Modifications

====Les Grandes Vêpres====Les '''''Grandes Vêpres''''' suivent l'ordre décrit ci-dessus et sont nommées ainsi car elles sont célébrées le samedi soir et la veille des Grandes Fêtes.====Les Vêpres quotidiennes====Les '''''Vêpres quotidiennes''''' sont une forme abrégées des Grandes Vêpres et sont célébrées tous les autres jours. GenerallyGénéralement, Daily Vespers is served by a priest alone without the assistance of a deaconles Vêpres quotidiennes sont célébrées par un prêtre seul, although there is some variation in this practice. In such a case, the deaconsans l's parts are completed by the priest. At Daily Vespers, the Small Entrance is usually omitted; there are fewer stikhera inserted in ''Lord, I have cried unto Theeassistance d''; and the Litany following the prokeimenon is abbreviated and moved to follow the apolytikionun diacre. The service ends with the [[Little Dismissal]].*'''''Small Vespers''''' is appointed to be served only on days when there is to be an [[All-Night Vigil]]. Small Vespers is identical in form to Daily VespersLors des Vêpres quotidiennes, but omits the Litany of Peacela Petite Entrée est souvent omise, the kathisma and the Small Litany that follows itil moins de stichères insérées, the Litany of Fervent Supplication, and the Prayer at the Bowing of the Heads. The litany that follows the apolytikion is also further abbreviatedet la Litanie suivant le prokimenon est abrégée. It also has no more than 4 stichera at ''"Lord, I have cried"'', and unlike Great Vespers or Daily Vespers, the variable portions of Small Vespers are never combined from multiple sources (such as a double commemoration of the menaion, or a combination of the menaion with the octoechos). === Special Forms Les Petites Vêpres===*Les '''Petites Vêpres''Lenten Daily Vespers''''' is served on the weekdays of Great Lent, unless the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is celebratedsont nommées ainsi car elles ne sont célébrées que les jours où la vigile dure toute la nuit. For Monday through Thursday eveningsLes Petites Vêpres sont identiques dans la forme aux Vêpres quotidiennes, the general Daily Vespers form is altered by the inclusion of special lenten apolytikiamais omets la Litanie de Paix, prostrationsle cathisme et le Petite Litanie qui le suit, special lenten prayers, (including the prayer of St [[Ephraim the Syrian]]), and an additional Psalter reading. The final litany is omitted. On Friday nights, the lenten apolytikia are not included and the final Ektenia is retained.*'''''Lenten Sunday Vespers''''' is served on the Sunday evenings of Great Lent. The service begins as Great Vespers. After the Small Entrance, one of two lenten Great Prokeimena is chanted and the prayer ''Vouchsafe, O Lord'' is said. The remainder of the service follows the order of Lenten Daily Vespers, with slight changes.*'''''Forgiveness Vespers''''' is served on the evening of [[Forgiveness Sunday]] and is the first service of Great Lent. Forgiveness Vespers follows the order of Lenten Sunday Vespers but after the Great Prokeimenon the clergy exchange their bright vestments for dark and the choir begins to use distinctive lenten tones. Following the dismissal, the community celebrates the moving and beautiful rite of mutual forgiveness. See also [[Great Lent]].*'''''Vespers of the Sunday of Orthodoxy''''' is served on the evening of the first Sunday of Great Lent ([[Sunday of Orthodoxy]]). Traditionally, this should follow the order of Sunday Lenten Vespers; however, it has become a popular custom in North America for all Orthodox parishes and missions in a particular locale to observe the Sunday of Orthodoxy at a special, joint pan-Orthodox Vespers service, concelebrated by the clergy of the various jurisdictions represented. Although the form of this joint service varies from place to place, it often includes a procession with holy icons and repeat an abbreviated form of the [[Synodicon of Orthodoxy]] adopted by the [[Seventh Ecumenical Council]]. Often a lenten fellowship meal is shared after the service.*'''''Vespers of Holy Friday''''' (sometimes called the ''Unnailing Vespers'') follows the usual order of Great Vespers, but omits the kathisma and includes both an Epistle and Gospel reading after the Old Testament readings. During this service the clergy remove the [[corpus]] (soma) [[icon]] of Christ from the cross in the middle of the nave, wrapping it with a white cloth. The [[epitaphios]] is then placed in the tomb and venerated by the faithful.*'''''Agape Vespers''''' is served on the evening of [[Pascha]]. It follows the order of Great Vespers. After the prokeimenon the Gospel account of the empty tomb ([[Gospel of John|John]] 20:19-25) is read. It is customary to read this [[pericope]] in many different languages, demonstrating the universal nature of the Good News of Christ's victory over sin and death. It is also customary for the [[clergy]] and the people to make a procession around the Church during the chanting of the aposticha.*'''''Kneeling Vespers''''' is served on the evening of [[Pentecost]]. In this service the posture of kneeling—a posture of penitence that is avoided during the glorious, joyful celebration of Pascha—is reintroduced to the liturgical life of the Church. Several "kneeling prayers" are prayed by the priest while the faithful kneel. === All-Night Vigil ===On the eves of [[First Class Feasts]], [[Second Class Feasts]], and certain [[Third Class Feasts]], Great Vespers may be combined with other services in an [[All-Night Vigil]]. === Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts ===On Wednesdays and Fridays of [[Great Lent]] and on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of [[Holy Week]], Vespers is combined with a eucharistic distribution and certain elements of the [[Divine Liturgy]] to form the [[Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts]]. === Vesperal Divine Liturgy ===Great Vespers is combined with the [[Divine Liturgy]] of St Basil the Great on [[Holy Week|Holy Thursday]] and [[Holy Saturday]]. This combination is also appointed to be served on the eves of the [[Nativity]] of Christ and [[Theophany]] when those feasts fall on any day other than Sunday or Monday. According to some traditions, when the feast of the [[Annunciation]] falls on a weekday of Great Lent or during the first three days of Holy Week, the festal Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom is combined with Great Vespers on the day of the feast itself. === Evening Divine Liturgy ===Since 1975 the [[Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America|Antiochian Archdiocese]] has permitted parishes in its [[jurisdiction]] to commemorate certain important feasts that fall on days other than Sunday and Monday at an Evening [[Divine Liturgy]] served on the eve of (i.e., the night before) the feast. The Evening Divine Liturgy combines Great Vespers and the festal Divine Liturgy in a slightly different way than the traditional Vesperal Divine Liturgy. The form of the service was developed by the Archdiocese's Department of Liturgics and Translations. The introduction of Evening Divine Liturgies has been viewed by some as a reasonable pastoral accommodation to the reality of American life—due to work and school commitments most families cannot order their schedules in such a way that readily permits attendance at weekday morning services. Others argue that the practice is an innovation that disrupts the liturgical cycle and continues a negative trend of shortening the divine services. Some [[diocese]]s of the [[OCA]] also permit the celebration of Evening Divine Liturgiesla Liturgie instante et la prière dite tête inclinée.