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Sunday, June 14, 2009

Paraklesis


The Hodigitria icon of the Mother of God

My parish plans to do the Paraklesis service for the first time during this upcoming Dormition fast. I have only myself been recently exposed to it and I must say that the words really touch me. There's a difference between reading a prayer and praying it but I have so far found it imposisble to read the words of this without finding myself stirred to prayer.

Does anybody know where I may be able to find the music for it, especially as sung by Abouna's Angels on their splendid CD?

Higher than the heavens above art thou, and thou art much purer than the radiance of the sun, for thou hast redeemed us out of the curse that held us: O Mistress of Creation, thee do we magnify!

From the great abundance of all my sins, ill am I in body, ailing also am I in soul. Thee have I as refuge. Do thou, therefore, O help me, O hope of all the hopeless, for thou art full of grace!

O Lady, and mother of Christ our God, receive supplication from us sinners, who beg of thee that thou make entreaty unto the One born from thee: O Mistress of Creation, pray thou to God for us!

Now we chant with eagerness unto thee with this hymn most joyful, Theotokos, all-lauded one. Together with the Baptist and all the Saints together, beseech, O Theotokos, that we find clemency.

Speechless be the lips of the impious, who refuse to reverence the revered icon, which is known by the name "Directress", and which hath been depicted for us by the Apostle, Luke the Evangelist.

Holy array of angelic hosts, O thou holy Baptist, and ye holy Apostles, all ye Saints together, as well as God's Birth-Giver: pray, make ye intercessions for our deliverance!
The megalynaria from the Paraklesis service, sung after the supplicatory canon

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

One of my favourite services; we do not do it regularly anymore. I look forward to August and hope for it to return.

Irini said...

I stumbled across your question when I was looking for Paraklesis sheet music today. You probably have already done searches or found some music since we're in the middle of the fast, but here are some great resources if you haven't, including two .pdfs of sheet music:

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http://www.eikona.com/docs/Eikona_Paraklesis_Service.pdf
The whole service is here, in English and in Western Notation.

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http://sgpm.goarch.org/Monastery/index.php?p=68

"This volume contains the music in Western notation for all the hymns of the Small Paraklesis Service to the Most Holy Theotokos. The metered text is in Modern English. The melodies are in a style used on the Mt. Athos."


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http://metropolitancantorinstitute.org/sheetmusic/general/Paraklesis.pdf

From a Byzantine Catholic Seminary. Looks like the hymns are more in the Russian style, not Byzantine.

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Plus, another site, but no sheet music...

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/ephrem/lit-parak.htm


Also, maybe Abouna's Angels has the sheet music that they sang and would sell it?

Irini said...

oops, looks like the Byz Catholic site got cut off:

http://metropolitancantorinstitute.org/sheetmusic/
general/Paraklesis.pdf