|
|
|
Sunday before the Elevation 2006#4 in the Liturgy Having fully vested himself in preparation for the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, the Priest comes before the "Prothesis," the little "sub Altar" to prepare the Holy Gifts. He raises the "Prosforon" with the Lance to the height of his forehead, and says: "Thou ransomed us from the curse of the Law, by Thy Precious Blood; Thou shed forth immortality upon humankind, being nailed to the Cross, and pierced with a spear. O Saviour of us all, glory to Thee." Touching the Lance on the edges of the "Prosforon" 3 times in the form of the Cross he says: "In commemoration of our Lord, and God, and Saviour, always, now and ever, and to the Ages of Ages." He then prays: "Blessed is our God, now and ever, and to the Ages of Ages. Amen." Then placing the "Prosforon" back on the dish, he inserts the Lance to extract the central Cube, inscribed with the letters IC XC NIKA, which mean: "Jesus Christ conquers!" The Priest extracts the Cube, and inverting it on the Paten, he carves cross-wise, but not all the way through. While doing this, he repeats the Prophetic words of the great Prophet Isaiah, written 800 years before Christ: "He was brought as a Lamb to the slaughter, and as a Sheep before the shearers is silent, so He did not open his mouth. In His humiliation justice was denied Him. Who then, can describe his generation? for His life is lifted up from the world." (Isaiah 53:7) Thus, the 4 parts can separate as we shall see later in the Holy Communion. After this, the Priest brings the Cube face up, after saying "Jesus Christ conquers," and he continues saying: "And one of the soldiers open His side with his spear, and immediately there from ran Blood and Water, and the witness testifies as to this, and we know that his testimony is true." John 19:34-35) While repeating the words of St. John, the Priest pours the wine and a little bit of water into the Holy Chalice, and blesses the Chalice saying: "May the union of Thy Saints be blessed, always, now and ever, and to the ages of ages." To the left of the extracted Cube, or Host, is an inscribed triangle, dedicated to our Holy Mother, which the Priest extracts with the Lance saying: "In honor and memory, of our most Blessed and Glorious Lady Theotokos, and ever-Virgin Mary, through whose intercessions accept this Sacrifice, O Lord, upon Thy Heavenly Altar." Placing this triangular piece on the right of the Cube or Host, the Priest says: "The Queen stood at Thy right Hand, clothed in a embroidered robe of gold." On the left side, from the void left by the extracting of the Cube or Host, already on the Paten, 9 little triangles are extracted, and placed on the left side of the Host on the Paten. The first is for the honor and memory of the Great Archangels Michael and Gabriel, and for all the Bodiless Powers in Heaven. The second is for the honorable, glorious Prophet, Forerunner, John the Baptist, and for the Holy glorious Prophets, Moses and Aaron, Isaiah, Elijah and Elisha, David and Jesse; for the three Holy Children; Daniel the Prophet, and for all the Holy Prophets. The third is for the glorious, and all laudable Apostles Peter and Paul, of the Twelve and the Seventy, and for all the Holy Apostles. The fourth is for our Fathers among the Saints, the great Hierarchs and ecumenical Teachers, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John the Chrysostom; for Athanasios and Cyril, Patriarchs of Alexandria, Nicholas of Myra, Spyridon of Trimythous, the Wonder Workers, and for all the Holy Hierarchs. The fifth is for the Holy First-Martyr Archdeacon Stephen; for the Great Martyrs George the standard bearer, Demetrios the Myrovlete, Theodore of Tiron, Theodore the General Commander, and for all the Holy Martyrs. The sixth is for our venerable and God-bearing Fathers, Anthony the Great, Efthymios, Paisios, Savas, Onoufrios, Peter and Athanasios of Mt. Athos, and for all the Holy illumined Ascetics. The seventh is for the glorious and wonder-working Unmercenaries, Cosmas and Damian, Cyrus and John, and Hermolaos, and for all the Holy Unmercenaries. The eighth is for the Holy and Righteous Ancestors Joachim and Anna, also the Saints we commemorate today, and for all the Saints. The ninth is for our Father among the Saints John the Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, whose Divine Liturgy we celebrate; Holy one of God, intercede for us. After placing the 9 small triangles to the left of the Host, the Priest extracts another cube from the Prosforon, and with the Lance proceeds to nip small particles, while simultaneously praying: "Remember O Master, Who loves humankind, every Orthodox Bishopric; our Archbishop (name), the honorable Priesthood; the Diaconate in Christ, and every Order of the Clergy; our Brothers and