Coming to an Orthodox church for the first time, many ask the question: what are troparia? The word “troparion” translated from Greek means “mode, melody, tone.” It, like many others, entered the church life of the Russian people. By and large, it can be identified with a hymn, that is, with a short chant, which contains the whole main meaning of the Christian holiday.
Or, if a holiday is dedicated to a saint, then the troparion concentrates the main events in the life of the righteous person, saint or martyr. Often in the chants there are appeals to the saint, his exploits are revealed, and so on. Let us take a closer look at what troparion, kontakion, canon and other names are in Church Slavonic.
Let's sum it up
Troparia and kontakion are chants without which it is simply unthinkable to imagine church liturgy. Almost every parishioner knows about them, and regular visitors to the church are very familiar with the texts and features of certain chants.
The performance of these sacred works belongs to the choir, but the singers sing together with the parishioners. Their sound is amazing and unlike anything else. These verses and voices purify, tune into the divine mood and help to penetrate the energy of the Almighty to the maximum extent.
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Another meaning of the term
There are researchers who are inclined to another version of the etymology of the word “troparia”. That this word comes from the Greek “trepo” - “to turn.” That is, the calling of this liturgical chant is to remind believers of the true meaning of the priest’s sermon and the service in general. Thus, this poetic form succinctly states the main "theme of the day." But if several events are honored at once, for example, Sunday and a saint’s day, during the same liturgical service, several troparions are read. Then they are interspersed with verses of the psalm, which constitutes the third antiphon. Depending on what or to whom the troparia “address”, they may be called that way (Theotokos, Exaltation of the Cross). If they are composed in the likeness of the irmos (according to its melodic and rhythmic model), they can be short chants that make up the canon.
Origin of the troparion
Troparion is one of the most ancient genres of church hymnography. Already in the 4th century it was used by Christians in Egypt and Asia Minor. Initially, the troparion was rhythmic prose. It served as a small chorus, a commentary on the texts read at services. The troparia replaced older hymns that served a similar function.
Later the troparion took on a poetic form. It received particular development in Byzantium, where by the 5th century it acquired its current significance. The most famous author of troparions is considered to be Saint Roman the Sweet Singer, who lived at that time.
The word “troparion” is of ancient Greek origin and is translated as “mode” or “melody.” According to another version, the term means “conversion.” Indeed, the troparion can be considered as an appeal to the saint, a request for his intercession.
There is also an opinion that the word “troparion” is related to the concepts of “victorious sign” or “monument”. This version fully corresponds to the purpose of the troparion - to glorify the saint’s victory over passions and spiritual death. That is, to become a verbal monument to the spiritual exploits of the saint of God. It is worth noting that the first troparia were composed only in honor of the righteous. Only later did examples appear that glorify church holidays, including the Sunday troparion.
Types of troparia
In a broad sense, the concept of “troparion” unites various short forms of church chants. Among them, for example, are stichera repeating the texts of the psalms. Or saddle bars, during which you can sit. There are also troparia tied to canons, hours, and Trinity songs. Let us quote the words of theologian Mikhail Skaballanovich:
“The Troparion occupies the most honorable place among other liturgical chants, opening their series, as at Matins, completing it, as at Matins and Vespers, or replacing all other types of chants, as at the Liturgy and at the Hours” (Explanatory Typikon).
Actually, the so-called troparion of dismissal is considered to be the troparion. This is an independent chant in honor of a holiday or saint, which is sung before dismissal. Dismissal is the priest’s blessing of all those praying at the service. For example, at Matins the troparion of dismissal is sung twice after the fourfold “God is the Lord.” And at the Liturgy of the Catechumens, several such chants can be sung at once after the entrance with the Gospel.
Orthodox Christians also resort to troparions of dismissal in home prayer. For example, on church holidays or days of remembrance of saints, you can add the corresponding troparia to the morning or evening rule.
Many troparia have names indicating their content. For example, Theotokos is dedicated to the Mother of God. Resurrected (resurrection troparion) glorifies the Resurrection of Christ, and Repentance is a prayer to God for the forgiveness of sins. For each face of holiness (angels, martyrs, saints, etc.) there are separate general troparia. They differ from each other only by the name of the righteous man mentioned. These texts are resorted to when glorifying a righteous person who does not have his own troparion of dismissal.
