NINE CANTICLES

Nine Canticles: translation

Also know as "The Nine Odes," a set of Biblical poems sung in theByzantinemorningoffice(Orthrōs), perhaps as early as the sixth century. They are: 1) the canticle of Moses (Ex. 15: 1–19); 2) the death canticle of Moses (Deut. 32: 1–43); 3) the canticle of Hannah (1 Sam. 2: 1–10); 4) the canticle of Habakkuk (Hab. 3: 2–19); 5) the canticle of Isaiah (Isa. 26: 29–19); 6) the canticle of Jonah (Jonah 2: 3–10); 7) the canticle of Azariah (Dan. 3: 26–45, 52–56); 8) the song of the three children (Dan. 3: 57–88); 9) the canticles of Mary, the Theotokos, and Zacharia (Lk. 1: 46–55, 68–79;). Since the late Middle Ages the second has not been sung except during Lent.