Editing Song of Ascents (section)

==Christian liturgy==
The [[liturgy|liturgical]] use of these psalms came into Christianity through its Jewish roots. The form of the [[Hebrew Bible]] used in [[early Christianity]] was primarily the [[Septuagint]]. In the Septuagint, these psalms are numbered 119&ndash;133.

Many early [[hermit]]s observed the practice of reciting the entire [[Psalter]] daily, [[cenobitic monasticism|cenobites]] communities would chant the entire Psalter in a week, so these psalms would be said regularly, during the [[canonical hours]].

===Eastern Christianity===
In the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] and those [[Eastern Catholic Churches]] which follow the [[Byzantine Rite]], the Songs of Degrees ([[Greek language|Greek]]: ''anabathmoi'') make up the Eighteenth [[Kathisma]] (division of the Psalter), and are read on Friday evenings at [[Vespers]] throughout the [[liturgical year]]. The Kathisma is divided into three sections (called ''stases'') of five psalms each.

During [[Great Lent]] the Eighteenth Kathisma is read every weekday (Monday through Friday evening) at Vespers, and on Monday through Wednesday of [[Holy Week]]. In the [[Russian Orthodox Church|Slavic usage]] this Kathisma is also read from the [[Afterfeast|apodosis]] of the [[Exaltation of the Cross]] up to the [[forefeast]] of the [[Christmas|Nativity of Christ]], and from the apodosis of [[Epiphany (holiday)|Theophany]] up to the [[Sunday of the Prodigal Son]]. The reason for this is that the nights are longer in winter, especially in the northern latitudes, so during this season three Kathismata will be chanted at Matins instead of two, so in order to still have a reading from the Psalter at Vespers, the Eighteenth Kathisma is repeated.

====Anabathmoi====

At [[Matins]] on Sundays and [[feast day]]s throughout the year, special hymns called ''anabathmoi'' ({{langx|el|ἀναβαθμοί}}, from βαθμός, 'step'; [[Church Slavonic|Slavonic]]: ''stepénny'') are chanted immediately before the [[prokeimenon]] and [[Matins Gospel]]. These anabathmoi are compositions based upon the Songs of Ascents, and are written in the [[eight tones]] of [[Byzantine chant]]. The Anabathmoi for each tone consists of three ''stases'' or sets of verses (sometimes called [[antiphon]]s), except for Tone 8 which has four stases. On Sundays, the anabathmoi are chanted according to the tone of the week; on feast days which do not fall on Sunday, the Anabathmoi almost always consist of the first stasis in Tone 4 (based on Psalm 128).<ref>{{Citation
 | last1 =Kallistos (Ware)
 | first1 =Archimandrite
 | author-link =Timothy Ware
 | last2=Mary
 | first2=Mother
 | year =1969
 | publication-date=1984
 | title =The Festal Menaion
 | page =549
 | place =London
 | publisher =[[Faber and Faber]]
 | isbn =978-0-571-11137-4
 }}
</ref>

Symbolically, the anabathmoi are chanted as a reminder that Christians are ascending to the [[Heavenly Jerusalem]], and that the spiritual intensity of the service is rising as they approach the reading of the [[Gospel]].<ref name="Nassar">{{Citation
 | last =Nassar
 | first =Seraphim
 | year =1938
 | publication-date=1979
 | title =Divine Prayers and Services of the Catholic Orthodox Church of Christ
 | edition=3rd
 | pages =1086–7
 | place =Englewood NJ
 | publisher =[[Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America]]
 }}
</ref>

===Western Christianity===
The Western [[Daily Office]] was strongly influenced by the [[Rule of Saint Benedict]], where these psalms are assigned to [[Terce]], [[Sext]] and [[Nones (liturgy)|Nones]] on weekdays. Over the centuries, however, various schedules have been used for reciting the psalms. Among the laity, the devotion of the Fifteen Psalms was adopted within [[primer (prayer book)|primer prayer books]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12425a.htm|title=Catholic Encyclopedia|chapter=The Primer|author=[[Herbert Thurston|Thurston, Herbert]] |volume=12|date=1911|location=[[New York City]]|publisher=Robert Appleton Company|via=NewAdvent.org}}</ref>

In the arrangement used in the Roman Rite until 1911, Psalms 119–132 are said at [[Vespers]], from Monday to Thursday, and Psalm 133 was one of the four Psalms said every day at [[Compline]]. After the reform by [[Pope Pius X]] in 1911, and continuing in the later reform by [[Pope John XXIII]] in 1960, these psalms remained at Vespers, but not always on the same day as previously. Psalm 133 was said at [[Compline]] only on Sundays and major feasts. The 1960 reform is still in use as the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

In the modern [[Liturgy of the Hours]] of the [[Catholic Church]], the Gradual Psalms are used in several ways:
* Psalms 120–127 and 129–131 are scheduled throughout the four-week Psalter for use at Vespers; 119, 128, and 132 are scheduled for use for [[Little Hours#Reform|Daytime Prayer]], and 133 is scheduled for Night Prayer.
* Psalms 119–127 are broken into three parts, to be used as the complementary Psalmody for those who pray three daytime offices separately as Terce, Sext, and None, rather than one office of Daytime Prayer.
* They are used as the sole Psalmody at daytime prayer on [[solemnity|solemnities]], except for certain solemnities of the Lord and during the [[octave of Easter]] and those solemnities falling on Sunday.<ref>{{Citation |contribution=Plan for the Distribution of the Psalms in the Office |date=February 2, 1971 |title=General Instruction for the Liturgy of the Hours |publisher=The Catholic Liturgical Library |url=http://www.catholicliturgy.com/index.cfm/FuseAction/documentText/Index/2/SubIndex/39/ContentIndex/27/Start/2 |access-date=2008-05-18}}
</ref>