What is a canon in Orthodoxy and how to read it correctly. Church canons (rules) Everything according to the canon means

The word “Canon” has acquired a huge number of meanings over the centuries-old history of its existence. In ancient Greece, it referred to a reed stick that builders used as a primitive ruler. Then they began to call the line itself that way. After some time, this term turned into a synonym for the concepts of “standard” and “sample”, that is, to be canonical means to be correct and correspond to certain clearly established norms. Moreover, in the Christian tradition, the rules governing most aspects of church life are called canons.

But there is another meaning contained in this word. The term “canon” denotes a genre of liturgical texts that is widespread in the liturgical practice of the Orthodox and some Uniate Churches. Usually we come across canons either when preparing for Communion, or at a funeral service, or in church when we attend evening services. And this concept is inextricably linked with Great Lent, during which the Great Penitential Canon of St. Andrew of Crete is read twice.

So what is canon anyway? How did he appear? Who was the author of the very idea of ​​writing it? And what did Saint Andrew want to say in his brilliant creation? Let's try to figure it out.

If we compare any canon known to us with the rest of the liturgical heritage of the Church, it turns out that many liturgical texts will be much older. For example - psalms. Most of them appeared during the time of King David, and this is the 10th century BC. No less ancient are the so-called biblical songs, which are hymns offered to God by the prophets of the Old Testament. The oldest monuments of this group are more than three thousand years old. And even the Eucharist in its central part goes back to the Easter Jewish texts, which were formed even before the Babylonian captivity - that is, six centuries before the coming of Christ.

Compared to such venerable centenarians, the canons look very young, but in the course of the development of church worship, it was they who were destined to occupy a central place in many liturgical rites. For example, the canon is the semantic core of modern Matins, Compline and Midnight, not to mention prayer services and cell prayer rules. And all this is thanks to the works of St. Andrew, who in the 7th century was able to create a structure that most fully met the sacred needs of the believer.

The fact is that Christianity has, so to speak, two levels of religious life - the Old Testament and the New Testament. The first includes the rich traditions of the Israeli people, which were reverently accepted by the first Christians and reinterpreted in the spirit of the Gospel. The second level is the experience of grace that the Church acquired after the coming of Christ. But if Old Israel had a very vibrant culture, which gave rise to a huge variety of sacred texts, then New Israel needed for some time to look for unique forms of expression of its spiritual and mystical experience. And they were found.

One of them was troparia The first mentions of them date back to the 2nd century. These are small chants, which during the service alternated with prayers and texts from the Holy Scriptures, conveying the essence of the New Testament event or church date celebrated on that day. The most ancient of the troparia that have reached us are “Quiet Light”, “Under Your Mercy”, “Christ has risen from the dead”. They have successfully survived all historical eras and have become one of the main elements of our services. Sedalen, ipakoi, luminary, kontakion, stichera, katavasia - all this is nothing more than troparia that have acquired one or another semantic coloring and function.

And so, having at his disposal such a form of prayer text as the troparion, Andrei of Crete made a small liturgical revolution. Before him, attempts had already been made to create a special genre of spiritual poems performed in churches during prayers. But this tradition did not take root, and the Old Testament texts (psalms, hymns) retained their leading positions for a long time. The saint took a different path: he did not invent something unusual, but used the familiar troparion, giving it a new sound. This was achieved very simply - the troparia, at the instigation of Andrei of Crete, gradually became autonomous elements not directly related to the Old Testament chants. Or rather, the connection remained, only now it was more semantic than technical.

As a result, a canon was born - a cycle of troparions united by a common theme.

Since at first the tradition of performing Old Testament songs remained in force, the canons joined them. There are only ten songs. One of them - “My soul magnifies the Lord” - has an independent chorus, so the total number of hymns to which the canon’s troparia were added is nine. Centuries have passed, most of the hymns have ceased to be sung, but the troparia remain. As an echo of this turning point, the habit has reached us of dividing canons into “songs” - in memory of the very songs of Holy Scripture to which the canon was attached in ancient times.

