Kathisma
Encyclopedia
Psalter
A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the later medieval emergence of the book of hours, psalters were the books most widely owned by wealthy lay persons and were...
, used by Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
Christians and Eastern Catholics who follow the Byzantine Rite
Byzantine Rite
The Byzantine Rite, sometimes called the Rite of Constantinople or Constantinopolitan Rite is the liturgical rite used currently by all the Eastern Orthodox Churches, by the Greek Catholic Churches , and by the Protestant Ukrainian Lutheran Church...
. The word may also describe a hymn sung at Matins
Matins
Matins is the early morning or night prayer service in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. The term is also used in some Protestant denominations to describe morning services.The name "Matins" originally referred to the morning office also...
, a seat used in monastic churches, or a type of monastic establishment.
Psalms
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
on a regular basis. Originally, the hermits in the desert would recite the entire Psalter every day. With the spread of coenobitic
Coenobium
A coenobium is a colony containing a fixed number of cells, with little or no specialization. They occur in several groups of algae. The cells are often embedded in a mucilaginous matrix and may be motile or non-motile....
monasticism, the practice began of chanting the Canonical Hours
Canonical hours
Canonical hours are divisions of time which serve as increments between the prescribed prayers of the daily round. A Book of Hours contains such a set of prayers....
in common, and the Psalter thus became the foundation of the Daily Office, augmented by numerous hymns, prayers and scriptural readings. The custom grew of reciting all 150 psalms each week during the course of the services.
To facilitate this, the 150 psalms were divided into 20 sections, called kathismata (Greek: καθισματα; Slavonic: каѳисмы, kafismy), meaning literally, "sittings". The name is derived from the fact that, in the Office as it developed in Jerusalem and Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, the psalms would be read by one of the brethren while the others sat and listened attentively.
Each kathisma is further subdivided into three staseis (Greek: στασεις), literally, "standings", because at the end of each stasis (Greek: στασις) the reader says: "Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit..." at which all stand in honor of the Holy Trinity.
The Orthodox Church uses as its official version of the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
, the ancient Septuagint (Greek) as opposed to the more recent Masoretic (Hebrew) recension
Recension
Recension is the practice of editing or revising a text based on critical analysis. When referring to manuscripts, this may be a revision by another author...
. For this reason, the numbering of the psalms follows the Greek rather than the Hebrew (the King James Version of the Bible follows the Hebrew numbering). The difference in numbering can be determined from the following table:
Psalter
A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the later medieval emergence of the book of hours, psalters were the books most widely owned by wealthy lay persons and were...
, used by Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
Christians and Eastern Catholics who follow the Byzantine Rite
Byzantine Rite
The Byzantine Rite, sometimes called the Rite of Constantinople or Constantinopolitan Rite is the liturgical rite used currently by all the Eastern Orthodox Churches, by the Greek Catholic Churches , and by the Protestant Ukrainian Lutheran Church...
. The word may also describe a hymn sung at Matins
Matins
Matins is the early morning or night prayer service in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. The term is also used in some Protestant denominations to describe morning services.The name "Matins" originally referred to the morning office also...
, a seat used in monastic churches, or a type of monastic establishment.
Psalms
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
on a regular basis. Originally, the hermits in the desert would recite the entire Psalter every day. With the spread of coenobitic
Coenobium
A coenobium is a colony containing a fixed number of cells, with little or no specialization. They occur in several groups of algae. The cells are often embedded in a mucilaginous matrix and may be motile or non-motile....
monasticism, the practice began of chanting the Canonical Hours
Canonical hours
Canonical hours are divisions of time which serve as increments between the prescribed prayers of the daily round. A Book of Hours contains such a set of prayers....
in common, and the Psalter thus became the foundation of the Daily Office, augmented by numerous hymns, prayers and scriptural readings. The custom grew of reciting all 150 psalms each week during the course of the services.
To facilitate this, the 150 psalms were divided into 20 sections, called kathismata (Greek: καθισματα; Slavonic: каѳисмы, kafismy), meaning literally, "sittings". The name is derived from the fact that, in the Office as it developed in Jerusalem and Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, the psalms would be read by one of the brethren while the others sat and listened attentively.
