Psalter

The Book of Psalms — the primary text of Orthodox liturgical prayer, read through in its entirety each week.

The Psalter (Psaltirion) is the collection of 150 Psalms, which forms the backbone of Orthodox liturgical prayer. In monastic practice, the entire Psalter is read through once a week during Orthros; during Great Lent, twice a week. The 150 Psalms are divided into twenty kathismata for liturgical reading. The Psalms are not merely ancient Hebrew poetry but the inspired prayer of Christ himself speaking as the head of the Body: the Church prays the Psalms in union with Christ's own prayer to the Father.