Now troparia can be combined into two, three, four, eight, and nine cantos. Each of them begins irmos - a small verse-chorus that repeats the main idea of ​​the entire song. Usually the canon has eight parts - the second is of a Lenten nature, and is omitted outside the Lent period. As a rule, the songs are quite short - from two to four troparia for each. But there are also giant canons, which in each of their nine blocks contain ten, fifteen, and sometimes more than twenty troparia.

The largest is, of course, the Canon of St. Andrew. It is complete, it contains all nine songs, and in each of them there are up to thirty troparia. This is a truly monumental masterpiece, and its analysis will take more than one page. Therefore, we will dwell only on some of the most important points.

The first thing that catches your eye is the Canon’s appeal not only to God, but also to the person praying himself. Reading the penitential troparia, a person seems to be talking to himself, with his soul and conscience, analyzing his life and lamenting the mistakes he has made. The Cretan cycle is not just a cry. This is also an attempt to sober up your mind and set it in a repentant mood.

To do this, Saint Andrew uses a fairly common technique. He gives examples from the Holy Scriptures - examples of both great falls and great spiritual deeds. Examples of the depths to which a person can fall and the heights to which he can rise. Examples of how sin can enslave the soul and how the soul can gain victory over sin.

Particularly noteworthy is the fact that the author of the Canon uses a large number of symbols, which, on the one hand, are very poetic, and on the other, very accurately convey the essence of the problems being raised. For example, the word “wordless” appears frequently in the text. The modern reader associates it more with the inability or even the inability to speak, but in ancient times someone who was not involved in Christ was called dumb. God the Word, Logos - this is one of the names of the Son of God. Every thing on earth, sanctified by His grace, becomes “verbal,” participating in the Word, filled with true meaning. On the contrary, if someone or something is deprived of connection with the Lord, it turns into a “dumb” creature, which, as it moves away from its Creator, loses its original beauty and form.

By the way, such familiar expressions as “beauty”, “glory”, “decoration”, “kindness” - all of them are also filled with very deep content by Saint Andrew. These are not just some aesthetic concepts, but an entire moral system that fully corresponds to the theological heritage of Orthodoxy. And a person who reads the Canon does not necessarily have to have a seminary behind him in order to understand those simple things that the Cretan shepherd wants to convey to the heart...

St. Andrew builds a very simple and clear scheme: Man was originally created by God for joy and participation in His Divine existence. He clothed Adam and Eve in spiritual garments of grace, endowed them with various talents, and set before them the high goal of God-likeness. But a person, deceived by the devil, voluntarily chooses another path - the path of leaving God and creating a world within which there is simply no place for the Creator. Then, after some time, people begin to understand what their self-will has led to, but they are no longer able to change anything, since they have lost the grace-filled abilities that they were endowed with before the fall. And now, being in a fallen state, man cries out to his Creator: “I have clothed myself with the robe of shame, like the leaves of a fig tree, to expose my self-willed passions.”

The entire Great Canon is saturated with tears of repentance - genuine, unmasked, living. It is noteworthy that the very process of spiritual transformation of a person Andrei Kritsky thinks in categories very far from the concepts of “guilt”, “retribution” or “punishment”. The cry of the soul, brilliantly formulated by the author of the Canon, contains to a greater extent not the word “forgive”, but the words “heal”, “cleanse”, “correct”, because the Eastern tradition has always understood one terrible truth: No matter how much formal forgiveness, but without eliminating the sinful corruption of human nature, without eliminating that very “nakedness” and “ugliness” that St. Andrew speaks of, real salvation of a person is impossible. On the contrary, salvation is achieved not by simply fulfilling the commandments and mechanically doing good deeds, but by returning to God and putting on those very grace-filled clothes that were once lost by our first parents.

The Great Canon is read twice during Lent - in the first and fifth weeks. The first time he seems to remind us of what repentance actually is in the understanding of the holy fathers, and the second time - closer to Passion - believers are given the opportunity to compare: what they were going for, and what they were able to achieve in several weeks of prayerful feat . Has their repentance really become such a change in life, which entails a change in their way of thinking, behavior, and attitude? Repentance, according to the creator of the Canon, is not static self-contemplation and self-flagellation, but active doing, a journey in which only one direction is possible - forward and upward.

