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The Divine
Liturgy consists of three parts – the Preparation rite called the
“Proskomede” or “Office of Oblation, the Liturgy of the Catechumen and the
Liturgy of the faithful. Last week we had a visual demonstration of how
the Preparation rite is performed and how the bread and wine is prepared
before the Divine Liturgy begins.
Today we will
begin with the Liturgy of the Catechumen. This is the Liturgy from the
opening blessing until the prayers for the Catechumen and their dismissal
before the Liturgy of the faithful begins. In truth there is only one
Liturgy and it is wrong to call the one part the Liturgy of the Catechumen
and the other the Liturgy of the faithful The complete sacrament is the
Liturgy of the faithful, but by calling the first part the Liturgy of the
Catechumen we acknowledge that in times when the Church had many adults
preparing to be baptized to become full members of the Church, they were
allowed to remain and hear the service up to a certain point and then they
were asked to leave so that only the baptized members remained. Catechumen
as you know comes from the Greek word Κατηχούμενος which means someone
receiving instructions, someone receiving a catechism. Today we may have
one or two Catechumen and we ignore the command to have them leave the
Church and allow them to stay until the end.
So let us
begin the Divine Liturgy. The Priest having prepared himself will give the
opening blessing of the Liturgy.
“Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father, and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit: now and for ever world without end.”
Every service begins with an opening blessing or doxology. The most common
is “Blessed is our God…”, but the Divine Liturgy and the services that
were once joined to the Liturgy like the services of Baptism and Marriage
begin with “Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father, and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit.” When Jesus began his ministry he began with the
proclamation of the kingdom: “Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the
gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the
kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel”.(Mark
1:14-15)
The kingdom of
God is the content of the Christian faith; it is the goal and meaning of
the Christian life. Everything we do and believe in is so that we might be
received into the Kingdom of God and be united with God. By blessing the
kingdom of God we acknowledge and confess that it is our highest and
ultimate value, the object of our desire, our love and our hope. The
Divine Liturgy is not just a celebration of a historical event that took
place in Jerusalem 2000 years ago, it is also the Banquet of the Kingdom
which we will partake of after the Second Coming of Christ, thus it is our
return to Paradise, our return to God in the future age after the Second
Coming. The time is indeed fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is truly at
hand. But there is another reason why we begin our services with a
doxology. Our Church services are prayers offered on behalf of the
faithful and prayer is intercourse with God. Prayer or intercourse with
God is not only petitioning God with the things we want from him, prayer
should consist of thanksgiving, doxology, confession and petition. In our
intercourse with God doxology should have the first place then
thanksgiving and confession and last of all petition. It is fitting that
we begin with glorifying God for his power and glory and to thank him for
the wondrous things he has done to save us from death and raise us up to
heaven to be by his side before we begin to bombard him with our petitions
for assistant.
Thus we begin the
Liturgy with the doxology “Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father, and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” And we glorify the Three Persons of the
Holy Trinity because it was through the Incarnation of the Lord that man
learned that God was three Persons and the Mystery of the Divine Liturgy
is centred in the Incarnation. The Divine Liturgy is the Mystery of the
presence of Christ. Therefore it is the revelation of the Kingdom of the
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, because the presence of Christ is the same
Kingdom of God. Christ’s presence at the Divine Liturgy transforms earth
to heaven. With the coming of Christ the door of the Kingdom was opened to
man and with the Divine Liturgy we enter this door of the Kingdom and
pre-partake of her good things.
