Anyone who as tried to understand the uses for all the texts of the Eastern Christian Churches knows that they are a confusing mix of books. What's more, these books are often flipped through, opened and closed, and swung around and around on tall reading tables, to the general effect that the person using the books looks like Kamajii the Boiler Geezer from Spirited Away.
I enjoy this article because it demystifies these texts in a way that makes them approachable. The added bonus in familiarity with the available versions and iterations is that they are truly expensive. Textbooks are pricey, but I have always imagined some monk weighing the November menaion and writing down its price based on that weight if it were cast in 18 carat gold.
You learn about the faith by prayer and fasting. I have often found that, just as easily as someone can read themselves into the Church, he can read himself out of it. A daily prayer rule is essential to internalizing the faith in a way that a stack of carefully highlighted, dog-eared books simply can't.
From 'of Information and Belief':
Outside of the circle of "liturgical nerds" who lurk in strange places on the Internet or on the kliros, there seems to be some mystification over what some of the service books of the Orthodox Church actually contain. These people are easily spotted. If you do not find them, they will come to you with some obscure question (often in imperfect calque) on some person or book you have never heard of - this often happens if you visit a parish while traveling or look unoccupied during the parish coffee hour. In talking with a friend recently, they remarked that it would "be great" to have an opportunity to recite many of the daily services of the Church, but the purchase of a 12-volume Menaion is out of reach. (For the record, the Holy Transfiguration Monastery edition is $1200 and can only be ordered as a complete set; the St. John of Kronstadt Press's 2nd edition--when combined with the reprint volumes from the first--runs approximately $1350, though each volume can be ordered individually.) The cheapest alternative to purchasing the Menaion is to use the General Menaion. The most complete and readily available edition in English is available online for free here. For those not interested in reading off a computer screen, you can have all of the files double-sided printed in B&W and comb-bound at your local Kinkos for relatively cheap (just tell them you're "taking bids" when you walk in). If you can print the pages yourself or use your workplace's printer, it's even cheaper. I'm also working on an iPhone app, but it won't be available for a few months.
The main drawback to the General Menaion is that it is, well, general--sometimes a bit too general. Outside of the hymns for major commemorations, such as those of our Lord and His Mother, there is a noticeable lack of flexibility in many of the stichera, sessional hymns, and canon troparia used. A number of the hymns are directly lifted from specific Saints in the actual Menaion and are therefore difficult to transfer to others who, though falling in the same "class," lived much different lives and performed quite distinct deeds from their fellow friends of Christ. If you know the life of a particular Saint you are commemorating quite well and you can think on your feet (or read the texts in advance), this isn't a prohibitive problem. Even persons and parishes who happen to own a Menaion still find the General Menaion useful to cover local or obscure Saints who either don't have a full service or haven't had their service translated into English (yet). In short, it's worth having around--at least on file. I like them because they're cheap and a good first buy to see if you actually want what a Menaion can provide without plunking down hundreds of dollars.
For those who have some money to spend, the best alternative and/or supplement to the General Menaion is a full Octoechos. The only complete and readily available edition is published by St. John of Kronstadt Press (forgive the ugly website) and will run you $160. They're not physically attractive volumes, but their comb-binding allows them to lay open easily. Since they are based on the Slavonic Octoechos used in the Russian Church, there are some divergences from the Greek text. However, until HTM or some other enterprising body gets on the ball, it's the only complete edition around. Contrary to some misconceptions out there, the Octoechos does not contain just the eight-tone cycle of hymns for Sundays and supplemental hymns during the week. (There are, however, a number of Sunday-only Octoechos volumes available, including a beautiful edition from the Church of the Nativity; the longstanding translation from the Monastery of the Veil; and a free online edition here.) Outside the periods of the Triodion and Pentecostarion, the Octoechos allows you to recite the daily cycle of services in their entirety. Each day contains hymns which can be substituted for a Menaion service. The cycle aligns with the daily troparia and kontakia found in most Orthodox prayerbooks (e.g., Monday - Angels; Tuesday - St. John the Baptist; Wednesday - Cross; etc.). If you own an Horologion which has the yearly cycle of dismissal hymns and kontakia, you can use those or simply default to the daily troparia and kontakia which are widely available. You can also download the excellent Menologion 3.0 which contains the entire yearly cycle of troparia and kontakia, including ones for a number of lesser-known Western Saints.
One of the practical benefits of relying solely on the Octoechos for a private rule of prayer is that it spares you the hassle and acrobatics of flipping through up to five service books (and perhaps a number of loose-leaf papers) while trying to maintain a prayerful mind and attitude. If you happen to be interested in learning the eight tones (particularly those who follow the contemporary Slavic tradition), it's much easier to do when you can dedicate yourself to a single tone a week rather than having to switch between two or more tones over the course of a single service. (If you're like me, however, and only musically inclined in the presence of Angels and little children who don't know any better, then you may just want to intone the hymns.) If there are certain Saints you have a particular dedication to, you can always use the General Menaion, purchase a single-service from the St. John of Kronstadt Press (though the cost can add up pretty quickly), or search online to see if some magnanimous soul has put a translation up online for free. For major feastdays, particularly if you aren't able to get to church for whatever reason or have to miss one of the services, the Festal Menaion, translated by Mother Mary and +Kallistos, is readily available from St. Tikhon's Seminary Press. Given the depth and beauty of these major festal hymns, the General Menaion makes a poor substitute and, in my humble opinion at least, should be avoided for these important portions of the liturgical calendar.
