Explanation of the Divine Liturgy. Divine Liturgy What moment of the liturgy is the most important

About the Liturgy, or How to break out of the vicious circle - a guide to action from Archimandrite Spiridon (Khodanich).

– What is the main meaning of the Liturgy? What parts does it consist of?

– Translated from Greek, the word λειτουργία means service and common cause. The Liturgy is the main divine service of our Church, at which the greatest Sacrament of thanksgiving and gratitude to God (Greek: εὐ-χᾰριστία) is performed - the Eucharist.

The Sacrament of the Eucharist, or Communion, most closely connects us, people - God's creations, with the Creator and gives us the opportunity to become heirs of the Kingdom of God.

Unfortunately, this world, according to the words of the Apostle John the Theologian, “is all in evil” (1 John 5:19), and we very often forget or do not want to think that we consist not only of the body, but also of the soul. . We take full care of the body: we warm it, feed it, provide it with comfort, but we do not remember the bird of paradise that lives inside us, the soul. But the words of the Savior are addressed to all of us: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all this will be added to you” (Matt. 6:33). If a person cares only about bodily well-being, then his soul dies without spiritual food, he becomes, as they say, a living corpse. Unfortunately, I have seen such people who have achieved a lot in material terms, but in their eyes there is emptiness and there is no true joy and peace, freedom. As soon as their opportunities grow, their needs immediately increase, and instead of freedom, they find another slavery. This circle is endless and vain... vain until a person finds Christ and His commandments, the fulfillment of which gives us true joy and freedom. Those who live only for the flesh are doomed. In the words of the apostle: “The works of the flesh are known; they are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, quarrels, envy, anger, strife, disagreements, (temptations), heresies, hatred, murders, drunkenness, outrageousness, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do so will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal. 5:19-21).

In the temple of God, which is a reflection of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, a person departs from the vanity of the earth, meets with God and, uniting with Him in the most intimate way in the Sacrament of Communion, receives invaluable help, not only bodily, but also, most importantly, spiritual. After all, the ability to love, forgive, endure is the strength of the human soul. Having received this power from God, we fulfill the commandment of Christ and testify with love to each other that we are His disciples: “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). The liturgy provides us with true life in Christ, not a vain existence. The liturgy is truly, as Metropolitan Veniamin (Fedchenkov) said: "... The Icon of God, lit by Christ the Savior, is a diamond bought by His Blood."

The liturgy consists of three parts: the proskomedia, the liturgy of the catechumens and the liturgy of the faithful.

– When was the first Liturgy celebrated?

– The first Liturgy was served in the Mother of all Christian Churches- Zion Upper Room by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He gathered His apostles at the Last Supper and celebrated the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Christ broke bread with the words: “...Take, eat: this is My Body. And he took the cup and gave thanks, and gave it to them, and said, Drink all of you out of it, for this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:26-28).

What is the most important part of the Liturgy?

– The most important part of the Liturgy is the Liturgy of the Faithful, at which, during the Eucharistic Canon, the Holy Gifts: bread and wine prepared on the proskomedia, are transubstantiated by the power and action of the Holy Spirit into the true Body and true Blood of Christ and are offered as a saving sacrifice for people to God the Father, after which they are served to believers for communion.

– What do the words from the Liturgy “Holy to the Saints” mean? Is it necessary to bow to the ground at these words?

- The offering of the Holy Gifts takes place in the altar with the curtain drawn (catapitasma). Raising the Holy Lamb over the diskos, the priest proclaims: “The Holy Ones to the Saints,” that is, he testifies that the Holy Gifts can only be given to the saints. In response to this, with a sense of their own sinfulness, the prayers answer: “One is Holy, One is the Lord, Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father. Amen".

St. Nicholas Cabasilas also writes: “The priest proclaims “Holy to the saints”, as if saying: “Here is the Bread of Life that you see; hasten to take communion, but not all, but only those who are holy, because the holy is allowed only to the saints. Here he calls saints not only those who are perfect in virtue, but also all those who strive for that perfection, although they have not yet reached it.

There is also the practice of bowing to the ground at the words “Holy to the saints,” and Archbishop Averky (Taushev) tells us about this: “There is also a custom (which is not accepted by everyone) to bow to the ground at the beginning of the Eucharistic Canon - immediately after the exclamation “We thank the Lord” and at the exclamation "Holy to the Holy."

The charter of the Church does not require prostrations in Sundays, on the days of the great twelve feasts, from the Nativity of Christ to Epiphany, from Easter to Pentecost. All these rules were given to us by the holy fathers in the decrees of the Ecumenical Councils: the 20th canon of the first Ecumenical Council and the 90th canon of the sixth Ecumenical Council.

– When performing incense in a church, how should one behave: turn one’s face to the deacon or to the altar?

- Answering this question, it would be appropriate to quote the words from the “Explanatory Typikon” by Mikhail Nikolaevich Skabalanovich, an Orthodox theologian, exegete and liturgist, professor: “When incense is performed on sacred objects - icons, a temple, it refers to God, giving Him due honor and praise . When the censer turns to people, this testifies that the Holy Spirit descends on all the faithful, as bearing in themselves the image of God. Traditionally, in response to incense, it is customary to bow. In the temple, one should always face the altar, therefore, during censing, you should not turn your back to it, you just need to turn slightly towards the priest with the censer and bow.

The question is ambiguous, because many may ask: how then does the priest turn his back on the Throne, saying: "Peace to all"? Most likely, Christ expects from us the reverent filling of all actions performed with a pure heart.

– Is it possible to leave the church immediately after Communion?

- Only in case of emergency! If possible, you must definitely wait until the end of the Liturgy. Imagine how offended the owner of the house, whose guests will leave before the end of the holiday? And we came to the temple to God! Having communed the Holy Mysteries of Christ, one must listen thanksgiving prayers and venerate the Cross, thanking God for His mercy and love.

—When a deacon calls at the Liturgy: “You catechumens, bow your heads to the Lord,” do all Christians have to bow their heads?

– The term “catechumen” (catechumen) first occurs in the works of Clement of Alexandria (c. 150), and the first detailed description announcement (catechumenate) in Christian communities belongs to Hippolytus of Rome (c. 170).

As for the catechumens themselves, these are people who have not yet received Baptism, but who are already being instructed in the fundamentals of the faith, who are learning Christian dogmas and wishing to receive Holy Baptism. Therefore, such should bow their heads during the calls of the deacon.

What is proskomedia?

– As mentioned above, the proskomedia (from the Greek προσκομιδή – offering, offering) is the first part of the Divine Liturgy. The proskomidia is performed by the bishop or priest on the Holy Altar, and through special rites, the substance for the Eucharist is prepared from the brought bread (prosphora) and wine, while all members of the Church, both living and deceased, are commemorated.

– What is the minimum number of participants in the Liturgy?

- Two people: a priest and a chorister-reader. The Lord in the Gospel tells us: "... If two of you agree on earth to ask for any deed, then whatever they ask, it will be for them from My Father in Heaven, for where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:19-20).

Interviewed by Natalya Goroshkova

Priest Andrey Chizhenko answers.

The main moment of the Divine Liturgy is the transubstantiation (transposition) of the Holy Gifts - the Body and Blood of Christ. This is the heart of the Liturgy, without which it is impossible. The Eucharistic canon was actually established at the Last Supper by the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ. Let us recall the gospel verses: “And while they were eating, Jesus took bread and, having blessed, broke it, and giving it to the disciples, said: Take, eat: this is My body. And he took the cup, and having given thanks, gave it to them, and said, Drink all of you out of it, for this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:26-28).

Today in the Liturgies of the Byzantine liturgical tradition of Saints Basil the Great and John Chrysostom, which we serve, the clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Eucharistic canon begins with the priest’s exclamation: “Let us become good, let us stand with fear, let us pay attention, bring the holy offering in the world” and ends with the exclamation: “And give us with one mouth and one heart to glorify and sing of Your honorable and magnificent name, the Father and the Son and Holy Spirit, now and ever and forever and ever."

The word "eucharist" itself is translated from Greek as "thanksgiving" or "thankgiving offering". Until now, even in modern Greek, the word "thank you" is pronounced as "eucharist". The Church gives the believer a very deep and poignant mood. We must tremble before the immeasurable love of the Most High, Who gave His Body and Blood for our salvation. We need to thank Him for this. Indeed, in essence, the Holy Gifts are the main holy means for the salvation-deification of man. The Lord Jesus Christ himself testifies to this: “Jesus said to them: Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you will not have life in you. Whoever eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him” (John 6:53-56).

Therefore, it is very important to approach Holy Communion – this main means that opens the doors of paradise for us, because the Lord Himself in the Sacrament of the Eucharist unites a person with Himself through His Fatherly mercy and love!

Let us not deprive ourselves, dear brothers and sisters, of this grace-filled means of salvation, this precious Holy thing that sanctifies us, as it says in the liturgical exclamation "Holy to the Holies."

The Eucharistic canon is so named because it is a clear, structured, unshakable rule that a clergyman must strictly observe when celebrating the Liturgy. The word "canon" is translated from Greek as "rule, norm, pattern."

Synonymous with the phrase "Eucharistic canon" is also the word "anaphora". Translated from Greek, it means “ascension”, since in one of the moments of the anaphora there is a real ascension (lifting up) of a diskos with bread (prosphora) and a Cup of wine and water, on which in a few minutes the grace of the Holy Spirit will descend, turning them into Body and Blood of Christ. The substance of the Sacrament, just like our souls in a symbolic spiritual sense, seems to be separated from everything else material and material and enter-ascend into another spiritual world, where the King of glory sits on the throne - God the Holy Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!

Priest Andrei Chizhenko

Commentaries on the Divine Liturgy of Saint JohnArchbishop 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 several times goes out to the people during the service, explaining what is happening in the church 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, all of us have gathered in this holy temple in order to make our common prayer, because the word “liturgy” in Greek means “common cause”, i.e. the work is not only of the clergy, but of all the faithful who gather in the temple for worship. And this means that every action, every prayer is related 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 primate of the service (bishop or priest) performs them on behalf of everyone. And the meaning of our presence with you at divine services is not only to pray for our own joys and sorrows, but that, through the prayer of the entire community, the great sacrament of the Eucharist be 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 largely incomprehensible. In order to partly resolve this problem today, the Divine Liturgy will be accompanied by commentaries in the course of its celebration, explaining the meaning of the sacred rites and prayers being performed. The hours, which are part of the daily circle of worship, have just been read, the priest performed a proskomidia in the altar offering), during which a part of the bread (symbolizing the Lamb of God, i.e. Christ) was removed from the offered prosphora, particles in honor and memory Holy Mother of God, saints, as well as living and dead Orthodox Christians, for whom commemorations were filed. All this relies 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 rib of the Lord, after it was pierced by a spear on the Cross. After that, the offered gifts are covered by special fees (protectors and at hom) and the priest reads the prayer of the offer, in which he asks to bless and accept the offer to the Most Heavenly Altar, to remember " who brought and for their own sake brought”(i.e., those who filed a commemoration and for whom) and remain uncondemned for us during the sacrament.

Thus, the proskomedia ends and the time comes for the liturgy of the catechumens, which will begin literally now. In the preparatory prayers before the liturgy, the priest reads a prayer for the calling of the Holy Spirit " King of Heaven”, and when the service is performed with the deacon, then he, asking for blessings from the primate, says:“ Time to create the Lord, Master, bless". Those. the time of the liturgy is coming, the time when the Lord Himself will act, and we will be only His co-workers.

The Divine Liturgy begins with the solemn exclamation " Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit now and forever and forever and ever", to which the chorus replies " Amen", What means May it be so. Any response of the kliros expressed in the pronunciation of the word " 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 a great or "peaceful" litany, which begins with the words " Let's pray to the Lord in peace”, “world”, means “in the world”, i.e. peaceful state of mind and reconciliation with others. It is impossible to offer a sacrifice to God, being in an embittered state. Petitions are made, and together with the kliros we 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 who pray with us inexhaustible mercy". This is followed by the singing of antiphons. Antiphons are whole psalms or verses from them, which are sung alternately by the right and left choirs. 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 their way to the temple. During the singing of antiphons, the priest reads a prayer in which he asks God " save your people and bless your inheritance, preserve your church in fullness ... and do not leave us who trust in you».

Pronounced so-called. "small" litany " packs and packs, let's pray to the Lord in peace”, i.e. " again and again in the world let us pray to the Lord». « Lord have mercy' replies 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 Orthodox teaching about Christ: two natures are united in Him - 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, having united with God, remained a man. At this time, a prayer is read by the priest, where he prays “... Himself and now fulfill the petition of Your children for the benefit: give us in the present age the knowledge of Your Truth, and in the future - grant Eternal Life».

And again follows the "small" litany, after which the singing of the third antiphon, the so-called. "blessed", i.e. the beatitudes given by the Lord, during which a small entrance is made. The clergy wear the Holy Gospel from the altar with the reading of a prayer “... make with our entrance the entrance of the holy angels, serving with us and glorifying Your goodness". The priest blesses the holy entrance with the words " Blessed is the entrance of thy saints", followed by the exclamation " Wisdom, sorry!». "Sorry"- so, we will stand straight, 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 had a purely practical character, 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 down to Christ!”, followed by the singing of troparia and kontakions relying on this day. During the singing, the priest reads the prayer of the Trisagion, which is in direct logical connection with the idea of ​​​​entrance and the entrance prayer, and it speaks of co-service with the priest and the Heavenly Forces themselves " Holy God, resting in the saints, Whom the seraphim sing with the Trisagion and the cherubim glorify... Himself, Vladyka, accept from the lips of us sinners the Trisagion hymn and visit us according to Thy goodness, forgive us all voluntary and involuntary sins...».

This is followed by the exclamation Lord, save the pious...”, which has been preserved from the ceremonial of the Byzantine service, which was attended by the kings. And immediately follows the singing of the Trisagion " Holy God Holy Strong, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us". During the singing of the Trisagion, the clergy ascend to a high place in the altar, a place where only a bishop can sit, symbolizing Christ. Climbing to a high place takes place to listen to the Holy Scriptures, therefore it is from there that the primate teaches peace to all those gathered, for our hearing the word of God. The reading of the Holy Scriptures is preceded by the singing of the prokimen (translated from Greek. presenting). A prokeimenon is a verse from the Holy Scriptures, most often from the Psalter. For the prokimen, the verse is chosen especially 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.

After that, the reader proclaims the appropriate 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, the altar, the iconostasis, the reader of the apostle, the kliros, and all those gathered in the church are incense. Previously, censing was supposed to be done while singing. alliluary with psalm verses, i.e. after the reading of the Apostle, but since this singing is usually performed 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).

Then follows the reading of the Gospel. Before reading it, the priest reads a prayer " Shine into our hearts, philanthropic Lord... Put in us the fear of Your good commandments, so that we, having conquered all the lusts of the flesh, lead a spiritual life...". There will also be two gospel readings today, and we will stop separately to talk about the meaning of the passages we read.

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

Next stop after reading the Scriptures

Beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord, immediately after reading the Gospel, the so-called. a “deep” litany, during which we pray for the Primate of our Church His Holiness Patriarch, Ruling Bishop, God-protected country, people and army, about all those who are coming and praying, doing good for this holy temple, singing and coming people expecting great mercy from the Lord. For each request, the choir answers 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 uncover the holy antimension (literally - instead of the throne), a board with a sewn-in particle of holy relics, on which the Bloodless Sacrifice will be brought.

On weekdays, after the “extra” litany, a litany for the dead is prescribed, but on Sundays and other holidays it is not laid, which means that it will not be today either. But let's not forget that the commemoration of the dead is always performed at the proskomidia, and after the consecration of the Holy Gifts, in the place about which more will be said.

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 worship service up to a certain point. After the pronunciation of this litany, all those preparing for Baptism were to leave the service. Today there are practically no catechumens, but the litany has been preserved, it is possible that it will become a guarantee that the ancient practice of catechumens in our Church will be revived. During this litany, the priest prays that the Lord " honored them those. catechumens ) during the auspicious bath of resurrection ( those. christening ) ... united them with His holy, catholic and apostolic Church and joined them to His chosen flock ...».