Each kathisma is further subdivided into three staseis (Greek: στασεις), literally, "standings", because at the end of each stasis (Greek: στασις) the reader says: "Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit..." at which all stand in honor of the Holy Trinity.
The Orthodox Church uses as its official version of the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
, the ancient Septuagint (Greek) as opposed to the more recent Masoretic (Hebrew) recension
Recension
Recension is the practice of editing or revising a text based on critical analysis. When referring to manuscripts, this may be a revision by another author...
. For this reason, the numbering of the psalms follows the Greek rather than the Hebrew (the King James Version of the Bible follows the Hebrew numbering). The difference in numbering can be determined from the following table:
| Septuagint (Greek) | Masoretic (Hebrew) |
|---|---|
| 1-8 | 1-8 |
| 9 | 9-10 |
| 10-112 | Add 1 to the number of each psalm |
| 113 | 114-115 |
| 114 | 116:1-9 |
| 115 | 116:10-19 |
| 116-145 | Add 1 to the number of each psalm |
| 146 | 147:1-11 |
| 147 | 147:12-20 |
| 148-150 | 148-150 |
Psalter
A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the later medieval emergence of the book of hours, psalters were the books most widely owned by wealthy lay persons and were...
, used by Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
Christians and Eastern Catholics who follow the Byzantine Rite
Byzantine Rite
The Byzantine Rite, sometimes called the Rite of Constantinople or Constantinopolitan Rite is the liturgical rite used currently by all the Eastern Orthodox Churches, by the Greek Catholic Churches , and by the Protestant Ukrainian Lutheran Church...
. The word may also describe a hymn sung at Matins
Matins
Matins is the early morning or night prayer service in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. The term is also used in some Protestant denominations to describe morning services.The name "Matins" originally referred to the morning office also...
, a seat used in monastic churches, or a type of monastic establishment.
Psalms
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
on a regular basis. Originally, the hermits in the desert would recite the entire Psalter every day. With the spread of coenobitic
Coenobium
A coenobium is a colony containing a fixed number of cells, with little or no specialization. They occur in several groups of algae. The cells are often embedded in a mucilaginous matrix and may be motile or non-motile....
monasticism, the practice began of chanting the Canonical Hours
Canonical hours
Canonical hours are divisions of time which serve as increments between the prescribed prayers of the daily round. A Book of Hours contains such a set of prayers....
in common, and the Psalter thus became the foundation of the Daily Office, augmented by numerous hymns, prayers and scriptural readings. The custom grew of reciting all 150 psalms each week during the course of the services.
To facilitate this, the 150 psalms were divided into 20 sections, called kathismata (Greek: καθισματα; Slavonic: каѳисмы, kafismy), meaning literally, "sittings". The name is derived from the fact that, in the Office as it developed in Jerusalem and Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, the psalms would be read by one of the brethren while the others sat and listened attentively.
Each kathisma is further subdivided into three staseis (Greek: στασεις), literally, "standings", because at the end of each stasis (Greek: στασις) the reader says: "Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit..." at which all stand in honor of the Holy Trinity.
The Orthodox Church uses as its official version of the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
, the ancient Septuagint (Greek) as opposed to the more recent Masoretic (Hebrew) recension
Recension
Recension is the practice of editing or revising a text based on critical analysis. When referring to manuscripts, this may be a revision by another author...
