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 …?
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 …?
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,
(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
(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.
According to the Arabic-language Hieratikón of the late Metropolitan Gerasimos (Msarra)
of
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!”
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,
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
The program uses the New Calendar for all of its commemorations. Pascha is determined according to the Old Calendar and the date is converted.
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
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.
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.
There are no current plans to develop DISMISSAL for other languages. Such a project would be beyond the skills of the current development team.
Last revised: 11JUL2005
Website Copyright © Dcn. David B. Keim