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Last time I
spoke to you about the two schools of Alexandria and Antioch which were
influential in developing the theological thoughts of fathers who gave us
various interpretations of the actions and symbols of the Divine Liturgy.
Today we will begin with a look at the first part of the Liturgy which is
called the Proskomide or as it is better known in English “the office of
oblation”.
For the
preparation the priest needs the two basic vessels: the Paten or Discus
and the Chalice and he will also need the spear. Each has a practical use
but also a symbolic meaning or even many meanings. Thus for its practical
use the Paten is used to carry the sacrificial lamb to the Altar but it
also symbolises the manger where Christ was laid in the cave of Bethlehem
and also the place where he was laid after his saving death on the Cross.
According to St. Germanos of Constantinople, it also represents the hands
of Joseph and Nicodemus who buried Christ. This interpretation will become
clearer when we come to the symbolic meanings of the Great Entrance.
The Chalice is
the vessel through which we give Holy Communion to the people, but is also
represents the very cup that Christ used at that first Mystical Supper.
The cup that after he had blessed, he gave to his disciples saying “Drink
ye all of it; this is my Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for you
and for many for the remission of sins.”
The Spear is
used to cut away the lamb from the rest of the bread but it also
represents the spear the soldier used to pierce the side of Christ when He
was on the Cross and having pieced his side, there forthwith came out
blood and water.(John 19:34)
So having
selected the breads and wine he will use he will say, as he prepares to
begin, the hymn from the pre-feast of Christmas:
“Make ready, O Bethlehem, for Eden has been
opened for all. Prepare, O Ephratha, for the tree of life has blossomed
forth in the cave from the Virgin. For her womb has been shown forth as a
spiritual paradise, in which is the divine plant, from which if we eat
thereof, we shall live and not die as Adam. Christ shall be born raising
the image that fell of old.”
The
hymn is appropriate before the sacrificial offering begins because as I
mentioned last time, the Prothesis is symbolically linked to the cave of
Bethlehem and it is in this cave that our salvation becomes manifest. It
is from this symbolism that the Paten is given the symbolism of
representing the manger which was in the cave of Bethlehem and where the
newly-born Jesus was laid as if in a baby-cot. It is in this cave that God
appeared in the flesh as a human being with the intention of being
sacrificed for the salvation of the whole world. Very often we hear a hymn
and don’t pay attention to what is really been said. In we look carefully
at the hymn we will see that we are given the whole story of Adam and
Eve’s fall from immortality to death and how we can reverse our condition
and go from death to eternal life. Adam ate of the forbidden fruit of the
tree of knowledge of good and evil and fell from grace and eventually
died. But in Paradise there was another tree called the “Tree of Life”. In
Genesis we are told that God cast out Adam from the Garden of Eden because
as God himself says “Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good
and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree
of life, and eat, and live for ever… So he drove out the man; and he
placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword
which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. (Genesis
3:22-24) The hymn identifies the tree of life as Christ who has blossomed
forth in the Virgin’s womb, the divine plant from which if we eat thereof,
we shall live and not die as did Adam. And that is the purpose of our
offering that it will be transformed by the Holy Spirit into the Body and
Blood of Christ, from which, if we partake we will have eternal life.
The Priest
then takes the spear and placing it on the Prosphoron (bread) he raises
them to his forehead saying:
“Thou hast redeemed us by Thy Precious Blood from
the curse of the law: being nailed to the Cross and pierced with the
spear, Thou art become for men the fount of immortal life: our Saviour,
glory to Thee.” (Troparion for Great Friday)
The first hymn
the Priest said revealed Christ’s Nativity. The Second reveals his
Crucifixion for as Christ said “for this cause came I unto this hour.”
(John 12:27) In other words he was born to suffer the passion and the
crucifixion. The lifting of the bread represents his lifting up on the
Cross. His Sacrifice on the Cross has redeemed us from the curse of the
law and we are made free men with the gift of the Holy Spirit which
followed.
The Priest
then officially begins the Office of oblation saying:
“Blessed is our God, always now and forever world
without end.”
Then holding with his left hand the prosphoron and with his
right the holy spear, he makes with the spear, the sign of the Cross three
times over the prosphoron saying each time:
“In remembrance of our Lord and God and Saviour
Jesus Christ.”
