And when the 1.112 lords, according to custom, enter with the patriarch into the sanctuary, the patriarch enters first; but the lords, standing outside the holy doors, receive candles from the praepositi and through a threefold prostration with the candles, they give thanks to God; then entering into the sanctuary, they first kiss the holy doors, then the covering of the holy table, and placing a napkin upon the holy table, they pass through the sanctuary steps, lighting candles at each and every step, kissing, according to custom, the coverings, and passing through the women's gallery, they light candles at the icon of Basil, the Christ-loving lord, and immediately taking leave of the patriarch, they enter the oratory there, and from there going out into the narthex toward the sea, in which both the seats are placed and the veil hangs, they remove their own cloaks, and they stand awaiting the reading of the holy Gospel; then thus taking candles from the praepositi, they listen to the holy Gospel. And after the dismissal of the litany they sit down, and the master of the table with the artoklinoi brings in the guest list, and the great emperor checks it. And then thus the lords pass secretly through the same narthex and the secret staircase, and through the uppermost solarion of the same narthex they enter the palace. It should be known that according to the order of this feast and the rite, the feast of the Arch-strategist on the 8th of the month of November is also celebrated. And it is necessary to know that on this feast of the Arch-strategist, in the oratory of the church, that is, of the Arch-strategist, such a feast is celebrated.

1.113 30 (21) What things must be observed on the feast and procession of Saint Demetrios

One day before, the lords order the praepositi that on the morrow the entire senate should proceed in festive garments, and in the morning around the second hour the lords order the praepositi to enter, and indeed when these have entered, with a few of the kouboukleion they depart, together with the papias and the hetaireiarch, and they bring in the patriarch with the metropolitans and the rest of his order. And when the patriarch enters, he enters through the passageways of the Trikonchos, and he sits in the chamber of the Chrysotriklinos which is toward the Pantheon. But the praepositi, entering, announce to the lords the arrival of the patriarch, and immediately the lords arise and enter the chamber of Saint Theodore, and there they put on their cloaks, and going out, they stand outside the veil of the same chamber. And the praepositi, going out, bring in the patriarch; and the lords, kissing him according to custom, sit down with him in the Chrysotriklinos for a little while, and when all things are well prepared, the praepositi enter, informing the lords, and immediately the lords arise with the patriarch, and going out, according to their 1.114 customary rite, they pass through the Tripeton and the Lausiakos and the Justinianos and the Skyla and the outer passageways of the Marcian, and they depart to the oratory of the Holy Apostle Peter there. It is to be noted that, when the lords come out from the Chrysotriklinos with the patriarch, opposite the silver gates of the Chrysotriklinos stand the eunuch protospatharioi, both the Logothete of the Dromos with the protoasekretis and the protonotary, and on the side of the horologion, the officials of the Chrysotriklinos. It is to be noted that, when the lords exit the bronze gates toward the Lausiakos, all those of the maglavion and of the kouboukleion receive them, and from there they escort the lords. It is to be noted that inside the Skyla, that is, at the end of the Justinianos, stand both the magistroi and proconsuls and officials, and as the lords pass through, they fall to the ground, doing obeisance to them. But the lords, as has been said before, pass through as far as the Holy Apostle Peter, and the patriarch enters the sanctuary, and when the customary prayer is being performed, the chanters begin the troparion. And the patriarch coming out from the sanctuary, holding the holy Gospel,