As the Priest
gives the opening blessing, he takes up the Gospel book and makes with it
the sign of the cross above the Holy Altar. So the first words of the
Liturgy are a blessing and doxology, but the first action is a Cross. Why
does the Priest at this point make the sign of the Cross? Because the
Cross guides us to the Kingdom of Heaven. On the Cross hang the King of
Glory and whilst on the Cross, the thief who was crucified on the right
said “remember me O Lord in thy Kingdom. Before the Crucifixion, the Cross
was a sign of condemnation and a curse, but now it has become an object of
reverence and honour and is the foundation for our salvation. Through the
Cross we found anew the way that leads to the Kingdom of God. I mentioned
a little earlier that the Divine Liturgy transcends our earthly time and
becomes the banquet at the Second Coming of Christ. Christ said that at
the end of time, the Sign of the Son of Man shall appear in heaven. (St
Matthew 24:30-31) The Sign is the Cross, thus we begin the new age with
the Sign of the Cross as a herald pronouncing the Kingdom. So having said
the opening blessing with the sign of the Cross, the faithful respond with
Amen. The word Amen is Hebrew and means let it be, let it come to pass. We
hear it many times during the Liturgy and it is the respond of the
faithful and their participation and seal to what the Priest has said. By
saying Amen, the people agree with the Priest and make all the petitions
the Priest asks for their own, because the Divine Liturgy is not a work of
the Priest alone but a work of all the people.
Immediately
after the opening Doxology the Church teaches us the way in which we
should pray.
“In peace let us pray unto the Lord.”
Without peace in our souls we cannot pray, without calmness of
the thoughts we cannot concentrate on the task we have before us. Sin
brought into man and the world confusion and turmoil and this turmoil
doesn’t allow our thoughts to remain in prayer, but as soon as we start
praying our minds begin to fill with other things that we should do or
say. Only inner peace can help us keep our mind and soul on prayer and
only Christ can give us this inner peace.
And so having asked
for this inner peace we now ask for a different peace:
“For the Peace from on high and the salvation of
our souls let us pray unto the Lord.”
With the first peace petition the church teaches us how to
pray, with this second petition she now teaches us what we should first
ask for: the peace of God and our salvation. This is how Christ taught us:
to first seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all the other
things that we need will be given us. The peace from above is the
salvation of our souls. The soul is the part of man that scripture
identifies as being in the image and likeness of God. In the eyes of God
it is a priceless treasure and in a parable Jesus told us that the
shepherd left the ninety nine righteous ones to seek out and save the one
that was lost. The soul is the gift of God to man and as the divine image
in us it is indeed priceless for as Christ said
“what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his
own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matth.
16:26)
For a
Christian life, peace in one’s soul is of the utmost importance for
spiritual progress and throughout the Liturgy we receive a blessing from
the priest to be at peace. The peace from on high signifies the kingdom
and righteousness of God and only when we have this peace can we truly
understand the meaning of the Liturgy, only with this peace can we truly
understand scripture and only with this peace can we truly pray for
others.
With every
petition the Priest makes, the faithful respond with
“Kyrie eleison or Lord have mercy.” Why does the Priest ask the
people to pray for so many different things and yet the people always ask
for one thing only: for mercy? To ask for God’s mercy is the same as
asking for his Kingdom. But how do we know that the Kingdom of God is
signified by his mercy? Christ speaking on the reward of the merciful, in
one place says: “Blessed are the merciful for they
shall obtain mercy” and in another place he says that they shall
inherit the kingdom of God, thus proving that God’s mercy and the
inheritance of the Kingdom are one and the same thing. Thus the prayer
“Lord have mercy” is sufficient for the faithful, for as already quoted
Christ said: “First seek ye the Kingdom of God and
all these things shall be added unto you.” (St Matthew 6:33)
So having
prayed for inner peace, for Christ like peace, and our salvation we now
turn our prayer to others. The Priest says:
“For the peace of the whole world, for the good
estate of the holy churches of God and for the union of all, let us pray
unto the Lord.”
The peace that we have asked in the previous petitions we now
ask of God to give to the whole world so that everyone may become
partakers of the kingdom of God. If all nations participate in this peace
from on high there would be no suffering or wars because we would all
treat each other with Christ-like love and compassion.
