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Today’s talk
is the last in a series of talks on the various interpretations of the
Divine Liturgy. Last week we finished with the consecration of the Holy
Gifts. The bread and wine we offered to God as a representation of our
life and a thanksgiving for all the wondrous things he has bestowed upon
us have now been returned to us as the Body and Blood of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ: they have been returned to us as life eternal in
the kingdom of heaven. From the beginning of our offering of sacrifice
we saw in our offering not just an act of supplication; but also an act
of thanksgiving. Now with the consecration of the Holy Gifts we see
clearly the reasons for our thanksgiving.
The Priest
uniting thanksgiving with petition states the reasons for thanksgiving
and names those for whom prayer is still needed. The reasons for
thanksgiving are the Saints; for in them the Church finds that which she
seeks and obtains that for which she has prayed - the kingdom of heaven.
Those for whom she prays are they who have not yet reached perfection
and are still in need of prayer.
These are the Priest’s words concerning the saints:
“We offer thee also this spiritual sacrifice in
honour of those who rest in faith, our fathers and ancestors,
patriarchs, apostles, prophets, evangelists, martyrs, confessors,
virgins and all souls who have departed in peace, and especially for our
most holy and undefiled, most blessed and glorious Lady, the Mother of
God, the ever-virgin Mary.”
Then he commemorates
the whole assembly of the saints. They are the cause for which the
Church gives thanks to God. It is for them that she offers to him a
spiritual sacrifice in thanksgiving; above all, it is for the blessed
Mother of God, who surpasses all others in holiness. That is why the
Priest asks for nothing on behalf of the saints; rather, he asks that he
may be assisted by them in his prayers; because, as we have said, for
them the gifts are offered not in supplication but in thanksgiving. That
is also why at this moment the choir sing hymns to the Mother of God as
a thanksgiving:
“Meet it is in very truth to call thee blessed
who didst bring forth God, ever blessed and most pure, and Mother of our
God. More honourable than the cherubim and past compare more glorious
than the seraphim, who inviolate didst bear God the Word, very Mother of
God, thee we magnify.”
The Priest continues:
“For St. John the Prophet, Forerunner and
Baptist, for the holy and all-glorious Apostles, for St. [Name] to whose
memory we dedicate this day, and for all Thy saints, at whose
intercessions visit us, O God.
And remember all them that are fallen asleep in the hope of resurrection
unto life eternal: (and here he remembers such as he will of the
departed, pronouncing their names and then saying) and give them rest
where the light of Thy countenance watcheth over them.
Also we beseech Thee, remember, O Lord, all the Orthodox episcopate who
rightly divide the word of Thy truth, all the priesthood, the diaconate
which is in Christ, and all clerical and monastic orders.
Also we offer unto Thee this reasonable service for the whole world; for
the Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church; for them that live in purity
and decency; for those in authority over us who are faithful and pious
and all their household. Grant unto them, O Lord, to rule over us in
peace, that we also may lead a peaceable and quiet life in all godliness
and decency.
And remember first, O Lord, our Archbishop [Name], whom do Thou grant to
serve Thy Holy Churches in peace, safety, honour, health and length of
days that he may rightly divide the word of Thy truth.”
“And everyone that each of us has in mind, and all and everyone.”
We ask the Lord to remember everyone that each of the
faithful has in his thoughts so each of us should at this moment
inwardly remember and pray for his loved ones and all those who have
asked for our prayers.
The Priest continues:
“Remember, O Lord, this city [monastery or
village] in which we live, and every city and land, and them that dwell
therein with faith. Remember, O Lord, them that travel by water, by
land, by air; the sick and the suffering; those in captivity and their
salvation. Remember, O Lord, them that strive and bring forth the fruit
of good works in Thy holy Churches and them that care for the poor; and
upon all of us, do Thou send down Thy mercies.”
“And grant us with one mouth and one heart to glorify and praise Thy
sublime and majestic name, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Spirit, now and for ever: world without end.”
To glorify the sublime and majestic name of God, the faithful and the
whole Church must have one voice and one heart and to do this they must
be joined in their love for God and one another. This is a gift from
above and is only possible with the grace of the Holy Spirit.
So now after
the consecration of the Holy Gifts, the thanksgivings and supplications
the Holy Anaphora is finished and we begin a new phase of the Liturgy -
The Preparation of the faithful to partake of the Holy Mysteries. The
Priest turning to face the people shall bless them saying:
“And may the mercies of our Great God and
Saviour Jesus Christ be with you all.”
