HOW TO BENEFIT FROM THE HOLY LITURGY”
This book has been translated especially
for the benefit of all the children and youth in the lands of immigration.
I
believe this book
is very important
for every deacon
and member of the congregation who dearly loves the Lord and
earnestly seeks to
benefit from every
moment spent in church, so that they may feel comforted
by the heavenly joys the church offers
and receive spiritual
fullness from the
‘meals’ they partake of :-
?
the meal of doctrinal liturgy of the catechumens
?
the meal of
spiritual worshipping in
the liturgy of believers, or the sacrificial liturgy
?
then the communion of the Holy Body and Blood of our Lord God Emmanuel,
which we partake of in a worthily manner
and have Christ
abiding in us,
as the Lord promised : “He who eats My flesh and
drinks My blood abides in Me and I in him” (John 6:56).
May this book be a source of blessing
for all who read it, so that they may learn how to benefit from the Divine
Liturgy.
Through
the intercessions of
our mother St.
Mary and the prayers
of His Holiness
our beloved father
Pope Shenouda III.
The grace of the Lord bless us.
Bishop Mettaous
Abbot of El Syrian Monastery.
HOW TO BENEFIT FROM THE HOLY
LITURGY
By His Grace Bishop Mettaous, Abbot of
St. Mary
& El Syrian Monastery
Introduction To The First Edition
In
our Coptic Church,
the Holy Mass,
in her essence
of group prayer and worship, is the house of God and the door of heaven,
the house of angels and the congregation of the saints.
During the Holy Mass, angels and
archangels, the Cherubim and the Seraphim,
together with all
the heavenly hosts
are present and are surrounding the altar with great glory. At the
awesome moment when the priest calls on the Holy Spirit to transform the
bread and wine
present on the
altar into the holy Body and Blood of our Lord, He is
present amidst the praising of His holy angels.
The
time we spend
in church during
the Mass is
a slice of heaven
on earth. The
glory might be
hidden from our
eyes because we are still in the flesh, but many desired to see His
glory and indeed did see and are witnesses to their testimony.
Yet despite all these glories, many
express that they do not benefit
from attending the
Holy Mass. So,
how can one benefit from the Mass?
6
Before answering this, we must first
understand what hinders
receiving benefit ...
i.
Coming late to
Church - If
one comes to
church late, they will deprive themselves of receiving the Holy
Communion. They will
also deprive themselves
of listening
to the Gospel readings, the beautiful
hymns, and the deeply spiritual prayers said during the Divine Liturgy; prayers
that uplift one’s heart
and spirit to
heaven, giving comfort
and peace from all
worldly cares. For
this reason, the
Lord Himself advises us
to come to
church early :
“Those who seek Me early will
find Me” (Proverbs 8:17).
ii. Not
participating in the
responses during the
Mass - One may
come early, but
attend as a
spectator and not a
participator. Hence they will not feel a part of the liturgy and leave feeling
they have not
received any spiritual
benefit. Whoever attends the
Mass is an
important servant of the
Mass, and this
is clarified during
the Servant’s Absolution when the priest says : “May Your
servants, the ministers of this day, hegumens, priests, deacons, clergy, all
Your people and my weak self be absolved...”. Hence the congregation is
one of
the three important
personalities present during
the Mass - the clergy, the deacons, and the congregation. If one of them is absent,
it is not
possible to celebrate
the Holy Mass.
Everyone present during the Divine
Liturgy should share and participate
in the responses
with all their
heart, soul and senses in order to receive from God the
overflowing comfort and peace He
will provide for
us. Therefore, before
the
7
actual responses are the words, ‘The congregation responds,’ not ‘The deacon
responds’.
iii.
Lack of concentration
or contemplation during
the responses - Many times the hymns and responses are said in
recitation instead of
in contemplation, and
hence our mind may become distracted from focusing on
the prayers of the Mass. Every participant, whether clergy, deacon or believer
should pray with
attention, understanding and
in a spirit
of contemplation, so that
together with the
Apostle Paul we say, “I
will pray with
the spirit and
I will also
pray with understanding, I
will sing with
the spirit and
I will also sing with understanding” (1 Corinthians
14:15).
iv.
Occupation with administrative matters
instead of with spiritual
matters - Some
people, during the
Mass, occupy their minds
with administrative matters,
like the selling of the ‘korban’
(small holy breads), or collecting alms, donations, and so on. Amidst these
thoughts they do not give themselves a chance to listen to the Mass and partake
in the hymns and responses.
To those, the
Lord Jesus says :
“These you ought to have done without
leaving the others undone” (Luke 11:42), and also, “To everything there is a
season...” (Ecclesiastics 3:1).
Hence, although the
Apostle Paul tells us,
“Those who lead,
with diligence” (Romans
12:8), and at the same time, they
participate in prayers and
worships, according to what the Apostle
also tells us in the same chapter: “fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, continuing steadfastly in prayer”
(Romans 12:11,12).
v.
Prayer of the
whole Mass in
the Coptic language
- Some complain that
they do not
understand anything or benefit because they do not understand the
Coptic language
8
it is prayed in. Hence, the preference
is for praying the Mass
in the language most common to all, and
leaving a part to be said in Coptic,
for it is our original
language and our heritage, and so it is important for us
not to neglect it. It is important
however, that the
congregation try to
learn the Coptic language,
for it is
the language of
our fathers and grandfathers.
vi.
Lack of partaking
of the Holy
Communion - Some people
attend the Mass
only out of
habit, and deprive themselves from
receiving the Holy
Sacraments, sometimes for months
or years. The church advises that all those, who have confessed
and are spiritually
prepared should receive the Holy Communion according to the
words of our beloved Lord: “Drink from
it all of
you...” (Matthew 26:26,27). Those who do not partake of the
Holy Communion deprive themselves from the community of believers and from a
great blessing.
vii. Taking the Holy Communion without having confessed -
A person may
come to receive
the Holy Communion, while
having on their
conscience sins that
are not confessed. This
guilty feeling deprives
the person from receiving spiritual
consolation and benefit.
The person receiving the
Holy Communion should
be repentant, pure and ready.
This book, my beloved reader, is a
humble trial to overcome the
obstacles which prevent
you from gaining
the spiritual benefits of
attending the Mass.
It is also
a journey to
take you to the
depth of the
unity of the
Mass and Holy Communion. It explains how you can
prepare yourself to be ready and deserving
of the holy
sacrament of Communion,
9
and
it also explains
the responses of
the deacon and congregation, in addition to some
spiritual contemplations.
This
book, “How to
benefit from the
Holy Mass”, compliments my
last book, “The
Spirituality of the Rites of the Holy Mass”, which focuses
on the prayers and rituals of the priest. This book,
however, focuses more on the responses,
practices and contemplations of
the deacons and congregation during the Holy Mass.
“For
those who worship
Him must worship
in spirit and truth” (John 4:24).
We
ask our beloved
God to bless
this book so
that it may become a source of blessing to all who
read it, so that it may encourage
contemplation,
understanding, concentration and depth of prayer during the Holy Mass, and
so that we may proceed to receive the Holy Communion in worthiness with
a
contrite spirit; hence
attaining uncountable blessings
and comfort.
With the blessings of our beloved father
His Holiness Pope
Shenouda III.
10
INTRODUCTION
Many
complain that they
do not receive
benefit from attending the
Divine Mass. In this book we will try to walk you through,
my beloved Christian,
step by step
the procedures before, during and after the Mass, and
contemplate together the
rituals, and fervent
prayers which must be understood
in order to benefit.
We record all these contemplations and
practices from what we read, hear
and experience, in
the hope of
providing for you benefit
and solving some
of the problems
many of us face.
The Liturgy of St. Basil will be the
focus of our discussion and contemplation, for it is the one most commonly used.
1. PREPARATORY
PRACTICES
The day in the church rite, starts from
the evening prior to the celebration of the Holy Mass, so, for example, in
order to attend the Sunday
Mass you must
be prepared from
the Saturday.
How do we prepare?
The church
rules necessitate your
coming clean and
pure, both from within and on the outside; you must be in the best image
externally and internally, as you are appearing before
11
God,
the King of
kings, Lord of
lords and Master
of all earthly masters.
External cleanliness means bathing,
clean clothes, and decent dressing. Internal cleanliness means purity of heart,
through peace and reconciliation with
others, then repentance
and confession. If you have an
appointment with your confession father
you must be
prepared beforehand by
sitting with yourself, and
remembering the sins you committed with and without intention.
You
make a note
of them with
all honesty, remembering what St. Antonious said, “If we
remember our sins God will forget
them, if we
forget our sins
God will remind
us of them.”
You can write your sins on a piece of
paper, as well as any questions you may
have to ask
your confession father. Therefore, having
made a note
of all the
sins you have committed since your last confession,
you repent before God for these sins.
For those who are new or beginners in
the life of repentance, the best period
for confession is
fortnightly, then gradually every month. It is
very dangerous for
the believers, especially youth
and beginners, to
be neglectful in
their confessions, and delay
the period between
confessions, for this neglect
leads to spiritual lukewarmness, lack of scrutiny
in self examination and forgetfulness of
certain sins intended
to
be confessed. And
the greatest danger
is a person
who often receives Holy Communion without regular confession.
12
Going To Church
When
you hear the
bells of the
church declaring the beginning of
the Vesper Prayers,
or you know
the time at which
these prayers begin,
change to wearing
modest clothing so that you may attend the prayers and hymns of the
Vespers.
Take
with you three
small books: the
Agbia, the Coptic Liturgy, and the book of Doxology. (In
some churches, these books may be available for you to use during the service).
Along
the way to
church, recite certain
psalms, and bring your senses and mind to concentrate on
them so that you are not distracted by anything useless. Learn psalms by heart
so you can pray them inaudibly, at any time, and wherever you are.
There are three short, beautiful psalms
from the Agbia...
?
Psalm 121, from the Sunset Prayer :
I was glad when they said to me, “Let us
go into the house of the Lord.”
Our feet have
been standing within
your gates O Jerusalem!
Jerusalem is built
as a city
that is compact together. Where
the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord,
to the testimony
of Israel. To
give thanks to the
name of the Lord. For thrones are set there for judgment, the thrones
of the house
of David. Pray
for the peace
of Jerusalem. “May they
prosper who love
you. Peace be within your walls. Prosperity within your
palaces.” For the sake of my
brethren and companions,
I will now
say,
“Peace be within you.” Because of the
house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good. Alleluia.
13
?
Psalm 83, from the Sixth Hour Prayer :
How
lovely is Your
tabernacle, O Lord
of hosts. My
soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord. My heart and
flesh cry out for the living God. Even the sparrow has found a
home, and the
swallow a nest
for herself, where she may lay her young. Even Your altars
O Lord of hosts, my King and my God, blessed are those who dwell in Your house.
They will still be praising You. Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
whose heart is set on pilgrimage. As
they pass through
the valley of Baca, they
make it a spring.
The rain also
covers it with
pools. They go
from strength to strength.
Every one of
them appears before God
in Zion. O
Lord God of
hosts, hear my
prayer, give ear O God of Jacob!
O God, behold our shield, and look upon the face of Your anointed. For a day in
Your courts
is better than a thousand. I would
rather be a doorkeeper in the house
of my God
than dwell in
the tents of wickedness. For
the Lord is
a sun and
shield: The Lord will give grace and glory: No good thing
will He withhold: from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is
the man who trusts in You! Alleluia.
?
Psalm 14, from the First Hour Prayer :
Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle?
Who may dwell in Your holy
hill? He who
walks uprightly and
works righteousness, and speaks
the truth in
his heart, he who
does not
backbite with his
tongue, nor does
evil to his neighbour
nor does he
take up a
reproach against his friend.
In whose eyes a vile
person is despised,
but he honours those
who fear the
Lord. He who
swears to his own hurt and does not change. He who does
not put out his money at usury. Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be moved. Alleluia.
14
Upon reaching the church, make the sign
of the cross, then
quietly enter so as to disturb anybody.
Enter the church, the house of God, in reverence and righteousness remembering
what the
gospel mentioned about
Simon the Elder,
“He came by the
Spirit to the
temple, he took
Him (Jesus) in his arms and blessed God” (Luke 2:25-28).
When entering the church, say with the
Psalmist, “But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your
mercy. In fear
of Your I
will worship towards
Your holy temple" (Psalm
5:7). When you
reach the altar,
make the sign of the cross, and
prostrate three times saying, "I worship You Christ
our God, with
Your gracious Father,
and the Holy Spirit,
because You have
come and saved
us." Then reverently stand
before the altar
and pray the,
“Our Father...” Touch the hem of the curtain's veil and reverently kiss
it as it is a symbol of Christ’s garment about which the woman with the flow of
blood said, ‘“If only I may touch His
clothes, I shall
be made well.” Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up and
she felt in her body that she was
healed of the
affliction”’ (Mark 5:25-34). Take a blessing from the priest by
kissing the cross and his right hand holding the cross. Then quietly take your
place in the church and
start partaking in
the prayers. You
can use the Coptic Liturgy book.
If you enter the church at the time of
the Gospel reading, you must stand reverently at the door of the church, listen
to the gospel with the others and after the gospel is read you may go forward
and kneel before the altar.
15
In the book of, 'The Mystery of the
Trinity in the Ministry of Priesthood',
it mentions that,
"If anyone approaches
the door of the church and hears the reading of the gospel, he should
stand still until the end of the reading."
2. PRAYERS
AND HYMNS OF THE MATINS AND VESPERS
These are groups of prayers, supplications and
thanksgivings, requesting the
Lord’s blessing for
the Mass service, so that the
minds and souls of the believers may be prepared to
enter worthily to
attend the Mass
with all its spirituality. For
every Mass there
is a Matin
and a Vesper Prayer, preceded
by the wonderful
Tasbeha prayers. The only exception are the weekday Masses,
(Monday to Friday), and during the
Holy Lent for
they conclude late
in the afternoon.
Canonical Hours
Those commonly said in Vespers are the
prayers of the Ninth Hour, the Sunset Prayer, the Prayer before Sleeping, as
well as the Prayer of the Veil which is said in the monasteries.
During
the prayer of
the Ninth Hour,
you must remember that this prayer was instituted by
the church to commemorate the hour of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ in the
flesh on the Cross, which was for our salvation. Darkness fell on all the earth
at the sixth hour until the ninth hour, indicating the end of Satan's kingdom
when our Lord
trampled him and death through the cross, and God freed
His people from the
16
bondage
of sin and
the devil. The
statement, "The Lord reigns," is repeated in many
psalms. In Psalm 110 we pray,
"The Lord
said to my
Lord, 'Sit at my right
hand till I make
Your enemies Your
footstool. The Lord
shall send the rod of Your
strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies.'"
When the psalms are distributed, pray
them in reverence and understanding, and pray in spirit and truth.
During the reading of the gospel of the
Ninth Hour, which is called the 'Gospel of Blessing', listen in reverence, for
it tells of the blessing
of the five
loaves and two
fish by the
Lord Jesus. This Gospel
is also known
as the 'Feeding
of the multitudes'. The
church chose the
gospel of feeding
the multitudes to be
read at the ninth hour,
as most of the
church’s fasts end at the ninth hour, reminding us that when we eat, we should
request the blessing of our Lord Jesus.
Listen
carefully to the
Troparia (prayers) read
after the gospel as
they are very
spiritual. Partake in
their responses
(Thoksa
batri ke euo...
Amen), giving glory
to God while bowing and making the sign of the
Cross.
In the second part of the Troparia, we
pray saying, "Let me partake
of the grace
of Your sacraments
so that when I
taste Your goodness, I offer You praise unceasingly." Why don’t you my beloved, partake in these supplications
humbly and reverently, if you intend to receive the Holy Communion the next
day, so that
it can be
part of your
spiritual and psychological
preparation.
17
Prayer Of Lord Have Mercy
At the completion of every prayer of the
Agbia, the church repeats, 'Lord have mercy' forty-one times. It is a
marvellous example of perseverance
in prayer which
does not return empty, as the Lord Jesus taught us in
the story of the unjust judge who avenged
the woman for
her persistence (Luke
18:1-7), and the story of the friend who
came by at midnight
:
"I say to
you, though he
will not rise
and give to him
because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give
him as many as he needs. And I say to you,
ask and it
will be given
to you, seek,
and you will find,
knock, and it
will be opened
to you. For
everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who
knocks it will be opened" (Luke 11: 8-10).
The Greek for Lord have mercy is
'Kyrie-ley-son', which is composed of two words: Kyrie, meaning Lord, and
ley-son, meaning to have
mercy. My advice
to you my
beloved, is that whenever you
pray ‘Lord have Mercy’ forty one times, try
to remember the
thirty nine lashes
that grazed the
holy back of your
beloved Jesus for
your sake. Remember
the crown of thorns
which was placed
on His holy
head in mockery and scorn and
remember how He was beaten on His holy head so that the crown of thorns pierced
His bleeding forehead, and do not forget that cruel stab in His holy side which
caused His pure Blood to be shed on the earth.
These are the sufferings that the church
reminds us of while we recite this short but effective prayer of 'Lord have mercy.'
Some people just repeat this prayer without knowing that it actually represents
the thirty nine
lashes on the
Holy Saviour’s back, plus
the crown of
thorns and the
stabbing
18
spear,
so the total
is forty one
wounds which the
beloved Lord Jesus endured for our sake. So, its repetition reminds us
always of Christ's incredible love for us. Let us pray 'Lord have mercy' saying
:
?
You who were lashed for us, have mercy on us.
?
You who were stabbed by the spear for us, have mercy on us.
Try
my beloved, to
ease the severe
pain which the
Lord Christ endured for
you, through your
repentance and persistence,
pleading for His mercy.
Father Antonious Rageb says about this
meaningful short prayer: "We recite, 'Lord have mercy' so many times. Our
whole life is not enough to recite and beg the compassionate mercy from our
loving God. Let your repetition in prayer become a beautiful incense, seek
mercy for yourself, for all your matters and also for others. Specify each time
a certain matter for which you need the Lord’s mercy :
?
Lord have mercy on me because of my evil thoughts;
?
Lord have mercy on me from mental distraction;
?
Lord have mercy on me in this tribulation;
?
Lord have mercy on Your church from corrupt foxes;
?
Lord have mercy on Your children from the seduction of sin.
Thus the incense of your prayers rises
and is accepted by the
Lord.”
The prayer of 'Lord have mercy' includes
all the requests and needs of the person, whatever they may be, and at all
times.
'Lord
have mercy' said
41 times is
then followed by the
19
prayer,
"Holy, Holy, Holy
is the Lord
of hosts..." as it
incorporates many beautiful requests:
?
persistence in asking
for God's mercy,
"O Holy Trinity have mercy upon us";
?
asking the Lord
for His help
and protection, "O
Lord
God of hosts be with us";
?
asking for absolution
and the forgiveness
for our many sins, "Which we have done willingly
and unwillingly, the hidden and the visible"
We then conclude with the Lord’s prayer,
"Our Father who art in heaven...", for this is the prayer that was
taught to us by our beloved teacher and Lord Jesus Christ.
At the end of the Ninth Hour prayer,
pray the absolution as it
is
a powerful prayer,
requesting the Lord
to, "Raise our minds
above worldly care
and bodily desires
to the remembrance of Your
heavenly Commandments. Fulfil Your love
to humanity O
God. Receive our
prayers at all
times and this prayer of the ninth hour."
The Sunset Prayer and the Prayer before
Sleeping
Contemplate on each word of the Agbia
prayers, so that God can give you
understanding and consolation,
and so you may benefit from your Agbia prayers.
It is also important for us to remember
why each hour of the
Agbia was instituted :
20
?
The Ninth Hour Prayer commemorates the atoning death of Christ on the
Cross.
?
The Sunset Prayer commemorates the taking down of the Lord’s holy body
from the Cross. It reminds us that the sun
of our lives
must set one
day when we
leave this world to
be with our
God Jesus Christ,
so let us be
prepared for this day with care, vigilance and repentance.
The
Gospel of the
Sunset Prayer narrates
how the Lord Jesus healed the mother in law of St.
Peter from a fever and how He cast out demons. Let us take this opportunity to
ask the Lord to heal our sicknesses, both physical and spiritual, and to cast
away from us the power if the adversary and his evil hosts which cause us to
sin.
At
the end of
the Sunset Prayer,
we pray the
absolution whereby we thank
the Lord for
He granted us
to pass the day in peace and brought us thankfully to
the night and made us worthy of seeing His light until sunset. He did not allow
for us to perish suddenly without repentance, but in His love He kept us alive
so that we live to the end of the day to see and enjoy His light.
The Prayer before Sleeping is prayed
after the Sunset Prayer as the church instituted it to commemorate the laying
down of the body
of our Lord
Jesus in the
tomb, for sleep
is considered a little death and the bed we sleep on signifies the
tomb into which
we shall be
placed into after
death. A particular saint
used to speak
to his bed
each night saying,
"O bed you might become my tomb
this night."
The subject of death reminds us to
always lead a repentant life, and this prayer is a prayer of repentance. The
Troparia prayed after the Gospel of the Prayer Before Sleeping says,
21
"Behold I am about to stand before
the Just Judge in fear, because of my numerous sins, for the life spent in
pleasures deserves condemnation. Repent,
therefore, O my
soul so long as you dwell on
earth ... Yet I imitate the tax collector beating on
my chest saying,
'God be merciful
to me a sinner!" The Troparia is then followed
by the prayer, "Lord by Your grace protect us this night from sin..."
The
praying person presents
a true repentance
in the absolution as they intend
to sleep and surrender themselves
in
the hands of
the Lord, who
is the honest
guard. For as they intend on receiving Holy Communion
the next morning, they must be repentant in order to be worthy of receiving the
sacrament. Therefore in
the absolution we
pray, "Lord forgive us
for the sins
we committed against
You this day whether
they are by
action, by words...”
(think how many sins
you have committed
through your actions
or words, whether swearing,
lies, insults or
otherwise, and repent
to God), “by thought”,
(think how many
sins of thought
you committed this day.
You might have
condemned someone, or envied
or angered someone,
or even had
a profane thought. Repent to God
and say, Lord I have sinned forgive me my sins of...), “or by
any of our
senses…” (how many sins did
you commit today
through your sense
of sight, hearing, touch
or otherwise? Remember
all these sins
and repent to God). Then
complete the absolution, in faith and persistence.
The Prayer of the Veil
This prayer is said in the monasteries
by the monks after the
Twelfth Hour Prayer (Prayer before Sleeping). It is
22
composed of twenty eight psalms,
selected from the psalms
in the Agbia psalms. It also includes
three parts from Psalm
118,
which is said
during the Midnight
prayer. It is
then followed by the Gospel, the
Troparia and the absolution.
The
Troparia in the
Prayer of the
Veil reminds us
of the awesome judgment
where people will
be gathered, angels standing, books
opened, works revealed,
and thoughts exposed. It is
prayed with great humility, "Who will quench the flame
of fire away from me?
Who will enlighten
my darkness if You do not have mercy on me O Lord?" Then we
request the intercession
of the Virgin
Mary, whose prayers are
acceptable on our
behalf. Thereby we
will be victorious against our
enemies and the wicked one will flee from us.
The absolution in the Prayer of the Veil is very
contemplative, for we ask God to, "Give us rest in our sleep, repose for
our bodies and purity of our souls. And protect us from the
darkness of sin,
pitch and gloom,
soothe the painful motions,
quench the heat of the flesh and suppress the agitation of the body. Grant us a
wakeful mind, humble thoughts, a virtuous life and an undefiled, unstained
bed..."
23
1 Raising
of Incense
24
Raising of Incense
THE VESPERS
After completing the Agbia prayers, the
choir starts the the Vesper (Tasbeha); it is shorter than the Midnight Tasbeha.
It begins with a beautiful tune
: Ni-Ethnos-Teero, which
is Psalm 117, ''Oh,
praise the Lord
all you Gentiles.
Laud Him all you
peoples! For His
merciful kindness is
great towards us. And
the truth of
the Lord endures
forever. Praise the Lord Alleluia.''
It is called the Sunset Psalm and
is the first psalm in the Sunset Prayer.
Why don't you learn these beautiful
tunes and urge others to learn it so
all those in
the church can
pray together in one
voice.
After
this tune, the
Tasbeha starts. It
is composed of the
Fourth Hoas, then the day's Epsalia or anniversary (or both together), then
the Tazakia of
the day, Lobsh,
Tarh and conclusion.
Partake in the Tasbeha, normally said in
Coptic, and praise together in one
voice, just as
the Apostles advised,
''That you may with one mind
and one mouth
glorify the God and
Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ''
(Romans 15:6), resembling the
heavenly hosts who praise before the Divine Throne.
If
you do not
know the Coptic
language very well,
or the
Tasbeha
praises, follow the
chanters with your
Tasbeha
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Book, and repeat the verses of the
Psalia and Tazakia. These verses were instituted specifically as recitations
for the whole congregation to say during the Tasbeha.
While
following the Tasbeha
praises, you may
contemplate on its deep meanings.
THE VESPER PRAYERS
After
completing the Tasbeha,
the raising of
the Vesper incense begins.
Follow the prayers in the Liturgy book
attentively. Partake in the responses with the congregation singing the hymns
with the choir, as
the congregation are
to be active
participants, and not passive audiences during the Vesper service or
Holy Mass. The responsibility of
the chanter (deacon)
is to lead the
congregation the responses, and
to chant the
special festive tunes.
The Vesper prayer starts with the Prayer
of Thanksgiving as
it
is an important
prayer by which
the church starts
every service with.
We notice that the priest prays this
prayer in the plural form saying,
“We thank You
for You have
protected us…” Therefore, as the
priest prays for us, every person ought to lift up their hearts and feelings in
gratitude to our Lord.
After the priest proceeds to raise
incense three times around the
altar, he says
the Prayer for
the Departed. During
the prayer, we must contemplate on the following :
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The prayer for
the departed is
said during the
evening
incense (specifically at sunset) to
remind us that we shall one day join the departed, so we must always be ready;
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To ask the departed to pray for us that God will help us complete our
earthly struggle peacefully;
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To remember the
resurrection, as when
the priest says,
''Raise up their bodies also, on the day
which You have appointed, according to Your true promises, which are without
lie.'' We believe that the resurrection will come for us,
as God will
appear to recompense
each one according to their
deeds.
After
completing the litany,
the priest proceeds
around the altar with the censor
once, then proceeds around the church, raising
incense towards the
gospels, icons, tabernacle
and congregation.
The
priest places his
cross on each
person blessing them saying, ''The blessing of the incense be
with us. Amen.''
Meanwhile, the congregation must reflect
a true repentance saying, ''I ask You my Master Jesus Christ to forgive my sins
which were committed knowingly and unknowingly.''
The priest once again raises the incense
at the altar, praying inaudibly for our repentance saying: ''O God who accepted
the confession of
the thief on
the cross, accept
the confession and repentance of Your people for the sake of Your Holy
Name that is called upon us, and according to Your mercy and not according to
our sins.''
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Solomon
prayed a similar
prayer for his
people saying
''...each one
knows the plague
of his own
heart, and spreads out
his hands toward
this temple: then
hear in heaven Your dwelling
place, and forgive, and act, and give to
everyone according to all his
ways, whose heart
You know (for You, only You, know the hearts of all the sons of man)''
(1 Kings 8:
38-9). This prayer
of repentance, as well as the intercession of the priest are
offered before God. So, my brethren, you should offer God a pure repentance in
order to
be able to
benefit from these
deep, interceding prayers.
During
the raising of
incense, the congregation
sing the doxologies which
are the glorifications to the holy
Virgin mother of God, the angels, the martyrs, the saints, and all the
various church feasts and occasions.
May
we all partake
and glorify God
and His saints,
asking for their intercessions and prayers.
The
Prayer of 'Evnoti-nay-nan' (God
have mercy upon us)
After
the raising of
incense, the congregation says
the Orthodox Creed, chanting
the last sentence,
"And we look for the resurrection of the dead and the
life of the world to come,
Amen." Meanwhile, the
priest holds the
cross together with three lit candles in his right hand. This signifies
that the One who was crucified on the cross is Jesus Christ the light
of the world,
who sanctified Himself
to enlighten those living
in darkness and
in the shadow
of death. Also,
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through the cross, He took us into His
wonderful light, from the darkness.
