Old Orthodox Prayer Book

This second edition of the Old Orthodox Prayer Book is a handsomely bound and printed, two-color, bi-lingual (Slavonic/English) book, containing the most commonly used prayers of the laity according to the Old Rite of the Russian Orthodox Church. Black hardcover, Small format (approx. 4" x 7"), 389 pages, printed in black and red, Red edges, Ribbon

It includes:

• Morning and Evening Prayers
• Prayers used during the day
• the main prayers of Vespers and Matins
• the complete texts of the First, Third, Sixth and Ninth Hours
• the Divine Liturgy
• a large selection of Troparia and Kontakia
• a Canon to Our Lord
• the Akathist Hymn with its Canon to the Mother of God
• the Supplicatory Canon to the Mother of God
• two Canons to the Guardian Angel
• a Canon for the Sick
• two Canons for the Departed
• the Canon of Pascha
• the Moleben
• and the Prayers before and after Holy Communion.

An instructional section explains many aspects of the Old Rite piety, including fasting, the sign of the Cross, bows, preparation for Holy Communion, the use of the prayer rope (Lestovka), and many others. A complete Church Calendar and 100-year Paschalion are also included.

New to the second edition is the section containing troparia and kontakia of the Eight Tones, the Triodions, and the major feasts and saints celebrated throughout the year.

The Horologion

Translated to English from Slavonic by Hieromonk German Ciuba The Horologion, or Book of Hours, is a standard text of the Orthodox Church, containing the complete cycle of daily services according to the Old Rite, as well as Troparia and Kontakia for every day of the year. It is a faithful translation from the standard Slavonic edition of the Old Ritualist Transfiguration Poorhouse of Moscow. It will be a much-desired addition to the altar of every Old Ritualist Orthodox Church and home.

Published in 2005, the book has a very dark blue (almost black) hardcover with gold lettering. It is 557 pages and printed in a large format (7" x 10") using black and red ink.

The Gospel Commentary

Translated by Hieromonk German Cuiba "This book, The Gospel Commentary, represents a living link with tradition. It is a collection of homilies for the Sundays and feast-days of the church year, drawn from the Holy Fathers and customarily read in church. The book is not credited to its actual author, but rather ascribed to Saint John Chrysostom: such an attribution simply reflects the Church's esteem for Chrysostom as the most masterful and eloquent of scriptural interpreters. It is actually a compilation drawn heavily on Chrysostom, but also on other Fathers...it is reasonable to assume that (this work) is the compilation of Patriarch Philotheus of Constantinople, who drew the scriptural commentary from earlier fathers and added his own preface and conclusion to each chapter. Usually the preface is of a rhetorical nature and the concluding passage is a moral exhortation." from the Translator's Introduction

Published in 2002, The Gospel Commentary is nearly 900 pages long and is printed in a large format (7" x 10") with a red hardcover to make it easy to use in church services.

The Sunday Octoechos

Translated by Hieromonk German Cuiba and adapted to English by Father Deacon Mitrophan Simon, The Sunday Octoechos (Book of Eight Tones) can be used for a church choir, as a hymnal to better follow the services, or as an aid to private prayer at home. Hardcover, 6" X 9", smyth sewn (for better durability and "lay-flat" capability), with marker ribons in the binding.

THE SUNDAY OCTOECHOS includes two sections: I. The text of the Orthodox services, according to the pre-17th century books of the Old Rite, for Small and Great Vespers, Compline, Midnight Service, Matins and the Sunday Beatitudes according to the Eight Tones.

II. Includes all Canon Hymns (Heirmosi) in Znamenny Chant- a liturgical chant dating back to the 10th-11th Century. Now with the ancient notes "unlocked," these hymns are presented in English with BOTH the ancient "hook" notation -AND- "bar-and-staff notation." Znamenny Chant has been used without disruption in the Russian Orthodox Church for almost 1,000 years. This book also includes a 2-disc set of instructional CDs to assist in learning the chant in English.

A Son of the Church

This title, translated from Slavonic to English by Hieromonk German Ciuba, is arranged in 100 short chapters, and has been among the favorite reading material of Old Believers for generations. It was written about 400 years ago for a convert to Orthodoxy from Catholicism. Some English excerpts were included in the first edition of the Old Orthodox Prayer Book. Fr. German writes in his Preface:

“The little work is presented as a primer of piety, an antidote to ignorance and indifference. It is a concise manual of rules of piety in outward behavior, but at the same time it breathes a spirit of deep inward reverence and reflectiveness. It does not merely give directions for what to do, but impresses upon the reader the importance of acting with a clean heart and a right spirit. Although it is written for those new to the life of the Church, mature Christians would do well to review it and examine their own conduct against its simple, solid standards. When we are asked for practical advice by our children, we can humbly hand them this composition which has been preserved and handed down through the centuries, as a statement of those ideals towards which we are always striving, even if we ourselves fall short of them.”

This small paperback book, consisting of just 51 pages, was published by the Church of the Nativity in 2001.