Three weeks before the start of the Great Pentecost, special fast chants begin to sound - “Open the doors of repentance for me” and “On the rivers of Babylon.” They set us up and prepare us for days of repentance, which we must spend with deep contrition for our sins.
On the rivers of Babylon, where we ride and weep, we will sometimes remember Zion. On the willows in the middle of it are our organs. For there they asked us captive about the words of the songs and led us about the singing: sing to us from the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the song of the Lord in a foreign land? If I forget you, Jerusalem, my right hand will be forgotten. Let my tongue cleave to my throat, lest I remember you, lest I offer Jerusalem, as at the beginning of my joy. Remember, O Lord, sons of Edom, on the day of Jerusalem those who said: exhaust, exhaust it to its foundations. Accursed daughter of Babylon, blessed is she who will reward you with what you have rewarded us. Blessed is he who has and will dash your babies against the stone.
On the rivers of the Vavlnskikh, there is sadhom and3 lakhom, we will never remember the day. Hallilya. On the verbiih in the middle of є3гw2 њbesikhoma ngany ourz. Hallilya.
Ok, there are questions 1 that captivate us with the words of songs, and 3 that lead us with songs. Hallilya.
Sing to us the songs of the Sins. Hallilya.
How shall we sing the song of hell on foreign lands; Hallilya.
I will forget you, my dear, my right hand will be forgotten. Hallilya.
Cling2 to my throat, I won’t help you yet2. Hallilya.
I haven’t offered yet, ћкw at the beginning of my fun2. Hallilya.
Remember2, gDi, dreams є3дw6мскіz per day їерл1мл2. Hallilya.
Verbs: and3drain, and3drain to the ground є3гw2. Hallilya.
Dshi2 vavmlnz њkasnnaz. Hallilya. Blzhen, he will also reward you with your reward, and he will also reward us. Hallilya. Blzhen, and even the 4th and 3 babies will break your stone. Hallilya.
“On the Rivers of Babylon” notes of chants for mixed and female choirs
According to our Rules, Psalm 136 is sung on the three preliminary Sundays before Great Lent (the week of the Prodigal Son, the week of Meat and Cheese) after Polyeleos. Moreover, it is always sung, it is not canceled even if the Presentation of the Lord or a temple holiday happens in one of these weeks.
Historically, the singing of Psalm 136 arose as part of the singing of the 1st “Glory” of the 19th Kathisma. In the early practice of the Studite monastery in the 9th-10th centuries. Psalms 134, 135 and 136 were sung on Friday as part of the 19th Kathisma; then they separated and began to be called polyeleos. In the early period there was a practice of singing the entire polyeleos (together with Psalm 136), including on holidays throughout the year. In the 13th century, instead of Psalm 136, the so-called selected psalm appeared (a combined chant composed of verses from different psalms), which became the third psalm of the polyeleos. Subsequently, magnification was added to the chosen psalm. At the same time, Psalm 136 was removed from the polyeleos and left only for the preliminary period of Lent.
Why was Psalm 136 preserved only in the preliminary period? Perhaps conservatism in relation to Great Lent played a role (Lent retained many of the features of the ancient rite), but it is likely that ideological considerations had an influence: Psalm 136, in which Jews in a foreign land grieve for distant Jerusalem, can be compared with the feelings of a person who cries for a lost paradise (the expulsion of Adam from paradise is the theme of the service of the last resurrection of the preliminary period - the week of the raw waste).