In the liturgical practice of the Orthodox Church and

Byzantine Rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, is a liturgical rite that is identified with the wide range of cultural, devotional, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Chri ...

, a prokeimenon (

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 ...

, plural ; sometimes /; lit. 'that which precedes') is a

psalm The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of H ...

canticle In the context of Christian liturgy, a canticle (from the Latin ''canticulum'', a diminutive of ''canticum'', "song") is a psalm-like song with biblical lyrics taken from elsewhere than the Book of Psalms, but included in psalters and books su ...

refrain sung responsorially at certain specified points of the

Divine Liturgy Divine Liturgy () or Holy Liturgy is the usual name used in most Eastern Christian rites for the Eucharistic service. The Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Lutheranism, Eastern Lutheran Churches and the Eastern Orthodox Church believe the Divi ...

or the Divine Office, usually to introduce a

scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They often feature a compilation or discussion of beliefs, ritual practices, moral commandments and ...

reading.Parry (1999), p. 390 It corresponds to the

Gradual The gradual ( or ) is a certain chant or hymn in liturgical Christian worship. It is practiced in the Catholic Mass, Lutheran Divine Service, Anglican service and other traditions. It gets its name from the Latin (meaning "step") because i ...

of the Roman Mass.

Use

Prokeimena are not selected based on the personal preference of 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 ...

, reader, or choir director. Rather, the Sunday and weekday prokeimena are taken from the

Octoechos Oktōēchos (here transcribed "Octoechos"; Greek: ;The feminine form exists as well, but means the book octoechos. from ὀκτώ "eight" and ἦχος "sound, mode" called echos; Slavonic: Осмогласие, ''Osmoglasie'' from о́с ...

, using the particular

tone Tone may refer to: Visual arts and color-related * Tone (color theory), a mix of tint and shade, in painting and color theory * Tone (color), the lightness or brightness (as well as darkness) of a color * Toning (coin), color change in coins * ...

of the day. Many feasts also have their own prokeimena. The basic pattern of a prokeimenon is for the reader to

chant A chant (from French ', from Latin ', "to sing") is the iterative speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two main pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of no ...

a single verse of the psalm or canticle (often announcing the tone as well). This is repeated as a

refrain A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the Line (poetry)">line or lines that are repeated in poetry or in music">poetry.html" ;"title="Line (poetry)">line or lines that are repeat ...

by the

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

, 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 concludes the prokeimenon by chanting the first half of the first verse, and the choir then sings the second half. Alternately, if a feast is being celebrated together with a Sunday liturgy, a verse of that feast's prokeimenon will often replace the final verse of the Sunday prokeimenon. In some traditions where a plain chant format is used, the prokeimenon may be chanted by a

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. ...

. In this practice, the cantor will sing the refrained verse in the prescribed tone for the Sunday or Feastday along with the accompanying additional verses. This is usually done in alternation (refrain – verse – refrain – verse – refrain).

Example

''The example given is the Sunday prokeimenon in Tone 8, assuming no additional feast. The verses are taken from Psalm 75 (

Septuagint The Septuagint ( ), sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (), and abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew. The full Greek ...

numbering).'' :''Reader'': "The prokeimenon is in the eighth tone: Pray and make your vows before the Lord our God!" :''Choir'':"Pray and make your vows before the Lord our God!" :''Reader'': "In Judah, God is known; His name is great in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

!" :''Choir'':"Pray and make your vows before the Lord our God!" :''Reader'': "Pray and make your vows!" :''Choir'':"Before the Lord our God!"

Liturgical structure

In the Divine Liturgy, the prokeimenon always precedes the

Epistle An epistle (; ) is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people, usually an elegant and formal didactic letter. The epistle genre of letter-writing was common in ancient Egypt as part of the scribal-school writing curriculum. The ...

reading, after the singing of the

Trisagion The ''Trisagion'' (; 'Thrice Holy'), sometimes called by its incipit ''Agios O Theos'', is a standard hymn of the Divine Liturgy in most of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox, Western Orthodox, Oriental Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodox, an ...

. At

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 ...

, the prokeimenon always follows the Entrance, whether or not there is an

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

reading to follow. Whenever there is a Gospel reading, whether at

Matins Matins (also Mattins) is a canonical hour in Christian liturgy, originally sung during the darkness of early morning (between midnight and dawn). The earliest use of the term was in reference to the canonical hour, also called the vigil, which w ...

or during a

Moleben A Paraklesis () or Supplicatory Canon in the Byzantine Rite, is a service of supplication for the welfare of the living. It is addressed to a specific Saint or to the Most Holy Theotokos whose intercessions are sought through the chanting of t ...

, it will be preceded by a prokeimenon. (The exception to this being at Matins during

Holy Week Holy Week () commemorates the seven days leading up to Easter. It begins with the commemoration of Triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, marks the betrayal of Jesus on Spy Wednesday (Holy Wednes ...

, when the Gospel reading immediately follows the Psalter readings, or the

troparion A troparion (Greek , plural: , ; Georgian: , ; Church Slavonic: , ) in Byzantine music and in the religious music of Eastern Orthodox Christianity is a short hymn of one stanza, or organised in more complex forms as series of stanzas. The wi ...

Holy Thursday Maundy Thursday, also referred to as Holy Thursday, or Thursday of the Lord's Supper, among other names,The day is also known as Great and Holy Thursday, Holy and Great Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Sheer Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries. is ...

.) In

Lent Lent (, 'Fortieth') is the solemn Christianity, Christian religious moveable feast#Lent, observance in the liturgical year in preparation for Easter. It echoes the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring Temptation of Christ, t ...

and Holy Week, at the Sixth Hour, a prokeimenon is also sung both before and after a reading from the books of

Isaiah Isaiah ( or ; , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "Yahweh is salvation"; also known as Isaias or Esaias from ) was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named. The text of the Book of Isaiah refers to Isaiah as "the prophet" ...

Ezekiel Ezekiel, also spelled Ezechiel (; ; ), was an Israelite priest. The Book of Ezekiel, relating his visions and acts, is named after him. The Abrahamic religions acknowledge Ezekiel as a prophet. According to the narrative, Ezekiel prophesied ...

Notes

References

* {{cite book , editor-last=Parry , editor-first=Ken , editor2=David Melling , title = The Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity , publisher = Blackwell Publishing , date = 1999 , location = Malden, MA. , isbn =0-631-23203-6 Genres of Byzantine music Byzantine Rite Order of Mass