V

The services of the Church are contained in seventeen quarto volumes of closely printed matter. Of these, from a Western point of view, the most important would seem to be:

The Euchologion, which contains the offices of S. Chrysostom and S. Basil, and those for Baptism, Burial, etc.

The Triodion and Pentecostarion contain the services for Lent and the three Sundays preceding it, and for Pentecost. Those two volumes contain the most attractive of all the services of the Church, and their hymnody, which includes much of the work of S. John of Damascus, is incomparable in the whole range of the service books.

The Horologion contains the offices for the eight canonical hours.

The Parakletike or Greater Octoechus, containing the ferial office, is also very rich in hymnody.

The Menaea, of which there are twelve volumes, one for each month of the year, contain the services for saints' days. Service books so many and so voluminous, obviously cannot be in the hands of the people, but it is remarkable to what extent their bulk and intricacies are mastered.