Explaining the Divine Liturgy. Prayer at the end of the Divine Liturgy Liturgy for the laity

P about the end of the communion of the laity, the priest, while singing in chorus: “Hallelujah,” brings the Chalice into the altar and, placing it on the Throne, covers it with a shroud, after which he places a folded cloth and a spoon under the shroud lying on the Paten. Next, standing in the Royal Doors, he blesses those praying with the words: “Save, O God, Thy people and bless Thy inheritance,” after which he again returns to the Throne, where, having blessed and accepted the censer from the deacon or sexton, he censes the Holy Gifts three times, without saying anything. Having given the censer and Paten to the deacon, he takes the Chalice and, depicting with it a cross above the Throne with the words: “Blessed is our God,” kisses it through the cover and, standing in the Royal Doors, makes a cross overshadowing those praying with it, while proclaiming: “Always, now, and ever and ever.” After this, the priest goes to the Altar, on which he places the Holy Chalice and, having accepted the censer, again censes the Holy Gifts and the deacon, and then gives the censer.

E If the priest serves without a deacon, then he pronounces the exclamation: “Always, now, and ever…” with the Paten in his left hand and the Chalice in his right, after which both are transferred to the Altar.

IN returning to the Throne, the priest, during the deacon’s recitation of the litany of gratitude, takes the antimension sponge and, having depicted the Cross on the unfolded antimension, kisses it and places it in the middle of the antimension, after which he closes its upper, lower, left and right parts, and then rolls it up in the same way oriton. Next, he takes the altar Gospel and, holding it in a vertical position, while pronouncing the final exclamation of the litany: “For You are our sanctification...” with it he depicts the sign of the Cross over the folded antimension, after which he places it on top of it.

Z Then the priest proclaims: “Let us depart in peace,” and, leaving through the Royal Doors to the sole, descends to the pulpit, where, after the deacon’s words: “Let us pray to the Lord,” he reads a special prayer behind the pulpit: “Lord Almighty, Who made all creation with wisdom...”. While singing in chorus three times: “Be the name of the Lord...” he returns to the altar and, having read before the Throne the prayer for the consumption of the Holy Gifts: “Lord our God...”, blesses the deacon, and at the end of reading Psalm 33 on the choir: “I will bless the Lord.” at all times,” approaching the Royal Doors, he gives a blessing to those praying with the words: “The blessing of the Lord is upon you. By grace and love for mankind, always, now and ever, and unto ages of ages.” After this, the priest from the altar proclaims: “Glory to Thee, Christ God, our hope, glory to Thee,” and then, having kissed the altar Gospel and the edge of the Throne, he takes the Holy Cross from it and goes out to the pulpit, where he pronounces the dismissal of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts: “ Christ, our true God, through the prayers of His Most Pure Mother (the holy temple and day, as well as the saint of the next day) and like our holy Father Gregory the Two-Speaker and all the saints, will have mercy and save us, for He is good and a lover of mankind.” At the conclusion of the dismissal, he, having overshadowed everyone with the Holy Cross, after the choir has finished singing the charter of many years, kisses it himself, and then gives it to the worshipers to kiss, after which, once again having overshadowed everyone with it, he returns to the altar, closes the Royal Doors and the catapetasma. At the altar, the priest, if he serves without a deacon, consumes the Holy Gifts and, having then put the liturgical vessels in the proper place, covers the Altar and the Altar with special shrouds. Next, he reads prayers of thanksgiving for Holy Communion (the same as at the full Liturgy) and unmasks himself, reading at the same time: “Now you forgive...”, the Trisagion according to the “Our Father...” and the dismissal troparia of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts (from the Missal). After this, the priest, having made three bows from the waist and venerated the Throne, leaves the altar, and then the temple.

Conclusion.

D The activity of a priest, as a performer of various public and private divine services, is so broad and diverse in its aspects that it is not possible to examine it in its entirety in as much detail as possible on the pages of this work. And this is hardly necessary, since the main purpose of writing the work is, as already indicated in the introduction, to give a newly ordained priest or a person preparing to take holy orders the most complete understanding of the practical features of performing such widespread divine services as All-night Vigil and Liturgy

With V. John Chrysostom, as well as the rarely celebrated, but rather unusual in rite, Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts.

ABOUT the absence in the text of a description of such rites as the removal and erection of the Venerable Cross (September 14/27, 3rd week of Lent, August 1/14), the great consecration of water on the day of Epiphany (January 6/19) and its Christmas Eve (5/18 January), the burial of the Mother of God (on the day of Her Dormition, August 15/28 in the evening), as well as the liturgical features of Holy Week and the feast of Holy Easter are explained by the fact that they are all quite accessible and described in detail in the corresponding liturgical books and in special, numerous currently published collections. To all of the above, it should be added that every priest, especially the rector of a church, must avoid excessive and unjustified reductions in church services, and while strictly (of course, within reasonable limits) following the instructions of the Charter, one must beware of fussy haste and thoughtless formalism, which drive out the spirit of prayer, for, according to the prophetic word: “Cursed is everyone who does the work of the Lord (which is worship) with negligence” (Jer. 48:10). As for the so-called “local” liturgical practices that exist in various dioceses, all of them, although outwardly somewhat different from each other, are not, however, the fruits of unauthorized liturgical creativity, but are entirely based on the same sources that were used in writing this work.

Bibliographic list of used literature.

1. Bible. Holy Scripture of the Old and New Testaments. – M.: Publishing house. Moscow Patriarchate, 1994. – 950 p.
2. Liturgical instructions for 1949 for priests and church ministers. – M.: MP Publishing House, 1948. – 163 p.
3. Bulgakov S.V. Handbook of the clergyman. Reprint edition in 2 volumes. T.1 – M., 1993. – 940 p.
4. All-night vigil and liturgy. – St. Petersburg, 1997. – 85 p.
5. Gaslov I.V. Modern Orthodox Worship: A Practical Guide for Clergy and Laity. – St. Petersburg: Satis, 1996. – 210 p.
6. Georgievsky A.I. Order of the Divine Liturgy. – N. Novgorod, 1995. – 215 p.
7. Debolsky G., archpriest. The Orthodox Church in its sacraments, worship, rituals and requirements. Reprint edition. – M., 1994. – 530 p.
8. Inozemtsev A.G. A practical guide for diaconal ministry. Thesis – Tobolsk, 1999. – 106 p.
9. John (Maslov), archimandrite. Notes on liturgics. – Kyiv, 1999. – 212 p.
10. Jonah (Karpukhin), archimandrite. Textbook on liturgics. – Zagorsk, 1981. – 113 p.
11. Handbook for a priest: Resolving perplexing questions from pastoral practice: Reprint edition. – M.: Lestvitsa, 1999. – 320 p.
12. A clergyman's handbook. T. 1 – M., 1977. – 776 p.
13. Neapolitansky A., archpriest. Church Charter in tables with the application of practical guidance on how a priest, deacon and psalm-reader should behave and do: Reprint edition. – M., 1994. – 130 p.
14. Nikolsky K., archpriest. A manual for the study of the Charter of Divine Services of the Orthodox Church: Reprint edition. – M., 1995. – 870 p.
15. Missal. – M., 1997. – 625 p.
16. Typikon. – St. Petersburg, 1997. – 592 p.
17. Shishkov V., deacon. Features of the cathedral priestly service of the All-Night Vigil and Divine Liturgy. Graduate work. – Tobolsk, 2000. – 48 p.

On April 27, 2014, on the 2nd week after Easter, the Apostle Thomas, the day of Antipascha, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' officiated at the great consecration of the church in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” in Khovrin (Moscow) and led the Divine Liturgy in the newly consecrated church. At the end of the Liturgy, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church addressed the believers with the Primate's word.

Your Eminences, venerable rulers! Dear Father George, rector of this holy temple! Dear fathers, brothers and sisters!

Today's Sunday is a special day, the first after Easter. It is on this day that we talk, perhaps, about the most important thing that turns a person’s life, ordinary life, into an enduring value in the eyes of God and in a person’s own eyes.

The well-known story about the assurance of Thomas, the same Apostle Thomas who did not believe when his disciples told him that the risen Christ had appeared, carries a lot of meaning. And the Gospel passage (John 20:19-31), which we heard today, ends with the wonderful words that everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God will have life in Him. That is, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, through faith in God, a person gains the opportunity to live in God, that is, to live forever. He gains the opportunity through communication with God to be with Him forever.

The Lord did not say that in order to have life in Him, you need to do some specific things, for example, build or create something that would shake the minds of people, make scientific discoveries, incredible insights in the field of thought, wonderful works of art . He did not say that in order to have life in Him, one must have human power and use it for good. He didn't say that in order to have life in Him you had to be a powerful man, strong, rich, prosperous. He said only one thing - that whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ, that is, the Savior, and the Son of God, will have life in Christ, in God. This means that faith is the very force that can lead us into eternity, and no other force, no other virtue, no other humanistic dimension of life is enough to find eternity in God, only faith matters.

