The Monday following Pentecost is a feast day in honor of the Holy Spirit. This holiday was established by the Church "for the sake of the greatness of the Most Holy and Life-Giving Spirit, as one is (from) the Holy and Life-Giving Trinity", in opposition to the teachings of heretics who rejected the Divinity of the Holy Spirit and His consubstantiality with God the Father and the Son of God.

The Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles

The Holy Spirit is one with the Father and the Son in everything, therefore He does everything with Them, being autocratic, omnipotent and good. Through Him all wisdom, life, movement is given, He is the source of all life. He has everything that the Father and the Son have, "except unbegotten and begotten," proceeding from the one Father. Saint Athanasius says: "The Holy Spirit is not created from the Father, is not created, is not begotten, but proceeds." But what the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father consists of is incomprehensible to us, just as the birth of the Son is also incomprehensible. Therefore, the Holy Orthodox Church has never dared to subject this mystery of the Divinity to human reasoning, but has always confessed it, in accordance with the teaching of our Savior Jesus Christ (John 15:26). The Lord reveals to man only what is necessary for his salvation, and many secrets remain for us behind an impenetrable veil.

Enriching a person with spiritual gifts and growing spiritual fruits in him, the Holy Spirit adorns a person with various virtues, makes him, according to the word of Scripture, a good tree, producing good fruits (Matt. 7:17). Life according to the Holy Spirit is clearly revealed in the fruits of the Spirit, which include, according to the apostle Paul, “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (Gal. 5:22-23).

Descent of the Holy Spirit

Sermon of St. Philaret of Moscow. Word on the Day of the Descent of the Holy Spirit

Be filled with the Spirit.

Ephesus V,18

The soul of any holiday is the presence of the one to whom they celebrate. And for those who celebrate the day of the Holy Spirit, what could be more desirable, as if this heavenly Comforter, with grace-filled inspiration, visited His feast? If He, although no longer with fiery tongues, illuminated our heads, at least touched our hearts with a secret spark of His fire and ignited them with a sense of the presence of God; just as He once kindled the “inert, even to believe, hearts” of two disciples so that these very hearts could indicate to them at least a trace of the presence of the Lord: “is not our heart woe in us, when we say we are on the way” (Luke XXIV.32). This blessing is so great that I don’t know if it is possible to ask for it from the “Treasury of the Good” without inner shudder and some surprise at one’s own boldness; although, by the way, the Church, every day, and at the beginning of each prayer, invites us to pray to the Holy Spirit, not only to “come,” but also “to dwell in us.”

But what a single desire is so difficult on our part, listeners, the very thing, so simply and so generously, is now offered to us by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of the Apostle; and not only offers, but commands, inspires, delivers with the law: “Be filled with the Spirit!” (Eph.5:18)

How blessed, Divine Pavle, but at the same time how wonderful and incomprehensible you give us a commandment! “Be filled with the Spirit”: Is it in our will to be filled with the Spirit? If this treasure is so near and so approachable, then why is it so rare and unknown?

Christians! Of course, among our fellow students in Ephesus, “to whom the teacher of languages ​​initially gave the instruction that we are considering,” there was not a person who would not understand him in this case, and could oppose our perplexities to him. Otherwise, the God-inspired mentor, no doubt, would have warned the interrogation by admonishment. So, at that time, the “thirsty ones” knew the path once indicated by the prophet, but “they go to the water, and the fir trees do not have silver, but they will buy and eat, and they will buy wine and milk without silver and prices.” Now, apparently, “the money is not dependent on bread, and our labor is not enough” (Is. LV. 1-2). It seems to us that the Lord values ​​His blessings too dearly, and that it is not our muscles that have weakened to receive them, but that His hand has shrunk to give spiritual gifts.

No! The Lord unenviously “pours out of His Spirit on all flesh” (Joel II. 28). If we are not “filled with the Spirit,” then it is not His gifts that are not enough for us, but we are not enough for His gifts. May the poor be comforted in the Spirit! Let those who are weak in the flesh rise up! May the Lord be justified in His words!

There was a time when the apostles, mostly holy temples of the Holy Spirit, did not feel Him who lives in them. They already possessed the gift of miracles, but did not yet understand the beginning and did not notice the direction of the force acting in them. The spirit of love was in them the spirit of wrath, and those called to the ministry of salvation were ready to bring down the fire of consumption from heaven. The Truth itself accused them of such a strange ignorance of themselves: “I don’t know what spirit you are” (Luke IX.55).

Later, when the same Spirit, which at first acted in the Apostles with hidden power, visited them with His solemn descent, filled them with knowledge and wisdom, they recognized Him so clearly and so closely that they decisively distinguished Him both from their own and from a certain common spirit acting in natural, not regenerated by the Spirit of God, people and, perhaps, in themselves once acted. “But we,” says one of them, “we did not receive the spirit of this world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we know, which was given to us by God” (1 Cor. II. 12).

Let us note, hearers, that the Apostle does not say, "I have given us the Spirit," but, "We have received the Spirit." How would he say: “It is known that God “gives” His Spirit to everyone who is disposed to “receive” Him. Only people for the most part are enslaved and darkened by the “spirit of the world. We, however, rejected the dominion of this gloomy spirit, but accepted in our spirit the luminous influence of the “Spirit from God” that proceeds; and thus was revealed in us an active knowledge and feeling of the gifts that God has given us. “But we did not receive the spirit of this world, but the Spirit, who is from God, but we know, even from God bestowed on us.”

Descent of the Holy Spirit
Album of images of holy icons of the edition of chromolithography
E.I. Fesenko in Odessa. End of the 19th century.

So, do not believe us, weak ministers of the word, believe the chosen instruments, messengers and heralds of the Spirit of God, that, despite a certain independent existence and freedom of man, he not only can be, but is usually under the rule of one of two principles, or " spirit of this world”, or “Spirit from God”, depending on which of them the action on itself freely “accepts”. If you, apparently, do not experience this on your own, this only means that "you do not know what spirit you are."

In order, if possible, to bring these secret relations of the human spirit to the Spirit of God closer to the general understanding, let it be allowed to use a parable and divination, in which Divine truth itself has been clothed not infrequently, in order to appear to the eyes of people, more or less sensual. - The baby in the womb has its own soul and life; but his life is immersed in mother life, imbued with it, nourished by it, so that, in comparison with the full life of a person, it can hardly be considered life: this is the image of the state in which natural man is in the world. His spirit has its own life and freedom, but nevertheless, being in the flesh, embraced and insensibly ruled by the power of the world: he thinks, but according to the verses of the world; desires, but in the way that all-possessing carnal lust, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life induces; acts, but in a narrow and low circle of the sensual; lives, but according to the spirit of the world, "alienated from the life of God" (Eph. IV. 18). However, the confinement of an infant in the womb is not a decisive intention of nature, but only a means and a path by which it is led to full being; and he must come into the world, behold the beauty of the world, taste of its blessings, know its Creator: such is the highest purpose of the human spirit, "embraced" in flesh and imprisoned in the world. “It is fitting for you to be born again” (John III. 7), “it is fitting”, for this, according to God’s intention, is not only an accidental lot of some, but an approved law and predestination of all mankind, for which all natural life serves only as a preparation and transition . The prisoner of the world must be "brought out of his prison" - "confess to the name of the Lord" (Psalm CXLI. 8), "enlighten" with the light of Christ, "taste the gift of heaven and the power of the coming age" (Heb. VI. 4-5) during even in the present century, to “receive” in the world itself the “Spirit who is from God”, to begin to breathe heavenly air on earth. And just as a child being born, renouncing the life of his mother, has no difficulty in seeking his new life, but carries in himself a source of activity, constantly developing and improving, and around him everywhere he finds the air necessary for his breathing: thus, drawn by grace from the world and called to a higher birth, a person is closer to the area of ​​new life than he thinks; for we can only be far from the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of God cannot be far from us. This Spirit, according to the words of the Wise One, “spirits pass through everything” (Wisdom VII. 23), being inviolable in its sanctuary and omnipresent with its goodness: it pours out on every power and ability that indulges in its action, and in the very heart of the old man opens source of new life. “Believe in me,” the Giver of the Spirit rivers, “rivers from his womb will flow living waters. And this,” adds the beloved disciple, explaining the words of the heavenly Teacher, “this is the speech about the Spirit, Whom I want to receive, believers in His name” (John VII. 38-39). Finally, here is an important difference between natural and spiritual birth: the first is achieved and accomplished by the necessary procession of nature, and the latter by the free aspiration to God of faith in Christ. “Believe in me, as the scripture speaks, rivers from his womb will flow living waters.” And why are whole “rivers from a single womb” when a single drop from the fulfillment of grace is enough to revive hosts of spirits? - In order, as the Scripture said, in order to reveal the lofty wealth of goodness, according to which the Holy Spirit not only fills, but also fills the measure of our readiness to receive Him and, so to speak, bestows upon us more than we receive.

Shall we, children of faith, fail to recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit among us and ask about His dominion: where is it? And even before His solemn descent into the kingdom of faith, the children of the law felt His omnipresent and omnipotent power so vividly that they could not hide anywhere and rest from reverent horror! “How can I go from Thy Spirit” (Psalm CXXXVIII.7)? exclaimed David. Should we be perplexed how the self-active human spirit can stand under the unceasing action of the Almighty Spirit? And even in the time of Job, they understood that “there is a spirit in men, but the breath of the Almighty is teaching” (Job. XXXII. 8)! Is it necessary to recall our own confession, so often renewed according to the voice of the Church, by which, bringing ourselves into prayerful approach to God, we proclaim the omnipresent and all-fulfilling power of His Spirit? - “Everywhere you are and fulfill everything!”

"Do everything!" But why are we not all “fulfilled” by Him? – It is evident that they should ask themselves about this.

Is it possible for us to “be filled with the Spirit” if the flesh, constantly at war with the spirit, finds no barrier to its dominion in us? If in its satiety, intoxication, pleasure we quench even the smoothness of hearing the word of God and the thirst for truth, which is characteristic of our spirit? What if we only live in this flesh, in which, as the man of God assures us from our own experience, “nothing good lives at all” (Rom. VII.18)? In this case, we ourselves flow under the heavy judgment of God, pronounced on the first world: “I shall not have My Spirit to abide in these men forever, for they are flesh” (Gen. VI. 3). “If a man sows, he will also reap: as you sow into your own flesh, corruption will reap from the flesh, but if you sow into the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit” (Gal. VI. 7-8).

Is it possible for us to “be filled with the Spirit of God” if we ourselves animate ourselves only with the spirit of this world? If only by its elemental wisdom we fill our mind, only by its charms do we enliven our imagination, only by its passions do we excite our heart, only by its laws do we rule our will, only we try to please it with our actions? If our best feelings and very virtues are infected with the pernicious breath of the "spirit of the world": love through passion, indulgence through flattery, nobility through pride, industriousness through greed, doing good through vanity, dignity through contempt for others, exploits through ambition? Only those can receive the “Spirit that is from God” who “did not receive the spirit of this world”, or cast it out, “not loving the world, nor anything in the world” (1 John II. 15).

Is it possible for us to “be filled with the Holy Spirit”, if we are still filled with ourselves so that there is not so much abolished and purified place in us below, where even a drop of all-drinking water, in all the longitude and breadth of times and places “flowing into the eternal life” ( John IV. 14), could sink away and not turn into dust with our self-love and sinful remains? – Our impurity is a stronghold with which we block the currents of the Spirit of the Lord from ourselves, like the aspirations of spring waters, “sent” everywhere to “create” a new creation and “renew the face of the earth” (Psalm III. 30), but that is not yet anger and moreover, the mercy of God, that these currents do not penetrate unworthy souls, for the holy and sanctifying water of life, falling on impure things, would blaze with an all-consuming fire.