Unfortunately, in the modern rhythm, especially in large cities, a working person does not always have the opportunity to attend amazing services with the singing of the Canon of St. Andrew of Crete. But many people have the Internet, and finding this amazing text is not particularly difficult. Moreover, not only in the liturgical edition, but also in translation into ordinary literary languages. It is important for everyone who in one way or another connects themselves with the Christian tradition in general and with Orthodoxy in particular to read the Canon thoughtfully at least once in their life. He truly says amazing things.

The most important of them is the assertion that God is always nearby, and that the distance between Him and man is measured not by earthly concepts of “duty,” “sinfulness,” or “dignity,” but by simple love, faith and hope for the great mercy of the Creator. That same mercy that raises up the fallen, heals the sick, and cleanses sinners, returning them to their original beauty and greatness.

A funeral table in a church on which a coffin with a deceased person is placed. (Terms of Russian architectural heritage. Pluzhnikov V.I., 1995) * * * (Greek kanon - rule, prescription) In the visual arts, a canon is a set of firmly established rules that determine the norms of composition and color, a system of proportions, images of individual characters and plot scenes The canon is associated with the dominant ideology of society. The art of Ancient Egypt was strictly canonical; the order system of ancient architecture is also essentially canonical; the treatise of the ancient Greek sculptor POLICLETOS is known. The canon, a rigid system of regulations established by religion, dominated the art of the Middle Ages; the RENAISSANCE era was characterized by attempts to rationalistically establish ideal standards for works of art; later, numerous rules of a dogmatic nature were associated with academicism in art with socialist realism. The development of realistic art has always been accompanied by the overcoming of old frozen canons. (Dictionary of architectural terms. Yusupov E.S., 1994)

View value Canon in other dictionaries

Canon- m. church. establishment of the apostles, ecumenical and local councils, on faith and church rites. The helmsman's book contains the canons... A church hymn in praise of the saint........
Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary

Canon- canon, m. (Greek kanon). 1. A rule or establishment of the church in a particular area (worship, rituals, hierarchical relationships, etc.), approved by some. supreme.......
Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

Kanon M.- 1. An immutable rule, a position of something. directions, teachings, etc. // What is firmly established is taken as a model. // What is the traditional generally accepted norm........
Explanatory Dictionary by Efremova

Canon- -A; m. [Greek kanōn - rule, prescription]
1. Rule, immutable position of something. directions, teachings. Canons of classicism. Canons of the academic school of painting.
2.........
Kuznetsov's Explanatory Dictionary

Canon- 1) Church institution, rule, dogma in the field of doctrine or religious rituals. 2) A set of rules and regulations of any direction in literature and art........
Political dictionary

Canon- a rule, a tradition, something that has taken the form of law and has become generally accepted.
Economic dictionary

Canon- in fine arts - a system of stylistic and iconographic norms - dominant in the art of any period or direction; a work that serves as a normative model.
Large encyclopedic dictionary

Canon— - a set of provisions that are dogmatic in nature. The set of books of the Bible recognized by the church as “inspired by God” and used as sacred scripture.........
Historical Dictionary

Canon- (Greek kanon - rule) - 1) Accepted by Christ. church, as opposed to civil. law, regulation concerning internal routine, morality (especially of church ministers), family........
Soviet historical encyclopedia

Canon— In Greek, canon means rule, pattern. We come across this word quite often in life. We say: “According to strict canons...”. Or we use the concept canonical........
Musical dictionary

Infinite Canon- (lat. canon infinitus, canon perpetuus) - a form of imitative presentation, which does not conclude. caesura (see Imitation), and the development of the melody leads to its beginning. This allows you to perform B.........
Music Encyclopedia

Double canon- polyphonic a combination of two canons on different topics. Often used in reprises or climaxes of double fugues and other polyphonics. forms, crowning the line of intensive development.........
Music Encyclopedia

Mysterious canon- a canon, in which only the melody of the proposta is recorded, and the moments and intervals of the entry of the risposta are indicated only partially or not indicated at all. These missing.........
Music Encyclopedia