As long as the world exists, so does faith. Even those people who strayed from the path of true knowledge of God under the influence of various false philosophies or misunderstood human experience deified that which is not God. And they had faith in their hearts. But such faith is not enough. We must believe that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God.

Believing is never easy. As Basil the Great said wonderfully about this: every word of God is truth, filled with power, although nature often assures us of the opposite. Therefore, faith is a great feat (see: St. Basil the Great. Moral rules. Rule 8: About faith and the certainty of the Lord’s words).

These words of Basil the Great, who was an extremely enlightened, learned man, who knew ancient philosophy very well and was at the height of the ethical thought of that time, so clearly formulate what it means to believe.

To believe often means to go against common sense, against human experience, against the law of nature. Because nature often assures us of the opposite. Why didn’t Thomas believe the words of the apostles? Yes, because nature assured the opposite: a person cannot be resurrected, he dies, his body decomposes, disintegrates into molecules, disappears. How can a person be resurrected? This was against the experience of Thomas, as well as against the experience of the absolute majority of people living and who have lived on earth. And therefore he says these terrible words: until I put my fingers into the wounds from the nails, until I touch His sides with my hands, I will not believe; I need evidence that would confirm me that Christ is Risen. And when the Savior appears, He simply says: handle My Body, and do not be unfaithful, but faithful; and blessed is he who believes without seeing, without knowing.

Faith is a special power inherent in man. This is the power of the mind, the power of will, the power of feelings. Faith absorbs all the potential of the human personality, everything that a person is capable of. Because to see what lies outside human experience, to see what is impossible to see in personal life, is possible only with enormous internal tension and concentration of forces, for this is a great feat, says Basil the Great.

Why did the Lord want it to be faith that determined a person’s salvation, so that his salvation depended on faith? Yes, precisely because faith is a human state that requires the dedication of all one’s strength. Anyone who has prayed strongly at least once in their life, for example, in the face of fear of death, or begging for life from unfortunate, hopelessly ill close relatives, their parents and children, knows what the feat of true prayer means. Christ, praying in Gethsemane, shed bloody sweat. One can imagine how strained His human strength was when He prayed with such dedication!

Faith requires this concentration of strength. That is why it is an indispensable condition for our salvation. And although St. John Chrysostom says that God did not want the salvation of man to occur without his human efforts, and therefore demanded faith from us as an indispensable condition for human participation in the work of salvation, hidden in the words of Chrysostom is the idea that, of course, It is not a person’s faith that saves, but God Himself, but in order to become that object of the Divine mission of salvation who is capable of accepting this mission, a person must believe.

As long as the world has existed, faith has existed for as long, and unbelief has existed for as long. And disbelief has very clear explanations. It is very clear why a person does not believe. If he relies only on knowledge and experience, then he denies everything that exceeds his knowledge and experience. There is a saying: this cannot be, because this can never happen. And often, by uttering or even not uttering these words, a person denies the very possibility of the existence of what lies beyond his experience, exactly repeating what Thomas did. The resurrection lay outside Thomas' experience and he did not believe it. Perhaps the other apostles would not have believed, by the way, if they were also absent. It is not known how and which of them would have behaved in this situation; the news that the risen Christ had come to the apostles was so unexpected, so amazing.

Sometimes, justifying our disbelief and the disbelief of our children, especially the disbelief of young people, we say: “Yes, in our time, you know, it’s difficult to believe.” Why is it difficult to believe in our time? In every era, humanity has created some products that can be attributed to the results of civilizational development. But weren’t the Egyptian pyramids amazing? Didn’t the Lower Nile irrigation system fascinate people’s minds? The most complex system of irrigation canals that the world has never known. What about the appearance of paper? And the appearance of the letter? What about knowledge of astronomy? What about medical knowledge? Didn't they capture people's imagination? One should never refer to an era, emphasizing that, supposedly, the achievements of the modern era in a special way prevent a person from believing in God. This is an absolute fallacy.

What happens in the world, what is derived from human education, intelligence, organization, investment of finances, cannot in any way affect a person’s ideological choice, unless it is a real choice, unless a person simply floats in the general flow, at the will of the waves . But if he consciously charts his life path, all this cannot in any way affect his faith or even his lack of faith.

We must remember that faith is where there is internal tension, concentration, where there is thought and where the real experience of a person’s contact with another world begins. This experience varies. For Thomas, this was the experience of physical contact with the resurrected Body of the Savior. Most people do not have this experience, but they do have the experience of prayer. This is the most powerful experience when, in response to our request, God sends us what we ask Him for.

An incredibly powerful experience is inherent in all human life. If you look carefully at how this or that person lived, what happened in his childhood, youth, and adulthood, then everyone can see the hand of God on himself not only in achievements and victories, but in defeats and suffering. You just need to learn to look at your own life from a bird's eye view, try to see the cause-and-effect relationships that led to certain events. And then the hand of God will be revealed to us in our lives, just as it is revealed in the history of nations and, for you and me, in the history of our long-suffering Fatherland.

One must, indeed, understand and see almost nothing in order to deny that the hand of God is undoubtedly with our people. She led him through joys, through sorrows, through tragedies, through the cleansing power of suffering so that in the 21st century this people, our people, the people of Holy Rus', would show the whole world an example of spiritual revival and strong faith, which is not influenced in any way by the products of modern civilization.

May God grant that the grace of God, which appears to us in our lives, strengthens us, including on the paths of knowledge of God, strengthens our faith, and through faith gives us hope for eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Christ is Risen!

Press service of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'

Commentaries on the Divine Liturgy of St. John,Archbishop of Constantinople, Chrysostom

From the editor: The clergy of the Belgorod diocese have been performing missionary services for several years. At such a service, the priest comes out to the people several times during the service, explaining what is happening in the temple at the moment. We published the text of the commentary on the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts.

We hope that the commentary on the Divine Liturgy will be useful both to the laity, who will be able to better understand the service, and to the priests in conducting missionary services.

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit!

Beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord, you and I have all gathered in this holy church in order to perform our common prayer, because the word “liturgy” translated from Greek means “common cause,” i.e. the work is not only of the clergy alone, but of all the faithful who gather in the church for worship. This means that every action, every prayer is relevant to each of us. All prayers that are read by the clergy in the altar have the character of a common, joint prayer of the entire community, and the head of the service (bishop or priest) performs them on behalf of everyone. And the meaning of our presence at the divine service is not only to pray for our own joys and sorrows, but so that, through the prayer of the entire community, the great sacrament of the Eucharist is accomplished, i.e. thanksgiving, when the offered bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ and everyone who approaches the sacrament of Holy Communion is united with Christ Himself.

But the main problem is that our worship is in many ways unclear. In order to partially resolve this problem today, the Divine Liturgy as it is celebrated will be accompanied by commentaries explaining the meaning of the sacred rites and prayers being performed. The hours, which are part of the daily cycle of worship, have just been read, and the priest performed proskomedia in the altar (in translation from Greek. offering), during which part of the bread was taken from the offered prosphoras (symbolizing the Lamb of God, i.e. Christ), particles in honor and memory of the Most Holy Theotokos, saints, as well as living and dead Orthodox Christians for whom commemorations were given. All this rests on the paten and symbolizes the Church of Christ - heavenly and earthly. Wine combined with water is poured into the Chalice in memory of the fact that blood and water flowed from the side of the Lord, after it was pierced by a spear on the Cross. After this, the proposed gifts are covered with special payments (covers and air at hom) and the priest reads the prayer of offering, in which he asks to bless and accept the offering on the Most Heavenly Altar, to remember “ those who brought and for their sake brought"(i.e. those who offered commemoration and for whom) and we will remain uncondemned during the sacred rite.

Thus, the proskomedia ends and the time comes for the Liturgy of the Catechumens, which will begin literally now. In the initial prayers before the liturgy, the priest reads a prayer for the calling of the Holy Spirit " Heavenly King", and when the service is performed with the deacon, he, asking for the blessing of the primate, says: " Time to create the Lord, O Lord, bless" Those. The time of liturgy is coming, the time when the Lord Himself will act, and we will only be His co-workers.

The Divine Liturgy begins with a solemn exclamation “ Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages", to which the choir replies " Amen", What means May it be so. Any responsibility of the choir expressed in the utterance of the words “ Amen“are expressions of consent and acceptance by the people of God, i.e. by all faithful Christians, everything that happens in the Church.