At
that very first celebration of the Mystical Supper, Christ took the bread
and after giving thanks, broke it and gave to his apostles saying:
“This is my Body which is given for you,”
then offering the cup he said “This is the cup of
the New Testament in my Blood, which is shed for you.” Thus Christ
at this supper performed a remembrance of his own sacrifice on the Cross
before his Passion and Crucifixion and gave the commandment for us to also
do this in remembrance of him. We are called to remember Christ’s
suffering – his Passion, his Crucifixion and death, in other words the
events which seem to denote nothing but weakness, because it is through
his sufferings and death that brought about our salvation, it is through
his death that we were redeemed. This is verified by St. Paul who writing
to the Corinthians concerning this mystery added after the Lord’s words
“Do this in remembrance of me” “For as often as ye
eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he
come.” (1 Cor. 11:26)
The priest now
has to separate the Lamb from the rest of the bread and to do this he
needs to make five cuts. As he does so he calls to mind the prophecy by
the Prophet Isaiah and the words he said concerning the Lord’s Passion.
Thus taking the spear or a sharp knife used solely for this purpose, he
makes an incision into the right side of the seal where is the IC, and
while he cuts it, he says:
“He was led as a sheep to the slaughter.”
The Lord’s sacrifice on the Cross was prefigured by the Jewish
Passover and the sacrificial slaughter of the lamb. The lamb is a harmless
gentle animal and is used to symbolize Christ who was meek and gentle. St.
John in his Gospel also makes mention of Christ as the Lamb of God who
takes away the sin of the world.
Then making a
cut on the left side where is the XC, he says:
“And as a lamb without blemish before the shearer
is dumb, so he opens not his mouth.”
Just as the lamb remains silent when being led to have its wool
cut by the shearer, Christ also remained silent when he was led before his
accusers and judges. Christ is silent before the High priests, he is
silent before Pilate. His silence underlines the fact that he willingly
accepted to be crucified as he himself said “I lay down my life, that I
might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of
myself.
The Priest
then cuts the upper part of the Seal saying:
“In his humiliation, his judgement was taken
away.”
We often talk of Christ’s humility but don’t understand the
full extent of this humility. Just think that Christ is God the creator of
heaven and earth and to save mankind, who disobeyed and rejected him, he
humbled himself to the level of becoming a lowly creature like us, a
servant suffering the same consequences of Adam’s fall, but not only this,
he willingly became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross.
(Philippians 2:7-8) From his divine throne on high Christ walked the road
of humility until he reached the Cross. His humility was so great in
relation to his height as God. It is a great humility that Christ became a
servant, something that can not be put to words, but to suffer death is so
much more. And what sort of death because not all deaths are the same? He
suffered the most humiliating of all deaths because crucifixion was
considered a curse and the most humiliating form of death. As St. Paul
says: “being made a curse for us: for it is written,
Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” (Gal. 3:13) Because he
remained humble his judgement was taken away, in other words, although
innocent in all things, he was deprived of all righteousness and was
condemned to death. He was not given the usual trial where someone is
innocent until proven guilty. His accusers and judges had already found
him guilty long before the trial.
Then cutting
the lower part of the seal the Priest says:
“Who shall declare his generation?”
The Prophet means by generation - who shall declare his
existence, because who can explain the existence of the Only-Begotten Son.
What language can narrate how the Son was begotten of the Father before
all ages. We know and believe that the Son was born of the Father, but how
is beyond our understanding.
Then the
Priest thrusting the spear or the knife horizontally into the side of the
prosphoron he cuts it so that he can lift out the lamb from it saying:
“For his life is taken away from the earth.”
And the lamb is placed on the paten for the moment inside down.
This reminds us of Christ’s words when he said: “And
I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he
said, signifying what death he should die.” (John 12:32-33) His
sacrifice was offered for all mankind. St. John Chrysostom says: “Why was
Christ’s sacrifice not made within the temple, but rather outside the city
walls in a high place? And he replies to this question: So that you might
learn that his sacrifice was for all men. So that you might learn that his
offering was for all the earth. The lamb of the Jewish Passover was
sacrificed in secret confined within the temple walls, but Christ
stretches out his pure hands and embraces the whole of creation. One of
the hymns that we sing on Great and holy Friday evening around the
Epitaphion also gives us this understanding: “The
lamb of old was in secret sacrificed, but under open skies. O Saviour
longsuffering, cleansing all creation, thou wast sacrificed.”