The priest makes the sign of the cross
on the congregation on all sides,
three times inaudibly,
then says the
prayer of
‘God have mercy upon us,’ making the
sign of the cross in all four directions
with the cross
and the lit
candles, symbolising that Jesus
Christ enlightened His
people, who live in all four corners
of the earth, through the cross, saving them from the darkness of sin and
granting them eternal life.
During these rounds of the raising of incense, the congregation say "Amen"
three times, in humility, believing that
the priest’s prayers
ask for mercy,
blessings and forgiveness.
The
congregation then chant
"Lord have mercy"
three times. It is a very beautiful tune that touches the heart and
soul, as the congregation cry for mercy and compassion.
Prayers
using special tunes
are heavenly music.
The struggling church on earth partake with those who carry the golden harps
in the victorious,
heavenly church, before
He who is seated on the Throne.
Our fathers were so fond of the tune,
"Evnoti-nay-nan" and
"Kyrie-lay-son" that
one stated, "It
is impossible that
God hears this marvellous
tune without having
mercy on His people."
My beloved, recite with the priest
inaudibly during Vespers,
"Lord have
mercy upon us.
Settle Your mercy
upon us. Have compassion on us.
Bless us, guard us, help us. Take
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away
Your anger from
us. Visit us
with Your salvation. And forgive us our sins."
Also chant with the congregation the
joyful tune of, "Lord have mercy,"
while beating your chest
in persistence and humility like the tax collector. Do you
feel you return to your house justified like the tax collector?
The Gospel
After granting peace to the
congregation, the priest prays for hearing
the holy gospel.
It is a
powerful prayer which intensifies in
power and spirit.
The priest mentions
the blessing of the Lord to His disciples for they saw and heard what
prophets and righteous men had desired to see and had not seen.
We must, therefore,
thank our Lord Jesus
Christ because He made
us worthy to
hear the words
of grace coming from
His Divine mouth
and recorded in
His Holy Gospel. We
ask Him with
the priest to
make us worthy
to hear the holy gospel and act according to His word. In this way, we
gain the blessing
promised in Revelation
saying,
"Blessed is he who reads and those
who hear the words of this
prophecy... for the
time is near"
(Revelation 1:3). In this way, we thus become a dynamic fifth
gospel, "You are our epistle written
in our hearts,
known and read
by all men; you are manifestly an
epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of
the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the
heart" (2 Corinthians 3:2-3).
The
priest then prays,
"Those who have
already fallen asleep, repose
them. Those who are sick, heal them...'' We
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remember
our departed beloved
ones and the
sick, so that God
may repose the
former and heal
the latter. We
thus become a blessing
for ourselves and
others too. These contemplations concentrate
our thoughts in
prayer, so we protect ourselves from boredom and evil
thoughts. Then we repeat with the
congregation, "Lord have
mercy," bearing
in mind its previous meaning. We ask the
Lord to bestow His
divine words in a heart with good earth,
to bear good fruit.
The
deacon now says,
"Pray for hearing
the Holy Gospel..." Let us pray
fervently so that
the words of the
gospel find its
place in every
heart, becoming a
good seed falling on good earth
to bear fruits : "some a hundredfold, some
sixty, some thirty"
(Matthew 13:8). Let
us pray that everyone in the church finds special
spiritual food and divine consolation
in the words
of the gospel
when opening their hearts, mind and ears.
We must stand reverently to listen to
the living word of God. We have to listen attentively for a special message God
may be trying to tell us - as He did with St Anthony who sold all his possessions
and gave to
the poor. We
may find certain answers for
confusing situations and
spiritual solutions to our
problems. This can
be said in
confidence after much experience from spiritual people.
During
the gospel reading,
two deacons stand
beside the reader with two lit
candles to denote the light of the gospel which must shine on every heart
leading to eternal life. "For the
commandment is a
lamp, and the law
is light...''
(Proverbs 6:23) and the Psalmist said,
"Your word is a lamp
to my feet and a light to my path"
(Psalm 119:105).
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The Sermon
The sermon of the Vesper Prayer is :
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About the gospel read during the Vespers. It introduces the liturgy
gospel and all
the oncoming readings.
The liturgy gospel is the centre of all the readings throughout the
Mass.
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Sunday's sermon may be for a specific purpose, such as directed to
youth, servants or
general. The topic
must have been previously agreed upon.
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It may be a bible study and explanation on the holy Bible, or explanation
on doctrines or
rites, etc. It
may not be related to the Vesper gospel.
In
any case, you
must carefully listen
to the sermon
and benefit spiritually so
that you may
grow in your
life with God.
THE LITANIES
Litanies
(plural of litany)
is a Greek
word meaning prayer. After the Gospel and sermon, the
priest prays five litanies :
i. Peace
ii. Fathers
iii. Place
iv. Air,
waters, plant v. Gatherings
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Litany of Peace - the priest says, "Remember, O Lord
the
peace of Your
one, holy, universal
and apostolic church," which
is repeated by
the deacon in
order to harmonise the prayers.
The congregation respond, "Lord have
mercy." The Psalmist
exalts the mercies
of God saying, "Your
loving kindness, O
God is better
than life” (Psalm 63:3).
Through His mercy,
"we live and move and have our being" (Acts
17:28). Without God's mercy and providence, there is neither earthly nor
eternal life. On the
contrary, there is
death, emptiness and destruction. The mercy of God is followed
by goodness, spiritual and material blessings, righteousness and beauty.
St Paul
the Apostle stated,
"But God, who is rich
in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even
when we were
dead in trespasses,
made us alive together with
Christ..." (Ephesians 2:4-5). God full of
mercy gives us
this grace to live
with Christ. "How shall He not with Him also freely
give us all things?"
(Romans 8:32).
We ask the Lord to have mercy on the
Church and its people
-
including the leaders,
subordinates, servants and
general congregation. No one is divided, but united in love. We need
that external peace to protect us from the evil hosts as it is,
"the church
of God which
He purchased with
His own blood" (Acts 20:28),
"The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18).
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Litany for the Fathers - the priest prays this litany and the deacon
urges the congregation to pray for the fathers of the church. They say, "Lord have mercy," remembering the
Patriarch, Metropolitans and Bishops,
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praying that the Lord give them health,
strength and keep them for the Church for many years and peaceful times.
We ask the Lord to have mercy on the
Church's fathers by giving them grace and wisdom to guide His holy Church. For
them to
keep the Orthodox
faith until the
end, and to shepherd their flock through example and
teaching.
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Litany for the Place - when the priest prays this litany,
requesting its safety
and peace, the
deacon asks the congregation to pray for the safety of,
"this holy place of
Yours, and of the world,
this city of
ours, all the cities, districts, islands and monasteries." The congregation respond,
"Lord have mercy,"
asking for God to have mercy on
the world; giving it peace, safety from
famines, plagues, earthquakes
and other disasters. We
pray for the
islands surrounded by
sea that God protects
it from sinking,
and the monasteries
in the wilderness that
God protect them
from attacks of barbarians and
evil wars. We
pray that the
monks and nuns have peace and
safety, so that they may pray for the safety and salvation of the world.
Then
the priest prays
the rest of
the litany saying,
"And every city, every
region, the villages
and all their ornaments. Save us all from famine,
plagues, earthquakes, fire,
captivity of barbarians,
sword of the
stranger and rising up
of heretics." We
should inaudibly repeat
these prayers with the
priest. For example,
if he says,
"Save us from famine,"
we should answer,
"God save us
from famine, plagues, floods, fire and wars. Save the faith and the Church
from heretics. Amen."
At the end,
the
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congregation responds,
"Lord have mercy."
We pray with this gathering all that was requested
throughout the litany.
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Litany of air, water and plantations
- (In Egypt, the litany prayers
are said in accordance to the seasonal time of
cultivation and harvesting,
or the rising
of the River Nile). The priest prays for the waters
of the rivers and for the cultivation of crops, seeds and herbs, and for the
air of the heaven
and plants of
the field. The
deacon responds accordingly, urging
the congregation to
pray also. We then
respond with, "Lord
have mercy" three times.
* Lord have
mercy on the
waters to be
plentiful to make happy and fruitful the land by the Nile,
to avoid drought.
* Lord have
mercy on the
plants and herbs
to grow and multiply
to bear much
fruit, to be
kept from worms
and stealing, so that happiness prevails on all.
* Lord
have mercy on the air of heaven so God may give it adequacy as it nourishes and
matures the fruit in due time. As winds whether hot or sudden damage the fruit.
Note:
While
the priest prays
for waters of
the river in
the due season, the
deacon recites reverently
and the congregation respond, "Lord
have mercy," thrice,
not once like
the pervious litanies.
35
What is the reason?
First,
thrice for the
waters of the
river to request
its abundance, in persistence.
Repetition of one
prayer many times denotes
persistence and knocking
on God's door
to respond to the important and persistent request.
Second, while the congregation prays to
God for mercy on the waters, they
do not forget
the plants, herbs
and air of heaven.
So three times,
one for the
waters, second for
the plants, third for
the air as
they are related
to each other. Water
needs wind to
carry clouds for
rainfall into the
Nile sources to flood, also the plants need water and air to grow
and mature, also
air needs plants
to intake oxygen
and the most important
constituent is water to cool and modify the air.
All these factors are necessary for
man's livelihood, for when he is in
need of nothing,
he increases in
every good deed, thanking God for being generous in
giving and distributing, according to our needs.
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Prayer of the Gatherings - when the priest prays for the church's meeting, and the deacon asks the
congregation to, "Pray
for this holy
Church and for our
congregation," the congregation
responds, "Lord have
mercy", meaning :
* Lord
have mercy on all of us, and keep us from internal divisions that weaken and
deteriorates our gathering;
* Lord
have mercy on us and make us regular in attending these spiritual meetings,
"Not forsaking the assembly of
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ourselves together,
as is the
manner of some"
(Hebrews 10:25);
* Lord
have mercy on us and let the door of Your Church open before our faces until
the end of ages;
* Lord have
mercy on us
by blessing this
assembly and making it a reason
of blessing and
salvation to all
the attendants who hear Your word, who pray and supplicate unto You
in Your holy
house, Your dwelling
place forever.
So
my beloved, when
you partake in
prayers with the congregation saying,
"Lord have mercy,"
as previously explained, your
prayers rise like
incense before God, requesting the abundant divine mercy of
God.
You
may pray inaudibly
with the deacon's
response, and audibly with the
congregation to conclude your prayers. For example, when the deacon says,
"Pray for the peace of the one
holy, universal and
apostolic Orthodox Church
of God," you may
pray inaudibly, "Lord
have mercy on the
Church from internal
divisions or external
persecutions or from worldly
spirits and evil
currents," then when
the congregation respond, "Lord have mercy," everybody asks
God to have mercy on the Church and her congregation.
Do this with the rest of the prayers, so
your prayers become focused and fervent, and not monotonous.
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Absolution
After completing the litanies, the
congregation prays, "Our
Father who art in heaven..." Pray
with contemplation, as this is the special prayer taught to us by
our beloved Lord. It
is a prayer which asks for all our
physical and spiritual needs.
When the deacon says, "Bow your
heads before the Lord," bow your head and accept the absolution from the
priest of God, according to
the authority given
to him from
God by the laying of the
apostolic hand and the breath of the Holy Spirit.
The priest says three absolutions - two
inaudibly while facing the east and standing in front of the altar and the
third is said audibly facing the
west. The priest
asks for the
absolution and forgiveness for the believers, the servants of God, who
are bowing their heads before His holy glory, bowing before His mighty, holy
hand.
During these absolutions, think about
your sins, asking God
to
forgive them. Think
about your weaknesses
and request God to heal them.
Pray inaudibly some prayers of repentance such as :
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Psalm of Repentance - "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to
Your loving kindness,
according to the multitude of Your tender mercies..."
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The prayer of Manasseh the King, who implored to the Lord his God,
humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers who heard his
supplication : "O Lord, God of our fathers, of Abraham and Issac and Jacob
and their
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righteous posterity,
You who have
made heaven and earth with all their order, who has
shackled the sea by Your word of
command, has confined
the deep and sealed its mouth with Your glorious name,
at whom all things shudder and
tremble before Your
power, for Your glorious splendor
cannot be borne, and the wrath of Your threat to sinners is irresistible, yet immeasurable and
unsearchable is Your
promised mercy, for You
are the Lord
Most High, of
great compassion, long
suffering and
merciful, and righteous
altogether, who sorrows for my evil. You, O Lord, according to Your great
goodness has promised repentance
and forgiveness to
those who have
sinned against You, and in multitude
of Your mercies.
You have appointed repentance
for sinners, that
they may be saved. Therefore, You
O Lord, God of the righteous has
not appointed repentance
for the righteous,
for Abraham and Issac and Jacob, who did not sin against You, but You
have appointed repentance for me, who am a sinner. For the sins I have
committed are more than the sands
of the sea;
my transgressions are
too many O Lord
they are multiplied!
I am unworthy
to look up to
the heights of
heaven because of
the multitude of my
iniquities. I am
weighed down with many
an iron felter,
so that I
am rejected because
of my sins, and I have no relief, for I have provoked Your wrath and
have done what is evil in Your sight. Setting up abominations
and multiple offences.
And now I bend
the knee for
Your kindness. I
have sinned O Lord, I have sinned, and I know my
transgressions. I earnestly beseech You, forgive me, O Lord, forgive me.
Do not
destroy me with
my transgressions. Do not be angry
with me forever
or remember my
iniquities, do not condemn
me to the
depths of earth,
for You, O
39
Lord, are the God of those who repent,
and in me You will declare Your goodness; for unworthy as I am, You will save
me in Your great mercy, and I will praise You continually all the days of my
life.”
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A prayer of
repentance from the
Agbia - “My
Lord God and Saviour
Jesus Christ, treasure
of mercy and spring of salvation, I come to You
confessing my sins. I confess that, insolently,
I dared to
defile Your Holy Sanctuary with
my sins. Now
I seek Your
mercy and love, for
Your mercies sake.”
During the prayer,
we must contemplate on the following :
* The prayer
for the departed
is said during
the evening incense (specifically
at sunset) to remind us that we shall join the departed, so we need to be ready
for that day;
* To
ask the departed to pray for us that God will help us complete our earthly
struggle peacefully;
* To remember
the resurrection as
when the priest
says,
"Raise up their bodies also, on the
day which you have appointed, according to Your true promises, which are
without lie." We believe that the resurrection will come for us,
as God will
appear to recompense
each one according to their
deeds.
After
completing the litany,
the priest proceeds
around the altar once, then
proceeds around the church, raising incense towards the gospels, icons,
tabernacle and congregation.
The
priest places his
cross on each
person blessing them saying, ''The blessing of the incense be
with us. Amen.''
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Meanwhile, the
congregation must pray a true
repentance
saying,
"I ask You
my Master Jesus
Christ to forgive
my sins, which I have committed knowingly and unknowingly."
The priest once again raises the incense
at the altar praying inaudibly for our
repentance saying, "O
God who accepted the confession of the thief on the
cross..."
Solomon
prayed a similar
prayer for his
people saying,
"...And as it is appointed for men
to die once, but after this the judgment..." (Hebrews 9: 27).
You
ought to know
that only the
repentants who deserve forgiveness, benefit from these
absolutions, and it resembles the prayers of the Lord Jesus on the Cross, when
He prayed for the forgiveness
of those who
were crucifying Him :
"Father, forgive
them for they
know not what
they do"
(Matthew
23:34). Very few
benefit from this
prayer or absolution, like
St. Longinus who
repented and believed
in Christ and was a great martyr.
Sing with the Church at the end of the
service hymns, which are usually in the Coptic language, and have great meaning
:
"Amen. Alleluia. Glory be to the
Father, the Son and the Holy
Spirit, now and
forever, and to
the ages of ages,
Amen." We proclaim
and ask the Lord Jesus
Christ to bless the waters of the
river (this statement varies according
to seasons and Church celebrations). May
Your mercy and Your peace be
a fortress unto
Your people, save
us and have mercy
on us. Lord have mercy,
Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, Lord bless us, Amen.
Bless me. We offer
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unto You a ‘metania’ (repentance).
Forgive me. Then say the blessing.
Go
towards the priest,
and kiss the
Cross and gospel
he is holding, then his hand.
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Kiss the Cross
as a sign
of your love
to the Cross
and renewal of your
covenant with the
Crucified Lord who forgave
your sins (by
the absolution read
by the priest) through the worthiness of His blood
shed on the Cross;
?
Kiss the Gospel as a sign of submission to the Gospel of
God, promising to fulfill His
Commandments;
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Kiss the hand of the priest as a sign of your respect and
sanctification of the
priesthood of God
and the divine Sacraments held by the hand of the priest,
also as a sign of your submission and love to the priest as your spiritual
father who watches
your salvation as
he is the
visible means of getting
this great grace
of forgiveness of
sins through the authority
given to him
from God and
the absolution he reads for the repentants.
The priest then holds the Cross with his
right hand and the Gospel in his left hand, lifts it above his head for
blessing and says, "May God have compassion on us..."
During the blessing, bow your heads to
accept the blessing in humility and need. At the end, proclaim with the congregation, "Amen,
ese-shobi," meaning "Amen,
let it be", acknowledging
all the priest
blessings for you
and others through the
intercessions and prayers
of the saints,
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then
pray with the
congregation the "Our
Father..."
reverently.
The Release
When the priest releases the
congregation, proceed towards the
sanctuary, bow and
kiss the veil
of the temple,
before going in peace.
If you have an appointment for
confession, take a corner in church,
until the priest
is ready, then
proceed, taking your turn for the mystery of repentance,
which is one of the Seven Sacraments of the church.
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CONFESSION
One
of the most
important individual roles
of a priest,
is the confession session with
his congregation, through which he can get into contact with each individual
privately.
Confession is the true Christian
discipleship, which qualifies the believer
to all the
spiritual graces, supporting
them in all
their spiritual growth. One
of these spiritual
graces is the
Holy Communion.
When our Lord Jesus Christ instituted
the Lordly supper in the upper room in Zion, He only gave the Holy Communion to
His disciples. Likewise, no
one should partake
of the Holy Communion except those who are
disciples of Christ, and who have a confession
father, for through
him we learn
spiritual practices and Christian virtues.
When the priest starts the confession
session, take your turn and wait.
While waiting, keep yourself busy with
some spiritual readings, so that you might keep your mind free of any evil
thoughts, or the temptations of the devil, who at that particular moment will
try his
utmost to prevent
you from confessing,
and hence consequently prevent
you from receiving the Holy Communion.
When
it is your
turn, approach in
reverence, kissing the
cross and the priest’s
hand. You should
be ready for
confession, keeping in mind, or on a piece of paper, the sins you are
going
to confess, as well as the questions you
want to ask.
44
Confess your sins in detail, and do not
hide anything, regardless
of how embarrassing the sins may be.
Remember the Apostle’s words: “If we
confess our sins,
He is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from our
unrighteousness” (1 John
1:9). Do not
condemn others, or circumstances around
you, or justify yourself,
for “If we say
that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us” (1 John
1:10).
Confess all your sins, as the Prophet
says, “Pour out your heart like
water before the
face of the
Lord” (Lamentations 2:19). The Prophet used the metaphor of
“water” specifically, because water
never leaves any
traces or marks
in the cup
after it is poured
out. Likewise, when
your confession is
complete and honest, it will
never leave any stains inside of your heart.
You
should know that
you are confessing
before God, not before a human being, because the Holy
Spirit is present at that moment to listen and grant forgiveness.
The
priest is like
a spiritual doctor,
who will help
cure you of your
sins and weaknesses
by giving you
advice to your problems, for as the Apostle said:
“Confess your trespasses to one
another and pray
for one another,
that you may be
healed” (James 5:16).
The same way that a patient never hides
any illness from their doctor, so that the doctor can give the appropriate
medication, we must be even more honest with our priest in describing our
spiritual illnesses, so that he can help us in our spiritual life and growth.
45
Remember
King Solomon’s words:
“He who covers
his sins will not prosper, but
whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13).
Repentance is
a second baptism.
St Athanasius the
Apostolic says, “As a baptised person is enlightened with the grace of
the Holy Spirit, so
also he who
confesses his sins
through the priest, receives
remission of sins through the grace of Christ.”
After you finish confessing, kneel
before the priest in reverence, pray one or so of the prayers mentioned before,
such as Psalm
51, King Menassah’s prayer, or the
prayer of Repentance in the
Agbia, then say the “Our Father…”
Repeat
these prayers in
contriteness, humility and
hope in the forgiveness of
your sins, so
that you might
not repeat them again.
During this, the priest puts the holy
cross on your head, praying the three absolutions, the blessing, then the “Our
Father…”
?
In the first
absolution he asks
for God’s help,
support and grace be
upon you, in
order to give
you the strength
and power to crush Satan and his wicked tricks under your feet quickly.
?
In the second absolution, he asks God to grant you His divine grace and
peace, which you lost because of your sins.
He also asks God to return you once more
to His fear, so that you will choose the way of hoilness which is Christ,
rather than the way of destruction which is with the evil one.
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He asks God to grant you here on earth
His divine riches, such
as the Holy Bible, the Holy Communion,
and an inheritance in His eternal kingdom, as well as granting us earthly
comfort, so that our good Lord may smell the sweet aroma of the incense of
thanksgiving arising up
from you, and
being presented before His throne.
Finally,
he asks God
to bestow on
you the various
spiritual virtues, so that you, together with the priest, might deserve
the Kingdom of Heaven.
?
In the third absolution, he asks for many gifts and blessings for you:
* That
God may grant you His rich mercy
* That God may cut
all the bondages
of sins, so
that Christ might free you,
“Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).
When you feel the grace and freedom of Christ, you can say with the Psalmist,
“You have loosened my bonds, I will offer to You the sacrifice of
thanksgiving, and will
call upon the
name of the
Lord. I will pay
my vows to the Lord,
now in the
presence of all His people, in the court’s of the Lord’s
house, in the midst of you O Jerusalem” (Psalm 116:16-19).
* He
asks for the absolution and forgiveness of all the sins you have committed,
saying, “If we
have committed any
sin against You, whether
knowingly or unknowingly, or through anguish of heart, in deeds or
words, O Master who knows the weakness of men, grant us forgiveness, purify us
and absolve us.” Here, the priest asks
for the grace of the
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forgiveness of sin, absolution, blessing
and purity, as effective remedies for the wounds of sin.
* Then he
asks for permanent
protection for us
from falling into sin once more,
this protection is the fear of God, as He says, “Fill us with Your fear.”
* He
asks that your journey in the world be towards God, and not towards the world
and its lusts, so he says, “Direct us to Your good will.”
* Stand up,
my repentant one,
after bowing, feeling
the greatness of the
gift of forgiveness,
kiss the cross
and the priest’s hand,
depart from this
divine meeting amidst
the praising of the heavenly hosts, and the rejoicing of the saints.
* Go to
your house in
peace, thanking the
Lord for His numerous graces and mercies bestowed on
you.
You might repeat the following Psalm
124:
“If it had not been the Lord who was on
our side,” Let Israel now say – “If it had not been the Lord who was on your
side, when men rose up against us, then they would have swolled us alive
when their wrath
was kindled against
us; then the waters
would have overwhelmed
us, the stream
would have gone over our soul,
then the swollen waters would have gone over our soul. Blessed be the Lord who has not given us prey
to
their teeth, but
our soul has
escaped as a
bird from the snare
of fowlers. The
snare is broken
and we have
escaped. Our help is
in the name
of the Lord
who name heaven
and earth.”
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Upon arriving at your house, pray your
usual daily prayers, have
a
light supper, and
prepare yourself for
the Holy Communion the next day.
Sleep early, so that you might be able
to wake up early the next morning, and go to church, according to His precious
promise:
“I love those who love Me, and those who
seek Me diligently will find Me,
riches and honour
are with Me”
(Proverbs
8:17,18).
God loves those who get up early to meet
Him, and pray with Him, remembering His
words to Moses
the Prophet: “So be
ready in the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and
present yourself to Me there
on the top
of the mountain…Then Moses rose
early in the morning, and went up to Mount Sinai as the Lord had commanded him”
(Exodus
34:2-4).
Notes on the Mystery of Confession:
Some
people are used
to confessing during
the Liturgy’s readings, but
this, however, is
inappropriate because of the
shortness of time,
especially if the
priest is serving
alone. In addition, this does not
give enough chance for you to confess all your
sins, nor give
the priest enough
time to give
you the appropriate spiritual
practices or advices.
What is more dangerous is that some
people do not confess at all, but still proceed to the Holy Communion, asking
only that the priest give
them the absolution.
With great sorrow,
some priests approve of giving
the absolution, without
asking these
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people
whether they have
confessed or not.
These people are adding to their sins, which will lead to
a horrible judgement.
Now
I wonder… What
is the use
of the absolution
without confession? Is it
a magical prescription
to forgive unconfessed sins?
Also, there is another strange attitude
amongst members of our churches, and that is, people who have already
confessed, come early to church, and still ask for absolution… Why? I hope that
the priests might correct this common mistake.
You should know, my beloved, that if you
go to church after the Gospel reading, you cannot have Holy Communion, as is
taught by the church
rites. If you
come between the
readings of the Matin
Absolution and the
Absolution of Servants,
and the reading of the Gospel,
do not ask
for an individual
absolution for the following reasons:
i. You
have already confessed, and are ready because the priest has previously prayed
the absolution for you;
ii. The priest
shall pray general
absolutions for everyone after the
Fraction Prayers. So,
because you will
not be present and you will offer
true repentance with the whole church, you are not in need for individual absolution.
50
MIDNIGHT PRAYERS AND MIDNIGHT PRAISE
Some
churches practice midnight
prayers and 'Tasbeha'
(praise) during its normal ritual time,
that is, at dawn on the day of the Holy Mass. The Midnight Prayers are followed
by the Matins and the Divine Liturgy.
Some churches have the Midnight Prayer
and Tasbeha after Vespers, and conclude
about 11pm when
the congregation go home.
They then return
early the following
morning to pray the First Hour of
the Agbia.
In many cases a person can organise
their time to attend the
Midnight Prayer and Tasbeha.
Your
attendance during the
Midnight Prayer -
whether at night or
at dawn -
is of great
spiritual benefit and
gives preparation (psychological,
mental
and spiritual) to
attend the Mass and receive the Holy Communion. If you miss any of the
services in preparation for the Mass, there might be a lack in the expected
spiritual benefit of the Mass.
1. Midnight
Prayers
Its
aim is to
meditate on the
divine teachings and
heavenly laws that lead a person to repentance and preparation for the
day of Judgment.
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The
three services in
this prayer represent
the three times that
Jesus prayed in
the garden of
Gethsemane (Matthew
26:36-44).
?
The First Service - Psalm 119 speaks entirely about the word of God; the
laws, testimonies, commandments and statutes. This psalm advises us to take
care and keep the commandments of God and practice them in order to live as God
wants us to.
We
find a young
man cleansing his
way by taking
heed of God's word which, “I have
hidden in my heart, that I may not sin against You.”
The
Gospel of the
ten virgins advises
the believers to be
vigilant in order
to be prepared
to receive the
true bridegroom Jesus Christ,
who will lead
us to repentance, purity and,
“holiness, without which
no one will
see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).
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The Second Service - The psalms of the Sunset Prayer are read with the
exception of the first two. They call us to repentance.
The Gospel is about the sinful woman who
loved Jesus much and struggled with tears, humility and love until her sins
were forgiven.
The Psalms and the Gospel speak of
repentance which is the aim of every
believer. We should
try to be
like the sinful woman
in her complete
repentance. “Resist to
bloodshed, striving against sin” (Hebrews 12:4).
52
The church teaches us in the Troparia to
ask of God to make us worthy to be like this repentant woman, and like her,
hear the words: “Your sins are forgiven. Go in peace.”