This is followed by the great or “peaceful” litany, which begins with the words “ Let us pray to the Lord in peace", "peace", means "in the world", i.e. a peaceful state of mind and reconciliation with others. You cannot make a sacrifice to God while in an embittered state. Petitions are pronounced, and we, together with the choir, answer them “ Lord have mercy" After the great litany, a prayer is read in which the priest asks the Lord to “ looked at this holy temple and gave us and those praying with us inexhaustible mercies" This is followed by the singing of antiphons. Antiphons are entire psalms or verses from them, which are sung alternately by the right and left choir. Not everywhere, of course, it is possible to follow this tradition. The main content of the antiphons is the glorification of God and His eternal Kingdom. Initially, they were not part of the liturgy, but were sung by the people on the way to the temple. While singing the antiphons, the priest reads a prayer in which he asks God “ save Your people and bless Your inheritance, preserve Your Church in its entirety... and do not forsake us who trust in You».

Pronounced so-called "small" litany " packs and packs, let us pray to the Lord in peace", i.e. " again and again in peace let us pray to the Lord». « Lord have mercy“responses the choir, and with it all of us.

This is followed by the singing of the second antiphon “ Praise the Lord my soul" and song " Only Begotten Son”, which expresses the Orthodox teaching about Christ: in Him two natures are united - divine and human, and both of them are present in Him in all their fullness: God, having become incarnate, did not cease to be God, and man, united with God, remained a man. At this time, the priest reads a prayer where he prays “...Fulfill now the request of Your children for the benefit: grant us in the present age the knowledge of Your Truth, and in the future - grant us Eternal Life».

And again the “small” litany follows, after which the singing of the third antiphon, the so-called. “blessed”, i.e. the beatitudes given by the Lord, during which the small entrance takes place. Priests carry the Holy Gospel from the altar while reading a prayer “...make at our entrance the entrance of holy angels, serving with us and glorifying Your goodness" The priest blesses the holy entrance with the words " Blessed is the entrance of your saints", followed by the exclamation " Wisdom, forgive me!». "Sorry"- that means, let’s stand upright, reverently. The Small Entrance symbolizes the appearance of the Church, which, together with the angelic forces, gives unceasing praise to God. But earlier, the bringing of the Gospel also had a purely practical nature, because it was not kept on the throne, but in a separate place, and at that moment it was brought to the temple in order to be read.

The choir sings " Come, let us worship and fall before Christ!", followed by the singing of troparions and kontakions for this day. During the singing, the priest reads the prayer of the Trisagion, which is in direct logical connection with the idea of ​​entry and the prayer of entry, and it speaks of concelebration with the priest and the Heavenly Forces themselves. Holy God, who rests among the saints, Whom the seraphim sing and the cherubim glorify with the Trisagion hymn...You Yourself, Master, accept from the lips of us sinners the Trisagion hymn and visit us in Thy goodness, forgive us all voluntary and involuntary sins...».

This is followed by the exclamation “ Lord, save the pious...", which survives from the ceremonial of the Byzantine service, which was attended by the kings. And immediately follows the singing of the Trisagion " Holy God, holy Mighty, holy Immortal, have mercy on us" During the singing of the Trisagion, the clergy ascend to the high place in the altar, a place on which only the bishop can sit, symbolizing Christ. Ascending to a mountainous place takes place to listen to the Holy Scriptures, therefore it is from there that the primate teaches peace to all those gathered, so that we can hear the word of God. The reading of the Holy Scriptures is preceded by the singing of the prokemena (translated from Greek. presenting). A prokeimenon is a verse from Holy Scripture, most often from the Psalter. For the prokemna, the verse chosen is particularly strong, expressive and suitable for the occasion. The Prokeimenon consists of a verse, properly called a prokeimenon, and one or three “verses” that precede the repetition of the prokeimenon.

Afterwards the reader reads the corresponding passage from their apostolic epistles. Today there will be two such passages from the letter of the Apostle Paul to the Colossians and the first letter to the Corinthians. During the reading of the Apostolic Epistle, incense is performed on the altar, the iconostasis, the reader of the apostle, the choir and all those gathered in the church. Previously, incense was used during singing alleluaria with verses of psalms, i.e. after the reading of the Apostle, but since this singing is usually done very hastily, the incense was transferred to the reading of the passage of the Apostolic Epistle itself. Hallelujah is a Hebrew word and literally means “praise Yahweh” (Yahweh, or Jehovah, is the name of God revealed in the Old Testament).

This is followed by the reading of the Gospel. Before reading it, the priest reads a prayer “ Shine into our hearts, O humane-loving Master... Place in us the fear of Your good commandments, so that we, having conquered all carnal lusts, may lead a spiritual life..." Today there will also be two Gospel readings, and we will stop separately to talk about the meaning of the passages read.

And now the Divine Liturgy will begin, so I call on everyone gathered in the church to take a responsible and prayerful turn at the service, because our common prayer is the prayer of the entire Church. God help everyone!

Next Stop After Reading Scripture

Beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord, immediately after reading the Gospel the so-called “extreme” litany, during which we pray for the Primate of our Church, His Holiness the Patriarch, the Ruling Bishop, the God-protected country, the people and the army, for all those who stand and pray, who do good for this holy temple, those who sing and those who stand expect great mercy from the Lord. The choir responds to each request three times “ Lord have mercy“, and each of us must repeat this prayer in our hearts. During the litany, the priest prays that the Lord “ accepted this fervent prayer... and had mercy on us according to the multitude of mercy" His. Also, the serving clergy reveals the holy antimension (literally - instead of the throne), a plate with a sewn-in particle of holy relics, on which the Bloodless Sacrifice will be offered.

On weekdays, after the “special” litany, there is a funeral litany, but on Sundays and other holidays it is not scheduled, which means there will not be one today. But let us not forget that the commemoration of the dead is always performed at the proskomedia, and after the consecration of the Holy Gifts, in a place that will be discussed later.

After this, the litany of the catechumens is pronounced, which reminds us that in the Ancient Church Baptism was performed only after a long teaching (catechumen) and those preparing for this great sacrament were called catechumens. They were allowed to attend the service up to a certain point. After the recitation of this litany, all those preparing for Baptism had to leave the service. Today there are practically no catechumens, but the litany has been preserved, and it is possible that it will become a guarantee that the ancient catechumen practice will be revived in our Church. During this litany, the priest prays that the Lord " honored them ( those. catechumens ) during the auspicious bath of renewal ( those. Baptism )... united them with His holy, catholic and apostolic Church and included them among His chosen flock...».

At the end of the litany, “ Elitsa(i.e. all those who) announcement, come out...", which means it ends Liturgy of the Catechumens and it begins Liturgy of the Faithful, which can only be attended by members of the Church, i.e. Orthodox Christians.

During the recitation of the litanies in the altar, two prayers of the faithful are read, in which the priest, on behalf of all those gathered, asks the Lord to accept “ ...our prayer, to make us worthy to offer Him prayers, supplications, and bloodless sacrifices for all His people...", grant " To all who pray with us, prosperity in life and faith and spiritual understanding" And " innocent and uncondemned to partake of His holy Sacraments and His heavenly Kingdom will be worthy" At the end of the reading of the second prayer, the exclamation follows: “ For according to Thy power(so that we are under Your authority) always preserved, they sent glory to You, Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages" After double " Amen"The choir begins singing the Cherubic Song. At the beginning of the singing cherubic the priest silently reads a prayer in which he asks God “ ...honor that through me, a sinful and unworthy servant of Yours, these gifts be brought to You. You Yourself are the one who brings and is offered, the one who receives and who is distributed, O Christ our God..." This prayer is a preparation for the moment of the great entrance, i.e. transferring the Gifts from the altar to the throne. After reading the prayer, the priest (if the deacon is absent) performs censing, during which he silently reads the penitential 50th psalm.

Having completed the incense, the primate raises his hands up with the words “ We, depicting the cherubim in the sacrament and singing the Trisagion hymn to the life-giving Trinity, will now put aside all worldly cares in order to receive the King of the world, accompanied invisibly by the ranks of angels. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah».

The transfer of the Gifts and their placement on the throne is expressed in terms of sacrifice, but again, our sacrifices, sacrifices of praise that we ask you to accept “ from the hands of us sinners…”. In the event that the liturgy is celebrated without a deacon, the primate takes the paten and the Chalice and, on the solea, commemorates the First Hierarch of our Church, the Ruling Bishop, the Right Reverend Metropolitans, Archbishops and Bishops, as well as all those present in the church with the words “ May the Lord God remember in His Kingdom, always now and ever and unto ages of ages" Placing the holy vessels on the altar, the priest covers them with air while reciting the troparions of Good Friday. After transferring the Gifts from the altar to the throne, we will make one more stop with you to explain the further course of the service. God help everyone!

