===Apostiches===
*If the Saint's service is festal, the [[litia|Litya]] follows hereOn intercale entre les apostiches des versets des psaumes. If no Idiomela are prescribed, (in which case, the service is not festal, and there are no readings, and at Matins, no Polyeleos, and no Gospel for the Saint)Le samedi soir, then we proceed to the Aposticha immediatelyces versets sont les mêmes que ceux du prokimenon. The Idiomela of the Litya are chanted with the "Glory. Both now." The Priest and Deacon exit the Sanctuary, and make a reverence to the Saint ===Prière de St Syméon===C'est une prière extrait de l's icon. The Priest takes it in his hands, and the Deacon censes the Icon, as they make their way to the [[Narthex]]. There, when the chanting of the Idiomela has been completed, the Deacon exclaims the prayer "Save O God Thy people..." The Choir responds with "Lord have mercy..." three, forty, and three times. The usual petitions "Have mercy upon us O God..." are exclaimed, to which the Choir responds with "Lord have mercy..." three times to each. Then, the petitions, "Let us again pray for every suffering Christian soul..." and "Let us again pray that the Lord God may deliver..." are intoned. The Choir responds to each of these with "Lord have mercy..." three, fortyEvangile de Luc, and three times. The Deacon exclaims "Let us again pray that He may...2:29-32 : "Maintenant, to which the Choir responds with "Lord have mercy..."Seigneur, once. The Priest exclaims the prayer "Hearken to us O God our Saviour the hope of all..." and then exclaims "For Thou art..." The Choir responds with "Amen." The Priest "Peace be unto all...". The Choir "And with Thy spirit..." The Priest "Let us bow our heads unto the Lord..." The Choir "To Thee, O Lord..." The Priest exclaims the prayer "Master rich in mercy..." after which the Choir responds with "Amen." The Litya with its festal Idiomela, and prayers for the salvation of the world now is finished. The Deacon and Priest now process with the festal Icon back into the main church. The Choir begins to chant the "ApostichaTu peux laisser ton serviteur aller en paix..."*The Aposticha are now chanted. If it be Saturday afternoonSt Syméon était un juste d's Great Vespers, the Aposticha of the [[Resurrection]] are always chantedIsraël qui attendait le Christ. If the [[ Ensuite : Saint]] also has Aposticha (Festal Service), these are abandoned. *"Glory" is chantedDieu, followed by the Saint's Doxasticon, if there be one.*"Both now" is chantedfort, followed by the Theotokion in the Tone of the Saint's Doxasticonimmortel. The Saint does not have a Doxasticon, then "Glory. Both now." is chanted followed by the Theotokion in the Tone of the weekjusqu'au Notre Père inclus.*The prayer "Now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, O Master..." is read by the Reader.*The Reader reads the Trisagion prayers.*The Priest exclaims "For Thine is..."===Apolytikon===The Apolytikion of the Resurrection (Tone of the week) is chanted. "Glory. Both now." and the Resurrectional Theotokion, if it be a Saturday afternoon. If it be a weekday, then the feasted SaintLe Tropaire du jour ou l's Apolytikion is chanted, "Glory. Both now." and the Resurrectional Theotokion in the Tone of the SaintApolytikon : c's Apolytikionest le chant de la fête ou du saint. If a feasted SaintQuand l's memory should fall office des Vêpres est intégré dans les vigiles, on a Sunday, then the Resurrection Apolytikion is chanted, "Glory" that of the Saint, "Both now" the Resurrectional Theotokion in the Tone of the Saint's Apolytikion.*The Deacon intones "Wisdomremplace le tropaire par le chant "Vierge Mère de Dieu, the Choir "Bless", the Priest "Blessed is the One Who Is..."*The Reader reads the prayer "Establish Lord God..."*The Priest exclaims "Most Holy [[Theotokos]] save us!"*The Reader reads "More honourable.réjouis-toi.." and "Glory. Both now" "Lord have mercy" (thrice3x) "Holy Father bless!"*The Priest reads the Dismissal "Glory to Thee our God... May He who has Risen from the dead, Christ our true God..."*The Priest exclaims "Through the prayers..." and Great Vespers comes to and end.*Small Compline is read immediately, if not, then it is read by ourselves before sleep.