Divine service for the Church New Year (beginning of the indictment)
On this day, the Church remembers how the Lord Jesus Christ read in the synagogue in Nazareth the prophecy of Isaiah (Isaiah 61.1–2) about the coming of a favorable summer (Luke 4:16–22). In this reading of the Lord, the Byzantines saw His indication of the celebration of the New Year's Day; Tradition connects this event itself with September 1st. The Menology of Basil II (10th century) says: “From that time on, He gave us Christians this holy holiday” (PG. 117. Col. 21).
According to the Typicon of the Great Church and the Byzantine service Gospels, the rite of summer conduction has the following order: after Matins, the bishop proceeds with a procession to the city square accompanied by the singing of the “big” Trisagion. When the procession reaches the square, the deacon proclaims the litany and 3 antiphons are sung. After the antiphons, the bishop pronounces an exclamation, blesses the people three times and sits down on the seat. This is followed by the prokeimenon and the Apostle; According to the Apostle, the bishop, having blessed the people three times, begins reading the Gospel. Lithium petitions are then pronounced; at the end of the petitions and the head-bending prayer, the singers begin to sing the troparion 2 voices: All creation to the Creator..., and the procession goes to the temple to perform the Divine Liturgy.
Troparion of the Indicta (Church New Year), tone 4:
Give thanks to Thy unworthy servant, O Lord, / for Thy great blessings upon us, / glorifying Thee, we bless, thank, sing and magnify Thy compassion, / and slavishly cry out to Thee in love: / Our Benefactor, our Savior, glory to Thee.
Glory: voice 3:
Thy blessings and gifts, / as a servant of indecency, having been vouchsafed, O Master, / we earnestly flow to You, giving thanks as much as we can, / and we glorify You, as the Benefactor and Creator, crying out: / glory to You, Most Generous God.
And now: voice 2:
To the Creator of all creation, / having established times and seasons in His power, / bless the crown of the summer of Thy goodness, O Lord, / keeping Thy people and city in peace / through the prayers of the Mother of God and save us.
You have read the article Indict - Church New Year: history, worship. If you want to know more about this, read the following articles:
Sunday troparia (with Russian translation)
Troparion, tone 1
The stones are sealed from the Jews / and the warriors guarding Your Most Pure Body, / You have risen on the third day, O Savior, / granting life to the world. / Therefore, for the sake of the power of heaven, we cry out to Ty, O Life-Giver: / glory to Thy resurrection, O Christ, / glory to Thy Kingdom, / glory to Thy sight, the only One who loves mankind.
Translation: Although the stone was sealed by the Jews, and soldiers guarded Your most pure body, You rose again on the third day, O Savior, giving life to the world. Therefore, the heavenly powers cried out to You, Giver of life: “Glory to Your resurrection, O Christ; glory to Thy kingdom; glory to Thy providence, O One Lover of Mankind!”
Troparion, tone 2
When you descended to death, Immortal Belly, / then you put hell to death with the brilliance of the Divine: / when you also raised those who had died from the underworld, / all the powers of heaven cried out: / Life-giver, Christ our God, glory to You.
Translation: When You descended to death, Immortal Life, then You killed hell with the radiance of the Divine. When You raised the dead from the underworld, all the Heavenly Powers cried out: “Giver of life, Christ our God, glory to You!”
Troparion, tone 3
Let the heavenly ones rejoice, / let the earthly ones rejoice, / for the Lord has created a power / with His arm, / trampled upon death, / the firstborn of the dead was; / deliver us from the belly of hell, / and bestow great mercy on the world.
Translation: Let everything in heaven rejoice, let everything on earth rejoice, for the Lord has shown the power of His hand: He trampled death underfoot, He became the firstborn from the dead, He delivered us from the belly of hell and bestowed great mercy on the world.
Troparion, tone 4
The Lord’s disciples preached the bright resurrection / from the Angel / and rejected the ancestral condemnation, / the apostle boasted of the verb: / death was proven, / Christ God is risen, / yes Grant great mercy to the world.
Translation: Having learned the joyful news of the resurrection from the Angel, and having gotten rid of their ancestral condemnation, the Lord’s disciples to the apostles exclaimed, triumphant: “Death has been cast down, Christ God has risen, bestowing great mercy on the world!”