Canon- (from Greek kanon - norm, rule).
1) In other Greece, a device for studying and demonstrating the relationships of tones formed by various. parts of a vibrating string; from 2nd century received........
Music Encyclopedia

Canon (instrument)- plucked string music. instrument Common in the countries of the Near and Middle East, where it is known under the name. kanun (Persian - ganun), in the USSR it is found in Armenia. Flat........
Music Encyclopedia

Corporeal Canon- a normative system of attitudes and ideas regarding the body and its functions characteristic of a given culture.
Sexological dictionary

Corporeal Canon- a normative system of attitudes and ideas regarding the body and its functions characteristic of a given culture.(

In the Orthodox liturgical tradition, there are several types of special prayer sequences. Today we want to introduce you, dear friends, to the CANON and AKATHISTS.

Akathist (Greek non-seated [singing], i.e., a hymn during which one does not sit while singing), a form of church poetry close to ancient kontakia.
Construction of the Akathist
The compositional and metrical structure of the Akathist is very original; in all of Byzantine literature, with the exception of subsequent imitations, not a single similar work has survived. The closest genre structure was the ancient kontakion, the original compositional and metrical version of which can be considered the Akathist. The Akathist is preceded by a beginning - the so-called proimium (Greek proimion - introduction) or kukulium (Greek kukulion - hood, that is, covering the stanzas). Following it are, alternating, 12 large and 12 small stanzas, 24 in total, in the form of an alphabetical acrostic. Stanzas in the Greek tradition are called ikos. They are divided into short ones (in the Slavic tradition they are called kontakia), which end with the Alleluia refrain, and long ones, containing 12 cheretisms (greetings beginning with the Greek here - rejoice), addressed to the Mother of God and, in the traditions of rhetorical poetics, representing Her extensive metaphorical description. The 12th cheretism is followed by the refrain - “Rejoice, Unbrided Bride,” which is also found in the kontakion for the Annunciation of St. Roman the Sweet Singer (+ c. 556).

All ikos have the same rhythmic pattern, based on isosyllabism and alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables. The metrical structure of the Akathist is complex: the cheretisms in the ikos are combined in six pairs, and in each pair one line mirrors the other: with the strictest isosyllaby, they are connected by regular paired rhyme, that is, each word in one line is rhymed with its corresponding word in the other. In rare cases, there may be no rhyme. The first pair of heretisms are 10-syllables, the second are 13-syllables, the third are 16-syllables, the fourth are 14-syllables, the fifth and sixth are 11-syllables. In addition to the rhythmic correlation of most cheretisms, the syntactic and semantic pattern of the Akathist characterizes the regular application of the principle of Old Testament poetics parallelismus membrorum - the logical and semantic antithesis (Rejoice, prolix miracle of Angels; Rejoice, profuse defeat of demons), parallelism (Rejoice, honorable crown of pious kings; Rejoice, honest praise of the reverent priests) or synonymy (Rejoice, bright-fruitful tree, from which faithful trees feed; Rejoice, blessed-leaved tree, with which many are covered). Most lines of the Akathist use paronomasia (play on words), which is lost in translation.

The historical and dogmatic content of the hymn is divided into two parts: narrative, which tells about events related to the earthly life of the Mother of God, and about the childhood of Christ in accordance with the Gospel and Tradition (1st - 12th ikos), and dogmatic, concerning Incarnation and salvation of the human race (13th - 24th ikos). The victorious proemy of the Akathist to the Elected Voivode is not related to the content of the hymn, has a different metrical structure and is a later addition to the text of the Akathist. It is correlated with the siege of Constantinople in the summer of 626 by the Avars and Slavs, when Patriarch Sergius of Constantinople walked around the city walls with the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos and the danger was averted. The proimium is a victorious song of thanks addressed to the Mother of God on behalf of Her city, that is, Constantinople, which was delivered from the horrors of the invasion of foreigners (in the Church Slavonic translation, Thy City is replaced by Thy servants), and performed together with the Akathist on August 7, 626 (the synaxarion of the Lenten Triodion on Saturday 5th week).

Canon is a genre of church hymnography: a complex multi-stanza work dedicated to the glorification of a holiday or saint. Included in the services of Matins, Compline, Midnight Office and some others.