And therefore, let them not grieve over the Spirit of the Lord, even those who, although they reject the flesh, the world, and themselves with all their might and come to Christ with spiritual "thirst," nevertheless "do not yet drink" from the source of blessings, do not feel comforting in themselves. the presence of sanctifying and renewing grace, or, having felt it instantly, they lose it. It is written in the Gospel that at one time, while Jesus Christ Himself preached about “The Spirit, Whomever believers in His name would like to receive, the Holy Spirit was not” acceptable, “as Jesus was not glorified” (Jn. 7:39) . In another place, He tells His disciples that even after following Him unchangingly, one must first be tempted to be deprived of His visible presence and then already cry out to the mysterious communion of the Holy Spirit: “You have no food, but I go. If I don’t go, Az, the Comforter will not come to you; if I go, I will send Him to you” (John XVI. 7). Even after His resurrection, when “I was given ... all power in heaven and on earth” (Matt. 28:18), the Apostles needed fifty days of “patience, unanimous prayers and supplications” (Acts I. 14), so that they could, having abolished everything, one, finally “be filled with the Holy Spirit” and begin to live in this fulfillment. Tokmo "abolished" from everything, they were honored to "celebrate" great holiday God's. Maybe for you too, who are zealous for the apostolic following of Christ, but do not feel “the anointing from the Holy One” on yourself, - maybe for you, because “they do not have the Holy Spirit, because Jesus is not glorified” in you; perhaps you have received Him only as a "Prophet" bearing the word "God" in your mouth, but have not yet consecrated yourself to Him as a "Priest", but in the communion of the world's sacrifice, He will fully lift you up into a favorable offering to the Father To his; they have not yet exalted Him as the “King”, but no desire and thought will rise up without His wave. It may be that “you also don’t have it, if you understand” and seek “Christ” more “according to the flesh” (2 Cor. V. 16) than according to the Spirit, so that the longed-for “Bridegroom” will be “taken away” from your souls for a while ”(Matt. 9:15; Mark 2:20), and the deprivation of spiritual comforts will purify your faith, exalt love, strengthen patience, refine prayer, drive out dangerous self-pleasure, prepare pure bliss.

But those in whom, if it is not felt, at least already begins with the hidden hand, “the anointing does not demand, but whoever teaches them: for that same anointing teaches them about everything” (1 John II. 27). What will we do, living only flesh and blood, which "cannot inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 15:50)? What will we be, dead in spirit, cold and dry, like the “bones” scattered in the field in Ezekiel’s vision? “Will these bones live” (Ezek. XXXVII. 3)? God inquired of the Prophet, wishing to send upon them His life-giving Spirit. “Do not want the death of sinners, but to turn and live by them” (Ezek. 33:11), without a doubt, and with the same kind of mercy looks at these spiritual skeletons and the desire for their revitalization by the Holy Spirit. “Will these bones come to life? “Lord God, You are this weight” (Ezek. 37:3). - And now the kings Himself, if thou hadt spoken of old by Your Prophet, as if they were not in us, who will prophesy, - The kings themselves are bones of this: I am the Lord” (Ezek. 37:5-6). Amen.

Notes

blessed - In dep. ed.: "invisible".

In the department ed. further follows: “is it possible for everyone to approach this “sea of ​​glass”, which is “before the throne” (Apocalypse XV. 2) of God, without fearing the consuming fire, with which it is “mixed”, and draw the water of life with every vessel, like water river".

In the department ed.: "to which the teacher of languages ​​originally extended the words we have quoted."

In the department ed. and in collection 1820 and 1821: “when even the primordial temples of the Holy Spirit did not feel the living in them. Apostles".

In the department ed. and in collection 1820 and 1821: “whom, of course, as a punishment for the unworthy service of the word, the Lord no longer makes leaders of your faith and feeders of love, but betrays only to shame and judgment before you, so that in this sacred place it is no longer so much the word of God , living and active, judges by the thoughts and thoughts of the heart of those who hear, how much the cold attention of those who hear judges and condemns the dead words of man.

In the department ed. and in collection 1820 and 1821: "bound".

Being - In dep. ed.: "byv".

In the department ed.: "of this spirit ..."

Or they expelled him - In dep. ed.: "or suppressed it ..."

In the department ed. and in collection 1820 and 1821: "to be fulfilled..."

In the department ed. here under the line follows the remark: St. Chrysostom (Hom. LXXVIII, t. v.) pronounces these words of the Gospel thus: ouk en pneyma agion en tois anthropois dothen. "The Holy Spirit was not given to men." But what should be noted most of all is the explanation that St. The Evangelist gives his words: “the Holy Spirit did not have” (John 7:39), anticipating that they should be understood “about the soul, which believers want to receive” (John 7:39), that is, about only tangible gifts of the spirit , or, in the words of the Apostle Paul (1 Cor. XII. 7), about the “appearance of the spirit”; consequently not about the Spirit, since He "proceeds from the Father" (John XV. 26) or about the very second hypostasis of the Godhead. For in this last mind, “The Holy Spirit is forever, is, and will be” (Pentecost, Stichera 2nd in Praise), as the Church sings.

In the department ed. and in collection 1820 and 1821 further follows: "Most of all is the authority to teach the Holy Spirit."

In the department ed. and in collection 1820, 1821 and 1844 further follows: "impatient, if I may say so..."

bell ringing called "prayer without words", it is not for nothing that so many poems and songs have been written about him. Many people associate the Russian Orthodox Church with bell ringing. Few people know that there are several varieties of bell ringing:

• good news;
• normal bell ringing.

Blagovest is also of two types:

1. ordinary, or frequent;
2. lean, or rare.

The usual bell ringing is divided into:

• trezvon (this bell ringing is considered festive, exultant);
• dvuzvon;
• chime (this type of bell ringing is used before especially important services, emphasizing their significance);
• enumeration (death ringing, which expresses all the sorrow of human death, symbolizes our earthly life).

Everyone knows that musical instruments are not used in Orthodox worship, so why is the ringing of bells so strongly associated with Orthodox churches? Bells, oddly enough, appeared in Rus' from Western Europe. Bell ringing has been known to man since the Bronze Age; small bells were found in India, Egypt, and China. The bell ringing did not come to the Church immediately. For the first time, bells appeared in the temple, because people had to be summoned to worship in some way. It was thanks to this that the bell ringing appeared, which was called the blagovest. Blagovest calls 15 minutes before the service. In the monasteries in 30 minutes. In the name of the Holy Trinity, three blows are struck on the big bell. Each bell has its own tone. The special skill of the bell ringer is the ability to express the essence of the upcoming service in these three strokes. Mournful, joyful or everyday, each time the ringer can ring the same bell differently, although the bells are not tuned like a piano. Nevertheless, they remain full-fledged musical instruments, it is thanks to them that the bell ringing is born.

In addition, there is the art of casting bells, which also requires special skills and talent.

If in the Old Testament trumpets were used for this, then it was by bell ringing that they called to Christian churches. During times of persecution against Christians, it was impossible to use loud instruments such as trumpets. At the very beginning of the 4th century, Emperor Constantine the Great tried to return the trumpets for evangelism, but this tradition never took root. But the bell ringing gradually came into church use. At the beginning of the 7th century, this became a widespread tradition. The birthplace of bells is Western Europe; in the East, bell ringing did not receive much recognition at first.

From the time of the Baptism of Rus', after 988, bell ringing began to appear on our territory. The first documentary evidence of bells in Rus' dates back to 1066. Bells in those days were very expensive, they were often captured by conquerors as war trophies. Gradually, Rus' developed its own bell-casting art.

Cleansing and healing with bells

The ringing of bells, originally intended to invite people to worship, has become a musical decoration of church life. Now bell ringing and its varieties announce church holidays, and this is another important function of bell ringing, because on ordinary days the bells ring differently.

IN modern world Bells have three main functions:

1. Signal.
2. Announcement of an important part of worship.
3. An expression of the triumph of the Church.

The ringing of bells creates a special atmosphere in the temple, helps believers to achieve a special state of prayer, distract from everyday problems and mentally aspire to God, focus on communion with Him. Along with this, there are many theories stating that bell ringing can be useful for:

• cures for ailments;
• exorcism of evil spirits;
• helps with asthma and other respiratory diseases because it kills pathogens in the area.

Orthodox believers know many cases of healing through prayer and other Orthodox miracles, but the use of bell ringing as a "medicine" should still be treated with caution. The bell ringing in the Church has a completely different function, and all the recipes that advise to cast out illnesses and sins with the help of bell ringing are nothing more than superstition.

The task of the bell ringing is to call the faithful to prayer, strengthen their prayerful mood and lead them off with the bell ringing so that they do not lose the special state that appears after the service in the temple.

Many churches during the Easter week allow everyone to climb the bell tower and ring the church bells in order to fully share the joy of Easter together. Thanks to this tradition, many began their service to God as ringers. The main miracle of the bell ringing is not in healing physical ailments, but in helping a person raise his heart to Heaven, forget the problems of ordinary life thanks to these beautiful sounds, and sincerely pray for the coming eternal life. In a certain sense, the ringing of bells helps to cleanse the soul of a person. For healing from diseases, it is best to consult a doctor, because it is through the hands of doctors here on earth that the Lord sometimes heals a person from the most serious ailments. Of course, prayers in the church, where everything is so different from the usual everyday environment, talking with the Lord to the sounds of bells, is natural for a believer. After all, if the Lord had not helped people heal, there would not have been numerous evidence of this in the Bible, there would not have been prayers for health and miracles of healing even in the most seemingly hopeless cases.

You can now learn how to ring bells in special bell-ringing schools. In parishes, good bell ringers are usually always required, so those who wish can be trained in such a school. The myth that ringers often go deaf has no basis. In today's world, there are many ways to protect your hearing even for those who ring the bells themselves and hear the bell ringing especially loudly.

Bells are one of the essential accessories of an Orthodox church. In the "order of blessing of the bell" it is said: “As if all who hear its ringing, whether in the days or in the nights, be excited to glorify the name of Your Holy One.”

Church bells are used to:

1 . call the faithful to worship,

2 . to express the triumph of the Church and her divine services,

3 . to announce to those who are not present in the church about the time of the performance of especially important parts of the Divine Services.

In addition, the people were convened at the veche (people's assembly) by ringing. The ringing indicated the way for travelers who got lost in bad weather. The ringing signaled some kind of danger or misfortune, for example, a fire. In tragic days for the Motherland, the people were called to defend the Fatherland. The ringing announced the people about the victory and welcomed the victorious return of the regiments from the battlefield (war), and so on. So the bell ringing accompanied the life of our people in many ways.

The bells are hung on a special tower called belfry or belfry, which is built above the entrance to the temple or next to the temple.

But bells, as you know, did not begin to be used by Christians immediately with the advent of Christianity.

In the Old Testament Church, in the Temple in Jerusalem, the faithful were called to Divine services not by bells, but by the sounds of trumpets.

In the first centuries of persecution of Christianity from the pagans, Christians did not have the opportunity to openly call the faithful to worship. At that time, believers were called to Divine services in secret. This was usually done through deacons or special messengers, and sometimes the bishop himself, after the Divine Service, announced the time and place of the next Divine Service.

After the cessation of persecution (in the 4th century), they began to convene believers in various ways.

A more general way of calling the faithful to Divine services was determined by the 6th century, when they began to use the beater and the riveter. Bila or candia are wooden boards, and rivets are iron or copper strips bent into a semicircle.

Finally, the most advanced way of calling the faithful to Divine services was determined - this bell ringing.