The faithful who are preparing to partake of the Precious
Body and Blood of the Lord have great need of his mercy to receive
forgiveness of their sins. The Priests also have need of his mercy for
they also are men with weaknesses. Thus the people respond with:
“And with thy spirit.” The Priest then
continues with a new set of supplications:
“Calling to remembrance all the saints, again
and again in peace let us pray unto the Lord.”
“For the precious gifts here offered and hallowed, let us pray unto the
Lord.” “That our God, which loveth mankind, who hath received them unto
His holy and heavenly and spiritual altar for a sweetsmelling savour of
spiritual fragrance, may send down upon us divine grace and the gift of
the Holy Spirit, let us pray unto the Lord.”
Here we pray not for the gifts to be sanctified for they have
already been sanctified and transformed into the Body and Blood of
Christ, but that they may impart this sanctification to us. For this is
what we mean when we ask the merciful God, who has accepted these
offerings, to send us grace in return. “Let us pray for the offerings”
says the Priest, that they be not rendered powerless to produce this
grace, as occasionally happened when our Saviour was on the earth —
there were cities in which his almighty hand could work no miracles,
because of their lack of faith. (Mark. 13:58) Thus with the next
petition we ask for faith:
“Having besought the unity of the faith and the
communion of the Holy Spirit, let us commend ourselves, and one another,
and our whole life to Christ our God.”
The unity of faith is assurance that we will be accepted in
the unity of the Divine Eucharist. That is why before we approach the
Chalice of life we ask from the Lord to grant us unity of faith. The one
faith gives us the possibility to be nourished from the one Bread of
life. The Church is one body, the Body of Christ. She has one soul, one
heart, one mouth. That is why the Church denies communion to heretics-
those who belong to other churches and are not in unity of faith with
us. This at times can seem as hard and unchristian but how would it be
possible to give communion to people who believe in Christ in a
different way, with a different soul, a different heart and mouth. We
would lose the unity of faith which is essential for our salvation.
The Priest
then offers this prayer silently:
“Unto Thee we entrust our entire being and our
hope, O Master and lover of mankind, and we beseech Thee and we pray and
implore Thee, account us worthy to partake of Thy heavenly and dread
mysteries at this sacred and spiritual table, with a pure conscience,
unto the remission of sins, the forgiveness of transgressions, the
communion of the Holy Spirit, an inheritance in the kingdom of heaven,
and for boldness to approach Thee, neither unto judgement nor unto
condemnation.”
We are now at the threshold of our communion of the Holy
Mysteries and recognize the burden of our sins, which remind us of our
unworthiness to approach. Our only hope is God’s compassion and his love
for mankind. Thus we now lay before God our whole life and all our
expectations beseeching him to forgive us all our sins and give us the
boldness to approach the sacred and spiritual table.
The Priest
then says aloud:
“And vouchsafe, O Lord, that boldly and without
condemnation we may dare to lift our voices unto Thee, O heavenly God
and Father, and say:” The Priest, considering that our preparation is
now complete and that we are worthy of Divine adoption and to be called
sons and heirs of the Kingdom of the Father, asks God that we may be
held worthy and dare to call him Father in the prayer that our Lord
taught us. Thus with one voice we lift up our voices and say:
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name, Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our
daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that
trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us
from evil.”
And the Priest recites the conclusion as a doxology saying:
“For 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.”
The Lord’s Prayer is of the greatest importance because it
was given to us by Christ himself as an example of prayer pleasing to
God. We will not, as this time, analyze the deeper meanings of the
prayer, but look only at two points of the prayer. The first we have
already seen - Our Father. We call God our Father because we are sons
and children of God. But this adoption, which we now receive and enjoy
in the Church, is an image of the future adoption and the inheritance of
the Kingdom. Children inherit wealth and lands from their parents and in
a similar way we inherit the wealth of the Holy Spirit. What is this
wealth? It is the Gifts and Grace of the Holy Spirit that will bestow
upon all those found worthy of the kingdom the greatest gift of God’s
love by making them sons and heirs which in reality means their
deification, their elevation to sainthood becoming gods through the
grace of God. St. John the Theologian writes in his Epistle:
“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth
not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear,
we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that
hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” (1
John 3:2)
The other point is “Give us this day our daily bread.” From very early
on, the Church placed the Lord’s Prayer at this very moment of the
Liturgy as a prayer to prepare the faithful for Holy Communion, because
it mentions to give us our daily bread. In Greek it is “ἐπιούσιον
ἄρτον” which literally means “the bread of substance.” Many of
the Church fathers interpret this bread as the bread of the Divine
Liturgy, the Body of Christ.