The second part of the petition: “for the good
estate of the holy churches of God,” is directed at our Holy
Church that she may remain steadfast in her ministry and faithful to her
essence and purpose which is to teach all nations of salvation in Christ,
to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Because of human
weakness the Church can develop certain administrative problems and at
various times we have seen the Church divided by schismatics and at other
times our Clergy have scandalized the people. Thus we beseech God to
preserve the Church in the faith so that she does not forget that Christ
left the Church in the world as a witness to him and his kingdom. The
petition ends with asking God for the unity of all. Christ came to gather
into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. The Church prays
for this unity of all so that there will no longer be divisions that
separate us from each other. She prays for the fulfilment of Christ’s
prayer when he said “that they may be one, even as
we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in
one”. (John 17: 23)
We next turn
our thoughts to our own temple and to the people who have gathered to pray
together.
“For this holy temple and for them that enter
therein with faith, reverence and fear of God, let us pray unto the Lord.”
We pray that God will preserve the temple unshaken and safe from every
kind of desecration and impiety. The temple is for Christians the sacred
place where can be felt the presence of God and has been Sanctified for
the worship of God. For those that enter the temple with faith, reverence
and fear of God we ask that God grant them special graces. But here
everyone who enters the temple should examine himself to see if in his
heart he has true faith and reverence for God; does he have fear of God?
This is something we often lose because we become accustomed to the Church
and its surroundings. We should not misunderstand what this fear of God
is. It does not mean that we should fear God because he has the power to
cast us into hell and eternal damnation. Fear of God is associated with
reverence and love for God. It is a fear that gives birth to devotion,
reverence and godliness in the soul so that the soul doesn’t take God for
granted because of the freedom and familiarity created by love. If we have
this fear or reverence it will manifest itself in our conduct, in what we
say, what we wear and in general, our every movement in Church will
reflect our piety and reverence.
The Priest
continues:
“For our Archbishop [Name], for the honourable
order of priesthood, and for the diaconate which is in Christ, for all the
clergy and the people, let us pray unto the Lord.”
This petition is for all the clergy and the people who belong to the flock
of the Metropolitan or Archbishop mentioned. Each Metropolitan Bishop is
called an Archbishop in his own Metropolitan area. He is the Head and
authority of his Church and no other Bishop, not even a Patriarch, can
interfere in the internal running of his area. With the person of the
Bishop we see Christ himself and during the Divine Liturgy he is Christ’s
representative sent to do his work. A Bishop has the responsibility for
his flock and although God grants the Bishop and Priests the grace to
carry out their duties, they do not cease to be men with weaknesses and
illnesses. Therefore we pray for all the Priesthood, that God keep them in
good health, to strengthen them bodily and spiritually so that they can
carry out their duties with love and humility.
“For this city [village, monastery]; for every
city and land, and for them that dwell therein with faith, let us pray
unto the Lord.”
We are now
told to turn our thoughts to where we live and to every city where
Christians live. Of course our earthy homes are only temporary and our
thoughts should dwell on our permanent dwellings in the Kingdom of God,
but we should not stop being interested in the well being of all the
inhabitants of the earth and especially our fellow citizens and fellow
Christians of all the earth. Therefore we pray that God preserve all
cities and land, from destruction, pestilence, famine, earthquakes, flood,
fire and the sword, from invasion of enemies, civil war and sudden death.
“For fair seasons and the abundance of the fruits
of the earth, let us pray unto the Lord.”
With this
petition we now ask God for his blessing upon all the earth, to send the
rain, the sun, the wind and everything else needed that we might have good
crops and fruit in abundance. In our times when man continually destroys
the natural order of the seasons by destroying the ozone layer, by
interfering with the natural growth of crops, for quick gains, with
fertilizers, insecticides and hormones that help produce lovely looking
fruit, but harmful to our health, we need more than ever Gods interference
and blessing.
“For them that travel by land, by water, by air;
for the sick and the suffering, for those in captivity, And for their
salvation, let us pray unto the Lord.”
