( Though Lauds and Vespers for the Dead in which the people participate may be said.

The late Medieval period saw the recitation of certain hours of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin, which was based on the Breviary in form and content, becoming popular among those who could read, and Bishop Challoner did much to popularise the hours of Sunday Vespers and Compline ( albeit in English translation ) in his ' Garden of the Soul ' in the eighteenth century.

The former name derives from that this Sunday is followed by a special Vespers called the Forgiveness Vespers which opens Great Lent.

The result was the uprising known as the Sicilian Vespers, which was initiated in Palermo on 29 March 1282.

Technically, this is not actually a Divine Liturgy, but rather a Vespers service at which a portion of the Body and Blood of Christ, which was reserved the previous Sunday, are distributed to the faithful.

In addition to the Gospel readings at Matins and Vespers, there is a reading of all four Gospels which takes place during the Little Hours ( Third Hour, Sixth Hour and Ninth Hour ) on these first three days.

Claudio Monteverdi ( 1567 – 1643 ) brought it to perfection with his Vespers and his Eighth Book of Madrigals, which call for great virtuosity on the part of singers and instruments alike.

The period of prosperity which follows, and is consolidated during the course of his reign, ends with the domination of the Angevins and the rebellion of the Sicilians culminating in the revolt of the Sicilian Vespers.

This is a Vespers service to which are added three sets of long poetical prayers, the composition of Saint Basil the Great, during which everyone makes a full prostration, touching their foreheads to the floor ( prostrations in church having been forbidden from the day of Pascha ( Easter ) up to this point ).

In the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite, the Songs of Degrees ( Greek: anabathmoi ) make up the Eighteenth Kathisma ( division of the Psalter ), and are read on Friday evenings at Vespers throughout the liturgical year.

One of the poems, Vespers – which describes young Christoper Robin saying his evening prayers – was said by Christopher Milne as " the one work that has brought me over the years more toe-curling, fist-clenching, lip-biting embarrassment than any other ".

Christmas Vespers are popular in the early evening, and midnight services are also widespread in regions which are predominately Lutheran.

The liturgical celebration begins earlier in the day with the celebration of the Royal Hours, followed by the Divine Liturgy combined with the celebration of Vespers, during which a large number of readings from the Old Testament are chanted, recounting the history of salvation.

In the Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite, there are three forms of Vespers: Great Vespers, Daily Vespers and Small Vespers.

Small Vespers is a very abbreviated form of the service which is celebrated only on the afternoon before an All-Night Vigil.

From its traditional usage, the term Vespers has come to be used more broadly for various evening services of other churches, some of which model their evening services on the traditional Roman Catholic form.

In the " Antiphonary of Bangor ", an Irish document of the 6th century, Vespers are called hora duodecima, which corresponds to six o ' clock in the evening, or hora incensi, or again ad cereum benedicendum.

In the Rule of St. Columbanus, dated about 590, Vespers still has twelve psalms, amongst which are Pss.

* March 30 – The Sicilian rebellion known as the Sicilian Vespers begins against the rule of Angevin King Charles I of Sicily ; over the next 6 weeks, thousands of French are killed.

* 1282 – March 30 – The Sicilian rebellion known as the Sicilian Vespers begins against the rule of Angevin King Charles I of Sicily ; over the next six weeks, thousands of French are killed.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Sunday begins at the Little Entrance of Vespers ( or All-Night Vigil ) on Saturday evening and runs until " Vouchsafe, O Lord " ( after the " prokeimenon ") of Vespers on Sunday night.

In the earlier form, where Pentecost is celebrated with an octave, the Time after Pentecost begins at Vespers on the Saturday after Pentecost.

Since the liturgical day begins at sunset, Vespers is the first service of the day, and the hymns of Vespers introduce the themes of the upcoming day.

* Vespers opens with a blessing by the priest and then " Come, let us worship ..."; when part of an All-Night Vigil, the blessing that normally begins matins is used ; when part of the Divine Liturgy, the blessing that is part thereof is used.

* Vespers begins with the singing or chanting of the opening versicles Deus, in adiutorium meum intende.

In Eastern Orthodoxy the day begins at sunset, so the first service of each day is Vespers, at which stichera are chanted commemorating the theme of the day.

As in other traditional rites, the ecclesiastical day begins in the evening at sunset with Vespers ( Ramsho ).

The best-known asking of mutual forgiveness occurs at Vespers on the Sunday of Forgiveness, and it is with this act that Great Lent begins.

* Vespers ( chanted at sunset, which is when the liturgical day begins, following the ancient Jewish tradition )

The day begins liturgically with Vespers on Palm Sunday night, repeating some of the same stichera ( hymns ) from the Praises of the All Night Vigil the evening before.

The day begins liturgically with Vespers on the afternoon of Great Monday, repeating some of the same stichera ( hymns ) from the night before.

In the Orthodox Church, the liturgical day begins at sunset, so Vespers is the first service of the day.

Since the liturgical day begins at sunset, and Great Lent begins on a Monday, the point at which Great Lent begins is at Vespers on the night of the Sunday of Forgiveness, with a " Ceremony of Mutual Forgiveness " ( in some monasteries, this ceremony is performed at Compline instead of Vespers ).

Benedictine monk s singing Vespers on Holy Saturday in Morristown, NJ

The Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee is the first day the Lenten Triodion is used ( at Vespers or All-Night Vigil on Saturday night ), though it is only used for the Sunday services, with nothing pertaining to weekdays or Saturday.

The evening Mass on Saturday is liturgically a full Sunday Mass and fulfills the obligation of Sunday Mass attendance, and Vespers ( evening prayer ) on Saturday night is liturgically " first Vespers " of the Sunday.

Order of Saint Benedict | Benedictine monk s singing Vespers on Holy Saturday

On strict fast days when food and drink are prohibited before vespers, e. g., Christmas Eve, the Annunciation when it falls on a weekday of great lent, or Holy Saturday, Vespers is joined to the Divine Liturgy, functioning in place of the typica as the framework of the hymns of the Liturgy of the Catechumens.

Vespers joined to the Divine Liturgy is served on Great and Holy Saturday, prescribed by the Liturgical books to be served in the afternoon but often served in the morning.

Order of Saint Benedict | Benedictine monk s singing Vespers on Holy Saturday.

Basil is celebrated ten times a year: on the five Sundays in Great Lent, with Vespers on Holy Thursday and Holy Saturday, on the Eves with Vespers ( or Feasts themselves, at the normal time, depending on the day of the week ) of Christmas and Theophany, and on January 1, which is the feast day of St.

On the Great Feasts of the liturgical year as well as on certain feast days ( and in the Slavic tradition, on every Saturday night ) there is a particularly solemn service called the All-Night Vigil which combines Vespers, Matins and First Hour with special additions into a single long service.

:* Salve Regina ( from first Vespers of Trinity Sunday until None of the Saturday before Advent )

Order of Saint Benedict | Benedictine monk s singing Vespers on Holy Saturday