The Priest
then blesses the people saying: “Peace unto
all.” As we said last week, the Priest gives this blessing of
peace immediately before an important event. He gave it before the
reading of the Gospel because we needed inner peace to help us
understand the spiritual wisdom of the scriptures. He gave it before our
confession of faith when we were called to love one another because
inner peace prepares the road for love and when we are at peace we are
close to God. He gives it again now because the need for peace is
greater as we approach for communion. St. John Chrysostom says: Through
Holy Communion, you are about to receive inside you Christ the King of
all. When the King enters inside you, there must be great calm in your
soul. A great quietness and peace in your mind.
We are next
asked to bow down our heads before the Lord.
With the Lord’s Prayer we were reminded of our nobility by calling God
our Father, now we are called upon to acknowledge him as Lord, and to
show him a sign of our servitude by bowing our heads, thus indicating
our dependence on him. We bow before him not simply as creatures before
our Lord and Creator, but as purchased slaves to him who obtained us at
the price of the blood of his only Son; for he possesses us by double
right, as slaves whom he has made his children. For the same precious
Blood both increased our slavery and brought about the Divine adoption.
While the faithful bow their heads, the Priest gives thanks to God for
all that he has made and once more asks for those things which are
necessary to each, saying:
“We give thanks unto Thee, O King invisible,
who in Thine immeasurable power didst fashion all things, and in the
multitude of Thy mercies didst from non-being bring all things into
being. Do Thou, O Master, look down from heaven upon them that bow their
heads unto Thee; for they are bowed not before flesh and blood, but unto
Thee, O dread God. Therefore, do Thou grant, O Master, that these Thy
gifts may be for each of us beneficial, for each according to his needs.
Sail with them that sail, accompany them that travel by land, heal the
sick, O Thou who art the physician of our souls and bodies.
Through the grace and compassions and love for mankind of Thine
only-begotten Son, with whom Thou art blessed, together with Thine
all-holy, good, and life-giving Spirit, now and for ever: world without
end.”
After this the
Priest prays once more, in a low voice. Alls the prayer of the Divine
Liturgy have up to now been directed to the Father and through the
Father to the Holy Trinity. With this prayer the Priest now invokes
Christ himself, who is Victim, Priest, and Bread, that he may give
himself, by his own hand, to his servants.
“Give heed, O Lord Jesus Christ, our God, from
Thy holy dwelling place, and from the glorious throne of Thy kingdom,
and come to sanctify us, O Thou that sittest on high with the Father and
art here invisibly present with us. And vouchsafe by Thy mighty hand to
impart unto us of Thy most pure Body and precious Blood; and through us
unto all Thy people.”
At this point the Priest exclaims:
“Let us attend,”
in other words let us pay attention.
And taking the Bread of Life with both hands, and raising it and making
the sign of the Cross with it says:
“The Holy Things unto the holy.”
He does not invite everyone to receive Communion, but only
those who are worthy, for holy things are only for the holy.” Those whom
the Priest calls holy are not only those who have attained perfection,
but those also who are striving for it without having yet obtained it.
Nothing prevents them from being sanctified by partaking of the holy
Mysteries, and from this point of view being saints. It is in this sense
that the whole Church is called holy, and that the Apostle, writing to
the Christian people as a whole, says to them:
“Holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling.” (Heb. 3:1)
The faithful are called saints because of the holy thing of which they
partake, because of him who’s Body and Blood they receive. But they are
also holy because the Divine Liturgy transcends our earthly time, and is
in fact the Feast, the Banquet of the New Kingdom. If we understand “The
Holy Things unto the holy” with our earthly time then no one can receive
Communion for no one is holy but God, and to this we reply:
“One only is holy, One only is the Lord, Jesus
Christ, to the glory of God the Father. Amen.”
