The Eight Tones

The Octoechos is the Church's system of eight tones of music, and the book of the hymns sung in each. St John of Damascus is credited with ordering the Church's music in this way. The Sunday hymns of the Resurrection change from week to week through the eight tones, in an eight-week cycle that begins again with tone 1 on Thomas Sunday, the Sunday after Pascha.

On October 20 the calendar is in tone 3.

1. Tone 1The stone having been sealed by the Pharisees and chief priests,Next Sunday in tone 1: November 29, 2026
2. Tone 2When You descended unto Death, O Lord, You who are immortal Life put Hades to death, by the lightning of Your divinity. And when You raised the dead from the netherworld, all the hosts of heaven sang aloud to You, “O Christ God, Giver of life, glory to You!”Next Sunday in tone 2: December 6, 2026
3. Tone 3Let the heavens be glad. Let the earth rejoice exceedingly. For the Lord has shown strength with his arm. He trampled death by death. He became the first-born of the dead. Out of the belly of Hades, He has rescued us, and to the world He has granted the great mercy.Next Sunday in tone 3: December 13, 2026
4. Tone 4When the women disciples of the Lord heard the Angel joyously proclaim the resurrection, they cast aside the ancestral verdict, and boasting in glory they said to the Apostles, “Death has been despoiled! Christ God has risen, granting the great mercy to the world!”Next Sunday in tone 4: October 25, 2026
5. Tone 5As the Father and Spirit are unoriginate,Next Sunday in tone 5: November 1, 2026
6. Tone 6When the angelic powers appeared at Your tomb,Next Sunday in tone 6: November 8, 2026
7. Tone 7You destroyed death by Your Cross, You opened Paradise to the Robber. You turned the Myrrh-bearing Women’s lament into joy, and You commanded Your Apostles to preach that You rose, O Christ God, granting the world the great mercy.Next Sunday in tone 7: November 15, 2026
8. Tone 8You descended from on high, O compassionate One, and consented to a three-day burial, to free us from the passions. O Lord, our life and resurrection, glory to You!Next Sunday in tone 8: November 22, 2026

Sundays on the New Calendar. Pascha, Thomas Sunday and Sundays that are a Great Feast are not listed, as their own feast is kept.

Hymns: AGES Initiatives / Fr. Seraphim Dedes, GOA edition (alwb-library-en-us-goadedes), CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication). Source: OrthodoxWiki: Octoechos; Wikipedia: Octoechos (liturgy).