The Antiochian House of Studies is pleased to announce the publication of Hieratikon Á: The Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, a landmark liturgical text for the Orthodox Church.
This volume provides the complete service of the Divine Liturgy for one priest and one deacon, along with the cycle of services used on weekends and feast days: the Ninth Hour, Vespers with Entrance, the Midnight Service, and Orthros with Gospel. It is designed for regular parish use throughout the year, serving as a comprehensive altar book for clergy.
Unlike earlier service books, Hieratikon Á is not a simple reprint or revision. It is the result of years of research and collaboration by Fr. Michel Najim and Fr. Patrick O’Grady, who undertook a fresh translation of the sacred prayers and rubrics. Drawing from ancient manuscripts, biblical and ecclesiastical Greek, Arabic usage within the Antiochian Patriarchate, and the best of existing English-language texts, this edition represents the first exhaustive revision of English Orthodox liturgical usage since the 1950s.
In doing so, it follows in the footsteps of earlier milestones such as Isabel Hapgood’s Service Book (1906), Fr. Seraphim Nassar’s Divine Prayers and Services (1938), Fr. Stephen Upson’s service book (1956), and The Liturgikon (1989). Building upon these foundations, Hieratikon Á comes as a “small hieratikon” — a practical yet scholarly altar book that clergy can rely on for precision, clarity, and completeness.
Above all, this book is a labor of love, honoring the timeless, divine nature of the Liturgy while acknowledging its organic development across centuries, offering today’s clergy a faithful guide to worship in English.
Content and Features
Hieratikon Á provides everything a priest and deacon need to celebrate the Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom and its accompanying services.
- Services at Sunset and Sunrise: Ninth Hour, Vespers with entrance, Liti and Artoklasia, Midnight Office, Orthros with Gospel, and the Hours.
- Preparation for the Divine Liturgy: Kairos, Vesting, and Proskomidi.
- The Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom: Complete with all prayers, rubrics, and guidance.
- Extensive Appendices: Occasional services, festal hymns, Resurrectional Apolytikia, Kontakia of the year, Paschal verses, rubrics on concelebrations and hierarchical liturgies, clergy communion, and prayers before and after Holy Communion.
- Brief Eortologion: A festal catalogue of saints, including Antiochian, North American, and newly-glorified saints.
- Bibliography
- Endnotes: Offering detailed endnotes that explain the choices behind translation, rubrics, and variations, drawing on Greek manuscripts, Arabic sources, and English usage. They provide clergy and students with a concise yet scholarly resource, connecting the altar text to its historical and theological foundations.
Why It Matters
This is the first comprehensive English revision of Orthodox liturgical texts in decades. It brings forward the richness of the Orthodox tradition with clarity and reverence, making it an invaluable altar book and study resource for priests, deacons, and students of liturgy.
Availability
Hieratikon Á is available now in:
- 🔗Kindle Edition – portable and searchable [Ideal for: Clergy on the go, tablets, private study]
- 🔗Paperback Edition – lightweight for practical use. [Ideal for: Priests/deacons wanting a budget physical copy]
- 🔗Hardcover Edition – durable for long-term altar and parish use. [Ideal for: Church libraries, altar tables, long-term use]