If the Holy things are only for those who are Holy, how do we dare
approach and partake of these dread Mysteries? We partake because we
anticipate the Universal Kingdom. We say “The Holy things unto the Holy”
because we have been transported to the banquet of the New Kingdom. We
are with Christ at the Wedding banquet which means that we have been
saved and if we have been saved then we are saints and therefore Holy.
If we are found standing with Christ after the General Resurrection then
Christ has found us worthy to be among the ranks of saints and therefore
worthy to partake of the Wedding Banquet.
The Priest now
breaks the Body of Christ into four parts saying:
“Broken and divided is the Lamb of God; which
being broken yet is not divided; Being ever eaten, never is consumed;
But sanctifieth them that partake thereof.”
During that first ever Divine Liturgy, Christ broke the Bread
and gave it to his disciples saying: “Take, eat: this is my Body which
is broken for you.” At each Liturgy this act of Christ is repeated, the
Priest breaks the Lamb of God and offers it to the faithful. Christ is
broken but not divided. After the breaking, Christ is complete and whole
in each part of the Holy Bread. When we partake, we don’t partake of a
little part of Him, but we take in us the whole of Christ and being
eaten he is never consumed.
Next the Priest takes one of the four pieces and puts it into the
Chalice saying:
“The fullness of the Holy Spirit.”
At this moment the union of Christ’s Body and Blood takes
place and means that Christ is One and proclaims the union of Christ’s
nature. “The fullness of the Holy Spirit” means that Christ fills us
with the Holy Spirit. Then taking a vessel with warm water, called the
Zeon which means warm water, the Priest shall first bless it saying:
“Blessed is the fervency of Thy saints, always,
now and for ever: world without end. Amen.” And then he pours the warm
water into the chalice, saying: “The fervency of faith, fill of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.”
The warm water symbolizes the descent of the Holy Spirit upon
the Church. For the Holy Spirit came down when the whole plan of
redemption had been completed. And now the descent of the Spirit comes
about when the sacrifice has been offered and the holy offerings have
reached their perfection. Starting with the Preparation for the Divine
Liturgy until now we have seen the whole scheme of Christ’s work. We saw
the symbol of the infant Christ, of Christ led to death, crucified, and
pierced with a lance; then we saw the bread transformed into the most
holy Body which actually endured these sufferings, and rose from the
dead, and ascended into Heaven, where it sits at the right hand of the
Father. So it is fitting that the later fulfilment of all these events
should be symbolized, that the celebration of the Liturgy may be
complete, the final effects being added to the work of redemption. What
is the final effect? It is the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the
Church. And this is represented by the warm water poured into the
chalice. Since this warm water is not only water, but shares the nature
of fire, it signifies the Holy Spirit, who is sometimes represented by
water, and who came down upon the Apostles in the form of fire. This
point of the liturgy represents that moment in time, for the Holy Spirit
came down after all things pertaining to Christ had been accomplished.
In the same way, when the holy offerings have attained their ultimate
perfection, this water is added. For the mysteries also represent the
Church, which is the Body of Christ; she received the Holy Spirit after
our Lord’s ascension; now she receives the gift of the Holy Spirit after
the offerings have been accepted at the heavenly altar; God, who has
accepted them, sends us the Holy Spirit in return, as we have said; for
then and now there is one Mediator and one Spirit.
The Priest
will then say to himself the prayers of preparation and receives
communion. After his Communion he will place the other pieces of the
Body into the Chalice and call the faithful to approach saying: “With
fear of God, with faith and love thaw near.”
Repentance, confession, prayer and fasting comprise the spiritual
preparation for our participation of the Divine Mysteries. Fear of God,
faith and love constitute the way in which we must approach for
communion: our spiritual and physical attitude before Christ who calls
us to his Supper. St. John Chrysostom says: When you are about to
approach the holy and fearful table, to this Divine Mystery, approach
with fear and trembling, with a clear conscience, with fasting and
prayer. Without making a noise, without stepping on toes, and without
pushing those next to you. Because this disorder is a sample of the
greatest madness and contempt of the Holy Mysteries. Tell me, o man, why
do you make a noise, why are you in such a rush? Are you being pressured
by the need to do your chores? And are you at this moment thinking that
you have work to do? Do you have the feeling that you are on earth? Do
you think that you are together with other men?
