Editing Matins (section)

===Byzantine Rite===
{{Main article|Orthros}}

In the [[Eastern Churches]], matins is called ''orthros'' in [[Greek language|Greek]] ({{lang|grc|ὄρθρος}}, meaning "early dawn" or "daybreak") and ''Oútrenya'' in [[Church Slavonic|Slavonic]] (Оўтреня). It is the last of the four night offices, which also include [[vespers]], [[compline]], and midnight office. In traditional monasteries it is celebrated daily so as to end at sunrise. In parishes it is normally served only on Sundays and [[feast days]].{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

Matins is the longest and most complex of the daily cycle of liturgies. The ''akolouth'' (fixed portion of the liturgy) is composed primarily of [[psalms]] and [[Ektenia|litanies]]. The sequences (variable parts) of matins are composed primarily of hymns and [[Canon (hymnography)|canons]] from the [[Octoechos (liturgy)|Octoechos]] (an eight-tone cycle of hymns for each day of the week, covering eight weeks), and from the [[Menaion]] (hymns for each calendar day of the year).{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

Matins opens with what is called the "Royal Beginning", so called because the psalms (19 and 20) are attributed to [[King David]] and speak of the [[Messiah]], the "king of kings"; in former times, the ektenia (litany) also mentioned the emperor by name. The Sunday orthros is the longest of the regular orthros liturgies. If celebrated in its entirety it can last up to three hours.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}