== Offices des Vêpres ==
Les '''Petites Vêpres''' sont nommées ainsi car elles ne sont célébrées que les jours où la vigile dure toute la nuit. Les Petites Vêpres sont identiques dans la forme aux Vêpres quotidiennes, mais omets la Litanie de Paix, le cathisme et le Petite Litanie qui le suit, la Liturgie instante et la prière dite tête inclinée.
== Theological Meaning of Vespers Le sens théologique des Vêpres ==The Vespers service L'office des Vêpres (the first le premier service of the liturgical daydu jour liturgique) is meant to remind us of the Old nous rapelle la période de l'Ancien Testament period, the creation of the worldla création du monde, the first human beings fall into sinla chute des premiers êtres humains, of their expulsion from Paradiseleur exil du Paradis, their leur repentance and prayer for salvation, the hope of mankind in accordance with the promise of God for a Saviour and ending with the fulfillment of that promiseet leur prière pour le salut....
The service begins with the opening of the Royal Doors and the silent censing of the Altar Table and the entire sanctuary so that clouds of incense fill the depths of the sanctuaryL'office commence avec l'ouverture des Portes Royales et l'encensement silencieux de l'autel. The silent censing represents the beginning of the creation of the world. Without form and voidCet encensement silencieux représente le commencement de la création du monde : un monde sans forme couvert par le souffle de Dieu, and the Spirit of God hovered over the original material earth, breathing upon it mais le verbe créateur n'a life-creating power, but the creating word of God had not yet begun to resoundpas encore résonné.
The 103rd Psalm describes the creation of the world and glorifies the wisdom of GodLe psaume 103 décrit la création du monde et glorifie la sagesse de Dieu. As it is chantedAlors que le psaume est chanté, the priest goes forth from the sanctuary and completes the censing of the entire church and the faithful thereinle prêtre encense l'église entière et les fidèles. This sacred Cette action not only remembers the creation of the worldsacrée rappelle non seulement la création du monde, but of the blessed life in Paradise of the first human beingsmais aussi la vie bienheureuse dans le Paradis des premiers êtres humains quand le Seigneur Lui-même marchait parmi eux. L'ouverture des Portes Royales signifie qu'en ce temps-là, when the Lord God Himself walked among them. The open Royal Gates signify that at that time the gates of Paradise were open for all peopleles portes du Paradis étaient ouvertes à tous.
To symbolize how man was deceived by the devil and transgressed against the will of God and fell into sinPour symboliser la Chute de l'homme, the Royal Doors are closedles Portes Royales sont fermées. Because of their fallLe diacre sort du sanctuaire et se tient devant les Portes Royales fermées, mankind was deprived of blessed life in Paradise. They were driven out of Paradise and the gates were closed to them. The deacon comes out from the sanctuary and stands before the closed Royal Gates, as comme Adam did before the sealed entrance into Paradise, and intones the Great Litany asking for peace from abovedevant les portes scellées du Paradis et entonne la Grande Litanie, and to send down upon us "from on high" the peace of Heaven and that He save our soulsdemandant la Paix d'en-haut.
During the chanting of these verses the deacon censes the church once more. This entire period of the divine service, beginning with the opening of the Royal Gates, through the petitions of the Great Ectenia and the chanting of the psalms, represents the miserable state of mankind to which it was subjected by the fall of our forefathers into sin. With the fall all the deprivations, pains and sufferings we experience came into our lives. We cry out to God, ''"Lord, have mercy"'' and request peace and salvation for our souls. We feel contrition that we heeded the ungodly counsel of the Devil. God is asked for the forgiveness of our sins and deliverance from troubles, and all hope in his mercy is placed in God. The censing at this time signifies the sacrifices of the Old Testament and the people's own prayers as well, which are offer to God.
