was coined only after its demise; its citizens used the term 'Roman Empire' and called themselves 'Romans'. During the early centuries of the Roman Empire, the western provinces were Latinised, but the eastern parts kept their Hellenistic culture. Constantine I () legalised Christianity and moved the capital to Constantinople. Theodosius I () made Christianity the state religion and Greek gradually replaced Latin for official use. The empire adopted a defensive strategy and, throughout its remaining history, experienced recurring cycles of decline and recovery. It reached its greatest extent un ...
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Reciting Tone
In chant, a reciting tone (also called a recitation tone) can refer to either a repeated musical pitch or to the entire melodic formula for which that pitch is a structural note. In Gregorian chant, the first is also called tenor, dominant or tuba, while the second includes psalm tones (each with its own associated Gregorian mode) as well as simpler formulae for other readings and for prayers. Reciting tones in Gregorian chant Regular psalm tones Reciting tones occur in several parts of the Roman Rite. These include the accentus prayers and lessons chanted by the deacons or priests such as the Collect, Epistle, Gospel, Secret, Preface, Canon, and Postcommunion, as well as such regular texts as the Pater noster, Te Deum, and the Gloria in excelsis Deo. They are also sung in versicles and responds such as the ''Dominus vobiscum'' ("The Lord be with you") of the officiant followed by the ''Et cum spiritu tuo'' ("and with your spirit") of the choir. Some tones, presumably from th ...
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Typicon
A typikon (or ''typicon'', ''typica''; , "that of the prescribed form"; Church Slavonic: ') is a liturgical book which contains instructions about the order of the Byzantine Rite office and variable hymns of the Divine Liturgy. Historical development Cathedral Typikon The ancient and medieval cathedral rite of Constantinople, called the "asmatikē akolouthia" ("sung services"), is not well preserved and the earliest surviving manuscript dates from the middle of the eighth century.As quoted in Taft, "Mount Athos...", Description in A. Strittmatter, "The 'Barberinum S. Marci'of Jacques Goar," EphL 47 (1933), 329-67 This rite reached its climax in the Typikon of the Great Church (Hagia Sophia) which was used in only two places, its eponymous cathedral and in the Basilica of Saint Demetrios in Thessalonica; in the latter it survived until the Ottoman conquest and most of what is known of it comes from descriptions in the writings of Saint Symeon of Thessalonica. Monastic Typ ...
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Prokeimenon
In the liturgical practice of the Orthodox Church and Byzantine Rite, a prokeimenon (Greek , plural ; sometimes /; lit. 'that which precedes') is a psalm or canticle refrain sung responsorially at certain specified points of the Divine Liturgy or the Divine Office, usually to introduce a scripture reading.Parry (1999), p. 390 It corresponds to the Gradual of the Roman Mass. Use Prokeimena are not selected based on the personal preference of the priest, reader, or choir director. Rather, the Sunday and weekday prokeimena are taken from the Octoechos, using the particular tone of the day. Many feasts also have their own prokeimena. The basic pattern of a prokeimenon is for the reader to chant a single verse of the psalm or canticle (often announcing the tone as well). This is repeated as a refrain by the choir, as the Reader chants additional verses (exactly how many depends on local practice), followed by the choir singing the first verse in response. The Reader conclud ...
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Deacon
A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Catholic Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Eastern Orthodox Church, Lutheranism, Presbyterianism, Methodism, and Anglicanism, view the diaconate as an order of ministry. Permanent deacons (or distinctive deacons) are those who do not later transition to another form of ministry, in contrast to those continuing their formation who are then often called transitional deacons. Origin and development The word ''deacon'' is derived from the Greek word (), which is a standard ancient Greek word meaning "servant", "waiter", "minister", or "messenger". Recent research has highlighted the role of the deacon "as a co-operator" and "go-between," emphasizing their intermediary position in early Christian communities. It is generally assum ...
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