The Great Fast
The Great Fast (Slavonic Velikij Post', or Svjata Chetyredesjatnica, "holy forty days") is our annual preparation for the feast of Pascha. (read the entire article)
New books for the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts
In January 2010, the Council of Hierarchs announced the availability of new service books for the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts.
Using the new books for the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts
Singing the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts (using the new books)
Download the music for the fixed parts of the service, and for the first week of the Great Fast (LARGE)
Recordings of the chant for the service are in preparation. In addition, if there is interest, we are open to providing parish- or deanery-based workshops on the new Presanctified books. Interested pastors should contact the MCI directory, Father Daniel Forsythe (daforsythe@gmail.com) as soon as possible.
Music for the Great Fast
The MCI publishes weekly propers for Saturday evening Vespers, Sunday Divine Liturgy, and Vespers on Sunday evening. These materials are available on this website, and also through the mcimusicfiles e-mail list.
Sunday evening Vespers
This year, we will be printing complete propers for the service of Vespers on Sunday evening in the Great Fast, beginning with Forgiveness Vespers, the service on the evening of Cheesefare Sunday which begins the fast. Since the propers leaflet each week will include all the hymns for the day, we have reprinting the following service book in a much shorter (28 page) format:
- The Order of Vespers on Sunday Evening for the Sunday of Forgiveness (Cheesefare Sunday) and the Sundays of the Great Fast (2010, 28 pages; PDF)
Weekday services
The MCI has books for the following weekday services in the FastL
- Daily Matins on Days of Alleluia (2005, 85 pages; PDF)
- Terce-Sext: The Midday Office of the Great Fast (2005, 55 pages; PDF)
- Moleben to the Precious and Life-Giving Cross (January 2008, 20 pages; PDF)
- Matins for Thursday in the Fifth Week of the Great Fast, with the Great Canon of Saint Andrew of Crete (2005, 101 pages; PDF)
Since the newly-released books for the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts includes propers texts for the ordinary days on which this service is celebrated, the Cantor Institute will not be producing separate propers leaflets for the Presanctified liturgy.
Melodies for the Liturgy of Saint Basil
On the five Sundays of the Great Fast, we celebrate the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great. The new service books promulgated in 2007 contain English settings for the anaphora (Eucharistic prayer) of this liturgy in two versions. The following articles present the two versions of the Basil melodies, with advice on singing them properly:
Looking for Local Recordings of Prostopinije!
We would like to expand our archival collection of recorded prostopinije, old and new, in order to provide a record of prostopinje use in Europe and in the New World, to prevent any further loss of melodies, and to support the process of setting texts in English to the Church's plainchant.
Parishes or individuals with recorded prostopinije who are willing to grant non-exclusive webcast rights to the Metropolitan Cantor Institute are asked to contact the webmaster, Jeff Mierzejewski, at ByzKat@stny.rr.com. Along with the recordings themselves, please provide a description of where and when they were recorded, and the names of the cantor(s) if known.