In the Acts of
the Apostles you might remember that when the Apostle Philip approached
the chariot of the Ethiopian eunuch who had the charge of Queen Candace’s
treasure, he was reading aloud from the Book of Isaiah. Philip asked him
if he understood what he was reading and he said, How can I, except some
man should guide me? The passage he was reading was the prophesy the
priest just said: “He was led as a sheep to the
slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his
mouth: In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall
declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.” And
the eunuch asked Philip, of whom does the prophet speak, of himself, or of
some other man? And Philip starting from the same scripture, preached unto
him Jesus. (Acts of the Apostles 8:32-35) The Priest with these same
prophetic sayings does the same thing: he begins preaching the good news
of the Eucharistic sacrifice and presence of Christ.
With the Lamb
upside down on the Paten the Priest now makes two more cuts in a form of a
cross right down to the crust but still leaving the seal intact. As he
makes the first cut he says:
“The Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of
the world, is sacrificed for the life and salvation of the world.”
The verse is in two parts and taken from the New Testament. The
first is taken from the words said by St. John the Baptist when he saw
Christ coming to him to be baptized. (John 1:29) The second, “is
sacrificed for the life and salvation of the world” is taken from Christ’s
own words when he said: “the bread that I will give
is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” (St John
6:51)
The Priest
then makes the second cut crosswise saying:
“When Thou wast crucified, O Christ, the tyranny
of the enemy was destroyed, and his power was trampled underfoot. For it
was not an angel nor a man that saved us, but Thou Thyself, O Lord: glory
to Thee.”
This verse reassures us that with Christ’s crucifixion, the
devil’s tyranny was crushed and destroyed, his power was trampled
underfoot. No more is there the religion of demons: creation has been
sanctified with the Divine Blood, the temples of idols have been destroyed
and the knowledge of God has taken root. The consubstantial holy Trinity
is worshiped, the uncreated Godhead, the one true God, the creator and
Lord of all. And this, our salvation came about not because of an angel or
a man, but because Christ himself saved us through his Passion and death
on the Cross.
Then the
Priest turns the lamb the right way up and pierces it with the spear on
the right side, immediately below the IC saying:
“One of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side,
and forthwith came there out blood and water. And he that saw it bare
record, and his record is true.” (John 19:34-35)
And saying
this, the Priest pours wine and water into the Chalice.
With these words, the Priest recalls the Roman soldier who with a spear
pierced Christ’s side. The Holy Fathers write that the blood and water
that came forth, are an image of the Sacraments of Holy Baptism and the
Holy Eucharist. These two Sacraments that flow from Christ’s side create
the Church. From these two Mysteries the Church was born. Thus Christ
created the Church from his side exactly as he created Eve from the side
of Adam. And as he created Eve while Adam was asleep, so too the Church
was created as Christ the New Adam was sleeping in death. From his side he
gives life to mankind.
The Priest
then blesses over the chalice saying:
“Blessed is the union of Thy holy things, always,
now and for ever: world without end. Amen.”
In other words, he blesses the Church that has been born from Christ’s
side.
The first part of the offering is now complete. We have prepared the Lamb
and poured the wine and water into the chalice which during the Liturgy
will be consecrated and transformed into the actual Body and Blood of
Christ. But if you remember our last talk I mentioned that our offering is
not only a sacrifice, but also a thanksgiving for all the things God has
bestowed upon us and also an offering of ourselves and the whole world to
God. The Divine Liturgy is not just a symbolic act; it is the ascension of
the Church to heaven, the return of man to God. Christ himself takes all
of us and our whole life back to God. So of necessity our offering must
represent the Church comprising of both the living and the dead, or rather
the earthly and the heavenly Church.