Next stop after the Great Entrance

Beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord, the Great Entrance has taken place, and you and I have almost come close to the culminating moment of the service - the Eucharistic canon. Immediately after the transfer of the Gifts from the altar to the throne, the litany of petition begins. The petition sounds " Let's do it(i.e. we will replenish) our prayer to the Lord“, and we, together with the choir, answer “Lord, have mercy.” After the request " We ask the Lord to spend the entire day holy, peacefully and sinlessly", we answer with the words " Give it, Lord", and that is why the litany is called petitionary. This litany develops petitions regarding what people need: the Guardian Angel, forgiveness of sins, peaceful death, etc. During its recitation, the prayer of offering is read. This last prayer before the anaphora itself (i.e., the Eucharistic canon) attracts attention by invoking the Holy Spirit on the Gifts and on the people: “... Make us worthy to find favor in Your sight, so that our sacrifice may be acceptable to You and that the good Spirit of Your grace may rest upon us, and on these gifts set before us, and on all Your people...».

After the exclamation " Through the bounty of Your Only Begotten Son, with Him you are blessed..."priest teaching" peace to all" Then follows the exclamation “ Let us love one another, so that we may confess with one mind" and the choir continues " Father and Son and Holy Spirit - Trinity Consubstantial and Indivisible" In ancient times, at this moment the so-called kissing the world, when the faithful taught one another the kiss of peace in Christ: men to men, women to women. It can be assumed that the disappearance of this action was associated with the growth of the Church, with the appearance of crowded meetings in churches, where no one knew each other and where these actions would be a mere formality. Today this custom has been preserved only among clergy, when one greets the other with the words “ Christ is in our midst" to which the answer follows " and there is and there will be».

This action symbolically signifies complete internal reconciliation between Christians intending to participate in the sacrament of the Eucharist. The Savior’s commandment (Matthew 5:23-24) directly commands that one should first be reconciled with one’s brother, and then bring the sacrifice to the altar. But this reconciliation must also mean complete like-mindedness, complete spiritual unity. Therefore, immediately immediately after the kiss of peace, the Creed is proclaimed (adopted at the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea and supplemented at the Second Ecumenical Council in Constantinople), as the measure of the dogmatic truth of Christians. The Eucharistic offering can only be with one mouth and one heart, in a single faith, in agreement of dogmas, in the same view on the basic issues of faith and salvation.

After the exclamation " Doors, doors, let us smell wisdom(i.e., let us listen)” the Creed is sung by all the people of God as an expression of the dogmatic unity of the Church. Exclamation " doors, doors"in ancient times was a sign for deacons who stood at the doors so that during the Eucharistic prayers no one would leave or enter the assembly of the faithful.

At the end of the singing of the Creed, the Eucharistic canon or anaphora prayers begin (from the Greek. exaltation), which are the culminating part of the liturgy. We hear the cry " Let's become kinder(i.e. slim), let's stand with fear, let's scream(i.e. we will pay attention) to bring holy offerings in the world -" and the choir continues " mercy, peace and sacrifice of praise" The priest, turning his face to the people, exclaims: “ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the Father, and the sacrament(communication) May the Holy Spirit be with you all!" The choir, and with it all of us, answer: “ And with your spirit" Primate: " Gore e we have(i.e. let's lift up) hearts", the chorus answers: " Imams(i.e. we exalt) to the Lord", priest: " We thank the Lord!" And the choir begins to sing " It is worthy and righteous to worship the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity Consubstantial and Indivisible" At this time, the primate performs a prayer of thanksgiving, in which he praises God for all His blessings, revealed and unseen to us, for the fact that He brought us from non-existence into existence and restored us again after the fall, for the service that is performed, despite the fact that He thousands of archangels and multitudes of angels are coming, cherubim and seraphim, six-winged, many-eyed, soaring on wings, which (the priest exclaims) “ singing the song of victory, shouting, shouting and speaking" (chorus continues) " Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of Hosts; Heaven and earth are full of Your Glory! Hosanna(i.e. salvation) in the highest! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" And the priest continues " with these blessed Powers we, the philanthropic Lord, exclaim..."After which the primate in prayer remembers the event when our Lord Jesus Christ established the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist" taking the bread into His holy and immaculate and sinless hands, giving thanks and blessing, sanctifying" and saying to his disciples and apostles " Accept, eat, this is My Body, broken for you for the remission of sins", the choir and we together with him " Amen!" The priest prays " In the same way I drink the cup after supper, saying: (out loud) Drink from it, all of you, this is My Blood of the New Testament, shed for you and for many for the remission of sins" The chorus continues to answer " Amen!", priest " So, remembering this saving commandment of His and everything He did for us: the cross, the tomb, the three-day resurrection, ascension to Heaven, to the right hand(from the Father) sitting, and also His second and glorious coming,(raising the Gifts) “Thine from Thine, offering unto Thee for all and for all" And further " We sing to You, we bless You, we thank You, Lord, and we pray to You, our God!"(chorus echoes this). And the priest begins to read a prayer about the calling of the Holy Spirit to the Gifts " and we ask, and we pray, and we work hard(i.e. seizure A eat): send down Your Holy Spirit on us and on these gifts that are set before us,».

According to the Russian tradition, at this time the troparion of the third hour “Lord, like Thy Most Holy Spirit” is supposed to be read; many mistakenly believe that this troparion is precisely the prayer of invoking the Holy Spirit for the Gifts. In order not to break the integrity of this prayer, it will be read immediately after the words “ and we pray to You, our God!».

The prayer of epiclesis (i.e. the prayer for the invocation of the Holy Spirit) continues inextricably with the words “ And make this bread with the honest Body of Thy Christ"(the priest blesses the paten with his hand), " and in this Chalice is the precious Blood of Thy Christ"(the priest blesses the Chalice), " changed by Your Holy Spirit"(the priest blesses the paten and the chalice together). After this, a prostration is made before the consecrated Holy Gifts.

Having risen, the primate makes intercessory prayers so that we all receive communion for the sobriety of the soul and the forgiveness of sins. Next, he prayerfully offers a verbal service “ about every righteous soul who has died in faith" And he exclaims, censing the throne, “ Considerably(i.e. especially) about our Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary" The choir sings a chant glorifying the Mother of God, who is the most honest cherub and the most glorious without comparison seraphim, and the priest continues to commemorate the holy saints of God, John the Baptist, the holy glorious apostles and saints whose memory is celebrated today. Then, please pay attention, the primate commemorates the deceased Orthodox Christians, therefore each of us at this time can and should prayerfully remember all those whom we usually remember for their repose. Then the priest prays for every Orthodox bishopric, priesthood, deaconry and every priestly order, for the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

Afterwards, the primate loudly commemorates the First Hierarch of the Russian Church and the Ruling Bishop, after which he reads a prayer for our city, for our country and the salvation of all those Orthodox Christians who are not currently present at the service. Then, again, please pay attention, it is possible to remember the health of Orthodox Christians, but there is very little time for this, so we can only have time to prayerfully remember the people closest to us. This is followed by an exclamation: “ And give it(i.e. give) with one mouth and one heart we glorify and sing Your all-honorable and magnificent name, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages.", the choir, together with the people, answers, " Amen!" and the priest, turning his face to all the faithful, proclaims " And may the mercies of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ be with you all", the chorus replies " and with your spirit" This is where the Eucharistic canon ends and there is little time left until the moment of communion for the clergy and laity. At this point, we will stop again to continue explaining the subsequent course of the service. I wish us all a meaningful standing before the Lord!

Next stop after the Eucharistic canon

Beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord, the transformation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ took place, in order to then be offered to the faithful for communion and union with God. Now a litany of petition will be pronounced after the consecration of the Gifts. Having remembered all the saints, let us pray to the Lord again and again in peace" By saints here we mean not only the holy saints of God glorified by the Church, but also all faithful Orthodox Christians, deceased and living, remembered during the service. In the early Church, saints meant all Christians in general, and the apostolic writings refer to Christians in this way. Next is the petition “ Let us pray to the Lord for the offered and consecrated honest Gifts“, this is a petition for the sanctification of us by the communion of these Gifts, which follows from the following petition “ So that our humane God, having received them onto His holy and heavenly and mental altar, like a spiritual fragrance, would send down to us divine grace and the gift of the Holy Spirit as reward - let us pray!”, then the usual petitions for the litany of petition follow, and the priest prays that each of us will receive communion without condemnation and be cleansed from the defilements of the flesh and spirit. St. writes about the meaning of this prayer and litany. Nicholas Kavasila, one of the best interpreters of the Liturgy: “Grace acts in honest Gifts in two ways: firstly, by the fact that the Gifts are sanctified; secondly, by the fact that grace sanctifies us through them. Therefore, no human evil can hinder the action of grace in the Holy Gifts, because their sanctification is not an act of human virtue. The second action is a matter of our efforts, and therefore our negligence can interfere with it. Grace sanctifies us through the Gifts if it finds us worthy of sanctification; if it is found unprepared, then it does not bring us any benefit, but causes even greater harm.” The litany ends with the petition “ Having asked for the unity of faith and the communion of the Holy Spirit, we commit ourselves and each other, and our whole life, to Christ God", followed by the exclamation " And grant us, O Master, with boldness and without condemnation to dare to call You, the Heavenly God, Father and to speak»:

And all the people, together with the choir, sing the Lord’s Prayer: “ Our Father…" The petition in the Lord's Prayer for daily bread acquires a special Eucharistic character during the liturgy. The prayer ends with the exclamation “ For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory...", after which the priest gives peace to everyone, and after an exclamation of adoration, reads the corresponding prayer, in which he thanks God and asks for our immediate needs " Float to those who swim, travel to those who travel, heal the sick, Physician of our souls and bodies" After the chorus responds " Amen", the priest reads a prayer before the crushing of the Holy Lamb, in which he asks God " to give us His pure Body and honest Blood, and through us - to all His people».