Troparion, tone 5
The co-meaning Word of the Father and the Spirit, / born of the Virgin for our salvation, / let us sing, faithfully, and worship, / as it was good for the flesh to ascend to the cross, / and endure death, / and resurrect the mind rshiya / by His glorious resurrection.
Translation: The Word, without beginning, like the Father and the Spirit, born of the Virgin for our salvation, let us sing, O faithful, and worship Him, for He was pleased in His flesh to ascend to the Cross, and to endure death, and to resurrect the dead by His glorious resurrection.
Troparion, tone 6
The angelic forces are on Your tomb, / and those watching over the dead body, / and standing Mary in the tomb, / seeking Your most pure Body. / You captured hell without being tempted by it; / you met the Virgin, granting life. / Risen from the dead. Lord, glory to You.
Translation: The Angelic Powers were at Your tomb, and those guarding it died, and Mary stood in the tomb and looked for Your most pure body. You devastated hell without suffering from it, You met the Virgin, the giver of life. Risen from the dead, Lord, glory to You!
Troparion, tone 7
With Your Cross You destroyed death, / You opened Paradise to the thief, / You offered lament to the myrrh-bearers, / And You commanded the Apostle to preach, / For You have risen, X Christ, God, / grant the world / great mercy.
Translation: You crushed death with Your Cross, opened paradise to the thief, changed the cry of the myrrh-bearing women into joy, and commanded Your apostles to preach that You have risen, O Christ our God, granting great mercy to the world.
Troparion, tone 8
You came down from the heights, O Blessed Mother, / You accepted the burial of three days, / May you free us from passions, / Our life and resurrection. Lord, glory to You.
Translation: You came down from on high, O merciful One, and deigned to remain in the tomb for three days in order to free us from passions - our life and resurrection, Lord, glory to You!
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Artistic creativity
Unlike the psalms, which in Orthodoxy are also sung by singers, troparia do not have a once and for all established text. That's why this genre is more flexible and fits well with music. The text taken from the Psalter could not be changed, while the troparions had their own authors and even composers (they were called “chanters”). The most famous of them was Theodore the Peasant, who created a whole cycle of services for the cathedrals of the Moscow Kremlin. Troparions were very popular throughout Rus'. That this is the result of the artistic creativity of the people is evidenced by its expressive language, rich in comparisons, many allegorical expressions, metaphors, and rhythmic repetitions. Unlike a psalm, a troparion must have a clear narrative beginning. The melody of this chant also underwent a certain evolution. It moved away from ancient prosody and began to be built on stanzas that were uniform in the number of syllables.
Holidays and weekdays
We figured out what a troparion is. But when is it read? Only in honor of great holidays? Or does a grandiose celebration not be required to perform this type of chant?
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Troparions are sung in churches every day, since almost every date in the calendar is significant for a certain sacred event. This could be the birthday, death or glorification of a certain saint, a certain holiday that not every layman knows about, etc.
Therefore, the days when it, that is, the troparion, is sung in church are not even marked on the calendar, because this happens every day. In order to make the troparia more convenient to perform, they decided to divide them depending on the day of the week.
The only exceptions are Sunday hymns, which take place every Sunday, and prayer services in honor of some major holiday.
So, what exactly is sung on each of the existing days of the week?
On Monday, according to church tradition, it is customary to glorify all ethereal representatives of the highest heavenly ranks. As a rule, they pray turning to the heavenly archangels.- Tuesday is the day of glorification of the holy prophets, especially John the Baptist.
- If Wednesday or Friday has come, then it’s time to remember the Savior and his painful death, for the sake of all Christians on Earth. Also, troparia on Wednesdays and Fridays are dedicated to the Life-Giving Cross.
- On Thursday, parishioners honor the memory of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker as the leading saint of all saints. Also, along with him, all existing apostles are glorified.
- Saturday is a day of mourning. Therefore, all the troparia read on Saturdays mourn the holy martyrs.
Interest Ask! When buying prayer books and other collections of church hymns, people ask a completely reasonable question: is it possible to read the troparion at home? The answer to this question is clearly positive, since this prayer is essentially no different from the classical ones, more familiar to ordinary lay people. At home it is forbidden to sing only the Divine Liturgy.