. For this reason, the numbering of the psalms follows the Greek rather than the Hebrew (the King James Version of the Bible follows the Hebrew numbering). The difference in numbering can be determined from the following table:
| Septuagint (Greek) | Masoretic (Hebrew) |
|---|---|
| 1-8 | 1-8 |
| 9 | 9-10 |
| 10-112 | Add 1 to the number of each psalm |
| 113 | 114-115 |
| 114 | 116:1-9 |
| 115 | 116:10-19 |
| 116-145 | Add 1 to the number of each psalm |
| 146 | 147:1-11 |
| 147 | 147:12-20 |
| 148-150 | 148-150 |
The divisions of the psalms into kathismata is as follows (using the Septuagint numbering):
| Kathisma | Stasis 1 Psalm numbers | Stasis 2 Psalm numbers | Stasis 3 Psalm numbers |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | 1-3 | 4-6 | 7-8 |
| II | 9-10 | 11-13 | 14-16 |
| III | 17 | 18-20 | 21-23 |
| IV | 24-26 | 27-29 | 30-31 |
| V | 32-33 | 34-35 | 36 |
| VI | 37-39 | 40-42 | 43-45 |
| VII | 46-48 | 49-50 | 51-54 |
| VIII | 55-57 | 58-60 | 61-63 |
| IX | 64-66 | 67 | 68-69 |
| X | 70-71 | 72-73 | 74-76 |
| XI | 77 | 78-80 | 81-84 |
| XII | 85-87 | 88 | 89-90 |
| XIII | 91-93 | 94-96 | 97-100 |
| XIV | 101-102 | 103 | 104 |
| XV | 105 | 106 | 107-108 |
| XVI | 109-111 | 112-114 | 115-117 |
| XVII | 118:1-72 | 118:73-131 | 118:132-176 |
| XVIII | 119-123 | 124-128 | 129-133 |
| XIX | 134-136 | 137-139 | 140-142 |
| XX | 143-144 | 145-147 | 148-150 |
The kathismata are divided up between Vespers
Vespers
Vespers is the evening prayer service in the Western Catholic, Eastern Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran liturgies of the canonical hours...
and Matins
Matins
Matins is the early morning or night prayer service in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. The term is also used in some Protestant denominations to describe morning services.The name "Matins" originally referred to the morning office also...
, so that all 150 psalms are read during the course of the week. Normally there is one kathisma at Vespers and either two or three at Matins, depending on the day of the week and the time of the year, according to the Church's liturgical calendar. On Sunday nights, and the nights following an All-Night Vigil
All-Night Vigil
The All-Night Vigil , Opus 37, is an a cappella choral composition by Sergei Rachmaninoff,written and premiered in 1915. It consists of settings of texts taken from the Russian Orthodox All-night vigil ceremony. It has been praised as Rachmaninoff's finest achievement and "the greatest musical...
there will be no kathisma at Vespers. During Great Lent
Great Lent
Great Lent, or the Great Fast, is the most important fasting season in the church year in Eastern Christianity, which prepares Christians for the greatest feast of the church year, Pascha . In many ways Great Lent is similar to Lent in Western Christianity...
kathismata are read during the Little Hours
Little Hours
The Little Hours are the fixed daytime hours of prayer in the Divine Office of Christians, in both Western Christianity and the Eastern Orthodox Church. These Hours are called 'little' due to their shorter and simpler structure compared to the Night Hours...
also, so that the entire Psalter is completed twice in a week.
Besides the 150 Psalms, the Psalter also contains the nine biblical Canticles. These are chanted at Matins during Great Lent.
Kathisma XVII, which is composed entirely of Psalm 118
Psalm 119
Psalm 119 is the longest psalm as well as the longest chapter in the Bible. It is referred to in Hebrew by its opening words, "Ashrei temimei derech" . It is the prayer of one who delights in and lives by the Torah, the sacred law...
, "The Psalm of the Law
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
," is an important component of Matins on Saturdays, some Sundays, and at the funeral
Funeral
A funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from interment itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor...
service. The entire Book of Psalms is traditionally read aloud or chanted at the side of the deceased during the whole time from death until the funeral, mirroring Jewish tradition, and is a major element of the wake
Wake (ceremony)
A wake is a ceremony associated with death. Traditionally, a wake takes place in the house of the deceased, with the body present; however, modern wakes are often performed at a funeral home. In the United States and Canada it is synonymous with a viewing...
. When the Psalms are read at a wake, there are special hymns and litanies
Ektenia
Ektenia , often called simply Litany, is a prayerful petition in the Eastern Orthodox/Eastern Catholic liturgy...
for the departed that are chanted between each kathisma, often printed at the end of the Psalter.