For the first time, bells, as is known, appeared in Western Europe. There is a legend according to which the invention of bells is attributed to St. Peacock, Bishop of Nolan(† 411), that is, at the end of the 4th or the beginning of the 5th century. There are several stories about this. According to one of these legends, in a dream St. Peacock saw wild flowers - bells that made pleasant sounds. After his sleep, the bishop ordered the bells to be cast, which had the shape of these flowers. But, obviously, St. Peacock did not introduce bells into the practice of the Church, since neither he himself in his writings, nor contemporary writers mention bells. Only at the beginning of the 7th century Roman Pope Savinian(the successor of St. Gregory the Dialogist) managed to give the bells a Christian meaning. From that time on, bell ringing began to be gradually used by Christians, and during the 8th and 9th centuries in Western Europe, bells firmly entered the practice of Christian worship.

In the East, in the Greek Church, bells began to be used from the second half of the 9th century, after the Venetian Doge Ursus sent 12 large bells as a gift to Emperor Michael in 865. These bells were hung on the tower at St. Sophia Cathedral. But among the Greeks, bells did not come into widespread use.

Bells appeared in Russia almost simultaneously with the adoption of Christianity by St. Vladimir (988), i.e. at the end of the tenth century. Along with bells, beaters and riveters were also used, which existed until recently in some monasteries. But oddly enough, Russia did not borrow bells from Greece, from where it adopted Orthodoxy, but from Western Europe. This is indicated even by the very name of the bell, which comes from the German word Glocke. In church language, the bell is called "campan"- from the name of the Roman province of Campania, where the first bells were cast from copper. At first the bells were small, several hundred pounds each. There were few of them at the temples, 2, 3 bells each.

But since the 15th century, when Russia's own bell-casting factories appeared, large-sized bells began to be cast. So, on the bell tower of Ivan the Great in Moscow, for example, there are such bells: the bell called "Everyday", weighs 1017 pounds 14 pounds; bell "Reut", weighs about 2000 pounds; the largest bell is called "Assumption" or "Festive", weighs about 4000 pounds.

The largest bell in the world is still "The Tsar Bell", standing now on a stone pedestal at the foot of the bell tower of Ivan the Great. It has no equal in the world, not only in size and weight, but also in artistic casting. Tsar Kolokol was cast by Russian masters (father and son) Ivan and Mikhail Matorin in 1733 - 1735. The material for the Tsar Bell was its predecessor, the giant bell, damaged by fire. This bell weighed 8,000 pounds and was cast by the bell-maker, Alexander Grigoriev, in 1654. Over 5,000 pounds of alloy were added to this material of 8,000 pounds.

The total weight of the Tsar Kolokol is 12,327 pounds and 19 pounds or 200 tons (218 American tons). The diameter of the bell is 6 meters 60 cm or 21 feet 8 inches.

This amazing work of foundry art was not raised to the bell tower, because the bell was severely damaged by a terrible and devastating fire in 1737. Tsar Kolokol was then still in the foundry pit, surrounded by wooden scaffolding (structures). But whether he was raised on these scaffolds or not is not exactly established. When these wooden scaffoldings caught fire, they were flooded with water. The red-hot bell from a sharp change in temperature gave many large and small share cracks and a large piece, weighing 11,500 kilograms, fell off it.

After the fire, Tsar Kolokol lay in the pit for a century. In 1836, the bell was raised and installed on a stone pedestal, designed by the architect A. Montferrand, the builder of St. Isaac's Cathedral and the Alexander Column in St. Petersburg. It still stands on this pedestal. Below, the fallen edge of the bell is leaning against the pedestal. Such is the fate of the world's greatest Tsar Bell, who never rang.

But even now, located in Moscow on the bell tower of Ivan the Great, the Uspensky bell is the largest in the world (4000 pounds). A blow to it gave rise to the solemn ringing of all Moscow churches on the Great, Bright, Easter night.

So the Russian Orthodox people fell in love with church bells and enriched it with their ingenuity and art.

A distinctive feature of Russian bells is their sonority and melodiousness, which is achieved by various means, such as:

1 . the exact proportion of copper and tin, often with the addition of silver, that is, the correct alloy.

2 . the height of the bell and its width, that is, the correct proportion of the bell itself,

3 . the thickness of the walls of the bell,

4 . correct suspension of the bell,

5 . the correct alloy of the tongue and the method of attaching it to the bell; and many others.

The tongue is called the percussion part of the bell, which is placed inside it. The Russian bell differs from the Western European bell in the first place in that the bell itself is fixed motionless, and the tongue is suspended inside the bell by a freely swinging one, the blow of which produces the sound.

It is characteristic that the Russian people, calling the shock part of the bell language, likened these to the ringing of a bell live voice. For believing Russian people the bells were made tongue, voice and trumpets. Truly, what other name, if not speaking lips, can be called a bell ringing: on the days of great holidays it reminds us of heavenly bliss, on the days of the saints of God it tells us about the eternal rest of the holy celestials, on the days of Holy Week reminds us of our reconciliation with God through Christ the Savior, during the days of Bright Paschal Week exalts us about the victory of life over death and about the eternal, endless joy of the future life in the Kingdom of Christ.

Is it not a speaking mouth, when the bell lets us know about every hour, about its course, reminding us at the same time of eternity, when "there will be no more time"().

Heralding the glory of the name of Christ, resounding day and night, and mostly from on high at the temples of God, the bell ringing by itself reminds us of the words of the Lord Almighty, spoken through the Old Testament prophet Isaiah: “On your walls, Jerusalem, I have placed watchmen who will not be silent neither day nor night ..., reminding of the Lord "(). It is no coincidence that the pagans often heard the bell ringing and said: “This is the voice of the Christian God is heard!”...

sounds one church bells represent something lofty, solemn; and if the bell rings several more or less consistent bells, then there is even more majestic euphony. The powerful ringing of bells, acting on our inner feeling, awakens our souls from spiritual lulling.

What mournful, depressing, and most often irritating tones the bells ring in the soul of an evil wicked apostate.

A feeling of anxiety, spiritual anguish is caused by the ringing of bells in a constantly sinful soul.

Meanwhile, as in the soul of a believer, seeking peace with the Lord God, church bell ringing excites a bright, joyful and peaceful mood. So a person can determine the state of his soul by the ringing of bells.

One can give many examples from life when a person, tired in the struggle with worldly sorrows, fallen into despair and despondency, decides to encroach on his own life. But, behold, the church bells reached his ears, and the one who is preparing to become a suicide shudders, fears himself, involuntarily protects himself with the sign of the cross, remembers the Heavenly Father, and new, good feelings arise in his soul - and the deceased was forever reborn to life. Thus, in the strokes of a church bell, a marvelous power is hidden, penetrating deeply into human hearts.

Having fallen in love with the church bell ringing, the Russian Orthodox people connected with it all their solemn and sad events. Therefore, the Orthodox bell ringing serves not only to indicate the time of the Divine service, but also serves as an expression of joy, sadness and triumph. Hence, various types of ringing appeared, and each type of ringing has its own name and meaning.

TYPES OF RINGING AND THEIR NAMES

Church bell ringing is divided into two main types: 1. blagovest and 2. actually ringing.

1. BLAGOVEST

Blagovest is called measured blows to one big bell. With this ringing, believers are summoned to the temple of God for Divine service. This ringing is called the Annunciation because it proclaims Good, good news about the beginning of Divine service.

Blagovest is done like this: first, three rare, slow, lingering strike(until the sound of the bell stops), and then follow measuring strokes. If the bell is very large or huge, then these measured blows are made by swinging the tongue to both edges of the bell. If the bell is relatively small, then its tongue is attracted by the rope quite close to its edge, a board is placed on the rope and blows are made by pressing the foot.

Blagovest, in turn, is divided into two types:

1 . Ordinary or frequent and produced by the largest bell; And

2 . lean or rare, produced by a smaller bell, on the seven days of Great Lent.

If there are several large bells at the temple, and this happens at cathedrals, large monasteries, laurels, then the large bells, in accordance with their purpose, are distinguished into the following bells: 1) festive; 2) Sunday; 3) polyoleic; 4) simple day or everyday; 5) fifth or small bell.

Usually in parish churches there are no more than two or three large bells.

2. ACTUAL RINGING

Actually ringing is called ringing when they ring all the bells at once or several bells.

The ringing of all bells differs in:

1 . trezvon- this is the ringing of all the bells, then a small break, and the second ringing of all the bells, again a small break, and the third time the ringing of all the bells, i.e. ringing all the bells three times or ringing in three steps.

The trezvon expresses Christian joy, triumph.

In our time, not only the ringing of all bells three times, but, in general, the ringing of all bells has come to be called trezvon.

2 . Double ringing is the ringing of all the bells twice, in two steps.

3 . Chime- this is a ringing alternately in each bell (one or more beats in each bell), starting from big to smallest, and this is repeated many times.

4 . Bust- this is a slow ringing in turn to each bell once, beginning from the smallest And to the big, and after hitting the big bell, hit all the bells together at once, and this is repeated many times.

THE USE OF RINGING AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE

RINGING AT THE ALL-NIGHT VISION

1 . Before the start of the All-Night Vigil - blagovest, which ends ringing.

2 . At the beginning of reading six-psalmia relies double chime. This double chime announces the beginning of the 2nd part of the All-Night Vigil - matins and expresses the joy of Christmas- the incarnation of the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, our Lord Jesus Christ. The beginning of Matins, as we know, directly points to the Nativity of Christ and begins with the doxology of the angels who appeared to the Bethlehem shepherds: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men."

In the people, the double bell at the vigil is called "second call"(the second ringing after the beginning of the vigil).

3 . While singing polyelea before reading gospels relies ringing expressing the joy of the celebrated event. At the Sunday All-Night Vigil, the chime expresses joy and triumph of the Resurrection of Christ.(In some localities it is performed during the singing: “The Resurrection of Christ Who Seen” ...) usually in the manuals this ringing is called "call to the gospel".

In the people, the trezvon at Vespers ("ringing to the Gospel") is called "Third ring".

4 . At the beginning of the singing of the song of the Mother of God: "My soul magnifies the Lord..." sometimes short blagovest, consisting of 9 blows to a large bell (according to the custom of Kyiv and all of Little Russia).

5 . IN Great holidays at the end of the Vigil happens ringing.

6 . During the hierarchal Divine Liturgy after each All-Night Vigil, ringing, for the bishop's wire.

RINGING AT THE LITURGY

Before the beginning of the reading of the 3rd and 6th hours, Announcement to the Liturgy, and at the end of the 6th hour, just before the beginning of the Liturgy, - ringing.

If two Liturgies are served (early and late), then evangelism for the early Liturgy happens more rare, slow than to the late Liturgy, and is usually performed not at the largest bell.

At the hierarchical service the evangelism for the Liturgy begins at the appointed time. When the bishop approaches the temple, it is necessary ringing. When the bishop enters the temple, the ringing stops and the blagovest continues again until the bishop begins to vest. At the end of the 6th hour - ringing.

Then during the Liturgy it is necessary blagovest at the start "Eucharistic Canon", - the most important part of the Liturgy, to announce the time of consecration and the transubstantiation of the Holy Gifts.

At Fr. K. Nikolsky, in the book "The Charter of the Divine Service", it is said that the evangelism to "Worthy" begins with the words: “It is worthy and righteous to worship the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit...”, and it happens before singing: “It is worthy to eat as truly, bless Thee the Mother of God ...” Exactly the same indication is found in the book: "The New Tablet", Archbishop. Benjamin, ed. SPB. 1908 p. 213.

In practice, the call to “Worthy” is shorter, consisting of 12 strokes.

In the south of Russia, the evangelism to "Worthy" is usually performed before the beginning of the "Eucharistic Canon", during the singing of the Creed. (12 hits, 1 hit for each member of the Creed).

