- Sticheron
A sticheron (plural: stichera) is a particular kind of
hymn used in theDivine Liturgy ,acolouthia (Daily office ) or other services of theOrthodox Church and thoseEastern Catholic Churches which follow theByzantine Rite .Stichera are usually sung in alternation with
psalm verses or other scriptural verses. These verses are known as "stichoi" (sing: "stichos ").A sticherarion is a book containing the stichera for the morning and evening services throughout the year. Stichera are also found in other
liturgical book s. A sticheron must be distinguished from atroparion which is chanted to a different melody, and occurs in different places in the liturgy.Cycles
Stichera are commonly written in cycles, on particular themes, and for use in particular liturgical contexts.
Examples of such cycles include:
*Menaion (hymns to particularsaint s commemorated according to the calendar day of the year)
*Octoechos (hymns for each day of the week, set to the eight tones. Using one tone each week, the entire cycle takes two months to complete)
*Triodion (hymns chanted duringGreat Lent )
*Pentecostarion (hymns chanted during the Paschal SeasonExamples of liturgical contexts where stichera are commonly used include:
*Vespers (the evening office of theCanonical Hours )
**"Lord, I Have Cried" (introducing the themes being celebrated that day)
**TheLitiy (procession on Sundays and feast days)
**Theaposticha *
Matins (the morning office)
**The Praises (on Sundays and Feast Days)
**Theaposticha (on simple weekdays)Types of Stichera
A sticheron that follows the words, "Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit" is called a
Doxastichon .A sticheron that is dedicated to the
Theotokos is called aTheotokion . Theotokia normally follow the words, "Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages amen." The Theotokion that comes at the end of "Lord, I Have Cried" atVespers on Saturday night, Friday night and the eves of most Feast Days is called aDogmatikon , because it deals with the dogma of theIncarnation .The
Aposticha are a type of stichera which differ from the norm in that they precede their stichos (psalm verse) rather than follow.Musical settings
Each Sticheron is written to be chanted in one of the eight liturgical modes, or a variation on those modes known as an "
automelon " (Slavonic: "samoglasen", "podoben")Composed settings of stichera are frequently found in recordings of Orthodox liturgical music, some by well known
composer s.ee also
*
Troparion External links
* [http://www.orthodoxpsalm.org/resources/glossary/p-t.html A detailed definition] can be found in the "Psalm" Glossary of Orthodox terms.
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