Moleben
A Moleben is a liturgical service of supplication or thanksgiving. Unlike the Divine Liturgy and the offices of the daily cycle, it can be celebrated at any time and in a variety of locations.
This service is particular to the Slavic churches of the Byzantine Rite; while Byzantine Rite Christians in Greece and the Middle East celebrate the Paraklesis as their primary service of supplicatory prayer, the Slavs created a variety of such services as described in the article. The word moleben comes from the full title of the Paraklesis service in Slavonic: the Service of the Canon of Supplication ("kanon molebnij") to the Theotokos.
This article describes the history and use of molebens in the Byzantine Catholic Church. For musical details, see Singing a Moleben.
The origin and history of the moleben
It is altogether natural for Christians to express their petitions to God, and to thank him for his blessings. It is common as well to ask the saints for their prayers to God on our behalf. While these desires are expressed in the Church's regular cycle of liturgy, there are at least two reasons why additional services might be desired:
- By tradition, the Divine Liturgy is only celebrated once per day in a given place, and not at all on some days. Similarly, the other services of the daily cycle (such as Vespers and Matins) are celebrated at fixed times, and all of these services are held in church. So if there is a desire for several services of supplication or thanksgiving, services on a day when the Divine Liturgy is not celebrated, or services in the home or outdoors, some other rite or prayer must be used.
- The petitions of the Church's official liturgy, while universal, are also somewhat general. It is natural for someone in great need, or in a particular instance of great thanksgiving, to desire the celebration of a service in which these particular needs or blessings can be mentioned.
Among Slavic Christians of the Byzantine Rite, a number of such services came into being. All of them are derived from the service of prayer and petition to the Mother of God known as the Paraklesis. The Paraklesis is in turn based on the morning service of Matins, so all molebens resemble Matins to a greater or lesser degree.
In the late 19th and early 20th century, new molebens were written which added certain additional elements, mostly of popular piety. These "devotional molebens" existed side-by-side with the services in the official liturgical books. Because they were composed in an era of Latinization in the Greek Catholic churches, they were often combined with devotional services borrowed from the Latin Rite, such as Benediction.
Molebens in the liturgical books
Three different lliturgical books of the Byzantine (Ruthenian) Catholic Church contain molebens:
- The Horologion or Časoslóv, which contains the services of the daily cycle, also includes a special section of Canons and Akathists to be used as needed. The Paraklesis can be found in this section, and several of the canons have notes which explain how they are to be used when sung as part of a moleben.
- The Euchologion or Trébnyk, which contains the services for occasional use such as baptisms and funerals, provides a "Common moleben" to be served in any necessity.
- The Book of Prayer Services or Molébnik contains fourteen services for various needs - for example, a Moleben of Thanksgiving, and a Moleben in Time of Drought.
Most of these services have not been published in English - at least in part because, when the Byzantine Catholic Church was gradually moving from Church Slavonic to English for its services, it had become the custom to ask a priest to celebrate the Divine Liturgy for a particular intent, rather than to have a moleben sung.
The Common Moleben in the Trebnyk provides the basic outline for the service, along with specific hymns to be sung in honor of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Theotokos, or Saint Nicholas, and an indication of where the canon for the service is inserted. (The canons are found other liturgical books.) This basic outline can be used to construct a moleben in honor of other saints.
The English-language Divine Liturgies book of the Byzantine Catholic Church contains a drastically abbreviated "General Moleben for the Living", which consists of the beginning and conclusion of the common moleben. This service is often celebrated after the day's Divine Liturgy for some particular need, or in thanksgiving.
Devotional molebens
At some point, probably during the mid- to late-19th century, a new style of molebens came into being among Greek Catholics. These new molebens incorporated other elements from Matins (such as the festal exaltation), and entirely new hymns, which were suited for congregational or responsorial singing, whether in village churches or on pilgrimages. The most popular of these "devotional molebens" included
- the Moleben to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, composed by Father Isidore Dolnytsky of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in the later 19th century. In this service, festal magnification of Matins (for the feast of the Sacred Heart) is sung before the Gospel, and a series of praises to the Sacred Heart is chanted by the priest afterwards, with the people singing a fixed refrain ("O most sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy of us.")
- the Moleben to the Mother of God, composed by Father Meletius Lonchyna in the early 20th century. In this service, the Gospel reading is followed by a series of petitions to the Ever-Virgin Mary, each of which begins with the words, "Rejoice, O Mary", and to which the people respond with the refrain "O most holy Mother of God, save us." A series of stichera (hymns) to the Mother of God are also sung.
- the Moleben to the Holy Cross, which became a very popular Lenten devotion (often replacing the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts). This service incorporated the festal magnification from Matins before the Gospel reading, the chanting of the Beatitudes after the Gospel, and the recitation by priest and people of a prayer of repentence attributed to Saint Basil the Great.
As noted above, these molebens were often followed by the service of Supplicatsia (Supplications) and Benediction with the Eucharist, borrowed from the Latin Rite. When new molebens to saints were needed, they were often composed in this style. Thus, over time, the term "moleben" came to refer to many different types of services.
These three devotional molebens remained popular among immigrants to the United States. The Moleben to the Sacred Heart was rewritten to de-emphasize the (Latin-influenced) devotion to the Sacred Heart, and the resulting service is usually called the Moleben to Jesus, Lover of Mankind. This moleben, and the devotional Moleben to the Mother of God, continued in use at parishes and pilgrimages throughout the second half of the 20th century and into the 21st century as well.
Outline of the service
The following table shows the parts of various types of Moleben:
- the Paraklesis, or service of the canon of supplication to the Theotokos
- the moleben with a canon (the Common Moleben, and the molebens in time of rain, drought, and epidemic)
- the moleben without a canon (most of the other services in the Molebnik)
- the devotional moleben
Paraklesis |
Moleben with a canon | Moleben without a canon |
Devotional Moleben |
---|---|---|---|
Blessing and beginning prayers |
Blessing and beginning prayers "Come, let us worship" |
Blessing and beginning prayers "Come, let us worship" |
Blessing and beginning prayers "Come, let us worship" |
Psalm 142 |
Psalm 142 |
Psalm |
Psalm |
Litany of Peace |
Litany of Peace |
||
"The Lord is God", with verses |
"The Lord is God", with verses Troparia |
"The Lord is God", with verses Troparia |
"The Lord is God", with verses Troparia |
Psalm 50 |
Psalm 50 |
Festal magnification |
|
The CANON is sung. After Ode 6: After Ode 9: |
The CANON is sung. After Ode 6: After Ode 9: |
Prokeimenon Apostolic Reading Alleluia Gospel Reading |
Prokeimenon "Let everything that lives", with verses Gospel Reading |
Stichera to the Mother of God |
Praises or petitions, with refrain Stichera |
||
Trisagion prayers and Our Father |
Trisagion prayers and Our Father |
||
Troparia
from the "general moleben for the living" |
Troparia
from the "general moleben for the living" |
Additional prayers |
|
Special Litany of supplication and protection |
Special Litany of supplication and protection Prayer of the moleben |
Litany of Fervent Supplication Prayer of the moleben |
Special Litany of supplication and protection Prayer of the moleben |
Great Doxology OR Hymn of St Ambrose |
Great Doxology OR Hymn of St Ambrose |
||
Dismissal |
Dismissal |
Dismissal |
Dismissal |
The troparia and concluding prayers differ for each each moleben, and special petitions are often added to the various litanies. Items in italics may or may not be present, depending on the moleben.
As you can see from this table, there are quite a few possibilities. It is important for the cantor to know the basic parts of the service (regardless of which ones are used) and how to sing them.