Kathisma

Semi-Autonomous: A kathisma (Greek: κάθισμα; Slavonic: каѳисма, kai-isma), literally, "seat", is a division of the Psalter, used in the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Rite Catholic churches.

With the spread of cenobitic monasticism, the practice began of chanting the Canonical Hours in common, and the Psalter thus became the foundation of the Daily Office, augmented by numerous hymns, prayers and scriptural readings.

To facilitate this, the 150 psalms were divided into 20 sections, called kathismata (Greek: καθίσματα; Church Slavonic: Кафи́змы, romanized: Kafizmy, meaning literally, "sittings").

The name is derived from the fact that, in the Office as it developed in Jerusalem and Constantinople, the psalms would be read by one of the brethren while the others sat and listened attentively.

The Orthodox Church uses as its official version of the Old Testament, the ancient Septuagint (Greek) as opposed to the more recent Masoretic (Hebrew) recension.

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.

When the Psalms are read at a wake, there are special hymns and litanies for the departed that are chanted between each kathisma, often printed at the end of the Psalter.

Instead of being a long bench, like a pew, the kathismata are a row of individual seats with full backs attached to the walls.