Apodeipnon
JOHN A. MCGUCKIN
The word signifies “after supper” in the Greek, and denotes the monastic office of night prayer corresponding in some senses to western Compline, although in the Orthodox daily offices there is also a later service of the late night called Mesonyktikon (lit. “the middle of the night”). Great Apodeipnon is prescribed for services in the Lent period, but a smaller service is in daily use. After the Trisagion prayers, Apodeipnon is composed of Psalms 50, 69, and 142, the Doxology and Creed. A Canon may be inserted at that point, and this is usually the time when Orthodox recite the Canon of Preparation for Communion before receiving the divine mysteries on the next day. The service concludes with an alternating series of very fine prayers to Christ and the Blessed Virgin, with a prayer to the angels and a final litany of intercession.