Τῶν 1.112 δὲ δεσποτῶν, κατὰ τὸ εἰωθός, εἰσιόντων μετὰ τοῦ πατριάρχου εἰς τὸ θυσιαστήριον, ὁ μὲν πατριάρχης προεισέρχεται· οἱ δὲ δεσπόται, ἱστάμενοι ἔξωθεν τῶν ἁγίων θυρῶν, λαμβάνουσι κηροὺς παρὰ τῶν πραιποσίτων καὶ διὰ τῆς τρισσῆς μετὰ τῶν κηρῶν προσκυνήσεως ἀπευχαριστοῦσι τῷ Θεῷ· εἶτα εἰσερχόμενοι ἐν τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ, ἐν πρώτοις μὲν ἀσπάζονται τὰ ἅγια θύρια, εἶτα τὴν τῆς ἁγίας τραπέζης ἐνδυτήν, καὶ τιθέντες ἀποκόμβιον ἐπὶ τῆς ἁγίας τραπέζης, διέρχονται διὰ τῶν βημάτων, ἅπτοντες κηροὺς καθ' ἕνα ἕκαστον βῆμα, ἀσπαζόμενοι, κατὰ τὸ εἰωθός, τὰς ἐνδυτὰς καὶ διερχόμενοι διὰ τοῦ γυναικίτου, ἅπτουσι κηροὺς εἰς τὴν εἰκόνα Βασιλείου, τοῦ φιλοχρίστου δεσπότου, καὶ εὐθέως ἀποχαιρετίζοντες τὸν πατριάρχην, εἰσέρχονται ἐν τῷ ἐκεῖσε προσευχαδίῳ, κἀκεῖθεν ἐκβαίνοντες εἰς τὸν πρὸς τὴν θάλασσαν νάρθηκα, ἐν ᾧ καὶ τὰ σελλία ἵστανται καὶ τὸ βῆλον κρέμαται, καὶ ἀπαλλάσσουσι τὰς ἑαυτῶν χλανίδας, καὶ ἵστανται ἐκδεχόμενοι τὴν τοῦ ἁγίου Εὐαγγελίου ἀνάγνωσιν· εἶθ' οὕτως λαμβάνοντες κηροὺς παρὰ τῶν πραιποσίτων, ἀκούουσι τοῦ ἁγίου Εὐαγγελίου. Μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἀπόλυσιν τῆς ἐκτενοῦς εὐχῆς καθέζονται, καὶ εἰσάγει ὁ τῆς τραπέζης μετὰ καὶ τῶν ἀρτοκλινῶν τὸ κλητώριον, καὶ στοιχεῖ αὐτὸ ὁ μέγας βασιλεύς. Καὶ εἶθ' οὕτως οἱ δεσπόται διέρχονται μυστικῶς διὰ τοῦ αὐτοῦ νάρθηκος καὶ τοῦ μυστικοῦ ἀναβασίου, καὶ διὰ τοῦ ἀνωτάτου ἡλιακοῦ τοῦ αὐτοῦ νάρθηκος εἰσέρχονται εἰς τὸ παλάτιον. Χρὴ εἰδέναι ὅτι κατὰ τὴν τάξιν ταύτης τῆς ἑορτῆς καὶ τὸν τύπον ἐπιτελεῖται καὶ ἡ ἑορτὴ τοῦ Ἀρχιστρατήγου μηνὶ Νοεμβρίῳ ηʹ. Εἰδέναι δὲ δεῖ ὅτι ταύτῃ τῇ ἑορτῇ τοῦ Ἀρχιστρατήγου ἐν τῷ εὐκτηρίῳ τοῦ ναοῦ, ἤγουν τοῦ Ἀρχιστρατήγου, ἐπιτελεῖται ἡ τοιαύτη ἑορτή.