The canon is divided into songs, each song consists of an irmos and several troparions (usually from two to six; in the songs of some canons there are more troparions, for example in the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete - up to 30). The theme of each song is biblical songs (which in ancient times were read before the songs of the canon, and currently are read only at Matins services of Great Lent).

The number of songs in a canon can be 2, 3, 4, 8 and 9. Three- and four-song canons are used in the services of Great Lent and Pentecost. There is only one nine-song song - the Great Canon of St. Andrey Kritsky. The two-song one is also the only one (on Holy Tuesday). Eight-song canons (which are the majority) are nine-song canons in which the second canon is omitted.

Irmos is the connecting semantic link between the content of the biblical song and the main theme of the canon, expressed in the troparia. Between the 8th and 9th songs of the Matins canon, the song of the Theotokos is sung, “My soul magnifies the Lord...” (Luke 1: 46-55) and the chorus glorifying the Theotokos, “The most honorable Cherub...”. On some of the twelve holidays, instead of the song of the Mother of God, special holiday chants are sung.

In the Byzantine and modern Greek canons, the irmos and troparia are metrically similar, allowing the entire canon to be sung; in Slavic translations the unity of the metric is broken, so the irmos is sung, and the troparia are read. The exception is the Easter canon, which is sung in its entirety. The melody of the canon obeys one of eight voices. On Sundays and holidays, at matins after the songs, katavasiyas are sung.

The canon appeared as a genre in the middle of the 7th century. The first canons were written by St. Andrew of Crete and St. John of Damascus.

***********************************************************************************

Now, in the last days of Great Lent, on days when the suffering and death on the cross of Christ the Savior are especially remembered, one of the most popular Canons is the Canon “ CryMother of God » .

Lamentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

This canon was compiled in the 10th century AD by Saint Simeon Metaphrastus (Logothetus). Poems from it are read after Good Friday, when the Lord had already died on the Cross. The reading takes place on Friday, during the Service.

The service itself is a reverent vigil before the tomb of the Savior and a funeral hymn to the Lord who suffered for us, the Immortal King of glory.

The prayers of the Canon “Lamentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary” are filled with sorrow, the sadness of the Virgin Mary and the disciples of Jesus. In despair, the Mother of God finds consolation through prayer to the Lord. Jesus Christ expresses touching concern for Her. In a few words of the Son, the Blessed Virgin finds satisfaction of sorrow.

We should always remember that any bad deed of ours is a wound to the Most Holy Theotokos and Jesus Christ.

• archbishop
• Rules of the Holy Orthodox Church with interpretations Ep. :

Church canons– 1) basic church rules that determine the order of life of the Orthodox Church (its internal structure, discipline, private aspects of the life of Christians); 2) a set of such rules.

In a broad sense, the epithet “canonical” in church vocabulary means “legitimate, recognized” (for example, canonical books).

Who is the author of church canons?

* * *

Protopresbyter I began my course on canon law with these words: “Gentlemen, students! I have been instructed to read to you a subject that is usually called “canon law,” although I must tell you right away that such a name is a misunderstanding, because law itself has no place in the Church. Law penetrated only when love became scarce.”

A brief summary of the canonical definitions of the Ecumenical Councils

The First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea in 325 left us 20 rules:

The first rule prohibits the admission into the clergy of persons who have castrated themselves;

The second rule prohibits the promotion of converts to the sacred degrees;

Rule three prohibits clergy from having in their house a woman who is not a close relative;

Rule four states that bishops must be elected by the bishops of a given region and approved by the metropolitan;

The fifth rule prohibits a bishop from accepting into communion persons excommunicated by another bishop and commands that councils of bishops be convened twice a year;

Rule six confirms the supreme authority of some bishops over other bishops and prohibits the appointment of a bishop without the consent of the metropolitan and general election;

Rule seven elevates the bishop of Jerusalem to the rank of metropolitan;

The eighth rule provides for the accession of heretics to the Church and prohibits two bishops from being in the same city;

Rule nine prohibits the admission of vicious persons to the priesthood;

The tenth rule commands the casting out of the sacred order of the fallen;

Rule eleven speaks about the method of repentance for those who have departed from the faith;