During the first
petitions at the start of the Liturgy the Priest prayed: For this holy
temple and for them that enter therein with faith, reverence and fear of
God. We now again hear of this fear of God: With fear of God, with faith
and love draw near. I said then that this fear is not to be
misunderstood as fear because of the threats of hell and damnation. When
we speak of having fear of God we do not mean that we tremble before the
fearful God who will punish us for our sins, but we fear of losing the
communication we have with him and of losing the grace we have been
granted to be able to feel his love for us. Fear in biblical language
means reverence. We have a good example from the epistle of St. Paul to
the Ephesians which we read during the marriage ceremony where is says:
“ἡ δὲ γυνὴ ἵνα φοβῆται τὸν ἄνδρα”
If we translate this in the modem concept of the word then it would read
“and the wife see that she fear her husband.” In the King James
translation of the text it is correctly translated as “and the wife see
that she reverence her husband.” A wife who reverences her husband shows
not only that she loves him but also that she has complete trust in him
to be there for her and the family no matter what difficulties they
might encounter throughout their married life. Here also in the Liturgy
we are told to have reverence for God; to love him with our whole being
and to have complete trust in him that he will be there for us no matter
what we encounter in life.
We approach also with faith not doubting for a moment that what we are
about to receive is the Body and Blood of our Saviour. Of course our
eyes see bread and wine and our tongue senses the taste of bread and
wine, but things are not as they appear. From the moment when the Holy
Spirit descended and the Sacrament was perfected, we no longer have that
which we see with our eyes or taste with our tongue. We have that which
we believe, worship and adore. We have the very Body and Blood of our
Christ who communicates to us life and incorruptibility.
The communion
of the faithful concludes the Sacrament of the Eucharist. From the very
beginning the Church perceived the partaking of all the faithful at the
Liturgy. It was the realization of the Lord’s words “That ye may eat and
drink at my table in my kingdom.” (Lk. 22:30) As a member of the Church
and the Body of Christ it was unthinkable for anyone not to partake. But
we see in the history of the Church a gradual falling away of great
numbers of the Church who have been brainwashed into believing that they
can only partake one, two, three or four times a year or at the most
once a month and before one is worthy of Communion he is obliged to
first go to the Sacrament of Confession and also prepare himself by
fasting for a number of days. So why this profound change in our
perception of partaking? Were the early Christians more holy than us?
Did they live in a world without sin? The answer is no. Certainly the
world was different then but the devil was still the same and his evil
influenced the world then as it does today. What is different in our
times is how sin is manifested. We have progressed and evolved into a
society of telecommunications and computerised gadgetries which more
easily convey and bring sin before our eyes but the basic sins are still
the same. Our world today is completely different from the world of two
thousand years ago but it is not responsible for the non participation
of the faithful of the Holy Sacrament.
The reason why people
do not have frequent communion today is not because they are more sinful
that their ancestors. This is the customary explanation for the gradual
disappearance of communion among the laity. It is blamed on the
unworthiness of the laity to approach the cup frequently and need
purifying before they approach. The world we live in brings them into
continual contact with impurities, untruths and sinfulness and these
need special cleansing, a special preparation, a special effort of
repentance. But these are not characteristics only of our modem world:
all past generations had their share of evils and even in the heart of
the Byzantine Empire where everyone strived to live in the Christian
ideal we see such evils that even in our times they sound unbelievable
and shocking. The non participation of the laity cannot be blamed on our
contemporary world which in fact has seen a slow but steady revival of
frequent communion among the laity. The cause for infrequent communion
began with past centuries long before the age of science and
telecommunications so this is where we must look if we want to know why.
It is difficult to pinpoint the exact cause and it probably was a
combination of causes occurring from the evolution of the Church, but it
would seem that monasticism played a major role.
Monasticism in one
form or another was always present in the Church and while in the early
centuries they were not considers as clergy, when they were eventually
recognized as such, leadership of the Church slowly passed into their
hands and under their influence. Thus asceticism constituted the moral
ideal of Christian societies and introduced into the life of the people
a pious consciousness of sinfulness and unworthiness. This gradually led
to a distancing of the clergy and laity from each other. The whole
atmosphere of the Church changed from being one body in Christ where all
the members, whether clergy or laity, were equal into a Church where the
clergy were always worthy to partake, but the laity had to go through a
cleansing process before being considered worthy. This separation of
Clergy and laity is seen in other areas and especially in the structure
of the Church building. In the early centuries the sanctuary was visible
to the laity and could see the clergy and everything that took place
within it. Slowly the iconostasis began to divide the clergy from the
laity which at first began with a low screen and eventually became the
dividing wall we now have. Also the prayers of the Liturgy were said
aloud and were heard by the laity, but slowly the laity was deprived of
these prayers as they began to be said silently by the priests.
