CANTICLE

CANTICLE – One of as many as fourteen Biblical and extra-Biblical odes originally gathered into an appendix to the Psalter to facilitate the singing of divine services; specifically, one of the scheme of nine canticles used at Matins by the Palestinian monks as the basis for the genre of liturgical poetry called the kanon. The nine c. are: 1. the Song of Moses ^{(Exodus 15:1-19)}; 2. the Song of Moses ^{(Deuteronomy 32:1-43)}; 3. the Prayer of Hannah ^{(1 Kings [1 Samuel] 2:1-10)}; 4. the Prayer of Habbakuk ^{(Habbakuk 3:1-19)}; 5. the Prayer of Isaiah ^{(Isaiah 26:9-20)}; 6. the Prayer of Jonah ^{(Jonah 2:3-10)}; 7. the Prayer of the Three Holy Youths ^{(Daniel 3:26-56)}; 8. the Song of the Three Holy Youths ^{(Daniel 3:57-88)}; 9. the Song of the Theotokos ^{(Luke 1:46-55)} and the Prayer of Zacharias ^{(Luke 1:68-79)} While they are prescribed to be sung at Matins before each respective ode of the kanon, in today’s practice only the ninth canticle, “My soul magnifies the Lord,” is sung.