co-Celebrants; Priests and Deacons; and all our Brothers, whom you have called into Your communion, through Your tender compassion, O all gracious Master." At this point the Priest commemorates names submitted to him to be prayed for, during the Liturgy. The Priest then extracts small particles from the cube, to pray for the deceased. While extracting the particles, he prays: "Again we pray for the blessed memory, and remission of sins, of the blessed Founders of this Holy Church. Remember O Lord, all the Orthodox Patriarchs, Bishops, Priest Deacons, and Monastics, and all our Fathers and Brethren, who have fallen asleep in Thy communion, in the hope of the Resurrection unto Life Eternal, O Master, who lovest humankind." Lastly the Priest extracts a particle for himself and prays: "Remember O Lord, my unworthiness, and forgive all my offences, both voluntary and involuntary." When all the particles are in place, the Priest places the Asterisk on the Paten, repeating the words of the Gospel: "And the Star came and stood over the place, where the Child was!" (Matthew 2:9) He then takes the first veil and placing it over the Asterisk, he says: "The Lord hath reigned; He hath clothed Himself with majesty. The Lord hath clothed Himself with might, and hath girded Himself." PSALM M 93:1) Taking the second veil he places it on the Holy Chalice, saying: "Thy virtue hath covered the Heavens, O Christ and the earth is full of Thy praise!"The Veils symbolize the swaddling clothes of the Infant Jesus. Lastly the Priest takes the large veil, the "aera," and places it over both the Chalice and the Paten. "Aera" means "wind," because at the recitation of the Creed, he waves it over the Holy Gifts, lest an insect falls into the Holy Chalice. While doing this he prays: "Shelter us in the shelter of Thy wings; cast away from us every enemy and foe; grant peace to our life. Lord, have mercy on us, and on Thy world, and save our souls, for Thou art good and lovest humankind." The Priest then takes the censer, and censes 9 times bowing every third time. While censing he prays: "We offer to Thee incense, O Christ our God, unto a fragrance of spiritual sweetness, which receiving upon Thy Heavenly Altar, send down upon us in return, the Grace of Thine All-Holy Spirit. The censing is symbolic of our fervent prayers, that just as the smoke rises, in like manner our prayers rise up to the Throne of God. The Priest, having completed the preparation of the Gifts to be offered, prays: "Blessed art Thou, our God, Who art thus well pleased. Glory to Thee, always, now and ever, and to the Ages of Ages. Amen. Now the Priest offers the final prayer saying: "For the Holy Prothesis of the Precious Gifts, we pray to the Lord. Lord have mercy." "O God, our God, Who sent Thy Heavenly Bread, the Food of the whole World, our Lord and God Jesus Christ, our Saviour, and Redeemer, and Benefactor, blessing us and sanctifying us, bless this Oblation, and receive It upon Thine Altar beyond the Heavens. As Thou art good and lovest humankind, remember those, who brought this Offering, and those, for whom the Offering was made, and we ask, that Thou guard us from any condemnation in the celebration of Thy Holy Mysteries; for Thine all-honorable and majestic Name is sanctified and glorified; of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Sprit, now and ever, and to the Ages of Ages. Amen." Then the closing prayer of the Proskomide: "Glory to Thee, O Christ our God and our hope, Glory to Thee" "May He who was born in a cave, and placed in a manger for our salvation, 0 Christ our true God, through the intercessions of His All-Immaculate and AllBlameless Mother, and of all the Saints, have mercy upon us and save us, as a Good and loving and merciful God. Amen." "Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, O Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ have mercy upon us and save us. Amen" While saying this closing prayer the Priest bows and kisses the Paten and Holy Chalice and also the Aera which covers them saying: "Holy God, the Eternal Father, Holy Mighty, the Son, Who is co-Eternal, Holy Immortal, the All-Holy Spirit, Holy Trinity Glory to Thee." The Priest then takes the censor and censing the Proskomide and walking around the Holy Altar continuously censing he says: "In the grave with the Body, but in Hades with the Soul, as God in Paradise with the Thief, and on the Throne with the Father and the Spirit Thou were, O Christ, filling all things, Thyself being ineffable." Nest week we commence with the 2nd Part of the Liturgy, that is the Liturgy of the Catechumens, which commences with the raising of the Golden Book of the Gospels invoking the Blessings o€ the Holy Trinity.
|
|
Back to home page
Send mail to
epantaz@yahoo.com with
questions or comments about this web site.
|