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{{Short description|Liturgical works of Eastern Christian Churches}}
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{{For|the Church of Scotland liturgy|Book of Common Order}}

[[File:Eastern Catholic Euchologion.jpg|thumb|A private-use Euchologion produced by Eastern Catholics]]
{{Eastern Orthodox sidebar|expanded=worship}}

The '''Euchologion''' ([[Greek language|Greek]]: {{lang|grc|Εὐχολόγιον}}; [[Church Slavonic language|Slavonic]]: Трeбник, ''Trebnik'';<ref>{{Cite web|title=Поиск слова Требникъ :: Церковнославянский словарь|url=http://www.orthodic.org/?searchCs=%D0%A2%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B1%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BA%D1%8A&searchRu=&go.x=8&go.y=10&type=cs|access-date=2021-08-05|website=www.orthodic.org}}</ref> {{langx|ro|Euhologiu/Molitfelnic}}) is one of the chief [[liturgical book]]s of the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] and [[Byzantine rite|Byzantine]] [[Eastern Catholic Churches|Catholic]] churches, containing the portions of the services which are said by the [[bishop]], [[priest]], or [[deacon]]. The Euchologion roughly corresponds to a combination of the [[missal]], [[Roman Ritual|ritual]], and [[pontifical]] as they are used in [[Latin liturgical rites]].<ref>{{cite wikisource |author=[[Walter Frederic Adeney|Adeney, Walter F.]] |title= The Greek and Eastern Churches | wslink=The Greek and Eastern Churches |location=[[New York City]]|page=411 |publisher=[[Charles Scribner's Sons]] |date=1908 |scan= Index:The Greek and Eastern churches.djvu}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=A Catholic Dictionary|last=Attwater|first=Donald|author-link=Donald Attwater|edition=3rd|publisher=[[Macmillan Company]]|date=1962|location=[[New York City]]|page=178}}</ref> There are several different volumes of the book in use.

==Types==
The comprehensive version is called the '''Great Euchologion''' (Greek: Εὐχολόγιον τό μέγα, ''Euchológion to méga''; Slavonic: Больший Иерейский Молитвослов, ''Bolshiy Iereyskiy Molitvoslov''; Romanian: ''Arhieraticon''), and contains the following:
* The parts for the priest and deacon at [[Vespers]], [[Orthros]] (Matins), and the [[Divine Liturgy]], together with supplementary material ([[Prokeimena]], [[Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar|Calendar]] of [[Saints]], etc.)
* The remaining [[Sacred Mysteries]] (sacraments), [[monk|monastic]] [[tonsure]], [[Blessing of Waters]], etc. The texts for these and the following services are provided in full.
* Services performed by a bishop ([[ordination]], [[Consecration#Consecration of a Church|consecration of a church]])
* Various blessings and prayers for occasional use ([[Blessing of a House]], [[Visitation of the Sick]], and [[Christian burial|funerals]])
* Services of supplication ([[Moleben]]s)

For a full description of the contents and order of the Great Euchologion, see [[#Content]].

The other books contain only portions of the Great Euchologion:
* The '''Priest's Service Book''' (Greek: Ἱερατικόν, ''Hieratikon''; Slavonic: Служебник, ''Sluzhébnik''; Romanian: ''Liturghier'') containing Vespers, Matins, Compline and Divine Liturgy, plus supplementary material.
* The '''Small Euchologion''' or '''Book of Needs''' (Greek: Ἁγιασματάριον, ''Hagiasmatárion''; Μικρόν Εὐχολόγιον, ''Mikron Euchológion''; Slavonic: Требниъ, ''Trébnik''; Romanian: ''Molitfelnic'') contains the mysteries (except liturgy) which would be used by a priest, as well as the other services that would be commonly called for in a parish.
* The '''Pontifical''' (Greek: Ἀρχιιερατικόν, ''Archieratikon'', Slavonic: Чиновник архиерейского служения, ''Chinovnik arkhiereyskogo sluzheniya''; Romanian: ''Arhieraticon'') contains the portions of Vespers, Matins, liturgy and the mysteries that are performed by a bishop.

==Content==
[[File:Inauguration of Dmitry Medvedev, 7 May 2008-12.jpg|thumb|left|A [[Altar server|server]] holding the ''Archieratikon'' for the [[Russian Orthodox]] [[Patriarch of Moscow]]]]
The Euchologion contains first, directions for the deacon at the [[Vespers]], [[Matins]], and [[Divine Liturgy]]. The priest's prayers and the deacon's [[Ektenia|litanies]] for Vespers and Matins follow. Then come the Liturgies ([[Eucharist]]): first, [[rubrics]] for the [[Divine Liturgy]] in general, and a long note about the arrangement of the [[prosphora]] (breads) at the [[Proskomide]] (Liturgy of Preparation). The [[Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom|Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom]] is the frame into which the other Liturgies are fitted. The Euchologion contains only the parts of priest and deacon in full length, first for the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, then for those parts of [[Liturgy of St. Basil]] that differ from it; then the [[Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts]], beginning with the ''Hesperinon'' (Vespers) that always precedes it.

