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The Holy and Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom. The point of the liturgy is not to become “relevant” to life, but rather the reverse, to make life relevant to the liturgy. On entering the church, we leave the world behind, and enter a life in heaven surrounded by the angels and the saints .
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The point of the liturgy is not to become “relevant” to life, but rather the reverse, to make life relevant to the liturgy. On entering the church, we leave the world behind, and enter a life in heaven surrounded by the angels and the saints.
On entering the Church the first thing we see is the iconostas
On entering the church the priest says the beginning prayers These are prayers in front of the iconostas These prayers are said in order to prepare the priest and the deacon to have to have the proper disposition in order to celebrate the Liturgy. Essentially, we come from the world and enter heaven, when we come into the Church. WE are surrounded by icons of the angels and saints, and thus we need time and a prescribed form in order to be able to offer the Liturgy.
The Vesting prayers These prayers are said while the priests vests himself to celebrate the Divine Liturgy. What are vestments, Why do we have them? Why the prayers? Imperial times
Byzantine sub-deacon and server, holding a byzantine censor.. Note, 12 bells
Before the Divine Liturgy begins, the priest and a deacon, if one is serving, begin by preparing the gifts of bread and wine for use in the service. This preparation is itself a considerable service. More than simply setting aside the bread and wine, a very symbolic ritual has developed.
Five loaves of bread are used, reminiscent of the five loaves in the wilderness, from which the masses were fed. During the proskomedia, the priest cuts out a square called the Lamb from the main loaf of bread (prosphora). This will be consecrated during the Liturgy of the Faithful to become the holy body of Christ. He also removes small particles and places them on the discos (or paten) in commemoration of the Mother of God, various saints, and the living and departed faithful. The remainder of the bread is blessed and distributed to parishioners and visitors after the service; this bread is called antidoron. During the Proskomedia, the priest also blesses wine and water, which are poured into the chalice. Warm water will be added to the chalice after the epiclesis. Naturally, the gifts are censed several times during the Proskomedia. The conclusion of the Proskomedialeads directly into the beginning of the Divine Liturgy.
If a bishop begins the Liturgy, he begins it by blessing the four corners of the world
The deacon (or priest, if no deacon is serving) continues with the Great Ektenia, so called because it is longer than most litanies and its petitions touch on the needs of the world: peace and salvation, the Church, her bishops, her faithful, captives and their health and salvation, deliverance from anger and need. It is concluded, as with most litanies, by calling to the remembrance of the faithful the witness of the Theotokos and the saints. In light of that powerful witness, the faithful are charged to commend their lives to Our Lord Jesus Christ. A closing prayer is exclaimed by the priest.
There follow three antiphon. The first two anitphons are followed by a shorter litany and a prayer. The third is followed by the small ektenia, which is followed by the small Entrance, at which is sung, "O Come, let us worship and fall down before Christ. O Son of God... save us who sing to You: Alleluia!" "Son of God" is normally followed by an insertion, such as "risen from the dead," "wondrous in thy saints," or "through the prayers of the Theotokos," depending on the day.
Only Begotten Son and Word of God, Who willed for our salvation to be incarnate of the holy Mother of God and ever virgin Mary, Who did without change become man and was crucified, O Christ our God, Trampling down death by death, Who are one of the Holy Trinity, Glorified with the Father and the Holy Spirit, save us.
The hymn is very [theological, composed in honor of the incarnate Jesus Christ. The hymn also served to clearly respond to multiple heresies that plagued the Church such as the meaning of the incarnation, changelessness of God, resurrection, Trinitarian theology.
The small entrancepage 7 The origin of these entrances goes back to the early church, when the liturgical books and sacred vessels were kept in special storage rooms for safe keeping and the procession was necessary to bring these objects into the church when needed. Over the centuries, these processions have grown more elaborate, and nowadays are accompanied by incense, candles and liturgical fans. In the liturgical theology of the Church, the angels are believed to enter with the clergy into the sanctuary, as evidenced by the prayers which accompany the various entrances
The deacon carries the Gospel in a way that covers his face. This represents the coming of the Lord. The Priest recites the following prayer:"O Master, Lord our God, Who has appointed in Heaven legions and Hostsof Angels and Archangels for the service of your Glory, grant that with our entrance there may be an entrance of Holy Angels serving with us and glorifying your goodness; for to you are due all glory, honor, and worship; to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; now and for ever and ever. Amen
Tropar is a short hymn of one stanza, or one of a series of stanzas. The word probably derives from a diminutive of the Greek tropos (“something repeated,” “manner,” “fashion”). The early tropars were also called sticheron(probably from stichos, “verse”); but currently the two terms are treated separately, with different melodies used for each. Most troparia are chanted to one of the Eight Tones used in the Eastern liturgical tradition, though some have unique melodies to which they are chanted. Sometimes, troparia will be interpolated between verses of a psalm or other scripture.
