Question
We have daily readings from the Epistles and the Gospels, is there a list of Orthodox or ‘approved’ daily readings for the Old Testament?
We have OT readings at vespers, but are they part of a greater cycle of OT readings?
Answer
Thank you for your enquiry.
Daily Gospel and Epistle readings are appointed for the Divine Liturgy, except of course for weekdays of Great Lent, on which the Divine Liturgy is not celebrated. The Old Testament readings for Vespers are not prescribed for every day of the year, however, and as a result there is no similar table. What you can find are the following:
For Great Feasts in which a Litiya is prescribed to be celebrated between Vespers and Matins, one would find prescribed Old Testament readings in the Festal Menaion.
For Lesser Feasts in which a Litiya is prescribed [such as the Beheading of St. John the Baptist], one would find prescribed Old Testament readings in the Monthly Menaion.
For Old Testament readings for the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts on Wednesdays and Fridays of Great Lent and the first three days of Great Week, one would consult the Lenten Triodion. These are generally also published on the popular wall calendars most parishes distributed, but they are not always complete.
For Old Testament readings for Vesper services during the Paschal season which call for such readings, one should consult the Pentecostarion. There are also Old Testament readings prescribed for a number of other services [such as the Royal Hours on the Eve of the Nativity, on Great and Holy Friday, etc.], and these would be found in the appropriate service books which cover those cycles [such as the Festal Menaion and the Triodion respectively in the case of the examples above].
Unlike the convenient listing of Gospel and Epistle readings found on the popular wall calendars and other compiled listings, I have never seen a similar listing for Old Testament readings for Vespers or other services. Clergy determine these readings from the appropriate service books or from the annual rubric books published by their respective jurisdictions, such as the annual book of rubrics published by St Tikhon’s Seminary/Monastery, South Canaan, PA.