DISMISSAL Download Site

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Table of Contents

Why isn't St. [XX] mentioned as the saint of the day …?

If Saturday evening begins Sunday's liturgical celebration …?

Why does it matter if a bishop will be presiding …?

Why aren't more choices of patron saints automatically offered …?

What is an Evening Divine Liturgy …?

Which calendar …?

Why does this dismissal sound unfamiliar …?

Are there any plans to release an Old Calendar version …?

Are there plans to release an OCA version …?

Are there plans to release other language versions …?

 

Why isn’t St. [XX] mentioned as the saint of the day in the dismissal on the date listed as his or her feast in the synaxarion?

There are at least four possible answers to this question. 

 

(1)      The commemorations of saints and feasts are ranked in five general classes.  There are also some subclasses.  First class commemorations are the major feasts dedicated to our Lord Jesus Christ – Theophany, Pentecost, Nativity, etc.  Second class commemorations are the major feasts of the Theotokos – Annunciation, Dormition, etc.  All other commemorations fall within the third through fifth classes, including two intermediate classes between the third and fourth.  The fifth class is further subdivided between simple commemorations and commemorations with “two glories,” so called because the akalouthia of such commemorations include special troparia after the doxastica (“Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit”) that comes at the ends of Lord, I have Cried  and the aposticha at Vespers.  Per the Typikon, only those commemorations ranked fifth class “two glories” and above are mentioned in the dismissal.  To read more about the rankings of commemorations click here.

 

(2)      Sometimes even though a commemoration is ranked fifth class “two glories” or above it will not be mentioned in the dismissal because the commemoration is suppressed due to a coincidence with another commemoration that takes precedence.  For instance, April 23 is the feastday of St. George the trophy-bearer, a third class commemoration.  If Pascha were to fall on April 23, however, St. George’s commemoration would be suppressed in favor of the Paschal commemoration.  Pascha and all first and second class commemorations call for the suppression of lower-ranked commemorations of the day.

 

(3)      The ranking of commemorations is determined by reference to a menaion.  Different menaia sometimes rank commemorations of the third through fifth classes differently.  Moreover, one local Church’s menaion may not include some highly venerated saints of another local Church.  DISMISSAL uses the menaion published by Sophia Press, a version widely available and in English, as the primary source for its rankings of commemorations (supplemented by local Antiochian practice in the USA).  This source follows the Greek liturgical tradition most closely.  Accordingly, there may be some glaring differences between the commemorations coded into DISMISSAL and, for instance, the menaion published by St. John of Kronstadt Press, a source that follows the Russian liturgical tradition.

 

(4)      Finally, there is always the possibility – probability, even – of an error in the data included in DISMISSAL.  If you believe you have found an error, please notify Dcn. David Keim so that it can be corrected in an upcoming release.

 

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If Saturday evening begins Sunday’s liturgical celebration of the resurrection, why isn’t the Sunday characteristic phrase “[May] he who rose again from the dead . . .” included in the dismissal of Great Vespers on Saturday evening?

According to the Arabic-language Hieratikón of the late Metropolitan Gerasimos (Msarra) of Beirut, the Sunday characteristic phrase is not included in the dismissal until the Midnight Office.  DISMISSAL follows this rubric.  Thus, because the dismissals for the Midnight Office and the hours are not supported by the application, the Sunday characteristic phrase first makes its appearance at the dismissal for Orthros on Sunday morning.

 

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Why does it matter if a bishop will be presiding or present at the service?  Does that change the dismissal?

The final prayer, which follows the dismissal, is slightly different if a bishop presides over the service or is present.  If there is no bishop, the priest concludes the service with “Through the prayers of our holy fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us.”  If a bishop is present, however, the priest prays “Through the prayers of our holy master . . .” (i.e., the bishop).  During the period from Pascha through its leavetaking, both of these prayers are replaced with the Paschal dialogue between the celebrant and the faithful: “Christ is risen!  Indeed, He is risen!

 

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Why aren’t more choices of patron saint automatically offered in DISMISSAL?  Why do I have to manually enter my temple’s patron?

The application lists only those commemorations that are already part of the dismissal template or have the potential to be.  If your temple’s patron saint or titular feast is not listed, click the “NONE OF THE ABOVE” button and you will be prompted to enter the name of your patron.  The program needs to know if your patron is one of those listed in order to flag and prevent redundancies in the dismissal.  For instance, if it is the feastday of St. John Chrysostom, and the service being celebrated is the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, and it is being celebrated in a temple dedicated to St. John Chrysostom, St. John should not be mentioned three times in the dismissal.  In such a case, the program will suppress all but the commemoration of the day.  N.B.:  If you manually enter your temple’s patron saint, you will need to manually edit out the redundant patronal commemoration that will be incorporated in the dismissal on the patron’s feastday.

 

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What is an Evening Divine Liturgy?

The Typikon and Triodion prescribe Vesperal Divine Liturgies of St. Basil the Great on Holy Thursday, Holy Saturday, and the paramons of Nativity and Theophany.  These are not, however, what DISMISSAL refers to as an Evening Divine Liturgy (“EDL”).  EDLs are a construction of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America that consists of Great Vespers and the Divine Liturgy combined in a single service.  The bishops of the Antiochian Archdiocese have authorized the use of EDLs for feastdays falling during the week.  They are to be served on the evening before the feastday.  Thus, you are prompted to flag an EDL so that the program will know which day’s commemoration is to be included in the dismissal.

 

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Which calendar does DISMISSAL use?

The program uses the New Calendar for all of its commemorations.  Pascha is determined according to the Old Calendar and the date is converted.

 

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Why does this dismissal sound unfamiliar to me?

DISMISSAL uses the form and translation of the great and small dismissals found in The Liturgikon: The Book of Divine Services for the Priest and Deacon (Antakya Press, 1989), which is an authoritative source for the Antiochian Archdiocese.  There may be minor variations in translations produced by other sources.  Also, there are often variations in the local tradition concerning the construction of the dismissals.  For instance, it is common practice in the Orthodox Church in America to commemorate all of the locally glorified saints in the dismissal.  Thus, in an OCA parish, one may hear the commemoration of St. Alexis of Wilkes-Barre and St. Herman of Alaska in every great dismissal.  Antiochian practice has not adopted this tradition and DISMISSAL currently follows Antiochian practice

 

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Are there any plans to release an Old Calendar version of DISMISSAL?

There are no current plans to release an Old Calendar version of the program; however, if there is enough interest it could be included as an option in a later version.

 

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Are there plans to release an OCA version of DISMISSAL?

There are no current plans to develop a version tailored for OCA practice; however, if there is enough interest it could be included in a later version. 

 

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Are there plans to release other language versions of DISMISSAL?

There are no current plans to develop DISMISSAL for other languages.  Such a project would be beyond the skills of the current development team.

 

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Last revised: 11JUL2005

Website Copyright © Dcn. David B. Keim