The Annunciation to “Worthy” was introduced into the custom of Russian churches during the time of the Moscow Patriarch Joachim (1690) in the likeness of Western churches, where they ring at the words: “Take, eat ...”

After the end of the Liturgy all great holidays relies to ring(to ring all the bells).

Also after each Liturgy celebrated by the bishop, relies to ring, for the bishop's wire.

On feast of the Nativity relies to ring the entire first day of the Feast from Liturgy to Vespers.

On the Feast of Easter - the Resurrection of Christ:

Blagovest to Bright Matins starts before Midnight Office and continues until the beginning procession, and with the beginning of the procession and until its end, and even longer, there is a joyful solemn ringing.

To the Paschal Liturgy - Blagovest And ringing.

And on the very Easter Liturgy, while reading Gospel, relies frequent chime, 7 strokes on each bell (the number 7 expresses the fullness of the glory of God). This solemn chime signifies the preaching of the gospel of Christ in all languages. This chime, after reading the Gospel, ends with a joyful victorious ringing.

Throughout Holy Easter Week relies chime daily, from the end of the Liturgy to Vespers.

In everything Sundays from Easter to Ascension, after the end of the Liturgy, it is supposed to perform ringing.

On Temple Holidays:

At the end of the Liturgy before the beginning of the prayer service relies brief blagovest And ringing and by the end of the prayer service is a chime.

During all religious processions a chime is due.

TO Royal Hours It happens blagovest ordinary into a big bell, and to Great Lenten Hours - Blagovest lean into a smaller bell. Both on the Royal Hours and on the Lenten Hours, before each hour, a ringing is rung: before the 3rd hour, the bell is struck three times, before the 6th - six times, before the 9th - nine times. Before pictorial and Compline - 12 times. But if there is a holiday during Lent, then the bell on the clock is not struck separately at each hour.

On Great Heel Matins, which serves in the evening in Vel. Thursday and when it is read 12 Gospels of the Passion of the Lord, in addition to the usual good news And ringing at the beginning of matins, is performed blagovest To every gospel: to the 1st Gospel - 1 hit to the big bell, to the 2nd Gospel - 2 hits to the 3rd Gospel - 3 hits etc.

At the end of Matins, when the faithful carry the "Thursday fire" home, it is supposed ringing.

CHIM USE AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE

On Vespers of the Great Heel, before the removal of the Shroud, while singing: “You who are dressed ...” is supposed to be slow chime once per bell(from large to small), and according to the position of the Shroud in the middle of the temple - immediately ringing.

On Great Saturday Matins starting with singing "Great Doxology" and in the course of the entire procession with the Shroud around the temple chime, the same as when the Shroud is taken out, i.e., a slow chime 1 time in each bell from large to small. When they bring the Shroud into the temple and reach the Royal Doors with Her, immediately ringing.

Slow chime 1 time in each bell, starting with the largest, most powerful sound, and gradually reaching the thinnest and highest sound of a small bell, it symbolizes "exhaustion" Our Lord Jesus Christ for the sake of our salvation, as we sing, for example, in the irmos of the 4th song, 5th tone: "Thy divine understanding of exhaustion ... for the salvation of your people ...".

According to the established centuries-old practice of the Russian Orthodox Church (in the central part of Russia), such a chime should be made only twice a year: in Vel. Friday and Vel. Saturday, the day of the Lord's death on the cross and His free burial. Experienced bell-ringers watch this especially strictly and in no way allow that the mournful ringing of the one related to the Lord, our Savior, would be the same as the funeral ringing of simple, mortal and sinful people.

On Matins on the day of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord, on the Week of the Adoration of the Cross And August 1st, before the removal of the cross from the altar during the singing of the "Great Doxology", there is a chime, during which they slowly strike 3 times(in some areas 1 time) to each bell from the largest to the smallest. When the cross is brought to the middle of the temple and placed on the lectern - ringing.

similar chime, but only frequent, fast, And 7 times(or 3 times) in each bell, happens before small consecration of water. When the cross is immersed in water - ringing.

The same as before consecration, it happens chime before consecration to the rank of Bishop. In general, there is a frequent chime several times in each bell bell ringing. In some areas, such a chime is performed before the start of the Liturgy in Temple Feasts and on other solemn occasions, for example, as mentioned above, when reading the Paschal Gospel.

USE OF BRUTTER AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE

Bust, otherwise funeral or death knell, expresses sadness and sorrow for the deceased. It is performed, as already mentioned above, in the reverse order than the chime, that is, they slowly strike one time to every bell from smallest to largest, and then hit all the bells at the same time. This mournful funeral enumeration necessarily ends with a brief ringing expressing joyful Christian faith in the resurrection of the deceased.

In view of the fact that in some manuals on ringing it is indicated not to perform pealing during the funeral of the dead, and this does not correspond to church practice, we give some clarification on this matter.

The slow enumeration of the bells, from the smallest to the largest, symbolizes the growing human life on earth, from infancy to maturity and manhood, and the simultaneous strike of the bells means the suppression of earthly life by human death, in which everything that a person has acquired for this life is left . As it is expressed in the songs at the funeral: “All the vanity of man, the Christmas tree does not abide after death: wealth does not abide, nor glory descends: after death has come, all this is needed. (Or as in another hymn it is sung: “In a single moment, and all this death accepts”). With the same cry to the immortal Christ: give rest to him who has passed away from us, where there are all having fun dwelling".

The second part of the song directly points to the joy in the future life with Christ. She then expresses herself, in conclusion of a mournful enumeration, ringing.

In the journal "Orthodox Rus'", in the section "Questions and Answers", Archbishop Averky, about the customs at the funeral service and memorial services, he gave solidly substantiated explanations, which certainly should also apply to ringing: “According to our Orthodox custom, memorial services and funeral services are supposed to be performed in light vestments. The custom of performing these rites in black vestments came to us from the West and is completely uncharacteristic of the spirit of St. Orthodoxy, but nevertheless it has spread quite widely among us - so much so that it is not easy to eradicate it now ... For a true Christian, death is a transition to a better life: joy, not sorrow, as this is beautifully expressed in the touching third kneeling prayer, read at Vespers on the day of Pentecost: “There is no death, O Lord, for Your servants to die, coming to us from the body, and to You, our God, but passing from the saddest to the most useful and sweetest, and to repose and joy” (see Colored Triode) .

The ringing, reminiscent of the resurrection, has a beneficial effect on the believing Christian soul, grieving for separation from the deceased, and gives her inner consolation. There is no reason to deprive a Christian of such consolation, especially since this ringing has firmly entered the life of the Russian Orthodox people and is an expression of their faith.

Thus, when carrying the deceased to the funeral service in the temple, a mournful enumeration, and when bringing it into the temple - ringing. After the funeral, when the deceased is taken out of the temple, it is performed again enumeration, also ending ringing.

At the funeral and burial priests, hieromonks, archimandrites And bishops takes place somewhat different enumeration. First, the big bell is struck 12 times, then follows enumeration, again 12 times in a big bell and again enumeration etc. When the body is brought into the temple, ringing, also after reading the permissive prayer - ringing. When taking the body out of the temple, again indicated enumeration, and after putting the body in the grave it happens ringing. In other places, they call with the usual funeral search.

The “Official Book” indicates that when Patriarch Joachim was taken out, there was a blessing, changing all the bells from time to time (Temporary Imp. Moscow. General. Ist. and ancient. 1852, book 15, p. 22).

Recently, we happened to learn that there was another species enumeration- this is one blow to each bell, but starting from large to small, and then the simultaneous strike of all the bells. This was confirmed by the gramophone record: "Rostov Ringing", recorded in Rostov, in 1963. In practice, we have not heard such a ringing, there are no instructions about it in the ringing manuals. Therefore, we cannot indicate where and when it was applied.

There is also the so-called red chime to all the bells ("in all seriousness").

Red ringing occurs at cathedrals, monasteries, laurels, that is, where there are a large number of bells, which include many large bells. The red bell is made by several ringers, in the amount of five people or more.

The red bell occurs on Great Feasts, during solemn and joyful events in the Church, and also to pay honor to the diocesan bishop.

In addition, one should also mention the "flash" or "alarm" ringing, which has a social significance.

aroused or alarm ringing called the continuous, frequent strikes of the great bell. The alarm or flash was called during an alarm on the occasion of a fire, flood, rebellion, invasion of enemies or some other public disaster.

"Veche" bells were called bells, with which the inhabitants of Novgorod and Pskov called the people to veche, i.e., to the people's assembly.

The victory over the enemy and the return of the regiments from the battlefield was heralded by a joyful, solemn ringing of all the bells.

In conclusion, let us recall that our Russian bell ringers have achieved high skill in bell ringing and have become famous throughout the world. Many tourists came from Europe, England and America to Moscow for Easter, to listen to the Easter bells.

On this "holiday holiday" in Moscow, a total of all the churches rang more than 5,000 bells. The one who heard the Moscow Easter ringing could never forget it. It was "the only symphony in the world", as the writer I. Shmelev writes about it.

This powerful, solemn ringing shimmered throughout Moscow with various melodies of each church and ascended from earth to heaven, like a victorious hymn to the Risen Christ.

(The instructions on the order of ringing are based mainly on practice of the Russian Orthodox Church(center. Russia). This practice was created and approved by the centuries-old experience and life of the Russian Orthodox people, that is, by the very life of the Catholic Church).

Orthodox holiday, which is celebrated on Monday, immediately after. According to folk signs, on this day the earth is a birthday girl, so plowing, digging, harrowing is strictly prohibited. On this day, people hang a symbol of the Holy Spirit - wooden doves - from the goddesses. The Orthodox sincerely believe that on the evening of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit descends to the earth, spilling over the fields, delighting every blade of grass and blade of grass, and on the day of the Spirits it is useful to walk barefoot on the ground. In some regions, on this day, people go around the fields in a religious procession.

In general, the church on this day honors the Most Holy and Life-Giving Spirit, which is consubstantial with the Father and the Son of the Lord. The Holy Spirit enriches and adorns a person, fills his soul with love, joy, goodness, faith and patience. This is the Comforter that Jesus Christ promised his disciples shortly before his ascension to the cross. And on the first day after Pentecost, the Holy Spirit really descended from heaven on the apostles. And Orthodoxy began to spread throughout the earth.

Spirits day - holy great holiday
On this day, the whole earth rejoices.
The Holy Spirit walks over the fields
Each stem is carefully stored.

On this bright holiday I wish you
Light, pure, sincere love
May God protect you from troubles
May the Holy Spirit bless you.

Be honest, love your neighbor
Respect the earth every day.
Save each petal,
May God accompany you everywhere.

There is a folk saying:
Spirits day - the beginning of summer!
The cold recedes.
Hello warm weather.

Evil spirits disappear -
People collect herbs.
The holiday knows its turn -
Followed by the trinity!

On Spirits Day, I sincerely congratulate you and from the bottom of my heart I want to wish light and warmth in the house, joy and happiness in the soul, mercy and love in the heart, kind people and good luck on the way. May thoughts and deeds be righteous, may heaven give grace, strong faith and unquenchable hope.

May the Spirits day come with good,
With sincere and pure love,
With sincere joy, with warmth,
With a sunny, radiant smile!

I want to believe, live, dream,
Appreciating bright moments
And, of course, read
Our Holy Spirit day by day!

Spirits day today is bright,
We hasten to congratulate you.
Wish you good and light
We want you prosperity.

May the Holy Spirit help you
All adversity to conquer.
Happiness will gladly fold you
And help you get it.

To happiness and luck
They certainly went with you.
Be at your best on the building.
Light to you, kindness, love.

Everyone knows that God is triune:
Holy Spirit, God the Father and God the Son.
He watches over us from heaven
And in all good thoughts with us.

