The horologion or horologium ( pl. horologia), also known by other names, is the

book of hours A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...

for the

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

and Eastern Catholic Churches. It provides the acolouthia (, ''akolouthíai''), the fixed portions of the Divine Service used every day at certain

canonical hours In the practice of Christianity, canonical hours mark the divisions of the day in terms of Fixed prayer times#Christianity, fixed times of prayer at regular intervals. A book of hours, chiefly a breviary, normally contains a version of, or sel ...

. Additional parts of the service are changed daily, mostly according to the Menologium.

Names

is the latinized version of the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

''hōrológion'' (), from ''hṓra'' (, "time period,

hour An hour (symbol: h; also abbreviated hr) is a unit of time historically reckoned as of a day and defined contemporarily as exactly 3,600 seconds ( SI). There are 60 minutes in an hour, and 24 hours in a day. The hour was initially establis ...

"), ''lógos'' (, "

writing Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...

, recording") + ''-ion'' (), together originally meaning a

sundial A sundial is a horology, horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the position of the Sun, apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the ...

clepsydra Clepsydra may refer to: * Clepsydra, an alternative name for a water clock A water clock, or clepsydra (; ; ), is a timepiece by which time is measured by the regulated flow of liquid into (inflow type) or out from (outflow type) a vessel, an ...

, or other timekeeping device. (The same roots are used in

horology Chronometry or horology () is the science studying the measurement of time and timekeeping. Chronometry enables the establishment of standard measurements of time, which have applications in a broad range of social and scientific areas. ''Hor ...

, the scientific study of

time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

.) In

Byzantine Greek Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic; Greek: ) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the F ...

, the word was repurposed to also denote the Eastern books of hours, records of the hymns and prayers to be offered at the proper times of each day. The plural form of both the Latin and Greek forms of the word is ''horologia''. In English, the horologion is also sometimes known as the Book of Hours or the Orthodox book of hours, from the nearest

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

equivalent Equivalence or Equivalent may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Album-equivalent unit, a measurement unit in the music industry *Equivalence class (music) *'' Equivalent VIII'', or ''The Bricks'', a minimalist sculpture by Carl Andre *'' Equiva ...

. The book is known as the ''Chasoslov'' () in

Church Slavonic Church Slavonic is the conservative Slavic liturgical language used by the Eastern Orthodox Church in Belarus, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Slovenia and Croatia. The ...

and as the or in Romanian.

Description

The horologion is primarily a book for the use of the reader and chanters. The Euchologion is used by the

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

and

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 ...

instead. Several varieties of horologia exist, the most complete of which is the Great Horologion or Horologium (, ''Hōrológion tò méga''; , ''Velikij Chasoslov''; , ''Orologhionul Mare''). It contains the fixed portions of the

Daily Office In the practice of Christianity, canonical hours mark the divisions of the day in terms of fixed times of prayer at regular intervals. A book of hours, chiefly a breviary, normally contains a version of, or selection from, such prayers. In t ...

(

Vespers Vespers /ˈvɛspərz/ () is a Christian liturgy, liturgy of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Catholic (both Latin liturgical rites, Latin and Eastern Catholic liturgy, Eastern Catholic liturgical rites), Eastern Orthodox, Oriental O ...

, Greater and Lesser

Compline Compline ( ), also known as Complin, Night Prayer, or the Prayers at the End of the Day, is the final prayer liturgy (or office) of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours, which are prayed at fixed prayer times. The English wor ...

, the Midnight Office, Matins, the

Little Hours In Christianity, the Little Hours or minor hours are the canonical hours other than the three major hours. In the Syriac Orthodox Church and the Indian Orthodox Church (two denominations in Oriental Orthodox Christianity) these fixed prayer tim ...

, the Inter-Hours,

Typica The Typica (Slavonic language, Slavonic: ''Изобрази́тельны, Izobrazítelny'') is a part of the Canonical hours#Daily cycle of services, Divine Office of Eastern Orthodox Worship, Eastern Orthodox and Greek Catholic Church, Greek Ca ...

, and the prayers before meals). The parts for the reader and chanters are given in full, while the priest and deacon's parts are abbreviated. Great Horologia also contain a list of the

saints In Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Anglican, Oriental Orth ...

commemorated throughout the year with their troparia and kontakia; selected

propers The proper (Latin: ''proprium'') is a part of the Christian liturgy that varies according to the date, either representing an observance within the liturgical year, or of a particular saint or significant event. The term is used in contrast to the ...

for

Sunday Sunday (Latin: ''dies solis'' meaning "day of the sun") is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. Sunday is a Christian sabbath, day of rest in most Western countries and a part of the Workweek and weekend, weekend. In some Middle Ea ...

moveable feast A moveable feast is an observance in a Christian liturgical calendar which occurs on different dates in different years. It is the complement of a fixed feast, an annual celebration that is held on the same calendar date every year, such as Chri ...

s from the Menaion, Triodion, and

Pentecostarion The Pentecostarion (, ; , , literally "Flowery Triodon"; ) is the liturgical book used by the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches that includes the texts for the Paschal Season, but varies in exact span between different tradition ...

; and the various canons and other devotional services. The Great Horologion is most commonly used in

-speaking churches. Other editions of the horologion are usually shorter. They still give the fixed portions of the Daily Office in full, but other texts are much more abbreviated since they are found in full in other liturgical books. In addition, such texts also often contain morning and evening prayers, the Order of Preparation for

Holy Communion The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an ordinance in others. Christians believe that the rite was instituted by J ...

, and prayers to be said after receiving Holy Communion.

External links

Liturgy.io Horologion

when a priest is not present

at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem
Byzantine Catholic Horologion

References

{{Sacraments, rites, and liturgies of the Catholic Church * Eastern Orthodox liturgical books

Names

Description

See also

External links

References