The '''ainoi''' or '''praises''' are the rough Byzantine equivalent to the [[Western Rite]] service of [[Lauds]], though instead of being a stand-alone service, they are a portion of the end of [[Orthros]], the primary morning office. The term ''ainoi'' comes from the repeated "praise" verses in [[Psalms]] 148-150 , which make up the bulk of the ainoi.

On weekdays, the ainoi are read without [[stichera]] inserted between the verses, but on [[Sunday]]s, resurrectional hymns from the [[anastasimatarion]] are interpolated. In A common [[parish]] practice, the Sunday usage on Sundays is to sing only includes singing of the opening verses ("Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord," etc.), and then skipping skip to the verses with the inserted stichera.

The ainoi begin after the [[exaposteilarionexapostilarion|exaposteilaria]] and end before the [[doxology]].