The second
part of the offering is therefore dedicated to representing the Church of
whom Christ is the head. The first person to be remembered is the Mother
of God. The Priest takes a second prosphoron or using the same prosphoron
he will cut out a triangular piece from the left of the seal of the lamb
saying:
“In honour and remembrance of our blessed Lady,
Mother of God and ever-Virgin Mary; at whose intercessions do Thou, O
Lord, accept this sacrifice unto Thy heavenly altar.”
Here we are asking that God accepts our offering through the
prayers of the Mother of God. The Mother of God is the Ladder that joins
heaven and earth. Through her own free will she became the vessel through
which the Divine Economy cured the injury caused by the fall. Through this
service to man, the Mother of God became a benefactor to all creation. In
life, her womb became the throne of the Godhead, in falling asleep it was
only fitting that she would be recognized as the Queen of heaven. She sits
as the Queen of Heaven at her Son’s side, having entered into perfect
union with God and watches over the destiny of the world. Thus the Priest
taking out the particle for the Mother of God, lays it on the right side
of the holy bread [the Priest’s left hand side] saying King David’s
prophecy concerning the Mother of God:
“The Queen stood by on the right hand, clothed in
vesture wrought with gold, and arrayed in divers colours.” (Psalm 44:9
Septuagint)
Then
from the same or a third prosphoron the Priest shall take out nine smaller
triangular particles and lay them on the left of the holy bread [the
Priest’s right hand side], making three ranks each with three particles.
Thus taking out the first particle, he shall place it to the left of the
Lamb, beginning with it the first rank saying:
“In honour and remembrance of the holy Archangels
Michael and Gabriel and all the bodiless heavenly hosts.”
We honour and remember the Angels because they also took part
in the work of the Divine Economy and are also spiritually present during
the Divine Liturgy. Before the Incarnation of the Word of God, the Angels
had only a vague idea of the Mystery of Christ, but with God appearing in
the flesh, they also received enlightenment. And when the time was
fulfilled, it was to the Angels that God first revealed the Mystery of the
Divine Economy and they in their turn revealed it to man. It was the
Archangel Gabriel who visited Zacharias to tell him of the birth of John
the Baptist who was himself an angel, a messenger and forerunner, come
first to prepare the way of the Lord. It was the Archangel Gabriel who
revealed to the Virgin Mary that she was to conceive in her womb the Son
of God, It was Angels who revealed to the shepherds that Christ was born
in Bethlehem. Here also at the Prothesis which mystically represents
Bethlehem and the cave where Christ was born, the Angels sing aloud saying
“Glory to God in the Highest and on earth peace, goodwill towards men.”
And taking out
a second particle, he lays it below the first saying:
“Of the glorious Prophet and Forerunner John the
Baptist, of the holy and glorious Prophets, Moses and Aaron, Elias and
Elisha, David and Jesse; of the Three Holy Children and Daniel the
Prophet; and all the holy prophets.”
And taking out a third particle, he shall lay it below the second, thus
completing the first rank saying:
“Of the holy and all-glorious Apostles Peter and
Paul, [of the holy and all-glorious Apostle Barnabas, the founder and
protector of the Church of Cyprus]; and of all the holy Apostles.”
And taking out a fourth particle he shall place it next to the first
particle, thus beginning the second rank saying:
“Of our fathers among the saints, the great
hierarchs and teachers, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John
Chrysostom, Athanasius and Cyril, Nicholas of Myra, and of all the holy
hierarchs.”
Then taking a fifth particle, he shall place it below the fourth saying:
“Of the holy Protomartyr and Archdeacon Stephen;
of the holy Greatmartyrs George the Victory bearer, Demetrius the
Outpourer of myrrh, Theodore of Tyron and Theodore Stratelates; of the
holy Hieromartyrs Charalambos and Eleutherius and of all the holy
martyrs.”
And taking out a sixth particle, he shall place it below the
fifth, thus completing the second rank, saying:
“Of our sacred fathers whom God inspired,
Anthony, Euthymius, Savva, Onuphrius, Athanasius of Athos, Silouan the
Athonite, and of all the holy ascetics.”
And taking out a seventh particle, he shall place it at the top next to
the fourth particle, thus beginning the third rank, saying:
“Of the holy wonderworkers and selfless
physicians Cosmas and Damian, Cyrus and John, Panteleimon and Hermolaus,
and of all the holy physicians.”
