Megalynarion

Last updated April 23, 2019

The Megalynarion (Greek Μεγαλυνάριον, "magnification", "that which magnifies";^[1] also called Velichaniye in Church Slavonic) is a special hymn used in the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches that follow the Byzantine Rite. Depending on the local liturgical tradition, this hymn can be one of several.

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea. It has the longest documented history of any living Indo-European language, spanning more than 3000 years of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history; other systems, such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, were used previously. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic, and many other writing systems.

A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word hymn derives from Greek ὕμνος (hymnos), which means "a song of praise". A writer of hymns is known as a hymnodist. The singing or composition of hymns is called hymnody. Collections of hymns are known as hymnals or hymn books. Hymns may or may not include instrumental accompaniment.

The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 200–260 million members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops in local synods, although roughly half of Eastern Orthodox Christians live in Russia. The church has no central doctrinal or governmental authority analogous to the Bishop of Rome, but the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is recognised by all as primus inter pares of the bishops. As one of the oldest religious institutions in the world, the Eastern Orthodox Church has played a prominent role in the history and culture of Eastern and Southeastern Europe, the Caucasus, and the Near East.

Matins

In the Slavic tradition, the Megalynarion is a verse chanted at the end of the Polyeleos on higher-ranking feasts in honour of the saint or feast day being celebrated. The verse usually begins with the words: "We magnify, we magnify thee...", and specifically mentions the name of the saint or the feast.

The Russian Orthodox Church, alternatively legally known as the Moscow Patriarchate, is one of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Christian churches. The Primate of the ROC is the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus'. The ROC, as well as the primate thereof, officially ranks fifth in the Orthodox order of precedence, immediately below the four ancient patriarchates of the Greek Orthodox Church, those of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. Since 15 October 2018, the ROC is not in communion with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, having unilaterally severed ties in reaction to the establishment of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which was finalised by the Ecumenical Patriarchate on 5 January 2019.

The Polyeleos, is a festive portion of the Matins or All-Night Vigil service as observed on higher-ranking feast days in the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Rite Catholic Churches. The Polyeleos is considered to be the high point of the service, and contains the reading of the Matins Gospel. Because of its liturgical importance, beautiful settings for the Polyeleos have been composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff and others.

A saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness or likeness or closeness to God. However, the use of the term "saint" depends on the context and denomination. In Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Oriental Orthodox, and Lutheran doctrine, all of their faithful deceased in Heaven are considered to be saints, but some are considered worthy of greater honor or emulation; official ecclesiastical recognition, and consequently veneration, is given to some saints through the process of canonization in the Catholic Church or glorification in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

The verse is chanted first by the clergy and then repeated by the chanters. The chanters then sing a number of appropriate verses from the Psalms, chanting the Megalynarion between each one. During this chanting the senior priest and deacon perform a full censing of the church. At the end, the clergy again chant the Megalynarion.

Clergy are some of the main and important formal leaders within certain religions. The roles and functions of clergy vary in different religious traditions but these usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the terms used for individual clergy are clergyman, clergywoman and churchman. Less common terms are churchwoman, clergyperson and cleric.

The chanter is the part of the bagpipe upon which the player creates the melody. It consists of a number of finger-holes, and in its simpler forms looks similar to a recorder. On more elaborate bagpipes, such as the Northumbrian bagpipes or the Uilleann pipes, it also may have a number of keys, to increase the instrument's range and/or the number of keys it can play in. Like the rest of the bagpipe, they are often decorated with a variety of substances, including metal (silver/nickel/gold/brass), bone, ivory, or plastic mountings.

The Book of Psalms, commonly referred to simply as Psalms or "the Psalms", is the first book of the Ketuvim ("Writings"), the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and thus a book of the Christian Old Testament. The title is derived from the Greek translation, ψαλμοί, psalmoi, meaning "instrumental music" and, by extension, "the words accompanying the music". The book is an anthology of individual psalms, with 150 in the Jewish and Western Christian tradition and more in the Eastern Christian churches. Many are linked to the name of David, but his authorship is not accepted by modern scholars.

