About the poem "We have identified the true light": reflections on the article by Oleksiy Dmitrievsky

Abstract

The article analyzes the origin of singing the stikhiron «We have seen the true light», which is sung almost daily at the Divine Liturgy, referring to the reflections of the famous Russian scholar in the field of liturgy Alexei Dmitrievsky (XIX-XX centuries), who raised the issue about that problem more than a hundred years ago. Why are other hymns used instead of this hymn on certain days, what is the significance of this stikhiron for the worshipers - participants in the Christian temple service, how best to get out of the problem of the need to replace that stikhiron with another prayer on some days of the year? What are the regional features of this custom in Western Ukraine, where do Greek Catholic customs dominate? The author tries to answer these questions in the light of various liturgical sources and instructions.