Kondak Historical format A “kontakion” is a poetic form frequently encountered in Byzantine hymnography. It was probably based in Syriachymnographical traditions, which underwent an independent development in Greek-speaking Byzantium. It could best be described as a “sermon in verse accompanied by music”. In character it is similar to the early Byzantine festival sermons in prose—a genre developed by Isaac the Syrian—but meter and music have greatly heightened the drama and rhetorical beauty of the speaker’s often profound and very rich meditation. The form generally consists of 18 to 24 metrically identical stanzas called oikoi (“houses”), preceded, in a different meter, by a short prelude, called a koukoulion (“cowl”). The first letters of each of the stanzas form an acrostic, which frequently includes the name of the poet. The last line of the prelude introduces a refrain, which is repeated at the end of all the stanzas. The main body of a kontakion was chanted from the ambo by a minister (often a deacon) after the reading of the Gospel, while a choir, or even the whole congregation, joined in the refrain. The length of many kontakia—indeed, the epic character of some—suggest that the majority of the text must have been delivered in a kind of recitative, but unfortunately, the original music which accompanied the kontakia has now been lost.
Sacred Tradition ascribes the origin of the Kontakto St. Romanos the Melodist during the 6th century. Certainly, Romanos' inspired compositions represent the apex of the Golden Age of Byzantine hymnography. His masterpiece is the Kontakion for the Nativity of Christ. Up until the twelfth century, it was sung every year at the imperial banquet on that feast by the joint choirs of Hagia Sophia and of the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople. Most of the poem takes the form of a dialogue between the Mother of God and the Magi, whose visit to the newborn Child is celebrated in the Orthodox Church on the 25th of December, rather than on the 6th of January (the Feast of the Theophany on January 6 celebrates the Baptism of Christ in the Orthodox Church).
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. Ἅγιος ὁ Θεός, Ἅγιος ἰσχυρός, Ἅγιος ἀθάνατος, ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς.
The Trisagionpage 10 The trisagion is a pious and oft-repeated prayer in the liturgy. This prayer originated in a miracle which occurred in Constantinople in the middle of the fifth century. Emperor Theodosius, Patriarch Proclus, and all the people were beseeching God on open ground for deliverance from the destruction which threatened them from violent earthquakes. They suddenly saw a boy snatched up to heaven; when he was returned to earth, he reported that he had heard the angels singing the trisagion. At the bidding of the Patriarch Proclus, the whole people sang it with devotion and the terrifying earthquakes ceased.
The Cherubikon was added to the Divine Liturgy by the Emperor Justin II (565 – 578)
The petitions of this litany are similar to those of the Great Litany, but the augmented repetition of the words "Lord, have mercy" makes its petitions more fervent. Here we pray that the Lord will be compassionate toward us, for life, peace, health, salvation and the forgiveness of the sins of the "brethren of this holy and all-venerable temple" (the parishioners). The last petition of this litany refers to those who are active and do good works
Cherubic hymnPage 17 The Cherubikon, or Cherubic Hymn, is the hymn normally sung at the Great Entrance during the Byzantine liturgy.. The hymn symbolically incorporates those present at the liturgy into the presence of the angels gathered around God's throne. The Cherubikon is divided into two parts. The first is sung by the people before the celebrant begins the procession with the Gifts, and the second, immediately after the celebrant has completed the commemorations.
Byzantine priest holding has hands up and forward for the cherubicon
Icon of St Constantine the Great and the Fathers of the First Council of Nicaea of 325 as holding the Niceno–Constantinopolitan Creed of 381
This Symbol of Faith was formulated by the First (325 A.D) and the Second (381 A.D.) Ecumenical Councils as the framework of truths of the Christian believer. It summarizes the basic dogmas from the vast treasures of Divine Revelation. The belief in the Holy Trinity is confessed in the first eight articles; the remaining four articles refer to the destiny of man related to God’s desire for salvation
Holy Holy Holy th this hymn the worshipers glorify the Holy Trinity: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The hymn originates from the ecstasy of Isaiah in which he witnesses the angelic order of Seraphim crying "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts" and from the vision of the Apostle John in which he saw worshipers in Heaven exclaiming: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was, and is, and is to come!" (Is. 6:3, Rev. 4:8). Through the singing of this prayer, the Church raises the hearts of the believers to contemplation of the Lord’s glory and, together with the heavenly powers, to extol and worship Him.
What is the moment of consecration? Answer; There is non The whole of the consecratory prayer is essential. The words of Christ, followed by the epiclesis are essentail.
Following the Creed, the priest begins the anaphora, the great eucharistic prayer over the gifts, so called because of the initial phrase: "Let us lift up our hearts." The two principal anaphoras in use in the Eastern Church are those of St. John Chrysostom and St. Basil the Great. After remembering the history of our fall and redemption and the institution of the eucharistic meal, the priest invokes the Holy Spirit, asking that he be sent down on the gifts. It is sometimes noted that this invocation, the epiclesis, is the climax of the change of the gifts of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, but there is not total agreement among Orthodox scholars whether the change can actually be pinpointed to a single moment in the service. It is certainly true that the prayers of the service treat the gifts as consecrated and changed after this point.