Followed by the exclamation “ Let's see!(i.e. let us be attentive)" and the primate, lifting up the Holy Lamb, proclaims " Holy to saints!" Here, as we have already said, saints mean all Orthodox Christians, in this case, those gathered in this holy temple, i.e. understood by each of us. The choir sings: " There is one Holy One, one Lord, Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father. Amen" The Primate performs the crushing of the Holy Lamb, with the words “ Filling of the Holy Spirit"puts a particle with the inscription “Jesus” into the Chalice, a particle with the inscription “Christ” will be received by the clergy, and the remaining two with the inscriptions “NI” and “KA” (i.e. victory) will be crushed for teaching to everyone who gathers today take communion. A ladle of hot water, the so-called, is poured into the Holy Chalice. "warmth", which in its theological interpretation goes back to the death of the Savior on the cross, because The blood that flowed from the Lord was hot. After the clergy have received communion, we will again make a short stop and explain the rest of the service, after which the Body and Blood of Christ will be given to everyone who prepared for it today.

Next stop after clergy communion

Beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord, the moment has come when the Chalice with the Body and Blood of Christ will be taken from the altar for the communion of the faithful. As we said at the beginning, the Divine Liturgy has as its meaning the transmutation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, for the communion of all those gathered at the liturgy. The last part of the liturgy is therefore called the liturgy of the faithful, because all those present at it were not outside spectators, but active participants in the service, aware of their responsible presence before God in the joint Eucharistic prayer. Communion at every liturgy was the norm for Christians of the ancient Church, but over time this norm began to be forgotten, and today we can see that in a church in which there is a sufficient number of people, there are only a few communicants. We often talk about our unworthiness, and this is absolutely true, each of us is unworthy to be able to unite with Christ Himself and woe to those who suddenly realize their dignity in front of the Holy Chalice. It is precisely because we are weak and unworthy that we are called to heal our ailments in the Sacraments of the Holy Church - repentance and communion, first of all. The universality of communion of all the faithful during the liturgy reveals the nature of the Church, which Itself is the Body of Christ, which means that each member of Her is a part of Him.

Striving for constant unity with God in joint prayer and in communion in the sacraments, we will step by step make our spiritual ascent to which every Christian is called. The Liturgy is not celebrated so that we can light candles and order mass; more precisely, we also have every right to do all this, but the main meaning of its celebration is our union with God Himself. The goal of an Orthodox Christian's life is to achieve O marriage, because, according to the words of St. Athanasius the Great, “God became man in order for man to become God.” And our deification is unthinkable without participation in the church sacraments, to which we must resort not occasionally, from time to time, but constantly, remembering that this is precisely what our church life consists of. Naturally, all this is unthinkable without painstaking and thorough work on oneself, without struggling with one’s sins, because as the Holy Scripture says: “ The Kingdom of Heaven is taken by force, and those who use force take it away"(Matthew 11:12). God saves us, but not without us; if each of us does not thirst for salvation, then it will be impossible to achieve it.

And in addition to our constant mysterious life, we must make efforts to better know our faith, because everyone who looks at us already has an idea of ​​the Church of Christ, and what this idea will be like if we cannot give answers to elementary questions. You need to constantly force yourself to study, read the Holy Scriptures, the Fathers of the Church, the works of Orthodox theologians and, undoubtedly, improve in prayer. Each of us has a huge responsibility before God, the Church and people, because having become Christians we have become, according to the words of the Apostle Peter, “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people taken for his own possession, that we might proclaim the perfections of Him who called us out of darkness into His wonderful light” (1 Pet. 2:9). Keeping this responsibility in mind, we must perform our church service.

Now the Holy Chalice will be taken out and everyone who was going to take communion today will unite with Christ Himself. After communion, the Chalice is brought into the altar and the holy particles that were taken out for the saints, living and dead, are immersed in the Chalice with the words “ Wash away, Lord, the sins of all those remembered here by the prayers of Your saints" Thus, everyone for whom the offering was made is also made the Body of Christ, and this is the highest meaning of the Eucharist - the unity of the heavenly and earthly Church.

Let's dive the particles, the priest proclaims " Save, O God, Your people and bless Your inheritance!" Then the Holy Chalice is transferred to the altar, with the words “ Blessed be our God" (quiet) " Always now and ever and unto ages of ages!"(exclamation). The priest saying " Ascend into heaven, O God, and throughout all the earth Your glory» places the Cup on the altar. The choir, on behalf of all those who received the Holy Mysteries, sings “ May our lips be filled with Your praise, O Lord, so that we may sing Your Glory, for You have honored us with communion of Your holy, divine, immortal and life-giving Mysteries" This is followed by the litany “ Let's be reverent! Having partaken of the divine, holy, immaculate, immortal, heavenly and life-giving, terrible Mysteries of Christ, we worthily thank the Lord!", after which it is proclaimed " Let's go out in peace!"and the junior clergyman reads the so-called. "behind the pulpit" prayer, in which he asks " Lord... save Your people and bless Your inheritance... Grant Peace to Your world, Your churches, the priesthood, our rulers and all Your people..." The choir and the people respond, “ Amen!", after which the blessing is given to all the faithful with the words " The blessing of the Lord is upon you..." After which the primate makes a dismissal, i.e. the final prayer of the liturgy, in which the Mother of God, the holy apostles, the saints of the temple and the day are remembered (today this is, first of all, Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina, the enlightener of Georgia) and St. John Chrysostom, whose liturgy is celebrated today. After which the choir sings many years to the Primate of the Russian Church, His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II and our Ruling Bishop, His Eminence John, Archbishop of Belgorod and Stary Oskol. Thus the service ends.

We hope that today’s service, which was constantly commented on during its celebration, has given us the opportunity to better know our liturgical heritage, and we will continue to make efforts so that we have a desire to comprehend our Orthodox heritage more and more, through meaningful participation in worship, through participation in the Sacraments of the Holy Church. Amen.

The end and glory to our God!

We have already said that liturgy- the main, most important service, during which the Sacrament is performed Eucharist, or Sacrament of Communion. This Sacrament was first performed by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself on the eve of His suffering, on Maundy Thursday. The Savior, having gathered all the apostles together, gave praise to God the Father, took bread, blessed it and broke it. He gave it to the holy apostles with the words: Take, eat: this is My Body. Then He took the cup of wine, blessed it and gave it to the apostles, saying: Drink from it, all of you: for this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.(Matthew 26, 28). The Lord also commanded the apostles: Do this in My remembrance(Luke 22:19). Even after the resurrection of Christ and His ascension to Heaven, the apostles performed the Sacrament of Communion. During the Eucharist (Greek. thanksgiving) each time what the Lord did at the Last Supper is actually accomplished. We mysteriously, under the guise of bread and wine, partake of the Divine Himself - Body and Blood of the Savior. He abides in us, and we abide in Him, as the Lord said (see: John 15:5).

The Eucharist is also called A bloodless sacrifice, because she is an image of the sacrifice that the Lord Jesus Christ made for us on Calvary. He accomplished it once, having suffered for the sins of the world, was resurrected and ascended to Heaven, where he sat down at the right hand of God the Father. The sacrifice of Christ was offered once and will not be repeated. With the establishment of the New Testament, Old Testament sacrifices ceased, and now Christians perform the Bloodless Sacrifice in remembrance of the sacrifice of Christ and for the communion of His Body and Blood.

The Old Testament sacrifices were only a shadow, a prototype of the Divine sacrifice. The expectation of the Redeemer, the Liberator from the power of the devil and sin is the main theme of the entire Old Testament, and for us, the people of the New Testament, the sacrifice of Christ, the Savior’s atonement for the sins of the world, is the basis of our faith.

The Holy Gifts are a fire that burns up every sin and every defilement if a person strives to receive communion worthily. We receive communion for the healing of soul and body. When starting communion, you need to do it with reverence and trembling, realizing your weakness and unworthiness. “Although you eat (eat), O man, approach the Master’s Body with fear, so as not to be burned: for there is fire,” says the prayers for Holy Communion.

Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) writes about how the Lord enlightened one young man, Dmitry Shepelev, and showed that the true Body of the Savior is served in Holy Communion: “He was brought up in the Corps of Pages. Once during Great Lent, when the pages were fasting and already beginning the Holy Mysteries, the young man Shepelev expressed to a comrade walking next to him his decisive disbelief that the Body and Blood of Christ were in the chalice. When the secrets were taught to him, he felt that there was meat in his mouth. Horror seized the young man: he stood beside himself, not feeling the strength to swallow the particle. The priest noticed the change that had taken place in him and ordered him to enter the altar. There, holding a particle in his mouth and confessing his sin, Shepelev came to his senses and used the Holy Mysteries taught to him” (“Fatherland”).

Often, spiritual people and ascetics experienced phenomena of heavenly fire descending on the Holy Gifts during the celebration of the Eucharist. Yes, the Sacrament of Communion, the Eucharist is the greatest miracle and mystery, as well as the greatest mercy for us sinners, and visible evidence that the Lord established a New Covenant with people in His Blood (see: Luke 22:20), sacrificing for us cross, died and rose again, spiritually resurrecting all humanity with Himself. And we can now partake of His Body and Blood for the healing of soul and body, abiding in Christ, and He will “abide in us” (see: John 6:56).

Origin of the liturgy

Since ancient times, the sacrament of communion, the Eucharist, has also received the name liturgy, which is translated from Greek as common cause, common service.

The holy apostles, disciples of Christ, having accepted from their Divine Teacher the commandment to perform the Sacrament of Communion in remembrance of Him, after His Ascension they began to break bread - the Eucharist. Christians continued constantly in the teaching of the Apostles, in fellowship and the breaking of bread and in prayers(Acts 2:42).

The order of the liturgy was formed gradually. At first, the apostles celebrated the Eucharist in the very order that their Teacher taught them. In apostolic times the Eucharist was united with the so-called Agapami, or meals of love. Christians ate food and were in prayer and fraternal fellowship. After the supper, the breaking of bread and communion of the believers took place. But then the liturgy was separated from the meal and began to be performed as an independent sacred rite. The Eucharist began to be celebrated inside sacred churches. In the 1st-2nd centuries, the order of the liturgy was apparently not written down and was transmitted orally.

What are the liturgies?

Gradually, different localities began to develop their own liturgical rites. Served in the Jerusalem community Liturgy of the Apostle James. It took place in Alexandria and Egypt Liturgy of the Apostle Mark. In Antioch - the liturgy of Saints Basil the Great and John Chrysostom. All these liturgies are united in their meaning and meaning, but differ in the texts of the prayers that the priest offers during the consecration of the Holy Gifts.

Now in the practice of the Russian Orthodox Church they usually perform three orders of liturgy. These are the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, the liturgy of St. Basil the Great and the liturgy of St. Gregory the Great.

This liturgy is celebrated on all days of the year, except for the first five Sundays of Great Lent and weekday Lenten days. Saint John Chrysostom compiled the rite of his liturgy based on the previously compiled liturgy Saint Basil the Great, but shortened some prayers.

Liturgy of St. Basil the Great

According to the legend of Saint Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium, Saint Basil the Great asked God “to give him the strength of spirit and mind to perform the liturgy in his own words. After six days of fiery prayer, the Savior miraculously appeared to him and fulfilled his request. Soon Vasily, imbued with delight and divine awe, began to exclaim: “Let my lips be filled with praise,” “Take in, Lord Jesus Christ our God, from Thy Holy Dwelling,” and other prayers of the liturgy.”

Liturgy of St. Basil is being done ten times a year:

on the eve of the Nativity of Christ and Epiphany (on the so-called Christmas and Epiphany Eves), on the day of remembrance of St. Basil the Great on January 1 (January 14, new style), on the first five Sundays of Lent, on Holy Thursday and on Holy Saturday.

Liturgy of St. Gregory the Dvoeslov, or Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts

During the Holy Pentecost of Great Lent, the service of the full liturgy ceases on weekdays. Lent is a time of repentance, crying over sins, when all festivity and solemnity are excluded from worship. And therefore, according to church rules, on Wednesday and Friday of Lent Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. The Holy Gifts, with which believers receive communion, are consecrated at the Liturgy on Sunday.

In some Local Orthodox Churches, on the day of remembrance of the Holy Apostle James (October 23, old style), a liturgy is served according to his rite.

Sequence and symbolic meaning of the liturgy

The order of performing the full liturgy (that is, not the liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts) is as follows. First, the substance for celebrating the Eucharist is prepared. Then the believers prepare for the Sacrament. And finally, the Sacrament itself is performed - the consecration of the Holy Gifts and the communion of believers. The Divine Liturgy thus has three parts: proskomedia; Liturgy of the Catechumens; Liturgy of the Faithful.

Proskomedia

This word is Greek and translated means bringing. In ancient times, members of the early Christian community themselves brought before the liturgy everything necessary for the Sacrament: bread and wine. The bread used during the liturgy is called prosphora, which means offering(in ancient times, Christians themselves brought bread to the liturgy). In the Orthodox Church, the Eucharist is celebrated on prosphora made from leavened (yeast) dough.

Used for proskomedia five prosphoras in memory of the miraculous feeding of five thousand people by Christ.

For communion, one prosphora (lamb) is used. For the Lord also gave communion to the apostles, breaking and distributing one loaf. The Holy Apostle Paul writes: there is one bread, and we, who are many, are one body; for we all partake of one bread(1 Cor 10:17). The Lamb is crushed after the transfiguration of the Holy Gifts, and the clergy and all those preparing for communion receive communion with it. During the liturgy, red grape wine is used, as it resembles the color of blood. Wine is mixed with a small amount of water as a sign that blood and water flowed from the Savior’s pierced rib.

Proskomedia is performed at the very beginning of the liturgy in the altar while the reader is reading the hours. Exclamation "Blessed be our God" pre-reading three o'clock, is also the initial exclamation of the proskomedia. Before the liturgy there is a sequence three and six o'clock.

Proskomedia is a very important part of the Divine Liturgy, and preparation of the Gifts for consecration has a deep symbolic meaning.

Let us remind you: the proskomedia is performed on altar.

From Lamb prosphora priest with a special knife called a copy, cuts out the middle in the shape of a cube. This part of the prosphora has the name Lamb as a sign that the Lord, as the Immaculate Lamb, was slain for our sins. From the bottom of the Lamb is cut crosswise with the words: “The Lamb of God takes away the sins of the world for the worldly belly (life) and salvation.” The priest pierces the right side of the Lamb with a spear, saying the words: One of the soldiers pierced His ribs with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out. And he who saw it bore witness, and his testimony is true.(John 19:34-35).

With these words, wine mixed with water is poured into the chalice. The preparation of the Gifts at the proskomedia has several meanings. Here we remember the birth of the Savior, His coming into the world and, of course, the Calvary sacrifice on the Cross, as well as burial.

The cooked Lamb and the particles taken from the four other prosphoras symbolize the entirety of the heavenly and earthly Church. After the Lamb is prepared, it rests on the paten.

The priest takes out a triangular particle from the second prosphora in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos and places it on the right side of the Lamb. From the third prosphora, particles are taken out in honor of Saint John the Baptist, prophets, apostles, saints, martyrs, saints, unmercenaries, saints whose memory is celebrated by the Church on this day, the parents of the Mother of God, the righteous saints Joachim and Anna, and the saint whose liturgy is celebrated.

From the next two prosphoras, particles are taken out for living and deceased Orthodox Christians.

At the altar at the proskomedia, believers submit notes of health and repose. Particles are also taken out for the people whose names are contained in the notes.

All particles are placed in a certain order on the paten.

The priest, having bowed, places a star on the paten above the Lamb and the particles. The paten marks both the Bethlehem cave and Golgotha, the asterisk marks the star above the cave and the cross. The priest censes special coverings and places them on top of the paten and chalice as a sign that Christ was laid in the tomb and His body was wrapped in shrouds. These swaddling clothes also symbolize the Christmas swaddling clothes.

The meaning of commemoration at the Proskomedia

At the end of the Divine Liturgy, after the communion of the faithful, the priest pours particles taken from the prosphora at the proskomedia into the Holy Chalice with the words: “Wash away, O Lord, the sins of those who were remembered here with Your honest blood, with the prayers of Your saints”.

Prayer at the proskomedia for health and peace, with the removal of particles for them, and then immersing them in the chalice is the highest commemoration in the Church. A Bloodless Sacrifice is made for them. They also participate in the liturgy.

At the relics of St. Theodosius of Chernigov, Hieromonk Alexy (1840-1917), the future elder of the Goloseevsky monastery of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra (now glorified as a locally revered saint), bore obedience. He got tired and dozed off at the shrine. Saint Theodosius appeared to him in a dream and thanked him for his efforts. He asked that his parents, Priest Nikita and Mother Maria, be remembered at the liturgy. When Hieromonk Alexy asked the saint how he could ask for the priest’s prayers when he himself stood before the Throne of God, Saint Theodosius said: “The offering at the liturgy is stronger than my prayers.”