The Holy Spirit will save us from pain and troubles;
Those who truly believe will come to the rescue;
It will bring hope and joy
And heal a severe wound.

May the name of the Lord be glorified forever!
And faith in our lives is forever.
May the Holy Spirit be with us forever
Illuminating everything around.

Birthday girl earth
The day meets spirits,
run barefoot
Invites to the field.

Feet bare with dew
Wash clean,
Both a blade of grass and a flower
They speak to you.

Fills the spirits of the day
Souls of pure light
Melting bell ringing
In the blue of dawn.

God's Life-Giving Spirit
hugs the earth,
Happiness, joy I give you
I wish you a day of Spirits.

Let the day bring spirits to everyone
A lot of happiness and prosperity!
May the Lord protect you from troubles,
So that everything is always in order!

Let every minute give
All blessings from heaven!
May the soul always believe in a miracle,
After all, it is so boring for us to live without miracles!

Praise the spirits today,
I wish you happiness
Let your prayer fly
Up to blissful skies.

Let the Spirit be Life-Giving
Always gives you strength
Faith will be unbreakable
Years pass in joy.

Today is the birthday girl - the earth,
It is impossible to dig, plow and harrow,
And it's better for you to walk in the fields on foot,
Run barefoot on the blades of grass!

The Holy Spirit descends to earth,
He pleases our dear people,
Walking along the paths of grass!
So become very happy and you!

On Spirits Day I congratulate you,
Let him not leave you
Inspires to accomplishments
Touches the light with a kind eye.

Holy Spirit Life-Giving
May it bring healing
I wish you strong faith
Understanding and patience.

Congratulations: 43 in verse, 5 in prose.

TO HELP THE RINGERS

Methodological material for educational purposes

Author of the article: Kryuchkov A.E., ringer of the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker on Bolvanovka in Moscow,
musician, artist of the Bolshoi Theater of Russia

The bells, without a certain theological-liturgical and scientific-culturological content, are only sounding bronze statues of an aesthetic and applied nature - a museum exhibit. For the sake of their "revival" the whole complex of historical, liturgical, scientific-theoretical and technical knowledge is needed as a complex and as the basis for the existence and use of bells in the liturgical life of the church with its history, continuity, sound and development. After all, the bell is a rather complex cultural phenomenon that exists in two worlds - the visible and the invisible. This higher, sacred, invisible meaning is acquired by a set of measures comparable to the growth of a person from the veil to an intelligible action. A complex and long process of production is just beginning this way, because the bells must be delivered to the temple. To realize their presence with the whole parish, feeling their spiritual symbolism. Lift, hang correctly, with all the additional complex of work, then correctly combine into a single cathedral organism with a complex system of connections, then, having gathered courage, begin to comprehend the sound and the technique of its extraction, then understand the whole sacred meaning of the connection with the service in the temple and feel it sacred spirit. And only then do the bells acquire that sacred symbol, the top of which lies beyond the bounds of our sensory perception - in the invisible. And people, participating in the bells or hearing them from outside, involuntarily, intuitively, by faith correlating with this higher meaning, try to find earthly joy and spiritual harmony already here on earth, in the visible, material anticipation of Heaven. For a ringer, as a performer and as a Christian, it is necessary to be present not only at a specific sounding point on the ground, being on the bell tower, but to try to continue this whole chain of related meanings from the past to the present. And from the present - to the acquisition of knowledge and sensations, in order to feel the fullness of the liturgical action and your participation in it as part of the Divine Voice, convening those who are called to the “Vespers Velia”, the image of which is the bells.

PART 1. FOUNDATIONS OF ORTHODOX SERVICE.

A church service is a combination according to a special plan, into one set of prayers, sections of Holy Scripture, hymns and sacred rites to clarify some specific spiritual idea or thought. Find the guiding thought or idea for each service and link everyone to it. constituent parts- is one of the tasks of studying Orthodox church services. Every day is a day of the week, and at the same time a day of the year, so there are three kinds of memories for every day: 1) “daytime” or hourly memories, connected with a certain hour of the day; 2) “weekly” or weekly memories, connected with individual days of the week; 3) memories "annual" or numerical, connected with certain numbers of the year.

Thanks to this threefold kind of sacred remembrance that falls on each day, all church services are divided into three circles: DAILY, WEEKLY, and ANNUAL. The main “circle” is daily, everyday, and the other two are additional.

DAILY CIRCLE OF SERVICES those services are called that are performed by the Holy Orthodox Church throughout the day. The names of the daily services indicate at what hour of the day each of them should be performed.

For example: PM indicates the evening hour. Compline - for the hour following the "supper" (that is, after the evening meal). MIDNIGHT OFFICE - at midnight. MATINS - for the morning hour. LUNCH - for lunch, that is, noon. FIRST HOUR - in our opinion means the 7th hour of the morning. THE THIRD HOUR is our 9th hour in the morning. THE SIXTH HOUR is our 12th hour. THE NINTH HOUR is our third hour in the afternoon.

The tradition of inconsistency in the account (the difference is about 6 hours) is explained by the fact that the eastern account is accepted, and in the East, sunset and sunrise, in comparison with our countries, differ by 6 hours. So the 1st hour of the East corresponds to our 7th hour. And so on.

VESPERS. It is performed at the end of the day, in the evening, therefore it will be the first among the daily services. According to the Church, the day begins with the evening, since the first day of the world and the beginning of human existence was preceded by darkness, evening and twilight. With this service, we thank God for the passing day.

Compline. This service consists of reading a series of prayers in which we ask the Lord God for forgiveness of sins, and that He would give us, for the coming sleep, peace of body and soul and save us from the wiles of the devil during sleep. Sleep also reminds of death. Therefore, in the Orthodox service at Compline, those who pray are reminded of awakening from eternal sleep, that is, of the Resurrection.

MIDNIGHT SERVICE. This service is intended to be performed at midnight, in remembrance of the Savior's nightly prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. The “midnight” hour is also memorable because “at the midnight hour” in the parable of the ten virgins, the Lord timed His Second Coming. This service calls on believers to be always ready for the Day of Judgment.

MATINS. This service is performed in the morning, before sunrise. The morning hour, bringing with it light, vigor and life, always arouses a grateful feeling towards God, who gives life. With this service, we thank God for the past night and ask Him for mercy for the coming day. In the Orthodox service after Matins, the coming into the world of the Savior, who brought new life with Himself, is glorified.

FIRST HOUR, corresponding to our seventh hour in the morning, sanctifies the day that has already come with prayer. At the first hour, the judgment of Jesus Christ by the high priests, which took place around this time, is recalled.

THIRD HOUR corresponds to our ninth hour in the morning. It recalls the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, which took place around this time.

SIXTH HOUR corresponds to our twelfth hour of the day. It recalls the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ, which happened from the 12th to the 2nd hour of the day.

NINTH HOUR corresponds to our third hour in the afternoon. It recalls the death on the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, which took place at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon.

DIVINE LITURGY or Mass is the most important divine service. On it, the whole earthly life of the Savior is remembered and Sacrament of Communion established by the Savior Himself at the Last Supper. Liturgy is always served in the morning, before dinner.

All these services in ancient times in monasteries and with hermits were performed separately, at the time set for each of them. But then, for the convenience of believers, they were combined into three services: EVENING, MORNING, and AFTERNOON.

Each of the above daily services would have to be served separately, as is done in many Orthodox monasteries, but due to the conditions of worldly life, at present, the celebration of all services, with rare exceptions, is transferred to the evening and morning hours. Each of the daily services has its own order of connection with the weekly and yearly services, depending on the events recalled. Following the custom of the Old Testament Church, The New Testament Church begins the circle of daily allowances church services from the evening.

Reading at home daytime hours(during the day) and compline(before bed) and midnight office(on rising from sleep) was a common practice in Byzantium and in Rus'. This practice is rare these days. Everyday life pious Christians, the place of Compline and Midnight Office was occupied by prayer rules: for the coming sleep and for the morning. However, in their origin, these rules are nothing more than an abbreviated Compline and Midnight Office with additional prayers.

GREAT COMPLICATION. Currently in Orthodox Church The liturgical Rule recognizes two types of Compline—great and small. Great Compline is celebrated today only during Great Lent, and also as part of the All-Night Vigil of the feasts of the Nativity of Christ, Theophany and the Annunciation Holy Mother of God.

SMALL COMPLICATION. His Charter prescribes to be performed daily, except for the days of singing Great Compline and Bright Week. It is an abbreviation of the Great. In fact, this is the third part of Great Compline, to which the 50th psalm (at the beginning) and the Creed (after the daily doxology) are added. In the modern Russian Church, in view of the widespread practice of directly serving Matins immediately after Vespers, Small Compline out of worship both in parishes and in most monasteries.

Midnight Office one of the daily worship services. In the first centuries of Christianity, it was performed at night, since at night it was then the safest for worship. Later she was included in matins. It is not performed if the All-Night Vigil is served, as well as in some other cases according to the Charter.

In the modern parish life of the church, the daily circle has become even more dense and reduced. On the eve of Sundays and holidays, the following takes place:

Evening service - ALL-NIGHT VISION, which combines: Vespers, Matins and the First Hour.

Morning Service - LITURGY. And before it are performed: the 3rd hour, the 6th hour.

WEEKLY CIRCLE OF SERVICES.

The Holy Church gradually gave prayerful remembrance not only to every hour of the day, but to every day of the week. So, from the very beginning of the existence of the Church of Christ, the “first day of the week” was dedicated to the remembrance of resurrection Jesus Christ, and became a solemn and joyful day - a holiday.

IN Monday(the first day after the resurrection) incorporeal forces are glorified - Angels created before man and God's closest environment.

In Tuesday saint is glorified John the Baptist like a great prophet and righteous man.

IN Wednesday the betrayal of the Lord by Judas is remembered and, in connection with this, a service is performed in memory Cross of the Lord(fast day).

IN Thursday glorified St. apostles and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

IN Friday the sufferings on the cross and the death of the Savior are remembered, and a service is performed in honor of Cross of the Lord(fast day).

IN Saturday memory is given to the Old Testament Sabbath of rest and expectation of the Savior. are glorified Mother of God which is gratified daily, and forefathers, prophets, apostles, martyrs, saints, righteous and all saints who have reached rest in the Lord. In the same way, all the dead are commemorated in the true faith and hope for the resurrection and eternal life.

ANNUAL SERVICE CIRCLE

As the faith of Christ spread, the number of Saints increased: martyrs, saints. The greatness of their deeds provided an inexhaustible source for pious Christian songwriters and artists to compose various prayers and hymns in memory of them, as well as artistic images - icons.

The Holy Church included these emerging spiritual works in the composition of church services, timed their reading and singing to the days of memory of the saints designated in them. The range of these prayers and chants is wide and varied. It unfolds for a whole year, and each day there are not one, but several glorified saints.

The manifestation of God's Grace to a certain people, locality or city, for example, deliverance from floods, earthquakes, from attacks by enemies, etc. gave an indelible occasion to prayerfully commemorate these incidents.

Thus, every day of the year is dedicated to the memory of certain saints, important events, as well as special sacred events - holidays and fasts.

Of all the holidays of the year, the biggest is Light Christ's Resurrection- EASTER. It is the feast of the feast and the triumph of the feasts. Easter happens not earlier than April 4th and not later than May 8th, on the first Sunday after the spring full moon.

Present in the year 12 Great Holidays established in honor of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Mother of God. These holidays are called twelfth.

There are holidays in honor of great saints and in honor of the ethereal Forces of Heaven - Angels.

All holidays in the year according to their content are divided into: Lord's, Mother of God and saints' holidays.