And taking out an eighth particle, he shall place it below the seventh,
saying:
“Of the holy and righteous progenitors of God
Joachim and Anna; of [name of saint to whom the Church is dedicated]; of
[name of saint] to whose memory we dedicate this day; and of all the
saints, at whose intercessions visit us, O God.”
And so taking a ninth particle he shall set it below the eighth particle,
to complete the third rank saying:
“Of our father among the saints John Chrysostom,
Archbishop of Constantinople. [But if the Liturgy of St. Basil is to be
celebrated, he shall say Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in
Cappadocia].”
The
Divine Liturgy is the revelation of the communion of the saints and at the
same time a thanksgiving on our part for the communion of saints. Thus
remembering the various ranks of saints, the Priest takes out a small
particle for each rank placing them in order to the left of the lamb. For
just as in heaven the unaccountable numbers of the saints are with Christ,
here also we show the saints’ undivided bond and union with him. The
saints suffered for Christ and with Christ, and with this awesome mystery
they become partakers of even greater glory. For us they reconcile us with
Christ beseeching him as our fellow brothers to show his mercy upon us. In
the Divine Liturgy, we live the mystery of the Church, the mystery of the
communion of the Saints. We are nourished with the Body of Christ the
Eucharist, and revealed is the Body of Christ the Church. Through the
Eucharist we are nourished and we become one Body of Christ and one flesh.
Nicholas Cabasilas writing in the 14th Century says that: “The Choir of
the saints is the purpose of the Divine Economy. For this reason did God
become man and preached, suffered and died, so that men might be
translated from earth to heaven and become heirs of the heavenly kingdom.
The choir of the Saints is the proof that the kingdom of God has already
been granted to us. With millions of her members sent to heaven like a
colonization, the Church has indeed inherited the Kingdom of heaven.
On the Paten
we now have the sacrificial Lamb, the Mother of God and all the ranks of
saints, in other words, the Church Triumphant: the members of the Church
we know who fought the good fight and were victorious in their struggles:
the members of the Church who found union with Christ. But the Church
comprises of many more who are still living, who are still fighting and
hoping for their complete union with Christ: the Church Militant.
So again from
the same prosphoron or from another the Priest takes out particles for the
living remembering first the bishop in whose metropolitan area he serves
and all the priesthood, saying:
“Remember, O Master and lover of mankind, all the
Orthodox Episcopate, our father and Archbishop [Name], the honourable
order of priesthood, the diaconate which is in Christ, and every clerical
and monastic order; our brethren and fellow-ministers, the priests, the
deacons and all our brethren which Thou hast called into Thy fellowship,
by Thy tender mercy, O gracious Sovereign.”
He will then commemorate [if he is still among the living] the bishop who
ordained him and those of the living whose names he has, in other words,
the names of those he wishes to remember like his fellow priests, his
family, the church committee, the choir, those who freely give their time
to help in the parish activities and charity work, those who have made the
bread and brought the wine for the offering, those who have asked him to
be remembered, and those who are ill. At he mentions each name, he takes
out a small particle and places it below the Lamb saying:
“Remember, O Lord, [names].”
But
the Church is still not complete. On the Paten is the Lamb, the Mother of
God, the saints and the Living members, but we need to remember also those
members who died in the hope of the Resurrection. Our brothers and sisters
in Christ who passed over to the spiritual world, and although members of
the Church, we do not know if in the other world they have found salvation
or are in torment. But wherever they are, they are still our brethren and
still members of the Church and we have a duty to remember them also. So
again from the same prosphoron or from another, he Priest takes out
particles and lays them below the particles of the living saying:
“For a remembrance and remission of the sins of
the blessed founders of this holy temple [monastery].”
Then he commemorates the bishop who ordained him [if he has departed this
life] and then all those of the departed whose names he has and those who
names he has been given for a memorial. Thus he says:
“Remember, O Lord, [names].”
And he shall take out a last particle for the departed saying:
“And all our Orthodox fathers and brethren,
fallen asleep in the hope of resurrection, of life eternal and fellowship
with Thee, O Lord and lover of mankind.”