At the end of the litany, one proclaims: Yelitsy(i.e. all those who) announcement, get out...", which means that the end liturgy of the catechumens and starts liturgy of the faithful, which can only be attended by members of the Church, i.e. Orthodox Christians.

During the pronunciation of the litanies, two prayers of the faithful are read in the altar, 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, and prayers, and bloodless sacrifices for all His people ...", grant " to all who pray with us, prosperity in life and faith and spiritual understanding" and " innocently and uncondemned to partake of His holy Mysteries and His heavenly Kingdom will be rewarded". At the end of the reading of the second prayer follows the exclamation " Like yes, according to Your power(so that we are under Your dominion) always kept, they sent glory to you, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever". After a double Amen» the choir begins to sing Cherubic song. At the start of the chant cherubic the priest silently reads a prayer in which he asks God " ... deign me that through me, a sinful and unworthy servant of Yours, these gifts were brought to You. Thou Thyself is the bringer and the one who is offered, the receiver and the one who is given away, Christ our God…". This prayer is a preparation for the moment of the great entrance, i.e. transfer of the Gifts from the altar to the throne. After reading the prayer, the priest (if there is no deacon) performs incense, during which the penitent 50 psalm reads to himself.

After incense, the primate raises his hands with the words " We, depicting the cherubim in the sacrament and singing the Trisagion Hymn to the life-giving Trinity, will now set aside all worldly care in order to receive the King of the world, accompanied invisibly by the orders of angels. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah».

The transfer of the Gifts and their setting 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, His Grace 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 forever and forever and ever". Putting the holy vessels on the altar, the priest covers them with air while reciting the troparia of Great Friday. After the transfer of 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 climax of the service - the Eucharistic canon. Immediately after the transfer of the Gifts from the altar to the throne, the petitionary litany begins. Sounds like a petition Execute(i.e. replenish) our prayer to the Lord”, and together with the choir we answer “Lord, have mercy.” After asking " spend the whole day holy, peacefully and sinlessly from the Lord, we ask", we answer with the words" Give me Lord”, and that is why the litany is called petitionary. This litany develops petitions for what people need: a Guardian Angel, the forgiveness of sins, a peaceful death, and so on. During its pronunciation, the prayer of the offering is read. This last prayer before the Anaphora itself (i.e., the Eucharistic canon) draws attention to itself 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 on us, and on these gifts set before us, and on all Your people ...».

After the exclamation By the bounties of Thy Only Begotten Son, blessed be Thou with Him...» the priest teaches « peace to all". Then comes the exclamation " Let us love one another, so that in one mind we may confess and the chorus continues Father and Son and Holy Spirit - Trinity consubstantial and inseparable". 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 large gatherings in temples, where no one knows each other and where these actions would be a mere formality. Today, this custom has been preserved only among the clergy, when one greets the other with the words " Christ in our midst» to which the answer follows « and is and will be».

This action symbolically signifies a complete internal reconciliation between Christians who intend to participate in the sacrament of the Eucharist. The commandment of the Savior (Matt. 5:23-24) directly prescribes to be reconciled first with a brother, and then to bring a sacrifice to the altar. But this reconciliation should also mean complete unanimity, complete spiritual unity. Therefore, immediately after the kissing of the world, the Creed is proclaimed (adopted at the First Ecumenical Council in Nicea and supplemented at the Second Ecumenical Council in Constantinople), as a measure of the dogmatic truth of Christians. The Eucharistic offering can only be with one mouth and one heart, in a single faith, in the agreement of dogmas, in the same view on the basic questions of faith and salvation.

After the exclamation Doors, doors, let us listen to 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 the deacons who stood at the door so that during the celebration of the Eucharistic prayers no one would go out and enter the assembly of the faithful.

At the end of the singing of the Creed, the Eucharistic canon or prayers of the anaphora (from the Greek. exaltation), which are the culminating part of the liturgy. We hear the exclamation Let's become kind(i.e. slim), let's stand with fear(i.e. we will be with attention) to bring holy exaltation in the world - and the chorus continues mercy, peace and sacrifice of praise". The priest, facing the people, proclaims: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the Father, and communion(communication) Holy Spirit be with you all!". The chorus, and with it all of us, answer: And with your spirit". Primate: " Gore e we have(i.e. lift up) hearts', the chorus replies: ' Imams(i.e. we lift up) to the Lord", Priest: " Thank the Lord!". And the choir starts 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 beneficences revealed and unmanifested 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, six-winged cherubim and seraphim, many-eyed, soaring on wings, which (proclaims the priest) " singing a song of victory, shouting, shouting and speaking"(continues chorus)" 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 blissful Powers, we, the philanthropic Lord, exclaim..."after which the primate in prayer recalls the event when our Lord Jesus Christ established the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist" taking bread in His holy and blameless and sinless hands, giving thanks and blessing, sanctifying and saying to his disciples and apostles, Take, eat, this is My Body, broken for you in the forgiveness of sins", the choir and we are with him" Amen!". The priest prays Likewise the cup after supper, saying: (out loud) Drink all of it, this is My Blood of the New Testament, shed for you and for many for the remission of sins.". The choir keeps answering " Amen!", Priest " So, remembering this His saving commandment and everything He did for us: the cross, the tomb, the three-day resurrection, the ascent to Heaven, right hand (from Father) sitting, and also His second and glorious coming,(offering the gifts) “Yours from Yours, bringing to You about everyone and for everything". And further " We sing to You, we bless You, we thank You, O Lord, and we pray to You, our God!(the chorus echoes this). And the priest begins to read the prayer for the calling of the Holy Spirit to the Gifts " and we ask, and we pray, and let us deem(i.e. seizure a eat): send Your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these gifts set before us,».

According to Russian tradition, at this time, the reading of the troparion of the third hour “Lord, even Thy Most Holy Spirit” is supposed to be read, many mistakenly believe that this troparion is just the prayer of invoking the Holy Spirit on 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 epiclesis prayer (i.e. the prayer for the invocation of the Holy Spirit) continues inextricably with the words " And make this bread - the honest body of your Christ"(the priest blesses the paten with his hand)," and the hedgehog in this Cup is the precious Blood of Thy Christ"(the priest blesses the Chalice)," changing by Your Holy Spirit(The priest blesses the diskos and the cup together). After that, a prostration is made before the consecrated Holy Gifts.

Having risen, the primate makes intercessory prayers that we all take communion for the soberness of the soul and the forgiveness of sins. He then prayerfully brings the verbal service " about every righteous soul in the faith who has died". And he proclaims, incense of the throne, Considerably(i.e. especially) about the Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed Lady of Our Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary". The choir sings a hymn glorifying the Mother of God, who is the most honest cherubim and the most glorious without comparison seraphim, and the priest continues to commemorate the saints of God, John the Baptist, the holy glorious apostles and saints, whose memory is being celebrated today. Then, please pay attention, the primate commemorates the departed Orthodox Christians, therefore, each of us at this time can and should prayerfully remember all those whom we usually commemorate for their repose. Then the priest prays for every Orthodox bishopric, priesthood, diaconate and every priestly rank, for the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

After that, the primate exclaims 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, I ask you to pay attention, it is possible to commemorate the health of Orthodox Christians, but there is very little time for this, so you can have time to prayerfully remember only the people closest to us. This is followed by the exclamation: And give(i.e. give) us with one mouth and one heart to glorify and sing of Your all-honorable and magnificent name, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and forever and ever”, 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". With this, the Eucharistic canon ends and remains with everything for a little time until the moment of communion of the clergy and laity. At this point, we will stop again to continue explaining the subsequent course of the service. I wish all of us meaningful standing before the Lord!

Next stop after the Eucharistic Canon

Beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord, the change of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ took place, in order to later be offered to the faithful for communion and union with God. Now the litany of supplication will be pronounced after the consecration of the Gifts. Having remembered all the saints, let us pray to the Lord again and again in the world". By saints here is meant not only the saints of God, glorified by the Church, but also all faithful Orthodox Christians, deceased and living, commemorated during the service. In the early Church, saints meant all Christians in general, and the apostolic writings refer to Christians in this way. Further the petition Let us pray to the Lord for the precious gifts brought and consecrated”, this is a petition for sanctification of us by the communion of these Gifts, which follows from the following petition “ So that our philanthropic God, having accepted them on His holy and Most Heavenly and mental altar, as a spiritual fragrance, send down to us divine grace and the gift of the Holy Spirit as a reward - let us pray!”, then the usual petitions for a pleading litany follow, and the priest prays that each of us will commune without condemnation and be cleansed of the filth of the flesh and spirit. On the meaning of this prayer and litany, St. Nicholas Cabasilas, one of the best interpreters of the Liturgy: “Grace acts in the honorable 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 prevent the action of grace in the Holy Gifts, since. their sanctification is not an act of human virtue. The second action is the work 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 finds them 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, let us commit ourselves and each other, and let us commit our whole life to Christ our God." followed by the exclamation " And vouchsafe us, O Lord, with boldness to uncondemned dare to call You, Heavenly God, Father and 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 yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory ...”, after which the priest teaches peace to everyone, and after the exclamation of head bowing, he reads the corresponding prayer in which he thanks God and asks for our immediate needs“ floating floating, traveling travel, heal the sick Physician of our souls and bodies". After the chorus replies " Amen”, the priest reads a prayer before the crushing of the Holy Lamb, in which he asks God“ to give us His clean Body and His precious Blood, and through us to all His people».

Followed by the exclamation " Let's go!(i.e., let's be careful) "and the primate, lifting up the Holy Lamb, proclaims" Holy to the holy!". Here, as we have already said, saints are understood to mean all Orthodox Christians, in this case collected in this holy temple, i.e. understood by each of us. The choir sings: There is one Holy, one Lord, Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father. Amen". The Primate performs the fragmentation of the Holy Lamb, with the words " Fulfillment of the Holy Spirit”puts a particle with the inscription “Jesus” into the Chalice, the particle with the inscription “Christ” will receive communion from 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 with hot water is poured into the Holy Chalice, the so-called. "warmth", which, by its theological interpretation, goes back to the death of the Savior on the cross, since The blood that flowed from the Lord was hot. After the clergy take 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 all who prepared for this today.

Next stop after communion of the clergy

Beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord, the very 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 its meaning in the transformation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, for the communion of all those gathered at the liturgy. That is why the last part of the liturgy is 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 standing before God in common Eucharistic prayer. Communion at every liturgy was the norm for the Christians of the ancient Church, but over time this norm began to be forgotten, and today we can see how in the temple, in which there are a sufficient number of people, only a few communicants. Often we talk about our unworthiness, and this is absolutely true, each of us is not worthy to be able to unite with Christ Himself, and woe to those who suddenly realize their dignity in front of the Holy Chalice. Precisely because we are weak and unworthy, we are called to heal our ailments in the Sacraments of the Holy Church - repentance and communion above all. The universality of communion of all the faithful at the liturgy reveals the nature of the Church, which itself is the Body of Christ, which means that each member of Her is His particle.

Striving for constant unity with God in joint prayer and communion in the sacraments, we will step by step make our spiritual ascent, to which every Christian is called. The liturgy is celebrated not so that we can light candles and order Mass, or rather, 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 the life of an Orthodox Christian is to achieve about because, according to the words of St. Athanasius the Great, "God became man so that man might become God." And our deification is unthinkable without participation in the sacraments of the Church, 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 careful work on oneself, without fighting one's sins, because as it is said in the Holy Scripture: The kingdom of heaven is taken by force, and those who use force take it by force» (Matthew 11:12). God saves us, but not without us, if each of us does not yearn 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 forms an idea about the Church of Christ, and what will this idea be if we cannot give answers to elementary questions. You need to constantly force yourself to study, read Holy Bible, Fathers of the Church, the works of Orthodox theologians and, undoubtedly, improve in prayer work. Each of us has a huge responsibility before God, the Church and people, because by becoming Christians we became, according to the words of the Apostle Peter, “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy people, people taken as inheritance in order to proclaim the perfections of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Pet. 2:9). With this responsibility in mind, we should carry out our church ministry.

Now the Holy Chalice will be taken out and everyone who was going to take communion today will be united with Christ Himself. After communion, the Chalice is brought into the altar and the holy particles that were taken out for the saints, the living and the dead, are immersed in the Chalice with the words “ wash away, Lord, the sins of all those who are 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 Churches.

Let's make the particles immerse 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 is our God" (quiet) " Always now and forever and forever and ever!"(exclamation). Priest saying " Ascend to heaven, O God, and throughout the earth Your glory”delivers the Chalice to the altar. The choir, on behalf of all those who have communed the Holy Mysteries, sings “ May our lips be filled with Your praise, O Lord, so that we may sing of Your glory, for You have honored us with communion with Your holy, divine, immortal and life-giving Sacraments.". This is followed by a litany Let's be reverent! Having communed the divine, holy, immaculate, immortal, heavenly and life-giving, terrible Mysteries of Christ, we worthily thank the Lord!”, followed by the proclaiming “ Let's leave in peace!”and the junior clergyman reads the so-called. "beyond the ambo" prayer, in which he asks " Lord… save Your people and bless Your inheritance… Grant Peace to Your world, Your churches, priesthood, our rulers and all Your people…". The choir with the people answers " Amen!”, after which the blessing is taught with all the right words“ God bless you...". After that, the primate makes a vacation, 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 it is, first of all, the Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina, the Enlightener of Georgia) and St. John Chrysostom, whose liturgy is celebrated today. After that, the choir sings for many years to the Primate of the Russian Church, His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II and our Ruling Bishop, His Eminence John, Archbishop of Belgorod and Starooskolsky. Thus, the service ends.

We hope that today's service, which was constantly commented on during its celebration, has given us the opportunity to get to know our liturgical heritage better, and we will continue to make efforts so that we have a desire to more and more comprehend our Orthodox heritage, 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 sufferings, 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 a cup of wine, blessed it and gave it to the apostles, saying: Drink everything from it: for this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.(Mt 26:28). The Lord also commanded the apostles: Do this in remembrance of me(Luke 22:19). Even after the resurrection of Christ and His ascension into Heaven, the Apostles performed the Sacrament of Communion. During the Eucharist (gr. thanksgiving) each time, what the Lord did at the Last Supper actually happens. 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 (cf. Jn 15:5).

The Eucharist is also called Bloodless sacrifice because it is an image of the sacrifice that the Lord Jesus Christ offered for us at Calvary. He did it once, having suffered for the sins of the world, resurrected and ascended into Heaven, where he sat 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, the Old Testament sacrifices ceased, and now Christians make the Bloodless Sacrifice in remembrance of Christ's sacrifice and for the communion of His Body and Blood.

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

The Holy Gifts are a fire that burns every sin and every defilement, if a person strives to partake worthily. We partake of the healing of soul and body. When approaching communion, one must do it with reverence and awe, realizing one's weakness and unworthiness. “Although eat (eat), man, Body of the Lady, approach with fear, but do not be scorched: there is fire,” says the prayers for Holy Communion.

Saint Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) writes about how the Lord enlightened one young man, Dmitry Shepelev, and showed that in Holy Communion the true Body of the Savior is served: “He was brought up in the Corps of Pages. Once upon a time great post, when the pages were ready and were already approaching the Holy Mysteries, the young man Shepelev expressed to his comrade walking beside him his resolute disbelief that the body and blood of Christ should be in the cup. When the secrets were taught to him, he felt that he had meat in his mouth. Horror embraced young man: he stood beside himself, not feeling the strength to swallow a 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, ascetics, during the celebration of the Eucharist, there were manifestations of heavenly fire descending on the Holy Gifts. Yes, the Sacrament of Communion, the Eucharist is the greatest miracle and mystery, as well as the greatest mercy to us sinners, and visible evidence of what the Lord has established with people New Testament in His Blood (see: Luke 22:20), having offered a sacrifice for us on the cross, he died and rose again, spiritually resurrecting all mankind by 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: Jn 6:56).