After the Liturgies follow a collection of the [[Sacred Mysteries]] (sacraments and sacramentals) with various rules, [[Canon law|canons]], and blessings. First the rite of [[Churching of women|churching the mother after child-birth]] (''euchai eis gynaika lecho''), adapted for various conditions, then certain "[[Canon law#Eastern Orthodox Church|Canons]] of the Apostles and Fathers" regarding [[Baptism]], prayers to be said over [[Catechumens]], the Rite of [[Baptism]], followed by the [[Ablution in Christianity#Baptismal ablutions|ablution]] (''apolousis'') of the child, seven days later; [[Exorcisms]] of [[St. Basil]] and [[St. John Chrysostom]], and the Rite of [[Consecration#Chrism|Consecrating Chrism]] (''myron'') on [[Maundy Thursday|Holy Thursday]]. Then follow the [[Ordination]] services for deacon, priest, and bishop (there is a second rite of ordaining bishops "according to the exposition of the most holy Lord Metrophanes, Metropolitan of Nyssa"), the blessing of a [[hegumenos]] (abbot) and of other superiors of monasteries, a prayer for [[altar servers|those who begin to serve in the Church]], and the rites for [[minor orders]] ([[Reader (liturgy)|reader]], [[chanter]], and [[subdeacon]]).

The ceremonies for [[Tonsure|tonsuring]] monks or nuns come next, the appointing of a priest to be confessor (''pneumatikos'') and the manner of hearing [[Confession (religion)|confession]], prayers to be said over persons who take a solemn oath, for those who incur canonical punishments, and for those who are absolved from them.

Then comes a collection of prayers for various necessities. A long hymn to Our Lady for "forgiveness of sins", written by a monk, Euthymius, follows, and then the rites of [[betrothal]], [[marriage]] (called the "crowning", ''Stephanoma'', from the most striking feature of the ceremony), the prayers for taking off the crowns eight days later, the rite of second marriages (called "digamy", ''digamia'', in which the persons are not crowned), and the very long [[unction]] of the sick (''to agion elaion''), prescribed to be performed by seven priests.

Next, [[consecration]]s for new churches and [[antimensia]] (the corporal containing [[relics]] used for the [[Divine Liturgy]]; it is really a kind of portable altar), the ceremony of washing the altar on [[Maundy Thursday|Holy Thursday]], erection of a ''Stauropegion'' (a [[monastery]] that is exempt from the control of the local bishop, being instead subject directly to the [[Patriarch]] or [[Synod of Bishops (Orthodox)|Synod of Bishops]]), the [[Lesser Blessing of Waters]] (''hagiasmos''), and the [[Great Blessing of Waters]] (used on [[Epiphany (holiday)|Theophany]]), followed by a sacramental which consists of bathing (''nipter'') afterwards.

After one or two more ceremonies, such as a rite of the Kneeling Prayer (''gonyklisis'') on the evening of [[Pentecost]], [[exorcism]]s, [[prayers for the sick]] and [[Last rites|dying]], come the distinct [[Christian burial|burial services]] used for laymen, monks, priests, children and any burial occurring during [[Bright Week]]. Then follows a miscellaneous collection of prayers and hymns (marked ''euchai diaphoroi''), [[Canon (hymnography)|Canons]] of penance, against earthquakes, in time of pestilence, and war, and two addressed to the [[Theotokos]]. More prayers for various occasions end the book.

In modern Euchologia, however, it is usual to add the "Apostles" (the readings from the [[Epistles]]) and [[Gospels]] for the [[Great Feasts]] (these are taken from the two books that contain the whole collection of liturgical lessons), and lastly the arrangement of the court of the Ecumenical Patriarch, with rubrical directions for their various duties during the Liturgy.

Thus the Euchologion is the handbook for bishops, priests, and deacons. It contains only the short responses of the choir, who have their own choir-books ([[Horologion]] for the fixed portions of the services, and the [[Triodion]], [[Pentecostarion]], [[Octoechos (liturgy)|Octoechos]] and [[Menaion]] for the [[Proper (liturgy)|propers]]).