Saint Gregory the Dvoeslov tells that after the death of a careless monk who suffered from the love of money, he ordered thirty funeral liturgies to be served for the deceased, and the brethren to perform a common prayer for him. And after the last liturgy, this monk appeared to his brother and said: “Until now, brother, I suffered cruelly and terribly, but now I feel good and I am in the light.”

Liturgy of the Catechumens

The second part of the liturgy is called Liturgy of the Catechumens. In ancient times, people underwent very lengthy preparation to receive holy baptism. They studied the basics of faith, went to church, but they could pray at the liturgy only until the Gifts were transferred from the altar to the throne. The catechumens, as well as the penitents, excommunicated from communion for serious sins, had to go out into the vestibule of the temple.

After the priest exclaimed: “Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages.”- the choir sings: “Amen.” The peaceful, or great, litany is pronounced. It begins with the words: “Let us pray to the Lord in peace”. The word “in peace” tells us that we must pray in peace, reconciling with our neighbors, only then will the Lord accept our prayers.

The peaceful litany covers all aspects of our existence. We pray: for the peace of the whole world, for the holy churches, for the temple where the service is celebrated, for bishops, presbyters, deacons, for our country, its authorities and soldiers, for the blessing of the air and the abundance of earthly fruits necessary for food. Here we also ask God for help to all those traveling, sick and in captivity.

Liturgy is common cause, and prayer on it is performed collectively, that is, by all believing people, “with one mouth and one heart.” Where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them(Matthew 18:20), the Lord tells us. And according to the rules, a priest cannot perform the liturgy alone; at least one person must pray with him.

After Great Litany psalms are sung called antiphons, since they are supposed to be sung in two choirs alternately. The psalms of the prophet David were part of the Old Testament worship and made up a significant part of the hymns in the early Christian service. After the second antiphon, the chant is always sung: “Only Begotten Son...” - about the coming of Christ the Savior into the world, His incarnation and atoning sacrifice. During the singing of the Gospel beatitudes from Christ’s Sermon on the Mount, the royal doors are opened and the small entrance is made, or entrance with the Gospel. The priest or deacon, exalting the Gospel, signifying the cross with it at the royal doors, exclaims: “Wisdom, forgive!” Translated from Greek sorry Means directly. This is said as a reminder to us that we need to be attentive in prayer and stand upright.

It also speaks of the wisdom that the Divine Gospel and the preaching of the Lord brings to us, for the Gospel is taken out from the altar as a sign that Christ has come out to preach and bring the Good News to the world.

After singing the troparions dedicated to the holiday given to the day, the saints of the day and the temple are sung Trisagion: “Holy God...” On Christmas, Epiphany, Easter and Paschal week, on the day of the Holy Trinity, as well as on Lazarus and Great Saturdays, instead of the Trisagion, the following is sung: “Those (who) were baptized into Christ (baptized), into Christ put on (put on). Alleluia." In ancient times, catechumens were baptized traditionally on these holidays. On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord and the week of the Veneration of the Cross of Great Lent, instead of the Trisagion, the following is sung: “We bow to Thy Cross, O Master, and glorify Thy holy resurrection.”

Towards careful reading Apostle And Gospels We are prepared by the cries of “Let us hear” and “Wisdom, forgive us, let us hear the Holy Gospel.” After the Gospel reading, a special (intensified) litany follows, in which, in addition to various prayers for the hierarchy, authorities, the army and all believers, there is a name commemoration of those who submitted their notes to the liturgy: their names are proclaimed by the clergy, and all the people pray with them for health and the salvation of God’s servants, “all who are now remembered here.”

During the special litany, the priest reveals on the throne holy antimension.

After the spoken a special litany often added Litany for the Dead. During it, we pray for all our previously deceased fathers, brothers and sisters, asking God for forgiveness of their voluntary and involuntary sins and their placement in heavenly abodes, where all the righteous rest.

Followed by Litany of the Catechumens. Some people find this part of the service confusing. Indeed, the practice of catechumen and preparation for baptism that existed in the ancient Church does not exist now. Today we typically baptize people after one or two conversations. But still, there are still catechumens preparing to accept the Orthodox faith. There are many people who have not yet been baptized, but are drawn to the Church. We pray for them, that the Lord would strengthen their good intentions, reveal to them His “Gospel of Truth” and join them to the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

Nowadays, there are many people who were once baptized in childhood by their parents or grandmothers, but are completely unenlightened. And that the Lord “announce them with the word of truth” and bring them into the church fence, we need to pray at this litany.

After the words "Catechumens, come forth" those preparing for baptism and those repenting left the church, for the main part of the Divine Liturgy began. With these words, we must look especially carefully into our soul, expel from it all resentment and enmity towards our neighbors, as well as all worldly vain thoughts, in order to pray with full attention and reverence during the Liturgy of the faithful.

Liturgy of the Faithful

This part of the service begins after the call to the catechumens to leave the temple. Two short litanies follow. The choir begins to sing Cherubic song. If we translate it into Russian, it will read like this: “We, mysteriously depicting the Cherubim and singing the Trisagion Hymn to the Life-Giving Trinity, will now put aside care about everything worldly in order to perceive the King of all, Who is surrounded by angelic Forces. Praise God!

This song mentions that the Lord is surrounded by angelic armies who constantly glorify Him. And not only clergy and parishioners pray at the Divine Liturgy. Together with the earthly Church, the heavenly Church celebrates the liturgy.

Once the Monk Seraphim of Sarov, being a hierodeacon, served the Divine Liturgy. After the small entrance, Seraphim exclaimed at the royal doors: “Lord, save the pious and hear us!” But as soon as he turned to the people, he pointed his orarem at those present and said: “And forever and ever!” - how a ray brighter than sunlight illuminated him. Looking at this radiance, he saw the Lord Jesus Christ in the form of the Son of Man in glory, shining with indescribable light, surrounded by the Heavenly Forces - Angels, Archangels, Cherubim and Seraphim.

During the Cherubic Song, the Gifts prepared for consecration are transferred from the altar to the throne.

It's called transference great entrance. The priest and deacon carry the Gifts, leaving the altar by the northern (left) doors. Stopping at the pulpit, in front of the royal doors, turning their faces to the believers, they commemorate His Holiness the Patriarch, metropolitans, archbishops, bishops, the priesthood, all those who work and pray in this temple.

After this, the clergy enter the altar through the royal doors, place the Chalice and paten on the throne and cover the Gifts with a special shroud (air). Meanwhile, the choir finishes singing the Cherubic Song. The Great Entrance symbolizes the solemn procession of Christ to His free suffering and death.

Litany, which follows after the transfer of the Gifts, is called supplication and prepares the faithful for the most important part of the liturgy - the consecration of the Holy Gifts.

After this litany it is sung Symbol of faith. Before all the people sing the Creed, the deacon proclaims: “Doors, doors! Let us sing of wisdom!” In ancient times, these words reminded the gatekeepers that the main and solemn part of the service was beginning, so that they would watch the doors of the temple so that those entering would not disturb decorum. This reminds us that we need to close the doors of our minds from extraneous thoughts.

As a rule, all those praying sing the Creed, confessing their faith in the most important dogmas of the Orthodox Church.

We often have to deal with the fact that godparents, recipients of the Sacrament of baptism, cannot read the Creed. This happens because people do not read morning prayers (they include the Creed) and rarely go to the liturgy. After all, in the church, every Divine Liturgy, all the people confess their faith with one mouth and, of course, know this chant by heart.

The sacrament of the Eucharist, the holy offering, must be offered with the fear of God, with reverence and special attentiveness. Therefore, the deacon proclaims: “Let us become kind, let us become fearful, let us bring holy offerings to the world.” Begins eucharistic canon. Chant "Mercy of peace, sacrifice of praise" is the answer to this call.

The exclamations of the priest alternate with the singing of the choir. During the singing, the priest reads the so-called secret (that is, secretly performed, read not aloud) Eucharistic prayers.

Let us dwell on the main, main prayers of the Eucharistic canon. In the words of the priest, “We thank the Lord!” preparation begins for sanctification, the implementation of honest Gifts. The priest reads the Eucharistic prayer of thanksgiving. It glorifies the benefits of God, especially the redemption of the human race. We thank the Lord for accepting from us the Bloodless Sacrifice in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, although the ranks of angels stand before and serve Him, glorifying Him: “Singing the song of victory, crying out, calling out and speaking.” The priest pronounces these words of prayer in a full voice.

Continuing the Eucharistic prayers, the priest recalls how the Lord Jesus Christ, on the eve of His voluntary suffering, established the Sacrament of Communion of His life-giving Body and Blood. The words of the Savior, heard at the Last Supper, the priest proclaims loudly: “Take, eat, this is My Body, which was broken for you for the remission of sins.”. At the same time, he points to the paten with the Lamb. And further: “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.”, - pointing to the Holy Chalice.

