Midnight Office

The Midnight Office (Greek: Μεσονύκτικον, Mesonýtikon; Slavonic: Полунощница, Polúnoshnitsa; Romanian: Miezonoptică) is one of the Canonical Hours that compose the cycle of daily worship in the Eastern Orthodox Church. The office originated as a purely monastic devotion inspired by Psalm 118:62, At midnight I arose to give thanks unto Thee for the judgments of Thy righteousness (LXX), and also by the Gospel Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13).

The name of the Midnight Office is sometimes erroneously translated as "Nocturns"; but this is misleading, as in the West "Nocturn" refers to a division within the completely different office of Matins.

Originally, monks would rise in the middle of the night to sing praises to God. Saint Symeon the New Theologian mentions Psalm 118, a significant component of the Midnight Office on weekdays, being said privately in the cells before Matins. Today, in most places where the Daily Cycle is observed, the Midnight Office is combined with Matins and the First Hour into one of the three daily aggregates called for in the Typikon.

Concerning the Midnight Office, Saint Mark of Ephesus says: "The beginning of all the hymns and prayers to God is the time (kairos) of the midnight prayer. For, rising from sleep for it, we signify the transportation from the life of the deceit of darkness to the life which is, according to Christ, free and bright, with which we begin to worship God. For it is written, The people who sat in darkness saw a great light" (Isaiah 9:2 and Matthew 4:16). The general tone of the office is one of penitence, tempered by an attitude of hopeful expectation.

In the Russian tradition the Midnight Office often begins with the reading of the Morning Prayers in common, which otherwise would be said privately by the brethren in their cells. At the conclusion of the Midnight Office, just as at the end of Compline, it is traditional in many places for everyone present to venerate the icons and relics of the saints that are present in the temple (church building).

In Greek Prayer Books, a modified form of the Midnight Office is used for Morning Prayers for laymen, while a modified form of Small Compline is used for evening prayers.