The twelfth rule also speaks of the image of repentance of another type of fallen ones;

Rule thirteen commands us to admonish the Holy Mysteries to every dying person;

Rule fourteen establishes an image of repentance for catechumens who have fallen from the faith;

Rule fifteen prohibits bishops and clergy from moving from city to city without permission;

Rule sixteen prescribes not to accept into communion clergy who voluntarily remove themselves from their own church;

Rule seventeen prohibits clerics from engaging in usury;

Rule eighteen forbids deacons to teach St. Gifts to presbyters, to receive communion before bishops and to sit between presbyters;

The nineteenth rule says about the “peacocks” that they, in the event of their conversion, must be re-baptized, and the clergy re-ordained;

Rule twentieth prohibits kneeling on Sunday and Pentecost.

The Second Ecumenical Council in Constantinople in 381 left behind only seven rules:

The first rule confirms the Creed, compiled at the First Ecumenical Council and anathematizes all heresy;

The second rule prohibits bishops from extending their power “outside their area”, from interfering in the affairs of another’s diocese, and establishes 5 church districts in the East;

The third rule gives the Bishop of Constantinople "the advantage of honor over the Bishop of Rome";

Rule four condemns Maxim Kinik and “the outrage he caused”;

The fifth rule accepts “those who confess One Divinity of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”;

Rule six commands “not without investigation” to accept accusations against the rulers of the Church;

Rule seven indicates the rules for accepting repentant heretics.

The Third Ecumenical Council, held in Ephesus in 431, left eight rules:

The rules - first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth - all relate to the excommunication of the heretic Nestorius and his supporters;

Rule seven prohibits the creation of any new Creed;

The eighth rule prohibits bishops from “extending their power to another diocese, which was not before and at first under his hand” and frees the Cypriot bishops from the dependence of the Patriarch of Antioch.

The IV Ecumenical Council, convened in Chalcedon in 451, left behind 30 rules. From these rules:

The first rule confirms the need to observe everything that was decreed at previous councils;

The second rule punishes simony, or placement in church ranks for money, by dethronement;

Rule three prohibits bishops, clergy and monastics from engaging in “worldly affairs” “for the sake of vile gain”;

Rule four prohibits monks from living disorderly;

Rule five confirms the prohibition for bishops or clergy to “move from city to city”;

Rule six prohibits the ordination of clergy without a specific appointment;

Rule seven prohibits clerics and monks, under threat of anathema, “to enter into military service or secular rank”;

The eighth rule commands the clergy to remain “under the authority of the bishops of each city”;

Rule nine prohibits clergy from suing in secular courts;

Rule ten prohibits a cleric from being registered in two churches at the same time;

Rule eleven speaks of certificates issued to the poor;

The twelfth rule prohibits bishops from referring to civil authorities in ecclesiastical matters;

Rule thirteen prohibits clergy from serving in a foreign diocese without a representative letter from their bishop;

Rule fourteen prohibits readers and singers from marrying wives of other faiths;

Rule fifteen speaks of the appointment of deaconesses;

Rule sixteen prohibits monastics and virgins from marrying;

Rule seventeen defines the exact boundaries of the dioceses;

The eighteenth rule prohibits bishops and their peers from “forming crowds” and “building feats”;

Canon nineteen repeats the rule about convening the Council of Bishops twice a year;

Rule twentieth repeats the prohibition for clergy to move to another church;

Rule twenty-one commands that denunciations against bishops should not be accepted “simply and without investigation”;

Rule twenty-two prohibits clergy from “plundering the things” of a bishop after his death; prohibits clergy and monastics from coming to Constantinople and living in it without any instructions from their bishop;

Rule twenty-four prohibits turning monasteries into secular dwellings;

Rule twenty-five prohibits leaving bishops' sees unfilled for more than three months;

Canon twenty-six commands bishops to administer church property with the help of oikonoms;

Rule twenty-seven prohibits the abduction of wives for marriage;

Rule twenty-eight defines the circle of judicial and administrative activities of the Patriarch of Constantinople and equates him with the Pope of Rome;

The twenty-ninth rule prohibits the reduction of a bishop to the presbytery degree;

Canon thirty speaks of the Egyptian bishops.

