Services

Liturgy - the most significant of all divine services

The liturgy is the most important of all divine services. The word "liturgy" came to Russian from the Greek meaning "public service".

Divine Liturgy has been served since the times of the Apostles, but a uniform service for all churches was set up in the IV century, first by St Basil the Great, Archbishop of Cesaria and then by St John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople. The liturgy of St Basil the Great differs from the liturgy of St John Chrysostom in the long prayers, which the priest secretly reads in the altar. But the order of proceedings in both of them is identical.

During a liturgy, the entire earthly life of our Lord Jesus Christ, His sufferings and His death are recollected.

The earthly life of our Lord Jesus Christ is divided into three parts:

The liturgy, too, is divided into three parts:

The name of the first part of the liturgy is "Prothesis" - a Greek word meaning "gift". The prothesis is the recollection of the followers of Jesus Christ who, following His instruction prepared the bread and wine for supper. To this day, before the beginning of the Liturgy, bread and wine is prepared for Sacrament. The bread is called communion bread (prosphora)which in Russian means "brought". This goes to the ancient custom when Christians brought to the temple all that was necessary for divine service: bread, oil, wine. From these gifts, part was used for Sacrament, from other bread pieces were removed with remembrance of the names of those, from whom and for whom the gifts were and the rest was distributed to believers at the end of the liturgy when everybody sat down at the table and ate, and therefore divine service is referred to as the supper of love.

Prothesis is served in the altar and is not visible to those present in the church.

It is a reminder of the secret of the birth of Jesus Christ in a modest cave and His humble life until beginning of His public service.

In the liturgy five communion breads are used, but for Sacrament - only one in the image of one the single Saviour for all, Jesus Christ. It consists of two parts connected into one bread. The two parts signify the Divine and human nature in Christ. On the flat surface of the communion bread is a seal with the cross and the characters IC. XC. HI KA meaning "Jesus Christ conquers". This prosphora is called the Lamb because St John the Baptist called Jesus Christ "The Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world."

Before the Lamb is used for Sacrament, the communion bread is prepared. It is put on a diskos, the Star is placed over the Lamb, and on top the coverlet is placed. An aer is put over the coverlet. This reminds us of Jesus Christ's birth, when He was entwined in veils and put in the manger and the star, which appeared in the sky, had informed the Eastern Wise Men of His birth and led them to Him for worship. From this communion bread, the Priest uses a spear to cut out the centre in the shape of a cube. This cubic part of the communion bread is entitled the Lamb. The Lamb has four incisions made in it in the shape of a cross and the right side of it is pierced by a spear. Red wine with water is poured into a holy Chalice. This means that Jesus Christ was born to suffer, and that before His birth, His sufferings and death, which were executed (when He was on the cross, one soldier struck Him with a spear in the right side, from where blood and water flowed) were predicted.

From others prosphoras, pieces are taken out and are placed near the Lamb: on the right, as seen from the Eastern side, one piece in honour of the Virgin Mary, on the left - nine particles in honour of the nine ranks of angels and Saints, under the Lamb – for the hierarchs, the priesthood and the living, even lower – for the Orthodox Christians who have departed. This means, that in a Liturgy the saving sacrifice, which has already glorified many in heaven, is brought, and petitions for the pardoning of sins and receiving glory and bliss in heaven.

During the prothesis, the third and the sixth hours consisting of the psalms 16, 24, 50, 35, 54 and 90, in which the Lord’s sufferings are conveyed, are read.

When bread and wine for Sacrament are ready, the second part of the liturgy begins – synaxis.

The second part of the liturgy is called the Liturgy of the Catchumens - for those preparing to receive Holy Baptism. During this part of the divine service the faithful and the catchumens pray together. The glorification of God begins with the priest exclaiming: "Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever unto the ages of ages." This part of the liturgy has an instructive and preparatory nature. Believers prepare for holy Sacrament through prayer to the Lord by listening to readings of the Holy Scriptures.

Prayers to the Lord are contained within the Great Litany, which teaches us to pray together, with a clear and unburdened soul, remembering the Holiest Mother of God with all the Saints, instead of depending on oneself and one’s achievements before God, but having the Mother of God and the Saints act as intercessors, commend ourselves and each other and all our lives to Christ, that is entrust ourselves to the will of God and with readiness accept whatever He sends.

