A canonarch is a lead

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. Cantor as a profession generally refers to those leading a Jewish congregation, although it also applies to the lead singer or choir director in Christian contexts. ...

, or reader, in

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 fu ...

churches of the

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 E ...

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 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 de ...

. 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, Nikita
Troparia, Sessional Hymns and Kontakia in the East-Slavic Singing Traditions
Synaxis.info, retrieved June 2007. * Hieromonk Cassian
The responsibilities of the canonarch
Orthodox Christian Information Center online, retrieved June 2007. {{orientalOrthodoxy-stub Ecclesiastical titles Byzantine Rite