By
repentance, the believer
becomes prepared to
see the Lord Jesus Christ on the
day of Judgment and live with the Lord in His eternal kingdom.
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The Third Service - The Psalms of the Twelfth Hour are read. These
Psalms are ones of praise and rejoice, for the coming of the Lord is near, at
which time He will reward His faithful servants.
In the Gospel our beloved Lord Jesus
assures us saying, “Do not fear little flock, for it is your Father’s good
pleasure to give you the kingdom.” But He does not give the kingdom except to
honest servants who
watch their Master’s possessions, who
keep His commandments
and guard their salvation and the souls of the servants
their companions. But the servants who
are neglectful, who
prefer worldly cares, eating, drinking and getting drunk,
their Master will come on
a day they do not expect and will cut
them off from His flock
and appoint their portion with the
unbelievers and devils.
Thus
the believer ought
to warn himself
with these things, while praying the Troparia
saying, “Wake up
my soul and be
careful, your judgment
is present -
consider the awesome time of
judgment!”
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2. Midnight
Tasbeha
Following the
Midnight Praise, believers
start the Midnight Tasbeha. I
advise you, my
beloved, to partake
in these praises. Pray with all
your heart, these beautiful Coptic tunes. When you learn the praises and
partake in chanting them you will
find them to be a
source of great
and overflowing spiritual
comfort, and you will gain the saying: “Blessed are those who dwell in Your
house, they will be praising You”
(Psalm
84:4). Remember the
Psalmist saying: “Those
who
seek Him will praise the Lord” (Psalm
22:26). If you seek the Lord and
yearn for a
loving relationship with
Him, partake in praising
and glorifying Him
and rejoice with
the Psalmist saying, “My
mouth shall praise
You with joyful lips” (Psalm 63:5).
Midnight Tasbeha during all the days of
the year is composed of :-
1. “TEN-THENO” : the same as what is
said after Psalm 50
in
the Midnight Prayer.
In the Tasbeha
it is said
in Coptic tunes with special
verses. The church urges us to awake from idleness and praise the Lord of Hosts
and ask Him to accept us and forgive us our sins.
2.
The FIRST HOAS
: is the
song of Moses
the prophet which he sang with the
Israelites after crossing the Red Sea
(Exodus 15). As Moses saved the Jews
from the bondage of Pharaoh, the Lord Jesus saved us from the dominion of Satan
and the
tempestuousness of the
world. Therefore we
ought
to praise Him at all times.
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3.
The SECOND HOAS : is
Psalm 135, with
the chorus:
“Thank
the Lord for
the Lord is
good and His
mercy endures forever.” This is
repeated at the end of every verse of the Hoas. The Hoas is a thanksgiving
praise by the church
to God for His goodness and His
everlasting mercy.
4.
The THIRD HOAS : is the song of the three young men in the fiery
furnace. The church sings this hymn as if to lead the whole creation, earthly
and heavenly to praise and glorify God. There are two chorus in the Third Hoas
:-
* ‘More blessed
and more exalted
forever’ repeated six times;
* ‘Praise
Him and exalt Him forever’ repeated 34
times. Total is 40,
which is a
perfect number, symbolising
the perfect praise offered by the church to her God.
5.
CONGREGATION OF SAINTS
: The struggling church here on earth asks for the
intercessions and prayers of the
victorious church together
with all her
saints: St Mary the mother of God, then the angels, the
patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs and saints. Doxologies are then said in
the same manner of commemoration to glorify the saints and ask for their
prayers.
6.
The FORTH HOAS
: is comprised
of the last
three psalms : 148,
149, 150. It
resembles the Third
Hoas regarding the leadership
of the church
and the whole
of creation praising and glorifying God.
7. EPSALIA : every day of the week has a
special Epsalia which serves and
glorifies the name
of our Lord.
It has a
55
fixed
response at its
beginnings and its
end so that
the congregation may respond
easily. For the
various church seasons, such as
the fasts, the Lordly Feasts, feasts of saints, etc, there are specific
Epsalias to serve the occasion.
8. THEOTOKIA : these are seven. There is
a Theotokia for every day of
the week. It
is a special
glorification for St Mary the mother of God, glorifying the
mystery of the divine incarnation
and the miraculous
virgin birth. It
also includes symbols and prophecies
about St Mary, her pregnancy, and her giving birth to the incarnated God for
our salvation. The word 'Theotokia' comes
from the Greek
word 'Theotokos', meaning the
Mother of God.
Every Theotokia concludes with its unique part, expressing
the meaning of the words.
9.
DEPHNAR : resembles
the Sinaxarium in
that it commemorates feast days
of saints with praises for them.
10.
CONCLUSION : concludes
the wonderful Midnight Tasbeha. The
‘ADAM’ is the
tune chanted on
Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays.
‘WATOS’ is the
tune chanted on Wednesdays, Thursdays,
Fridays and Saturdays.
'Adam' is the first word in the
Monday praise. The ‘ADAM’ tunes are reviving
and uplifting, reflecting
what Sunday expresses
in our church - the victory of resurrection, and Monday which
signifies renewal. The
word ‘WATOS’ is
the first word
in Thursday’s Tasbeha. The Watos tunes are more solemn than the Adam
tunes, and hence
reflects the days
its expresses : Wednesday
was the day
in which Judas
plotted against Christ. Thursday
was the day when the Lord was delivered into
their hands. Friday
was the day
of crucifixion, and Saturday was the day Christ’s body lay in
the tomb.
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11.
THE CREED :
followed by Amen,
Lord have mercy, with its wonderful humble tune.
12. The priest prays the Midnight
Absolution audibly while the
congregation listens carefully
to this beautiful
prayer which pleads for everything and everyone.
57
THE MATINS OR MORNING INCENSE
This
begins with the
morning service which
is instituted to commemorate the hour at which our Lord
Jesus Christ rose from the dead on Sunday morning. We thank the Lord who let us
pass the night in peace and kept us safe until morning. The church teaches us
to pray persistently and fervently, and this is evident when we begin our
prayer by saying:
O Come , let us worship,
O Come, let us ask Christ our God (we
are requesting)
O Come, let us worship,
O
Come, let us
ask Christ our
King (our request
becomes stronger)
O Come, let us worship,
O Come, let us implore Christ our
Saviour (imploring Christ means we are pleading to Him for help)
This is according to the teachings of
our good Saviour, when He said; "Ask and it will be given to you, seek and
you will find, knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives,
and he who
seeks finds, and
to him who knocks it will be opened" (Matthew
7:7,8).
One
of the saints
said, "I have
a habit of
collecting my thoughts and
calling them to
prayer saying, let
us worship Him, let us kneel down
before Christ our God."
In
this prayer, the
Church draws a
plan for us
to follow throughout the
struggles of the day. Its aim is to guide our thoughts to
the fourth chapter
of the Epistle
of St. Paul
to
58
the
Ephesians, so that
we may meditate
on his words
and apply them to our duties and relations during the day...
"I, therefore, the prisoner of the
Lord, beseech you to have
a
walk worthy of
the calling with
which you were
called, with all lowliness
and gentleness, with
long-suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavouring to keep
the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit
just as you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one
baptism."
As
we recite this
prayer in the
early morning, we
read the Gospel of
St. John, chapter
1, which says,
"In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." At this time, the
sun begins to rise and when it appears,
it reminds us
of God our
True Light who gives light to every man who comes into
the world. This is what we say
in the first
contemplative Troparia of the
Morning Prayer. In
the second Troparia,
we ask God to
enlighten our senses and thoughts by saying :
"When the morning hour approaches,
O Christ our God, the True Light,
let the senses
and thoughts of
the light shine upon us, and let
us not be covered by darkness." In the
third Troparia, we
glorify the Virgin
Mother of True Light
coming to the
world, by saying:
"You are the honourable Mother
of the light.
Everywhere under the sun, people offer you glorification, the
Mother of God, the second heaven."
After completing the Morning Prayer, the
congregation pray the morning Doxology.
This is a
wonderful prayer, rich in
meaning. We sing it with joyful hearts and we may liken it to
59
a brilliant piece of symphony. Its rich
meaning compliments the Morning Prayer.
We say two
complete Troparia from those of the Morning Prayer and we also
pray the following :
"Have mercy upon us according to
Your will forever. The night had passed away, we thank You O Lord and ask You
to keep us this day without sin and deliver us."
?
In this dawn, facilitate our inner and outer ways by Your joyful
protection.
?
By your peace,
O Christ Our
God, You passed
us through the night and brought us to the beginning of this day because
we trusted You.
?
What is good
and what is
beautiful except brothers dwelling together in unity.
?
Agreed in true evangelical love like the Apostles.
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Like the precious
oil on the
Head of Christ,
running down on the
beard, running down
on the edge
of His garments and feet.
?
Those whom the
Holy Spirit united
together, like a violin, praising God at all times.
Why don't you meditate on all these
meanings, my beloved, while you pray the Morning Prayer, and sing the wonderful
morning Doxology which
lifts you spiritually
up to the heavens.
After
completing the morning
Doxology, the priest
begins the raising of the morning
incense, which resembles
the evening incense, except for minor differences, for example :
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In
the evening incense,
the priest prays
the litany for
the
departed, while
in the morning
incense of Matins,
he prays two litanies:
i. Litany for the sick - According to
St. John Chrysostom, the church is
considered like a
hospital, and usually
it is in the
morning when the
hospital opens its
doors to welcome the sick and heal them. During the litany for the sick, pray
for anyone you
know who may
be sick, whether
they are relatives, friends
or neighbours. Remember
them by name and ask for them to be relieved of their
sickness. Then pray with the congregation in the response, "Lord
have mercy" fervently and
with humility so
that God may
accept your prayers for those you
have mentioned and will have mercy on them and heal them.
ii. Litany for the travellers - this is
said in the morning, for
in the past, people travelled during the
daytime for reasons of good visibility and less risk of encountering criminals
along the way. Of
course that was
well before travel
became possible during night
time. King David
the psalmist said,
"When the sun rises man goes out to
his work and to his labour until evening" (Psalm 104:22,23).
While
reciting the litany
for travellers, remember
not only those you know who are
travelling, but also those who may have
migrated to a
foreign country. Ask
the Lord to
keep them safe and accompany them throughout their journeys, so
that they may
return to their
homes joyful and
safe. Then pray with
the congregation in the response,
"Lord have mercy."
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On
Sundays and feast
days, we replace
the litany for travellers with
the litany for
the oblations, as
the church assumes that during
these days, all of its children attend the church for prayer and celebration
bringing their oblations and offerings.
The church lifts
up these oblations,
offerings and prayers to God so
that He may accept them and reward each person
with the heavenly
instead of the
earthly, and the eternal instead of the temporal.
While reciting the prayer for the oblations,
we plead with the Lord to accept
all our offerings,
whether they be
money, time, effort, love, or anything we may sacrifice for the sake of God,
"hidden or manifest,
those in abundance
and those in scarcity, to the needy brothers of Christ. May God
accept their offerings
and bestow on
them the grace
of happy life in this age, and eternal life in His Kingdom.”
Then the morning incense prayer follows
in the manner of the evening
incense in the
prayer of EVNOT-NAI-NAN
(God have mercy upon
us). This is
followed by the
litany of the Gospel, the five short litanies, the
absolution and finally, the blessing.
My beloved, attend the prayers of the
Matins with reverence, following every prayer and litany with your Liturgy
book, as you did during the Vespers.
May God open our minds and our hearts to
contemplate on what the Spirit says to the churches.
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2 The
Offertory
63
LITURGY OF THE CATECHUMENS OR
DOCTRINAL LITURGY
Donning the Service Vestments :
The liturgy of catechumens begins with
the priest blessing his vestments
and the vestments
of the deacons.
This is done three times with the sign of the cross.
Then the priest and the deacons start donning their beautiful white vestments
which symbolise purity of the heart and life. During this process, all pray
Psalm 29, “ I
will praise you,
O Lord....” and
Psalm
92, “ The Lord reigns, He is clothed
with majesty....”.
The
above mentioned Psalms
embraces many befitting statements for donning priestly
vestments and preparation for ministering to the divine Sacraments. For
example, in Psalm
29, it is written:-
?
“I will praise
you, O Lord,
for You have
lifted me up...” As
this is said,
all the servants
are thanking the Lord
before entering His
Holies and serving
His Sacraments, thanking the Lord for making him worthy to serve Him,
despite his unworthiness. Thus, he is praising, glorifying and blessing the
name of the Lord.
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“Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” This Psalm speaks about weeping for repentance and remorse for all
sins and confessing them before the priest
of God the
night before, so
as to be prepared for Holy Communion. In the morning,
all enter the Sanctuary in joy as the Psalmist says, "Then I will go
64
onto the altar of God, onto God my
exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp
will I praise
You, O God
my God"
(Psalm 43:4). The servants respond “ You have turned
for me my
mourning into joy;
You have put
off my sackcloth and clothed me
with gladness, to the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be
silent.”
If the believer repents to God in
humility and with a contrite spirit,
God will turn
their mourning into
tears of joy
and happiness, for the salvation which Christ has given us from the bondage
of sin and
evil. The Lord
will take off
the sackcloth of sorrow
and cloth him
with the purified
white vestments of priesthood
to serve the
Lord in the
temple of Holiness. Thus, he
sings with joy because he has proven he has
resisted sin and
therefore can receive
the Holy Communion in
order to protect
himself from Satanic
wars. During this, Psalm 23 is
prayed: "You prepare
a table before me in the presence
of mine enemies: You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over."
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In Psalm 92, the Psalmist says: "The Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty; the Lord is clothed with strength..." When the priest or deacons wear the white
vestments for service,
they confess that
the Lord is clothed with majesty and girded with
power; hence He is the king of the whole earth. And the deacons and priests are
like the servant angels who appeared at the tomb of Christ. While wearing the
white vestments to administer the
Sacraments and receive
Holy Communion, he is
girded with strength to win in his struggle, as promised in Revelation 3:5 "He that overcomes, the same shall be
clothed in white garments; and I will not
blot out his name out of the book of life..."
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All altar servants, whether priests or
deacons wear the white
vestments to
resemble the angels
in the way
they look and praise,
and thus they
convert the earth
to heaven and
the Church to the
heavenly Jerusalem ,
"Strength and beauty are
in His sanctuary." Psalm
96 in the
Third Hour prayer says,
"Whenever we stand
in Your holy
temple, we are considered as those who abide in heaven”. In the church, prayers are
said, the Holy
Spirit dwells on
the Sacraments, and the church is
filled with heavenly bright angels as truly this is the house of God and should
be adorned in Holiness forever.
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Dear brother, if
you are a
deacon, do not
bury this gift and
leave this holy
ministry. Prepare yourself
with the appropriate clothing,
bring it with you when you come to church for service, come forward reverently
to the priest, so he can
bless the vestments.
Then wear the
purified vestment and read the two Psalms contemplating on their
meaning. It is
important to note
that a deacon
is not permitted to
wear his vestment
without a blessing
from the priest, as
the blessing of
the vestments
by the celebrant priest has two
meanings :
* Blessing the
vestments and sanctifying
them by prayers with
the sign of
the cross, thus
the priest blesses
the servant;
* The
priest is giving his permission for the deacon to serve and have Holy
Communion.
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In the past, one deacon asked the
saintly Father Barsonofius
(Sixth Century saint), "Father,
as you are
ordaining me to serve
around the holy
altar, tell me
what to think
about while standing in front of
God and helping
serve with the priest,
especially if I
am holding the
Holy Chalice? And should I have a specific garment for the
altar service?"
The Saint answered, "My son, these
are spiritual matters as the deacon must
be like the
Cherubim, all eyes
and mind thinking about heavenly
matters. This should be done in awe and
fear praising God
while carrying the
blood of the eternal
King. He is
like the Cherubim
who proclaims the TASBEHA
guarding the fearful
sacrament like what
the angels do in heaven with their wings. Remember those wings signify the
enlighting of the
mind from the
heavy earthly matters to
blissful heavenly matters,
crying without fatigue in his inner self, proclaiming the TASBEHA of victory for the
majestic glory of God, praying reverently saying: Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord
of Hosts, Heaven and Earth are full of your Holy Glory."
From the voice of this awesome
preaching, the devil falls and escapes
in fear from
the mention of
God’s name, his
hosts also escape shamefully and the soul becomes free from their
dominion. Thus, then
the soul can
recognise the TRUE LIGHT and know Gods beauty and
splendour. It then yearns
to be filled with His Holy Body and
Blood to enjoy the voice of David the
prophet : "Taste
and see that
the Lord is good." Then the soul rejoices and
glorifies the Lord, as one has
become purified by
the precious Body
and Blood of Christ, which protects the soul from all
pain and anguish.
Thus, when you stand to serve the Holy
Sacraments, or are carrying the holy censor, or are folding the altar garments,
or
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organising the altar and its coverings,
or if you accompany a priest who carries the Holy Obligation to a sick person,
as a deacon, you should
always be in
awe and always
keep in your mind and thoughts
constantly that you are a Cherubim who is consecrated for the service.
As
for the garment,
obtain for yourself
a spiritual garment with
which you can
please God. About
being a deacon
the church says, "Now after being a deacon, which is of a higher
rank than that
of Leviticus, who
served the vanishing sacraments, you are serving in the
rank of St Stephen, in the holy altar on which the pure Body and sacred Blood
of our beloved Saviour is placed."
CANONICAL PRAYERS OF THE HOURS
Once
completing the donning
of the vestments
for the Liturgy service,
the prayer of
the Canonical hours
are said from the Agbia.
i. Each Sunday throughout the year that
falls on non-fasting days, the third and sixth hour prayers are said.
ii. During the weekdays of all other
fasts, the third, sixth and ninth hour prayers are said.
The following, is a contemplation on the
meaning of the third and sixth hour prayers, as we previously contemplated on
the ninth hour prayer in the Vespers.
Saint Paul, said to his children of the
church in Galatia, "My little children, of whom I labour in birth again
until Christ
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is formed in you" (Galatians 4:19). This means, I sacrifice
for you
by teaching you
the word of
life and salvation, placing the image of Christ before
you, always to remind you of the incidents of the Lord's life, from His birth,
crucifixion, resurrection and ascension. Reminding you of His words and
teachings so that Christ might be formed in you and that your faith can become
stronger in Christ. The church implements this with her children. This is
reflected in the seven prayers in the Agbia, where the believer prays daily,
contemplating and recalling Christ. Thus, Christ is formed and His image vivid
in their minds, incidents, daily
sayings, etc. The teachings of
Christ are alive in their memory all
day, every day. As written
in Revelation 22:4, "And they shall see His face; and His
name shall be on their foreheads."
The Third Hour Prayer
The church instituted these prayers for
commemorating these incidents in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ:
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The condemnation of
Jesus Christ before
Pilate and the sentence
of His crucifixion,
despite the witnessing
of Pilate regarding His innocence.
Jesus did not argue but was silent like a lamb taken to be slaughtered.
Psalm 25 in the Third
Hour prayer says,
"Vindicate me O Lord,
for I have walked in my integrity. I have also trusted in the Lord,
I shall not
slip. Examine me
O Lord, and prove me."
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During the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ to heaven, the Psalmist
says, "Who may ascend into the hill
of the Lord? Or who may stand in His Holy place? He which
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has clean hands, and a pure heart, who
has not lifted up his soul to an idol..."
(Psalm 23). These are all the qualities
of Christ ascending
to heaven, standing
at the right hand of God. In Psalm
24, King David says, "Lift up your
heads, O you
gates; And lift
them up, you everlasting doors; And the King of Glory
shall come in. Who is the King of Glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of
glory." This verse
is read before
the Gospel during the
Resurrection Feast.
In
this psalm, a
multitude of heavenly
hosts asks another multitude to lift up the doors of
heaven so the King of Glory may enter, who is ascending from the earth. The
Lord strong and mighty in
battle, has fought
and conquered the
devil, freeing all the
imprisoned, beginning with
Adam, and bringing them back to
Paradise.
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The Holy Spirit came down on the disciples. "The voice of the Lord
is over the world. The voice of the Lord is full of majesty", and also
"In His temple everyone says
'Glory'" (Psalm 28).
* The
Gospel of the Third Hour speaks about the promise of the
Lord of Glory
to send His
Holy Spirit to His
disciples. He calls
Himself the TRUE
VINE and we are
the branches that grow in Him by the Holy Spirit which we receive in the
Sacrament of Confirmation - the Myron. Through this, we bear more fruit.
* In the
contemplative Troparia, we ask the
Lord not to take
His Holy Spirit
away from us, but to
abide within us. We ask the
Holy Spirit, who
is the Comforter
to dwell within us, through the intercessions of the Mother
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of Light St Mary, and the pure apostles,
so that we may be purified from iniquity, and the Holy Spirit may give us
peace.
* In
the Absolution, we thank the Lord God of all mercy and the Lord of all comfort,
for raising us up for prayer
at
this holy hour
- the blessed
hour in which
the Holy Spirit descended
on the disciples
- and we
ask Him to bestow
on us the
grace of His
Holy Spirit to
purify us from the iniquities of
the body and soul.
Sixth Hour Prayer
The
church has instituted
this prayer to
commemorate the crucifixion of
our Lord Jesus Christ, who suffered and died for our
salvation. We find
in the psalms
of the sixth
hour verses expressing the sufferings endured by our beloved Lord Jesus
Christ.
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“Save me oh
God by Your
name...For strangers have risen up against me and oppressors have
sought after my life" (Psalm 53)
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"Whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue
a sharp sword" (Psalm 56)
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The cross was
the throne for
the Lord of
Glory who reigned, "The Lord
reigns, He is clothed with majesty"
(Psalm 92)
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? "Bow
down Your ear,
Oh Lord and
hear me...in the day
of my trouble
I will call
upon You, for
You will answer me" (Psalm 86)
* The
Gospel of the Sixth Hour is the start of the famous Sermon on
the Mount. The
Lord speaks about
the blessings which shall
be bestowed on
all who share
in carrying His cross. For example :-
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On the cross Jesus was in the depth of spiritual poverty, humility and
humiliation, and so
through these virtues which
He Himself experienced,
expresses His words
:
"Blessed are
the poor in
spirit, for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven."
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Christ on the
cross was in
the depth of
sorrow : "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even
to death" (Matthew
26:3),
and hence He
consoles the downcast
by saying,
"Blessed are
those who mourn
for they shall
be comforted."
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Christ on the cross was very meek : "He was oppressed and was
afflicted, yet He
opened not His
mouth. He was lead
as a lamb
to the slaughter,
and as a
sheep before His shearer
in silence, so
He opened not
His mouth" (Isaiah 53:7).
The Lord wants
to teach us the
virtue of meekness and so says, "Blessed
are the meek for they shall inherit the earth."
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Christ on the cross was hungry and thirsty - not for bread and water,
but hungered for our salvation, so He called out, "I
thirst" (John 19:28).
And so He
blesses those
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saying,
"Blessed are those
who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be
filled."
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The crucifixion of Christ is the apex of Divine mercy for our falling
mankind, for on the cross, "Mercy and truth have met together” (Psalm 84,
a Sixth Hour psalm).
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Out of mercy,
our Lord Jesus
Christ preferred our salvation to show the kindness of God
the Father and His satisfaction
about His earthly
life, so it
is mentioned in the sixth hour Psalm, “Because Your loving
kindness is better than life”
(Psalm 62). He sacrificed
His life willingly, so
that we might
enjoy His mercy.
For this reason He blesses the
merciful saying, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain
mercy."
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Our beloved Lord and God Jesus Christ, whose heart is pure and void of
all evil, this
purity was manifested
on the cross when
He asked His
Father to forgive
His oppressors and enemies
saying, "Father forgive
them for they do not know
what they are
doing" (Matthew
23:34).
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Our beloved Lord
Jesus encourages us to live
a life of purity
in order to
become holy as He is
holy, saying,
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for
they shall see God"
(Matthew 5:8). And in another place it
is written, "How long will it be until they attain to innocence?"
(Hosea
8:5).
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Our beloved Lord
established peace on
the cross and united the heavenly and the earthly, as
the Apostle says,
"God was
in Christ reconciling
the world to
Himself,
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not
imputing their trespasses
to them, and
has committed to us
the word of
reconciliation" (2
Corinthians 5:19). "For
if when we
were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death
of His Son, much more, having been reconciled we shall be saved by His
life" (Romans 5:11).
And the Apostle
Paul proclaims in joy
saying, "Therefore, having
been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ" (Romans 5:1).
Our beloved Lord Jesus wants us to become peace-makers as
He reconciled us and made us His ambassadors: "Blessed are the peace
makers for they shall be called sons of God" (Matthew
5:9).
All
His life, our
Lord Jesus Christ
endured persecution, torture,
false accusations and reproach in order to teach by example truth and
righteousness. He then endured the torture of crucifixion; the beatings,
lashings, false judgments, before violently subjecting Him to the words and
most humiliating death of all - the death on the cross. In His love, Christ
wants us to share
in His suffering:
"Blessed are those
who are persecuted for
righteousness sake, for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Then He
consoles us saying, "Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute
you and say all kinds of evil
against you falsely
for My name’s
sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in
heaven."
Then
in his letter,
the Apostle Paul
blesses those who
are persecuted for righteousness saying, "If you are reproached
for the
name of Christ,
blessed are you,
for the Spirit
of glory and of
God rests upon
you" (1 Peter
4:14), and,
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"Because Christ
also suffered for
us, leaving us
an example that you should follow His steps" (1 Peter 2:21).
By the cross He was the Light of the
world, attracting all to Him as He said, "And I, being lifted up from the
earth, will draw all people
to Myself" (John
12:32). And from
the cross He descended
to Hades and
saved those who
were sitting in the darkness and shadow of death, "Who alone has
immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light" (1 Timothy
6:16). Despite this, He called us
saying, "You are the light of
the world" (Matthew
5:14). Christ ascended
the lighthouse of the
cross, and so
attracted all people
from darkness to His
light, and here
He resembles the
believer who puts the light on a lamp stand to give light to all who are
in the house.
The
contemplations of the
Sixth Hour prayer
focus on our crucified Lord saying:
"Break the bonds of our sins Lord
Jesus and save us"
"O
Lord may all
our pains be
ended through Your
life giving and healing sufferings. May our minds be saved from
foolishness and worldly desires to the remembrance of Your heavenly laws."
This
is a very
deep request! Take
it as practice
if evil thoughts attack you, or any foolish desire becomes burdensome for
you. Look to the cross
and Christ and meditate
on His crucifixion
which He endured
for us; the crown
of thorns placed
on His holy
head, His blood
which ran from His
wounds, and His
side which was
pierced. Remember His wounds and proclaim to the Lord, "End
my pains by Your
healing and life
giving sufferings", and
you
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will immediately feel the love and help
of the Lord, making you victorious.
In
the TROPARIA we
kneel in contriteness
and humility asking for the
forgiveness of our sins.
In the absolution we thank God for
allowing us to stand in prayer
before Him at
the time of
commemorating His
crucifixion for our
sake, and we
ask Him to
give us an unblemished life
of peace and
goodness in order
to please His holy and glorified
name forever. Amen.
Father Antonious Ragheb parallels the
Canonical hours to a wedding feast by
saying, "The introduction
of the prayer
is the wedding garment that leads our thoughts and emotions to enjoy the
delicacies of this feast. This garment is composed of a tunic, belt and
shoes."
The tunic is the Lord’s prayers granted
to us from the Lord of the feast who advised us to pray saying, "When you
pray say 'Our father in heaven'". A tunic covering us from head
to
toe covers all
our supplications to God, ourselves
and
others
around us, a
complete tunic that
comforts the righteous soul to
wear it in peace and joy.
The belt, or girdle is the prayer of
thanksgiving which must surround the Christian completely in all their prayers;
giving thanks always for everything in the name of Christ. Through
it we declare God's favours to us in
everything, and we deny ourselves and confess that all help and support comes
from the Almighty God.
The
shoes are the
Psalm of repentance
(Psalm 51); it
is a psalm of
humility and repentance,
asking forgiveness for
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what has corrupted us in this world. We
pray this Psalm and ask the Lord to
enable us to continue travelling through the wilderness of life without being
hurt.