Prayers to God are followed with expressions of gratitude to Him for His blessings, especially for the salvation brought to us. Therefore psalms 102 and 145 are sung, in which all of the Lord’s mercy is depicted. Gratitude is expressed in a triumphant song in honour of Jesus Christ, "the Sole Begotten Son of God", who had the will to – not having changed His Deity – to be born from the Holiest Mother of God and to suffer death for us. This song begins with the remembrance of the life of Jesus Christ on Earth: His Christening and appearance to the world with a sermon.

During this moment, the Royal Gates are opened and the Little Entry with the Gospel takes place. The opened Royal Gates are a reminder of the point in the Christening of the Lord when the heavens opened and the voice of the Father being heard: "This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased." The entrance with the Gospel is a reminder of Jesus Christ's appearance with a sermon after the Christening. The candle, which is carried before the Gospel, symbolises the fact that the Evangelical teachings are light for the people, which teaches them goodness and truth. The Gospel is raised in the Royal Gates with the exclamation: "Wisdom! Aright!". This symbolises the fact that the Evangelical teachings were proclaimed to the whole world and that it is divine knowledge, which must be listened to standing up straight and attentive, as though one was listening to the Lord Himself. Following this, those in attendance at the liturgy are invited to bow to the Lord; "Come, let us worship and fall down before Christ who is wonderful in His saints, O Son of God, save us who sing to Thee: Alleluia!" (Psalm 94, 6).

After the Little Entry, the Apostle and the Gospel are read, because God continues His divine sermon and teachings in His Holy Church. The Apostle are holy books written by the Lord’s students and contain the teachings of Christ. The Gospel is the Word of God, in which the life, teachings and acts of Jesus Christ are described.

The second part of the liturgy comes to an end with a prayer to God by the whole congregation in the Litany for the Catechumens in which we ask God to "reveal unto them Gospel of righteousness" and make them worthy of Holy Baptism and enlighten oneness of “mind and soul”. After the words "catechumens depart", those who have not been baptised cannot remain in the church and are requested to leave the church building. The Liturgy of the faithful begins.

On the Altar, the Antimins (a silk cloth on the altar with the image of the laying into the tomb of Jesus Christ) is unfolded. One side of the Antimins, where the relics of a saint are sewn in, is laid out and now only the faithful are called to prayer. The priest secretly asks the Lord: "Please accept, dear Lord, our prayers and grace us with the honor of bringing You prayer and supplication and bloodless sacrifices for all your people." The deacon then says two brief litanies, the Royal gates open and the Great entrance begins, signifying the beginning of the third part of the liturgy-the Liturgy of the Faithful.

The Great entrance is the remembrance of the moment when, in ancient times, prepared gifts were brought from a special compartment to the altar. At this moment, the names of everyone, from whom and for whom gifts were offered, were read. Nowadays, as a lot of names are commemorated, the commemoration is done in the altar. The deacon, with Aer on his left shoulder, holds the Diskos, with the lamb, on his head and the priest with the chalise in his hands leave the northern doors of the altar on the ambor, facing the faithful. They commemorate the patriarchs, metropolitans, the local ruling bishop, the clergy, monastics, the founders of the church and the Orthodox Christians who are present. After this, the priest and the deacon come into the altar and place the precious gifts on the altar. As the Great entrance is a recollection of the solemn entrance of the Lord into Jerusalem and His procession with the cross to sufferings and death, the altar signifies the tomb of the Lord, and the covers-the burial shroud. The Royal gates are closed behind the burial of the Lord-the closing of the cave-the Lord’s tomb with a stone and the laying of a seal upon the stone.

In spiritual sense, the Great entrance denotes the Great entrance of the Lord into Jerusalem for the last Easter and His procession to sufferings. Then many of His students and people follow Him. Now, He is invisibly accompanied by angelic powers. Such an explanation follows from the hymn which is sung at this time called the Cherubic Hymn: "Let us who mystically represent the Cherubim and chant thrice-holy hymn unto the Life-creating Trinity now lay aside all earthly care, that we may receive the Kings of all, Who cometh invisibly upborne in triumph by the ranks of angel. Alleluia." "Upborne in triumph" literally means "borne aloft as on spears." This refers to an ancient practice- when glorifying their King or a war hero – he would sit upon their shields and be raised on spears, so it would appear the King was carried by their spears.