According to the time of celebration, the holidays are divided into: motionless, which occur every year on the same day of the month and on mobile, which, although they occur on the same days of the week, fall on different days of the month in accordance with the time of the celebration of Easter.

According to the solemnity of the church service, the holidays are divided into: great, medium and small. Great holidays always include the All-Night Vigil. Middle holidays - not always.

liturgical church year begins on September 1, old style, and the entire annual circle of services is built in relation to the Easter holiday.

Thanks to the knowledge of the threefold kind of sacred memories that fall on each day, the prayer can explain to himself the following observation:

1 . If for several weeks, at least two, you attend each church service and carefully follow the content of the prayers, then you can notice that some, for example, “Our Father” or a prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos and the litanies, are read at each service. Other prayers, and most of them, are heard only during one service, and they are not pronounced after another.

Consequently, some prayers are used without fail at each service and do not change, while others change and alternate with each other..

The change and alternation of church prayers occurs in this order: some prayers performed at one service are not performed after another. For example: the prayer “Lord, I have called…” is performed only at Vespers. The prayers “Only Begotten Son…” or “We have seen the true light…” are sung only at the Liturgy. Then these prayers are not repeated until the next day, where we hear them at the same service at which we heard yesterday. Consequently, these prayers, although they are repeated every day, are always timed to coincide with a specific service.

2 . There are prayers that are repeated every week on a certain day. For example: "Seeing the Resurrection of Christ ..." we hear only on the eve of the resurrection at Vespers. Prayer of the “Heavenly armies of the Archangel…” - only on Mondays. Consequently: the “turn” of these prayers comes in a week.

3 . Finally, there is a third series of prayers, which are performed only on certain dates of the year. For example: “Your Christmas, Christ our God…” is heard on January 7th, and “Your Christmas, Virgin Mary…” is heard on September 21st.

If we compare the three kinds of changes and alternations between church prayers, it turns out that prayers are repeated every day, relating to sacred daily and “hourly” memories. A week later - to the "seven". A year later - "annual".

Since all our prayers alternate with each other and repeat (circle), some - with the speed of the day. Others are weeks. Third - years. Therefore, such prayers are given in church books the name of the service of the “everyday circle”, “the circle of the week”, “the circle of the year”. Every day the prayers of all three “circles” are heard in the church, and not just one of them. However the main “circle” is the “everyday circle”, and the other two are additional.

COMPOSITION OF CHURCH SERVICES.

The alternating and changing prayers of the daily, weekly and annual circles are called "changing" prayers. The prayers that occur AFTER EACH service are called "unchanging". Every church service consists of a combination of changing and unchanging prayers.

UNCHANGING PRAYERS that are read and sung at every service: 1 - opening prayers, with which all services begin and which, therefore, in liturgical practice are called the "Usual Beginning." 2 - Litanies. 3 - Exclamations. 4 - Leaves and holidays.

CHANGING PRAYERS. As already mentioned, selected passages from the Holy Scriptures and prayers written by pious Christian writers are read and sung in the Church. Both are introduced into the composition of church services in order to depict and glorify the sacred event of the three circles of worship: daily, weekly and annual. Readings and chants from sacred books are named after the book from which they are borrowed. For example: psalms from the book of Psalms. Prophecies are from the books of the prophets. The gospel is from the gospel. Changing prayers are found in church service books and have various names.

The most important of them are the following:

1) Troparion- a song that briefly depicts the life of a Saint or the history of a holiday.

2) Kontakion(“kontos” - short. Greek) - a short song depicting some particular feature of the celebrated event or the Saint.

3) magnificence- a song containing the glorification of a Saint or a holiday. The magnification is sung during the All-Night Vigil before the festive icon, first by the clergy in the middle of the temple, and then repeatedly repeated by the chanters.

4) Stichira(polystich. Greek) - a hymn, consisting of many verses written in one size of versification, having for the most part verses of Holy Scripture in front of them.

5) Dogmatist- a special stichera, which contains the teaching (dogma) about the incarnation of Jesus Christ from the Mother of God.

6) Akathist- "Non-sedal". Prayer, especially laudatory singing in honor of the Lord, the Mother of God or the Saint.

7) antiphons- alternating singing, opposition. Prayers to be sung alternately on two kliros.

8) Prokimen- "lying in front." The verse that precedes the reading of the Apostle, the Gospel and proverbs.

9) involved- a verse that is sung during the communion of the clergy.

10) Canon- this is a series of sacred hymns in honor of a Saint or a holiday that are read or sung at the All-Night Vigil at the time when the worshipers kiss (apply) the Holy Gospel or the icon of the holiday.

SERVICE BOOKS.

The books required for worship are divided into:

1 - Holy liturgical: A reading is made from the Holy Scriptures - the Gospel, the Apostle, the books of the Prophets, the Psalter.

2 - Church and liturgical: They contain the changing prayers of the daily, weekly and yearly circles. Of them:

A) - "Hourbook". It contains prayers of the daily circle. Order and text - Midnight Office, Matins, Vespers, etc.

B) 1 - "Oktoih" or Octophone. It contains prayers of the seventh circle of content. It is divided into 8 parts, corresponding to eight church tunes, and is used at all times, except for Great Lent, ending with the feast of the Trinity. Prayers and chants are arranged by day.

B) 2 - "Triod". There are two types: "Lent" and "Color". It is used during Great Lent and up to and including the feast of the Trinity.

C) - "Menaia" or Monthly. It contains the prayers of the annual circle. They are divided into 12 parts according to the number of months. All the prayers and hymns in honor of the Saints in the Menaion are arranged by numbers.

Division of Daily Time

PART 2. SERVICE RINGS

DIVISION OF BELLS BY GROUPS

The Russian tradition of liturgical bells implies an internal division of the total number of bells into groups:

1. - Blagovestnik - the largest and lowest sounding bells. They are from 1 to 4-5.

2. - Ringing bells - medium. They make up a variety of ringing, expressing its main melodies and rhythms. Calling can be from 2-3 to almost two dozen.

3. - Ringing bells are the smallest. They color the ringing with a special subtle rhythmic and intonational peculiarity.

TYPES OF SERVICE RINGS

1. BLAGOVEST - a bell announcing the beginning of worship. It represents uniform, not fast blows to a large, or to one of the large bells. The Annunciation not only announces the time of the beginning of the service, but also prepares Christians for it. He is already a service. If there are several evangelizers, then the ringing is performed according to the order of the holiday in the corresponding bell: on Great holidays - in a large or festive one. IN Sundays- on Sunday (polyeleia). On weekdays - on weekdays. During fasting - in fasting. In accordance with the status, the size of the bell also decreases.

2. CELL. Several or all simultaneously ringing bells, with rhythm, dynamics and tempo corresponding to this ringing. The ringing can be performed in one step, in two or in three, depending on the liturgical daily circle, which contains THREE main services: vespers, MATINS and LITURGY.

Before Vespers, a chime is performed in one reception. Before Matins, since this is the second service, the chime at two reception. Before the Liturgy three reception.

3. CALL. Alternate successive strikes (from one to seven per bell) from the largest bell to the smallest. In liturgical practice, it is performed to emphasize the importance of the upcoming service or action:

1) - On the feast of Epiphany (Theophany), this ringing is performed at the rite of consecration of water, it symbolizes the descent of the Grace of God on the consecrated water.

2) - When the Shroud is taken out in the order of Great Friday of Great Lent, it marks the exhaustion of the strength of the Savior crucified on the cross.

3) - On Great Saturday Matins, when the shroud is buried, a chime is made.

Three times a year, on holidays associated with the Cross of the Lord:

4) - in Great Lent, on the week of the Adoration of the Cross.

5) - on the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord.

6) - on the day of the Origin of the Honest Trees - the removal of the Cross to the middle of the temple is also accompanied by a chime.

7) - When the shroud is taken out at the All-Night Vigil of the feast of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos (the evening before).

8) - On the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin. At the evening service on the day of the holiday, at the burial of the shroud of the Virgin, a ringing is performed.

4. BUSY. Ringing one beat on each bell from small to large. Busting is a death knell. It has some varieties:

1) - at the burial of the priesthood, before sorting, they strike the largest bell 12 times. The enumeration symbolizes human life in its development and maturation, so the blows follow from the small to the big bell.

2) - At the burial of the laity, first, a search is made from a small to a large bell. At the end of each "circle" of enumeration, all the bells are struck simultaneously, symbolizing the interruption of a person's earthly life.

SUNDAY BELLS.

Since the daily cycle of worship, or, in other words, the church day, begins with vespers, the peals, respectively, begin on the eve of the day being celebrated. Ringing on Sundays is the most common and frequent in everyday practice, unlike everyday ones. They are a model for many holidays, so their structure is a necessary model for the basic liturgical knowledge of the bell ringer. Bells for Sunday Vespers . Before Sunday afternoon, on Saturday evening, the ringer, having received a blessing from the primate, performs bells and whistles before the start of the All-Night Vigil. The Annunciation is carried out at the Sunday bell. First, two strikes are made on the bell until the sound is completely attenuated after each strike, then uniform strikes begin. At the end of the blessing ringing in one go.

The next bell at the all-night service is called double chime. This is a trezvon in two steps, in other words, two peals after a short period of time, and means the beginning of Matins. The ringing at this time symbolically marks the beginning of Matins, as the beginning of a new time in the life of mankind - the morning of eternal life. When making a double ringing, it must be remembered that there should be reverent silence in the church during the reading of the Six Psalms, so the ringing must be completed before the reading of the psalms, or rather, before the exclamation of the priest at the beginning of Matins.

Ringing for the Gospel This chime in one go, performed during the singing of the power antiphons, at the time of the removal from the altar of the Gospel. The ringing occurs during a special insertion into the holding of Matins polyeleic service, which begins with singing - "Praise the name of the Lord ..." and should be stopped before the reading of the Gospel. Since the Gospel symbolizes the Lord himself, the ringing in this place is a greeting to the one who came down to us in the form of the teaching of the Son of God.

Ringing on the "Honest" so called because it takes place on the 9th ode of the canon, before the beginning of which the deacon exclaims: “Let us exalt the Mother of God and the Mother of Light in song!”. Then the chant "My soul magnifies the Lord" is already sung, in the refrain of which they sing: "The most honest Cherubim and the most glorious without comparison Seraphim ...". It's 9 beats on the big bell. The number 9 is not accidental, it denotes 9 angelic ranks, with which the Mother of God is compared in this hymn.

No bells are allowed at the end of Sunday Vespers. In any case, there are no indications in the "Typicon" on this matter, however, in many churches, the abbots bless the bell ringers to ring.

For the Sunday Liturgy evangelize in the same way as before the Vespers, with the difference that ringing at the end of the blagovest they perform in three stages. If there is an early Liturgy, then the evangelism is performed at the middle bell, less often and quieter. At the end of the gospel, there is no ringing.

Ringing on the Eucharistic Canon(after the Creed) contains 12 strokes of the holiday bell, those. according to the number of Apostles present at the Last Supper of the Lord. It is performed after the Eucharistic prayers have been recited by the priest and helps the believers to turn their hearts to God. "Woe to our hearts!" - proclaims the priest. "Imams to the Lord" - answers the choir and those who are coming. "Thank the Lord!" - proclaims the priest. From this moment on, the blows to the big bell begin, according to the words of the choir: “It is worthy and righteous to eat.” Here it is desirable to evenly distribute the beats during the singing and end the ringing by the end of the reading of the Eucharistic prayers, to the exclamation: "Fairly about the Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed ...".

At the end of the Sunday Liturgy, final chime.