This
is the garment
of the heavenly
feast with which
the praying faithful enters
to its spiritual
delicacies of heavenly bread and pure water.
On
the spiritual table
are many delicious
spiritual foods offered by David the Psalmist in his beautiful and
contemplative psalms of praise, of thanksgiving and for help, and so on.
Do not just look at the spiritual
banquet but also eat from it. Taste of its sweetness and enjoy it so that it
may benefit your inner self.
We then find heavenly bread with which
we end our spiritual meditation,
and this is
the Gospel which
is appropriate for the hour.
So if you enjoy the pleasures of the Old
Testament, and the blessings of the New Testament, you will find in the
banquet:
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Pure Water : meditations suitable for the hour of prayer in the
Troparia, so take from this pure water so that you may cool yourself. This
banquet has a wonderful spiritual atmosphere.
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Perfumes of holiness and of faith : we sing the songs of angels, and
repeat the faith of the Fathers, during which the Christian person feels that
they are sharing with the angels
and the saintly
fathers in their
praise. When you say
the Creed, put
in your heart
that thousands and
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thousands of angels are glorifying the
Lord of glory, and that you are
surrounded with a
"cloud of witnesses" who have existed throughout
the ages. Holiness and faith are beautiful perfumes.
There
is incense in
the feast: prayers
which ascend in a
special order. Repeat "Lord have mercy" many times. If we repeated ‘Lord
have mercy’ all
our life, it
would not be enough
to ask for
God’s compassionate mercy.
Let its repetition be as
spiritual incense, not a mere recitation. Ask mercy for yourself and others. Relay
to God all matters that are in need
of God’s mercy.
Pray, "Lord have
mercy upon me and
save me from
my evil thoughts.
Lord have mercy upon
me and save
me from my
absent-mindedness. Lord have mercy
upon me and
save me from
tribulations. Lord have mercy
upon me and
upon Your church
and save her from
wolves. Lord have
mercy upon me
and save all children from the seductions of
sin."
Hence, your prayers become as incense
ascending to God.
You conclude the feast with your heart
and mind becoming enlightened by the
beauty of your
garment. Your prayers which ascend to the heavens are the
whispers of a heart that thanks, asks, loves, rejoices, repents and determines
in truth.
THE OFFERTORY
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Choosing the 'LAMB'
presents the agreement
of the Divine Trinity to the
hypostasis of the
'SON'. This happened to
redeem the falling
race of Adam.
Adam angered God by breaking His commandments to obey the deceit of
Satan.
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This
great divine work
which the Lord
did for us
proves
clearly how merciful God is to us.
He, "Did not
spare His
own Son, But delivered Him up for us
all" (Romans 8:32).
And "For God
so loved the
world that He
gave His only
begotten
Son, that whoever
believes in Him
shall not
perish but have everlasting life"
(John 3:16).
During
the offertory the
congregation chants "Lord
Have Mercy" 41 times, fervently until the celebrant priest chooses
the 'Lamb'.
The
congregation does this
to perpetuate the
Lord's mercy and sacrificing
love, as He had mercy on those who believed, and saved them from the original
sin of their ancestor Adam.
The
congregation asks the
Lord to forgive
them their sins which they committed in human weakness,
and to fulfil His love to mankind and make them worthy to enjoy the blessing
of redemption, forgiveness
of sins and
inheritance of the kingdom of heaven with the saints.
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My beloved, pray
"Lord have mercy"
during the
OFFERTORY with persistence, asking the
'LAMB' who
is without blemish to purify you from
every blemish, and
to make you worthy to partake of the
sacraments and to
have eternal life.
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After completing the "Choice of the 'LAMB'" the priest
'baptises' the 'LAMB' with some water.
This is symbolic
of the Baptism of Christ. And then the
priest recites the
names of those whom he wishes to
mention, particularly
those on whose behalf the offering is
raised; whether they
be
living, departed, sick
or in distress.
The 'LAMB' of
God
takes away the
sins of the
world to deliver
them
from their troubles and pressures.
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?
Come reverently my beloved, and give your name to the priest. Ask
him to remember
you in his
prayers. Write your name on a
small piece of paper. Even the names of your dear ones who are in times of
trouble, or who are sick,
distressed, or sitting
exams. The priest
will place these papers
on the altar,
and will ask
God to answer peoples prayers
according to His
will. We often
hear from the priests,
about the power
of the prayer
of the Mass and how miraculously
fast problems are solved.
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The priest holds the 'Lamb' wrapped in the silk corporal, above his
head while standing
at the Royal
door facing westward and says :
"Glory and Honour, Honour and Glory
to the Holy
Trinity..." You should
then kneel down with your head to
the ground before the 'Lamb' of GOD until the 'Procession of the Lamb' is completed.
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The priest starts the Mass by doing the three signs of the cross.
Following this is the Prayer of Thanksgiving, and prior to this the priest
blesses the congregation with the sign of the cross saying, "Peace be with
you all."
You should bow in reverence at every
sign of the cross, and make the sign of the cross on yourself until the peace
of God
is bestowed upon you and sanctifies your
body.
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It is important
to understand that
the more you participate in the prayers, the more you
will be praying in spirit, and therefore feelings of monotony will flee.
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During the signs of the cross you should bow your head and do
the sign of
the cross, when
they mention thanksgiving you
thank the Lord. Upon supplication you should lift your hands and earnestly
supplicate God. On the mention of
repentance you should
beat your chest like the tax collector who remembered
his sins.
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After the procession
of the Lamb,
the priest says
the
Thanksgiving Prayer
and thanks God
who made us
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worthy of this grace and partakers of
the inheritance of the saints. Services of the Holies are mentioned as well as
the Holy
Sacrament of Communion
which the angels yearn to see.
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After completing the first part of the thanksgiving prayer, the deacon
begins by saying "Let us Pray."
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So my beloved, why don't you take this special invitation as an
opportunity for prayer,
so that your
spirit can communicate with God.
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When the congregation
chants, "Lord have
Mercy", partake in this. Ask the Lord to have mercy on you and
give you
the grace of
prayer in Spirit
and in your relationship with God. Talk to the Lord
with love and try to feel His existence in the church.
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The deacon then
says to the
congregation : "Pray
that God may have
mercy and compassion
upon us, hear us, aid us, and accept the supplications
and prayers of His saints on our behalf
at all times,
and make us worthy to partake of the Communion of His
Holy and blessed Mysteries for the forgiveness of our sins."
The
congregation responds saying,
"Lord Have Mercy." During the
response of the
deacon, you should
recite inaudibly: "Have mercy
and compassion on
us, hear us and
accept Your saintly
supplications for my
weakness. Give me true repentance Lord to go forward to partake of your Holy blessed Sacraments, without falling into condemnation, and
without committing new
iniquities to add to my many
transgressions, if I
unworthily receive
communion. Give me
forgiveness of my
sins, burn my iniquities, heal
my physical and
spiritual pains, for
the growth of my
spiritual life. Deepen
my life of
unity with You."
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Recite, “Lord have
mercy " with
the congregation, collecting all
your previous requests as the mercy of God is the key to His blessings and
grace.
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Concentrate with the priest as he completes the Prayer of
Thanksgiving. Share with him the request
to God to give you His divine peace and holy fear to cast away all envy,
all temptation, all
works of Satan,
all intrigues of the
wicked, and to grant you the endowments and benefactions to enjoy
all blessings, to
keep you from tribulations which leads to destruction
and being cast out of His Heavenly Kingdom.
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After completing the
Prayer of Thanksgiving,
the priest covers the
'LAMB' with a
clean corporal, and
likewise the Chalice, then covers all the altar with the
'Prospherine' (which
is a large
altar covering), then
he goes out of
the sanctuary with
the deacons to
pray the Absolution of Ministers.
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All the congregation
bow to accept
the absolution and forgiveness of sins. During the
absolution, pray inaudibly prayers
of repentance which
were previously mentioned in the Evening Incense.
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After completing the Absolution, the congregation gain a feeling of
forgiveness from their
sins for which
a collective repentance was
given, and they
accept this absolution from the
priest.
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The priest enters
the sanctuary to
start the raising
of incense.
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When the priest comes out with the censor and proceeds to raise
incense toward the
entire congregation to
bless them, repeat the prayer previously mentioned during the procession
of the Evening Incense, "I ask you my Lord Jesus Christ
to forgive my
sins which I
committed knowingly and unknowingly."
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Repent to God
with all your
heart, so that
you benefit
from
the prayers said
by the priest
as he is
offering
incense and blessing the congregation.
This is called ‘The
Mystery of the Confession of the
Congregation.’
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This is repeated in the two processions of incense; during that of the
Pauline Epistle and the PRAXIS (Acts of the Apostles). Incense
is not raised
during the Catholic Epistle reading.
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During the incense
processions, the congregation
chant some hymns, such as the hymn of Intercession. This is a chance for you, my beloved, to chant with the
congregation, thus you
will not be
a passive audience, but
an active participator. Just because
you are not a
deacon it does
not mean you
are not a
servant. You should realise this
fact when you hear the priest saying in the
beginning of the
Absolution of Ministers
: "Your servants -
those who serve
you on this
day- the hegumens, priests,
the deacons, the
clergy, the whole congregation, and my weakness..."
You are a servant who partakes in the
Mass, and so therefore you must perform your role during the service of the
Mass honestly.
It is for your own good to respond with
the prayers, for you will feel spiritually revived and feel the comfort of the
Lord. In this way,
no feelings of
boredom or wandering
thoughts will be experienced.
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3 Liturgy
of the Word
84
READINGS OF THE LITURGY OF THE
CATECHUMENS
The liturgy of the catechumens include
these readings:
?
Pauline Epistle - from Epistles of St. Paul
?
Catholic Epistle -
from Epistles of
St. James, Peter, John and St. Jude.
?
Praxis - a chapter from the Acts of the Apostles
?
Sinaxarium - including biography of saints of the day
?
Gospel of the liturgy - which is chosen from one of the four Gospels
and this reading
is the focus
of all the readings said during the liturgy.
?
The sermon - relates to the Gospel reading
The Readings
i.
The Pauline: is
read by the
‘Oghnostos’ (who is
at the beginning of the rank of
deacons), and the readings are taken from
St. Paul's Epistles,
sent to specific
people such as Timothy, Titus or Philemon, or to specific
churches, such as the Romans, Corinthians, Ephesians, and others.
ii.
The Catholicon: is
read by a
senior Oghnostos or
‘Ebizeacon’, because
it is taken
from the universal
epistles. So, St. James’ Epistles is sent to the twelve tribes which are
scattered abroad (James 1:1). Also, St. Peter's First Epistle is sent to
the Pilgrims of
Dispersion in Pontus,
Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and
Bithignia (Peter 1:1).
St. John's First
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Epistle
is universal, and
not specific. St.
Jude's Epistle was sent
to those who
are called sanctified
by God the
Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ (Jude 1:1).
iii. The Praxis (Acts): is read by a
deacon, because it is the Book of the
Apostles' struggle, where
they sanctified their lives and blood. It is also the Book of
the Holy Spirit's work
in the church.
This
does not mean
that there are
priorities of readings,
or that some are
more important or
beneficial than others, because, "All Scripture is given
by inspiration of God, and
is
profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for
connection, for instruction in
righteous" (2 Timothy 3:16), but it is just a matter of discipline.
iv. The Sinixarium: this is a historical
book, so it should be read by the
priest himself, to
be given the
image of the Church's readings in the Liturgy.
v. The Coptic Gospel: read by the
celebrant priest, who will offer the Lamb, whether he be the Bishop, a Hegumen
or a priest, because it is a part
of
the Liturgy and
it teaches us about
the sayings and
life of our
Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ.
vi. The Arabic/other language Gospel:
read by a high rank deacon, such as
an archdeacon, and
it is preferable
that he also be the deacon
serving in the altar during the Liturgy.
The
reason that the
Coptic Gospel should
be read by the
celebrant priest or bishop, while the Arabic Gospel is read by
86
a
deacon, is that
the Coptic Gospel
is the original
reading, but the Arabic (or other) is just a translation of the Coptic.
vii.
The Sermon: addressed
by the highest
rank present in Church,
that is, the
Bishop, or the
hegumen or the
priest. Sometimes, the priest may give permission to the deacon to give
the sermon.
My beloved, listen to these divine readings with
concentration, so that
they may cure
your wounds, answer your
queries, and give
solutions to your
problems. Try to learn a verse or two which attracts your
attention during the readings.
Put this verse in your heart, with the
Psalmist, saying, "Your word I have
hidden in my
heart, that I
might not sin against
You" (Psalm 119:2).
Put this verse
in the three weights of flour, that is, your body,
soul and spirit, so that the yeast may
work in the
dough, thus all
your inner and outer
senses may be
purified, while the
priest prays in the
Mystery of the Pauline: "Purify our hearts and sanctify our souls, cleanse
us from every
sin, which we
have done willingly and
unwillingly."
The
Lord has clearly
indicated the importance
of effective listening to the
Divine sayings, in purifying and sanctifying a person, "You are already
clean because of the word which
I have spoken to you" (John 15:3).
During this time, the priest is also
supporting you through his inaudible
prayers, which he
says on the
altar, praying that God
may open your
mind, and give
you understanding to listen and comprehend what the spirit says
to the Churches.
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So,
in the Mystery
of the Pauline
for example, he
says,
"Grant us
and all Your
congregation a clear
mind, and understanding, in
order to know
and understand the benefit
of Your teachings,
which are being
read to us now" (alluding to St. Paul's Epistle).
In the Mystery of the Gospel, the priest
prays for the sake of the congregation saying,
"...make us worthy
to hear Your Holy Gospel and keep Your commandments,
to bear fruits
a
hundredfold, sixty fold
and thirty fold
through Jesus
Christ
our Lord...", and
at the end
he says, "Your
law, rights, commandments, holy orders, confirm them in their
hearts, let them
know the power
and depth of
the words they have heard."
The readings and the sermon are rich
meals, don't miss them or ignore listening to them. The word of God is the
light to our feet and path, food for our spirits and bodies, as, "Man
shall not live
by bread alone,
but by every
word that proceeds from
the mouth of
God" (Matthew 4:4).
That is why the Apostle advises
us, "...not forsaking the assembly of
ourselves together, as
is the manner
of some, but exhorting one another, and so much more
as you see the Day approaching" (Hebrews 10:25).
The
Hegumen Antonious Ragheb
says, "The readings resemble the five loaves of bread
and two fish: In the Holy Liturgy the five chapters of the Holy Bible which we
listen to
:
the Pauline, Catholicon,
Praxis, Psalm and
the Gospel, are the loaves of
grace, while the two fish are the Sinixarium and the sermon."
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We
eat and are
filled, we are
then to on-pass
this grace of God's
great mercies to
whoever did not
attend the Holy Liturgy.
The
readings and the
sermon prepare the
soul, body and spirit
to partake of
the Holy Communion,
so therefore the Church states that whoever is not present
for these readings, should not partake of the Holy Communion.
It
is written in
the book of
'The Principles of
the Church Rules' to Ibn El
Assal: "Whoever is late coming to Church, and does
not attend the
reading of the
Gospel, should not partake
of the Holy
Communion." St. Sawinis
Ibn El Moqagaa says, "...
also whoever misses the readings and the Prayer
of Reconciliation from
the very beginning
will be punished as
Judas Iscariot, because
the readings and
the Holy Liturgy are prepared before the Communion, in order to sanctify
the soul and body, thus making a person worthy to partake of the Holy Body and
Blood."
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4 The
Three
Great Litanies
90
THE THREE GREAT LITANIES
After
the sermon, the
priest starts praying
the three major litanies: of
Peace, the Fathers
and the Gatherings.
These litanies are full
of strong pleadings,
for the safety
of the Church and
the whole world,
for protecting the
Church's fathers, and for
the gatherings of
the church, so
that they may be
conducted without any
obstacles from the
Church's enemies or devils, or the inner diversions and bad counsels.
Concentrate on
each word said
by the priest,
and say,
"Amen O
Lord" always after
each prayer said
for the church, the
fathers or the
gatherings of the
believers. You should also pray
some inaudible prayers, as done during the litanies of the Vesper and Matin
incense, as explained before. Then
repeat with the
congregation the universal
prayer,
"Lord have mercy" in enthusiasm believing and asking the Lord
to respond to all the pleadings of the priest, said during these litanies.
THE LITURGY OF THE BELIEVERS
This is the most important part of the
Mass. It is considered the holiest of
the holy, for
which we prepare
from the evening Vespers in order
to make us worthy to be prepared physically,
psychologically and spiritually,
so that we may
benefit and feel consoled.
The Liturgy of the Believers begins with
the ORTHODOX CREED recited by
the whole church,
audibly and in one
voice, in a
powerful and effective
manner. Reciting the
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Orthodox
Creed at the
beginning of the
Liturgy of the Believers
is of utmost
importance to ensure
that we please God, "Without faith it is
impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and
that He is a rewarder of those
who diligently seek
Him" (Hebrews
11:6). By reciting the Orthodox Creed we
declare our faith
in
one God in
the Holy Trinity,
the work of
redemption fulfilled by His only begotten Son, and the work of the Holy
Spirit in our sanctification and purification.
My
beloved, recite the
Orthodox Creed with
the whole church carefully.
Believe every word as it is the fruit of the work of
great Ecumenical Councils
instituted by great church fathers who were guided by the
Holy Spirit.
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5 Prayer
Of
Reconciliation
93
5. PRAYER
OF RECONCILIATION
By entering into the Prayer of
Reconciliation, we enter into the
real environment of the holy
Mass and we
must pay attention to
stand in reverence
and fear. We
shall mention some contemplations to
help you in
concentration and meditation, but I advise you not to worry about contemplations alone, but let the tunes
of the liturgy console you as it is splendid in spirit, even if the priest
partly prays in the Coptic language, and you may not understand.
With everyone reciting their own parts quietly and reverently, the exchangeable harmony of the
Liturgy between priest, deacon and
congregation, will make
each person in the church feel closer to heaven than to
earth and puts them
in
a state of
true transfiguration and
communication with
God.
This
prayer is called
the "Prayer of
Reconciliation" as the priest
mentions the wonderful
work of Jesus
to reconcile man with his
creator, "For He Himself
is our peace,
who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of division
between us, having
abolished in His
flesh the enmity, that is, the
law of commandments, so as to create in
Himself one new
man from the
two, thus making peace" (Ephesians 2:14,15), and,
"Made peace through the blood of His cross" (Colossians 1:20).
He
also mentions the
story of salvation
made by the
Lord Jesus for mankind
when He destroyed
that death which entered into the world through the envy of the devil, and He filled
the earth with peace which is from heaven.
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My beloved, be thankful to the Lord
while listening to these
marvellous words of the Prayer of
Reconciliation. Consider the salvation made by the Lord Jesus Christ on the
cross and keep it personal for me and you, as the Apostle said, "The
Son of
God who loved
me and gave
Himself for me"
(Galatians 2:20), and, "This is a
faithful saying and worthy
of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the chief" (1Timothy
1:15).
Then
the word of
SALVATION is magnified
before your eyes and great is
your gratitude to God who saved you, with His life-giving manifestation,
enlightening you, your life and your eternity.
When
the priest says
the words, "Glory
to God in the
Highest...," recite it with him fervently and lovingly, giving glory to
God with the heavenly hosts and angels.
When
the deacon says
to the congregation, "Pray
for perfect peace, for love, and for the pure apostolic kisses,"
the congregation responds
by saying, "Lord
have mercy." We ask
the Lord to
have mercy by
giving us these
great divine graces; the
grace of perfect
peace for the
church externally and internally - the grace of perfect peace within
our homes and
families so that
troubles and conflicts
may end and wounds may heal. And for the grace of love, which
is the bond of perfection of the
children of the church with
each
other. If peace
and love dwell
within us, then
the exchange of holy kisses will be like those of the apostles in the
first church; unlike the kiss of Judas which was false and deceptive, shrewd
and evil hearted.
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While
the deacon is
chanting this response,
why don't you, my beloved, request peace and love for
yourself, your family, your neighbours and your friends, and especially those
who are suffering from various conflicts and trials. Mention them by name, ask
for them in persistence at these moments and God will be able to do by your
prayers more than wise men can do.
In the second part of the Prayer of
Reconciliation, the priest asks God to
fill our hearts
with his Divine
Peace that surpasses the mind, to
keep our hearts and thoughts in Christ Jesus, the King of Peace. And when He
reigns in our hearts we can live peacefully with ourselves and others, bearing
all their weaknesses, and we will have peace with God who is a loving Father
for all of
us. Hence, we
will also enjoy psychological and physical health, and
make us live in heaven while still being on earth (Deuteronomy 11:21).
When
you hear the
priest saying, "By
Your good will,
O God, fill our hearts with Your peace...", join him in seeking
this divine peace with perseverance, as it is God's will for His children to
live in peace and harmony.
Peace
is the greatest
gift one can
have on the
earth, and whoever receives
this heavenly peace
has a pledge
of glorified eternal life.
This ‘Prayer of Reconciliation’ is
called in some old liturgical books,
‘Prayer of the
Kiss’, because the
prayer concludes with the
deacon saying to
the congregation, "Greet
one another with a
holy kiss", and
so the people
greet each other. Men greet men
and women greet women. The method of kissing is to place both of one's hands
into the hands of
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the person standing near him or her.
This is done as a sign of love,
reconciliation and peace.
An old tradition
in some churches states that when
believers exchange a holy kiss with each other, each person is to say,
"Christ is in our midst", and
the other one
responds by saying,
"Now and He
will stay with us."
'Prayer of Reconciliation' refers to the
reconciliation between us and God.
"Now all things
are of God, who
has reconciled us to
Himself through Jesus
Christ and has given
to us the
ministry of reconciliation" (2
Corinthians
5:18). As long as Christ reconciled us
with God and gave us
the ministry of reconciliation, let us
reconcile with each other and greet one another with a holy, loving kiss, while
standing in the presence
of God, to
prove our adoption
and worthiness for his Fatherhood, and so make glad His loving
heart. It is
worth mentioning that
at this moment,
the congregation sings the appropriate hymn, "Rejoice O Mary"
as the Virgin St. Mary is our compassionate mother, and the mother of
the church rejoices
when she sees
her children loving one another
and greeting one another with a holy kiss
of love and peace.
When
we kiss each
other, the peace
of God reigns immediately in our hearts and,
"Pray everywhere, lifting up holy
hands without wrath
and doubting" (1Timothy2:8), so we can be assured of the
acceptance of our prayers.
After
this holy greeting,
the congregation sing,
"Through the pleadings of the Mother of God, Saint Mary. Oh Lord,
grant us
the forgiveness of
our sins. We
worship you, O Christ, with Your gracious Father and the
Holy Spirit, for You have come
and saved us.
The gift of
peace, the
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sacrifice of
praise." Here we
require the acceptable intercession of the Virgin St.
Mary before her beloved Son to forgive us our sins, so we kneel and glorify. We
worship our Saviour and our
redeeming Lord Jesus,
together with His Good Father and the Holy Spirit; the Holy
Trinity who are worthy of worship and glory.
The
statement, "A gift
of peace, a
sacrifice of praise," means God gives us His peace as
a gift and His gift will fill us
with peace and
comfort. In return
we offer Him thanksgiving and the sacrifice of
praise, "a fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name" (Hosea
14:2).
Why
don't you share
with the congregation
in this request fervently. My beloved, ask for the
intercession of our mother St. Mary, as the church believes in her strong and
acceptable intercession and asks for her assistance in so many prayers.
Then give a sacrifice of praise by
confessing His name, and thanking
Him for His
mercies, as Jeremiah
said, "Because His compassions
fail not, they
are new every
morning"
(Lamentations 3:226).
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6 The
Heavenly
Hymn
99
The Heavenly Hymn
The Anaphora
The priest turns and blesses the
congregation with the sign of the
cross saying, "The
Lord be with
you all," and
the congregation responds, "And with your spirit."
Here the priest asks God to dwell in the
midst of His people and bless them.
He also warns
the congregation about
this great divine dwelling, of Christ who is Emmanuel, meaning
'God
is with us'
or 'God is
in our midst',
is present and residing amongst His people.
My
beloved, feel the
presence of God
in the midst
of His people and reverently stand and proclaim with the
congregation, giving your
father the priest
this same grace saying, "And with your
spirit."
The priest then says, "Lift up your
hearts." Lift your hearts to God
and forsake the
worldly worries to
concentrate in worshipping and
praising God. My beloved, benefit from this advice, and
lift not only
your heart to
God, but all
your existence, your mind, heart, hands, eyes and whole body as a
sacrifice of love
for Him who redeemed
you by His
blood. The congregation responds,
"They are with
the Lord." When saying this
response, think to yourself, is your heart at this moment
specifically with God?
If you have
said this statement and your
heart is busy with other cares, then you have lied to the Lord. The apostle advises us by saying: "Do
not lie to one another" (Colossians
3:9). How much
more
lying are we going to do to God?
100
We must collect our hearts and lift them
to God so we truly
proclaim: "They are with
Lord," as the Psalmist said, "Let the words of my mouth and the
meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Your sight" (Psalm 19:14), and,
"To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul, O my God, I trust in You, let me not be
ashamed" (Psalm 25:1,2).
When the priest sees this, he thanks the
Lord and urges the congregation to thank Him by saying, "Let us give
thanks to the Lord." The
congregation responds, "He is worthy and righteous," that is, God is worthy of thanksgiving, glorification and
praise, because He
descended and dwelt among His people, and because of His
grace, He helped us and made us able to love Him and worship Him with all our
hearts. We thank
Him for His
many blessings which
are enormous and uncountable.
Thank God, my beloved, during these moments, remembering His
personal mercies for
you, as the
Apostle Paul said:
"Cause thanksgiving to
abound to the
glory of God" (2 Corinthians
4:15).
The priest chants, "Right and
Worthy, truly You are right and worthy..." You
God are worthy
for all thanksgiving, glorification and
praise because You
are the Creator
of all things seen, and unseen.
You who sits on the throne of Your glory, and is worshipped by all the holy
powers! This hymn resembles the hymn of the twenty four spiritual elders who
give praise before
the throne of
Christ saying, "You
are worthy, O Lord
to receive glory
and honour and
power. For You created all things and by Your will they exist and were
created" (Revelations 4:9-1).
101
During the recitation of this prayer,
meditate on its powerful
meaning, and when you hear: "Who is
worshipped by all the holy powers", make the sign of the cross and bow
reverently
to worship God together with all the
holy powers.
The
deacon then says:
"You seated, stand
up." Upon hearing this call
from the deacon, every one must stand more reverently and
attentively to offer
unto God a
pure prayer together with the
heavenly hosts.
The priest then says: "Before
whom stand the
angels, the archangels, the
principalities, the authorities, the thrones, the lordships
and the powers." The priest
mentions here seven out of the
nine heavenly ranks who stand before God incessantly to praise and glorify Him.
The
deacon asks the
congregation: "Look towards
the East." When praying in
the church, the congregation faces the East where the altar and the Sacrifice
is placed. We face the East with
our hearts as
well as our
thoughts. It is a warning for
those who might
think to wander
or look elsewhere while
inside the church,
forsaking prayer and worship, and being mindless of the holy
presence of God of whom we should be revering.
There is a response called the great
'Esbazeste' in the Liturgy of St. Gregory, where the deacon says, "Let us
stand well, stand in godliness,
let us stand
in prayer, let
us stand in peace, let us stand in fear of God in awe
and reverence, O clergy, and all the congregation in prayer and thanksgiving, in
tranquillity and silence.
Raise your eyes towards the East, that you may observe
the altar beholding
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the
Body and Blood
of Emmanuel our
God, which is placed
upon it. Arise,
O Angels and
Archangels, the Cherubim, of
six wings, and
the Seraphim, full
of eyes, covering their faces
from the brilliance of His great glory, which
surpasses sight and
speech. They praise
Him with one voice, proclaiming
and saying, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of Hosts, Heaven and Earth are
full of Your Holy Glory." This
response gives us an idea about the awe of the church and the holiness of these
moments, so together with Jacob we proclaim, "Surely the Lord is in this
place, and I did not know it. How awesome is this place? This is none
other than the
house of God,
and this is
the gate of heaven" (Genesis 28:16,17). We stand in the church as if in heaven and
proclaim with the
Psalmist: "Holiness adorns Your house, O Lord, forever"
(Psalm 93:58), and, "In the congregation, I will bless the Lord"
(Psalm 26:12).