This petition
is especially touching as we now pray for all those who travel by various
means, for the sick and the suffering, for those in captivity or prison
and cannot be with us at the celebration of the Divine Liturgy. The
dangers of travelling are indeed great, whether it be by car, train, ship
or plane, and we ask God to protect them from all danger whilst on their
journey. We are asked to remember them who are sick, to remember that many
of our fellow men cannot attend Church because of illness or are in
hospital awaiting an operation, but even among the congregation there are
those who have illnesses and suffer greatly or who are burdened with many
problems and have come to find comfort and relief from their daily
suffering, for as Christ said: “Come unto me, all ye
that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (St
Matthew 11:28)
And we pray for those in captivity or in prison, that for whatsoever
reason they find themselves there, they might, through our prayers, find
the way to God and his Kingdom.
“That He may deliver us from all tribulation,
wrath, danger and necessity, let us pray unto the Lord.”
We now beseech
God to deliver us from every kind of suffering and pain, to protect us
from all danger and necessity that has to do with our bodily and spiritual
being.
But tribulations are also seen as medicinal because without them we cannot
grow spiritually. For as we read in the Acts of the Apostles:
“and that we must through much tribulation enter
into the kingdom of God.” (14:22). And as St. Paul says:
“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather
than pleasant. Later on however, it yields the peaceable fruit of
righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews
12:11)
“Succour, save, have mercy and preserve us, O
God, by Thy grace.”
This last
petition varies from all the previous petitions in that all the previous
ended with the Priest asking the people to “pray unto the Lord.” In this
case we ask God to help us, save, have mercy and preserve us by sending
down his grace upon us. Basically with this petition we are saying that
everything in our life depends on the power of God and his Divine Grace,
because Divine Grace is capable of covering and curing all the spiritual
and bodily needs of man.
“Mindful of our most holy and undefiled, most
blessed and glorious Lady, Mother of God and ever-Virgin Mary, and of all
the saints, let us commend ourselves and one another, and our whole life
to Christ our God.”
To commend
ourselves and our whole life to God is not something easily done. It is
not given to all to commend themselves to God and to place themselves in
his care. For the words of commendation are not in themselves enough, it
is also necessary that God should accept us. And we need assurance of this
acceptance before we can concern ourselves only with the things of God. Do
we have enough faith to abandon all anxiety for our own affairs and to
confidently commit everything into God’s hands? Since this matter requires
so much wisdom and thought, we do not make this commendation until we have
first summoned to our aid the Most Holy Mother of God and all the saints
and then after this we commend ourselves and our lives to God to be placed
in his keeping.
To this the
faithful reply “To thee O Lord.” In
other words we are in total agreement with what the Church is asking us to
do. To give ourselves totally to the guidance and caring providence of
God: to accept without hesitations, complaints and moaning everything God
will allow to happen to us whether it be pleasing or unpleasing to us.
Then the
Priest will read the prayer of the first antiphon silently:
“O Lord our God, whose might is ineffable; whose
glory passeth all understanding; whose mercy is infinite; whose love
toward mankind is beyond utterance: do Thou, O Sovereign Lord, of Thy
compassion look down upon us, and upon this holy temple; and bestow upon
us, and upon them that now make their supplications with us, Thy bountiful
goodness and mercy.”
God’s power and love for mankind cannot be expressed with human words; his
mercy cannot be measured by human standards; his glory cannot be
understood by the human mind. We acknowledge that God is beyond all human
reasoning, but we also know that his love for us is not contained within
barriers, because it was for us and for our salvation that he took upon
himself the flesh of man and suffered all for our sakes. Therefore in his
compassion for us, we beseech him to look upon us and to grant us
everything we have asked of him.
The Priest
then says aloud the doxology to the prayer:
“For unto Thee belong all glory, honour and
worship, unto the Father, and unto the Son, and unto the Holy Spirit, now
and for ever: world without end.”