BELLS OF THE GREAT (TWENTIETH AND GREAT) HOLIDAYS

Christian holidays are certain days church calendar celebrated with divine services of an individual liturgical character. This is recorded in the names of the holidays, the dates and order of their celebration, as well as in the content of the texts performed during the service. Their purpose and meaning is the remembrance, glorification and theological interpretation of the key stages in the history of Salvation, which is embodied mainly in the events of the earthly life of Jesus Christ (the Savior), and the Virgin Mary, a real participant in this divine-human process. Hence - an exceptionally important place in the calendar of events dedicated to Them.

The holidays are distributed within two overlapping annual cycles - FIXED - (Minean) and MOBILE - (triode or Easter-Pentecostal). Celebrations and memorable events of the first cycle are strictly fixed only on the days of the month. The holidays of the second are fixed only by the days of the week, being strictly correlated with EASTER, which is the starting point for the entire moving annual cycle. The date of Easter moves within 35 days: from April 4 to May 8.

All holidays have a certain status or classification:

EASTER - as a "holiday holiday", has the highest status and is outside this classification. The most important holidays of modern Orthodox calendar are called "Twelfth".

Twelfth fixed holidays

Twelfth rolling holidays

1. Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem - a week before EASTER.

2. Ascension of the Lord - on the 40th day after EASTER.

3. Day of the Holy Trinity. Pentecost is 50 days after Easter.

The second step in the festive hierarchical ladder is occupied by holidays, which are called “great” in the liturgical language.

Great non-twelfth holidays:

There are holidays that formally are not great in status, but are celebrated very solemnly: the days of memory of Sergius of Radonezh, Seraphim of Sarov, Nicholas the Wonderworker. These are especially, popularly revered saints. Divine services are celebrated on these days according to the order of the Great Feasts. Ringing these days is also made with the participation of all the bells.

In addition, all churches have their own significant dates, on the days of which services are performed according to the order of the Great Feasts: days of patronal feasts, venerated images, memorable events, days of visits to the parish by the ruling bishop.

On the days of the Great Feasts, services are basically similar to the Sunday service, and in this case, the ringing should be considered from the point of view of its nature: the duration and solemnity of the ringing and the participation of the largest bell.

Ringing at the end of the All-Night Vigil and after the Liturgy on feast days is prescribed and necessary.

CHRISTMAS RINGS

Ringing on the feasts of the Nativity of Christ and Epiphany (Baptism) often presents significant difficulties in understanding, especially for beginner bell ringers. Therefore, it is necessary, first of all, to know the structure of the holidays, the order of the services, and their changes, in connection with the transfer of the Royal Hours, depending on the days of the week.

on the morning of January 6th attributable to weekday , in the temple are performed Royal Hours, Pictorial, Great Vespers, which serves Liturgy of Basil the Great.

Royal clock. Three times a year, special rites of hours are established, which are called great in liturgical books, and among the people - royal. The popular name comes from the ancient tradition of Byzantium: the Emperor himself was obliged to be present at this clock in the cathedral. Russia adopted the traditions of church services from Byzantium, and our noble sovereigns strictly followed this rule. The royal hours are performed on the eve of the holidays of Christmas and Epiphany, on the so-called Christmas Eve (January 6 and 18), and are dedicated to these sacred events, as well as on Good Friday - for the sake of the Passion of the Lord. The royal hours are read in a row - from the first to the ninth. At each hour, in addition to the psalms, paremia is read - a passage from the Old Testament containing a prophecy about a remembered day, a text from the Apostle and the Gospel. In addition, special troparia are sung.

pictorial. They are celebrated on those days when there is no liturgy (as on some weekdays of Great Lent, etc.) or when it is served after Vespers, that is, on the days of special Lent. The name Pictorial is given because this service is some kind of image, i.e. the likeness of the Liturgy.

By the Royal Hours is performed 1) - blagovest. After the clock is made 2) - chime 3) - 12 strokes almost twice as long during the Eucharistic Canon. After the end of the Liturgy, 4) - chime.

Under the holiday itself on the evening of January 6th a special All-Night Vigil is served. Before it starts - 1) - blagovest and chime. The Vigil consists of Great Compline (since Vespers is celebrated in the morning), with a festive Litiya, and Matins with Polyeleos. At the Polyeleos 2) - ringing to the Gospel. 3) - Chime at the end Vespers and Liturgy. Festive Liturgy Begins at midnight on January 7th. The clock in front of her is unreadable. It serves the Liturgy of John Chrysostom with shorter intervals between 4) - 12 strokes in the Eucharistic Canon. After the Liturgy, at night - 5) - chime.

Option 2 . On the eve of the holiday, when January 6 and 7 fall on weekend, Royal Hours are moved to Friday morning. This happens because they associated with strict fasting, and Saturday and Sunday are not fasting in their essence in the liturgical sense. At the same time, the Liturgy is not performed on Friday. Before the Royal Hours - 1) - blagovest. After the Royal Hours are served Fine. Before Fine - 2) - chime

On Christmas Eve January 6th in the morning Liturgy of John Chrysostom is served. Before Liturgy 1) - blagovest and chime. On the Eucharistic Canon (short version) 2) - 12 strokes to the big bell. After Liturgy 3) - chime at the end and before Great Vespers (not long). After Vespers 4) - chime at the end.

Under the holiday itself, on the evening of January 6, the All-Night Vigil is served (maybe at 17 or 22 hours). By its beginning, 1) - blagovest and chime. At Matins, at the Polyeleic Service, for the reading of the Gospel, 2) - chime. After the end of the All-Night Vigil and before the Liturgy of Basil the Great, 3) - chime.

January 7th at 00:00 holiday begins Liturgy of Basil the Great. The clock is unreadable in front of her. The Eucharistic canon is long 4) - 12 strokes. After the end of the festive Liturgy, the festive 5) - ringing "in all".

RINGS FOR THE FESTIVITY OF THE EPOPHIENCE (BAPTIC)

The order of services on the feast of the Epiphany is a similar composition of bells as on the feast of the Nativity of Christ, for options with the transfer of the Royal Hours also take place depending on the days of the week. On the eve of the holiday, on Epiphany Christmas Eve, a great consecration of water is performed, so the chime is included in the ringing.

1 option. On the eve of the holiday (Christmas Eve), on the morning of January 18th attributable to weekday, in the temple are performed Royal Hours, Great Vespers, and the Liturgy of Basil the Great.

By the Royal Hours is performed 1) - blagovest. After the Royal Hours - 2) - chime before the Great Vespers and Liturgy. The liturgy of Basil the Great differs in that the intervals between 3) - 12 strokes almost twice as long during the Eucharistic Canon. After the end of the Liturgy, after reading the Prayer for the Ambon, during the procession of the clergy, led by the priest, to the place of consecration of the water, 4) - chime. The duration of the chime is until the time the priest immerses the cross in the water to be blessed. And during the dive 5) - short chime .

Under the holiday itself ( on the evening of January 18th) All-night vigil is served. Before it starts - 1) - blagovest and chime. The Vigil consists of Great Compline (since Vespers is served in the morning) and Matins with Polyeleos. At the Polyeleos 2) - ringing to the Gospel. At the end - 3) - Chime at the end Vespers.

On the day of the holiday on January 19, in the morning, Liturgy of John Chrysostom. Ringing on it occurs in the usual order: on the clock 1) - blagovest and chime to the beginning of the Liturgy. Further 2) - 12 strokes to the Eucharistic Canon (intervals are shorter).

At the end of the Liturgy, after the priest reads the Prayer beyond the Ambon, the water is blessed. The composition of the bells here repeats the order at the first consecration: 3) - chime until the immersion of the cross, and 4) - chime during the dive.

Option 2 . On the eve of the holiday, when January 17 and 18 fall on weekend , Royal clock carried over to the morning of the previous day. This happens because they associated with strict fasting, and Saturday and Sunday are not fasting in their essence in the liturgical sense. At the same time, the Liturgy is not performed during the transfer. Before the Royal Hours - 1)-blessing. At the end of them - 2) - chime. Next are the Pictorial. At their end, there is no ringing.

On Christmas Eve, January 18, the morning is served Liturgy of John Chrysostom and Great Vespers . Before the beginning of the Liturgy, at the clock, 1) - blagovest and chime. During the Eucharistic Canon 2) - 12 strokes into a big bell (short intervals). After the end of the Liturgy and before the Great Vespers 3) - chime. In this version, with the transfer of the Royal Hours, the order of the service of the rite of consecrating water changes. It's happening at the Great Vespers , after the petitionary Litany, in the place where Litiya is served on other holidays. In this place of service, during the procession of the clergy, led by the priest to the place of consecration of water, 4) - chime until the moment of immersion in the water of the cross. Since the immersion of the cross - 5) - short chime. At the very end of the service, when the faithful begin to parse the holy water, the final 6) - festive chime "to the fullest".

January 18 in the evening served All-night vigil . The order of calls on it is as set: 1) - blagovest and chime to the start of the service. 2) - chime at the Polyeleos service for the reading of the Gospel. 3) - Festive chime at the end of the service.

January 19 in the morning is served Liturgy of Basil the Great , where the Great consecration of water takes place. Ringing order: on the clock 1) - blagovest and chime to the start of the service. 2) - 12 strokes into a large bell during the Eucharistic canon (intervals are longer). At the end of the Liturgy, after the priest reads the Prayer beyond the Ambon, the rite of blessing the water begins. From the beginning of the procession of the clergy until the immersion of the cross 3) - chime. During the immersion of the cross - 4) - chime. At the very end of the service, when the faithful begin to parse the holy water, the final 5) - festive chime "in all".

ORDER OF SERVICES AND RINGS OF MIDDLE HOLIDAYS

In the Orthodox liturgical system, vigil and polyeleos services are included in the middle holidays. Vigil services on weekdays and Saturdays are performed on the same services of the daily circle and according to the order of the Great Feasts. Only in comparison with the Great Feasts, at Matins, before the canon of the feast, the canon of the Mother of God is sung, and at the Litiya of the Great Vespers, before the stichera of the feast, the stichera of the temple is sung.

Such holidays can be the days of popularly revered saints, images or events. Patronal feasts of churches. The following services are performed:

1. 9 o'clock. (if read) Great Vespers.

2. Small Compline (if served).

3. Midnight Office (if served).

4. Polyeleic Matins.

5. 1st, 3rd, 6th hours.

6. Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.

The chimes at Great Vespers and Matins are performed as during the All-Night Vigil. Ringing on Divine Liturgy according to the statute. However, on middle holidays there are no chimes for Matins and there are no 9 blows to the “Most Honest ...” when praising the Mother of God. At the end of the service, the bell is also not supposed to. Thus, the ringing occurs only at the beginning of the service and towards the "Gospel". However, all these rules are at the discretion of the abbot.

RINGS EVERYDAY

At present, everyday bells are not a frequent occurrence. The real need for the use of bells in our time is not great. We are used to being guided by the clock. We know the schedule.

On weekdays, before divine services, the annunciation is heard in a simple day, small bell. Trezvon also happens to him, and it must be performed carefully.

Ringing equally on weekdays and holidays is undesirable.

At the service without a festive rank - only the blessing of the everyday bell. At the Liturgy, the ringing is only at the beginning. There is no ringing at the Eucharistic canon and at the end.

RINGS DURING GREAT LENT

With the advent of Great Lent, changes are taking place in liturgical practice - the system of counting the days of the week is changing. If at the usual time (during the singing of the Oktoech) Sunday is considered the first day of the week, then in Great Lent it is Monday. The order of reading kathismas changes. And in the general order of reading becomes more, and less singing. The nature of this singing also changes and becomes more restrained.

There are varieties of ringing that are unique to the period of Lent. For example, sentries: before the 3rd hour, three strokes of the fasting bell are made, before the 6th hour - six strokes, before the 9th - nine strokes, and before Compline - 12 strokes.

In many churches, ringing during Lent is generally canceled.

