The texts, music and commentary on this website were prepared by the Metropolitan Cantor Institute of the Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh. They are approved for provisional use in the Archeparchy, but are otherwise unofficial and should be considered superseded by any materials promulgated by the Council of Hierarchs.

Upcoming Events

January 7, 2019 - Next MCI Online classes begin: Reading in Church; The Liturgical Year; The Great Fast and Holy Week (more info)

Liturgical Calendar

January 1 is the feast of the Corcumcision of the Lord, and the commemoration of our holy father Basil the Great.
Vespers (samohlasen) - Divine Liturgy - Moleben to Saint Basil

January 4 is the day of strict fast before Theophany (transferred from Saturday).
Royal Hours (adapted)

January 6 is the feast of the THEOPHANY, on which we commemorate the baptism of our Lord, God, and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the revelation of the Holy Trinity..
Vespers (Vespers with Divine Liturgy) - Great Compline - Matins - Divine Liturgy - Great Blessing of Water

January 7 is the Synaxis of the Forerunner and Baptist John.
Vespers - Divine Liturgy

January 13 is the Sunday after Theophany.
Vespers (samohlasen) - Divine Liturgy

January 20 is the 35th Sunday after Pentecost, and the feast of our venerable father Euthymius the Great. Vespers (samohlasen) - Divine Liturgy

January 27 is the 36th Sunday after Pentecost, and the feast of the translation of the relics of St. John Chrysostom. Vespers (samohlasen) - Divine Liturgy

January 30 is the feast of the Three Holy Hierarchs: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom.
Vespers (samohlasen) - Divine Liturgy

complete liturgical calendar

Vigil Divine Liturgy propers

January 1 - Circumcision; Basil the Great

January 30 - Three Holy Hierarchs

Typikon for 2019

The Typikon for 2019 (which shows how to set up the services for each day of the year) can be ordered from the Byzantine Seminary Press:

http://www.byzantineseminarypress.com/2019-typicon/

The MCI Online program also has a free course on how to use the annual typikon to set up music and Sunday and weekday Divine Liturgies.

New on the MCI Blog!

The Month of January

As part of the MCI Online class, The Liturgical Year, we prepared a series of articles on the feasts of the year, month by month.

Note that The Liturgical Year (8 week online course) is offered every January and July. See the classes page for details.

Registration forms for 2019 MCI Online classes

Mailing List for Cantors

We have migrated the old MCI mailing lists to single list, cantors@groups.io. This new list should be more reliable than the one we have been using, and does NOT require the creation of a Yahoo ID. It also has more options for collaboration, including a wiki and post tagging.

This list will be used for both announcements, and general (moderated) discussion. If you wish to receive email ONLY for announcements, you can set your subscription options to "Special Notices Only."

To subscribe to the list, just go to https://groups.io/g/cantors

Documenting the history of our church music - how you can help

The Metropolitan Cantor Institute is working with the Byzantine Catholic Seminary Library to put together material to document the history of the liturgical music of the Byzantine Catholic Church, both plain chant and choral music. Please consider contributing to these two efforts:

In early 2018, we will also be distributing images of particular pieces of music or other memorabilia we would like to find or identify.

What is the Metropolitan Cantor Institute?

The Metropolitan Cantor Institute exists to support and foster liturgical singing in the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh. At the direction of our bishops, and in cooperation with our clergy and experienced cantors, the Institute trains and certifies cantors for the service of the church, prepares music and educational materials, and provides workshops and seminars in church singing.

The mission of the Metropolitan Cantor Institute:

To ensure that each parish in the Byzantine Catholic Church has a cantor who can lead the liturgical singing of the parish well, to the glory of God and in support of the prayer of the faithful.

For more information, click on Cantor Institute in the left-hand navigation bar on this page.