Here we are confessing our belief that God is one in his nature, for unto
Thee is in the singular tense, but at the same time we confess that God is
Triune in his Hypostasis, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and to each
Person belongs all glory honour and worship.
Next follows
the singing of the first of three Antiphons. The Antiphons are Psalms from
the Old Testament and they are called Antiphons because in the early
Church they were sung by the people who divided into two groups, each
singing a verse in turn. The word literally means to voice a response
which is what the two choirs do. There are two traditions to singing the
Antiphons. The first and most ancient is to sing the complete Psalm which
is rather lengthy. The First Antiphon is Psalm 102. This is rarely heard
today except in some monasteries. Instead we now hear the shorter
Antiphons that were sung on Great feast. We have not entirely removed the
Psalm from the Liturgy but use various verses from it between each singing
of “By the Prayers of the Mother of God.” Thus today we sing:
“Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is
within me, bless His holy Name.
By the Prayers of the Mother of God, Saviour, save us.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.
By the Prayers of the Mother of God, Saviour, save us.
The Lord hath prepared His throne in the heavens; and His kingdom
ruleth all.
By the Prayers of the Mother of God, Saviour, save us.”
But what is
the meaning of the Antiphons, why do we at this point of the Liturgy sing
Psalms from the Old Testament? The Divine Liturgy in its totality is the
Mystery of the life of Christ. Each part of the Liturgy takes us to a
certain period in Christ’s life. Thus the Antiphons represent the first
stage of Christ’s appearance on earth, when he was not yet known by the
multitudes; when he was in the world but the world knew him not, that is
to say, the period before John the Baptist, before the lamp was lit. At
that time, he still had need of the prophetic writings. But after He whose
coming had been foretold appeared, he no longer needed the prophets. John
the Baptist witnessed to his presence and pointed him out as the Lamb of
God and the person whom the prophecies spoke about. So with the singing of
the Psalms we relive the time of the Baptist who prepared the way of the
Lord. The Psalms do the work of the Baptist they prepare the way of the
Lord and call us to receive him.
The singing of
the Antiphons prepare us to receive Christ, they prepare the way and we
would understand this better if we see the historical development of the
Liturgy. Up until the twelfth or thirteenth century the Liturgy did not
begin with the petitions we just heard. These were said after the singing
of the Trisagion hymn – O Holy God, Holy and Strong, Holy and Immortal
have mercy upon us. The Liturgy began with the Little Entrance- that is
the entrance with the Holy Gospel and the singing of O Holy God… was the
hymn that was sung during the entrance. The antiphons were a separate
service and were sung in a procession. Imagine yourselves back in
Constantinople. The main Church, the cathedral Church was Hagia Sophia but
throughout the city there were many churches and chapels dedicated to
various saints. These were considered as one ecclesiastical whole, in
other words all the churches were an extension of the main church Hagia
Sophia. When they were to celebrate the feast of a certain saint, the
bishop, priests and the people would first meet up at Hagia Sophia and
then in procession would make their way to the church where the Eucharist
was to be celebrated. The singing of the Antiphons took place during the
procession and was completed at the door of the church with the reading of
the “prayer of entrance” and only then did the clergy and the people
actually enter the church for the performance of the Divine Liturgy.
Today we no longer
have these processions and have added the Antiphons to the beginning of
the Liturgy. The entrance into the church has remained as the Little
Entrance with the Gospel, but even today we can see evidence that this was
the actual beginning of the Liturgy in the Archieratical Liturgy, in other
words during the Liturgy when it is presided by a bishop. The bishop
remains on his throne or stands in the middle of the church, but doesn’t
take part until the Little entrance when he will officially enter the
sanctuary.
So now let’s
return to the order of the Liturgy as it has come down to us today. After
the First Antiphon, we again make three petitions to the Lord.
“Again and again in peace, let us pray unto the
Lord.”
“Succour, save, have mercy and preserve us, O God, by Thy grace.”