So
now the Priest has called to remembrance the living who are the Church
Militant and those who have departed, the Church Triumphant. St Symeon of
Thessalonica says that the particle that the priest takes out for each
living brother and placed near to the Lamb receives sanctification when
the Lamb becomes the Body of Christ and partakes thereof. And he
continues. “The Particle is placed in the holy chalice and is joined to
the Divine Blood of Christ, thus, the soul of the person for whom the
particle was offered receives Grace. In this way there is a spiritual
communion of the person with Christ. And if the person is a person who
lives piously or has repented of his sins, he invisibly receives in his
soul the communion of the Holy Spirit. This sanctification that the Holy
Communion gives to the living is not deprived from those who have fallen
asleep. The grace that our departed brothers receive from our Lord is no
less from that which is received from the living. During the Divine
Liturgy, the souls of the departed through the prayers of the priest,
receive forgiveness of sins. St John Chrysostom says that the holy
Apostles instituted the remembrance of the departed during the Divine
Liturgy because they recognized that the souls had much to gain and
benefit. And in another talk he tells us “not to weary from helping those
who have departed from this present life offering prayers on their behalf.
The priest
shall last of all take out one more particle and place it among the living
saying:
“Remember, O Lord, my sinful self, and forgive me
my trespasses, voluntary and involuntary.”
Thus having finished remembering the living and the dead, we now have on
the paten an image of our gathering, in other words an image of our Holy
Church. Near to Christ and the Mother of God, together with the saints and
the heavenly powers, we live the mystery of the Ecumenical gathering, a
thanksgiving of our One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.
It now remains
for the Priest to cover the offerings until the time for their uncovering
after the Great Entrance of the Divine Liturgy.
The Deacon taking up the censer and putting incense therein shall say to
the Priest:
“Master, bless the incense.”
And the Priest shall bless the incense saying:
“We offer incense unto thee, O Christ our God,
for a sweetsmelling savour of spiritual fragrance, which do thou accept
upon Thy most heavenly altar; and send down upon us the grace of Thy most
Holy Spirit.”
The Lord speaking through the Prophet Malachi said:
“For from the rising of the sun even unto the going
down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every
place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering.”
(Malachi 1:11) The pure offering is the Divine Eucharist, the bloodless
sacrifice which is offered with the grace of the Holy Spirit. The incense
now to be used by the priest foreshadows the descent of the Holy Spirit
upon the Holy Gifts. The prayer said at the blessing of the incense
denotes exactly this, that God will find our offering of incense pleasing
and in return will send down upon us the grace of the Holy Spirit. The
sweet smelling aroma of the smoke suggests the spiritual fragrance of the
Holy Spirit. The Priest by offering incense at the Prothesis, honours God
with his offering and at the same time shows that what he performs, he
does with the Holy Spirit and that through this Mystery the grace of the
Holy Spirit has been poured out to all the earth.
Before the
covering the Priest shall place above the Lamb the Asterisk (star).
Thus blessing it first with the incense, he shall set it over the holy
bread saying:
“And the star came and stood over where the young
child was with Mary his mother.”
The Asterisk has a practical use for it protects the lamb from
the covering especially if the coverings are of cloth, but also represents
the star of Bethlehem which guided the Magi to Christ the true God.
Then censing
the first veil, the Priest shall cover the holy bread and the paten
saying:
“The Lord reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the Lord is clothed with
strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished,
that it cannot be moved.” (Psalm [92] 93)
Before the coming of Christ, we were under the tyranny of the devil, under
sin and death. Christ became man to set us free from this tyranny and to
grant us the freedom of the Holy Spirit. With the fall man was exiled from
the kingdom of God, but now the Lord has come and set man under his royal
sceptre. The prophecy “The Lord reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the
Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: is thus
fulfilled. But what is the strength the Lord has girded himself with? It
is his most holy Body. This is the garment he has clothed himself with.
Christ’s flesh became the garment and belt with which he girded himself
and by which he overcame the devil. Christ was victorious and established
the world upon the true stone which is Himself.
