Matins Gospels

The Matins Gospel is the solemn chanting of a lection from one of the Four Gospels during Matins in the Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic churches which follow the Byzantine Rite.

The reading of the Gospel is the highpoint of the service, and takes place near the end of the festive portion of the service known as the Polyeleos. During the Divine Liturgy the Gospel is usually read by the deacon, but the Matins Gospel is read by the priest. However, if the bishop is present, he will usually be the one who reads the Matins Gospel.

Every Sunday is a commemoration of the Resurrection of Jesus, and so it is always observed as a feast (in the Slavic churches it is customary to serve an All-Night Vigil every Saturday night).

The Sunday Matins Gospels (known as the "Matins Resurrection Gospels") are an eleven-week cycle of readings taken from the Gospel accounts of the Resurrection appearances of Jesus.

The Sunday Matins Gospels are:

The cycle begins on the Sunday after Pentecost, and continues up to, but not including, Palm Sunday of the succeeding year. The eleven lessons are read in order and without interruption, except on Great Feasts of the Lord—which have their own Matins Gospels—until Pascha (Easter) of the following year. During the Pentecostarion (the period from Pascha until Pentecost), the same Gospels are read at Sunday Matins, but not in the same order.

The Gospel reading is preceded by a prokeimenon, a selection from the Psalms relevant to the theme of the resurrection. These prokeimena are chanted according to an eight-week cycle known as the Octoechos, and are chanted in a different liturgical mode each week of the cycle. The deacon then leads the choir in chanting, "Let every breath praise the Lord", which is chanted in the same mode as the prokeimenon.

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