“Mindful of our most holy and undefiled, most blessed and glorious Lady,
Mother of God and ever-Virgin Mary, and of all the saints, let us commend
ourselves and one another, and our whole life to Christ our God.”
This is not a repeat of the previous petitions. The Divine Liturgy is
man’s journey to meet with God. With each step that we take closer to God
we seek for new experiences of his grace, for God’s grace is without
limits.
Now as before,
the Priest says silently the prayer of the Second Antiphon:
“O Lord our God, save Thy people, and bless Thine
inheritance. Preserve the fullness of Thy Church. Sanctify them that love
the habitation of Thy house. Do Thou by Thy divine power exalt them unto
glory; and forsake us not who put our trust in Thee.
For Thine is the might, and Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory,
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and for ever:
world without end.”
Here we ask God to save and bless the faithful Christians who are his
beloved people, separated from the rest of the world and given to Christ
the Head of the Church as an inheritance. Again we ask that he preserve
every member of the Church and to sanctify all those that love and work
for the bright and good appearance of the temple and to reward them with
glory, and lastly not to forget and abandon us who have placed all our
hopes and trust in him.
The choir now
sings the Second Antiphon. The Second Antiphon is the singing of Psalm
145, but as with the First Antiphon, we rarely hear the complete Psalm,
but use various verses from it between each singing of the Easter Antiphon
“Save us, O Son of God, Thou who art risen from
the dead, who sing to Thee, Alleluia.” We use the Easter
Antiphon for Sundays because each Sunday is the feast of the Resurrection.
On weekdays, instead of saying Thou who art risen from the dead, we say
Thou who art wonderful in the saints. The word Alleluia is Hebrew and
means praise the Lord.
Then follows
the Hymn:
“O Only-begotten Son and word of God, O Thou who
art Immortal, yet for our salvation didst deign to be incarnate of the
holy Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary, and without change was made man.
O Christ, our God, who was crucified for us, and by death didst overcome
death. Being one of the Holy Trinity, glorified together with the Father,
and the Holy Ghost, save us.”
The hymn is said to have been written by the Emperor of Byzantium
Justinian who ruled during the 6th century. The last two words of the hymn
“Save us” are basically what we are seeking for; the rest is a theological
statement of who Christ is. It acknowledges that Christ is the Immortal
Son and Word of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity who to save
mankind became himself a man by taking flesh from the Virgin Mary without
changing his Divine nature and by his death on the Cross overcame death.
Then we repeat
the three petitions which begin with:
“Again and again in peace, let us pray unto the
Lord.”
But as we said before we are not repeating ourselves but with each step
that we take closer to God we seek for new experiences of his grace.
After the
petitions the Priest again says silently the prayer of the Third Antiphon:
“O Thou who hast given us grace with one accord
to make our common supplications unto Thee; and dost promise that when two
or three are gathered together in Thy name Thou wilt grant their request:
fulfil now, O Lord, the petitions of Thy servants, as may be most
expedient for them; granting us in this world knowledge of Thy truth, and
in the world to come life everlasting.
For Thou, O God, art good and loving-kind, and to Thee we ascribe glory,
to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever:
world without end.”
We are now reminding the Lord of what he has promised:
“That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching
any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father
which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my
name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:19-20) We are
asking him to keep his promise and now fulfil it by granting us our
petitions which are to our spiritual benefit.
Having
finished the Prayer, the choir will now sing the Third Antiphon. Today
this is usually the hymn of the day, but in past times the choir sung the
Beatitudes which we usually sing during our English Liturgy. Keeping in
mind that the Antiphons were a separate service originally sung during the
procession to the Church, when they were added to the start of the Liturgy
they were also given symbolic meanings, thus the first two Antiphons
represented the period before John the Baptist started to preach, before
Christ publicly appeared to the multitudes. The Third antiphon now
represents Christ showing himself to the World. He comes to John the
Baptist to be baptized and John testifies that he is the Christ the Lamb
of God who taketh away the sin of the world. God the Father also testifies
that “Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased.” After this Christ fasted and was tempted for forty days
and then gave his first sermon. The sermon is known as the Sermon on the
Mount and the Beatitudes were part of that first sermon. Very
appropriately they are now sung by the choir as the Priest lifts up the
Gospel Book to make the Little Entrance. The raising of the Gospel
symbolizes the manifestation of Christ for the Gospel is the verbal image
of Christ and always represents Christ in person.