The V Ecumenical Council in Constantinople in 553 and the VI Ecumenical Council in Constantinople in 680 did not leave behind any rules, but, instead, in 691 the so-called council was convened. “Trullo”, sometimes called “Fifth-Sixth”, in which this omission was corrected and as many as 102 rules were compiled. Of the rules of this council, the following are especially important:

36th rule, which repeats the equality of the Patriarchal Sees of Constantinople and Rome and generally indicates the hierarchical order of the Patriarchal Sees;

8th canon, which commands the metropolitan to annually convene a council of bishops;

The 12th, 13th and 48th rules resolve issues regarding the marriage of clergy;

The 33rd rule condemns the custom of the Armenian country to accept into the clergy only persons descended from a priestly family;

Rules 64 and 70 prohibit a layman and his wife from teaching publicly in church during worship;

Rule 80 threatens with excommunication anyone who does not come to church for worship within three Sunday days;

Rule 54 prohibits marriage within close relationships;

The 53rd rule legitimizes the spiritual relationship of the recipients with the perceived ones and prohibits them from entering into marriage;

Rule 72 prohibits mixed marriages with heretics;

The 73rd rule commands us to give honor to the life-giving Cross of the Lord and prohibits drawing its image on the ground so that it is not trampled under foot;

Rule 75 requires dean singing in churches;

Rules 74 and 76 prohibit organizing meals, taverns, or “making purchases” in churches and “inside sacred enclosures”;

Rule 77 prohibits not only clergy and monks, but also “every lay Christian” from washing in the bathhouse with women;

The 83rd rule prohibits the teaching of the Eucharist to the bodies of the dead;

Canon 86 commands that those who keep harlots be excommunicated from the Church;

Canon 90 repeats the prohibition of kneeling on Sundays, “for the honor of the Resurrection of Christ”;

Canon 91 commands that those who destroy the fetus in the womb be excommunicated from the Church;

Rule 100 excommunicates those who distribute pornography;

Rule 102 talks about penances for penitents.

The VII Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 787 issued twenty-two rules, of which the most important are:

3rd rule, prohibiting election to sacred degrees by secular superiors;

4th and 5th rules prohibiting simony;

The 6th rule repeats the requirement to convene annual councils of bishops and prohibits bribery;

The 10th rule repeats the prohibition for clergy to leave their parishes and occupy secular positions;

The 11th rule repeats the requirement to have an icon in every church and monastery;

The 12th rule commands the bishop and abbot to take care of all church things and dispose of them, but not to appropriate anything into their own property, under pain of expulsion;

The 15th, 16th, 18th and 22nd rules prohibit clergy and monastics from self-interest, luxury and close communication with females;

The 20th rule prohibits the establishment of “double monasteries”, where women lived together with men, and the close communication of monks with nuns;

The 21st rule prohibits a monk or nun from leaving his monastery and going to another without the will of the abbot.

Last Sunday, October 20, the rector of the church, Priest John Kapitanyuk, and the parishioners congratulated the singers and regent Evgenia Nikolaevna Kopylova on their anniversary, saying a lot of warm words to the choir members. Leonid Nikolaevich Trembovlev, solfeggio teacher at the Nakhodka Music College, spoke about how it all began three decades ago.

Leonid Nikolaevich, you were at the origins of the creation of the first church choir in Nakhodka, and, probably, such a turn of events for a secular person at that time was unexpected for you?

It was actually very interesting. It’s interesting in the sense that some mysterious force brought me to the temple. Now I understand perfectly well that this was God’s Providence. I was baptized since childhood, and my godfather was a priest. But I was raised an atheist. Pioneerism, Komsomol... I believed that there was no God. But in his youth he traveled a lot. I have been to many cities of the Soviet Union, however, during my travels, for some reason, I was always drawn to church. In Georgia I went, it was in Tbilisi, to the temple of God.

In what year did such a remarkable event take place?

