Forefeast of the Nativity

The Forefeast of the Nativity begins on the feast of Saint Ignatios of Antioch, 20 December, and lasts until the eve of the Feast on the twenty fourth. Christmas is described in the liturgical books as Pascha and the services of the Forefeast reflect those of Holy Week. For example, the final idiomel of the Royal Hours on Christmas Eve is modelled on the Antiphon of Matins of Good Friday, Today he is hung upon the Tree, which is also sung at the Ninth Hour of the Royal Hours of Good Friday. Moreover at Compline each evening there is a Triode, with the same acrostics and Irmi as those for Matins in Holy Week which refer to the day of the week. This of course does not fit at all, unless Christmas falls on a Saturday; and even then the week is a day short and so the Canon for Thursday, which, as in Holy Week, has eight Odes, is sung at Matins on the 22nd. In the Greek Menaion the Canons at Compline are as follows:

Date	Acrostic	Tone
20	On the Second (day of the week). I.e. Monday	2
21	On the Third (day of the week). I.e. Tuesday	2
22	On the Fourth (day of the week). I.e. Wednesday	2
23	And Presabbath. I.e. Friday	6
24	Alphabetical (Less the Irmi)	6

Date	Acrostic	Tone
20	On the Second.	2
21	On the Fourth.	2
22	On Great Thursday I sing a great hymn.	6
23		6
24	And today I sing Great Sabbath.	6

The Canon on the 23rd is the same as that in the Greek Menaion, though no acrostic is given.

Date	Acrostic	Tone	Author
20	Joseph sings these prefestal [songs] = Sl.	1	Joseph
21	Alphabetical = Sl.	4	Joseph
22	On Great Thursday I sing a great hymn.	6
23	1. Alphabetical [no Slavonic equivalent]	2	Joseph
	2. [Sung on the 22nd in Slavonic]	6	Anonymous
24	1. And today I sing Great Sabbath	6
	2. Alphabetical = Sl.	2	Joseph

Date	Acrostic	Tone	Author
20	Joseph sings these prefestal [songs] = Gk	1	Joseph
21	Alphabetical = Gk	4	Joseph
22	[Sung on the 23rd in Greek]	6	Anonymous
23	Alphabetical [on the 24th at Compline in Greek]	6	Joseph
24	Alphabetical = Gk	2	Joseph

The Greek Menaion solves the problem of the short week by using the Great Thursday Canon, which of course has the full eight odes (the word great in Greek here strictly means long), for Matins on the twenty second and that for Great Saturday as a first canon for Matins. The Canon at Compline is in fact written to be sung to the same set of Irmi, whih are the ones used on Great Saturday in Holy Week.The fact that the Greek arrangement includes all the Canons found in the Slavonic and in addition allows for all the Canons based on those for Holy Week suggests that the Greek is the older one, of which the Slavonic is a simplification.

For some of these days we only give the texts for the Forefeast, but hope to complete them in the future.