1.113 Λʹ (ΚΑʹ) Ὅσα δεῖ παραφυλάττειν τῇ ἑορτῇ καὶ προελεύσει τοῦ Ἁγίου ∆ημητρίου

Πρὸ μιᾶς ἡμέρας, κελεύουσιν οἱ δεσπόται τοῖς πραιποσίτοις τοῦ προελθεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν αὔριον μετὰ ἀλλαξίμων τὴν σύγκλητον πᾶσαν, καὶ τῇ ἕωθεν περὶ ὥραν δευτέραν κελεύουσιν οἱ δεσπόται εἰσελθεῖν τοὺς πραιποσίτους, καὶ δὴ τούτων εἰσελθόντων, μετὰ ὀλίγων τοῦ κουβουκλείου ἀπέρχονται, ἅμα τοῦ παπία καὶ τοῦ ἑταιρειάρχου, καὶ εἰσάγουσι τὸν πατριάρχην μετὰ καὶ τῶν μητροπολιτῶν καὶ τῆς λοιπῆς αὐτοῦ τάξεως. Καὶ τοῦ πατριάρχου εἰσερχομένου, διὰ τῶν διαβατικῶν τοῦ Τρικόγχου εἰσέρχεται, καὶ κάθηται ἐν τῇ καμάρᾳ τοῦ Χρυσοτρικλίνου τῇ οὔσῃ πρὸς τὸ Πάνθεον. Οἱ δὲ πραιπόσιτοι εἰσερχόμενοι ἀναγγέλλουσι τοῖς δεσπόταις τὴν τοῦ πατριάρχου ἄφιξιν, καὶ εὐθέως ἀνίστανται οἱ δεσπόται καὶ εἰσέρχονται ἐν τῇ καμάρᾳ τοῦ Ἁγίου Θεοδώρου, κἀκεῖσε περιβάλλονται τὰς ἑαυτῶν χλανίδας, καὶ ἐξερχόμενοι ἔξωθεν τοῦ βήλου τῆς αὐτῆς καμάρας ἵστανται. Οἱ δὲ πραιπόσιτοι ἐξερχόμενοι εἰσάγουσι τὸν πατριάρχην· οἱ δὲ δεσπόται τοῦτον, κατὰ τὸ εἰωθός, ἀσπαζόμενοι, καθέζονται μετ' αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τοῦ Χρυσοτρικλίνου μικρόν τι, καὶ ὅτε πάντα καλῶς εὐτρεπισθῶσιν, εἰσέρχονται οἱ πραιπόσιτοι δηλοῦντες τοῖς δεσπόταις, καὶ εὐθέως ἀνίστανται οἱ δεσπόται μετὰ τοῦ πατριάρχου, καὶ ἐξερχόμενοι, κατὰ τὸν εἰωθότα τούτοις 1.114 τύπον, διέρχονται διὰ τοῦ Τριπέτωνος καὶ τοῦ Λαυσιακοῦ καὶ τοῦ Ἰουστινιανοῦ καὶ τῶν Σκύλων καὶ τῶν ἔξω διαβατικῶν τοῦ Μαρκιανοῦ, καὶ ἀπέρχονται ἐν τῷ ἐκεῖσε εὐκτηρίῳ τοῦ Ἁγίου Ἀποστόλου Πέτρου. Ἰστέον ὅτι, τῶν δεσποτῶν ἐξερχομένων ἀπὸ τοῦ Χρυσοτρικλίνου μετὰ καὶ τοῦ πατριάρχου, ἵστανται ἀντικρὺ τῶν ἀργυρῶν πυλῶν τοῦ Χρυσοτρικλίνου οἱ εὐνοῦχοι πρωτοσπαθάριοι, ὅ τε λογοθέτης τοῦ δρόμου μετὰ καὶ τοῦ πρωτοασηκρήτις καὶ τοῦ πρωτονοταρίου, ἐπὶ δὲ τὸ μέρος τοῦ ὡρολογίου οἱ τοῦ Χρυσοτρικλίνου. Ἰστέον ὅτι, ἐξιόντων τῶν δεσποτῶν τὰς χαλκᾶς πύλας πρὸς τὸν Λαυσιακόν, δέχονται οἱ τοῦ μαγλαβίου καὶ οἱ τοῦ κουβουκλείου ἅπαντες, κἀκεῖθεν δηριγεύουσι τοὺς δεσπότας. Ἰστέον ὅτι ἔνδον τῶν Σκύλων, ἤγουν εἰς τὴν ἄκραν τοῦ Ἰουστινιανοῦ, ἵστανται οἵ τε μάγιστροι καὶ ἀνθύπατοι καὶ ὀφφικιάλιοι, καὶ τῶν δεσποτῶν διερχομένων, πίπτουσιν ἐπ' ἐδάφους, τούτους προσκυνοῦντες. Οἱ δὲ δεσπόται, καθὼς προείρηται, διέρχονται μέχρι τοῦ Ἁγίου Ἀποστόλου Πέτρου, ὁ δὲ πατριάρχης εἰσέρχεται εἰς τὸ θυσιαστήριον, καὶ τῆς εἰωθυίας εὐχῆς τελουμένης, ἀπάρχονται οἱ ψάλται τὸ τροπάριν. Ὁ δὲ πατριάρχης ἐξερχόμενος ἀπὸ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου, βαστάζων τὸ ἅγιον Εὐαγγέλιον,