Origin of the liturgy

The sacrament of communion, the Eucharist, from ancient times also received the name liturgy, which translates from Greek as common cause, common service.

The Holy Apostles, disciples of Christ, having received from their Divine Teacher the commandment to celebrate the Sacrament of Communion in remembrance of Him, after His ascension began to celebrate the breaking of bread - the Eucharist. Christians constantly abided in the teaching of the Apostles, in communion 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 according to the very order that their Master had taught them. In apostolic times, the Eucharist was combined with the so-called agapamy, or meals of love. Christians ate food and were in prayer and fellowship. After supper, the breaking of bread and communion of the faithful took place. But then the liturgy was separated from the meal and began to be celebrated as an independent sacred rite. The Eucharist began to be celebrated inside sacred temples. In the I-II centuries, the order of the liturgy, apparently, was not written down and was transmitted orally.

What are the liturgies

Gradually, in different localities, their own liturgical rites began to take shape. Served in the Jerusalem community Liturgy of the Apostle James. In Alexandria and Egypt there was Liturgy of the Apostle Mark. In Antioch, the liturgy of Saints Basil the Great and John Chrysostom. All these liturgies are the same in their meaning and significance, but differ in the texts of the prayers that the priest offers at the consecration of the Holy Gifts.

Now in the practice of the Russian Orthodox Church there are usually performed three rites of the liturgy. These are the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, the liturgy of St. Basil the Great, and the liturgy of St. Gregory the Dialogist.

This liturgy is performed on all days of the year, except for the first five Sundays of Great Lent and weekdays of Great Lent. Saint John Chrysostom composed the order of his liturgy on the basis of the previously composed liturgy Saint Basil the Great but shortened some of the prayers.

Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great

According to St. Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium, St. Basil the Great asked God “to give him the strength of spirit and mind to celebrate the Liturgy in his own words. After six days of fervent prayer, the Savior appeared to him miraculously and fulfilled his petition. Soon Vasily, imbued with delight and divine awe, began to proclaim: “Let my lips be filled with praise”, “Beware, Lord Jesus Christ our God, from Thy holy habitation” and other prayers of the liturgy.

Liturgy of Saint Basil committed ten times a year:

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

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

During the Holy Fortecost of Great Lent on weekdays, the service of the full Liturgy stops. Lent is a time of repentance, weeping for sins, when all festivity and solemnity are excluded from worship. And therefore, according to the rules of the Church, on Wednesday and Friday of Great Lent, Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. The Holy Gifts, with which believers partake, are consecrated at the liturgy on Sunday.

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

The sequence and symbolic meaning of the liturgy

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

Proskomedia

The word is Greek and means bringing. In ancient times, the members of the early Christian community themselves brought everything necessary for the Sacrament before the Liturgy: bread and wine. The bread used in the celebration of 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 proskomidia five prosphora 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 bread. The Holy Apostle Paul writes: one bread, and we many are one body; for we all partake of the same bread(1 Cor 10:17). The Lamb is broken up after the transfer of the Holy Gifts, and the clergy and all who are preparing for communion partake of it. Wine during the celebration of the liturgy is used red, grape, as it resembles the color of blood. Wine is mixed with a small amount of water as a sign that blood and water have flowed from the perforated rib of the Savior.

The proskomedia is performed at the very beginning of the liturgy in the altar during the reading of the hours by the reader. exclamation "Blessed is our God", anticipating reading third hour, is also the initial exclamation of the proskomedia. The Liturgy is preceded by a service third and sixth hours.

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

Recall: proskomidia is performed on altar.

From Lamb prosphora priest with a special knife called copy, cuts out the middle in the shape of a cube. This part of the prosphora is called Lamb as a sign that the Lord, as the Immaculate Lamb, was slain for our sins. From the lower part, the Lamb is incised crosswise with the words: “The Lamb of God is eaten (that is, sacrificed), take 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 side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who saw testified, 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 on proskomedia has several meanings. Here we recall the birth of the Savior, His coming into the world and, of course, the Calvary sacrifice on the Cross, as well as burial.

The prepared Lamb and the particles taken out of the other four prosphora symbolize the fullness of the Church, heavenly and earthly. After preparing the Lamb, he relies on the paten.

The priest from the second prosphora takes out a triangular particle 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 St. righteous Joachim and Anna, and the saint whose liturgy is celebrated.

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

At the altar at the proskomidia, believers submit notes about health and repose. For the people whose names are contained in the notes, particles are also taken out.

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

The priest, after shaking, places an asterisk on the paten over the Lamb and the particles. The diskos marks both the Bethlehem cave and Golgotha, the asterisk - the star above the cave and the cross. The priest incenses special covers and puts them over the paten and chalice as a sign that Christ was laid in the tomb and His body was wrapped in swaddling clothes. These swaddling clothes also symbolize Christmas wrappings.

The meaning of the commemoration at the proskomedia

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

Prayer at the proskomedia for health and repose with the removal of particles for them, and then immersing them in a chalice is the highest commemoration in the Church. A Bloodless Sacrifice is offered 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 Skete, was obedient Kiev-Pechersk Lavra(now glorified as a locally revered saint). He got tired and dozed off by the shrine. Saint Theodosius appeared to him in a dream and thanked him for his labors. He asked that his parents, Priest Nikita and Matushka Maria, be commemorated at the liturgy. When Hieromonk Alexy asked the saint how he could ask for the prayers of a priest when he himself stands before the Throne of God, St. Theodosius said: “The offering at the Liturgy is stronger than my prayers.”

Saint Gregory the Dialogist relates that after the death of a negligent monk who suffered from a love of money, he commanded that thirty funeral liturgies 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 own 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 to accept holy baptism have undergone extensive training. They studied the foundations of the faith, went to church, but they could only pray at the Liturgy until the transfer of the Gifts from the altar to the throne. The catechumens, as well as the penitents, who were excommunicated for grave sins, had to go out into the porch of the temple.

After the exclamation of the priest: "Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever" 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 "peace" tells us that we must pray in the world, reconciled with our neighbors, only then the Lord will accept our prayers.

Peaceful litany embraces 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 performed, for bishops, presbyters, deacons, for our country, its authorities and its soldiers, for the goodness of the air and the abundance of earthly fruits necessary for subsistence. Here we also ask God to help all those who are traveling, sick and in captivity.

The liturgy is common cause, and prayer on it is performed conciliarly, that is, by all the 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.(Mt 18:20), the Lord tells us. And according to the charter, a priest cannot celebrate the Liturgy alone; at least one person must pray with him.

After great litany psalms are sung antiphons, since they are supposed to be sung on two kliros 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 hymn is always sung: “Only Begotten Son…” – about the coming into the world of Christ the Savior, His incarnation and redemptive sacrifice. During the singing of the gospel beatitudes from Christ's Sermon on the Mount, the royal doors open and the small entrance is made, or entrance with gospel. The priest or deacon, raising the Gospel, signifying the cross in the royal doors, proclaims: “Wisdom, forgive!” Translated from Greek sorry means directly. This is said as a reminder to us that we need to be attentive in prayer, to stand straight.

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

After singing the troparions dedicated to the holiday, the given day, the saints of the day and the temple, Trisagion: “Holy God ...” On the Nativity of Christ, the Baptism of the Lord, Easter and Easter week, on the day of the Holy Trinity, as well as on Lazarus and the Great Saturday, instead of the Trisagion, it is sung: put on (put on). Alleluia." In ancient times, catechumens were traditionally baptized on these holidays. On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord and the week of Great Lent, instead of the Trisagion, it is sung: “We worship Thy Cross, Master, and glorify Thy holy Resurrection.”

For careful reading Apostle and gospels we are prepared by the exclamations of “Let us attend” and “Wisdom, forgive us, let us hear the Holy Gospel.” After the gospel reading, a special (enhanced) litany follows, at which, in addition to various prayers for the clergy, authorities, the army and all believers, there is a commemoration by name of those who submitted their notes to the liturgy: their names are proclaimed by the clergy, and all the people together with them pray 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 special litany often added Litany for the Dead. During it, we pray for all our deceased fathers, brothers and sisters, we ask God to forgive their voluntary and involuntary sins and to place them in heavenly abodes, where all the righteous rest.

Followed by litany of the catechumens. For some, this part of the service is bewildering. Indeed, the practice of catechumens, preparation for baptism, which was in the ancient Church, does not exist now. Today, as a rule, we baptize people after one or two conversations. But still catechumens, preparing to receive Orthodox faith, there is now. There are many people who have not yet received baptism, but are reaching out, going to the Church. We pray for them, that the Lord will strengthen them. good intention, revealed to them His "Gospel of Truth" and joined them to the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

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

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

Liturgy of the Faithful

This part of the service begins after the catechumens are called to leave the temple. Two short litanies follow. The choir starts to sing Cherubic Hymn. If we translate it into Russian, it will read like this: “We, mysteriously portraying the Cherubim and singing Life-Giving Trinity Thrice holy hymn, let us now lay aside the care of all worldly things in order to receive the King of all, Who is surrounded by angelic Powers. Praise God!”

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

One day Reverend Seraphim Sarovsky, being a hierodeacon, served the Divine Liturgy. After a small entrance, Seraphim proclaimed at the royal doors: “Lord, save the pious and hear us!” But as soon as he turned to the people, he pointed at the forthcoming orarion and said: “And forever and ever!” - as a beam lit up him brighter than sunlight. 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 Heavenly Powers - Angels, Archangels, Cherubim and Seraphim.

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

This is called transfer great entrance. The priest and the deacon carry the Gifts, leaving the altar through the northern (left) doors. Stopping on the ambo, in front of the royal doors, facing the faithful, they commemorate His Holiness the Patriarch, metropolitans, archbishops, bishops, the priesthood, all those who work and pray in this church.

After that, the clergy enter the altar through the royal doors, place the Chalice and paten on the throne, and cover the Gifts with a special veil (air). Meanwhile, the choir sings the Cherubic Hymn. The Great Entrance symbolizes the solemn procession of Christ on His free suffering and death.

Litany, following the transfer of the Gifts, is called petitionary and prepares the faithful for the most important part of the liturgy - the consecration of the Holy Gifts.

After this litany, Symbol of faith. Before the singing of the Creed by all the people, the deacon proclaims: “Doors, doors! Let us hear wisdom!” These words in ancient times 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 who enter would not violate the decorum. It reminds us that we need to close the doors of our mind from extraneous thoughts.

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

Often one has to deal with the fact that the godparents, the recipients at the Sacrament of Baptism, cannot read the Creed. It happens because people don't read morning prayers(they include the Creed) and rarely go to the liturgy. After all, in the temple, every Divine Liturgy, all the people with one mouth confess their faith and, of course, know this hymn by heart.

The sacrament of the Eucharist, the holy offering must be offered with the fear of God, with reverence and special care. Therefore, the deacon proclaims: “Let us become good, let us stand with fear, let us pay attention, bring the holy exaltation in the world.” Begins eucharistic canon. chants "The grace of the world, the sacrifice of praise" is the answer to this call.

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

Let us dwell on the main, main prayers of the Eucharistic canon. According to the priest, “We thank the Lord!” preparations begin for consecration, the realization of honest Gifts. The priest reads the thanksgiving Eucharistic prayer. It glorifies the blessings of God, especially the redemption of the human race. We thank the Lord that He accepts from us the Bloodless Sacrifice in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, although angelic ranks await and serve Him, glorifying Him: “Singing the victorious song, crying out, crying 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, sounded at the Last Supper, the priest proclaims loudly: "Take, eat, this is my body, which is broken for you for the remission of sins". At the same time, he points to the diskos with the Lamb. And further: “Drink from her all, 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 given by God to people — the Sacrament of Communion itself, His sacrifice on the Cross, and His second glorious Coming promised to us — the priest utters an exclamation full of deep theological meaning: “Yours from Yours, offering to You about everyone and for everything”. We dare to bring these gifts to God from His creations (bread and wine), bringing a bloodless sacrifice for all the children of the Church and for all the good deeds rendered to us by Him. 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 occurs consecration, transformation prepared bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. The priest prays, 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 signifies with the words: “And make this bread, the precious body of your Christ”. The deacon answers: "Amen". Then he blesses the wine, saying: “And the hedgehog in this Cup is the precious Blood of Thy Christ”. The deacon replies: "Amen". Then he marks the paten with the Lamb and the holy Chalice with the words: "Changing by Your Holy Spirit". The consecration of the Holy Gifts ends three times: "Amen, amen, amen". The clergy 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 is said in the exclamation of the priest, which is the end of the priestly prayer: "Considerably(especially) of the Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed, Glorious Our Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary". In response to this exclamation, a hymn dedicated to the Mother of God is sung: "Worthy to eat". (On Pascha and on the Twelfth Feasts, before the giving away, another Theotokos hymn is sung - the merit.)

This is followed by a litany which prepares the faithful for communion and also contains the usual petitions of the petitionary litany. After the litany and the 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: for everything to be the will of God, for daily bread (and, of course, for the Lord to vouchsafe us to receive heavenly bread, His Body), for the forgiveness of our sins and for so that the Lord would help us overcome all temptations and deliver us from the wiles of the devil.

Priest's voice: "Holy to the holy!" tells us that one must approach the Holy Mysteries reverently, sanctifying oneself with prayer, fasting, and being cleansed in the Sacrament of Penance.

In the altar, at this time, the clergy crush the holy Lamb, commune themselves and prepare the Gifts for the communion of believers. After that, the royal doors open, and the deacon takes out the holy Chalice with the words: "Come with the fear of God and faith". Opening of the Royal Doors 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 them 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 confess Thee: remember me, Lord, in Thy Kingdom. May the communion of Thy Holy Mysteries, Lord, not be for judgment and condemnation, but for the healing of soul and body. Amen".

One who communes unworthily, without faith, without contrition of heart, having malice and resentment towards his neighbor in his heart, 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.

All those who were preparing for communion and received permission from the priest partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. After that, the priest brings the holy Chalice into the altar.

The priest overshadows those who pray with the holy Chalice with the words: "Always, now and ever and forever and ever" and carries it to the altar. This marks the last appearance of the Savior to the disciples and His ascension to heaven.

The deacon pronounces a short litany of thanksgiving, ending with the priest's prayer behind the ambo (that is, read before the ambo).

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

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

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

Coming to worship, few today understand the meaning of the festive troparion, and many other words remain incomprehensible. Of course, there is a mysterious beginning in the Church, but nothing is secret, not intended for those who stand and pray on the other side of the altar gates.

Our lack of understanding of the most important moments of the Liturgy is very regrettable. We must make our prayer meaningful; do not pray to God with unfamiliar words - we are talking to our Father - and do not consider it a great effort to find out what these words mean. After all, this is not sung for us, but sung by us! We are all participants in this great and heavenly sacrament.

It sometimes seems to us that when we come to the Church, we accomplish a spiritual feat. Still: we patiently lined up for confession, submitted memorial notes ... We don’t even know that, once in the Church, we were invisibly transported to the Zion upper room, where the Lord washed the feet of His disciples, and now it’s our turn. We must prepare ourselves for the Liturgy, for the feast, in order to sing the magnificence and the troparion together with the choir, to call together with everyone: “Receive the Body of Christ ...”, so that this is pronounced with one mouth and one heart.

These are the words of Archpriest Alexy Uminsky, who tells about the history of the Liturgy, its meaning and the meaning of the ongoing action in his article . We have posted his article, with some abbreviations, on this page and we urge you to read it. The full version can be read by clicking on the title of the article.

Archpriest Alexy Uminsky
Divine Liturgy: Explanation of meaning, meaning, content

Liturgy as the center of Christian life

The Liturgy begins with everyone gathering together. The very word "Church" in Greek sounds like "ekklesia", which, in turn, means "assembly".

When we gather in church, we gather together with the Church, the very Church in which we believe. Our Eucharistic gathering is a gathering in Christ, which is necessary for each of us to be united with God and through God to be truly deeply and eternally united with each other. Such a meeting of people in the Sacrament, in fact, makes people the Church.