Today a good number
of priests are beginning to say the prayers out loud, but the majority
still say them silently and I’ve known one or two who skipped them
altogether. What no one seemed to have asked or explained is why God’s
chosen people cannot listen to the prayers that are offered not on
behalf of the priest but on behalf of the people. All the prayers except
one are plural in character and assume that the offering of the
sacrament is made by the whole body of the church and the sacrament is
consummated with the assumption that all the faithful will partake. They
do not separate the people into two categories of those who are worthy
to partake and those who are unworthy. From the dismissal of the
Catechumen and the exclamation “The doors the
doors” the sacrament is accomplished on behalf of the faithful
and for them and everyone present who is a member of the Body of Christ
is obliged to partake. That there is no division of worthy and unworthy
is seen clearly when the priest exclaims” “The
Holy Things unto the holy” and the choir reply
“One only is holy, One only is the Lord, Jesus
Christ, to the glory of God the Father. Amen.” If there was meant
to be a division of the worthy from the unworthy then the priest would
have to say “The Holy Things unto the worthy” But who can say he is
worthy except the priest and not because he is sinless, but because the
priesthood of Christ with which he has been clothed with is sinless. But
being worthy or unworthy belongs to our earthly time. Let us not forget
that the Divine Liturgy is our ascent to the heavenly altar, our
transportation to a different age after the Second Coming of Christ and
our participation in the holy Sacrament is our participation of the
wedding banquet which we will share with Christ in his kingdom together
with the Mother of God and all the saints.
It is with this
understanding that immediately after the communion of the faithful the
priest blesses the people saying: “Save, O God,
Thy people and bless Thine inheritance.” The words are taken
from Psalm 27 “Save thy people, and bless thine
inheritance: and take care of them, and lift them up for ever.”
These words are connected to another Psalm (Psalm 2) where in prophecy
David wrote as though the Father was saying to the Son,
“I will give thee the heathen for thine
inheritance, and the ends of the earth for thy possession.”
Christ inherited us when as a man he took upon himself the sins of many
and through his victory over death he delivered our souls from the
grasps of Satan and his demons. We are like the spoils of war that the
victor takes as his reward, the inheritance of the conqueror who now
carries his new possessions with him into his own kingdom which in this
case is the kingdom of heaven. But even though we are the spoils of war,
he accepts us into his kingdom not as slaves, but as free men, co-rulers
and inheritors of his kingdom and there he takes care and provides for
our every need and feeds us with his own body. The eyes of our souls for
the first time see clearly the joys of this wonderful and bright kingdom
and all our senses are imbued with the unbounded love that flows from
our king and saviour together with his Father and Holy Spirit.
Thus with our newly
found joy we sing: “We have seen the true
Light; we have received the heavenly Spirit; we have found the true
faith. We worship the undivided Trinity: for the same hath saved us.”
Notice now that we do not ask to be saved but say that the undivided
Trinity has saved us. Salvation is now a reality because we have been
made inheritors of the kingdom of heaven. We are standing with Christ in
the future age after his Second Coming where we will reign with him for
ever and ever.
The Divine
Liturgy took us on a journey to our future homeland. Our earthly altar
truly ascended to the heavenly altar, but now after being given a taste
of heaven and immortality, we must return again to our present world
with all its imperfections and continue our lives of struggle so that in
that future age we may be accounted worthy of sharing in its eternal
glory. The Divine Liturgy is now coming to a close; the faithful have
communicated and the priest returns the Holy Things to the altar. As he
takes up the censer and censes the Holy Things he says
“Be Thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let
Thy glory be above all the earth.” This again is taken from
the psalms (5 6:5) and it refers to Christ’s Resurrection and Ascension
into heaven. It expresses the wonder that fills the souls of the
faithful when they see with the eyes of their souls the Risen Christ
with his human nature sitting in glory on the right hand of God and at
the same time it expresses our anticipation of our resurrection and
ascension to the same place.