To Vespers, Matins and the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts - ringing at two(two hour bells and a smaller one behind it in size).

Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. During it, the Sacrament of the transformation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is not performed. They partake of the Holy Gifts, which were consecrated on the Sunday preceding it. And the meaning of this divine service is simple: the Church cannot leave believers without the most important thing - without that Food, eating which, according to the word of the Savior, has eternal life. Throughout Great Lent, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is celebrated on Wednesdays and Fridays. Thursday of the fifth week. The first three days of Passion Day, as well as March 9 / February 24 (the first and second finding of the head of John the Baptist) and March 22 / 9 (40 Martyrs of Sebastia), if the celebration falls on the period of Holy Fortecost of Great Lent.

On the days of preparation for Great Lent, on Wednesday and Friday during Cheese Week, Liturgy is not served, but the reading of the Hours is performed according to the Lenten pattern. However, according to this pattern (“chasing”) is not yet necessary.

On Forgiveness Sunday, Vespers is announced with a big bell.

From Monday to Thursday of the first week of Great Lent at Great Compline the Great Penitential Canon of St. Andrew of Crete is read. By Compline they make blagovest in the Lenten bell.

At the end of the first week of Great Lent, the Triumph of Orthodoxy is celebrated. After the Sunday Liturgy, a special prayer service is served. This is a special rite performed by the bishop or the rector and the clergy in the center of the temple with the removal of the icons of the Savior and the Mother of God, with the singing of the Great Prokimen, with the pronouncement of anathema, with the proclamation of eternal memory and longevity. During the singing of many years - ringing.

Wednesday and Friday during the entire period of Great Lent, they celebrate Vespers ringing at two because the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served in conjunction with Vespers. The ringing at two is made before Vespers.

On Saturdays and Sundays, fasting for the service is canceled, since the Liturgy is performed on these days. Sunday is a small Easter. Consequently, the nature of the Sunday bells during Great Lent does not change.

What else is important for a bell ringer to know is the order of ringing in the Eucharistic Canon of the Liturgy during Great Lent. On Saturday - Liturgy of John Chrysostom. In Sunday - Liturgy of Basil the Great, on which the interval between 12 beats of the canon is longer.

The Liturgy of Basil the Great is served 10 times throughout the liturgical year:

5 times - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Sunday of Great Lent at the Sunday Liturgy.

2 times on Holy Week on Maundy Thursday and Holy Saturday.

The first week of Great Lent is an example of ringing for the entire period.

Third Week of Great Lent - Worshiping the Cross. At the Sunday service, after the Great Doxology, the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord is brought to the center of the temple, which will remain there until Friday of the fourth week of Fortecost. Ringing to the beginning and during the service are made as usual. And during the removal of the cross, when the rector, taking the cross on his head, carries it to the middle of the temple, chime is made, which continues until the laying of the cross on the lectern in the middle of the temple. From now on a chime is made.

Features of the fifth week: On Thursday, the memory of Mary of Egypt is celebrated. On Wednesday evening, at Matins and Vespers, ringing but without the big bell. On Thursday evening, at Matins, the entire Great Penitential Canon of St. Andrew of Crete is read in one go. For this reason, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is celebrated on Thursday morning. To her evangelism is done but not in a big bell, and ringing.

Fortecost ends by Saturday of the 6th week with two holidays - Lazarus Saturday followed by the Great Twelfth Feast - Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday). These days, the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is being served, which means that there is no fasting for the service, and the bells are not lenten, but in accordance with the charter of the holiday - festive chimes and chimes.

CHINGS OF PASSION WEEK . Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday - the ringing remains the same as during the period of Pentecost: the hourly ringing is performed, and before Vespers - the ringing "at two" for the Liturgy of the Presanctified gifts.

TO Maundy Thursday Morning(Wednesday evening) – blagovest to the polyeleos bell. Hours, Vespers and Liturgy of Basil the Great(Thursday morning) are performed together, so the ringing is made only in front of the clock good news into a polyeleon bell.

On Thursday evening served in churches Good Friday Matins reading the 12 gospels. Before Matins the Annunciation is laid. And while reading the Gospels - hitting the big bell by the number of gospels read. At the end of the service, according to the charter, bells are not allowed, but in many churches they make ringing, for those who pray carry the Thursday fire to their homes.

On Good Friday in the morning the Royal Hours are served. To them - blagovest.

On the same day, at the Great Friday Vespers(maybe at 14-00), on which, according to tradition, the removal of the Shroud is performed, the annunciation is carried out with a rare accent on the big one.

In the moment removal of the Shroud from the altar chime one beat on each bell from large to small. Upon placing the Shroud in the middle of the temple - ringing.

Good Friday evening(Great Saturday Matins) the Annunciation will be heard at the big bell. By the end of the service, at the Great Doxology, the burial rite is performed, culminating in a procession with the Shroud around the temple. At the procession - chime striking once from the big bell to the small one. During the placement of the Shroud in the middle of the temple, ringing.

From this moment, according to the established tradition, it is not customary to make any bells until the Midnight Office of Great Saturday, that is, until the good news for the Easter service.

BRIEF REVIEW-SCHEME OF RINGS OF THE PASSION WEEK:

Monday Tuesday Wednesday- fasting calls.

Thursday: to Matins (Wednesday evening) - the bell of polyeleos.

By the Hours, Vespers and Liturgy(merged. Thursday morning) Blasphemy at the polyeleos bell.

To Matins Good Friday(Thursday evening) - blasvet in the holiday bell. Reading the 12 Gospels. On each gospel, a big bell is struck according to the number of the read gospel. After the service - chime.

Good Friday: In the morning - Royal Hours. Blessings to them.

During removal of the Shroud(maybe at 14-00) - chime. Upon setting - a chime.

To Matins Great Saturday(Friday evening) - Blagovest. During the procession with the Shroud around the temple - a chime. Upon setting - a chime.

Saturday - no bells until Midnight Office, which is the beginning of the Easter service.

EASTER RINGS

The Midnight Office on Holy Saturday is the last service of Holy Week. In modern practice, it is adjacent to Paschal Matins. At present, before Midnight Office (at about 23-00) blagovest to the holiday bell 5 min.

After the Midnight Office, the Easter service begins immediately with Bright Easter Matins. Exactly at 00-00 o'clock the clergy in the altar sing the Easter stichera three times "Your Resurrection, Christ the Savior ...". After this, the procession begins, during which ringing all the bells, but not yet in full force. The ringing must be started already when the first altar boy with a lantern passes the porch of the temple to the exit. The ringing continues until the moment when the marchers, having gone around the temple around, stop at the western gate to perform Easter start. When the priesthood gathered at the entrance and everyone turned to the people, then stop ringing.

After the Easter beginning, at the end, after several exclamations: "Christ is Risen!" and answers "Truly Risen!", the ringing resumes with jubilant force. This is the most active moment of the ringing of the entire annual cycle, for the ringing affirms the Resurrection of Christ. Ringing needs to stop when the priesthood enters the altar.

The next ringing on Easter night is performed before the Liturgy. Serving before him Easter canon. Praise psalms. The catechumen of John Chrysostom is read. Litanies and Paschal leave. During the holidays, you need to quickly climb the bell tower, because the Easter Hours begin, which last no more than 5 minutes. During this time it is necessary to make chime for the Liturgy.

At the Liturgy, during the reading of the Gospel in several languages, relies one blow to the big bell after each gospel and short chime 2 minutes. by reading everyone. But if the feast of Easter coincides with the Annunciation, then there are no readings in tongues.

On the Eucharistic Canon, as usual, 12 strokes of the big bell.

After the end of the Liturgy festive chime "in all".

BELLS OF THE BRIGHT WEEK . All Bright Week evangelize to the holiday bell and ringing "in all". Since the Hours are sung at this time, and not read, it is necessary to call before the Hours and somewhat shorter. Some rectors bless before the beginning of the Liturgy to ring at all without a blagovest.

Throughout Bright Week, processions are made around the temple, accompanied by chimes.. At such moments, the bell ringer needs assistants who give signals about the movement of the procession. The chime must be stopped for the priesthood to read the Gospel, litanies, and sprinkle with holy water. The procession stops at all four sides of the temple, however, pauses between chimes are not the same: in front of the altar, they read and pause longer. The last stop is at the western part of the temple. There is also reading. The ringing is resumed from the entrance to the temple and to the passage to the altar. This chime can be considered final if there is no festive prayer after the Liturgy. If there is a prayer, then ringing even after its completion.

EASTER PUBLIC RINGS. According to the established tradition, on Bright Week, everyone, with the blessing of the rector, is allowed to visit the bell towers and ring the bells. The main thing here is not to leave the bells unattended. Guests must be accompanied by a bell ringer, who is responsible for the safety of the bells and connections, as well as for the safety of people.

BISHOPAL RINGS

When waiting for the service of the ruling bishop, the evangelization begins in advance, at the direction of the rector at the festive bell. As a rule, on this day they start calling a little earlier. Especially important in this case is the bell ringer alarm system. It can be an internal broadcast, light bulbs or a regular walkie-talkie. When the bishop approaches the gates of the temple (for 100 or more meters), the chime begins. If the bishop is expected for Vespers, then the ringing stops after about 20 minutes, as he proceeds to the altar and puts on the mantle.

If the bishop is met for the Liturgy, then after proceeding to the church, as it should be, two more parts of the chime are added to the Liturgy. The ringing of 12 strokes at the Eucharist is performed at longer intervals, since when serving as a bishop, all liturgical actions are performed more sedately. In other moments, the ringing remains the same.

In those cases when not one, but several bishops are expected to serve, then upon arrival and going to the church of one of them, after a counter chime, they resume the blagovest and wait for the next bishop, upon whose arrival everything resumes, as described above. At the end of the service, they wait for the exit of the bishop of their temple. His procession to the house of the clergy, to the refectory or departure from the territory of the temple is accompanied by a peal.

If the bishop leaves before the end of the service by a side or service exit (not solemnly), then the wire chime is not performed.

If the bishop is "in his" church or monastery, then at the end of the service chimes, his journey through the territory of the temple is not accompanied by a chime.

RINGS IN PRIVATE SERVICES. One difference between private worship and public worship is that it is not inscribed in the annual, weekly and daily cycles and is performed as needed.

Before the consecration of the temple a water-blessed prayer service is served, at which chimes are made as on a patronal feast - a chime before the start of the prayer service and a chime during the immersion of the cross in water. During the consecration of the temple, a chime is performed during the procession of the procession with the relics. There is also a chime before the procession.

At the burial of priests and monks 12 strokes are made on a large bell, and bust, during the introduction of the coffin with the body of the deceased into the temple. Likewise when exiting.

At the wedding a trezvon is performed at the end of the rite, while the wedding couple sings of many years, at the moment the young people leave the temple.

Passing calls are performed during the procession in those churches, past which the procession takes place. Passing bells can be made while carrying relics and icons.

FESTIVAL, CONCERT AND MEMORIAL RINGS. These chimes occur as an exchange of creative experience between the bell ringers, or as certain thematic and free chimes in honor of some holiday. Festival bells, as a rule, are annual, and gather bell ringers from different parishes and cities. At the same time, it is also a concert program. As a rule, a large number of bell lovers gather at such chimes. They call either on one bell tower, or on several.

In Rostov Veliky and Suzdal, concert bells are played on the belfries of museum reserves.

On the days of festivities, on Maslenitsa, small mobile bell towers often ring out on the streets, carrying entertaining and educational functions.

Memorial bells are made as a reminder of important historical events. In recent years, in many cities of Russia, chimes have been performed at noon on May 9 in memory of the victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.

Since 2007, memorial church bells have begun to ring on the territory of the Kulikovo Field Museum-Reserve.