The Little Entrance
is a central point in the Divine Liturgy and as already mentioned it was
once the actual beginning of the Liturgy. With the Bishop entering the
Church his appearance was an image and type of Christ appearing to the
world. Today the Priest by lifting up the Gospel Book from the Holy Altar
and holding it to the height of his face shows the very same entrance of
Christ into the temple and reminds us of his promise that where
“two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them”. (Matth. 18:20) In older times
when the entrance was the actual beginning of the Liturgy the symbolic
meanings of the procession and entrance represented an ascent in stages
into heaven and the Kingdom of God. The procession was the first ascent
and the Entrance into the temple the second ascent and finally the Great
Entrance with the Chalice and Paten the third ascent into the actual
kingdom of heaven. The clergy in fact didn’t enter the sanctuary until the
moment of the Great Entrance for the sanctification of the Holy Gifts.
Everything that preceded the Great Entrance was performed in the middle of
the Church.
In comparison, today
the clergy begin the Liturgy already at the altar and although we can
still give the same interpretations of our actions as being ascents in
stages to the heavenly kingdom we have also given them symbolic meanings
from the historical life of Christ. As the Priest exits the Sanctuary for
the Little Entrance he is preceded by a lit candle. The candle
symbolically represents John the Baptist who came before Christ to prepare
and reveal him to the multitude. Christ said of St. John:
“He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were
willing for a season to rejoice in his light.” (St John 5:35-37.)
The candle is thus saying “Behold the Lamb of God.”
It is the first public showing of Christ to the multitudes. The Liturgy up
to this point relied on the Old Testament prophecies to speak of the
coming of Christ: now we have no more need of the Old Testament: Christ is
now here in person. If you remember our first talk on the Liturgy I spoke
about the Alexandrian and Antiochian schools of thought and here we have a
perfect example of their influences. The stages of ascent into heaven is
Alexandrian and reflects the eschatological interpretation and the
historical interpretation of Christ’s humanity and life is Antiochian.
The Priest now
standing in the centre of the Church will say the following prayer
silently:
“O Master and Lord our God, who
stablished the heavenly orders and hosts of angels and archangels to
minister unto Thy glory: Grant that the holy angels may enter with our
entrance, to minister with us, and with us to glorify Thy goodness.”
The Priest prays that with our Entrance into the Sanctuary, we may be
accompanied with angels who will assist us in our ministry and glorify God
with us; for as the angels were present in Bethlehem glorifying the New
born Christ, so now they are present and glorifying God: Angels and men
mingle with one another, for where the King is present, there his army
also goes. (Lity of Theophany) The Priest will then bless the entrance
into the Sanctuary saying: “Blessed is the
entrance into the holiest, always, now and for ever: world without end.
Amen.”
Then holding up the
Gospel book he says aloud: “Wisdom. Stand
steadfast.” Here we are told not only to be standing but also
that our minds and hearts should be lifted and not to dwell on earthly
things. Thus with our whole being standing upright we may be worthy to
receive Christ who is the only Wisdom, the source and giver of Wisdom. The
people respond with:
“O come, let us worship and bow
down before Christ. Save us, O Son of God, Thou who art risen from the
dead, who sing to Thee, Alleluia.”
With this, the Priest will enter the Sanctuary and place
the Gospel on the Holy Altar. We have now entered the New Testament and so
appropriately we now sing hymns dedicated to the New Testament feasts, to
the Mother of God and the Saints who are witnesses of the New Testament.
This is where
we will finish for today and continue from this point at our next meeting.
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