"For around You stand the Cherubim,
full of eyes and the Seraphim of six wings, praising You continuously without
ceasing saying..."
The
priest now mentions
another two orders
of heavenly angelic rank, who
differ from the previously mentioned seven ranks. Thus
the total number
of heavenly orders
are nine, according to
the doctrine and
faith of the
church, and the tenth rank is the order of saints from
mankind. After the fall, our
beloved Lord Jesus
Christ restored Adam
and his children to their
previous dignity, for having been formed in the
image and likeness
of God, God
created mankind to partake
with the heavenly
hosts in praising
Him as He is
pleased with this praise and unity.
103
As
the wise King
Solomon wrote, "The
Lord made all things
for Himself" (Proverbs
16:4), for the
purpose of giving us
His love and
being united with
us. The Prophet Isaiah wrote, "Whom I created
for My glory, I have formed him, yes, I have made him. This people I have
formed for Myself, they shall declare My praise" (Isaiah 43:7,21). The
Apostle Paul said,
"For by Him
all things were
created"
(Colossians 1:16). For this
reason, St. Gregory
in his
contemplative liturgy pleads, "Who
confirmed the standing arrays of incorporeal
creatures among men,
who gave those on earth the
praise of the Seraphim, accept our voice also with the invisible, count us with
the heavenly powers. Let us also proclaim with them, having cast away from us
every remembrance of unnatural reckonings, and cry out with voices
that are never
silenced and lips
that never cease, and praise Your
greatness."
The
deacon then says,
"Let us attend," warning
the congregation to give
more reverence and
attention and quietness (Acts
22:2) in preparation
for the hymn
of the Seraphim. As Zachariah
wrote, "Be silent, all flesh, before the
Lord for He
has aroused from
His Holy habitation"
(Zephaniah. 2:13).
Then the congregation says this hymn of
the Seraphim, "The Cherubim
worship You and
the Seraphim glorify
You, proclaiming and saying,
Holy, Holy, Holy
is the Lord
of Hosts. Heaven and Earth are full of Your Holy Glory."
This praise was heard by Isaiah the
Prophet from the mouth of the Seraphim
in his revelation
(Isaiah 6). We
sing it to prove
our partaking with
the angels of
heaven in praising God. When the angels look and see
the beauty of God and
104
His
Holiness, they can
only praise Him
by saying, "Holy, Holy, Holy." Let us
also look to
the beauty of
God, in faith, in His holiness
when we sing this praise.
The Three Holy 'Agios'
The
priest takes this
praise, which was
said by the congregation and
recites it in
a beautiful tune
as he makes the sign of the Cross three times,
firstly upon himself, then upon the servants on either side of the altar, and finally
upon the congregation.
When
the priest makes
the sign of
the cross on
the congregation saying, "Agios", make
the sign of
the cross and bow before God
reverently.
The prayer of `Agios' or `Holy' is the
holiest and strongest of prayers,
and the most
chastening for the
devil, who is the
enemy of
all holiness. It
includes honouring God,
and the word `Holy' means 'high'
and “who cannot lie” (Titus 1:2), and
“Holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners, and has become higher than the
heavens” (Hebrews 7:26). In the Syrian
language, `Agios' means
‘has no limit
in greatness, love, justice and all divine qualities.’
As
the saints in
heaven praise Him
saying, "Great and marvellous are Your works Lord God
Almighty, who shall not fear You,
O Lord, and
glorify Your name,
for You alone are holy"
(Revelations 15:3,4), and Hannah, Samuel's mother prayed
saying, "There is
none holy like
the Lord for there is none beside
You, nor there is any rock like our God" (1 Samuel 2:2).
105
Isaiah the Prophet heard the praise of
the Seraphim: "Holy,
holy, holy is the Lord of hosts"
(Isaiah 6:3), and the praise of the four
living creatures carrying
the Divine Throne
(Revelations 4:8). The rank of the
Seraphim is the highest of heavenly
hosts, proving that
the praise they
sing is of the
highest and greatest praise that can possibly be presented to the Divine Glory.
St.
Ambrose says, "We
cannot find anything
to honour God better than calling
Him Holy, because He is the most Holy."
These words are
also reflected in
Daniel 9:24. Our beloved Lord is the source of every
purity and holiness.
The
priest continues to
pray, "Holy, Holy,
truly You are Holy, O Lord our God." To avoid
elaboration, I leave you my
beloved, to proceed
and contemplate on
this wonderful part that
manifests the infinite holiness of God, followed by the story
of our creation,
the fall, God's
mercy by sending His prophets, and then His
incarnation at the fullness of time
in order to redeem us from sin and give
us the possibility of
holiness once again.
Make a quick comparison between the
holiness of God and the profanity of
man, and ask
Him to give you
a life of holiness, as the Apostle said: "But
as He who called you is Holy, you also
be holy in
all your conduct,
because it is written, 'Be holy for I am holy'" (1
Peter 1:15,16).
The
congregation responds with,
"Amen" believing the priest’s
proclaimation about the
holiness of God,
His providence, His creating
man in His
image and likeness,
in righteousness, holiness of
truth, and the
story of man
who
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fell
by the seduction
of the serpent,
followed by the incarnation of the Son of God for our
salvation.
The
priest prays, "He
was incarnated and
became man," while placing
one spoonful of
incense into the
censer. This completes the
previous part and
is a contemplation
on the incarnation of Christ and
His great love for us, that knew no limits, for He sacrificed Himself for us on
the cross. On the cross His Spirit united with His Divinity, He descended into
Hades and freed all those who died in the hope of the coming Redeemer,
beginning with Adam. For the Apostle says, "By whom also He went and
preached to the spirits in prison"
(1 Peter 3:1).
Meditate, dear believer, in the words of
this prayer that are full of life,
and thank God
who taught you
the way of salvation and enlightened the way to
ETERNITY.
Also
meditate on the
incense ascending from
the censer as one spoonful is placed in it; a symbol of
the divine love of God for us as He denied Himself, descended to our earth and
was incarnated for our salvation. Try to exchange love with God and be fervent
in loving Him, His commandments, His children and all His creation.
The
congregation recites "Amen,
I believe." Truly
we believe, witness and
admit all His
providence for our salvation, we believe in His incarnation
out of love for us and His yearning for
our salvation. We
believe He gave
us Baptism of water and Spirit, for the forgiveness of sins. We believe
in His atoning death for us on the cross. He believe that He then descended to
Hades in great light, in the lower divisions
in the earth,
breaking the doors
of iron and
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destroying the doors of copper, in order
to free the righteous ones : "He led them out of captivity and gave gifts
to men"
(Ephesians 4:8). He freed them from the
authority of Satan
and returned to them the gift of lost
paradise.
Meditate, my
beloved, on all
these meanings during
the priest's prayer in this wonderful part during the recitation of the congregation,
"I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with understanding" (1
Corinthians 14:15).
The priest continues, "He rose from
the dead on the third day..." Previously the
priest paused at the incident
of Christ's crucifixion, His death on the cross, and the descent of His
Spirit into Hades
in order to
save the righteous.
He then completes the
incident of His
resurrection, and His second
coming which will
be fulfilled at
the end of
ages, when the Lord
Jesus will judge
the world and
reward everyone according to their deeds.
We
might forget all
these important matters
so the priest reminds us to prepare ourselves for
the awesome day of the Lord.
Prepare yourselves with
repentance and purity
and adorn yourselves with
spiritual virtues, so
that we are
not cast out from the presence of Christ.
The
priest reminds his
congregation about the
Second Coming and the
general judgement. The
congregation proclaim saying, "Let
it be according
to Your mercy
O Lord, and not according to our sins."
My beloved, beat your chest three times
while calling to the Lord this prayer for rescue, together with the whole
church, resembling the tax collector who did not like to lift his eyes
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to the heavens (feeling the burden of
his sins), but beat his chest
saying, "God be
merciful to me
a sinner" (Luke
18:13).
Remember
your sins, even
the slightest sin
is enough to cause
you to perish.
But it is
the sacrament of
repentance and the great mercy of God which accepts us.
Remember
your situation at
the day of
judgement when people are
gathered, angels standing,
books opened, works realised and
thoughts examined, "Some
to everlasting life
(the
righteous) and some
to shame and
everlasting contempt (the evil ones)" (Daniel 12:2).
Ask yourself, 'In which group am I going
to be in?' Truly, we say, "Let it
be according to Your mercy, O Lord, and not on account of our sins,"
believing in God's mercy, but take
care, the mercy
of God does
not work by
itself, it accepts our repentance
and helps us in our struggle against sin.
Mercy does not work with those who
neglect their salvation, staggering in their eternal redemption. Depend on the
mercy of God, just as the Psalmist David did, "But I have trusted in Your
mercy, my heart shall rejoice in Your Salvation"
(Psalm
13:5). “Therefore, since
a promise remains
of
entering His rest, let us have fear,
lest any of you fall short of
it" (Hebrews 4:1),
because of negligence
and not depending on God's
mercy.
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7 The Consecration
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The Consecration
The
following part of
the liturgy until
the beginning of the
litanies is called
the CONSECRATION or
the Institution Narrative. It is considered
the most important
part of the Mass
as it includes
the dwelling of
the Holy Spirit
on the Sacraments and the
conversion to the Holy Body and Blood of our Good Saviour.
The
priest points to
the bread and
wine saying, "He instituted for us this great
mystery of godliness." Then he places the two corporals on the altar, then
places his hands in the incense above the censer, and gives three rounds of the
incense to the bread with his hands. On the third round, he also gives
incense to the
chalice, saying, "For
He was determined to give Himself
up for the life of the world."
Look
at this strange
conflict, the unlimited
love of Christ towards mankind, versus the hatred of
mankind to the Lord Jesus Christ. On
the same night
that the people
agreed to surrender the Son of
God to death, the Lord Jesus cared to give life to the world. While they were
preparing chains for Him to be
crucified, He had
prepared for them
this Divine Feast and
Redemptive Table. While
they were thinking
of crucifying and slaughtering Him,
He was preparing
a Sacrifice of Atonement
for them. St Paul says,
"For I received from the
Lord that which is also delivered to you, that
the Lord Jesus
on the same
night in which
He was betrayed took bread"
(1 Corinthians 11:23-25).
This is clear from the Gospels that the
Lord Christ instituted the
Sacrament of the
Eucharist on Thursday
evening, and
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after
a while the
soldiers caught Him,
and dragged Him to
condemnation, which ended
with His crucifixion
on Friday noon.
How
great is God's
love to His
creation, and how
sinful is man in his ingratitude
and denial!
Why don't we learn from this lesson and
not repeat what the Jews did to our Saviour, but instead, respond to the
constant loving calls of
God, and accept
His will, obeying
His commandments so that
we may benefit
from this Divine Sacrifice.
The Sacrament of EUCHARIST is called the
'Great Mystery of Godliness' as it is the greatest of the Seven Sacraments in
the Holy
Church. It is
the crown of
all the sacraments
of godliness, because it
strengthens in us
the feeling of
God's love towards us, and His Sacrifice for us, also the feelings of
humility, reverence and gratitude to this overflowing, divine love by
which He "Did
not spare His
own Son
but delivered Him up for us all" (Romans 8:32).
The path of godliness is not as easy as
it may seem at first glimpse, but needs effort, struggle and Divine Providence
so that we ask in the
first supplication of the Liturgy
of St. Gregory, "May
the righteousness of
faith multiply, straighten the
path of godliness for us.
The Sacrament of Communion is the most
important Divine help in our struggle in the way of godliness and fear of God,
as the wise King Solomon says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of
wisdom" (Proverbs 9:10).
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The congregation responds, "Truly
we believe." We believe the
mystery of redemption
which was made
by the Son of
God on the cross, and we believe in this great Mystery which He instituted on
the night of His sufferings as an expression of
love to mankind
and His Divine
will to save
them. We believe in
this great Mystery
instituted by the
Lord as a remedy
for all diseases,
exposing all sins
and strengthening the life
of godliness, humility
and reverence before
the sacrificial love of God.
My beloved, remember all these matters
while you proclaim,
"Truly we believe" with the
congregation.
The priest takes the Bread into his
hands and says, "He took bread
upon His holy,
immaculate, undefiled and
blessed life-giving hands." Beginning
with this statement,
the Divine Liturgy teaches
us the way
in which the
Lord instituted the great
Mystery of godliness
and redemption. The first thing
that the Lord Jesus did was to take the bread upon His hands to bless it,
sanctify it, and convert it to His Holy Body.
Contemplate on the description of the
hands of the Lord.
Strive
to make your
own hands resemble
them as much
as you can. The
Lord's hands were
unblemished, and your hands, my beloved, have the sense of
touch, which is one of the five senses; senses are the doors of the heart and
mind. Try to keep
them undefiled from
lust and evil
and prevent them from
sin such as
stealing, abuse, forgery
and bribery. Thus your
hands should be
blessed like the
Lord's hands which were
described as life
giving. For by
His hands, He rose many from the dead and healed many
sick and diseased.
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You,
my beloved, should
make your hands
life-giving as
much as you can by helping or
befriending the hungry, sick, needy or the downcast. Listen to the words of the
righteous Job who said, "If I have kept the poor from their desire, or
cause the eyes of the widow to fail, or eaten my morsel to myself, so
that the fatherless
may not eat
of it, but
from my youth I reared him as a father, and from my mother's womb I
have guided the
widow. If I
have seen anyone perish
for lack of
clothing, or any
poor man without covering. If his heart has not
blessed me and if he was not warmed with the
fleece of my
sheep. If I
have raised my hand against the fatherless, when I saw I
had help in the gate. Then let my arm fall from my shoulder, let my arm be torn
from the socket" (Job 31:16-22), also, "Because I delivered the poor
who cried out and the fatherless and he who had no helper, the blessing of a
perishing man came upon me, (perishing
because of hunger,
cold or sickness), and I
caused the widow's
heart to sing
for joy" (Job
29:12,13).
The
congregation says, "We
believe that this
is true, Amen." We believe
that the Lord's hands which carried the bread
and converted it
to His Holy
Body, were holy, undefiled, blessed and life-giving,
and we ask Him to give us hands
like His hands,
to do good,
and abstain from
every evil.
The priest places his right hand on the
Bread that is on his left hand, lifting his eyes toward heaven, saying, "He looked up towards Heaven to You, O
God, His Father and Master of everyone..."
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Here the Lord teaches us to ask for His
blessings by casting our eyes towards heaven, the throne of God, and beseeching
that He
may bless whatever
our hands behold,
for as the Psalmist prayed : "Unto You I lift
up my eyes, O You who dwell in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants
look to the hands of their masters, as the eyes of a maid to the hands of
her mistress, so
our eyes look
to the Lord
our God until He has mercy on us" (Psalm 123:1,2). The Lord
delights when our
eyes seek and
long for Him,
and so He says, "Look at Me and be saved, all
you ends of the earth, for I am
God, and there
is no other"
(Isaiah 45:22). The Lord
Jesus Christ did
this so many
times to teach
us this good habit.
He looked toward
heaven before starting
any important mission. Like
raising Lazarus up
from the dead
(John
11:41), when He
prayed before the
crucifixion (John
17:1),
and when He
blessed the five
loaves and two
fish
(Luke 9:16).
Then the priest makes the sign of the
cross over the Bread three times saying,
"And when He
had given thanks,
He blessed it, He
sanctified it." Each
time the deacons
and congregation respond by
saying, "Amen." (There
is a common mistake
done in some
churches, that only
the deacons serving inside
the altar, or
even only one
deacon, responds with "Amen," although it is written in the
Liturgy book that the congregation are to respond. Let us hope that everyone in the church
responds with, "Amen," together with
the deacons, and
hence confirming their
belief in the consecration and
signings of the
cross by the
priest. This
"Amen," then, would be a very
strong prayer.
The
congregation then respond,
"We believe, confess
and glorify You," believing and confessing the sanctification and
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conversion of the Bread which the Lord
touched by His pure hands, when He thanked, blessed and sanctified it.
So
the simple bread
becomes the true
Body of the
Lord, given for the forgiveness of sins for all those who worthily
partake of it. We glorify God who gave us this valuable gift for our souls,
bodies and spirits. St. Paul says, "For with the heart one
believes to righteousness, and
with the mouth confession is made to salvation"
(Romans 10:10).
Participate with
the responses of
the congregation, my beloved,
while deeply meditating
spiritually, as the
Holy Spirit flows into
you when He
sees your yearning
to know Him and your honesty in
loving Him and your reverence in standing before Him during these awesome
moments of the Holy Mass.
The
priest carefully divides
the Bread (as
explained in the Liturgy Book) saying, "He broke it,
and gave it to His own holy
disciples and pure
apostles saying, 'Take,
eat of it, you
all, for this
is MY BODY,
which is to
be broken for you and many others, given for the
forgiveness of sins. Do this in remembrance of Me.'"
The careful act of dividing and
separating the Bread, whether here or during the prayer of the FRACTION,
reminds us of the sufferings of the Lord on the cross for us, and that is why
the priest prays saying, "Therefore, as we also commemorate His Holy
Passions..."
Let us think about the passions of the
Lord while the priest recites these brilliant
words, so we
thank Him, humble
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ourselves and learn the sacrificial love
that does not ask for itself but for others.
The Lord gave us His HOLY BODY for the
forgiveness of sins, so every one who is burdened by sin, comes to the Lord
repenting, confessing and receiving the Holy Communion, is remedied from their
sins.
The
Lord ordered the
disciples to perform
this mystery in remembrance of
Him, to commemorate
His incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection
and ascension into
heaven. The prayers of the
Liturgy that sanctifies the mysteries narrate the story of
Jesus from beginning
to end, to
remind us always about those incidents of incarnation
and salvation, to satisfy our souls as if with rich food.
The
congregation responds by
saying, "This is
also true, Amen." This
response are words of assurance and belief to the priest as he said that the
Lord Jesus broke His Body and gave
to His disciples
to eat for
the forgiveness of
sins, to abide in Him, and
receive eternal life according to His Divine Promise. "I
am the living
bread which came
down from heaven. If
anyone eats of
this bread, he
will live forever and the bread that I shall give as My
flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world" (John 6:51). And, “Whoever eats My body and
drinks My blood has eternal life and I will
raise him up at the
last day. For
My flesh is
food indeed, and My
blood is drink
indeed. He who
eats My flesh and
drinks My blood
abides in Me
and I in
him"
(John 6:54).
The congregation says we believe all
that you say, and hope
to
fulfil these sayings
in us to
make the mystery
of
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thanksgiving always
without hindrances, proceeding
to the Sacraments in
humility and repentance,
and preparation to gain forgiveness of our sins according to
the Lord's promise and finally to gain Eternal Life.
My beloved, while reciting this
response, ask for yourself, I
and all your brethren proceeding for the
Holy Communion,
to
gain these blessings
of this great
mystery, for the forgiveness of
sins, abiding in
the Lord and
at the end,
to gain eternal life.
Sanctification Of The Wine
The priest places his hands on the rim
of the chalice and says,
"Likewise the
chalice also after
supper, He mixed
it of wine and
water..." Here the
priest makes the
sign of the Cross
over the chalice
three times saying,
"And when He had
given thanks, He
blessed it, and
He sanctified it." And each time the deacon responds
by saying, "Amen."
The tradition teaches us that the Lord
mixed the wine in the Chalice with some
water to symbolise
the water and
blood which came out of His holy side when He was stabbed with a
spear after His
death on the cross.
This Holy Blood
mixed with water, came out of His side in a miraculous way, for as we
know, as soon as a person dies, their blood clots in their veins and arteries.
Thus the blood of our Lord running in this miraculous way
is the blood of
the new covenant
for purification and atonement for sins and iniquities.
The priest makes the sign of the Cross
three times to signify that the Lord
Jesus sanctified the
Chalice by His
will, the
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pleasure of His Father, and the work of
His Holy Spirit, to fulfil the conversion, truly and fully, and sanctification
by the sign of the Cross, for the Cross is the seal of Christ and His
life-giving sign.
Participate with
the deacons and
congregation in the response of, "Amen", believing the words of the
priest that the Lord Jesus thanked, blessed, and sanctified the Chalice of
the Blood of
the New Covenant,
and He is
also present to sanctify this Chalice so that the mixture
in it is the true Blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
The
congregation says, "Amen,
again we believe,
confess and glorify." This
means that as we believed and confessed the conversion of bread when the Lord
touched, blessed and sanctified to become
His living Body,
we also believe
and confess the conversion
of the mixture
in the Chalice
which the Lord blessed
and sanctified, to
become His precious Blood shed
for the life
of the world.
And as we
glorified Him for the gift of His life-giving Body which He gave us,
we also
glorify Him for
the gift of
the life-giving Blood which He gave us, "precious Blood
of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Peter 1:19).
This Blood purifies consciences from
dead works as St. Paul says, "The Blood of Christ, who through the eternal
Spirit offered Himself, without
spot, to God,
purge your conscience from
dead works to
serve the living
God"
(Hebrews
9:14). For all
these blessings, restored
in the
precious blood, we glorify the Lord and
exalt Him forever.
119
The priest holds the chalice in his
hands, while he continues the prayer, saying, "He tasted, and gave it also
to His own holy disciples and pure apostles saying..."
Here
the priest moves
the chalice gently
in the shape
of a cross, from
west to east,
then from north
to south, for we
were strangers separated
from God, and
by the Blood
He shed on the
Cross, He brought
us back to
Paradise, which faces eastward,
as the Apostle
Paul says, "Now
in Christ, you who once were far
have been made near by the blood of Christ" (Ephesians 2:13). Moving it from the north to the south
signifies that we were rejected like the goats on the north, and
by the Divine
Blood He took
us to the
right of God to be with His
accepted and beloved sheep.
On
moving the chalice,
the priest says,
"Take, drink of it
you all, for this is My Blood of the New Testament which
is shed for you and many others. Do this
in remembrance
of Me."
The Blood of the Old Testament was the
blood of bulls and goats unable to take away sin, as St. Paul says, "For
it is impossible for
the blood of
bulls and goats
to take away sins" (Hebrews 10:4), but the New Testament
is established on the Blood of the Son of God who "Takes away the sins of
the world" (John 1:29).
The
Lord Jesus offered
His Blood to
be given for
the forgiveness of sins. He advises us to partake of it always in
remembrance of His passion and
salvation and wonderful redemption on the Cross.
120
The congregation confirms the priests
words about the true life-giving Body of Christ given for the forgiveness of
sins, for abiding in God and gaining Eternal Life. Here also, the congregation confirms that
the Precious Blood is the blood which
was shed for
the life of
the world and
provided the means of
reconciliation between God and man, qualifying us
to approach God after being exiled from
Him.
In the Revelation, St John saw
multitudes standing before the throne
of Christ, and
when he asked
about them the
angel responded: "These are the ones who came out of the great
tribulation (the world
and its worries)
and washed their robes
and made them
white in the
blood of the
Lamb. Therefore they are
before the throne
of God, and
serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will
dwell among them
(caring and loving)"
(Revelation 7:14,15).
Also included in this response, is an
inaudible supplication to God to qualify the congregation to be worthy to
partake of this sacrament, in
remembrance of the
Lord Jesus, and to
approach without hindrance
or obstacles so
that they may take life to their spirits and power to
their souls, and remedy
to
their bodies, until
they cross the
sea of this
world and reach the
coast of eternity,
peacefully to join
the cloud of saints who washed their clothes in the
Blood of the Lamb.
While reciting
this response, my
blessed one, think
about these matters and
ask with all
your heart to
have the forgiveness of
your sins through
this Precious Blood,
to abide in Christ and obtain Eternal Life according to the true promises
of our Good Saviour.
121
Look to the Lord's invitation in His
words, "Eat of it you all and drink of it you all." He wants all to
accept the mystery of partaking from
His blessed Body
and Blood on one
condition, that they repent of all sins, and this condition of repentance and
confession, before Communion,
is clear in the virtue of the washing of the feet
which the Lord fulfilled before the institution
of the Sacrament
of Eucharist. He washed
the feet of
His disciples, not
for the purpose
of cleaning physical dirt, but as a symbol of purification of the
body, soul and
spirit from the
dirt before approaching
the Holy Sacraments. So
when Peter objected
saying, "You shall never
wash my feet," Jesus warned him, "If I do not wash you,
you have no
part with Me." He would
have prevented Peter from
partaking in the
Sacrament of unity with His Body and Blood, as his sin
would have still existed.
The priest motions towards the Body and
the Chalice saying,
"For every
time you shall
eat of this
Bread and drink
of this Cup, you preach My Death, confess My Resurrection and remember
Me until I
come." Here the
Lord Jesus gives us
the responsibility of
preaching His death,
His resurrection from the
dead, and His
awesome Second Coming which
will be full
of glory. We
should remember this every time
we celebrate the Holy Mass.
I think this confirmation and mission and continual
remembrance of the Lord Jesus comes when we enter into a holy covenant with God
by receiving the Sacraments of the New Covenant, feeling that our sins are
forgiven and that we abide in Him.
Then we cannot
keep quiet but
proceed to preach the
excellence of the
One who called
us from the darkness
to the true
light (1 John
2:9) and tell
everyone around us how
much the Lord
has done for
us and had
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compassion on
us (Mark 5:19). This proclamation
comes through experiencing death from worldly desires in order to
experience His Resurrection.
"For if we
have been united together in
the likeness of
His death, certainly
we also shall be in the likeness
of His Resurrection" (Romans 6:5-
8).
We die from
the world's lusts
and sins in
order to live,
and
yet, as St
Paul says, "It
is not I
who live, but
Christ who lives in me."
This
sacrament enables us
to abide in
Jesus and be
united with Him, assuring
us of the
perfect unity with
God in the Eternal Life.
As
we yearn to
abide and unite
perfectly in Him,
so we remember Him
always until He
comes, and we
await His glorious coming
with earnest expectation,
for His second coming will fulfil our unity with Him
forever.
The
congregation responds with
this wonderful hymn
in answer to the
Lord's words, "Amen, Amen,
Amen. We preach Your
death, O Lord.
Your Holy Resurrection
and Ascension we acknowledge. We praise You, we bless You, we thank You,
O Lord, and supplicate You, O our Lord."
They
sing with an
uplifted voice to
the Lamb who
was slaughtered for their
salvation. They remember
His life- giving death
for their redemption,
and confess His
holy resurrection by which
He defeated the
terrifying enemy of humanity - death. They confess their
belief in His ascension
to
heaven, where He
is sitting at
the right Hand
of the Father, having
entered, "the inner
part behind the
veil where the forerunner has entered for us" (Hebrews 6:20),
"To
prepare a place
for us" (John
14:2). We live
in the
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expectation of
His Second Coming,
according to what
He advised, "Do this in remembrance of Me." St. Paul says,
"For as often as you eat this
Bread, and drink this Blood, you
proclaim the Lord's
death till He
comes" (1
Corinthians 11:26).
The
last sentence of
this hymn, "We
praise You …"
is addressed to the
Holy Trinity, as
explained by one
of the church fathers: "We
praise You, O Lord God. We bless You,
O Son the Word. We thank You O Holy
Spirit for all these great gifts, and we supplicate You, O Holy Trinity, our
One God to accept this sacrifice from us, sending to us the gift of Your Holy
Spirit."
My
beloved, recite this
response reverently with
the whole church, meditating
on every word.
Stretch out your
hands and say to
the Lord, "We
praise You Lord,
bless You and thank
You for these
great graces, which
angels yearn to see." Supplicate unto
Him with all
your heart concerning your private
needs or problems
that need a
solution, or blessing, guidance
and divine leadership in your life. Lift up your hands
and eyes and
heart to God pleading
with persistence so that He may give you your request.
