Choir of the brethren of the Valaam Monastery
Do not turn Your face away from Your servant, for I am in sorrow; quickly hear me: / Take in my soul, and deliver me.
Verse 1: Let your salvation, God, accept me.
Verse 2: Let the poor see and be glad.
Verse 3: Seek God, and your soul will live.
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A prokeimenon is called great if it has 3 verses (whereas an ordinary prokeimenon has one verse) and is therefore sung 4½ times. The great prokeimenon is used only at Vespers and only on the following occasions: on Saturday evenings (“The Lord reigns...” at Sunday vigil, which is the most frequent great prokeimenon and is sung 51 times a year), at vespers of the twelve feasts of the Lord and Antipascha (7 days in total), on the week of the evening of Pentecost (6 days), on all days of Bright Week (6 days). Thus, the great prokeimenon is sung 70 times a year.
Whenever the Great Prokeimenon is sung, the entrance to Vespers is performed for its sake. According to the Charter, the prokeimenon and its verses must be proclaimed (sung) by the canonarch in the center of the temple; according to our practice, this is done by the deacon, being in the altar next to the High Place.
In addition to the great prokeimenon proper, in the services of the Orthodox Church there are hymns that are not called prokeimenon in the books, but in fact are great prokeimenon: “God is the Lord...” at Matins, “May my prayer be corrected...” at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts and “Arise, O God, judge of the earth...” at the liturgy of Holy Saturday.
The Great Prokeimenon “Do not turn Your face away from Your servant, for I am in sorrow, hear me quickly: attend to my soul and deliver me” is taken from Psalm 68: verses 18–19a, 30b, 33. This prokeimenon is sung 3 times a year: on the Week of the Cheese (Forgiveness Resurrection), the 2nd and 4th Great Weeks fasting in the evening.
There is an opinion that it is for the sake of the great prokeimenon that the first half of Vespers is celebrated solemnly: the usual chant is used (after the prokeimenon we switch to Lenten), colored vestments (after the prokeimenon the clergy dress in black clothes).
It is interesting that, in contrast to the prokeimenon “Who is God great...”, the prokeimenon “Do not turn away...” began to be performed as great quite late. Even in the Studios-Alexievsky Typikon (XI century) and in the Messinian Typikon (XIII century) it was sung as an ordinary prokeimenon, that is, with one verse. In the Evergetid Typikon (late 11th - 12th centuries) it already has 2 verses. Only in the manuscripts of the Jerusalem Rule from the 13th century does it receive 3 verses and begin to be performed as the great prokeimenon.