Midnight office

The Midnight Office (Greek: Μεσονύκτικον, Mesonýktikon; Slavonic: Полу́нощница, Polúnoshchnitsa; Romanian: Miezonoptică) is one of the Canonical Hours that compose the cycle of daily worship in the Byzantine Rite.

The office originated as a purely monastic devotion inspired by Psalm 118:62, At midnight I arose to give thanks unto Thee for the judgments of Thy righteousness (LXX),[1] and also by the Gospel Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins (Matthew 25:1–13).

Saint Symeon the New Theologian mentions Psalm 118, a significant component of the Midnight Office on weekdays, being said privately in the cells before Matins.

In the Russian tradition the Midnight Office often begins with the reading of the Morning Prayers in common, which otherwise would be said privately by the brethren in their cells.

For those elders who handed down the tradition to us taught us that in this hour every creature hushes for a brief moment to praise the Lord.

"[11]The Midnight Office can be divided into four parts:[12] At the present time, the Midnight Office will take one of four forms, depending upon the particular day: (a) Weekdays, (b) Saturday, (c) Sunday, and (d) a unique form which is observed only on Holy Saturday as part of the Paschal Vigil.

In the Russian tradition, an All-Night Vigil is celebrated every Sunday (commencing in the evening on Saturday), and so the Midnight Office and Compline are usually omitted.

On Great and Holy Saturday, the Midnight Office takes a very particular form in which it is celebrated on only this one night of the year.

The Office is read around the epitaphios, a shroud embroidered with the image of Christ prepared for burial in the Tomb, which has been placed on a catafalque in the center of the church.

After the Opening and Psalm 50, the Canon of Great Saturday is chanted (repeated from the Matins service the night before) as a reflection upon the meaning of Christ’s death and His Harrowing of Hell.

During the last Ode of the Canon, the priest and deacon carry the epitaphios into the sanctuary and lay it upon the Altar, where it will remain throughout the Paschal season as a reminder of the burial cloth left in the Empty Tomb (John 20:5).

All lights in the church are extinguished, and everyone waits in silence and darkness for the stroke of midnight, when the Resurrection of Christ is to be proclaimed.