The Festal Menaion

translated from the original Greek

by

MOTHER MARY

of the Orthodox Monastery of the Veil of the Mother of God

Bussy-en-Othe, France

and

ARCHIMANDRITE KALLISTOS WARE

Spalding Lecturer in Eastern Orthodox Studies

University of Oxford

with an introduction by

archpriest georges florovsky

Emeritus Professor of Eastern Church History

Harvard University

St. Tikhon’s Seminary Press

South Canaan, Pennsylvania 18459

1998

First published in 1969

by Faber and Faber Limited

24 Russell Square London WC1

Made and printed in Great Britain by

William Clowes and Sons, Limited

London and Beccles

Reprinted with permission in 1990

Second Printing 1996

Third Printing 1998

by St. Tikhon’s Seminary Press

South Canaan, Pennsylvania, 18459

All rights reserved

ISBN 1-878997-00-9

© 1969 Mother Mary, of the Monastery of the Veil of the Mother of God, and Archimandrite Kallistos Timothy Ware

The Service Books of the Orthodox Church

CONTENTS

Preface

THE WORSHIPPING CHURCH

by Archpriest Georges Florovsky

THE ORTHODOX SERVICES AND THEIR STRUCTURE

i. The Five Cycles

ii. The Great Feasts

iii. The Background and Meaning of the Feasts

iv. Plans of the Services

THE COMMON OF THE VIGIL

I. THE BIRTH OF OUR MOST HOLY LADY THE THEOTOKOS (8 September)

II. THE UNIVERSAL EXALTATION OF THE PRECIOUS AND LIFE-GIVING CROSS (14 September)

III. THE ENTRY OF THE MOST HOLY THEOTOKOS INTO THE TEMPLE (21 November)

IV. The Forefeast of the Nativity of Christ (24 December)

Christmas Eve (24 December)

THE NATIVITY ACCORDING TO THE FLESH OF OUR LORD AND GOD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST (25 December)

The Synaxis of the Most Holy Theotokos (26 December)

V. The Forefeast of the Theophany (5 January)

The Eve of the Theophany (5 January)

THE HOLY THEOPHANY OF OUR LORD AND GOD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST (6 January)

The Synaxis of the Honoured and Glorious Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist John (7 January)

VI. THE MEETING OF OUR LORD AND GOD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST (2 February)

VII. THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE MOST HOLY THEOTOKOS AND EVER-VIRGIN MARY (25 March)

VIII. THE TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD AND GOD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST (6 August)

IX. THE DORMITION OF OUR MOST HOLY LADY THE THEOTOKOS AND EVER-VIRGIN MARY (15 August)

APPENDIX I. The Psalter

II. The Service Books of the Orthodox Church

III. Glossary

IV. The Calendar

PREFACE

Today, more than ever before, there is a compelling need for Orthodox liturgical texts in the English language. In preparing the present volume, the translators have been concerned to meet the needs of at least three different groups:

First, we have had in mind the situation of the younger generation within the Orthodox emigration, most of whom are obliged at the present time to attend services in a tongue that is not their own. In Great Britain, in the United States, Canada, and Australia, there are today many thousands of Orthodox Christians—and before long their total number will be reckoned in millions—whose primary language is English, and who can no longer ...