Now, of course, if you go ahead and purchase something like the St. John of Kronstadt Press Order of Divine Services or its yearly liturgical calendar, you'll probably despair that you're not "doing the services" correctly. Some people let this get to them, but I don't know why. Make due with what is in your means, at least until Orthodoxy in America gets its act together, duly compensates the laborers engaged in noble translation efforts, and furnishes all of this material online for free. Hear, hear! During Great Lent, you probably will want a copy of the Tridion. The Pentecostarion is still harder to come by, though unlike the order for Lenten services, it's not nearly as difficult to make the Octoechos "fit." Nothing, of course, prevents you from adapting hymns from the Octoechos (particularly the canons of Compline and Matins) into a private prayer rule. Both the Jordanville Prayer Book and the Old Orthodox Prayer Book provide rubrics for inserting canons and/or akathists into their respective morning and evening prayer rules. But the most important thing is to use the books once you have them and don't get hung-up on rubrics. Besides, most parishes bungle them all the time. I doubt St. Peter is keeping score at the Gates of Heaven. Which is something you will notice after you have Read at a few services.
The main drawback to the General Menaion is that it is, well, general--sometimes a bit too general. Outside of the hymns for major commemorations, such as those of our Lord and His Mother, there is a noticeable lack of flexibility in many of the stichera, sessional hymns, and canon troparia used. A number of the hymns are directly lifted from specific Saints in the actual Menaion and are therefore difficult to transfer to others who, though falling in the same "class," lived much different lives and performed quite distinct deeds from their fellow friends of Christ. If you know the life of a particular Saint you are commemorating quite well and you can think on your feet (or read the texts in advance), this isn't a prohibitive problem. Even persons and parishes who happen to own a Menaion still find the General Menaion useful to cover local or obscure Saints who either don't have a full service or haven't had their service translated into English (yet). In short, it's worth having around--at least on file. I like them because they're cheap and a good first buy to see if you actually want what a Menaion can provide without plunking down hundreds of dollars.
For those who have some money to spend, the best alternative and/or supplement to the General Menaion is a full Octoechos. The only complete and readily available edition is published by St. John of Kronstadt Press (forgive the ugly website) and will run you $160. They're not physically attractive volumes, but their comb-binding allows them to lay open easily. Since they are based on the Slavonic Octoechos used in the Russian Church, there are some divergences from the Greek text. However, until HTM or some other enterprising body gets on the ball, it's the only complete edition around. Contrary to some misconceptions out there, the Octoechos does not contain just the eight-tone cycle of hymns for Sundays and supplemental hymns during the week. (There are, however, a number of Sunday-only Octoechos volumes available, including a beautiful edition from the Church of the Nativity; the longstanding translation from the Monastery of the Veil; and a free online edition here.) Outside the periods of the Triodion and Pentecostarion, the Octoechos allows you to recite the daily cycle of services in their entirety. Each day contains hymns which can be substituted for a Menaion service. The cycle aligns with the daily troparia and kontakia found in most Orthodox prayerbooks (e.g., Monday - Angels; Tuesday - St. John the Baptist; Wednesday - Cross; etc.). If you own an Horologion which has the yearly cycle of dismissal hymns and kontakia, you can use those or simply default to the daily troparia and kontakia which are widely available. You can also download the excellent Menologion 3.0 which contains the entire yearly cycle of troparia and kontakia, including ones for a number of lesser-known Western Saints.
One of the practical benefits of relying solely on the Octoechos for a private rule of prayer is that it spares you the hassle and acrobatics of flipping through up to five service books (and perhaps a number of loose-leaf papers) while trying to maintain a prayerful mind and attitude. If you happen to be interested in learning the eight tones (particularly those who follow the contemporary Slavic tradition), it's much easier to do when you can dedicate yourself to a single tone a week rather than having to switch between two or more tones over the course of a single service. (If you're like me, however, and only musically inclined in the presence of Angels and little children who don't know any better, then you may just want to intone the hymns.) If there are certain Saints you have a particular dedication to, you can always use the General Menaion, purchase a single-service from the St. John of Kronstadt Press (though the cost can add up pretty quickly), or search online to see if some magnanimous soul has put a translation up online for free. For major feastdays, particularly if you aren't able to get to church for whatever reason or have to miss one of the services, the Festal Menaion, translated by Mother Mary and +Kallistos, is readily available from St. Tikhon's Seminary Press. Given the depth and beauty of these major festal hymns, the General Menaion makes a poor substitute and, in my humble opinion at least, should be avoided for these important portions of the liturgical calendar.
Now, of course, if you go ahead and purchase something like the St. John of Kronstadt Press Order of Divine Services or its yearly liturgical calendar, you'll probably despair that you're not "doing the services" correctly. Some people let this get to them, but I don't know why. Make due with what is in your means, at least until Orthodoxy in America gets its act together, duly compensates the laborers engaged in noble translation efforts, and furnishes all of this material online for free. Hear, hear! During Great Lent, you probably will want a copy of the Tridion. The Pentecostarion is still harder to come by, though unlike the order for Lenten services, it's not nearly as difficult to make the Octoechos "fit." Nothing, of course, prevents you from adapting hymns from the Octoechos (particularly the canons of Compline and Matins) into a private prayer rule. Both the Jordanville Prayer Book and the Old Orthodox Prayer Book provide rubrics for inserting canons and/or akathists into their respective morning and evening prayer rules. But the most important thing is to use the books once you have them and don't get hung-up on rubrics. Besides, most parishes bungle them all the time. I doubt St. Peter is keeping score at the Gates of Heaven. Which is something you will notice after you have Read at a few services.
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