"Liturgy" ("λειτουργία") in Greek means "common cause". In ancient times, the construction of a temple or a ship was called liturgy. People gathered and the whole world did a job that could not be done without common participation. The word "layman" comes precisely from this: "with the whole world", "all together". Therefore, we can say that in the temple everyone is a co-server. Not some kind of dumb herd, separated by a blank wall from the priests, but the one people of God, including the bishop, the clergy, and the laity.

It should not be so that the priest serves the Liturgy, and the parishioners only light candles and submit notes. We all must serve God with one mouth and one heart, praise and glorify Him, uniting with each other in the indestructible unity of faith, in the unity of love, in the unity of good thoughts and deeds. We are called to lift up our prayer for all. Not without reason did the Lord say: “Where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). People who have gathered in the name of the Lord become the Body of Christ, and then the prayer of the Church acquires colossal significance and power.

Three parts can be distinguished in the order of the Divine Liturgy: the Proskomedia, the Liturgy of the Catechumens, and the Liturgy of the Faithful. First, the substance for the Sacrament is prepared, then the faithful are prepared for the Sacrament, and finally the Sacrament itself is performed, and the believers receive communion.

sacred vessels

The attributes of the Liturgy did not appear immediately. In ancient times, the rank of Proskomidia in the form in which it exists now did not yet exist - it took shape only by the end of the first millennium. In the Acts of the Holy Apostles, the Liturgy is called "The Breaking of Bread." When the Liturgy was served by the apostles or in the catacombs, under conditions of persecution, only two liturgical vessels were used to celebrate the Proskomedia - the Chalice and the Discos, on which the broken Body of Christ was laid out. From this Diskos, the faithful took the Body and drank from the Chalice together, that is, they communed in the same way as priests now commune in the altar.

Later, when the Church multiplied during the reign of Constantine, parish churches appeared, and it became difficult for numerous communicants to break bread. During the time of John Chrysostom (c. 347–407), a spear and a spoon appeared.

In worship, nothing can exist by itself. All these accessories are designed to serve a more complete disclosure of the meaning of the ongoing sacrament.

Chalice and Diskos- the most important liturgical vessels used by the Savior during the Last Supper. The diskos (Greek: "δίσκος") is a plate on the foot with scenes from the New Testament, most often the icons of the Nativity of Christ. The diskos simultaneously symbolizes both the Bethlehem cave and the tomb of the Lord.

Two cruciform patroness, with which they cover the Chalice and Discos, and a cloth plate called air, on the one hand, symbolize the shroud with which the Savior was wrapped around Christmas, and on the other hand, the Shroud in which He was wrapped after being taken down from the cross.

liar- a spoon with a long handle, used for the communion of the laity, did not appear immediately and was fixed in liturgical practice rather late. She recalls the prophecy of Isaiah: “Then one of the Seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a burning coal, which he took with tongs from the altar, and touched my mouth and said: Behold, this has touched your mouth, and your iniquity has been removed from you. and your sin is cleansed” (Isaiah 6:6). This is an Old Testament image of communion: the spoon symbolizes the tongs with which the Archangel pulled the coals from the brazier.

With a copy of a Roman soldier, the Savior was pierced on the Cross, while at the Liturgy a sharp knife is used, which is called "copy" and which is cut Lamb(we will talk about it below) and particles are removed from the prosphora.

asterisk, made in the form of a cross, is a crucifix and at the same time Star of Bethlehem who pointed the Magi to the Savior of the world who was born in the cave.

To celebrate the Liturgy, red grape wine is needed, diluted with a small amount of holy warm water (warmth), following the example of how the Lord at the Last Supper used wine with water, and in remembrance that during the suffering on the Cross, after being struck with a spear, the Savior's ribs ran out blood and water.

In Orthodox worship, leavened wheat bread baked in the form of prosphora is used (from the ancient Greek word "προσφορά" - offering). Prosphora, or prosvira, has a round shape and consists of two parts as a sign that the Lord Jesus Christ had a Divine and human nature and a single divine-human personality. On the top of the prosphora there should be a seal with the image of a cross. On the sides of it is the inscription: "IS XC" (the name of the Savior), and below - "NIKA", which in Greek means "victory". There may be an image on the prosphora Mother of God or saints.

How did Proskomidia develop?

First, let's talk about how the Proskomidia developed, the main meaning of which is the preparation of a substance for performing the Sacrament of Communion from the bread and wine brought to the temple. At the same time, all members of the earthly and heavenly Church are commemorated.

The word "Proskomedia" in Greek means "bringing" or "offering". In the community of the holy apostles, each Christian had his own "offering" - an offering, as a movement of the soul, as the meaning of the meeting, as something that unites all people. Everyone considered everything in common. Everyone who comes to the Church certainly brings something necessary for the life of the parish - his hands, his heart, his mind, his means. The deacons received those brought to the Church and distributed the gifts. This is how this part of the Liturgy, called the offering (that is, the Proskomidia), developed, when the deacon chooses the best bread and the best wine for serving, for offering to God.

It is recorded in ancient liturgical monuments that beggars and orphans brought water for the Liturgy, in order to wash the hands and feet of the wanderer, so that this water served for ablution at the Liturgy. Nobody had to come just to take. Everyone came to give. Bring at least water, but don't come empty...

God cannot be bought. God can only distribute everything. And He can distribute only when a person has free hands to accept gifts. When there are bags in your hands, you can’t stretch them to God ...

And a sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit, nothing more is needed. The Church does not need any materialization of our sacrifice, and God needs nothing but our heart. Don't turn the Church into a shop! Do not come in order to order something, buy it and take it home. Proskomidia - the first step of the Liturgy - the sacrifice of ourselves.

Proskomedia

Once upon a time, the priest appeared in the temple already at the full meeting of the community. Now, unfortunately, he often comes to an empty church, reads entrance prayers and puts on in silence, and only the reader on the kliros waits for his blessing to start reading the hours (prayers that sanctify a certain time of the day; they consist of three psalms, several verses and prayers chosen accordingly for each quarter of the day and for the special circumstances of the Savior's suffering.)

Prepared for church charter, before the celebration of the Liturgy, the priest, not yet clothed, reads the so-called “entrance” prayers before the closed Royal Doors, reverently asking God for strength for the service. He asks to strengthen him in the upcoming service and cleanse him from sins, giving him the opportunity to perform the sacrament without condemnation. Entering the altar, the priest puts on sacred clothes and begins to prepare everything necessary for the Divine Liturgy.

Parishioners usually appear in the temple later and are not present at Proskomidia. It just so happened in modern church practice, so it is better to submit notes before the start of the Liturgy, during the reading of the Hours. Of course, the priest will take out the particles up to the Cherubim, but the action itself takes place precisely during the reading of the Hours.

Being in the altar, the priest bows and kisses the sacred vessels, reading the troparion of Great Friday: “Thou hast redeemed us from the legal oath ...” Thus, the beginning of Proskomidia is an entry into the atoning sacrifice of Christ, into the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But Proskomidia is a remembrance not only of the atoning sacrifice of the Savior, but also of His incarnation and birth, because He was incarnated and was born not in order to live, but in order to die for our sins. And therefore, all the words and actions of Proskomedia have a double meaning, depicting the Nativity of Christ on the one hand, and on the other hand, His suffering and death.

The priest takes the main lamb prosphora, with a copy he cuts out of it a square part of the seal, which is called the Lamb, and puts it on the Discos. The Lamb bears witness to the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, that the Son of God became the Son of man.

Lamb means lamb. In worship, this word denotes sacrifice. Throughout the history of the Old Testament, the lamb has always been the most important and purest sacrifice offered for the human sins of people. For the Jewish people, sacrificing a lamb meant: a person has sinned, committed evil in this world, and an innocent, completely blameless lamb, which is a symbol of purity and meekness, malice and defenselessness, suffers for him.

Sacred Scripture refers to the Lamb as the Savior. When John the Baptist sees the incarnate Son of God in the Jordan, he points to Him and says: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). Therefore, this prosphora is called the Lamb, intended for sacrifice.

Then the priest, taking a copy in his hand, cuts one edge of the prosphora with the words: "Like a sheep for slaughter ... Like a blameless lamb ... tako does not open his mouth." These prophecies are dedicated to Christ, His leading to the Calvary sacrifice. The priest cuts off the lower part of the prosphora: "As if his belly is taken up from the earth."

The priest cross-cuts the prosphora with the words: “The Lamb of God is eaten (that is, sacrificed), take away the sin of the world, for the life of the world (life of the world) and salvation.”

Concluding this part of the sacred service, the priest pierces the prosphora with a spear on the right side, in the place where the name “Jesus” is written on the seal with the words: “One of the warriors of His side is a copy of the perforation”, and pours wine mixed with water into the Chalice: “And when blood and water came out, and he that saw the testimonies, and the truth is his testimony.”

The earthly name of the Savior - Jesus is pierced by a spear. Man suffered on the Cross, God is not subject to suffering. The God-man Jesus Christ suffered on the Cross by his human nature. That is why Jesus, the earthly name of the Cross, symbolizing His human nature, is pierced with a spear. After that, the Lamb is installed in the center of the Diskos.

After the Lamb is prepared for further priesthood, the priest takes out (cuts out) a piece from the second prosphora, intended for remembrance of the Mother of God, and with the words: “The Queen appears at Your right hand” (David’s prophecy about the Mother of God) puts it on the Diskos to the right of the Lamb.

The third prosphora, called "nine", is intended for the remembrance of all the saints. Nine particles are sequentially removed from it in memory of John the Baptist, the prophets, holy apostles, saints, martyrs, saints, healers and unmercenaries, the righteous Joachim and Anna, as well as in memory of the saints, in whose part the church was consecrated and whose memory is celebrated on this day. The last particle is taken out in memory of the saint who wrote the Liturgy - Basil the Great or John Chrysostom.

The commemoration of the saints during the Proskomedia has a very great importance- we turn to all the saints, and all the saints stand next to us.

This part of the Proskomedia resembles the Deesis tier of the iconostasis. In its center is the Savior, on the one hand, the Mother of God, and on the other, all the saints in their communion with Christ and in prayer for the Church. They were numbered among the Heavenly Host and constituted the Heavenly Church. The saints pray to the Lord, as the Merciful Judge, for mercy on all those present in the temple.

The earthly church is often called "militant" because it is in a state of constant spiritual struggle. We are all warriors of Christ who went to this battle for truth, for love, for defending in ourselves the image and likeness of God. And the Heavenly Church, as we see on Proskomidia, is the triumphant Church, the victorious Church - NIKA. The Mother of God is on the right, and all the saints are on the left side, like a mighty, indestructible army, standing next to Christ.

Then the prayer for the earthly Church begins. The priest takes the fourth prosphora, salutary, takes out a piece of it in memory of our Most Holy Patriarch and the patriarchs who stand before God in the Church as military leaders who are the first to go into battle and bear the heavy cross of responsibility for the Church. Then he takes out particles for the bishops and all Orthodox Christians and prays for our fatherland.

After that, the priest takes the prosphora for repose and, taking out a piece, prays for those who created the temple, for all those who have died before. Orthodox Patriarchs and the deceased parishioners of this holy temple.

Finally, the priest reads the notes we file for candle box. We often do not understand why we bring these notes, but the commemoration at Proskomedia is one of the greatest prayers of the Church. In fact, our notes are bringing everyone to Christ with a prayer for salvation, healing, conversion. When we pray, the Church is filled with the suffering, as it was at the font of Siloam. There is no other like it strong prayer with the Church, except for the prayer of the Liturgy, which could unite and fulfill all our petitions in this way.

In the Proskomedia, by his sacred action - and this must be emphasized here: it is precisely by the sacred action that each person participates. Our offering is not that we have submitted notes and paid money. Just as a cleric performs the rites during the Proskomedia, so all the parishioners at this moment take part in the Proskomedia rite, offering up their prayers to God.

For each name, a particle is taken out of the prosphora, and now, next to Christ, with the Lamb of God, who took upon Himself the sins of the world, next to the Mother of God, with the whole Heavenly Church, a mountain of particles grows. The whole Church was placed on the Discos, symbolizing the universe, the whole world, created by God, in which the center is Christ. Nearby is the triumphant Church - it is the Mother of God and the saints, and next to it is an uncountable crowd of particles - the living and the dead, the good and the bad, the righteous and the sinners, the healthy and the sick, the grieving and the lost, even those who have gone far from Christ, betrayed Him, forgot about Him, but everyone for whom the Church prays, everyone who is not indifferent to God ... There are many more sinners on this dish than saints - after all, we pray, first of all, for those who need salvation most of all, who often, like the prodigal children remain on the far side, and we bring them to the Church, as four brought the paralytic, laying him at the feet of the Savior.

Now they all live in a single space of the universe, in one Church, in which the Heavenly component is inseparable from the earthly one, and therefore it is said that it is One.

The proskomidia ends with a symbolic expectation: the Lord lies in the tomb. The priest burns the temple. As the Magi brought gold, frankincense and myrrh, so the censer is brought to this offering. Batiushka incenses the star and puts it on the Diskos, covering it with a cross - a pledge of our salvation. Then he successively incenses three covers and covers the church vessels with them, as the Infant Christ is covered with shrouds, as the Savior is covered with a shroud.

Proskomidia is the great mystery of the seventh day, when the Lord rested from His works, that blessed Saturday, after which we are in foreboding of the Resurrection of Christ, in foreboding of our salvation and the life of the future age.

After the Sabbath, we meet the resurrected Christ. This greatest miracle is reflected in the celebration of Easter. Actually, the Paschal service is a kind of external realization of our liturgical celebration. Transition from Proskomedia to Liturgy. This is the passage of Saturday, the seventh day - the end of the universe, in which we are now.

During the censing of the altar, the priest reads the Paschal troparion. It is very important for understanding the Paschal meaning of the Liturgy as the sacrament of the eighth day. The troparion emphasizes: the Proskomidia and the beginning of the Liturgy correspond to the end of our life on earth and entry into the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, after the priest has shaken the church vessels, he comes to the Royal Doors and opens the veil to mark the coming of the Lord and our salvation.

Liturgy

The part of the service after the Proskomidia is called the “Liturgy of the Catechumens” because the catechumens, i.e., those preparing to receive Holy Baptism, as well as the penitents who have been excommunicated for serious sins from Holy Communion, may also be present during its celebration.

The Liturgy begins with the priest and deacon praying and bowing before the Altar. The priest reads a prayer: “To the King of Heaven”, then an angelic doxology sounds: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men”, because the service that he is to perform is an angelic service: a person is transferred, as if entrusted , angel function.

Prayers end, the priest stands in front of the Throne, which is covered by a folded antimension. ( Antimins- boards depicting the scene of the position of Christ in the tomb and the four evangelists. A particle of the relics of a saint is sewn into the antimension.) The priest raises the Gospel above the antimension and prays inaudibly, lamenting his unworthiness, and asks for God's help.

The deacon approaches the priest and, having asked for a blessing, leaves the altar to the pulpit (a place opposite the royal doors) and proclaims: “It’s time for the Lord to create, master, bless!” In Russian, this means: "Now it is the turn to work for the Lord." In other words, everything that was possible for people to do has been done. Human gifts have been brought, wine and bread are on the altar. Now the time has come when the Lord Himself will begin to work, when He will enter into His rights and perform the sacred service.

The priest answers him: “Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever. Amen".

The chanters sing: "amen" (that is, "really so"). Then the deacon pronounces the Great Litany (litany - a series of prayer petitions), which lists various Christian needs and our petitions to the Lord, and the priest in the altar secretly prays that the Lord would look at this temple (looked at this temple) and those who pray in it and fulfill would their needs.

The deacon or priest first of all proclaims: "Let us pray to the Lord in peace." The word "peace" in this case does not mean that we pray together. This is a call to be in a state of spiritual peace. A person who comes to the Liturgy must be at peace with God, must be at peace with himself, must be at peace with his neighbors. It is not in vain that the Gospel teaches us: “If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go, first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” » (Matthew 5:23).