I was born in Kharkov, where I graduated from music school in 1965, and until that time I traveled. I think in 1960 I visited the capital of Georgia. When I crossed the threshold, I felt some kind of Fear of God, and I didn’t know what to do next! Sometimes I just looked into churches before. But the feelings, as I later realized, were reverent, although I was not a churchgoer. And when I arrived in Nakhodka, entering our church, which was still small at that time, I also felt awe. And I actually came in by accident, when I was exploring the city, studying where the streets were, and examining Nakhodka itself. This was in the 70s.

Did you get into the service?

Yes. I am a solfegist myself, and as a musician, I was attracted to the singing of the local grandmothers and thought that it would be nice to practice with them, but I did not dare to tell the priest this, but the impulse remained. And after a few years, my colleague comes up to me, here in college, then still a school, and tells me about the church choir. Imagine, it says something that I intuitively thought about for a long time. It turns out that the rector of the church, Father Vasily Kapitanyuk, through friends, told my colleague about his desire to create a professional choir.

They probably agreed right away?

Of course, I immediately responded with joy to this! We gathered a whole company at the school and immediately began rehearsing. And church music turned out to be so deep and serious for us, like a whole revelation, because we are all musicians, and it became interesting to us. We studied music, but the church music was beyond our consciousness. No one ever revealed it to us or told us about it. Of course, they somehow understood that they were singing something in the church, and that was all. And when we started singing ourselves, literally everyone began to dream about it! And we rehearsed every day!

Church music and secular music are a big difference, and you probably encountered certain difficulties?

But we are all literate (laughs), all professionals! At first there was a kind of euphoria, and then there were notes that we had never known, and what’s more, the first notes of Octoechos were given to us by Father Vasily, and also the notes were given by Maria Stepanovna Prudnikova, the daughter of a priest who served in Vladivostok, in St. Nicholas Cathedral. And all this was written by hand. Of course, everything seemed unusual, but we thought that we could handle it once or twice, that we could do everything, because we had gathered people who were knowledgeable and experienced in music! Then they came to the conclusion that in the difficult business of church music, a leader, a regent is needed, and without management it does not work. Moreover, the choir leader should act as regent. Since there were no people willing to take on such responsibility, I had to become regent. And I had little practice in choral conducting, I took vocals as an elective, and in addition, I created an amateur choir in Lesozavodsk, in general, I had a job.

Father Vasily gave you all the “green light,” one might say.

He came to a rehearsal one day, listened and said: “You will sing on Sunday!” And when they arrived at the temple, they went up to the choir, trembling like an aspen leaf. But, nevertheless, the service was held, and they realized that the priest was pleased. However, Father Vasily kept everyone strict, and always met people halfway and even purchased a minibus to collect them and bring them to services at the church.

How many people sang in the choir?

Seven people. Then some people came up. As I remember now, we had this Yuri Fedorovich Zemnitsyn with a beautiful tenor, so he came himself, obviously having heard about the choir. We accepted him, but I said that everything was serious and there was strict discipline in the choir.

Leonid Nikolaevich, how has your worldview changed from the moment the choir was created and beyond?

Imagine, I came here as an unbeliever! But in the moments of conducting, in the moments of singing, I felt this prayerfulness, tuning the choir in such a way that I myself tuned in to the spiritual “wave”. And after the service he was again an “ordinary”, non-church person, one might say, and only then, gradually, everything fell into place.

If we remember 1989, the USSR was still alive, the party system, and, to put it mildly, the church was not always treated with loyalty. Were there any complaints or sidelong glances from your co-workers?

No, and it was not the right time. Although, as far as I know, in Vladivostok, at the Institute of Arts, those who sang in the church choir were expelled from work. So the person who initiated the exclusion, a Komsomol organizer, changed his views over time and became a musicologist, a specialist in the field of church music and a Doctor of Science. This is how it happens.

What is the most important thing in church music?

The most important thing is that at the time of the service there should be coherence and a prayerful mood. Whatever repertoire we sing, we must approach with prayer both the choice of repertoire, and the tempo, manner of performance, dynamics, then we can confidently say that we are Orthodox, we will decorate our Orthodox faith, the correct faith. Everything should be beautiful according to the canons of the Church, its ancient rules, leading to prayerfulness and humility.

Mikhail Krasilnikov, Orthodox journalist