At this time, the prokeimenon is chanted, and on the more important feasts there are readings selections from the Scriptures in which there is a prophecy or a prototype which relates to the event being celebrated, or in which edifying teachings are set forth, which relate to the saint commemorated that day.
Vespers ends with the reading of the prayer of Les vêpres finissent avec la lecture de la prière de StSyméon. Simeon the God-Receiver, ''"Now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace''" This prayer is followed by the reading of the Cette prière est suivie de la lecture du Trisagion and the Lordet du Notre Père puis d's Prayer, and the singing of the un chant de salutation of the à la Theotokos, ''"O Theotokos and VirginÔ Mère de Dieu et Vierge Marie, Rejoice!réjouis-toi...,"'' or the troparion of the feastou du tropaire de la fête, and finally the thrice-chanted prayer of the Psalmistet enfin par le chant répété trois fois du psalmiste : "''Blessed be the name of the Lord from henceforth and for evermoreBéni soit le Nom du Seigneur, dès maintenant et à jamais."'' The 33rd Psalm is then chanted until the verseLe Psaume 33 est alors chanté jusqu'au verset, ''"But they that seek the Lord shall not be deprived of any good thingMais ceux qui cherchent le Seigneur ne manqueront de rien."'' Then follows the priestly blessing,Alors suit la bénédiction du prêtre :'' "The blessing of the Lord be upon you, through His grace and love for mankind, alwaysQue les bénédictions du Seigneur soit sur vous, now and everpar Sa grâce et son amour des hommes, and unto the ages of agesmaintenant et toujours et dans les siècles des siècles."''
The service leads to the meditation of GodL's word and the office mène à la méditation des paroles de Dieu et la glorification of his love for mende son amour des hommes. It instructs and allows us to praise God for the particular events or persons whose memory is celebrated and made present to us in the Church. It prepares us for the sleep of the night and the dawn of the new day to comeIl nous prépare au sommeil de la nuit et à l'aube du nouveau jour qui vient. On the eves of the La veille de la Divine LiturgyLiturgie, it begins the movement into the most perfect il commence le mouvement vers la plus parfaite communion with God in the sacramental mysteriesavec Dieu dans les Saints Mystères.
== Selected Online Texts ==
*[http://www.stanthonysmonastery.org/music/Index.html The Divine Music Project] 1000 pages of Byzantine Music for Vespers in English
*[http://biserica.org/Publicatii/ServiceBook/Gvespers.htm Great Vespers]—from the ''Priest's Service Book'' translated and compiled by [[Dmitri (Royster) of Dallas|Archbishop Dmitri]] ([[OCA]]).
*[http://networks-now.net/litresswraoc/SVCDaily_Vespers.htm Daily Vespers]—from the St. Raphael Clergy Brotherhood website ([[Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America|Antiochian Archdiocese]])
*[http://www.spokaneorthodox.com/vespers.htm Western Rite order of Vespers]—from St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, Spokane, WA ([[Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America|Antiochian Archdiocese]])
*[http://www.saintjonah.org/services/vespers.htm Vespers as a Reader Service]
==Sources==
* Père Boris Bobinskoy, ''The Liturgikon: The Book of Divine Services for the Priest and Deacon'La vie liturgique''', Bishop [[Basil (Essey) of Wichita]] (ISBN 0962419001)* [http://wwwed.networks-now.net/litresswraoc/Servicesdu Cerf, coll.htm Website of the StCatéchèse Orthodoxe. Raphael Clergy Brotherhood of the Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America]
[[CategoryCategorie:LiturgicsLiturgie]]
[[en:vespers]]
[[el:Εσπερινός]]
[[ro:Vecernia]]