We must be at peace if we are truly seeking the Kingdom of Heaven, because it is said: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9).

In modern Russian, the word "peacemaker" does not mean exactly what it meant in the gospel times. The Lord is not referring to people trying to reconcile warring parties through many compromises. A peacemaker in the gospel understanding is a person who knows how to create and keep peace in own soul. Such a state is achieved through great labor, but this labor spiritually builds a person.

After the exclamation: “Let us pray to the Lord in peace,” we begin to pray about things that seem to be understandable, but which, nevertheless, need to be comprehended. The great, or peaceful, litany is in fact great, and according to its petitions, universal. She embraces all petitions, earthly and heavenly - both material and spiritual dispensation.

For heavenly peace, and the salvation of our souls, let us pray to the Lord...
Peace of mind should in no case be confused with convenience and comfort, often achieved by slyness and hypocrisy. Dale Carnegie's theory of communication is now popular, containing all sorts of tricks that allow a person to inspire himself that he is good and can easily establish the right relationship with others. In fact, peace can descend to a person only from heaven, which is why we pray for the Heavenly peace that the Lord sends us.

After the Resurrection of Christ, the Apostles gathered behind closed doors. Christ is risen, but there is no peace in their souls. They gathered just as they had before, but without Christ. Doors and windows are closed "for the fear of the Jews." And now the resurrected Savior appears to them and says: “Peace be with you” (John 20:19). He brings peace to these fearful hearts.

But we are talking about the apostles - the disciples who knew Christ better, more than others! How similar it is to us… Do we not know that Christ is risen, do we not know that the Lord will not leave us, are we not proclaimed by the Gospel, are not preached by our Church the manifestations of the power of God in the world? We know that the Lord is with us, and yet, “for the sake of the Jews,” we close behind steel doors, hiding from each other and from ourselves. There is no peace in our souls...

This world is given to us only by the Lord, and we can accept it or reject it, save it or lose it, multiply it in ourselves or squander it madly.

About the peace of the whole world, the well-being of the Holy Churches of God and the unity of all ... You see how often the word "peace" sounds in the Peace Litany - the peace that we call into our hearts, the peace that we call for the whole universe, for the soul of every person.

In this petition, another good word sounds - "well-being". It is about standing in goodness, standing in the truth of God. We also pray for the union of all in love. Our Church is indeed the Catholic Church, and not only because her teaching is based on Ecumenical Councils, and not only because it is scattered all over the world, but, above all, because it really unites us all.

The Monk Abba Dorotheos, who lived in the 6th century, proposed the following scheme: the center of the universe, represented as a circle, is the Lord, and the circle itself is made up of people. If we draw radii to the center of the circle and mark on each of them different points- we will be on our way to God. The closer we get to Him, the closer we get to each other. Such is the immutable law of spiritual life. This is the meaning of our service of the Liturgy, and the meaning of the existence of the Church, because the Church must unite us all, gathering at the feet of the Savior. “May they all be one,” the Lord prays, “as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, [so] they too may be one in Us” (John 17:21).

For this holy temple, and with faith, reverence and the fear of God, those who enter the stench, let us pray to the Lord ...
The following petition contains two words that define inexhaustible spiritual concepts: "reverence" and "fear of God."

When there is a fast, we fast, but you can revere. Do you understand what meaning our post immediately acquires? After all, one can not only fast, but spend this fast in a state of a very high spiritual mood, in a state of peace and communion with the Kingdom of Heaven. This will be reverence.

Then it becomes clear why a person fasts. Not in order to immediately forget about it at the end of the fast and gladly indulge in all serious, again plunge into what this fast saved us from. I prayed - now I can not pray, I abstained from fast food - now I can not limit myself in anything, I did something - now I can not do this, now I have the right to take a break from fasting. This often happens, because many of us perceive fasting as a burden. And if fasting were reverence for us, it would enter our life as its component, as its integral part.

For our Great Lord and Father, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, and for our Lord, His Grace Metropolitan (or Archbishop, or Bishop), an honorable presbytery, a diaconate in Christ, for all the clergy and people, let us pray to the Lord...
A prayer follows for the leader of our church community, about who, as a good shepherd, will stand before Christ for all the verbal sheep.

It is important for us to understand what is the greatest responsibility - to be an intercessor before the Lord for all the people of God. This is how Moses prayed when he led his people through the Egyptian desert, a cruel, disobedient and unfaithful people, who continually betrayed both God and Moses and rebelled, despite all the graces that the Lord sent them. At some point, Moses even began to shout to God: “Lord, did I give birth to this people? Is he mine? Why did I get such a heavy burden?

The Lord strengthened Moses and made him an intercessor for this people. At the prayer of Moses, He absolved sins, sent manna from heaven, turned stone into honey, because Moses carried this people in his heart like a mother carries a child.

This is what the standing of a bishop is, the standing of a patriarch for his people. The patriarch can beg God to have mercy on us, despite all our weakness. A patriarch can boldly ask God to punish someone, to ban something. Not in vain in the adopted Bishops' Cathedral The social doctrine of the Church heard the episcopal word that the Church can call on its people to disobey the state if it commits direct lawlessness. Therefore, we pray for our patriarch as an intercessor for each of us, as well as for the entire priesthood, deaconry, for all the clergy and for all people.

About our God-protected country, its authorities and army ...
The petition for an army and for a people, of course, changes over time. But, nevertheless, the apostle Paul wrote: “There is no power except from God; but the authorities that exist are established by God” (Rom. 13:1). This often confuses people, especially when the authorities behave insultingly towards the Church, when the Church is outraged. But it is worth recalling that the apostle said this to the Romans when the king was Nero, whom many considered the Antichrist, and from whom the apostle Paul himself suffered. But, despite the fact that the government was openly godless, the apostle calls to pray for it. Russia prayed in the same way during the time of the Tatar-Mongol invasion, remembering the Golden Horde in its prayers.

About this city, every city ... country, and by faith living in them ... About floating, traveling, sick, suffering, captivated and about their salvation ...

For the well-being of the air, for the abundance of the fruits of the earth and for peaceful times, let us pray to the Lord ...

Praying for the goodness of the air, we are not praying for good weather, but for the harmony of man and nature, man and God, for the harmony that puts nature at the service of man.

The world was created in such a way that it would be very convenient and pleasant for a person to live in it. The world is not an enemy to man, on the contrary, it is his servant. When the Lord entrusted this world to man to decorate and take care of it, every movement of the air was necessarily beneficial, because nature was subject to the laws of Divine truth and love. Everything that was sent down by nature was sent down exclusively for the benefit of man. And therefore, the words about the well-being of the air should be taken as a request for the restoration of real ties between man and nature, so that nature, these “airs”, would bring us good.

When a person brings his malice into the world, he destroys this original harmony, and nature turns against him. If a person comes into this world with love and lives in harmony with God, then nature itself assists him.

The stories described in the lives of the saints are touching. The lioness comes to the hermit's cell and drags him by the half of his cassock to his lair, because her cubs are wounded. And the hermit tears splinters out of the cubs' paws, heals them, lubricates them with oil, because the lioness, a dumb creature, felt spiritual harmony in him. Animals know that their master is a human.

The Monk Gerasim of Jordan brought up a lion who led a donkey to a watering hole, and when the monk departed to the Lord, he lay down on his grave and died. We can recall the lion who, at the request of the elder Zosima, dug out a grave for Mary of Egypt. Seraphim of Sarov tamed a bear and fed it from his hands... All these stories testify not to some supernatural gift, but to the fact that human spirit came into harmony with the Spirit of God.

In one of his sermons, Metropolitan Anthony quotes the early Fathers of the Church, who asserted that the Lord does not need our good deeds, does not need our deeds, but only harmony between us and Him, because in this case we cannot be evil. The most important thing is to achieve inner harmony, that is, the unity of man with God.

Liturgy is the spiritual space in which this unity is granted to us.

For deliverance to us from all sorrow, anger and need, let us pray to the Lord. Intercede, save, have mercy, and save us, O God, by Your grace ...
This is how we pray for ourselves, because everyone has something to ask God for. We can and should ask Him for deliverance from every need and sorrow, from the anger that tears us apart. If you ask for something in the simplicity of your heart, the Lord will certainly answer.

Our Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed, Glorious Our Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, with all the saints remembering ourselves and each other, and our whole life to Christ our God ...
This petition unites us with the Heavenly Church. Together with the Mother of God, with all the saints, with each other, we give ourselves and everyone to God - we give our whole life to Him as a gift and an offering, as our Proskomedia.

antiphons

Immediately after the Great Litany, the antiphons are sung. According to the established rules, there should be two kliros in the temple - right and left, and singing should be antiphonal, that is, alternate, two kliros.

Antiphonal singing has been known since ancient tragedies. In Christian worship, it appears quite early. The Byzantine church historian Socrates Scholasticus says that such singing was introduced into the Church of Antioch by St. Ignatius the God-bearer (about the year 107). In the West, it entered the divine service under St. Ambrose of Milan (c. 340-397). In Constantinople, he is introduced by St. John Chrysostom (c. 347-407).

Antiphons could have arisen from religious processions. The procession is the testimony of the Church to this world. People leave the temple and all the surrounding space becomes its continuation. Believers walk with icons and banners through the streets of the city, and the whole world, whether it wants it or not, must somehow participate in this pious act. Religious processions are evidence of the strength and fullness of the Church.

In the Ancient Church, there was a custom according to which processions from different parishes flocked to one church, in which a patronal feast was celebrated that day or another significant event took place. During the procession, festive hymns were sung, praising the feast or the holy martyrs, in whose name the service was performed. When the processions converged at the place where the event was celebrated, they performed hymns alternately. Antiphons are hymns of procession, hymns of gathering, hymns of preparation.

During daily services, everyday or daily antiphons are sung. On the Sunday services, at which we are most often present, and on the days of some holidays Sunday or pictorial antiphons are sung. Festive antiphons are sung only on Lord's feasts (such as, for example, Christmas or the Transfiguration) and on the Presentation of the Lord, which is, as it were, a transitional feast between the Lord's and the Theotokos.

Antiphons prophetically depict the graces of God revealed to mankind through the incarnation of the Son of God. There are three Sunday antiphons: Psalm 102, Psalm 145 and "Blessed". They are separated by small litanies (petitions). During the singing of antiphons, the priest is in the altar and reads the so-called secret priestly prayers.

Previously, secret prayers were read aloud - there is no mystery in them; it's all about their incomprehensibility and greatness. However, starting from the 6th century, they are quietly read in the altar, which manifests a certain external division into those who serve as priests at the Throne, and those who serve as the people of God. According to many theologians, the power of the priesthood is thus weakened. Unfortunately, now we are reaping the fruits of this reduction, because in the minds of many people, only the priest celebrates the Liturgy, only he prays, and everyone else is only present at the same time. In fact, this is not so - all prayers during the Divine Liturgy are offered on behalf of all those gathered in the temple. Each of us should know and understand them. Antiphons and litanies do not replace priestly prayers, but are their continuation.

The first antiphon is Psalm 102: “Bless, O my soul, the Lord…”

At this time, a prayer is read: “Lord our God, His power is inexpressible and glory is incomprehensible, His mercy is immeasurable and philanthropy is inexpressible, Himself, Master, according to Your goodness, look at us and at this holy temple and create with us, and those who pray with us rich in Thy mercy and Thy bounty.”

Before the Second Antiphon, a small litany sounds and a prayer is raised: “Lord our God, save Thy people and bless Thy inheritance, preserve the fulfillment of Thy Church, sanctify those who love the splendor of Thy house; You glorify those with Your divine power, and do not leave us who trust in You.

The word "fulfillment" in this case means - "fullness". The priest prays for the preservation of the fullness of the Church, for each person to have the fullness of the Kingdom of Heaven.

The second antiphon consists of Psalm 145: "Praise, my soul, the Lord ..." and the dogmatic chant: "Only Begotten Son and Word of God ...", expressing the dogma of the Church about God in the Trinity and about the incarnation, birth and taking on the human nature of the Son of God, who is consubstantial with the Father and the Holy Spirit. This hymn was composed by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I (483-565), who was canonized for his piety.

It is no coincidence that this particular psalm was chosen - it has a deep liturgical meaning. Unfortunately, only selected verses are sung, which do not include the very important lines: “The Lord in heaven has prepared His Throne and His Kingdom possesses all,” which directly relate to our standing at the Liturgy. The Kingdom, which sanctifies our hearts and our lives, possesses everyone, and no one is superfluous in this Kingdom. Liturgy is a sacrifice for the life of the whole world, it is really the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven in power, which possesses everyone and which everyone can possess.

After the singing of the Second Antiphon, the Royal Doors are opened and the Third Antiphon, consisting of the Beatitudes, is sung. The prayer of the Third Antiphon sounds like this: “Whoever this is common and agrees, granting us prayers, Whom and two or three, agreeing on your name, promising a petition for a tribute. Himself and now, your servant, fulfill your petitions for the useful, giving us in the present age the knowledge of Your truth, and in the future granting eternal life.

A person who reads the Psalter regularly perceives the Divine Liturgy easily, because practically Vespers, Matins, the All-Night Vigil, and the Liturgy largely consist of the singing of psalms. Very many hymns, even stichera, which are sung in honor of the saints, are largely composed on the basis of psalms. That is why it is necessary to know the Psalter well.

During the Third Antiphon, the Small Entrance is made, which is called the “Entrance with the Gospel”. In the old days, parishioners gathered at the still closed church. The people met the bishop, and the small entrance was the bishop's entrance to the church. Now this entrance is more like an exit, because they leave the altar through the north gate, and then enter the central Royal Doors. In the ancient Church, the Gospel was kept in a special treasury, and it was just before entering the temple that it was taken out of the temple guardian, so the procession with the Gospel in the ancient Church was a particularly significant action.

Our Church has preserved this tradition in its hierarchal service. When the bishop enters the temple, the Gospel is worn out for blessing, the bishop puts on sacred clothes precisely during the singing of the antiphons and reads the entrance prayers, since, as we know, it is the bishop who is the exceptional minister of the Divine Liturgy.

Now the Entrance with the Gospel symbolizes Christ's coming out to preach. Taking the Gospel from the Throne and raising it above him, the priest, with a blessing prayer, leaves through the northern doors and enters the Royal Doors. A candle is placed in front of him.

The Liturgy is a concelebration of the Church on earth and in Heaven. In his prayer, the priest asks that with the entrance of the clergy to the altar, the Lord will also create the entrance of the Angels, serving them and glorifying God's goodness.

Our knowledge of the rites of the Divine Liturgy, including the antiphons, is very important for full participation in it. We stand and quietly sing along to the kliros, realizing what is happening in the church and what is behind the spoken words. This is our participation in the common liturgical prayer, in the very prayer that the priest reads in the altar.

At the end of the singing of the antiphons, the deacon or priest raises the Gospel, blesses the parishioners with a cross, and says: “Wisdom, forgive me.” The word "wisdom" warns the worshipers of the deep content of the next chant and reading, and the word "forgive", that is, "stand straight", calls for special attention and reverence.

After singing “Come, let us fall down and worship Christ, save us, the Son of God…” church hymns are sung, called troparia and kontakia. They briefly tell about the feat of the saint or express the essence of the holiday that takes place on this day. At this time, the priest in the altar, on behalf of all believers, prays to the Lord that He accept the Trisagion hymn, sung by the Seraphim, from us, humble and sinners, forgive us every sin and sanctify our thoughts, souls and bodies.

Trisagion

The Small Entrance ends with the singing of the Trisagion. We find the history of the origin of this prayer in Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition. First of all, it is connected with the vision of the prophet Isaiah, to whom the Old Denmi appeared, that is, God in the form of an old man, sitting on a high Throne. “Seraphim stood around Him; each of them had six wings: with two each one covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And they called to each other and said: Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts! the whole earth is full of his glory!” (Isaiah 6:2-3). When Isaiah saw God, he cried out, “Woe is me! I died! for I am a man with unclean lips, and I live among the people also with unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then one of the Seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a burning coal, which he took with tongs from the altar, and touched my mouth and said: Behold, this has touched your mouth, and your iniquity is removed from you, and your sin is cleansed ”( Isaiah 6:5-7).