Then censing
the second veil he shall cover the chalice saying:
“Thy virtue, O Christ, covered the heavens, and
the earth was full of Thy praise.” (Hab. 3:3)
The greatest example of God’s blessing upon man are the gifts of Baptism
and the Divine Eucharist which he grants us. What can equal these gifts
that make man into gods and sons of God, that honours human nature with
Godlike honour, which makes the clay to climb to such points of glory that
it becomes through grace one with God. This is the virtue of God which has
covered the heavens and caused the earth to be full of his praise.
The Priest
shall then cense the third veil, that is the aer, and cover both the paten
and the chalice saying:
“Hide us under the shadow of Thy wings, and drive
from us every foe and adversary. Grant us a peaceable life, O Lord. Have
mercy upon us and upon Thy world and save our souls, for Thou art good and
loving-kind.” (Psalm 17: 8)
The offering remains covered from this moment until the reading of the
Creed during the Divine Liturgy. With the covering of the holy offering,
it reminds us that not everyone recognized Christ from the beginning. When
Christ was born, his life remained almost hidden for thirty years. And
then when he appeared publicly his brothers said unto him “show thyself to
the world,” and Christ answered them “My time has not yet come.” (St John
7:3-6) Christ’s time is the time of his sacrifice. The covers are lifted
during the Creed because that is the beginning of the Liturgy of the
faithful and that is the time for the sacrifice: that is the time for
Christ to reveal himself.
Then taking
the censer the Priest shall cense the whole oblation saying three times:
“Blessed is our God, who hath been well pleased
on this wise. Glory be to Thee. Always, now and for ever: world without
end. Amen.”
In Genesis we read that God blessed creation, man and time. And because
man accepted God’s blessing, he is obliged to acknowledge this gift by
glorifying his holy name. But sin did not allow man to glorify his
creator, but rather turned the blessing into a curse. But now God has sent
a greater blessing, he has sent Christ his only begotten Son. Christ sets
us free from the curse of old by becoming himself a curse for us: for he
humbled himself so that he might raise us, and he died on the cross that
we might have eternal life. This is the blessing that we receive at the
Divine Liturgy and we give thanks unto God by blessing him and glorifying
his holy name for all his wondrous gifts and benefits he has wrought upon
us.
Then the
Priest lifting his hands shall say the following prayer of Oblation:
“O God, our God, who didst send the bread which
cometh down from heaven and giveth food to all flesh, Jesus Christ, our
Lord and God, our Saviour, Redeemer and Benefactor, by whom we are
hallowed and blessed: do Thou bless this oblation here set forth, and
receive it unto Thy most heavenly altar. Remember of Thy goodness and
loving-kindness them by whom and for whom these things are offered; and
preserve us uncondemned in the sacred service of Thy divine mysteries.For
hallowed and glorified be Thy most honourable and majestic Name, of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and for ever: world
without end. Amen.”
Christ is the heavenly Bread, he came down from heaven as he tells us in
St. John’s Gospel: “my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For
the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto
the world.”(6:32) The Aer symbolizes the consent of the Father, the
consent from heaven for the Son to be sacrificed. The Father’s consent is
confirmed by Christ’s words to Pilate when he said to him: “Thou couldest
have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above:
therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. ( St John
19:11) Thus the Office of Oblation is the preparation of the Mystery and
work of the Trinity. Christ the Lamb is offered, the Father symbolized by
the Aer gives his consent and the Holy Spirit symbolized by the Incense
prepares the entrance of the Great King. All of God’s works, the works of
creation, recreation and the salvation of man are brought about by all
three Persons of the Godhead for the Father does all things through the
Son and in the Holy Spirit.
After this the
Priest will give the dismissal and taking up the censer will cense the
Sanctuary, the Iconostasis and all the Church. In most Churches where the
Divine Liturgy follows Mattins, this censing has been reduced to just
censing the Sanctuary. During our English Liturgies where we don’t sing
Mattins, but only the Divine Liturgy I cense the whole Church. Here the
censing has a double purpose. The first is the censing at the end of the
Proskomede and the second to welcome the faithful into the house of the
Lord for the start of the Divine Liturgy whereby we ask Christ to receive
our prayers and to send down his Holy Spirit to enlighten us to understand
the sacrifice and all that he has done for us.
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