The priest says, "Therefore, as we
also commemorate His Holy Passion, His
Resurrection from the
dead, His ascension into
the Heavens, He
is sitting at
Your right hand, O
Father, and His
second coming from
Heaven, awesome and full
of glory. We
offer You these,
Your oblations, from that which is Yours, concerning all things and for
all things."
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The church remembers the Lord's
passions, His resurrection, ascension to Heaven, and His second coming in each
Mass, for many reasons:
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His Passions, crucifixion
and death were
the means of our salvation and redemption as Christ
tasted Death for the sake of every one of us (Hebrews 2:9).
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His resurrection guarantees our
forthcoming resurrection as St Paul
says, "But now
Christ has risen
from the death and has become the
first fruits of those who have fallen asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:20.
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His Ascension to
heaven opened to
us the doors
of heaven, for He
went to prepare
a place for
us, and so taught
us to lift
our eyes unto
Him always, like
the apostles when they
saw Him ascending.
With Him we ascend in our hearts and minds to heaven
where He sits
at the right hand of the Highest.
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His second coming
reminds us of
that awesome judgement day, so
that we may be prepared, "like men waiting for their master when he will
return from the wedding, that when
he comes and
knocks they may open to him immediately" (Luke 12).
We await this Second Coming, through
which He will take us to the place He prepared for us in His glory according to
His Divine Promise, "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I
will come again
and receive you
to Myself, that where I am you may be also" (John
14:3).
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Amongst
all these powerful
memories, and amidst
our emotions ignited by
His love for
us, and His
great providence, we offer Him these oblations from His gift given
to us in this life, like wheat from
which we make the bread; grapes to make
wine; water to
mix with wine;
and much more for
which we thank
Him always. We
offer these oblations as
a sacrifice of
Thanksgiving. Because of
Your passions, death on
the cross for
us, resurrection and ascension to
heaven, we offer
thanksgiving to gain
Your mercies, and the forgiveness of sins for those who are living, and
those who have passed away.
It is clear to see, my beloved, that
this is the most important part of the Mass, not only because of the holy
memories, but because of the presence of the Holy Spirit which converts the
oblations and sanctifies the people attending the Mass.
The
deacon says, "Attend to
the Lord in
awe and reverence." These
moments, moments of
the dwelling the Holy
Spirit are the
most awesome. Everyone
must be prepared spiritually,
psychologically and physically
to the highest level,
as the deacon
says this call.
They must be found ready and worthy for the dwelling of
the Spirit on the Sacrifice and it's
conversion, and His
dwelling on you, sanctifying and
purifying you. It
reflects the voice
of the Psalmist, "Serve
the Lord with
fear, and rejoice
with trembling" (Psalm 2:11), and Joshua says, "Now therefore,
fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth" (Joshua
24:14).
The priest, deacon and congregation
kneel in preparation for the dwelling of the Holy Spirit.
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My
beloved, kneel reverently
and worship God
in holy adornment in humility,
seeking the fullness of the Holy Spirit
to purify and sanctify you, as if you
are with the apostles in the upper room
of Zion where
the Holy Spirit
descended upon them in
order to purify
all their sins
and remove all their weaknesses and fears, creating them
as new people, full of the Spirit to the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:10).
While
kneeling, recite with
the congregation the
wonderful praise, "We praise You, we bless You, we serve You, and
we worship You."
?
We praise You - was repeated twice before, confirming the praise
and glorification of
the believers offered
to God who is
worthy of all
glory and honour,
for His blessings and unspeakable
gifts.
Praising is the greatest kind of prayer
that a human soul can give, joining the heavenly choir that continually praise
God.
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We bless You - also repeated twice. We bless God and confess His great glory
and deeds, together
with His visible and
invisible creation. We
thank Him for
His generous blessings and
rich overflowing grace
and His loving kindness toward us
(Ephesians 2:7).
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We serve You
- man's service
to God is
a response to God's
love and His
sacrifice for us,
saving us from
the grip of Satan and sin. Peter's mother in law was healed by
Jesus from her
high fever. The
first offering of thanksgiving that
she gave to
the Lord was
to arise immediately and serve
Him (Luke 4:38).
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The service which is implied in this
response is the service of prayer, praise and glorification before God.
Kneeling must be
in
spirit and truth
for, "God is
Spirit, and those
who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth" (John
4:23,24).
The whole church kneels in silence,
awaiting for the dwelling of the Holy Spirit. The priest kneels before the
altar, calling the Holy Spirit
inaudibly to dwell
on the congregation
to sanctify them and
to dwell on
the bread and
wine to transubstantiate them (Transubstantiation is when the substance of Bread and Wine changes into
the actual Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ).
Take
this special chance
to specifically request
your sanctification and purification,
so that you
may obtain the necessary preparation and humility to
approach the awesome sacraments of Emmanuel, our God.
The Invocation Of The Holy Spirit
The priest inaudibly prays the Litany Of
Invocation Of The Holy Spirit, while kneeling and extending his hands towards
God: "We worship
You through the
pleasure of Your goodness, and
we ask You,
O Lord, our
God, we Your sinful
servants, that Your
Holy Spirit may
descend upon us..."
Here
he motions first
towards himself, then
towards the oblations before him
while saying: "Upon us and upon these oblations which are placed here, purify them,
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transubstantiate them,
and reveal them as sanctification for Your saints."
Here the Priest does as Elijah did in
the past when he placed the burnt sacrifice
on the altar
and prayed saying,
“’Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the
Lord God’,... then the fire
of the Lord
fell and consumed the burnt
sacrifice and the wood and the stones and
the dust and it licked
up the water
that was in the
trench" (1 Kings
18:37-38). This was
proof of God's acceptance of
the sacrifice of
Elijah, and the
reason of the peoples return to worshipping the living,
everlasting God.
The
priest requests the
invocation of the
Holy spirit upon him and the congregation by saying:
"That Your spirit may descend
upon us." So that the
life of the
believers may change from
carnal to spiritual
lives, and that
they become worthy to
receive from the
divine sacraments that
are holy and only given to the
saints.
Another reason to request the invocation
of the Holy Spirit upon the believers
is to sanctify
their minds, hearts
and senses, to be able to know and believe that the oblations on the altar
after transubstantiation, are
the Holy Body
and Blood of Christ
Jesus, truly and
without doubt. His
Holy Body and Blood present on the altar, is the work of the Holy
Spirit in the
souls of the
believers; it is
a transcendental mystery which
cannot be realised except by the Holy Spirit. As St. Paul said, "No one
can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians
12:3).
During the recitation of the Invocation
of the Holy Spirit the deacon
calls, "Let us
attend. Amen", calling
the kneeling
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congregation to
complete silence during
the awesome moments of the
invocation of the Holy Spirit.
The
priest stands and
makes the sign
of the cross
over the body three times,
saying, "And this bread, He makes it into the Holy Body which is
His." Here the priest supplicates
to the Holy Spirit
whom he called
by reciting the
previous sacrament to transubstantiate the
bread to the
true body of Jesus Christ. At that specific moment the
transubstantiation occurs in the bread to become the body of Christ. Here the
congregation cry out,
"Amen, I believe", manifesting
their faith true in
the transubstantiation of
the bread to
the true Body. The response,
being in the singular tense has specific power
and significance, for
it is each
person’s individual proclamation of their faith and belief in the
transubstantiation.
Proclaim
your faith, my
beloved, strongly and
definitely in that
transubstantiation of the bread to the TRUE BODY OF JESUS CHRIST,
do not let
doubts aroused by
the devil affect you at any time.
The reason for doing the sign of the
cross on the sacraments before the Invocation of the Holy Spirit and
sanctification, is that the Holy Spirit had not yet dwelt upon us, and we were
unworthy to accept
Him, until after
the glorification of the
Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. By His crucifixion and death we won the
pleasure of the Heavenly Father, so He granted us His Holy Spirit, the greatest
gift, as the Evangelist John says,
"For the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not
yet glorified" (John
7:39), as He
was not yet crucified. The cross first, then the dwelling
of the Holy Spirit with His various gifts.
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The
priest prays inaudibly,
bowing his head
and raising his
hands towards God, saying, "Our
Lord, God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, given for the forgiveness of sins and
eternal life of those who shall partake of Him", meaning that this
is
the Body of
our Lord, God
and saviour Jesus
Christ,
which is given for the forgiveness of
sins and eternal life to whoever
partakes of Him
in preparation, repentance
and worthiness.
Rejoice my beloved, because of these
faithful facts and divine promises,
and be determined
to proceed to
the end of the
Mass, and to receive from this Holy Sacrament to gain these promises for
yourself, that is for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
The priest stands and blesses the
chalice three times with the sign of the cross, saying, "And
this chalice too
He makes into the
honoured Blood of
the New Testament
which is His." Here the
priest begs the Holy Spirit to transubstantiate the mixture in the chalice to
the true honoured Blood of our God Jesus Christ. At this moment specifically the transubstantiation
of the mixture
in the chalice
into the TRUE BLOOD
OF OUR LORD
JESUS CHRIST takes place.
The congregation respond saying:
"Again I believe, Amen." And as I proclaimed my faith in the
transubstantiation of the bread to the true Body of Jesus Christ, I now
proclaim also my faith in
the transubstantiation of
the wine into
the precious honoured Blood of Emmanuel our God. The Blood of the New
Testament which is shed for us on the honoured cross. This is also done in the
singular form to give everyone
131
in the church the chance to proclaim
their personal faith, and not to be lost in the crowd of multitudes. The
proclamation of personal faith
is stronger than
collective proclamation; it has
its essence and
power on the
soul, considering Christ’s redemption as
a personal redemption
for everyone. Christ was
crucified, died, shed
His Blood on
the cross for
me, personally and specifically. St. Paul expressed this by saying,
"It is no longer I who live, but
Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the
faith in the Son of God!"
“Who
loved me and
gave Himself for
me" (Galatians
2:20).
The
priest bows his
head and stretches
his arms towards heaven, praying
inaudibly saying, "Our
Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ, given for the
forgiveness of sins and Eternal
life to those
who shall partake
of Him." This means
that the blood
is the Blood
of our Lord,
God and Saviour Jesus
Christ, given for
the forgiveness of
sins, and eternal life to those
who partake of Him.
This last sentence, "to those who
shall partake of Him" is said
aloud by the
priest to warn
the congregation who
are still kneeling in fear and awe awaiting the invocation of the
Holy Spirit to
sanctify them and
to transubstantiate the oblations. Then the congregation arises,
saying, "Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy."
‘Lord
have mercy’ is
repeated by the
congregation to proclaim their
faith in the invocation of the Holy Spirit and the transubstantiation of
the bread and
wine into the
Holy Body and Blood
of Christ, and
that these Holy
Sacraments
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are
truly given for
the remission of
sins and eternal
life for those who partake of
them worthily in repentance.
‘Lord have mercy’ is repeated three times by the
congregation with repentance
and humility to
present a collective repentance
before the Divine Presence, to become worthy of approaching the life-giving
Sacraments.
My
beloved, cry out
with the congregation
"Amen" to confirm your
faith in the truth of the work of the Holy Spirit
in
the sacraments, renewing
your belief in
the mysterious
transubstantiation that occurred
and which nobody
can believe except by
faith. When you
say "Amen" it
means
‘answer my prayer Lord, and accept my
supplication for your
mercy.’
Repeat
"Lord have mercy"
with the congregation
three times in persistence
to seek mercy
saying, "Have mercy upon
me, O God,
according to Your
loving-kindness. According to the
multitude of Your
tender mercies. Blot out
my transgressions. Wash
me thoroughly from
my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin" (Psalm 51:1-2). "Be merciful to
me, O God,
be merciful to
me! For my
soul trusts in You and in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge" (Psalm
57:1), resembling the
church that proclaims at the end
of every hour,
"Lord have mercy" repeating and persisting until God has mercy and compassion.
Now the bread and wine have been
transubstantiated into the Body and the Blood of the Lord Christ. The sign of
the cross will no longer
be made over
them, because they
are the source of blessing.
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Look and contemplate, my beloved, on the
simplicity of the
Holy
Spirit and the
power of His
Humility to answer
the supplications of the
priest as soon
as he speaks.
He dwells and transubstantiates the
bread to the Holy Body
and the wine to the Precious
Honoured Blood of Christ.
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8 Litanies
And
Commemorations
135
THE SEVEN LITANIES
Introduction of Litanies
Once the Body and Blood of Emmanuel our
God are present on the altar,
the priest prays
this wonderful supplication:
"Make us
all worthy, O our Master,
to partake of
Your Holies for the purification of our souls, bodies and spirits, that
we may become one body and one spirit and may find
a share and inheritance in all the
saints who have pleased
You since the beginning."
The
priest asks God
to make him
and the congregation worthy of
partaking of His
holy sacraments for
the purification and salvation
of their souls,
bodies and spirits. Here the priest completes what he
requested in the prayer of the Offertory saying, "To
become the body
and blood, an enlightenment, remedy and salvation for
our souls, bodies and spirits."
And likewise, what was requested in the
Prayer of the Veil :
"We ask
and entreat to
Your goodness O
Lover of mankind, do
not let this
mystery which You
provided for our salvation
become a judgment
for us or
Your people, but forgiveness of
our sins and iniquities."
From
this prayer we
conclude that these
sacraments which are given
for our salvation,
forgiveness of sins
and eternal life, might become a
condemnation and reason for weakness, disease
and death if
anybody dared to
partake of them without
repentance, confession and
preparation. As the
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Apostle
Paul says, "Therefore whoever
eats this bread
or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of
the body and blood of the Lord... for he who eats and drinks
in an unworthy
manner, eats and
drinks judgement to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this
reason many are weak and sick among you and many sleep" (1 Corinthians
11:27-30).
Benefits Of Worthy Holy Communion
In
the introduction to
the Prayer of
the Litanies, the
priest mentions many benefits for worthy communion, and he asks God in
persistence for them.
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Purification of our souls, bodies and spirits.
?
Unity of mind
and heart: "
that we may
become one body and one
spirit"
The
priest repeats this
same supplication and
the previous one in
the prayer of
submission just before
the Holy Communion saying:
"Make us all worthy to partake of your Holy body and Honoured blood for
the purification of our souls,
bodies and spirits,
the forgiveness of
our sins and iniquities and to become one body and one
spirit with You. Glory and honour
are due to
You with Your
gracious Father and the Holy Spirit now and forevermore, Amen."
Here the Apostle advises us saying:
"Now I plead with you brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that
you all speak the
same thing and
that there be
no divisions among you,
but that you
be perfectly joined
in the same mind
and in the
same judgements" (1
Corinthians 1:11).
137
He
also advises us
about the communion
of love as we
partake of the
mystery of the
body and blood
of Christ, saying, "The cup
of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of
the blood of
Christ? The bread
which we break, is it not the
communion of the blood of Christ? For we,
being many, are
one bread and
one body for we
partake of the one bread" (1 Corinthians 10:16-17). He also advises us
saying, "Endeavouring to keep the unity of the spirit in
the bond of
peace. There is
one body and
one spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling"
(Ephesians 4:3-4).
Also the church prays for the unity of
love saying, "May the unity of heart and love abide in us.”
In the Prayer of Submission, which is
said after the Fraction, the priest says: "We ask and entreat Your
goodness O lover of mankind, that since You have purified us and united us
with Yourself through
our partaking of
Your divine mysteries…"
If
we unite with
God, then we
unite with each
other in perfect brotherly love.
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The good share
in the eternal
life: "And find
a share and inheritance
with all the
saints who have
pleased You since the beginning."
Worthy
Eucharist protects us
against the dominion
of darkness, gives us
victory over hosts
of evil so
we win eternal life
and become, "qualified to
be partakers in the
inheritance of the
saints in the
light" (Colossians 1:12). And we live forever in the company of
the saints who, "Are
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the ones who came out of the great
tribulation and washed their robes and
made them white
in the Blood
of the Lamb. Therefore
they are before
the throne of
God and serve him day and
night" (Revelations 7:14-15).
All these blessings and graces are kept
for you, my beloved,
in the sacrament of Eucharist, if you
partake of it worthily in repentance.
Proceed to the
Holy Communion to
take for yourself the essence of
life and eternal glory.
THE LITANIES
After
this awesome introduction
the priest begins
to recite the seven
Litanies of Peace,
Fathers, Priests, Mercy,
Place, Waters and Oblations.
We
can say that
the recitation of
the litanies now
is much stronger than
at any other
time because of
the presence of the
sacrifice on the
altar, as St.
Cyril of Jerusalem
said,
"After we
fulfill the spiritual,
non-bloody sacrifice, we supplicate to God towards
the sacrifice of
forgiveness, for the peace of all
churches and for the goodness and stability
of
the world and
the kings...as a
whole for whoever
needs help. So our
prayers are accepted
before the throne
of grace."
Continue
to strive in
your standing and
spiritual reverence and fervour
and do not
resemble those who
lose their spiritual fervour, and sit down after the prayer of consecration carelessly thinking
of trivial and
inappropriate matters. They resemble people waiting with enthusiasm for
a great king coming to them but when the king arrives, they do
139
not
care to welcome
him adequately but
rather, consume their time with other
matters unrelated to the king's reception or honour. This is definitely an
insult to the king's dignity and may
provoke his anger
to revenge. May
God protect us, Amen.
i. Litany
of Peace
The priest pleads for the peace of the
church, from inside and outside,
as the Psalmist
said, "Pray for
the peace of Jerusalem, may
they prosper who
love You. Peace
be within your walls. Prosperity within your palaces. For the sake of my
brethren and companions. I will now say peace be within you. Because of the
house of the Lord our God I will seek Your good" (Psalm 122:6-9)
This
litany is distinguished
from the previous
litanies of peace as the priest
says about the church, "This which You have purchased
to Yourself with
the honoured Blood
of Your Christ." This is what St. Paul said, "To shepherd the
church of God which He purchased with His own Blood"
(Acts 20:28).
As St. Peter says about the believers
who form the church,
"Knowing that
you were not
redeemed with corruptible things like
the silver or
gold from your
aimless conduct received by
tradition from your
fathers, but with
the precious Blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot" (1 Pet 1:18-19). This gives us an idea about the value
of the church
and its preciousness
in the eyes
of Christ, its founder. This provokes and encourages us to pray more
fervently for her peace and unity.
140
During the recitation of the litany of
Peace, pray my beloved one, the same
prayers for the
church, which we
mentioned previously concerning the
litanies of peace
during the evening incense. Then
respond with the congregation, "Lord have mercy", for all that is
required for the church's peace, unity, deliverance and truth.
ii. Litany
of the Fathers
Here
the priest pleads
for the fathers
of the church,
the Orthodox bishops within
her, headed by
the holy Pope, hoping they are bestowed with power,
grace and wisdom in shepherding the church of God which He purchased with His
Blood, and to
keep the Orthodox
faith which was
received from the saints.
During
the recitation of
this litany, pray
the same requests mentioned in
the evening incense,
then respond with
the congregation, "Lord have mercy", for all that is required
for the church fathers for the good of the church.
iii. Litany
of the Priests
Here
the priest pleads
for the servants
of the church;
the teachers, including the hegumens, priests, deacons,
subdeacons and those
who help the
bishops in shepherding the flock and rightly carrying
with them the word of truth so the Gospel may reach every person.
The priest supplicates to God the Lord
of the church and her great Shepherd, to
give the church
honest ministers to become examples to the flock, teaching the
congregation the
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word
of salvation according
to the commandment
of our good Saviour,
"The harvest truly
is plentiful but
the labourers are few"
(Matthew 9:37). The
priest also pleads for the servants who struggle to serve
the vine of the Lord, whatever
their positions are,
so the Lord
may grant them strength and help them in this blessed
work of service.
Then
the priest pleads
for all those
who are living
in virginity, whether they be monks, nuns or those consecrated for service.
He asks for
their purity and
the angelical life which
they await, in
order that they
may have a
share and inheritance with
the one hundred
and forty four
thousand virgins standing before the Divine Lamb, "And they sang as
if
it were a
new song before
the throne, the
four living creatures and the
elders, and no one could learn that song except
the hundred and
forty four thousand
virgins who were redeemed
from the earth"
(Revelation 14:1-3). Then he requests for the purity of all the
faithful congregation to live a pure marital life without betrayal or
deviation, so their houses may be houses of prayer and purity, and thus houses
of blessing where Christ comes and dwells.
The
Apostle specifies the
purity of matrimony
by saying,
"Marriage is honourable among all and the bed undefiled" (Hebrews
13:4), meaning that
those married should not
defile their beds
or body through
committing adultery, "But fornicators and adulterers God will
judge"
(Hebrews 13:4).
The
Apostle draws the
evangelical style of
matrimonial purity by saying, "Let each man have his own wife and
let each woman have
her own husband.
Let the husband render to his wife
the affection due
to her and
likewise
142
also
the wife to
her husband. The
wife does not
have authority over her
own body but
the husband does
and likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body but
the wife does. Do not deprive one another except with consent
for a time,
that you may
give yourselves to fasting and prayer, and come together
again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of
self-control" (1
Corinthians 7:2-6).
"For a time"
implies the days
of obligatory church fasts, private fasts or preparatory days for holy
communion.
In
the first request
in the Liturgy
of St. Gregory
the priest prays for
his children, both
those who are
celibate and the married saying, "Purity to those in
celibacy, a good life to those in matrimony."
During this litany which is full of
special requests, follow the priest and respond
by saying "Amen" at
the end of
each request.
?
Upon saying, "Bestow upon
Your holy church
to shepherd Your flock in peace", respond with, "Amen Lord"
?
Upon saying, "All the ministers", respond with,
"Amen"
?
Upon saying, "All those who live in virginity", respond with,
"Amen"
?
Upon saying, "And the purity of Your faithful people",
respond with, "Amen"
Pray
that the Lord
helps those in
His service and
ministry, helps the virgins to keep pure, and protects the married from
satanic wars, so that they may have happy lives and homes.
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iv. Litany
of Mercy
The priest prays, "Remember O Lord
to have mercy upon us all", asking
God's mercy upon
His congregation and upon
himself, so God
may have His
mercy upon them according to His loving kindness, according
to the multitude of His tender
mercies because, "With
the Lord there
is mercy, and with Him abundant redemption" (Psalm130:7).
Beat
your chest, and
share with the congregation in
this supplication as it is very tender to the heart of God, as a saint
once said, "There
is no supplication
more beloved and acceptable for God than someone asking
for the forgiveness of their sins"
v. Litany
Of Place
The
priest requests for
deliverance and safety
of the place, city or village where the church is,
as the Prophet Jeremiah advised saying, "Seek
the peace of the city
where I have caused
you to be
carried away captive.
And pray to the
Lord for it, for in its peace you will have peace" (Jeremiah
29:7).
Where
there is peace
in a city
there are believers
living peacefully and in safety : "Lead a quiet and peaceful life
in all godliness and reverence" (1 Timothy 2:2).
The priest prays for every place, city,
village and monastery of our Orthodox fathers in all the world, so that they
may be kept in safety and peace.
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During this request, pray for every
place according to their needs, for example, the needs of a monastery situated
in the wilderness are different
from those situated
on islands or near
the sea, as
was detailed in
the Litany of
Place in the Evening
Incense. Respond with
the congregation, “Lord have mercy”, for all the above
mentioned requests.
The priest completes the litany by
saying, "And those
who are dwelling in
them, in God's
faith", referring to the
Christians dwelling in those places.
This
request applies more
to the monks
living in the wilderness, without whose faith in God
and His providence, and trust in
His love, without
their hope in
His kingdom ready for those who
struggle in His holy name, they would not have migrated to such remote places,
which is away from any consolation or comfort; preferring to live in
asceticism, spiritual strife and
vigil for the
greatness of their
love to Christ the King.
During
this request, remember
my beloved, all
the monks living in the
wilderness, and pray for their perfection so God may give them aid, power and
victory in their struggle.
vi. Litany
of Waters (vegetation and the wind)
Every
one of these
specific factors has
a time for
church prayers, at the end of each of these three prayers the priest
completes the rest of the
litany: "Raise them
to their measure according to
Your grace."
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During this litany, ask God to, "give
us rain from
heaven and fruitful seasons,
filling our heart
with food and gladness" (Acts
14:17), and, "Supply
all our needs according to
His riches in
glory by Christ
Jesus"
(Philemon 4:19). In the evening incense
these private prayers
are further explained.
vii. Litany
of Oblations
The priest requests the heavenly reward
and divine grace for all those who
have presented to
Him these oblations, carrying them to the church and
those on whose behalf they are offered, like
the sick, oppressed
and the departed,
and those by whom
they have been
presented like the
priests, deacons and ministers of the altar who partook in preparing the
oblations and raising them on the altar.
During
the recitation of
this litany, the
priest motions towards the
oblations placed before
him, as they are the
greatest of the offerings of the believers to the church. The offerings, by its
broad meaning, include all that is offered to the church
for its needs
and the needs
of her servants,
like flour to make
the bread, wine
to fill the
chalice, candles, curtains, reading
books, vessels of
the altar and
money offerings like tithes, vows or donations.
Note:
Some
people may wonder,
‘Why does the
priest call the mysteries
“Oblations”, even after
being transubstantiated to the
Holy Body and
Blood of the
Lord?’ We say
this is possible, for
the sacrament of
Holy Communion has
many names, such as,
‘The sacrament of
the Holy Bread."
His
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Grace Bishop Gregorios, the Bishop of
Scientific Research, wrote a book entitled, "The spiritual values of the
sacrament of Bread," referring to the Eucharist.
It is also possible to name something or
a person by a name or quality which they had before conversion, such as in the
story of the man who was born blind. When the Lord healed him and he regained
sight, some Pharisees came to Him to investigate his remedy saying, "What
do you say about Him because He opened
your eyes?" (John
9:17). The Bible called him the ‘blind man’ even though
at that time he had his full vision recovered.
In
the incident of
the resurrection of
our good Saviour,
an angel appeared to the women and said to them, "You
seek Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. He is risen. He is not
here" (Mark16:6).
We notice the angel called Him ‘Jesus of
Nazareth who was crucified’,
although He was
taken down from
the cross a long time ago, buried and then arose.
My
beloved, during the
recitation of this
litany and the response
of the deacon
who says, "Pray
for these sacred and
worthy oblations and
our sacrifices and
those who offered them,"
ask for the
acceptance of this
pure, non- bloody sacrifice for
the forgiveness of the sins and iniquities of
the whole congregation.
Ask for those
on whose behalf they
are offered, if
they are sick,
oppressed, needy or reposed,
so God may
grant them according
to each one's heart, if asked according to God's
will.
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Also
pray for those
who have presented these
oblations so God may give them
the heavenly in place of the earthly, the incorruptible in place of the
corruptible and the perpetual in place of the transient, as the Apostle says,
"Do not forget to do good and
share, for with
such sacrifices God
is well pleased" (Hebrews
13:16).
The Synaxis of the Saints
After completing the litanies, the
priest says the prayer of the Synaxis,
so called as it includes
the most famous
church fathers, righteous and
holy. The priest
begins by saying,
"Since this O Lord is the command
of Your only begotten Son, that we
partake in the
commemoration of Your saints…"
This
means God is
pleased and wants
us to partake
in the commemoration of
these saints who
pleased Him in
their lives. But how do we
take part in
the commemoration of these saints? By commemorating their
lives, struggle, sayings and truly attempting
to resemble them
and follow in
their steps in order to share with them an inheritance in the eternal
life.
During
recitation of the
Synaxis, stand in
reverence, concentrate and contemplate
on every word
and name said by
the priest in
order to benefit
from the prayer
of the Synaxis.
Try,
while listening to
the Synaxis to
remember even a glimpse of the life of the saint whose name
is mentioned by the priest, or
contemplate on an
aspect of their
struggle,
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remember
a famous teaching
or an important
virtue that distinguishes them,
so that you may keep your concentration during the Synaxis.
Let us try to apply this together, I am
going to mention some of the saints in the Synaxis and a small aspect of each
one's life…
The
priest says, "Graciously O Lord remember
all the saints who
have pleased You
since the beginning.