There is a pious tradition: in Constantinople, a miracle happened, revealed to one youth, who, during an earthquake, was caught up to heaven. He also happened to hear angelic singing: “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal…” When he came to his senses and told the bishop about everything, he decided to walk along the walls of the city with the singing of the Trisagion, adding to it: “Have mercy on us!”. Thereafter procession the earthquake ended and the city was saved. It is in this form that the Trisagion hymn is introduced into worship. This is the tradition of the Church. It was documented for the first time after the completion of the first session of the Council of Chalcedon (451), when the Church Fathers left the temple to the singing of the Trisagion.

It must be said that the Trisagion hymn does not always sound in the temple; sometimes other hymns are sung, which take the place of the Trisagion. These are the holidays on which it is sung: “They were baptized into Christ put on Christ ...” Such hymns are sung during Christmas, Epiphany, Easter and Trinity. In the ancient Church, these days were celebrations of the birth of new members in Christ, who came to be baptized after a long period of catechesis, which for many lasted for years.

In the Prayer of Entry, we first encounter the fact that the liturgical service is equated and exalted to the service of the angels. “Create with our entrance the holy angels of life, who serve us and glorify Your goodness ...”, the priest says during the Small Entrance.

The knowledge that at this moment the Church in heaven and the Church on earth are united in a single service is constantly emphasized during the Eucharist, especially during the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, when it is sung: “Now the Powers of Heaven minister with us invisibly.”

The angelic praise begins and we sing of the Creator. The same thing is happening before our eyes that happened two thousand years ago. Christ comes and begins to teach. He proclaims his word, many people gather around him, as in the synagogue in Capernaum, when he spoke about the bread that came down from heaven. Some listen, do not believe and leave. They do not accept the word because it does not fit in them. Others say: “God! who should we go to? you have verbs eternal life and we believed and knew that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God!” (John 6:68-69) and remain with Him, despite their unworthiness, their inferiority, their misunderstanding.

This happens every time the Liturgy is served, when Christ appears before us, and we are waiting for Him, we sing the Trisagion Hymn to Him - this is an angelic doxology that is given to us as real participants in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Reading the Apostle

After the Trisagion in the temple, the reading of the Apostolic Epistles or, as they say, the Apostle follows. This part of the Liturgy of the Word is very ancient. When in the first centuries of Christianity the community gathered to commemorate the Last Supper, the Good News was proclaimed to it first of all. The apostle came and began, quoting the Scriptures, to prove that Jesus is the Christ. He cited passages from the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah, showing that they are talking about Jesus, who was crucified and resurrected. This was the main part of the apostolic gospel.

Fragments of these sermons are recorded in the prokeimons, proclaimed after the Trisagion, before the reading of the Acts or Epistles of the holy apostles. Prokimen (from Greek - literally “lying in front”) is a repeatedly repeated song in the Orthodox Church, most often consisting of two psalm verses, although there are prokimen taken from the Gospel or the Apostle. In them the most obvious and frequent are the prophecies of the coming of Christ. Previously, they were read and sung in full, but over time they were reduced to two lines, one of which is usually the initial line of the text, and the other is taken from its middle.

The so-called chosen psalms are also sung by us during the magnification at matins - the choir proclaims a line from the selected psalm dedicated to the holiday, and then, like a refrain, sings the magnificence. All these are echoes of that ancient Liturgy, in which the reading of Holy Scripture and especially the Old Testament occupied a significant place.

After reading the Old Testament texts, the apostle who came to the community spoke about Christ himself. He proclaimed His teaching, which later became the Gospel (after all, the Gospel was originally the Holy Tradition of the Church, and only a few decades later the apostles recorded their oral sermons). Each apostle carried the gospel, which was either the fruit of his personal experience with Jesus, or the story he heard from people who saw and heard Christ. As John the Theologian writes, “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard” (1 John 1:3).

The Church lives by apostolic preaching. The reading of the epistles is the presence in the temple of the apostles themselves.

The apostles wrote to the churches. What we know as the Epistles of the Apostles are actually their letters, the most ordinary letters sent to loved ones from exile or travel. These are letters from a teacher with whom it was not possible to communicate face to face. The community read them filially, very attentively and with great love, and then passed them on to the neighboring temple, the neighboring community. Thus, these letters became available to all Christians. And now we read and hear them. In worship, they seem to stand in front of the Gospels, located between the prophecies of the Old Testament about Christ and the fulfillment of these prophecies in the New Testament.

The one who reads these messages stands in the middle of the temple, like an apostle who came to the Christian community and proclaims to people the salvation that the Lord brought into the world, and the deacon at this time burns the altar, the reader, and then all those who pray.

During the reading of the Apostle, the priest sits as equal to the apostles, as the one who marks the presence of the apostolate in the community, is the continuer of the apostolic ministry - leads people to Christ and proclaims to people the truth of God. This is the meaning of the apostolic reading, and then the gospel reading.

After the Apostle is read, the reader proclaims: "Hallelujah!", Which in Hebrew means: "Praise the Lord!"

Gospel Reading

The centerpiece of the Liturgy of the Word is, of course, the gospel itself. It can even be said that this part of the Liturgy is dedicated to the Gospel, and everything that happens in it is a kind of preparation for the Gospel to be revealed and read.

In the Liturgy of the word, which is also called the Liturgy of the catechumens, there is a certain independent life and completion, because for the catechumens it ends precisely with the reading of the Gospel, after which, according to the rules of the ancient Church, they should leave the temple.

The Four Gospels that we are now reading were written in the period from 60 to 110-115, that is, for several decades the Gospel was only Holy Tradition, which the apostles transmitted orally to their followers. And yet it was the true gospel, it was the word of God. Nevertheless, the Gospel as Holy Scripture appeared in the life of the Church quite early and the attitude towards it was exceptionally serious.

The book was one of the greatest treasures of the ancient world, and not all even rich people could afford to buy them. For centuries, Christians only in the church during divine services could partake of the word of God, learn it, so that later they could live, suffer for it and embody it in their lives.

For the catechumens, the reading of the Gospel is the main encounter with the word of God, because the rest is still inaccessible to them. They have not yet been born in Christ, but the word of God is already transforming them.

Reading the Gospel in the temple is an opportunity for our meeting with God. What is happening to us at this moment? How do we live this word then? How do we leave the temple? These are the most important questions to which we must give truthful answers.

Augmented Litany

After the reading of the Gospel, the Special Litany sounds. The Liturgy of the catechumens comes to an end and a new stage of liturgical ascension begins. A special litany is included in every service. According to petitions, she is similar to Mirna, with whom worship usually begins.

At the beginning of the service, a folded antimension lies on the Throne. Now the priest deploys it from three sides. Only the upper part remains unopened, which the priest opens a little later, during the litanies for the catechumens.

The special litany is all-encompassing. It includes all the petitions of the world, all its needs and sorrows. However, despite the fact that there is a petition for common, cosmic things, the Church, nevertheless, prays for each of us.

However, if there is a need to pray for someone especially, for example, for a sick person, then the whole Church should pray for him, and not just the priest. For this, there are special petitions that supplement the pure litany - for travelers and captives, for those who suffer and are sick.

The Liturgy of the litany for the catechumens ends.

Before the revolution, there were no catechumens, they simply could not have been, but now they have reappeared in our Church. Again, there is someone to enlighten, there is someone to prepare for the Sacrament of Baptism, there is someone to preach the basics of Christianity. Today, a huge number of people come to the font without announcing, and this is wrong. Preparing people for baptism and church prayer about them are absolutely essential.

Cherubic Song

After the litany of the catechumens, the antimension is already open, and the temple is ready for a bloodless sacrifice. The Church has already lifted up all prayers and commemorations, not forgetting neither the living, nor the dead, nor the catechumens, and the deacon proclaims: "Come out, catechumens, come out ..." - so that only the faithful remain in the church during the Divine Liturgy.

The Eucharistic word "faithful" refers to Christians. After the litany for the catechumens, two prayers of the faithful are heard.

The priest reads the first of them during the small litany of the faithful: “We thank Thee, Lord God of Forces, who has made us worthy to stand before Thy holy Altar and fall down to Thy mercies about our sins and about people's ignorance. Accept, O God, our prayer, make us worthy of being, to offer You prayers and supplications and Bloodless Sacrifice for all Your people; and satisfy us, even put them in your service, by the power of your Holy Spirit, uncondemned and without stumbling, in the pure testimony of our conscience; invoke Thee at all times and places. Yes, listening to us, you will be merciful to us in the abundance of your goodness.

After the next litany, the priest reads the second prayer of the faithful: “Packy and many times we fall down to You and pray to You, Good and Humane, as if having looked down on our prayer, cleanse our souls and bodies from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, and give us an innocent and uncondemned intercession your holy altar. Grant, O God, to those who pray with us the prosperity of life, and faith, and spiritual reason. Grant them, who always serve You with fear and love, innocently and uncondemnedly partake of Your Holy Mysteries, and be vouchsafed Your Heavenly Kingdom.

The priest in this prayer asks that all people who are at this time in the temple, without condemnation, would partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. This means that all parishioners are really ready to begin communion, otherwise this prayer is not clear why it is read.

It happens that a person comes to the service, but does not want to take communion. Why? After all, only mortal sin and nothing else can separate us from communion, separate us from the boundless love of God. And we don’t take communion most often because laziness interferes with us: laziness to come to the service in the evening, laziness to pray, laziness to work on ourselves, we don’t want to put up with our neighbor and confess.

So for whom are the prayers of the faithful read? By accepting holy baptism, each of us made vows of faith. A Christian is called faithful not only because he entrusted his life to God, but because he promised to be faithful to Him. For the sake of this fidelity, the Lord grants man His Great Mysteries. Allegiance vows belong to eternity.

“Who the Cherubim secretly form…” What do these strange words mean? We only know that when the Cherubim is sung, one should freeze. But why? What for? I would really like you to ask yourself this question more often.

And they mean this: you who stand in the temple, those who mysteriously represent the Cherubim who sing the Trisagion, must lay aside all worldly cares.

Each of us at this moment is given the opportunity to stand together with the Cherubim and Seraphim. They sing: "Holy, holy, holy ..." - and we must merge with them in a single angelic doxology.

In this sacrament we are actors, not spectators. We are in angelic co-service, and this is the culmination of the service, when we must put aside all worldly cares, all worldly cares.

“Like the King of all, let us raise the angelic invisibly dorinosima chinmi.” This is an echo of the ancient or Byzantine world. Then the winners were carried in their arms through the triumphal arches. We must carry Christ.

During the singing of the Cherubic Hymn, the priest makes the Great Entrance. The King of glory, Christ, goes to the Cross, because the Great Entrance is the procession of the Savior to Golgotha: "The King of kings and the Lord of lords comes to be slaughtered and given as food to the faithful."

The deacon burns the altar and those gathered in the temple, reading to himself the penitential 50th psalm, which we all can also read to ourselves at this moment. The height of the cherubic calling of each of us brings our souls into a state of deepest awareness of our own unworthiness.

It is no coincidence that the priest, before singing the Cherubim, opens the Royal Doors, stands before the Throne and reads the only prayer in the Liturgy that does not apply to all those present, but only to himself: “No one is worthy of those bound by carnal lusts ... come, or draw near, or serve You, the king of glory; hedgehog to serve you is great and scary and yourself Heavenly Forces... "This prayer is dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, as a Bishop, before Whom an unworthy cleric, entering the area of ​​\u200b\u200bterrible priesthood, is standing.

The priest asks for forgiveness from all his co-servants and parishioners, censes the Proskomidia standing on the altar and, to the singing of the Cherubim, goes out onto the salt (elevation in front of the iconostasis). He carries the holy Proskomidia - the Chalice with wine, which is to become the Blood of Christ, and the Discos with bread, which is to become the Body of Christ. At the Great Entrance, a special commemoration is performed simultaneously for the entire Church, because just as the Lord Almighty carries the whole world in His hands, so the priest leaving the altar bears Proskomidia, as an image of the world, the Church and the whole universe, for which the sacrifice of Christ is offered.

The Great Entrance represents the Lord's Entry into Jerusalem: Jesus goes to His suffering. This is a victory that is given to the Lord through a visible defeat, this is the acceptance of all the sins of the world through love and humility so that this world can be saved. We mysteriously depict the Cherubim, but at the same time we are those who crucify Christ. What Satan has put into our souls compels the Lord to go to death, therefore the Great Entrance for each person is a judgment, a test of his life, a test of his complicity in the sacrifice of the Savior.

The priest enters the altar, puts the Diskos and the Chalice on the Throne, removing the covers from them, and reads the troparion of Great Friday: "Noble Joseph ..." - a prayer for the removal of the Lord from the Cross, once again emphasizing the Calvary, sacrificial nature of the Great Entrance. On the Throne, the Gifts are again covered with air. The gifts were on the altar in memory of the fact that Christ was swaddled like a baby, but now they are reminiscent of His swaddling in the Holy Shroud. Finishing the incense, the priest prays: “Please, O Lord, with Thy good pleasure Zion, and let the walls of Jerusalem be built…”

See how Father Paul Florensky describes the importance of this moment: “You, like the Cherubim, do not tremble before one another? But tremble, tremble more! Do you know who is here? King, Christ angelic ranks serve Him invisibly... The church is full of Angels, and you're all standing with the Angels. The Lord is here, don't you know? He is with us as promised. Shall we not lay aside the cares of life now? Shall we not forget about the earthly bark that hides the Guardian Angel for each of us? Let this veil fall before our eyes. Let the wall that separates heart from heart fall down. Oh, what happiness to see each Cherubim in each! Oh joy forever! Let us lay aside all worldly cares now. Anything…”

Symbol of faith

The Great Entrance ends, the Royal Doors are closed, the veil is drawn. With the prayerful litanies, the Church begins to prepare those praying for the celebration of the Sacrament of the Eucharist: “Let us pray to the Lord for the offered precious gifts.”

At this time, the priest secretly reads the prayer of the offering, asking him to accept this sacrifice. “... And make us worthy to find grace before You, if You are more favorable to our sacrifice, and the Spirit of Your good grace dwells in us, and on these present Darehs, and on all Your people.”

The deacon proclaims: “Let us love one another, but confess with one mind…” Previously, after these exclamations, Christians kissed each other as a sign of faith, love and unanimity. This custom is still preserved among the clergy. They all kiss the Diskos, the Chalice (from the ancient Greek ποτήρ - “chalice, goblet”), the Throne and each other with the words: “Christ is in our midst,” and answer: “And there is and will be.”

The deacon proclaims: “Doors, doors, let us attend to wisdom!” In the ancient Church, the exclamation "Doors, doors ..." referred to the gatekeepers who stood at the doors of the temple, and urged them to carefully watch the entrance and not let in catechumens or penitents, that is, those who did not have the right to be present at the celebration of the Sacrament of Holy Communion.

When we sing the Creed, we do not ask for anything, we do not repent of our sins. We make vows and vows.

For the first time we sing the Creed when we receive holy baptism. After the priest asks about our faith, we give the first oath of allegiance, after which the Creed is read. Every morning, waking up, we again swear to God in fidelity, that we will live this day as Orthodox Christians.

This is an oath, sealed by the Liturgy itself, We sing the Creed all together, confessing our faith with one mouth, in order to live by this faith, so that this faith will be known by its fruits, so that people will recognize us by this faith.

We are Orthodox not because we were able to keep the dogmas of the holy faith intact, but because the Lord gave us the opportunity through true knowledge of God, not distorted by human thoughtlessness, lies or pride, to perceive the fullness of love. Dogmas are given to us for only one purpose: so that we learn to love.

Eucharistic canon

In the second, most important part of the Liturgy, the Liturgy of the Faithful, the actual celebration of the Sacrament takes place.

