Divine Liturgy | Sound and Silence

Choral Corner #33: An Anaphora fun fact!

Immediately before the choir sings "Holy, Holy, Holy Lord of Sabaoth! Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory," the priest chants the...

Choral Corner #15: What is the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts?

The Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is a uniquely Lenten form of the Divine Liturgy that is actually not a Liturgy at all, as...

Choral Corner #13: What is an antiphon?

In the Divine Liturgy, the antiphons are the first three hymns. Except on great feasts, the Sunday antiphons consist of portions of Psalm...

Choral Corner #11: The Languages of the Augmented Litany

Q: Why does the choir often sing the Augmented Litany responses in many different languages, and what are those languages? A: Singing...

Choral Corner #10: "Having beheld the Resurrection of Christ" after Holy Communion — why?

At our parish approximately one year ago, we began singing "Having beheld the Resurrection of Christ" and "Shine, shine, O new Jerusalem"...

Choral Corner #9: Why is “It is Truly Meet” occasionally replaced with another hymn?

At the Divine Liturgy, why does It is Truly Meet occasionally get replaced with something else? At the Divine Liturgy of St. John...

Choral Corner #8: What is a troparion?

A troparion (sometimes shortened to tropar; pl. troparia), is the primary hymn of a day, saint, feast or other commemoration. On each...

Choral Corner #7: What does the choir sing during clergy Communion, and why does it change so much?

It does change every week. Clergy Communion is the only point in any Orthodox service where the choir director has a large degree of...