Our holy fathers the
patriarchs…” remember Adam,
Abel, Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob. “…the prophets…”
remember Moses, Isaiah and
Jeremiah, “…the apostles…”
remember some of the twelve disciples and their intercessions, “…the preachers…” such as St. Phillip and other past and recent preachers.
“…The evangelists…” such
as St. Matthew,
St. Mark, St. Luke and St. John and their great
contribution to the church
in
writing the gospel,
life and teachings
of our Lord
Jesus Christ. “…the martyrs…”
who are many,
such as St. George,
St. Mina and
St. Demiana. “…the
confessors…”, these are the
believers who faced
much tribulation and torture
for their faith,
they were not
martyred but lived
to endure terrible sufferings
and permanent infirmities.
There are many Confessors, such as St. Samuel the Confessor and
abbot of
the Kalamoun monastery
near Fayoum, and
St. Paphnatius the Confessor and bishop of Teeba.
“…And
the spirits of
the righteous who
perfected their faith…”, there
are so many, such as Pope Mettaous, the first great patriarch,
Pope Abraam another
great patriarch, and the
great Father Mikhail
Ibrahim. Remember also
St.
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Arsanious who was a righteous monk, and
the deacon Habib
Farag who was a great servant.
“…Above all the holy perpetual virgin,
the holy mother of God St. Mary...”
remember aspects of her life, such as her humility, quietness,
her purity, and
her only advice
which was recorded in the Bible : "Whatever He
says to you,
do it" (John 2:5). Try to fulfill this by keeping the
commandment of the Lord Jesus in the Bible.
“…St.
John the forerunner,
Baptist and martyr…”, remember his bravery in truth till
death, his humility and self denial
when he said,
"He must increase
and I must decrease" (John 4:30).
“…St.
Stephen the archdeacon
and first martyr…”, remember his bravery, faith
and forgiveness towards
his enemies when he asked for it while being stoned saying, "Do not
charge them with this sin" (Acts 7:60).
“…The
beholder of God
and evangelist, Mark
the holy apostle and
martyr…”, remember his contribution
to Christianity in writing
the gospel of
Mark, his journey
to preach with Peter, Paul and Barnabas, and finally what he did for the
Coptic Orthodox church in preaching in our country and being martyred in
Alexandria.
“…The
holy patriarch Severus…”,
who was the
patriarch of our sister
church, the Syrian
Orthodox Church. He was
exiled from his
land because he
held fast to
his Orthodox faith, and so came to Egypt where he died and was
buried. Try to remember and learn from his patience and longsufferance. “…Our teacher
Dioscorus…”, who was the
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hero
of Orthodoxy. He
suffered torture and
insults for his Orthodoxy and was exiled and died in
exile. Learn from his example by abiding
in the true
doctrine which was
handed down to us by the saints. “…St. Athanasius the Apostolic...”, who was the protector
of the Orthodox faith. Remember
what is said
of him: “If
it had not
been for Athanasius, the
whole world would
have become Arians.” Thank God
for preserving the
true faith through
St. Athanasius the Great,
who resembled the
apostles in their struggle.
“…St. Peter the martyr and high
priest…”, remember his love for his
people and his fear for them when he advised the jailer to
dig the jail
from the rear
and take him
to his martyrdom secretly, so
that the people gathering in front of the
prison may be
protected from seeing
their father being tortured.
“…St. John Chrysostom…”, remember his
bravery in truth against the impertinent
Queen Andoksia. Remember
his fervent spiritual sermons which are still read and remember
to this day. It was because of his
sermons that he was given the title ‘of the golden mouth’.
“…St. Theodosius…”, who was the 33rd
Coptic patriarch. He protected Orthodoxy and was severely tortured for this.
Learn from him to abide in the correct doctrine so that you,
"Do not
be carried about
with various and
strange doctrines"
(Hebrews 13:9). “…St. Theophilus…”,
who was the 22nd
Coptic patriarch. He
was a spiritual
person who loved monasticism and always took the time to visit the monks
who dwelt in the wilderness. He would sit with them and talk about
salvation. “…St. Dimitrius…”, who was
the
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12th Coptic patriarch, and is famously
known as ‘Dimitrius the vine dresser’.
He is credited
for establishing the
Coptic calendar and organising
the fasts and
Christian feasts correctly. He
gave the church
a great service.
Try to learn from
him by serving
the church with
your talents and abilities, however little. When God
blesses them by a touch from the Holy
Spirit they become
great as what
happened with St. Dimitrius who was illiterate at first. “…St. Cyril…”,
who was
the 24th Coptic
patriarch. He was
given the title
‘the great pillar of faith’. Remember
his struggle in the first
ecumenical council in Ephesus against
Nestorius the heretic. Also
remember his pure
Orthodox teachings which
still enriches and enlivens the church. He is the greatest teacher of the
mystery of Divine
incarnation and the
greatest defender of the motherhood of St. Mary to Jesus Christ, the
Incarnate God. It
was said about
him, "His mind
was marinated in the divine books."
“…St. Basil…”, who was the archbishop of Caesarea, and the writer
of the liturgy of St. Basil, which is famous in our church. He is a
distinguished personality in the universal church and a pillar of pillars. “…St. Gregory the theologian…”, who
was the bishop
of Sazema. He
served for a while
in Constantinople, and
wrote many powerful theological essays. Hence he earned his title, ‘the theologian’. “…St.
Gregory the miracle
performer…”, who was called
as such because
of the numerous
miracles God performed through him. He was ordained bishop to the
new Caesarea in
the province of
Pontius and was
a great, spiritual man.
“…and St. Gregory
the Armenian…”, he was the most famous Armenian patriarch who
was martyred without blood shed due to the enormous torturing he faced, and yet
he was as steadfast as a rock.
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“…The
three hundred and
eighteen fathers assembled
at
Nicea…”,
the Council of
Nicea was the
first Ecumenical Council, and
was held in
the year 325
AD. Its aim
was to defeat the heresy of
Arius. The members were three hundred and eighteen who rejected the heresy and
defended the true Orthodox faith. St.
Athanasius was the
great hero of the
Council and he instituted the scripts of the Nicean Creed of Faith. “…The one
hundred and fifty at Constantinople…”, this was the second Ecumenical
Council, which was
held in the year 381
AD, to condemn Macedonius the enemy of the Holy
Spirit and other heretics. Their
heresies were rejected
by the Council,
and the last section of the Creed was instituted,
beginning with, "Truly we believe
in the Holy Spirit…". “…and the
two hundred at Ephesus...” The
Council of Ephesus
is the third Ecumenical Council, which was held in
the year 431 AD to condemn the heresies of Nestorius and Pilagius. They were
rejected by the Council and excommunicated. The introduction to the Creed was
instituted during this Council, which
begins with, "We
honour you mother
of true light…" Pope Cyril the Alexandrian was the bright
star at that Council.
“…Our righteous father the great Abba
Anthony…”, who was distinguished by
his quiet, spiritual
bravery which penetrated deep
within the wilderness. Despite fierce Satanic wars, he was victorious, through
the strength and providence of the Lord,
and so established
a great spiritual
monastic system in Egypt, earning the title of ‘the father of all monks
in
the whole world’.
St. Anthony cared
to keep the
divine commandments and fulfill them. He advised all his disciples
the monks to
live according to
the commandments and to
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keep a verse from the Holy Bible to
which their deeds may reflect.
“…The righteous Abba Paul…”, who was the
first hermit
to live a solitary life in the
wilderness for about ninety three years without seeing a fellow human. The
church gave him his title ‘the first hermit’, because of his long solitude in
the wilderness and his spiritual struggle and great asceticism.
“…The three saints Abba Macarius and all
their children the cross bearers…”. The
three Macarius’ are as follows :-
? Abba Macarius
the Great, who
was Egyptian, and known as the father of the monks of the
wilderness of Scetes (Sheheet), distinguished
by his humility
and love which thinks
no evil. He
always covered the mistakes for others, so much so that he
deserved to hear a voice
from heaven saying,
"Blessed are you spiritual
Macarius, you resemble
your Creator in covering the weaknesses of
others". Try to learn this blessed
and beautiful virtue, my beloved.
? Abba
Macarius the Alexandrian, father of the monks of cells. He was a contemporary
of St. Macarius the Great. The most
distinguished characteristic about him was his strict asceticism, his love
of fasting and struggle in prayer.
He was always
cheerful. Try to learn these qualities, while asking his
help in prayers.
? Abba
Macarius the Bishop of the province of Kao in Upper Egypt.
He was martyred
for his Orthodox faith at the time of the Patriarch
Dioscorus. He was characterised by perfect simplicity in appearance and
dressing, so much
so that many
did not believe
he
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was
a bishop. Try
to learn from
him the virtue
of simplicity, so that Satan does not tempt us with the sin of pride. Ask
for his help in your prayers.
“…and all their children the cross
bearers…”, these were saintly monks who wore the holy Cross as a sign of
spiritual struggle and victory.
“…Our
father Abba John
the hegumen…”, the
spiritual brother of Abba
Bishoy. Both were
disciples of the
great saint Abba Bamon. Abba John
received the order
of hegumen and became
the provider in
the wilderness, while living a heavenly life on earth. Once
some fathers heard him praying in his
cell and heard
praises of angels
and the fragrance of incense
coming out of his cell. At another time one
of the elders
saw him sleeping
in the heat
of the noon and
beside him was an angel
relaxing him with
a fan. The reason for these wonderful gifts was his
wonderful humility, obedience,
honesty in worshipping
and care for
prayers, continually contemplating on God. Try to learn his virtues.
“…Our
father Abba Bishoy,
the righteous, perfect
man, the beloved of our good
Saviour...”, he was
the star and light of the wilderness. He was
characterised by humility and goodness
so much so
that he deserved
to be called
‘the perfect man, beloved
of our good
Saviour’. The Lord appeared to him many
times as a
guest. At one
time, St. Bishoy washed
the feet of
our Lord Jesus
Christ, and at another
time he carried
Him on his
blessed shoulders up a
mountain. Why not
learn from Abba
Bishoy the virtue
of meekness, for as
the Lord said,
“they shall inherit
the earth.”
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“…Our
father Abba Paul
of Tammoh...” Abba
Paul of Tammoh was
the disciple of
Abba Bishoy, and
they are always mentioned
together in the
church's praises and prayers. What
characterises Abba Paul
is his spiritual struggle in the ascetic life,
until the Lord Himself appeared to him saying, "Enough struggle My beloved
Paul," and Abba Paul lovingly answered,
"Let me exhaust
my body, my Master for Your name’s sake, as You
exhausted Yourself for mankind, You the God and Son of God gave Yourself for
us, we the unworthy
sinners!" So the
Lord consoled him
and strengthened him. “…and
Ezekiel his disciple…”,
we do not know much about him,
but it is enough for him to be the disciple
of St. Paul
of Tammoh, and
it is definite
that he resembled his
great spiritual father
in his spiritual
struggle, humility and obedience
which enabled him
to live in submission and obedience for a long time.
Try to learn from the life and spiritual struggle of St. Paul of Tammoh, and
the obedience of Ezekiel
his disciple, and
ask for their
help in your prayers.
“…My
masters the holy
Roman fathers Maximus
and Domitius…”, who were
the sons of
King Valentianus. Leaving the
King's palace, throne and greatness, they became monks in the desert of Syria.
Then they came to Egypt and became disciples of St. Macarius the Great, the
father of the wilderness of Scetes, and lived their life in strict ascetisicm
until they passed away. We can learn from them to renounce worldly concerns,
such as money,
possessions, authority,
leadership, honour and praise, so that we may win rather the everlasting honour
in eternal life
with Christ the
King of glory.
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“…The
forty nine martyrs,
the elders of
Scetes...”, who were martyred by
the hands of the barbarians on one of their raids in the desert. Their bodies
are buried in a large tomb in the Church of the Elders, in the monastery of St.
Macarius in the wilderness of Scetes. They were a good example in their
readiness for death at any moment without fear; we wish to learn from these
heroes.
“…The strong saint Abba Moses…”, whose
example is one of true, pure
repentance. He was
transformed from the depths of evil to the highest level of
purity and holiness, so that he may
become a witness
of the work
of God's grace that
works and renews
all people, if
the Lord finds
them ready. We remember
Abba Moses for
his repentance, repentance with
all its significance and benefits. The greatest virtue we
learn from St.
Moses is the
life of repentance without which no one can see the
Lord.
“…and John Kame the priest…”, he was a
pure saint who loved virginity so much
that when his
father forced him to
marry against his will, St. John made an agreement with his wife to live in
celibacy. They lived together in purity to an extent that
each night, they
deserved to see
an angel protecting their
bedroom. Also, the
Lord planted a
vine to overshadow them as a
visible symbol of their angelic purity. Finally, St.
John sent his
wife to a
nunnery and he
himself went to become
a monk in
the wilderness of
Scetes, completing his life
in purity, and
becoming a father
of a monastery. We can learn from
Abba John Kame the virtue of purity, either in celibacy or in marriage, as St.
Paul described
in the seventh chapter of his first
epistle to the Corinthians.
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“…Our father Abba Daniel the hegumen…”,
who was the protopriest of the wilderness of Scetes in the sixth century. He
was characterised by great insight, spiritual wisdom and distinction, granted
to him by God. These gifts enabled him
to lead great multitudes of monks in
their spiritual life. God also gave him the talent of knowledge of virtues and
vices of people to facilitate
his leadership of
others and know
their hearts, so as to guide them. Try to learn from him the virtue
of spiritual wisdom
and Divine distinction.
This comes by continuous reading
in the Holy
Bible, in a
spirit of submission and prayer,
so that the Holy Spirit may teach you what you need. This also comes by reading
the sayings and teachings of the fathers, knowing their struggle and manner
which was guided by the Holy Spirit.
Knowledge comes by the life of discipleship, and guidance by the
spiritual fathers.
“…Our
father Abba Isidor
the priest…”, who
was the great saintly priest of
the wilderness in the fifth century, the golden
era of monasticism.
He was full
of wisdom and patience. He once said, "From the
time I became a monk, I never allowed anger to come out of my mouth." He
helped the poor, encouraged
the oppressed and
bore everyone patiently. He,
"strengthened the weak
hands, made firm the feeble knees, said to those who are
fearful hearted, be strong, do not fear. Behold your God will come and save
you" (Isaiah 35:3-4). It is
mentioned about him
that any father who had a son and
failed to chasten him, sent him to St. Isidor, who would counsel him and save
him.
“…Our
father Abba Bakhomius,
the father of
the community…”, there were
two conflicting qualities
in the character of St. Bakhomius,
his extreme strictness
and his extreme humility.
He was very
strict in administering
his
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monasteries, which
resembled military camps
in their order and
obedience, but he
was also distinguished
by his great modesty, without
the sovereignty of one over
the other. Learn, my
beloved these two
virtues from St.
Bakhomius, for few can attain them.
“…and Theodore his disciple…”, who was an obedient son and the personal
disciple of Abba Bakhomius. He absorbed
all the characteristics of
his personality, as it is mentioned in the Gospel: "It is enough
for a
disciple to be
like his teacher"
(Matthew 10:25). Theodore
(Tadros) had a rare obedience, so much so that he became an ideal disciple. We
can all learn from him simple obedience
towards our physical
and spiritual fathers,
as obedience saves us
a great deal
of trouble in
reaching our goals without
stumbling along the
way. By obedience
we take a ready counsel
supported by experience
and free of negatives.
“…Our father Abba Shenouti the
Archimandrite…”, who was the abbot of the monasteries in the province of Sohag
in Upper Egypt. He was distinguished by his patriotism, pride of his
nationality and heritage. He encouraged whatever was Coptic (Egyptian) and
resisted anything foreign. He did his utmost
to confirm the
Coptic language, and
assisted the Egyptians to a great
extent in their struggle against foreign colonism. His high spirituality, and
love for monasteries and solitude, earned him the title ‘the Archimandrite’, or
‘head of the hermits’. We
can learn from
St. Shenouti the
love for our country, our people
and our church, with all her heritage, language, rites,
tunes, and spirituality. “…and
Abba Besa his disciple…”,
who was the
successor of St.
Shenouti in the administration of
the monasteries, and was obedient and sincere
to his spiritual
father during his
life and after
his departure. He managed the monasteries in the same style and
159
spirit
of Abba Shenouti.
All his essays
and letters to the
monasteries included a
speech or a
teaching of his
late spiritual father St. Shenouti. We can learn from Abba Besa his love
of the spiritual life and teachings, for by them we are guided as if by a
bright lamp.
While these are the names always
mentioned in the Synaxis, or the Commemoration of Saints, there are, of course,
many more, but are not usually mentioned.
The priest concludes the Synaxis with
this wonderful prayer :
"And all
the host of
Your saints through
whose prayers and supplications,
have mercy upon us and save us for the sake
of Your Holy
Name which is
called upon us."
The priest here asks
for mercy and
deliverance and providence from God,
for himself and
the congregation, through
the supplications and prayers of all the saints whose names were
mentioned, even though
they are but
a few from
a vast number of saints whose
names were not mentioned.
He truly asks for all this in the
worthiness of the great and holy
name of Christ,
which is called
upon us. As
we are called Christians we carry
His name. So the priest guarantees the acceptance and response to his prayers
according to the Lord's promise: “Whatever you ask in My name, that I will
do” (John 14:13,14).
In the Old
Testament God also promised, “If My people who are called
by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their
wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and forgive their sin and heal their
land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this
place”
(2 Chronicles 7:14-15).
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Take this valuable chance and these
blessed promises and ask God for all your needs according to His good will,
seek Him with lowliness and
humbleness, so He
gives you whatever you need and responds to your will.
The deacon then says, "Let the
readers recite the names of our
holy fathers, the
patriarchs who have
departed, O Lord repose their
souls and forgive us our sins."
In
the past, names
of the patriarchs
who departed were written
on many tablets
and upon hearing
this call every reader took out a tablet and read the
names, asked for their mercy and repose as a reward for their services in the
church and shepherding the people of God. We do not know when this tradition
stopped but we
can still pray
to God for
the departed patriarchs on
hearing this call
in the church.
May God reward them for their spiritual strife and struggle in the
church.
THE DIPTYCH
The
times in which
the Diptych must
not be recited
in the known fasting tune, are on
Sundays, and during the fifty days after
Easter. After the
priest completes the
Synaxis, and during the
previous response of
the deacon, the
priest says the following
diptych inaudibly: "Remember also
O Lord, all those
who departed and
reposed from amongst
the priesthood, and from all the orders of the laity. Graciously
O Lord, repose all their souls in the
embrace of our holy
fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Sustain them in green pastures, by the waters, comfort in the paradise of joy,
the place where grief,
sorrow and sighing
have fled, in the
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light of your saints." He then
places one spoonful of incense into the censer presented to him by the deacon,
and he then mentions others who have departed.
Once the deacon has responded, "Let
the readers name our holy fathers who
have departed...", the
priest would have completed the
recitation of the
Diptych inaudibly, then
the congregation respond, "Glory be to You O Lord, Lord have mercy,
Lord have mercy, Lord bless us, Lord repose them, Amen."
This is
a specific response
for the Diptych
of the departed and
not for the
Synaxis as some
understand. Due to the
misunderstanding that this
is a response
for the Synaxis
of Saints, some have added, "May their holy blessings be with
us all,
Amen," to the
beginning of the
response. This sentence was not
originally present in the old liturgy books, neither in print or in scrolls.
The liturgy of the society of the church's
children mentioned it
between brackets to
denote that it is
not original, but
rather, recently added.
Logically though, it is
not possible for
this response to
refer to the Synaxis of the Saints, ("Lord repose
them Amen"), for they have
reached the highest
levels of repose,
comfort and happiness in the
paradise of joy and their names are placed in the Synaxis so that we may ask
for their intercessions.
If
this response is
meant for the
recently departed then
we should not say,
"May their holy
blessings be with
us all Amen," because we do
not know their fate and the church has not confessed their holiness. It is not
logical to ask for their repose and then to ask for their blessings. This
response
is meant for the recently departed, and
not for the saints, as it
is said after the Diptych and not the
Synaxis. Another proof
162
is the absence of the sentence,
"May their holy blessings be with us all Amen," in the original
liturgy books.
I hope this sentence will be deleted,
and the hymn restored to its original, concise
meaning. The Bible
advises us saying,
"Do not remove the ancient landmark
which your fathers have set" (Proverbs 22:28).
And the Lord also said, "Stand in
the ways and see and ask for the old
paths, where the
good way is and walk
in it, then you will find the
rest of your souls" (Jeremiah 6:16).
If
there is a
private Mass for
a departed soul,
the previous inaudible Diptych is
not mentioned, but this audible one from the
Liturgy of St.
Cyril, with the great solemn
tune, "And those and
everyone, O Lord
whose name we
have mentioned, and those
whom we have
not mentioned. Those who are
within the thoughts of everyone of us and those who are not within us and those
who have departed and reposed in the faith of Christ."
Here the priest places one spoonful of
incense into the censer while
reciting audibly, in the above
mentioned tune, the names of the departed. The deacon recites
the Litany of the Departed,
"Pray for our
fathers and brethren
who have departed, may
the Lord repose
their souls and
forgive us our sins." The congregation respond, "Lord have
mercy."
Then the priest prays, in the solemn
tune, the first part of the Litany
of the Departed,
"Graciously O Lord,
repose all their souls in the
embrace of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Sustain them in green pastures
by the waters,
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comfort in the paradise of joy. The
place from which grief, sorrow and sighing have fled in the light of Your
saints."
Then the congregation responds,
"Glory be to You O Lord, Lord
have mercy, Lord
have mercy, Lord
bless us, Lord repose
them, Amen." This
response is clear
in the liturgy book
without the sentence,
"May their holy
blessings be with us all,
Amen."
The
Method of Draining
the Censer after
the
Diptych
After
the priest places
one spoonful of
incense into the censer
for those who
have departed, the
deacon takes the censer
and places it
in its designated
area within the sanctuary so
that all the
incense may rise
before the Lord God, within His Holy Sanctuary. This
incense rises together with the prayers
mentioned for those
souls of His
servants who have departed, so that the Lord may grant them mercy and
repose.
The
censer stays in
its place until
all the incense
within it rises, then the deacon
empties the ashes. The censer should not be emptied while the incense is still
rising, for the incense signifies mercy for the departed before God.
Common Rites
Common rites regarding the use of the
censor are as follows:
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?
After placing the Diptych incense in the censer, the priest or the
deacon offers it before the icons of the saints in the church.
?
After placing the
Diptych incense into
the censer, the deacon
takes it and
walks through the
rows of congregation, blowing
into the censor.
One may ask: 'What is the reason for
offering incense before the saints' icons, if the incense is meant for the
departed and not for the
saints?' and, 'What
is the reason
for the deacon walking amongst
the congregation and
blowing into the censor?'
His
Grace Bishop Gregorios,
the Bishop of Scientific Research, responds
to both questions
as follows: "The deacon ought to carry incense to
the congregation who are outside the sanctuary, so that they can pray for their
loved ones who have departed in His name. Then the priest takes the censer,
and prays for
the reposed and
mercy of the departed, and the incense rises with the
prayers of the saints upon the golden altar which is before the throne of
Christ"
(Revelations 8:3,4 and 5:8).
The most preferable is for the celebrant
priest to come to the congregation
with the censer,
followed by a
deacon who carries a dish containing
the beads of
incense. The people then
take from it
according to the
number of people
they know who have
departed, pray on
it and give
it to the deacon, who then gives it to the priest
who offers it in the sanctuary. If there
is only one
priest celebrating the
Holy Mass, then a
deacon will take
the beads of
incense to the people,
followed by another
deacon who will
collect them
165
and give them back to the priest for
offering and praying to the Lord for the departed.
Therefore, we conclude...
?
The deacon goes out to the congregation with a plate of incense beads,
not the censer, before the Diptych and not after, to collect from the believers
the beads of incense, distributed
for the Litany
of the Departed.
He then prepares it
for the priest,
and at the
moment of the Diptych, the priest places it in the
censer to request God's mercy for the departed.
?
This incense is not to be offered before saintly icons or amidst the
congregation, but for
the mercy of
the departed souls of the church believers.
Notes:
i. The deacon must not take the censer
after the incense of mercy has been
placed in it
and pass through
the congregation blowing in it. This distracts the people from the
sacrifice on the altar and the continuance of the Mass.
ii. It is preferable for the censer to
hang in its place after the incense
of mercy has
been placed in
it and left
until it is completely free from the smoke of incense.
Then the deacon takes it, after the Mass, and empties the ashes.
iii. It is necessary to empty the censer
after using it in every
Mass, so that it may 'fast' in
preparation for the next Mass. If
it
is left without
being emptied, either
by mistake or forgetfulness, it
should not be
used for the
next Mass, but instead be replaced by another censor which
has 'fasted'. This
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fasting must be done by all the altar
vessels such as the water jug and the chalice. All vessels must be completely
dried and wiped after washing
them at the
end of the
Mass. The veil must be kept upside down to dry and the
water jug must be emptied and left to dry upside down at the end of the Mass.
This is fasting.
iv. The rite of the deacon going out to
the congregation with the plate of
incense during the
Mass is not
practiced now, but it
is still practiced
in the prayers
of Prostration at the
evening of Pentecost Sunday.
It is done as follows...
i. At the end of Tasbeha (Praises), and
before the beginning of the prayer, the deacon ignites some coal which is
placed in
a certain bowl. He then takes the plate
containing the incense beads, and passes through the congregation so that
everybody may take a few beads.
ii. Each person mentions the names of
those they know who have departed, and
with each name
they take a
bead and place it in the other
hand. This is done until all the departed have
been remembered. The
deacon then passes
through with two empty
plates; one for
the incense of
the departed and one for the
surplus incense beads.
iii. The deacon returns to the altar,
placing the incense plate containing the incense beads with the names of the
departed on the table
before the priest,
who is praying
the Thanksgiving Prayer in order to begin the first Prostration.
167
iv.
After the Thanksgiving Prayer,
the priest proceeds towards the
vessel prepared for
placing the incense
for Diptych of the departed, and places some of this incense in it
saying, "Glory and honour, honour and glory to the Holy Trinity, the
Father, the Son
and the Holy
Spirit, repose and comfort
for Your servants
who have departed
in the Orthodox faith
since the beginning.
Graciously O Lord repose
all their souls
in the embrace
of our holy
fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in
the paradise of
joy, in the heavenly Jerusalem. And give them, with
us, a share and inheritance with all Your saints."
v.
This procedure is
repeated again after
the Prayer of Thanksgiving in the second Prostration, so
the priest places the rest of the incense beads which were counted according
to the souls of the departed while
saying the above prayer.
vi.
About distributing incense
beads to the
congregation so each may take a
few beads in remembrance of the departed whom they
would like to
mention, the book
of Laqan mentions, "Everyone
gives incense for their departed."
Those O Lord...
Whether the priest prays the Diptych
audibly or not, he must pray the Diptych of the Liturgy of St. Basil as
follows:
" Those O Lord whose souls You have
taken, repose them in the paradise of joy, in the land of eternal living, in
the heavenly Jerusalem. And we also,
the foreigners in
this place, preserve us in Your faith and grant us Your peace until the
end."
168
In this paragraph, the church fulfils
her holy work towards all
her children, the departed and the
living. Interceding for her departed children for the Lord to repose their
souls, and to give them the
eternal kingdom in
the heavenly Jerusalem.
"The tabernacle
of God is
with men, and
He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people
and God Himself will be with
them and be
their God. And
God will wipe away
every tear from
their eyes, there
shall be no
more death, nor sorrow nor crying and there shall be no more pain for
the former things have passed away" (Revelations
21:3-4). Here the great care of the
church for her children is manifested not only in their lives but after their
departure as well.
The
intercession of the
living for the
departed is a
fixed doctrine in the
church. St. John
Chrysostom witnessed the prayer
for the departed
as an apostolic
tradition, and said:
"The apostle
did not uselessly
oblige performance to commemorate the departed at the time of
completion of the awesome sacraments, because they well know how beneficial and
useful it is."