The deacon's call: "Let's become good, let's stand with fear, bring the holy offering in the world" moves everyone to the most important Eucharistic prayer, which is called Anaphora. The ancient Greek word "ἀναφορά" in this case can be translated as "exaltation".

"Let's become good, let's stand with fear, let's hear the Holy Exaltation in the world to bring ..." This is not yet a prayer, but a call proclaimed by a deacon. In response to it, the choir, on behalf of all those praying, expresses its readiness for the Holy Ascension and sings: “The grace of the world, the sacrifice of praise” - that is, we will offer up the Bloodless Sacrifice (Holy Eucharist), which is the great mercy of God granted to us as a result of our reconciliation (peace) with the Lord, and consisting of grateful glorification (praise) of God. The priest, facing the people, blesses them and says: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all." The choir, that is, all the people, answers him: "And with your spirit."

The call sounds: "Woe to our hearts!". At this moment, our hearts should be directed upwards, like a fire ascending to the sky. We answer: “Imams to the Lord,” that is, our hearts are burning and turned to God.

Anaphora is the central, most ancient part of the Christian Liturgy. During the Anaphora, the transformation or transubstantiation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ takes place. It begins with the words: "We thank the Lord." The choir sings: "It is worthy and righteous to worship the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity Consubstantial and Indivisible." This is an abbreviated content of the beginning of the Eucharistic Prayer. The priest prays at the altar: “It is worthy and righteous to sing Thee, bless Thee, praise Thee, give thanks to Thee, worship Thee in every place of Thy dominion.”

From about the end of the 6th century, prayers that the priest used to say aloud became inaccessible to parishioners praying outside the altar. The choir, being an image of the people of God, began to sing only some parts of this prayer.

One may get the impression that the priest reads several prayers, separated by exclamations, after which the choir begins to sing certain hymns. In fact, Anaphora's prayer continues without ceasing until the Transubstantiation of the Holy Mysteries.

“It is worthy and righteous to sing Thee, Bless Thee, Praise Thee, Give Thee thanks, Worship Thee in every place of Thy dominion: Thou art the God Ineffable, Unknowing, Invisible, Incomprehensible, ever-present, so ever-begotten, You, and Your Only Begotten Son, and Your Holy Spirit."

In the first part of the Anaphora, the priest professes apophatic theology (from the Greek word αποφατικος - "denying"). We are talking about the theological method, which consists in expressing the essence of the Divine by consistently denying all of His possible definitions as incommensurable to Him, in knowing God through understanding who He is not. Indeed, we can express our idea of ​​the Lord only allegorically, because God is so incomprehensible that human speech is unable to convey the correct definition of His Essence. Suppose you say about God that He is Light, and this will obviously not be enough, you say that He is the incarnation of Love and Grace, and you also do not characterize your idea of ​​Him. Of course, all this is true, but only to some infinitesimal degree, because we are talking only about our ideas about love, mercy, light and goodness. In any case, all our definitions will turn out to be insufficient, flawed, miserable, saying practically nothing about the Lord.

Of God we can only say that He is unknown, incomprehensible, unknown and indescribable. It is with these words that we begin our thanksgiving. Even the true meaning of the Name that He reveals to us: "I am the Existing One" tells us little, because our life is flawed and inevitably ends sooner or later in death. There is no truly self-sufficient life in us. Even when we repeat that He is the Existing One, we fail to understand what it really means.

“... Always the same, so the same, You, and Your Only Begotten Son, and Your Spirit, Holy; Thou hast brought us from non-existence into existence, and Thou hast fallen back, and Thou didst not retreat, creating everything, until Thou hast raised us to Heaven, and Thou hast given Your Kingdom the future.

The Resurrection of Christ is a new act of creating the world, an act of creating a new creature. The Lord first created us, bringing us into being from non-existence. It would seem: a completely incomprehensible act of creation, because a person cannot realize this. We do not even try to understand it, we simply accept it as it is written.

But when we already exist, the Lord creates us anew. By His Resurrection He re-creates the world, re-creates everything through His Church. Everything old is gone, and the present is just beginning. A new creation is being created in Christ, and every minute we are participants in this creation in constant communion with God.

“... And thou didst not retreat, all doing, until thou didst raise us to Heaven, and thou didst grant Thy Kingdom the future.”

In this amazing prayer, we are faced with the fact that the past, present and future merge into one time. We begin to feel this way and speak as if we are no longer here on earth, but in the Kingdom of Heaven. It is from there that we thank the Lord not only for the fact that He created us, not only for the fact that He saved us, but also for the fact that He raised us to heaven and gave us His Kingdom.

We are invading an Eternity that has already arrived. We are talking about fellowship with God in the Kingdom of Heaven, because He has already given us all this. All this has already happened to us, and all that remains for us is to reach out and accept what has been given. The only question is, do we really want this? Do we want to receive from Christ the salvation already given to us? After all, the gift of eternal life is not an easy burden, it will have to be accepted like a cross, and nothing else ...

The weight of salvation is immeasurable, a person can bend under it. But every Eucharist calls us to decide: are we striving for salvation or not? Do we want to bear this gift on ourselves, as the greatest burden and at the same time as absolute goodness, or do we prefer to step aside? You can enter the Kingdom of Heaven only through the Church that the Lord created, through His ulcers, through a pierced rib...

The liturgy in which we participate is an uninterrupted chain of bold touches to the body of Christ. Just like the Apostle Thomas, we now and then “test” the Savior by putting our fingers into His wounds.

“For all of these, we thank Thee, and Your Only Begotten Son, and Your Holy Spirit, for all of them, both known and unknown, manifest and unmanifested good deeds that have been upon us. We thank Thee and for this service, even from the hands of our reception, thou hast deigned, if thou expectest thousands of Archangels and darkness of Angels, Cherubim and Seraphim, six-winged, many-eyed, towering birds.

We give thanks for this service, as for a gift that the Lord accepts from us, the unworthy, although at this moment the Archangels and Angels, Cherubim and Seraphim - six-winged, many-eyed, towering, feathered - praise Him at this moment ... The believers sing to Him that very song, to the sounds of which He once entered Jerusalem: “Hosanna in the highest, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord,” and their jubilant singing is combined with angelic praise.

The Lord is coming! In the same way, we are coming to heavenly Jerusalem through the acceptance of God's gift, through the constant striving to be together with Christ - in His death and Resurrection, in His ascension to Heaven, in His seat at the right hand of the Father. Here is the main feeling that should overwhelm the soul of every Christian: “I want to be saved! I want to follow the path of salvation! I want to bear this undeserved, immeasurable and unbearable gift, because only in this way can one enter into communion with Christ!” Only then will this gift become that good yoke and light burden that the Lord spoke to us about.

Priest: "Singing a victorious song, crying out, calling out and speaking."

Chorus: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts, heaven and earth are full of Thy glory; hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, hosanna in the highest.”

The priest continues the reading of the Eucharistic Prayer:

“With these we, the blessed Forces, O Lord Lover of mankind, we cry out and say: Holy are you and Most Holy, Thou, and Thy Only Begotten Son, and Thy Holy Spirit. Thou art holy and all-holy, and Thy glory is glorious; Thou hast so loved Thy world, as if Thy only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have Eternal Life. Even having come, and having fulfilled everything about us, in the night, in the nude, you surrender, moreover, you betray yourself for the worldly belly, take bread in your holy and pure and immaculate hands, giving thanks and blessing, sanctifying, breaking, giving to His holy disciple and an apostle, rivers ... "

When does the belittling of the Son of God, or kenosis (from the Greek κένωσις - “devastation”, “exhaustion”) begin? The Lord has already limited and belittled Himself by saying: “Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). In the opinion of the Holy Fathers of the Church, the creation of man was a foreshadowing of the incarnation of the Son of God and His offering of a redemptive sacrifice on the Cross.

The prayer, which is part of the Liturgy of Basil the Great, speaks of exhaustion, that “the dust is taken from the earth, and, in Your image, God, honor, Thou hast laid in paradise of sweetness ...”, that is, the sacrifice is already being offered. God limits Himself by the presence on earth of His image and likeness, endowed with immortality and free will. It is for him that a great sacrifice is made. However, not only for him ...

“Though you go out to your free and ever-memorable and life-giving death, in the night, in the darkness you betray yourself for the life of the world ...” A sacrifice is made for the life of the world. This sacrifice encompasses all that God has created. But, in fact, this whole world was created only for the sake of man. It exists insofar as man exists. This world was originally arranged in such a way that we live well and happily in it. Theologians say: the world is anthropomorphic, that is, it is focused on a person. However, when a person sins, this world is distorted, corrupted, subjected to decay. The Kingdom of Heaven, the fulfillment of the fullness of times, when God will be “everything in everything,” can come only through man.

“Take, eat, this is my body, which is broken for you for the remission of sins.”

This part of the Eucharistic Prayer ends with the establishing words establishing the Sacrament of the Eucharist itself, about which there has been much controversy.

“Take, eat, this is my body, which is broken for you for the remission of sins.” It was with these words that Christ made ordinary bread and ordinary wine His Body and His Blood at the time of the Last Supper by the Lord. This served as their literal understanding by the Western Church.

Catholics believe that these very words are the sacramental formula that transforms bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. It is at this moment that they bless the Chalice and the Bread. In the Catholic mind, the priest is a kind of “substitute” for Christ, and the Eucharist is carried out with his hands. But no one can replace Christ, and this is not necessary! He, He did not go anywhere, although He is with His Father and the Holy Spirit in the Holy Trinity and in the Kingdom of Heaven. The Lord is with us until the end of time.

The Orthodox Liturgy, in its entire structure, indicates what is the main thing. In our minds, a priest is not a “substitute for Christ” at the Liturgy, he is the leader of the people of God and nothing more. Therefore, during the Liturgy, he does not do anything himself, the priest is the primate before God, imploring Him to perform this mystery. Calling: "Come, eat ..." - he recalls how Christ at the Last Supper uttered these words.

Only after this is one of the most important liturgical actions performed. The epiclesis (Latin word epiclesis and Greek ἐπίκλησις - "invocation") is the culminating moment of the incessant Eucharistic prayer."

The priest reads to himself: “Remembering, therefore, this saving commandment, and all that was about us: the Cross, the Tomb, the three-day resurrection, ascension to heaven, sitting on the right hand, the Second and glorious coming again” and says aloud: “Your from Yours I offer You from everyone and for everything."

After the affirmative words, the priest prays, remembering these events as having already taken place in eternity. He also recalls the Second Coming: after all, as we have already said, the Liturgy for us is a stay in eternity, this is the acquisition of the Kingdom of Heaven, this is the life of the future age, to which we join.

We are already in a completely different world, remembering the mortal danger that we miraculously avoided. At the Liturgy, we commemorate this saving Sacrament, the Cross, the Sepulcher, the Resurrection, the sitting on the right hand, and the Second Coming, as if we were already in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Following the offering of the Holy Gifts, their transformation takes place. The Holy Spirit is called to the offered Gifts - bread and wine - and their transformation into the Body and Blood of Christ takes place.

The priest takes the Holy Gifts in his hands and, raising them over the Throne, proclaims: "Your from Yours, offering You about everyone and for everything."

What does the priest “Yours from Yours” bring? It is about bringing Proskomedia. You remember that the Lamb, the Mother of God, the Church, the holy apostles, all the saints, all living and dead, surrounding the Lord are symbolically depicted on the Discos. The diskos, as an image of the universe itself, as an image of the Church itself, ascends to Christ: “We offer you what is yours, from those who belong to you, for everyone and for everything.” Both the Liturgy and the Proskomidia are performed not only in memory of the living and the dead, not just as a prayer for our land, but for the whole world, for the whole universe, for everything that the Lord has created.

We came here and brought everything we could to You. Everything we have belongs to God. We brought you yours. Bread is yours. The water is yours. Wine is yours. I don't have anything of my own. All is yours. And I am yours...

The path of the Church ascending to Christ is the path of the cross. The priest crosses his arms, raising the Epikles of the Holy Gifts to the Throne before prayer. This is the path of each and all of us together: offering oneself together with everyone for others, from everyone and for everything - to God. This is the way of ascension and cross-bearing, the only way to Christ, leading to eternal life.

This moment is the beginning of the epiclesis prayer, the culminating part of the Anaphora prayer, in which the invocation of the Holy Spirit takes place on the offered Gifts - bread and wine, and their transformation into the Body and Blood of Christ.

The choir sings: “We sing to you, we will bless you,” and the priest reads the prayer of invoking the Holy Spirit on the Gifts: “We still offer You this verbal and bloodless service, and we ask, and we pray, and have mercy on us, send down Your Holy Spirit on us, and on the presentation of this Gift.

This is very short prayer, which is not heard by us, because at that moment the choir sings, but during this the greatest prayer The Holy Gifts are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ.

Please note that we ask that the Holy Spirit be sent to us and to the Gifts. We ask all of us to become the Body of Christ, we pray that all of us who are present in the temple, all the people of God, the whole Church become the Body of the Lord.

The grace-filled descent of the Holy Spirit cannot bypass us. Not only bread and wine prepared in advance, but all of us who participate in the Liturgy, at this moment, are the Eucharist. The grace of the Holy Spirit descends on each of us, transforming us into the Body of Christ.

That is why everyone participating in the Liturgy Orthodox Christian it is necessary to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Otherwise, all liturgical prayers are meaningless for us. Judge for yourself: here we are standing during the Eucharistic canon, everyone is praying for the Holy Spirit to descend on us, and the Lord sends Him to us, but we refuse to receive Him! We find ourselves in some strange, ambiguous position, first praying for the Gifts, and then turning away from Them.

The significance of the epiclesis is emphasized by a special prayer, which was not included in the Liturgy either by Basil the Great or John Chrysostom, but is a late addition. I mean the troparion of the Third Hour to the invocation of the Holy Spirit: “Lord, even Thy Most Holy Spirit at the third hour sent down by Thy apostles, Him, the Good One, do not take away from us, but renew us who pray to you.”

The Troparion is not part of the Eucharistic Prayer; it was introduced as yet another confirmation that the change of the Holy Gifts takes place not at the moment of the call of Jesus, but at the moment of the call of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit performs this Sacrament, it is He who changes bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ.

The priest raises his hands and reads three times: “Create a pure heart in me, O God, and renew a right spirit in my womb. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit away from me.”

Unfortunately, the troparion interrupts the priestly prayer, so in many Local Churches it is read until the prayer of the epiclesis.

After that, the deacon, pointing to the Holy Gifts, makes a prayer: "Bless, Lord, the Holy Bread." The priest, continuing the prayer of the epiclesis, says, pointing to the Lamb: “Create, therefore, this Bread, the Honorable Body of Thy Christ. Amen". The deacon replies, "Amen," on behalf of the entire Church.

Then the deacon points to the Chalice with the words: "Bless, master, the Holy Chalice." The priest adds: "And the hedgehog in this Chalice is the Precious Blood of Thy Christ." The deacon, and with him all the people, answer: "Amen."

The deacon points first to the Diskos, and then to the Chalice: “Bless, master of both.” The priest, blessing the bread and wine, says: "Having changed by Your Holy Spirit."

The deacon and the priest bow before the Throne and repeat three times: "Amen."

The Eucharistic prayer ascends to God the Father. It is to Him that the Church turns, and the Church is the Body of Christ. As St. Justin Popovich said, "The Church is our Lord Jesus Christ." This is a God-human organism, and since the God-man turns to God, then he turns as to Him as to the Father. When we ask: “Send down Your Holy Spirit…”, we all turn to God the Father. At this time, this creation of the Flesh and Blood of Christ takes place, as a kind of new creation of the world.

The priest here can only step aside. He blesses this action, but the Sacrament is performed only because the Lord hears His Church. We cry out: “Make this Bread, then, the precious Body of Thy Christ… having added it with Thy Holy Spirit,” because God sends His Spirit so that the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ.

