Vespers (or Even-song) are usually begun at the setting of the sun. Praising the One in Three, the consubstantial, the life-creating, and the undivided Three in One, the Priest leads the faithful to worship in the right spirit by saying: O come, let us worship and fall down before Christ Himself, our God and King. Following this call in the same strain, the choir continue singing, taking up the Prefatory Psalm (i.e. 104),1 which is the psalm of the evening. While the pious souls in sonorous chant bless the Lord, Who is clothed with honor and majesty, the priest incenses the whole church, the deacon going on before him, holding a large lighted candle; at the same time, the congregation is incensed. In loud harmony still, the glory of the Lord is proclaimed: Thou walkest upon the wings of the winds; Thy ministers are a flaming fire; between the hills, the waters flow; marvelous are Thy works, O Lord! The history of the creation is pictured before our mental eyes. And there was evening, and there was morning, a perfect day. Man rejoiced in the works of God. In the meantime, the priest had returned to the sanctuary, and before the holy Table, he secretly implored the Lord, Who in bountiful Providence ordered all things, that He may grant us to accomplish the remaining time left us—blamelessly, before His holy glory.
We know what followed the first joy of the first innocent people. The holy doors of the iconostasis are closed. Now we see the deacon standing before the doors, urging the people to pray one for another in all humility, while again and again they repeat: Lord, have mercy! After the psalm, O Lord, I have cried unto Thee, hearken to me, hearken to me, O Lord, a certain number of verses are read, sometimes from different books—according to the day in the calendar—but generally the several verses read or sung, and especially the last one, contain a revelation of the grand economy in the salvation of the human race. The holy doors are opened. The Royal seat of mercy is again visible to the people. From out the northern door, a light moves forward. It is carried down into the body of the temple. The deacon follows, and when he comes opposite the opened sanctuary, he incenses the picture of Jesus Christ—our Savior, then that of the Virgin-mother, who bore Him, and finally the priest, at the same time asking him to pray. The priest makes the sign of the cross, and they enter; the cross of Jesus opens the way for us to Paradise. Blessed is the entrance of Thy saints, O Lord, truly, now and forever! In joy, once more the Church uplifts her voice, praising thus: Jesus Christ, Thou gentle Light of the holy glory of the Immortal, Heavenly, Holy, Blessed Father! Having come unto the going down of the sun, having beheld the evening light, we hymn Thee, O God—The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Meet it is that at all times Thou shouldst be hymned with reverent voices, O Son of God, Giver of life; wherefore the world glorifieth Thee. After this, from the Upper Place at the east side of the holy Table, the deacon, standing at the right hand of the priest, proclaims the good-will of God in the words of the Prokeimenon. A few more prayers are offered, hymns are sung, and the Vespers are closed by dismissing the congregation with the benediction of the Bishop, or a priest.
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In the Slavonic translation it is 103.