Further, remembering all the blessings God has given to people - the Sacrament of Communion itself, His sacrifice on the cross and His glorious Second Coming promised to us - the priest utters an exclamation filled with deep theological meaning: “Thine from Thine is offered to Thee for everyone and for everything”. We dare to offer God these gifts from His creations (bread and wine), making a bloodless sacrifice for all the children of the Church and for all the benefits He has given us. The chorus ends this phrase with the words: “We sing to You, we bless You, we thank You, we pray to You(You), Our God".

While singing these words happens sanctification, transformation prepared bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. The priest prays and prepares for this great moment, reading aloud the troparion of the third hour three times. He asks that God send His Most Holy Spirit on all those who pray and on the Holy Gifts. Then the holy Lamb marks with the words: “And thou shalt make this bread, the venerable Body of Thy Christ.”. The deacon answers: "Amen". Then he blesses the wine, saying: “And in this Chalice is the precious Blood of Thy Christ”. The deacon answers again: "Amen". Then he marks the paten with the Lamb and the Holy Chalice with the words: "Transformed by Your Holy Spirit". The consecration of the Holy Gifts ends three times: "Amen, amen, amen". The priests bow to the ground before the Body and Blood of Christ. The Holy Gifts are offered as a bloodless sacrifice for everyone and everything without exception: for all the saints and for the Mother of God, as stated in the exclamation of the priest, which is the end of the priestly prayer: "Considerably(especially) about our Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed, Glorious Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary". In response to this exclamation, a chant is sung dedicated to the Mother of God: "Worthy to eat". (On Easter and on the twelve feasts, before the dedication, another hymn of the Theotokos is sung - the hymn of honor.)

Next comes the litany, which prepares the faithful for communion and also contains the usual petitions of the litany of petition. After the litany and exclamation of the priest, the Lord’s Prayer is sung (most often by all the people) - "Our Father" .

When the apostles asked Christ to teach them how to pray, He gave them this prayer. In it we ask for everything necessary for life: that everything be God’s will, for our daily bread (and, of course, for the Lord to grant us the opportunity to receive the heavenly bread, His Body), for the forgiveness of our sins and that the Lord will help us overcome all temptations and deliver us from the wiles of the devil.

The priest's exclamation: "Holy to holies!" tells us that we must approach the Holy Mysteries reverently, sanctifying ourselves with prayer, fasting and cleansing ourselves in the Sacrament of repentance.

In the altar at this time, the clergy crush the Holy Lamb, receive communion themselves and prepare the Gifts for the communion of the faithful. After this, the royal doors open, and the deacon brings out the Holy Chalice with the words: “Draw with the fear of God and faith”. Opening of the royal gates marks the opening of the Holy Sepulcher, and removal of the Holy Gifts- the appearance of the Lord after His resurrection.

The priest reads the prayer of St. John Chrysostom before holy communion: “ I believe, Lord, and I confess, for You are truly the Christ, the Son of the Living God, who came into the world to save sinners, from whom I am the first...” And people pray, listening to humble prayer, realizing their unworthiness and bowing before the greatness of the taught shrine. The prayer before communion with the Body and Blood of Christ ends with the words: “I will not kiss Thee, like Judas, but like a thief I will confess Thee: remember me, O Lord, in Thy Kingdom. May the communion of Thy Holy Mysteries be not for judgment and condemnation for me, Lord, but for the healing of soul and body. Amen".

He who receives communion unworthily, without faith, without contrition of heart, having in his heart malice and resentment towards his neighbor, is likened to Judas the traitor, who was one of the twelve disciples, was present at the Last Supper, and then went and betrayed the Teacher.

Everyone who was preparing for communion and received permission from the priest receives communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. After this, the priest brings the Holy Chalice into the altar.

The priest overshadows the worshipers with the holy Chalice with the words: “Always, now and ever and unto ages of ages” and carries it to the altar. This marks the last appearance of the Savior to the disciples and His ascension into heaven.

The deacon pronounces a short litany of thanksgiving, ending with the priest’s prayer behind the pulpit (that is, read in front of the pulpit).

At the end of the liturgy the priest says vacation. On vacation, the Mother of God, the saint whose liturgy was celebrated, and the saints of the temple and the day are usually remembered.

All those who pray kiss holy cross, which is held by the priest.

After the liturgy, prayers of thanksgiving for Holy Communion are usually read. If they are not read in church, all those who receive communion read them when they come home.

“In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! I greet you, dear brothers and sisters, on the feast of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem, on Palm Sunday.

According to tradition, we always return at the end of the service to the Gospel read during the Liturgy, in order to return again to the Word of God, which from its pages the Lord and Savior Himself addresses to us in His Church. When we re-read about the event of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem, it seems to us that we see the whole palette of human emotions: from the quietest to the most violent, from the most positive to the most negative. The Lord enters Jerusalem, greeted by the inhabitants of the city, exclaiming: “Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” People spread out their clothes in front of Him, cut off branches and spread them along the path of Christ, while others accompany Him to the gates of the city of Jerusalem. And some fuss, push, make noise, because they do not care about the Savior, they would only like to see Lazarus, whom He raised the day before. And some do not even come out to meet the Lord, they are thinking of killing Him and Lazarus with him, so that He would not interfere with their lives, so that His Word would not convict them. In this motley polyphony, in this folk choir, the Lord approaches the gates of Jerusalem, sees the city and cries. Where have we seen a triumphant person entering the city to the cheers and jubilation of the crowd, who would cry? The Lord weeps because He knows the fate of Jerusalem, knows the value of people’s praise, knows what He enters Jerusalem for. It was not honor and glory that seduced the Savior, even as the one who conquered death and raised Lazarus. The Lord went to His sufferings in order to accomplish the work for which He came, becoming human, taking on human flesh. He ascends in complete selflessness, rejecting His will and subordinating it to the will of His Father. And therefore there is sadness on the Savior’s brow.

What does self-sacrifice mean? Selflessness is always the willingness to give what you have, even the most valuable thing - your own life - for the sake of the life and well-being of other people. Unfortunately, such a quality as selflessness dries up in people. It dries up because there is no example worthy for man, as the Image of Christ the Savior was for Christians, for our Fatherland. Who can show this selflessness - selflessness even to the point of death, to the suffering of the cross? We know that a selfish, vain, proud person who seeks his own benefit in this life is not capable of sacrificing himself for other people. Only the person who loves can sacrifice himself for the happiness of others. Only love can motivate a person to such a feat. Today we see how Divine Love itself, for the sake of each of us, having rejected Its own human will, subordinating it to the will of God, goes out to suffer on the cross. What about the people?.. The people are busy with their own affairs. Is he interested in Christ - what He experiences, feels?! It is important for him to be in this crowd, to rub shoulders, to be part of the miracle, so that later he can tell someone about something.

Everything is the same as in our life. For two days I have been looking at our people and thinking: how are we different from the inhabitants of Jerusalem?.. After all, often the most important thing for us is to buy willows at the market and come to the temple with this willow, just like in Jerusalem. And ask us: what is this willow in our hands? We don't know. But people feel bitterness, resentment, and sometimes anger if suddenly the holy water does not touch the willow tree. And now everyone is to blame: the presbyters, the bishops, and everyone who is nearby. And anger fills the human heart. We go with our willow to our homes, not knowing what we are carrying in our hands, or where we have been. Just as often as then in Jerusalem. Between us - pushing, fussing, angry - Love passes to the Cross, and we do not notice It. God passes next to us, and we, carried away by our own thoughts, enslaved by them, by the vanity of this life, do not pay any attention to Him. And therefore, when others, having tasted the Divine power, having enjoyed the Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, enjoying the Love of God, receive Divine power, we say: “Well, how? Where did they get it? Why didn’t we see?!” Because the bustle of this world often absorbs all our thoughts.
Today is a very important day for the life of Orthodox Christians. He introduces us to the days of Holy Week, each of which is called a Great Day. Great - for our salvation, Great - for understanding what the Church offers us. Great, because these days the Lord Himself walks among us to His Divine suffering in order to offer the Great Calvary Sacrifice for our sins, saving each of us. Today, when we hold in our hands the branches of the willow, the branches of the willow - a symbol of new life, we should not think about how to convey this willow, but think about Eternal life. After all, this Eternal Life has come to us in power, She dwells among us, She works in us. And if we are not careful, we will pass by, miss, not notice in our absent-mindedness and will not find the joy of the Resurrection that the Lord is preparing for us. Therefore, turning to all of you today, my God-loving flock, I ask you: be attentive and focused not on the external, but on the internal - on the voice of the Church of God, on the voice of your own heart, which always responds to the call of God. Amen