The culmination of the Eucharistic Prayer has come, which, to the greatest regret, for many of us remains almost unnoticed, because few people know about what is happening in the altar at this time. This prayer in the Orthodox Church is done in secret, while in the Catholic Church it is said aloud. It is very sad that the people standing at the Liturgy, at its most grandiose moment, do not participate in it with their hearts, with their prayers. The whole Church should repeat loudly: "Amen, Amen, Amen!" - When this is proclaimed by the deacon for the whole Church. "Amen!" - our acceptance of what the Lord does. This is our common work with God, in Greek called the Liturgy.

Immediately after the prayer of invocation, the priest prays: “As if to be partaking of the sobriety of souls, for the remission of sins, for the communion of Your Holy Spirit, for the fulfillment of the Kingdom of Heaven, for boldness to You, not for judgment, or for condemnation.”

This prayer sounds especially penetrating in the Liturgy of Basil the Great: “And all of us, from the one Bread and the Chalice, who partake, unite to each other in one Holy Spirit communion ...”

The priest intercedes before the Lord for the living and the dead: “We also bring this verbal service to you, for those who have died in the faith, forefathers, father, patriarchs, prophets, apostles, preachers, evangelists, martyrs, confessors, abstinences, and for every righteous soul in the faith who has died ".

The prayer, which began with the words: “It is worthy to eat ...”, ends with a church intercession for the whole world, which includes all its needs, all the people living in it. This prayer of the Church before the Body and Blood of Christ is a cosmic prayer, it embraces the entire universe. As the crucifixion of Christ was celebrated for the life of the whole world, so the Eucharist was celebrated by the Church for the whole world.

We participate in the most important commemoration: a second Proskomidia is performed, as it were. Remember how during the Proskomedia, the priest before the Lamb remembered all the saints, then all the living and all the dead. The same prayer is repeated, but before the true Flesh and Blood of Christ. The priest prays for the universe, for the entire cosmos, and we return to the proskomedia commemoration. The Liturgy again brings us to the very beginning of the sacrifice, because again the whole Church is remembered, but the Church has already been realized as the Body of Christ.

Preparing for Communion

At the end of the Eucharistic Prayer, that part of the Liturgy of the Faithful begins, during which the Church prepares those praying for Holy Communion and communion of clergy and laity takes place.

A pleading litany sounds: “All the saints having remembered, again and again, let us pray to the Lord in peace ...”, accompanied by special petitions. She spiritually incites each participant in the Liturgy to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ and prays that God will accept our sacrifice, grant us the grace of the Holy Spirit and allow us to accept this Gift without condemnation.

The priest reads: “We offer you our whole life and hope, Lord Humanity, and we ask, and we pray, and have mercy on us: grant us to partake of Your heavenly and terrible Mysteries, sowing sacred and spiritual meals, with a pure conscience, for the forgiveness of sins, in forgiveness of sins, into the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, into the inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven, into boldness towards You, not into judgment or condemnation.

After that, the priest asks to vouchsafe us “with boldness, without condemnation, dare to call upon” the Heavenly Father.

"Our Father" sounds like a Eucharistic prayer. We ask for our daily bread, which became the Body of Christ during the Eucharist. The parishioners who have gathered for the Liturgy are humanity called to become the Son of God.

Jesus gave the Lord's Prayer to the apostles in response to a request to teach them how to pray. Why are there many other prayers? If you look closely, all of them, to one degree or another, are a transcription of the Lord's Prayer, each patristic prayer is its interpretation. In fact, we always offer God one prayer, it just transforms into prayer rule in relation to various circumstances of our life.

The three components of prayer are repentance, thanksgiving and petition. The Lord's Prayer in this sense is something else. Of course, it contains requests, but requests are peculiar: what we most often forget to ask for. "Our Father" is a pointer to the path to God and a prayer for help on this path. The Lord's Prayer concentrates the entire Christian world in itself: everything is collected in it, the whole meaning is revealed Christian life, our life in God.

After the prayer “Our Father”, which is the last Eucharistic petition, has finished, the priest reads the bowing prayer: “Peace to all. Bow your heads to the Lord,” and bestows a blessing on the faithful. The parishioners bow their heads, and the priest prays at the altar: “We thank Thee, the invisible King… Himself, Vladyka, from heaven, look down upon your heads; not bow down to flesh and blood, but to You, the terrible God. You, O Lord, who are present to all of us for the good, straighten out, according to your need: floating floating, traveling, travel, heal those who are ill ... "

In this prayer, the priest asks the Lord about earthly things, that He would send according to the needs of everyone: to accompany those sailing and traveling, to heal the sick ... Those who gathered about their needs can no longer think, they think about God, and the priest intercedes to The kingdom of heaven and its righteousness would be added, and everything else ...

The prayer ends with the exclamation: "Grace, and generosity, and philanthropy ..." The choir answers: "Amen." At this moment, it is customary to close the veil of the Royal Doors. The priest reads a prayer for the breaking of the Bread and the acceptance of the Eucharist: “Take, O Lord…”, in which he asks God to give him and all those who serve with him, that is, all those who come in the temple, Your Body and Blood: “And grant by Thy sovereign hand, give us Thy Most Pure Body and Precious Blood, and by us all people.

Standing in front of the Holy Gates, the deacon girds himself crosswise with his orarion, thus demonstrating his readiness to serve the holy Eucharist, and together with the priest says three times: “God, cleanse me a sinner and have mercy on me.”

Seeing that the priest stretches out his hands to the Lamb, the deacon exclaims: “Let us attend,” that is, let us be extremely attentive. The deacon calls the worshipers to reverent standing and enters the altar, and the priest takes the Holy Lamb in his hands, lifts it high above the Discos, and says: "Holy to the Holy."

During the communion of the clergy, the altar becomes a likeness of the Zion chamber, in which the apostles, together with their Teacher, received Holy Communion.

"Holy to the Holy" is the exclamation heard at the end of the Liturgy, before the faithful approach the Chalice. The Church proclaims that now the Holy One will be taught to the Saints, that is, to each of us.

It is important to understand that, on the one hand, the Lord calls everyone present in the temple to holiness, and on the other hand, He sees this holiness in everyone and considers everyone a saint, because only the saints can be given the Body and Blood of Christ, only the saints can communicate with God and not be destroyed by the Divine flame, only the saints open the entrance to the Kingdom of Heaven. It is during the Eucharist that the Heavenly Gates are opened.

The Church answers on behalf of all believers: "Holy is One Lord Jesus Christ to the glory of God the Father." These words are filled with repentance and contrition of the heart. “No one is worthy…”, the priest reads when the Cherubic Hymn sounds in the temple.

We cannot afford not to strive for holiness. The Liturgy leaves us no other possibility. Each of us is reminded of who we are, what the Lord is calling us to, what we should be. Each one is again given that lofty task that he received in holy baptism. We should not be afraid that we are meant to be saints. We must desire this with all our heart and apply the words: “Holy to the holies” to ourselves.

Communion of Priests and Laity

The deacon enters the altar and addresses the priest, who has already placed the Lamb on the Diskos: "Break apart the Holy Bread, master." The priest again takes the Lamb and breaks it crosswise into four parts with the words: “The Lamb of God is broken and divided, broken and not divided, always eaten and never dependent, but sanctify who partakes…”

As you remember, the seal of the Lamb bears the name of Christ and the word "NIKA", meaning "victory". A piece with the inscription "Jesus" is placed on the upper part of the diskos, and with the inscription "Christ" on the lower one.

The upper part of the Lamb is called the Pledge. During the Sacrament of ordination, the ordained priest is brought to the Holy See. The bishop separates the Pledge and puts it into the hands of the priest with the words: “Receive this Pledge, for it you will give an answer to the Last Judgment". The priest holds him over the Throne during the rest of the service as a pledge of the priesthood, a pledge of the most important thing that a priest accomplishes in his life: serving the Liturgy and bringing the people of God to Christ. For this he will have to answer on the day of the Last Judgment.

When the Lamb is crushed and laid on the Discos, the priest lowers the Pledge into the Chalice and says: “The filling of the Holy Spirit. Amen". After that, the deacon brings warmth, exclaiming: “Bless, Master, warmth,” and pours it into the Chalice with the words: “The warmth of faith is filled with the Holy Spirit. Amen".

This is an obligatory condition for communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Warmth matters, firstly, traditionally, because in ancient times they never drank undiluted wine. It was believed that only barbarians drink such wine. In addition, undiluted wine can cause coughing, especially if it is cold. And, finally, it is a symbol of the warmth of human faith.

The priest and the deacon bow before the Throne. They ask for forgiveness from each other and from all those present in the church, and reverently partake first of the Body, and then of the Blood of the Savior.

Usually, during the communion of clerics, spiritual hymns are sung and prayers are read before holy communion. The parishioners should reverently, with contrite hearts, listen to these prayers, preparing themselves to receive the Holy Mysteries of Christ.

This is followed by the fragmentation of the part of the Lamb with the seal "NIKA", intended for the communion of the laity. This action is accompanied by the words: “Seeing the Resurrection of Christ…” The priest picks up a spear and carefully crushes the Lamb on a special plate. The particles are carefully poured into the Chalice, and it itself is covered with a cover. The veil of the Royal Doors opens and the deacon takes out the Chalice.

The diskos with particles of Proskomedia remains on the Throne. Particles remain on it, taken out of the prosphora in honor of the Virgin, John the Baptist, the apostles and saints.

“Come with the fear of God and faith…” Usually, infants are first communed, and only with the Blood of the Lord. Believers reverently accept the Holy Gifts, kissing the edge of the Chalice. Kissing the Cup symbolizes touching the resurrected Savior, touching Him and witnessing the truth of the Resurrection of Christ. According to the interpretation of some liturgists, the edge of the Chalice symbolizes the rib of Christ.

We must partake with the thought: “Lord, with You I am ready to go even to Golgotha!” And then He will give us this great joy - to be with Him to the end.

After communion, the choir sings: "Hallelujah", and the priest enters the altar and places the Chalice on the Throne. The deacon takes the Diskos in his hands and plunges into the Cup the particles that remained on the Diskos with the words: “Wash, O Lord, the sins of those who are remembered here by Your Honorable Blood, by the prayers of Your saints.”

Thus ends the commemoration of the living and the dead, who are immersed in death and the Resurrection of Christ. The cup with particles immersed in it in this case symbolizes that the Lord took upon Himself the sins of the world, washed them away with His blood, redeemed them with His crucifixion, death and Resurrection, and gave everyone Eternal Life.

When it is proclaimed: "...by the prayers of Your saints," we are talking not only about those saints of God whose memory is celebrated on this day, although, of course, we resort to their grace-filled help. In this case, we are talking about all the Christians gathered in the temple. That is, by the Blood of Christ and the prayers of the entire Church, sins are washed away and forgiven. That is why liturgical prayer is universal prayer, omnipotent prayer.

After the particles are immersed in the Cup, it is covered with a cover. Covers, a liar and an asterisk are placed on the discos. The priest turns to face the people and, blessing them, says: “Save, O God, your people and bless your inheritance.” The choir answers him: “We have seen the True Light, received the Heavenly Spirit, gained the true faith, We worship the Indivisible Trinity: She has saved us.”

While singing “We have seen the true light ...”, the priest transfers the Chalice to the altar, reading a prayer to himself: “Ascend to heaven, O God, and throughout all the earth Your glory”, as a reminder of the bodily Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ and the future ascension of us, deified, into the Kingdom of Heaven. This liturgical moment once again emphasizes the true destiny of man, the highest goal of his earthly life.

Note that all the laws of nature operate “in descending order”, “in descending order”, akin to the law of attraction. Everything falls to the ground - rain, and snow, and hail, and we call this world itself fallen. And Christ, ascended to heaven, cancels the inexorability of the laws of the fallen world. He points out to us: by communion with God, man overcomes earthly attraction.

Knowing about all our weaknesses, about our tendency to sin and about the lack of striving for spiritual life, the Lord, nevertheless, exalts our nature, taking it upon Himself. Man is given the opportunity to live, overcoming the laws of the fallen world, striving upward. There is no other way for a Christian.

The priest incenses the Holy Gifts and, bowing to them, takes the Chalice in his hands with the words: "Blessed is our God." Turning his face to the people, he says: “Always, now and forever, and forever and ever,” recalling the promise of the Savior to remain in the Church until the end of time.

Thanksgiving

The last part of the Liturgy of the faithful includes thanksgiving for communion and blessing for leaving the church.

The choir sings: “Let our lips be filled with Thy praise, O Lord…”, and the deacon comes out with the last thanksgiving litany, beginning with the words: “Forgive me, receive…” The word “forgive” in this case comes from the verb “stretch out”, that is, a person stand, reverently rushing to God.

At this moment, the priest folds the antimension, takes the Gospel and, drawing a cross on the Throne, reads: “For Thou art our sanctification, and we send glory to Thee…”. Then he goes to read the prayer beyond the ambo: “Let us depart in peace in the name of the Lord… Bless those who bless Thee, Lord…”

The choir sings: “Be the name of the Lord blessed from now on and forever” and Psalm 33: “I will bless the Lord at all times ...”

The priest pronounces dismissal (from the Greek word ἀπόλυσις - the blessing of those praying to leave the temple at the end of the service.): “Christ is risen from the dead, true god ours ... "and, having overshadowed the people with a cross, he holds it out to the parishioners for kissing. Usually prayers of thanksgiving are read at this time. Having once again overshadowed the believers with the cross, the priest returns to the altar, closes the Royal Doors and draws the veil.

Worship is over. But what is worship? At first glance, the answer is obvious: Christians come to the temple to serve God. But if we think carefully about this word, we will definitely pay attention: in general, it is difficult to say who is serving whom here. Like many words and expressions used by the Church, the word "worship" has a double meaning.

At the service, what Jesus did at the Last Supper happens. Then He gathered the apostles, took a bowl of water and began to wash their dirty feet with love, meekness and humility. Wash the feet of everyone, even the traitor, even the one who will soon betray Him. This is the image of true worship - God serves His disciples. When we are going to the temple, the Lord washes our feet for all of us.

We often tell children: we must do this, we must do that ... - but we do not do it ourselves. And the Lord, by His own example, showed us what to do and how to do it. When we are just getting ready to touch Him, He is already beginning to wash our feet.

It sometimes seems to us that when we come to the Church, we accomplish a spiritual feat. Still: we patiently lined up for confession, submitted memorial notes ... We don’t even know that, once in the Church, we were invisibly transported to the Zion upper room, where the Lord washed the feet of His disciples, and now it’s our turn.

We turn to God, crying out for help, and He immediately begins to serve us, fulfilling our petty desires, helping to solve everyday problems. We proceed to confession, and He again serves us, washing away the filth from us. Who serves whom at the Divine Liturgy? It is the Lord who gives us His Body and His Blood! It is He who does service to us.

The same thing happens in all the Church Sacraments - everywhere there is an image of washing our feet, this is the real Divine service. Everything that happens to us in the Church is the unceasing service of God to man. The heavenly world serves us, and the Lord leads it. God accepts everyone who comes to the temple and performs Divine service for us as the High Priest. He expects only one thing from us: that we strive to become like Him.

After washing the disciples' feet, Jesus commanded them: “If I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, then you must also wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do what I have done to you” (John 13:14-15). We should finally realize that our worship is accomplished when we serve our neighbor and when we truly, without hypocrisy, fulfill the commandments of God.

How else can we serve the Lord? What might God need from us? Our candles? Money? Prayers? Notes? Posts? Of course, God does not need any of this. He needs only our deep, sincere, heartfelt love. It is in the manifestation of this love that our worship consists. When it becomes the meaning of our life, then whatever we do will become a service to God, a continuation of the Divine Liturgy.

The combination of Divine service and thanksgiving, when the Lord serves us, and we serve Him, is the Divine Liturgy, the common work of God and the people of God. In this union, the Church is realized as a divine-human organism. Then the Church becomes a truly universal event, a catholic and all-conquering Church.

Uminsky Alexey, archpriest
Divine Liturgy
"Explanation of meaning, meaning, content."
Recommended for publication by the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church No. IS 11-116-1715
Signed for publication on March 22, 2012.
Publishing house "Nikeya"