The deacon begins the Litany of Intercession: "Let us complete our prayer unto the Lord." And after the litany and blessing of the people by the priest, he exclaims, "Let us love one another that with one mind we may confess…" The choir sings, "Father, Son and Holy Spirit, The Trinity, one in essence, and undivided." The deacon proclaims: "The doors! The doors! In wisdom, lit us attend." With these words, the curtain behind the gates open and preparation for the consecration of Sacred Gifts commences, whilst the choir sings the Creed. In ancient times, the doors of the church were closed so that the uninitiated could not enter the church.

Sacred Gifts are consecrated in commemoration of what God Himself did at the Last Supper. Jesus Christ gave thanks and praise to God. And the priest, blessing the faithful says, "Let us give thanks unto the Lord" and in a secret prayer thanks God for all His blessings, for His graciousness in receiving from us praise and gratitude, even though He has thousands of angels who sing His praises.

After giving thanks, Jesus Christ broke off pieces of bread and began to distribute them to His apostles saying: "Take, eat; this is My Body, which is broken for you, for the remission of sins" Handing them a Cup, He said "Drink of it, all of you: this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for you and for many, for the remission of sins." These words, said by the priest, transport the faithful to the Last Supper.

In this part of the Liturgy, the very sacrifice made on the cross is also remembered. This is done through three rites:

Immediately before the sacrament of communion is taken by the faithful, the curtain over the Royal Gates is closed and the following proclamation is made: "Holy things for the Holy", this reminds the communicants that they must be cleansed of their sins and therefore worthy to receive the Body and Blood of Christ in communion.

Clergy receive communion in the altar. Then the Royal Doors open (symbolising the opening of the Gates of Heaven), the Deacon proclaims, "With the fear of God and faith draw near" and brings onto the Ambo the Chalice with the Sacred Gifts. This signifies Jesus Christ’s resurrection and His appearance before His apostles. Therefore, all Christians should bow to the Risen Lord Jesus Christ as was done by His apostles and myrrh bearing women. After that, the priest reads a prayer before communion and offers communion to the faithful.

After communion, the Chalice with the Sacred Gifts is brought into the altar. There the priest transfers the Sacred Gifts from the altar onto the Table of Oblation with the words, "Always, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages." This reminds us of the Ascension of our Lord and His promise to remain with us until the end of time.

After the minor litany, the priest reads a "prayer before the Ambo". This prayer is so called because it is read before the Ambo in the middle part of the church. Then – the priest with the cross in his hands, stands before the open Royal Doors and says the Prayer of Dismissal during which church saints-saints, who are remembered on the given day- the author of the served liturgy, Saint John Chrysostom or Saint Basil the Great. The faithful approach the Ambo where the priest stands, reverently cross themselves and kiss the cross. The priest distributes to them antidoron which are the remainders of small pieces of prosphora that were used for communion and commemorating of the living and the dead. The Greek word antidoron means "instead of gifts." The particles are taken out of the prosphora and placed near the Holy Gifts and are also immersed into the Holy Chalice with the prayer that the Lord purify with His Blood the sins of all those commemorated through the prayers of the saints.

This is why we treat the antidoron with reverence.

In distributing the antidoron, the priest gives a reminder of two ancient customs. The first is, in ancient times, all Christians took communion at every divine service. Nowadays, not all are worthy of it, therefore, antidor is distributed to them. The second custom pertains to liturgies. In ancient times liturgies ended with a meal of love at which all joyfully ate bread and drank wine which had been brought and they sang the praises of God.

At the end of the liturgy, the priest proclaims, "Let us depart in peace." And reads a prayer in which he calls for the Lord’s blessing of all the people. At the end, he gives the Lord’s blessing, from the Royal gates-as if from the open sky, and asks that the Lord forgives and saves us all with the prayers of his Holiest Mother, "for He is good and loves mankind."