In the Greek tradition the psalm verses are used alone (without the Megalynarion), and are referred to as the Eclogarion.

The name Greek Orthodox Church, or Greek Orthodoxy, is a term referring to the body of several Churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Koine Greek, the original language of the Septuagint and the New Testament, and whose history, traditions, and theology are rooted in the early Church Fathers and the culture of the Byzantine Empire. Greek Orthodox Christianity has also traditionally placed heavy emphasis and awarded high prestige to traditions of Eastern Orthodox monasticism and asceticism, with origins in Early Christianity in the Near East and in Byzantine Anatolia.

Liturgy

In Greek practice, the megalynarion is a short hymn for the saint of the day or the feast that is sung after "Among the first..." at the Divine Liturgy. This type of megalynarion is also used during other services, such as the Paraklesis.

Divine Liturgy or Holy Liturgy is the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine Rite, developed from the Antiochene Rite of Christian liturgy which is that of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. As such, it is used in the Eastern Orthodox, the Greek Catholic Churches, and the Ukrainian Lutheran Church. Although the same term is sometimes applied in English to the Eucharistic service of Armenian Christians, both of the Armenian Apostolic Church and of the Armenian Catholic Church, they use in their own language a term meaning "holy offering" or "holy sacrifice". Other churches also treat "Divine Liturgy" simply as one of many names that can be used, but it is not their normal term.

A Paraklesis or Supplicatory Canon in the Byzantine Rite, is a service of supplication for the welfare of the living. It is addressed to a specific Saint or to the Most Holy Theotokos whose intercessions are sought through the chanting of the supplicatory canon together with psalms, hymns, and ekteniae (litanies).

In both the Greek and Slavic traditions the term Megalynarion also describes a hymn chanted on Great Feasts in place of the usual Axion Estin following the Epiclesis of the Liturgy. Normally, this Megalynarion consists of the refrain and Irmos of the Ninth Ode of the Canon of the feast which was chanted at Matins. Among the Slavs, this hymn is referred to as the Zadostoinik .

Axion estin, or It is Truly Meet, is a megalynarion and a theotokion, i.e. a magnification of and a Hymn to Mary which is chanted in the Divine Services of the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches. It is a troparion and a sticheron composed in honor of the Theotokos. The same name also refers to a style of icon of the Theotokos.

The epiclesis is the part of the Anaphora by which the priest invokes the Holy Spirit upon the Eucharistic bread and wine in some Christian churches.

A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in poetry; the "chorus" of a song. Poetic fixed forms that feature refrains include the villanelle, the virelay, and the sestina.

Pattern

The use of Megalynaria in Orthodox worship dates back to the 8th century. St. Cosmas the Melodist (or Hymnographer), who wrote the original megalynarion to the Theotokos (Virgin Mary), "More honorable than the Cherubim..." for the 9th Ode of the Canon of Great and Holy Thursday.^[2] All subsequent megalynaria in Greek follow the same metrical pattern. From there, the megalynaria to various saints found their way into the Divine Liturgy, at the same place where the first one was chanted for St. Basil the Great on his feast day, January 1.^[2]

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References

↑ In the archaic sense of the word; see "magnification". "magnify". Online Etymology Dictionary.
1 2 The St. John Orthodox Church Choir Archived 2008-11-19 at the Wayback Machine ., Website of St. John Orthodox Church, Memphis, Tennessee. Accessed 2008-05-02

External links

Megalynarion article from OrthodoxWiki
Paschal megalynarion Byzantine chant (video)
Megalynarion of Pascha Byzantine Tone 1 (music in Western notation)

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[1] In the archaic sense of the word; see "magnification". "magnify". Online Etymology Dictionary.

[StJ-2] 1 2 The St. John Orthodox Church Choir Archived 2008-11-19 at the Wayback Machine ., Website of St. John Orthodox Church, Memphis, Tennessee. Accessed 2008-05-02