The Priest then takes up the paten and chalice saying in secret:
“Blessed is our God” and then turning
to face the people he says aloud: “Always, now
and for ever: world without end.” The
“Blessed is our God” is said silently
because it seems to be a later addition to help make a connection with
“Always, now and for ever: world without end.”
But if understood properly there is no need for any connection. The
“Always, now and for ever: world without end”
refers to the Body and Blood of Christ which the Priest shows to the
people for the last time before setting them down in the Prothesis. The
Priest is praying that the Holy Things of which we participated will
remain with us “Always, now and for ever: and unto all eternity.”
The choir
respond with:
“Let our mouth be filled with Thy
praise, O Lord, that we may sing of Thy glory: for that Thou hast
accounted us worthy to partake of Thy holy, divine, immortal and
life-giving mysteries. Preserve us in Thy holiness that we may think on
Thy righteousness all the day long. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.”
We are now asking the Lord to grant us the grace required
so that our mouths will be continually filled with praise for him. We
wish to sing of his glory because he accounted as worthy of his holy and
life giving mysteries. We then ask that the sanctification we have
received may remain with us, that we may not lose grace or the gifts
which have been vouchsafed to us. How? By preserving us in his holiness
and by thinking of his righteousness all the day long. All that is left
is to thank the Lord for all the wondrous gifts he has bestowed upon us.
The priest calls the
faithful to give thanks. He says:
“Be upright: having partaken of the divine,
holy, undefiled, immortal, heavenly, life-giving and awesome mysteries
of Christ, let us worthily give thanks unto the Lord.
Succour, save, have mercy and preserve us, O God, by Thy grace.
Having prayed that this whole day be perfect, holy, peaceful and without
sin, let us commend ourselves, and one another, and our whole life to
Christ our God.”
The priest then offers a prayer of thanksgiving:
“We give Thee thanks, O Lord, and lover of
mankind, who art the benefactor of our souls, for that Thou hast
accounted us this day to be worthy of Thy heavenly and immortal
mysteries. Make straight our ways, stablish us all in Thy fear, watch
over our life, make sure our steps; by the prayers and supplications of
the glorious Mother of God and ever-Virgin Mary, and of all Thy saints.
For Thou art our sanctification, and to Thee we ascribe glory, to the
Father, and to the Son, and unto the Holy Spirit, now and for ever:
world without end.”
With the
Liturgy at an end it remains for the priest to give the dismissal.
During the first centuries this was simply a phrase like “Let us depart
in peace” or “You are dismissed in peace”. With time, the dismissal was
added upon so that today when the priest says: “Let us depart in peace”
he then adds “let us pray unto the Lord” and as he does so he comes out
of the sanctuary and stands in the middle of the Church. Why does he do
this? Up until now he has remained in the sanctuary, he was transported
to the heavenly altar and to a future time outside of our present time
and there he conversed with God. We were all there with him but now we
have descended and returned to our earthly habitat and to our present
time. The priest as the good shepherd cannot remain in heaven abandoning
his flock on earth. He needs to be with them and in the midst of them so
that they can hear his voice and follow him. Here in the midst of his
congregation the priest offers a prayer of common supplication for the
church and for all the faithful. The prayer is called the “Ὀπισθάμβωνον
εὐχήν” which literally means “Behind the pulpit prayer” It
received its name from the fact that it was said in the middle of the
Church behind the pulpit. It reads:
“O Lord, who dost bless them that bless Thee,
and sanctifieth them that put their trust in Thee: save Thy people and
bless Thine inheritance. Preserve the fullness of Thy Church, and
sanctify them that love the beauty of Thy house. Do Thou, by Thy divine
power glorify them, and forsake us not who put our trust in Thee. Grant
peace to thy world, to Thy Churches, to Thy priests, to those in
authority over us, to the army and to all the people. For every good
gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from Thee,
the Father of lights; and to Thee we ascribe glory, thanksgiving and
worship, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and
for ever: world without end.”
In response to the prayer that we ascribe glory and
thanksgiving, the choir sing three times:
“Blessed is the Name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore.”
From the Holy Doors the priest gives the last blessing to the people:
“May the blessing and mercy of the Lord come upon
you, by His divine grace and loving-kindness, always, now and for ever:
world without end.”
The Liturgy comes to end with the priest calling upon the Mother of God
and all the saints that through their intercessions Christ may have
mercy upon us and save us. Amen.
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