In the liturgical practice of the Orthodox Church, a Prokeimenon (Greek Προκειμενον, plural prokeimena; sometimes prokimenon/prokimena) is a psalm or canticle refrain sung responsorially at certain specified points of the Divine Liturgy or the Divine Office, usually to introduce a scripture reading. The Vladimir Icon, one of the most venerated of Orthodox Christian icons of Mary. ... Psalms (Tehilim תהילים, in Hebrew) is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, and of the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. ... A canticle is a hymn (strictly excluding the Psalms) taken from the Bible. ... The Divine Liturgy is the common term for the eucharistic service of the Byzantine tradition of Christian liturgy. ... Canonical hours are ancient divisions of time, developed by the Christian Church, serving as increments between the prescribed prayers of the daily round (also called offices). Canonical hours also refer to the official set of prayer of the Roman Catholic Church that is known variously as the Liturgy of the... Many religions and spiritual movements hold certain written texts (or series of spoken legends not traditionally written down) to be sacred. ...

Prokeimena are not selected based on the personal preference of the priest, reader, or choir director. Rather, the Sunday and weekday prokeimena are taken from the Octoechos, using the particular tone of the day. Many feasts also have their own prokeimena. Roman Catholic priest LCDR Allen R. Kuss (USN) aboard USS Enterprise A priest or priestess is a holy man or woman who takes an officiating role in worship of any religion, with the distinguishing characteristic of offering sacrifices. ... Octoechos (8 echos) is the fundamental structure for classifying and describing modes in byzantine music. ... Village Feast. ...

The basic pattern of a prokeimenon is for the reader to chant a single verse of the psalm or canticle (often announcing the tone as well). This is repeated as a refrain by the choir, as the Reader chants additional verses (exactly how many depends on local practice). The Reader concludes the prokeimenon by chanting the first half of the first verse, and the choir then sings the second half. Alternately, if a feast is being celebrated together with a Sunday liturgy, a verse of that feast's prokeimenon will often replace the final verse of the Sunday prokeimenon. In some Christian churches, the Reader is responsible for reading aloud excerpts of the scripture at a liturgy. ... A chant (peace¹) is the rhythmic speaking or singing of words or sounds, either on a single pitch or with a simple melody involving a limited set of notes and often including a great deal of repetition or statis. ... A refrain (from the Old French refraindre to repeat, likely from Vulgar Latin refringere) is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the chorus of a song. ... A choir or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. ...

Example

The example given is the Sunday prokeimenon in Tone 8, assuming no additional feast. The verses are taken from Psalm 76 (Septuagint numbering). The Septuagint (LXX) is the name commonly given in the West to the Koine Greek Alexandrine text of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh/Old Testament) produced some time between the third to first century BC. The Septuagint Bible includes additional books of the old Jewish canon beyond those contained in the...

Reader: "The prokeimenon is in the eighth tone: Pray and make your vows before the Lord our God!"

Choir: "Pray and make your vows before the Lord our God!"

Reader: "In Judah, God is known; His name is great in Israel!"

Choir: "Pray and make your vows before the Lord our God!"

Reader: "Pray and make your vows!"

Choir: "Before the Lord our God!"

Liturgical structure

In the Divine Liturgy, the prokeimenon always proceeds the Epistle reading, after the singing of the Trisagion. An epistle is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of persons, usually a letter and a very formal, often didactic and elegant one. ... The Trisagion (thrice Holy) is a standard hymn of the Orthodox Christian Divine Liturgy, chanted immediately before the Prokeimenon and the Epistle Reading. ...

At Vespers, the prokeimenon always follows the Entrance, whether or not there is an Old Testament reading to follow. Whenever there is a Gospel reading, whether at Matins or during a Molieben, it will be preceded by a prokeimenon. In Lent and Holy Week, at the Sixth Hour, a prokeimenon is also sung before and after a reading from the books of Isaiah or Jeremiah. Vespers is the evening prayer service in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. ... Judaism uses the term Tanakh instead of Old Testament, because it does not recognize the New Testament as being part of the Biblical canon The Old Testament or the Hebrew Scriptures (also called the Hebrew Bible) constitutes the first major part of the Bible according to Christianity. ... Matins is the morning prayer service in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. ... Look up Lent in Wiktionary, the free dictionary In Western Christianity, Lent is the period before the Christian holy day of Easter. ... Holy Week is the Christian week from Palm Sunday through Holy Saturday. ... Isaiah the Prophet in Hebrew Scriptures was depicted on the Sistine Chapel ceiling by Michelangelo. ... Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem by Rembrandt van Rijn Jeremiah or Yirmiyáhu (יִרְמְיָהוּ Raised-up/Appointed of the LORD, Standard Hebrew Yirməyáhu, Tiberian Hebrew Yirməyāhû) (or, perhaps meaning YHWH throws) was one of the greater prophets of the Old Testament, and the son of Hilkiah...