In the morning service of Matins in the Byzantine Rite, the liturgical poem called the Canon is followed immediately by a Hymn of Light – in Greek, exapostilarion or photogogikon; in Slavonic, svitilen). These hymns are usually “read” or chanted simply by a reader, but for great feasts they have special melodies of their own. (Think “You, King and Lord” at Pascha.)
Music for the Matins hymn of light for the feast of the Nativity on December 25 can be found in the 1925 Prostopinije of Theodore Ratzin, who transcribed the 1906 Bokshai Prostopinije with addition material from the Slavonic Irmologion. Here is a setting in English:
Listen to the hymn:
This hymn is sung at Matins on Christmas, and also on the Sunday after the Nativity, when we celebrate the relatives of the Lord: Joseph, his foster-father; James, his cousin and first bishop of Jerusalem, and King David.
The following students have successfully completed MCI Online courses in the first half of 2020.
The Plainchant of the Byzantine Catholic Church Andrew Colvin Carol Donlin Thomas Donlin Loretta Fernandez Elizabeth Freiberg Mary Hendricks Lawrence Lattuca Larry Leitzel Denise Maslowski Julia Revilakova Amy Seyfried Anthony Stoeppel Theresa Szatkowski Olivia Whitlock Patricia Yamrick
Introduction to Liturgy Joseph Anderson Ryan Bjorgaard Michael Booth Michael Bracelin Chris Cain Fr John Congdom Bethany Doyle Lisa Edwards Gail Hanscom Katrina Holt Aidan Medcalf Keith Nissen Andrew Novotny Séamus Ó Fianghusa Sean Pyne Anthony Stoeppel Millie Woryk Dennis Zitny
Introduction to Church Singing Lisa Edwards Corey Knick Michael Komishock Gregory Puhak Olivia Whitlock
Introduction the Typikon Ryan Bjorgaard Corey Knick Anthony Stoeppel
Reading in Church Robert Dillon
Introduction the Divine Liturgy Corey Knick
Introduction to the Eight Tones Sam Schroetke
The Liturgical Year Judith Walsh
The Divine Liturgy Judith Walsh
The Office of Vespers Julia Revilakova Sam Schroetke
Mastering the Eight Tones Julia Revilakova Sam Schroetke Judith Walsh
The Great Fast and Holy Week Sherill Franklin Susan Kopko Julia Revilakova Patricia Yamrick
From Pascha to All Saints Julia Revilakova Patricia Yamrick
In the Symbol of Faith or Creed, we say that we believe in an “apostolic” Church – that is, one built on the foundation of the witness and teaching of the apostles (Ephesians 2:20). These teachings were then passed on and expounded by the early bishops, especially those who met periodically to resolve issues in Church teaching and practice – the “Council Fathers.”
Any who has attended services in the Byzantine Rite over the course of a year knows that we devote several Sundays to these Fathers, but the progress of these feasts makes more sense it we order them within the calendar years (January to December) instead of the liturgical year (September to August):
Sunday of the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council (Sunday between Ascension and Pentecost) This council, held at Nicea in the year 325, settled the Church’s teaching on the relationship of God the Son to God the Father, and firmly taught the divinity of the Holy Spirit
Sunday of the Fathers of the First Six Ecumenical Councils (Sunday closest to July 16) This combines older individual feasts for the first six great councils: Nicea (325), Constantinople I (381), Ephesus (431), Chalcedon (451), Constantinople II (536); Constantinople III (680). These councils clarified the Church’s teaching on the Person of Jesus Christ, and resolved issues of church order and practice.
Sunday of the Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council (Sunday closest to October 14) The council, held at Nicea in 787, settled the Church’s teaching on the veneration of icons, holding that “honor given to the image passes over to the one represented.”
On all three Sundays, we sing the troparion of the Council Fathers:
O Christ our God, you are above all praise. * You have established our fathers as beacons on the earth, * leading us all to the true faith through them. * O most merciful Lord, glory to you!
and the following prokeimenon (Daniel 3:26), which is also used for the “fathers” of the Old Testament:
Blessed are you and praiseworthy, O Lord, * the God of our Fathers, * and glorious forever is your name. V. For you are just in all you have done for us.
The Vespers and Matins hymns for each Sunday recount the history and teaching of the various councils. But putting them in the above order does make them easier to remember!
Dear Cantors – and anyone who would LIKE to be a cantor:
Please sit down and listening to the following recording of the singing of the Paschal troparion and kontakion, as sung in 1977 at St. Mary’s Greek Catholic Church, Nesquehoning, PA. The celebrant is Fr. Basil Boysak; the cantor is John Katchen (whose wife Helen is singing alto; Helen died last week, on Pascha. Please pray for her repose in the place of the just.)
