Paschal troparion
Troparion in the Byzantine Rite
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ToursExplore Lably’s 3D toursLike most troparia, it is a brief stanza often used as a refrain between the verses of a psalm, but is also used on its own. It is sung in the first plagal (or fifth) tone. Its author or date is unknown.
Text
The first line paraphrases from 1 Corinthians 15:20 (Νυνὶ δὲ Χριστὸς ἐγήγερται ἐκ νεκρῶν). The troparion is part of the Paschal Divine Liturgy of the Byzantine Rite, and it was certainly in use in the 5th or 6th century. Its ultimate origin is unknown; Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev (2009) has suggested a 2nd-century origin.
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Usage
According to the testimony of the Jerusalem tropologion (or iadgari, an ancient hymnography surviving only in a Georgian translation of the 8th century), the troparion was sung at the end of the Easter Vigil in the late ancient Jerusalem Easter liturgy. Based on the Typikon of the Great Church, the troparion was part of the non-monastic liturgy at the Hagia Sophia by the 10th century.
In Finland, the Orthodox Church of Finland is a minority church. However, the Orthodox Easter Vigil has been broadcast on radio and television for decades, and so the troparion gradually became well-known to non-Orthodox Finns. In 1986, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland – the largest religious denomination in the country — added the troparion to its revised official hymnal, where it is hymn number 90, used for Easter. It is recommended to be sung three times in succession.
At Pope Francis' funeral, after the Litany of the Saints, the patriarchs, archbishops, and metropolitans of the Eastern Catholic Churches stood beside the coffin of Pope Francis for the Supplicatio Ecclesiae Orientalium (formerly known as the Officio Defectorum in Byzantine liturgy). While thrice chanting the Paschal troparion and chanting prayers, one of the patriarchs censed the coffin. This ritual was also performed at the funeral of Pope John Paul II.