==Publication==
The most ancient document of the [[Byzantine Rite|Rite of Constantinople]] (which is similar to the [[Antiochene Rite]]) is the ''Barberini Euchologion'' (gr.336), a Greek [[manuscript]] written around 790 A.D.<ref>E. Whitaker, M. Johnson, ''Documents of the Baptismal Liturgy'' (Liturgical Press, 2003), {{ISBN|0-8146-6200-5}}, p. 109.</ref>

The first printed edition was published at Venice in 1526. This was followed by another, also in Venice, in 1638 of the Euchologion used by [[Jacques Goar]] for his edition. Another edition was published at Venice in 1862, which forms the basis of the current edition of the Great Euchologion, such as that published by Astir at Athens in 1970. The text in the Venetian edition of 1862 was the basis of the edition published in Bucharest in 1703. The 7th edition, edited by Spiridion Zerbos, was printed in 1898 at the Phoenix press (''typographeion ho Phoinix'') at Venice, the official Greek Orthodox printing house.

The Orthodox Churches that use other liturgical languages have presses (generally at the capital of the country, Moscow, Bucharest, Jerusalem) for their translations. The Euchologion was first translated into Church Slavonic in the 9th century. The definitive version of the Euchologion used in the [[Orthodox Church of Ukraine|Ukrainian Orthodox Church]] was prepared by [[Peter Mogila]], and published in 1646 (republished in Paris, 1988). This edition contains some 20 rituals that were of local origin and are not performed in other Eastern churches (e.g., services for the uncovering of holy relics and for the blessing of monasteries).

Provost Alexios Maltzew of the [[Russian Embassy]] Church at Berlin edited the Euchologion in Old Slavonic and German with notes (Vienna, 1861, reprinted at Berlin, 1892).

A complete Euchologion, in several volumes, was printed in Moscow by the Synodal Press in 1902.

[[Greek Catholic Church|Greek-Catholics]] use the [[Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples|Propaganda]] edition and have a compendium (''mikron euchologion'') containing only the Liturgies, Apostles and Gospels, baptism, marriage, unction, and confession (Rome, 1872). J. Goar, O. P., edited the Euchologion with very complete notes, explanations, and illustrations (''Euchologion, sive Rituale Græcorum'', 2nd ed., Venice, fol., 1720), which became the standard work of reference for Byzantine Rite Catholics.

==Oriental Orthodox==
Euchologia are also found among the [[Coptic Orthodox Church|Coptic]], [[Armenian Apostolic Church|Armenian]] (Mashtots) and [[East Syrian Rite|East Syrian]] Churches, which differ from the Byzantine. The [[Sacramentary of Serapion of Thmuis|Euchologion of Bishop Serapion]], a contemporary of [[St. Athanasius]] (c.293 – 373), contains texts from the [[Alexandrian Rite]].<ref>[[Louis Duchesne]], ''Christian Worship: Its Origin and Evolution'' (Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London, 1903), p. 75.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

* {{Catholic Encyclopedia|wstitle=Euchologion}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{cite book | author = Johannes Chrysostomus | author-link = Johannes Chrysostomus#Writings#Liturgy | url = https://archive.org/details/Liturgikon | title = The Divine Liturgy of our patriarch Johannes Chrysostomus | location = Rome | year = 1950 | language = el | via = [[Internet Archive|archive.org]] | pages = [https://archive.org/details/Liturgikon/page/n80 81] | archive-url = https://archive.today/20181122212121/https://archive.org/stream/Liturgikon/LiturgikonRoma1950_djvu.txt | archive-date = 22 November 2018 | url-status = live | access-date = 22 November 2018 }} (with ''[[Imprimatur#Catholic Church|imprimatur]]'' of the [[Holy See]])
* {{cite book | author = Johannes Chrysostomus | url = https://archive.org/details/LaDivinaLiturgiaDeSanJuanCrisstomo/page/n1 | title = The Divine Liturgy of St Johannes Chrysostomus | language = es | pages = 30 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20181122213451/https://archive.org/stream/LaDivinaLiturgiaDeSanJuanCrisstomo/LaDivinaLiturgiaDeSanJuanCrisstomo_djvu.txt | archive-date = 22 November 2018 | url-status = live | access-date = 22 November 2018 }} (in use by the [[Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church]])

==External links==
*[http://www.wdl.org/en/item/7049 "Euchologion"] is an Arabic and Greek manuscript from 1682
*[http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byform/mailing-lists/cdl/2003/0459.html Account of the discovery of the ''Euchologion of Mar Sabbas'']

{{Eastern Orthodox liturgical books}}
{{Sacraments, rites, and liturgies of the Catholic Church}}

[[Category:Liturgy of the Hours]]
[[Category:Eastern Orthodox liturgical books]]