Why am I asking you to listen to this recording? It is not because it is technically “perfect”; the cantor swoops and slides in a way that can be a bit disconcerting (even if traditional), and I always tell students of prostopinije to hit the notes cleanly. It’s not because everyone is singing with choir-like precision, because they’re not. Und so weiter, und so fort.
But the cantor’s voice is leading the congregation in prayer. He is plenty loud enough to be heard, strong but not bellowing or hectoring the congregation. His vocal resonance carries through the church, and allows everyone else to blend.
You can hear harmonies throughout – alto and tenor are present, several different singers cooperating and clearly listening to one another. The result, as Johann Gardner described the inter-war singing in Europe, is one of “extraordinary power.”
It is also worth noting that the cantor is singing a strong baritone, allowing the other parts to work well together. While some (not me) would argue that men make better cantors than women, the problem is rather than some cantors, men and women, simply sing too high to achieve the kind of effect we hear in this parish recording.
Finally, this shows why cantorisms like added notes in a melodic pattern come into being: the singing is slow enough that the added notes in the troparion keep the sound moving strongly without needing to swell and descrescendo (something that is hard to do when a church is packed). If anyone in the congrgegation sings without the added “grace notes”, it sound just fine also, so there is no need for anyone to learn these cantorisms: they’re just…. there.
Good advice can come from all sorts of directions. Here is some guidance on how to sing in church, from John Wesley (1703-1791). Please add your own thoughts in a comment below!
Last Saturday, February 22, 2020, from 2-4 PM at St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Munhall, PA, Deacon Jeffrey Mierzejewski gave a publication presentation and workshop on our church singing, covering:
The role of the cantor in our church singing
The melodies that make up our plain chant, and where they came from
Our paraliturgical singing (spiritual songs) for use outside the liturgy
Our church’s history of singing improvised (“folk”) harmonies as a normal element of our services, and how these can improve our worship
Last Saturday, February 22, 2020, a meeting was held from 9 AM-noon at St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Munhall for all cantors of the Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh.
Twenty-six cantors were present, representing the following parishes:
As part of our church music documentation project – AND to fill out information on the current cantors pages for Pittsburgh, Passaic, Parma, and Phoenix – I would love to have photographs of the following from each our our parishes:
of the enterior of the church – something recognizable
the iconostasis or sanctuary
of your current cantor(s), with names
of your cantor stand or loft (whichever places the cantors sing from)
your retired or deceased cantors, with names, and dates of service if possible
Photos can be in any format; you can send them to mci@archpitt.org, or contact me by email (same address) for a physical mailing address and I will scan them. Thanks!!
mci.archpitt.org is the old name for the MCI website. We moved all the content to mci.archpitt.org when the MCI web pages were shifted to the Archeparchy’s own webserver, way back in 2014.
As of January 16, 2020, we are dropping the old domain name, and mci.archpitt.org will no longer be forwarded automatically to mci.archpitt.org. Please update any bookmarks to point to the new address (the rest of the URL remains the same).
Feel free to add a comment here if you have any questions.
From 2001 to 2014, the Metropolitan Cantor Institute held Saturday chant classes in Pittsburgh, covering a different topic at each class. Over a multi-year rotation, cantors learned necessary skills, and received a certificate for finishing the full course of study. Eventually, we added an in-person “final exam” in the form of a cantored Divine Liturgy at which an MCI instructor could see, comment on, and “sign off” that a student had in fact learned the skills we tried to teach.
So it is with great happiness that I can congratulate Mary Benedict, cantor of Saints Peter and Paul Byzantine Catholic Church in Erie, PA. Mary is the last cantor to complete the “old” MCI program, having regularly driven to Pittsburgh to attend classes, and completing her final examination in 2019.
Here is a list of graduates of the Metropolitan Cantor Institute program. As we move from occasional classroom courses to online, year-round education for cantors, I would like to recognize all those cantors and cantor-students who traveled to the Byzantine Catholic Seminary throughout the fall, winter, and spring to learn the art of church singing and chant leadership.
2005 / 2006 Marylyn Barone
Delcine Caddy
John Glegyak
Thomas Marco
Sharon Mech
George Mihalick
Stephen Petach
Mary Caryl Planiczki
Steven Puluka
Barbara Sowko
Henry Zolyak
2007 Mary Frances Zadzilko
Nicholas J. Nagrant
Diane Ryan Oravecz
2008 Jeff Mierzejewski
Michael Oravecz
Ann Pawluszka
2011 Saundra Frankowski
Marilyn Hertenstein
2016 Tom Rodack
2019 Mary Benedict
(and if you know anyone who should be on this list but isn’t, please add their name below in the comments!)
Finally, I would like to thank J. Michael Thompson, first director of the MCI, who put together this multiyear program and saw it become a reality.
Listen to the hymn: