Rite of Constantinople

The liturgical tradition of the patriarchate of Constantinople was centred in the cathedral of the Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia), also called ‘The Great Church’. The hymnody of this rite is quite restricted, especially compared to that of Jerusalem*. It consists of two types of hymns: psalmodic hymnody (Psalm refrains, troparia) and independent hymnody (kontakia). Psalmodic hymnody Ordinary refrains (the Psalter and the Odes) The Psalter of the Constantinopolitan rite, including a series of 14 biblical odes or canticles, was divided into psalm sections called antiphons. Some antiphons represented fixed elements of the services: Psalms 3, 62 and 133 (Nocturns); Psalms 118, 50, and 148-150...