Some monasteries
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
have a tradition of a "Cell Rule" whereby each monastic will pray several kathismata a day in addition to the ones that are said publicly during the services. Some Psalters have special hymns and prayers printed between the kathismata to be read as devotions when reciting the Cell Rule. In the 20th century, some lay Christians have adopted a continuous reading of the psalms on weekdays, praying the whole book in four weeks, three times a day, one kathisma a day.
In the East Syrian Rite
East Syrian Rite
The East Syrian Rite is a Christian liturgy, also known as the Assyro-Chaldean Rite, Assyrian or Chaldean Rite, and the Persian Rite although it originated in Edessa, Mesopotamia...
, the Psalter is divided into similar sections, called, hulali.
Hymns
The word Kathisma can also refer to a set of tropariaTroparion
A troparion in Byzantine music and in the religious music of Eastern Orthodox Christianity is a short hymn of one stanza, or one of a series of stanzas. The word probably derives from a diminutive of the Greek tropos...
(hymns) which is chanted after each kathisma from the Psalter at Matins. It may or may not be preceded by a Little Ektenia
Little Litany
The Little Litany or Little Ektenia or Little Synapte is a brief ektenia which is recited at various times during the liturgical worship of the Byzantine Rite, as observed by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Greek Catholic Churches....
(Litany
Ektenia
Ektenia , often called simply Litany, is a prayerful petition in the Eastern Orthodox/Eastern Catholic liturgy...
), depending upon the day of the week or the rank of the feast being celebrated. In Slavonic it is called a sedálen (Cf. Latin sedere, "to sit"). For the sake of clarity, many translations into English use the terms, Sessional Hymns or Sedalen to indicate these hymns as distinct from the Kathisma of psalms they follow. Sedalens are also found after the Third Ode of the canon
Canon (hymnography)
A canon is a structured hymn used in a number of Eastern Orthodox services. It consists of nine odes, sometimes called canticles or songs depending on the translation, based on the Biblical canticles. Most of these are found in the Old Testament, but the final ode is taken from the Magnificat and...
.
Seating
Hippodrome of Constantinople
The Hippodrome of Constantinople was a circus that was the sporting and social centre of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. Today it is a square named Sultanahmet Meydanı in the Turkish city of Istanbul, with only a few fragments of the original structure surviving...
. In this sense, kathismata (also called stasidia) are the choir stalls used in Orthodox monasteries. Instead of being a long bench, like a pew
Pew
A pew is a long bench seat or enclosed box used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a church, or sometimes in a courtroom.-Overview:Churches were not commonly furnished with permanent pews before the Protestant Reformation...
, the kathismata are a row of individual seats with full backs attached to the walls. The seats are hinged and lift up so the monk
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
or nun
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
can stand upright for the services. The backs are shaped at the top to form arm rests that the monastic can use when he is standing. Often the hinged seat will have a misericord
Misericord
A misericord is a small wooden shelf on the underside of a folding seat in a church, installed to provide a degree of comfort for a person who has to stand during long periods of prayer.-Origins:...
(small wooden seat) on the underside on which he can lean while standing during the long services. Monasteries will often have strict rules as to when the monastics may sit and when they must stand during the services. There will be two rows of kathismata, one on the right kliros
Kliros
The kliros is the section of an Eastern Orthodox or Eastern Catholic church dedicated to the choir...
(choir), and one on the left.
The bishop has a special kathisma which is more ornate than the ordinary monk's. It is normally located on the right kliros (choir), at the westernmost end, and is often elevated above the others and may have a canopy above it (see cathedra).
Monastic cell
On Mount AthosMount Athos
Mount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
, the Autonomous Monastic State of the Holy Mountain (a monastic republic in northern Greece), each monastic establishment, large or small, belongs to one of twenty "Sovereign Monasteries." One of the smallest types of these monastic establishments is called a Kathisma. This is a simple abode for one solitary monk.
External links
- "Psalter" at Orthodox Wiki
- Greek Bishop standing at his episcopal kathisma (Church of the Holy SepulchreChurch of the Holy SepulchreThe Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also called the Church of the Resurrection by Eastern Christians, is a church within the walled Old City of Jerusalem. It is a few steps away from the Muristan....
)
