TROPARION

TROPARION (pl., TROPARIA) – A short hymn sung after the small entrance at Divine Liturgy. For Sundays the subject is the Holy Resurrection; a different Troparion for each of the Eight Tones. Every feast has its particular Troparion describing the event or the virtues of the saint. It is one of the oldest titles used in the Orthodox Church for a particular piece of composed hymnography. In Greek the word means “a sign of victory” or a “way of life” and in general implies that the composed hymn is a succinct summary of the event or saintly person being celebrated in the Church. As a title, Troparion can be applied to virtually any composed hymn used in Orthodox worship. Present use, however, usually limits it to the hymn sung after the Lord’s Prayer at Vespers, after “God is the Lord” at Matins, and after the Little Entrance at the Divine Liturgy. It also denotes the hymns that follow the Irmos in the ode of a canon.