As
a compassionate mother,
the church cares
for her departed children,
asking for their repose and does not forget her
living children, but
asks God to
keep them in the
Orthodox faith until the end, giving them His Divine peace which, "Surpasses all
understanding, will guard
your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ" (Philippians 4:7).
How
beautiful are the
feelings of the
humble church when she describes herself and her children
as "foreigners in this place".
The world in which we live is a foreign land for us,
169
as
God said to
Moses, "I have
also established My covenant with them to give them the land
of Canaan, the land of their
pilgrimage, in which
they were strangers"
(Exodus 6:4). And the Psalmist humbly
confesses saying, "I
am a stranger in the earth, do not hide Your commandment from
me" (Psalm 119:19).
He also admits himself as a stranger in his own
house, "Your statutes have been
my song in
the house of
my pilgrimage" (Psalm
119:54),
he also supplicates
in his strange
house saying,
"Hear my prayer O Lord and give ear
to my cry. Do not be silent at my tears for I am a stranger , a sojourner as
all my fathers were" (Psalm 39:12).
The Apostle Paul says, "Therefore
we are always confident knowing
that while we are at
home in the
body, we are absent from the Lord" (2 Corinthians
5:6). Our true home is the heavenly Jerusalem where we shall dwell with God our
Father forever. The Apostle says, "For our citizenship is in heaven, for
which we also eagerly wait for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus
Christ" (Philippians 3:20).
I wish we
could resemble the heroes
of faith who
confessed they were strangers, and
pilgrims on the
earth, plainly they
seek a homeland, a
heavenly country, "Therefore God
is not ashamed to be called their
God, for He has prepared a city for them" (Hebrews 11:13-16). As long as we are strangers
in this world, let us put our only hope
that final happiness is
to, "Set our minds on things above,
not on things on the earth"
(Colossians 3:2) and
listen to the
advice of the Apostle
who says, "Conduct
yourselves throughout the time of your sojourning here in
fear" (1 Peter 1:17).
Dear
friend, during the
recitation of this
prayer try to
live with its words
with all your
heart and contemplate
on the
170
valuable
gems in it.
Ask for the
repose of your
departed loved ones, by name. Confess to God that you are a stranger
in
this world and
one day you
will proceed to
your real homeland, as
those who have proceeded us
in departure. Then reverently
ask God to
keep you in His faith
until the end, granting you His
peace to complete your struggle.
After completing this part, the
congregation responds, "As it was,
so shall it be, from
generation to generation
and to the age of ages,
Amen."
As the priest witnesses humbly that we
are strangers in this world, the congregation
also bears witness
that we are temporal strangers, but infinity and
eternity is only for God who is the same, "Yesterday, today and
forever" (Hebrews
13:8), and we are strangers whose,
"Life is even a vapour that
appears for a
little time and
vanishes away" (James
4:14),
so they sing
the wonderful hymn
which implies that
God was from the beginning and shall be
forever. "He who
is blessed and omnipotent, the King of
kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in
unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom
be honour and
everlasting power, Amen"
(1
Timothy 6:15-16). When Moses asked God
about His name, He said, "I am
who I am"
(Exodus 3:14). It is a
Hebrew expression that means,
"Who is and
who was", God
also says about Himself , "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the
beginning and the end", says the Lord, "Who is and who was and who is
to come, the almighty" (Revelation 1:18).
We pray at the beginning of the Mass
saying, "O Master and Lord,
God of truth,
who existed before
the ages and reigning forever" (Anaphora).
171
My
beloved, pray this
hymn with the
congregation, with
understanding and attention, giving God
the due glorification as He is everlasting, with no beginning and no end.
Guide Us Into Your Kingdom ...
In this prayer the priest says,
"Guide us into Your kingdom, that
as in this,
as likewise also
in everything, Your
great and holy name
be glorified, blessed
and exalted in everything. Honourable
and blessed, with
Jesus Christ Your beloved
Son and the
Holy Spirit." This
part was mentioned in
one of the
old handwritten liturgy
books as follows:
"Guide us into
Your kingdom, that
and through this, as
likewise also in
everything, Your great
and holy name is
glorified, blessed and
exalted in everything,
with the honourable, and
blessed Jesus Christ
Your beloved Son and the Holy
Spirit."
The second text is more correct than the
first, relative to the accurate
Coptic text and
its meaning. We
shall try to
find some deep meanings
treasured in this
wonderful prayer, based on the
second text. "Guide us into Your kingdom...", the priest asks for
guidance to the good way that leads him and his congregation towards the
heavenly kingdom to dwell with God forever in glorious joy. "...that and
through this, and likewise also in everything, Your great and holy name
is glorified, blessed and
exalted...", as many were guided to
the heavenly kingdom, walking the
correct path, and adorned with
spiritual virtues. This
is reason enough
for glorifying God, praising Him
and exalting His Name, as the Lord Jesus Christ said, "Let your light so
shine before men, that they
172
may
see your good
works and glorify
your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16). God works
within the soul, so one may do good, virtuous and useful deeds, as the Apostle
says,
"For it is God who works in you
both to will and to work on behalf of His good pleasure" (Philippians
2:13).
God
is glorified much
more because He
gave us His
Holy Body and Blood as spiritual food and drink, to save us and guide us
to eternal life and His everlasting Kingdom. By this pure offering,
He dwells in
the midst of
His people, giving them eternal life for whoever partakes
worthily, and blessing on whom the
oblations were offered;
hence His holy
name may be glorified and blessed in everything.
As God is glorified in the salvation of
many who obey His commandments, and behave
accordingly, partaking of His
Holy, life giving
sacraments, He is
also glorified in the
perishing of many who refuse His commandments and close their ears from the
voice of His Fatherly Divine advice, just as
what happened with
Pharaoh in the
days of Moses
the Prophet, "As the Lord said to Moses, 'Why do you cry to
Me? Tell
the children of
Israel, go forward
but lift your rod and stretch out your hand over the
sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through
the midst of the sea. And I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and
they shall follow them. So I will gain honour
over Pharaoh and
over all his
army, his chariots and
his horsemen'" (Exodus
14:15-18). So God
was glorified in the salvation of Israel and their crossing the Red Sea
and their rescue from Pharaoh. He is also glorified in the drowning of the
rebellious Pharaoh who resisted the voice of God, and hence all his army and
horsemen drowned.
173
The two sons of Aaron the priest were
burnt by the fire of God, when they offered profane fire before God. And Moses
said to
Aaron, "This is
what the Lord
spoke saying, 'By those who come near Me I must be regarded
as Holy, and before all the people I must be glorified'" (Leviticus 10:1-
3).
God is glorified by the right and left,
in the salvation and the perishing of people, because He is the creator of all,
provider of all, and almighty God with word of His power.
This
prayer says, "Through
this (by Your
guidance and salvation) and
likewise also in everything (referring to the state of
perishing of the
rebellious and resistant),
Your great and holy
name is glorified,
blessed and exalted
in everything."
Truly
God's name is
Holy in everything,
as we pray
in the Liturgy of
St. Gregory, "Holy,
Holy You are
Lord and Holy in
everything."
In the Absolution of the Sunset Prayer
we say, "...to praise and pray to
You, at all
times and everywhere
we glorify and praise
Your Holy Name,
Your Father and
the Holy Spirit forevermore,
Amen."
God is Holy and glorified in everything,
as the Apostle says,
"If anyone speaks, let him speak as
the oracles of God. If anyone
ministers, let him
minister with the
ability which God supplies,
that in all
things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ" (1 Peter
4:11).
174
After the believer describes the name of
God the Father as,
"Great and
holy in everything," they
continue adding,
"Glorified and blessed," truly
the name of God is glorified and blessed from His creation, human and animal,
and He is also blessed as a source of every blessing, grace and credit as He is
the treasure of goodness and giver of charity.
"Jesus Christ Your beloved Son and
the Holy Spirit", here the
believer joins the
other two hypostasis
of the Father
in glorification, praise and divine perfection. The Holy Trinity is
the great and
holy name in
everything, the honoured
and blessed, the name
which ought to
be glorified, blessed
and exalted in adoration
and praise. To
understand this prayer read it as follows, "Guide us
into Your Kingdom, that and through
this and likewise
also in everything,
Your great and holy
name be glorified,
blessed and exalted
in everything Honourable and
blessed, with Jesus
Christ, Your beloved Son and the Holy Spirit."
Hear
this prayer my
beloved, and meditate
on all these meanings when the priest prays this
part of the liturgy, which
is full of praise and glorification for
the name of the glorified, blessed
and honoured God,
who is most
worthy in everything.
After
the priest completes
this prayer with
its beautiful meaning and full of
reverence, he bows his head toward the other serving priests and deacons and
says, "Peace be with you all."
Giving
peace here means
the establishment of
grace which we asked for in calling the Holy Spirit and the transubstantiation of
the sacraments. This
grace is given
to
175
partakers of the Communion of the Holy
Body and Blood of Jesus Christ,
"And the peace
of God, which
surpasses all understanding, will
guide your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ" (Philippians 4:7).
We
notice this is
the first time
the priest says,
"Peace be with you
all," without making
the sign of
the cross. The reason is because after the dwelling of
the Holy Spirit upon the mysteries and the transubstantiation into the Holy
Body and Blood of our God, the Lord Himself is present and the priest is now
standing in the presence of the High Priest, our beloved Lord
Jesus Christ. We
notice that the
statement,
"Peace be with you all," is
repeated many times from there on without any signing of the cross.
The only permissible signing of the
cross, after the dwelling of the Holy
Spirit, are on
the Mysteries, such
as when the sign of the cross is made on the Body by
the Blood and the Blood by the Body.
Respond
with the congregation, "And
also with you," requesting God to fill the priest
with peace and comfort, so that His Divine peace may overflow onto you and all
others. In this way,
problems and disputes
will be eliminated
from families and individuals,
and everyone, "May
lead a quiet and
peaceful life in
godliness and reverence.
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God
our Saviour, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of
the truth" (1 Timothy 2:2-4).
176
9 Fraction
and
Communion
177
INTRODUCTION TO THE FRACTION
The priest prays the introduction of the
Fraction by saying:
"Again, let
us give thanks
to the Almighty
God...", he thanks God
who made him and his children worthy to stand
in the holy presence of God, and raise
up their hands before God in praise, and thanksgiving and prayer. He thanks Him
for His
grace by which
He made the
believers worthy of partaking of the holy Body and Blood of
the Son of God, for the healing and redemption of their souls, bodies and
spirits.
Then
he fervently asks
God to make
him and his
people worthy to partake
of the Communion
of His divine
and immortal mysteries, so that the Communion does not become
a
reason for judgment
to them if
they partake of
the mysteries in an unworthy manner (1 Corinthians 11:30).
The
congregation respond: "Amen", thanking God for His marvellous blessings;
the crown of which is the sacrament of Communion, or
the sacrament of Thanksgiving, and
asking God to give him true repentance and necessary worthiness to
partake of these life-giving mysteries.
My
beloved, recite with
the congregation this
response
"Amen", and give thanks to God
for His mercy, asking Him
to make you worthy for receiving the
Communion of these mysteries, so that
you may enjoy
all their blessings
and effects.
The priest lays down the corporals on
the altar, and takes the
Body with his hands and says, "The
Holy Body."
178
The
whole congregation kneels
saying, "We worship
Your Holy Body", as
the priest declares
the jewel he
is holding with his hands is the
true Body of Christ Emmanuel, our true God, presenting a true adoration in word
and deed to the one who loved us and suffered physically, for our salvation.
Here the priest dips his finger into the
Blood and makes the sign of the
cross in the
chalice while saying,
"And the honoured
Blood."
The
congregation kneels proclaiming,
"And Your honored Blood" (that
is, we worship
Your divine, honoured
Blood which was shed on the cross for our salvation).
The priest makes the sign of the cross
on the Body with the Blood and says,
"Pertaining to His
Christ, the Almighty Lord
our God," signifying
the passion of
the Lord on the
cross, and His Blood which was shed from the effects of the nails, lashes,
crown of thorns,
and stabbing by
the spear, which tricked down His
holy body at the time of crucifixion until His pure body was covered in blood.
In one of the Coptic manuscripts of the
Liturgy books, the word "Almighty" relates to the Lord Christ and not
God the Father. The Lord
Christ was described
as "Almighty", in some parts of the liturgy of St Gregory,
for example :-
?
In the introduction
of the Fraction,
the priest speaks
to the Lord, "Our
God who gave
His holy disciples
and pure apostles... now again, O our Master bestow upon us and
on all Your
people... our almighty
Lord our God."
179
?
In the Fraction the priest prays saying, "Blessed are You
O Christ, our almighty God, Saviour of Your
congregation, the perceptible
word and the
visible man." This proves the equality of God the Son, to God the
Father, who is the first hypostasy in all qualities and divine perfection.
The deacons says, "Amen, Amen, let
us pray" warning the congregation
to pray in
spirit and truth
during these holy moments, while kneeling down in
reverence.
When
you hear this
response, lift your
heart to God,
my beloved, ask Him for a life of repentance and forgiveness of sins,
and worthiness to partake of the Holy Communion. Ask Him also for all your
spiritual needs. The congregation says,
"Lord have mercy." This is
said at the appropriate time, for the whole situation represents the crucifixion
of Christ, and the shedding of
His Holy Blood
for the salvation
of the world. This situation
presents the climax of divine mercy and love
for mankind. Let
us grasp this
valuable chance to ask
mercy from God,
for this mercy was granted
to us on His
crucifixion.
The priest gives peace to the
congregation, without making the sign of the cross on them saying,
"Peace be with
all", giving peace here
has a special
significance, for at
this moment Christ was
crucified, there was
great confusion in the world as the sun darkened, the earth
quaked, rocks were split and everyone was in fear and terror. But the priest
gives peace to the
congregation and comforts
their hearts amidst these
painful memories and
terrifying disturbances. My beloved,
make the sign
of the cross,
and accept peace together with
all the congregation,
from the Lord
of peace
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Himself. "Now may the God of peace
Himself sanctify you completely,
and may your
whole spirit, soul
and body be preserved
blameless at the
coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ" (1
Thessalonians 5:23).
The
congregation answers saying,
"And with your
spirit," requesting peace for their father the priest, so that this
peace may overflow to others. This is in accordance with what is mentioned in
the Apostolic Order,
"If the bishop
or priest asks peace for others,
he must first have peace, or else how can he give to others what he does not
have?"
After this, the congregation rise in
reverence and submission
to
the holy divine
Mysteries present on
the altar, things which angels desire to see...
The
priest starts to
divide the holy
Body while saying
the
Fraction.
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THE FRACTION
The Fraction is a supplication to God
who is pleased with the sanctification of the obligations, which have been
purified by His Holy Spirit,
so that they
may purify and
sanctify the bodies and souls of
His servants. Thus, making us worthy of partaking of the Holy Body of Christ,
and stand before Him as children before their loving father, with a pure heart,
and perfect love, so
that we may
dare with favour
and without fear to pray unto
Him: "Our Father..."
The
prayer of the
Fraction are many
and varied, some
are annual, others specific
for fasts, Lordly
feasts, feasts of St
Mary, the angels, saints and others.
The
dividing of the
Body symbolises the
pains which the Lord
suffered. The portions
which the priest
makes in the Body
are called the
"wounds". To prove
this meaning the priest places one third on top of the two
thirds so that they form a Cross, then divides the Holy Body to form a Cross.
The
marvellous reverential method
in which the
Fraction is recited, is
enough to uplift
one to the
heavens, to live heavenly moments whilst still living on
earth.
The
prayers of the
Fraction are divided
into sections. Whenever the
priest completes a
section, the congregation proclaims with
enthusiasm and spirituality, "Lord
have mercy."
During Fraction Prayer, the division of
the holy Body takes place. It is
worthwhile for you
during this time
to contemplate on the sufferings of the Lord which He endured
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for
you, "They struck
Him on the
head with a
reed and spat on Him" (Mark
15:19). Contemplate on the crown of thorns which hurt His holy head.
Contemplate on the blood which was shed from His holy body, "From the sole
of the foot even to
the head, there
is no soundness
in it. But wounds
and bruises and
purified sores. They
have not been closed or bound up
or soothed with ointment" (Isaiah
1:6). Search into yourself and say,
"All this You endured my
beloved Lord for my sins, Lord have
mercy on me a sinner!"
Follow the words of the priest,
meditating on their meaning, sharing in with the supplication. When he
says, "Purify us also, our Master, from our hidden and
manifest sins, and may every thought
displeasing to Your
goodness O God, lover
of mankind, be
away from us..."
repeat to yourself the words, "Purify me from my
hidden and manifest sins and keep
away from me
all evil thoughts
which do not
please Your goodness." Then
the priest prays,
"Purify our souls, bodies, spirits,
hearts, eyes, our
thoughts, our minds
and our intentions." Repeat after every word, "Amen."
Hence you will receive
the benefits of
the supplications in the
beautiful Fraction Prayer.
Share
with the congregation
in the great
prayer, repeating,
"Lord have mercy", and mention
all your supplications.
How strong is praying, "Lord have
mercy", throughout the
sections of the
Fraction! As we
know, the Fraction
speaks about the passions
of the Lord
on the Cross.
His infinite mercy on
mankind is the
reason and subject
of the Lord's passions on
the cross. When
we say, "Lord
have mercy," during the
Fraction, we remember the Lord's great mercy by which He surrendered Himself on
the cross for us. So we ask
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the
Lord to fulfill
this mercy in
us and make
us worthy to benefit.
?
Each time you recite and repeat, with the congregation, the prayer,
"Lord have mercy," between the
sections of the Fraction Prayer, ask for matters that need mercy from God, for
example, you can ask for your repentance, and ask for the forgiveness of your
sins. You can also ask for spiritual
guidance and progress,
and for the success of your service. And you can ask for a friend
who may be in trouble. Put all these matters in the hands of God and in
His compassionate eyes,
and you will
find mercy and help.
?
After the priest completes the Fraction prayer, the whole church prays
the "Our Father" in one voice so that the prayer maybe effective and
powerful.
?
Pray with reverence and attention to this most
magnificent prayer which
is the most
honourable and acceptable to God,
as the Lord Jesus Himself taught it to us by His blessed mouth.
?
Renew in your heart the emotions of love to God who is the aim
of all goodness,
who loved you
so much and called you His child.
?
Say joyfully with the priest the "Our Father..."
?
By mentioning the words "Our Father"
you remember that you are His child and that those around you are His
children as well. When you feel your relationship to God, you will also feel
related to all His other children. Treat
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them in true love, as your fellow
brothers and sisters in Christ. For we
are all His
children, and He
is "Our Father who art in
heaven..."
?
Pray and meditate
on the seven
beautiful and eternal supplications in this awesome prayer:
i. Hallowed
be Thy name
ii. Thy
kingdom come
iii. Thy
will be done
iv. Give us
this day our
daily bread -
signifying the actual bread for
all our physical needs, as well as the bread which gives
us spiritual nourishment,
that is, the
word of God, for
our beloved Lord
said: "Man shall
not live by bread
alone, but by
every word that
proceeds from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). It also
signifies the partaking of the Holy
Body and Blood
of Jesus Christ,
for He is the
Bread of Life
which came from heaven,
and whoever partakes of it shall
have eternal life (Matthew 6:15-51).
v. Forgive
us our trespasses
vi. Lead
us not into temptation
vii. But
deliver us from evil
The
prayer is then
concluded, "Through Jesus
Christ our Lord", in order to
assure us that
the prayer is
accepted by God the Father, for
our beloved Jesus said: "Most assuredly
I
say to you,
whatsoever you ask
from the Father
in My name, He will give
you" (John 6:23).
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Prayers of Submission and Absolution
After completing the Lord's Prayer, the
priests begins to pray three reverent prayers inaudibly. In the first prayer, he asks for himself
and his people
saying, "Lead us
not into temptation, neither
let any iniquity overcome
us, but deliver us
from unprofitable deeds,
and abolish the tempter and cast him from us the cause
which drives us to sin."
At its conclusion, the deacon invites
people to repentance by saying, "Bow your heads before the Lord."
All the congregation kneel before God,
as it is a moment of repentance and confession,
so that we
may be worthy
to accept the Prayer
of Absolution from
the priest. Hence
the people respond, "We
bow before You,
O Lord" or
"Here we are Lord, bowing our heads, confessing our iniquities and
sins, asking for Your Divine mercy to wash us, so that we may
become whiter than
snow." We may
pray the prayer of repentance,
which is mentioned in the absolution of the
Evening Vesper prayers.
Alternatively, we can
pray Psalm 150, or, "O God, absolve, remit and forgive us our sins
which we have done willingly and unwillingly," then say the, "Our
Father who art in Heaven..."
My beloved, offer unto God a true
repentance during these awesome
moments, bow your
head and your
soul under God’s mighty
hand, that He
might lift you
up, accept your repentance and
forgive your sins,
according to His
divine promise, “But on this one will I look on him who is poor and of
a contrite spirit,
and who trembles
at My word”
(Isaiah 66:2).
186
The priest prays the second Prayer of
Submission inaudibly,
thanking the
Lord for preparing
for us these
Divine Mysteries which the
angels desire to behold.
Then he asks God to unite us with Himself through our
partaking of His Holy Body and
Blood, according to
His Divine promise,
"He who eats My flesh and drinks My
Blood, abides in Me and I in him" (John 6:56).
To
unite together in brotherly love
as the Apostle
Paul wrote: "For we being many, are one Bread and one Body, for we
all partake of that one Bread" (1 Corinthians 10:17).
Then
the priest asks
that we may
be filled with
the Holy Spirit, confirmed in His
upright faith until the end, and to be filled with the longing for His true
love, and be repentant and faithful, in order to be ready to meet Christ.
The deacon says, "Let us
attend in fear
of God!" Let
us listen during our
Submission Prayers, lifting
our hearts to God
in silence, as
the Spiritual Elder
wrote: "Silence your tongue, to comfort your heart. Silence
your heart, your spirit talks."
And also, "The
mouth of the
silent reflects the mysteries of God."
During your submission and silence,
while waiting to accept the
absolution from the
priest, offer unto
God your repentance, in
order that you
may be worthy
enough to proceed and partake of
the Divine Mysteries. Hence, you will receive forgiveness and the full benefit
of the Absolution.
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The priest gives peace to the kneeling
congregation saying,
"Peace be
with you all." And while
still bowing, the congregation respond, "And also with
your spirit."
Here, all are kneeling, and feeling
sorry for their sins, and so the priest bestows on them peace, as an
introduction to the joy which awaits them, after having read the Absolution and
receiving forgiveness of sins and redemption from the heavy yoke of sin.
Rejoice
my beloved, and
rest in peace
when you receive peace
from the priest,
and respond with
a loving heart towards your father, saying, "And
with your spirit."
The
congregation is still
in submission, presenting
a collective repentance, while
the priest starts
the absolution prayer inaudibly:
"O Master and
Lord, Almighty God, healer of our souls, bodies and
spirits..."
He
requests from God
to accept the
repentance of His servants
who are standing
before Him, humbly
confessing their sins and prays that they may be absolved from every
sin, every curse, every denial, before they proceed to partake of the Divine
Mysteries. He prays that their names be inscribed with all the Saints in the
Kingdom of Heaven.
This
is the goal
of our spiritual
struggle, that God
may accept our repentance,
and absolve us
from every sin
and inscribe our names
with all His
Saints in the
Kingdom of Heaven. This
is our ultimate
joy! Just as
when the seventy apostles returned with joy
saying, "Lord, even
the demons are subject
to us in
Your Name" (Luke
10:17), the Lord said
to them, "Do
not rejoice in
this, that the
spirits are
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subject to you, but rejoice rather
because your names are written in Heaven" (Luke 10:20).
Then
the priest remembers
his children who
asked him to pray for them. Not only would he have
written their names down, but would have also remembered them in his heart and
mentions them before
the Sacrifice, who
carries sins, problems and
the worries of
the world. He
prays that God may give remedy for the sick and repose
for the departed, joy for the oppressed,
success for students,
and peace for
the troubled.
Finally,
in meekness and
humility, he mentions
himself:
"Remember also,
O Lord, my
weakness, and forgive
me my numerous sins,
and where sin
abounds, may Your grace
there be highly
abundant. Do not
deprive Your people of the grace
of Your Holy Spirit for the sake of my own personal sins and the abominations
of my heart, but rather absolve them all."
Then the priest says the introduction of
the Litanies of Peace and Fathers, inaudibly,
then says the
introduction of the Litany of Gatherings as follows:
"Remember, O Lord,
our gatherings to bless them."
The deacon raises the Cross, responding
to the priest, ""You are saved. Amen. And with your spirit."
This
response is divided
into two parts,
the first is
for the priest: "You are
saved. Amen. And with your spirit."
The second is for
the congregation: "Let
us attend in
fear of God."
189
As the deacon hears the priest
presenting repentance to God
in
reverence saying, "Remember also, O Lord, my
weakness and forgive
me my numerous
sins....", he sees his humility and lowliness before the
sacrificed Lamb of God, who takes away
the sins of
the world, and
so he too immediately gives
witness to his
own repentance and salvation by saying, "You are
saved. Amen." He then
joins
in giving comfort to the priest by
replying, "And with your spirit".
Or alternatively, peace and comfort for your honest, repenting spirit,
that reminds me of Nathan the prophet, with David the Prophet and King. When
David confessed his sins
to God before Nathan, he said: "I
have sinned against the Lord," and Nathan said to David, "The Lord
also has put away your sin, you shall not die" (2 Samuel 12:13).
Here I ask myself, was it Nathan's
authority to say to David the
Prophet and King,
"The Lord also
has put away
your sin. You shall not die" ?
David
was a great
king and prophet,
and his heart
was according to God's
heart; even more
than Nathan himself. But because God sent him, he went and
spoke to David, as God told him. In other situations we find him giving to
David obedience and submission. When investigating the subject of
ordaining Solomon king
on his father's
throne, Nathan the prophet came in before David the prophet,
he bowed down before the king
with his face
to the ground
and said, "My lord, O King ... even me your
servant" (1 Kings 1:23-27).
Raising
the cross denotes
the salvation of
the priest, in accomplishing by
the cross and
worthiness of the
Divine Blood shed for him, not by the words of the deacon.
190
Then
the deacon says
to the congregation
kneeling down before God,
"Let us attend
in fear of
God." This is the
second time the deacon tells the congregation to listen in the fear of God. As
a while ago, and specifically before reading the absolution, he said: "Let
us attend in the fear of God." He
repeated it at
the end of
the absolution, due
to the importance and
significance of the situation, which obliges us
to be silent and revering, bowing our
heads before the Lord
and
the divine Mysteries,
in order that
we may find
mercy and acceptance before God.
The congregation begs the rich mercy of
God saying, "Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy."
Seeking God's mercy is
necessary, as despite
our struggle in repentance, we are found worthy to
partake of these divine Mysteries, because of God's great mercy. For this
reason we beg in persistence, seeking God's mercy not once but thrice,
signifying the completeness of the Holy Trinity.
Beat your chest my beloved and seek
God's mercy for your salvation, and for the partaking of the Holy Communion.
Signs Before The Confession
The celebrant priest takes the Espadikon
(centre of the Bread which
symbolises the heart
of our Lord
Jesus Christ) between the tips
of the fingers of his right hand, and carefully lifts it
up, while bowing
his head, saying,
"The Holies are for
those who are
Holy." Then he
makes the sign
of the cross over
the Chalice with
the Espadikon. He
then dips it into
the Honoured Blood
and carefully lifts
it again and makes the sign of the Cross on the Holy
Body present on the
191
Paten, saying, "Blessed be the
Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
Amen."
?
Lifting the Espadikon above signifies:
* The lifting
up of the
Saviour from the
cross for the salvation of all, "That
whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life"
(John 3:15) ;
* The
Resurrection of the Saviour from the dead to raise us with Him to be amongst
those in heaven ;
* The greatness
of these Holies,
for whoever partakes
of them must be virtuous, holy, ready and repentant. That is why the
priest lifts the Espadikon and says, "The Holies are for those who are
holy."
One church cannon states, "If
prayers are integrated, let the priest say through the first deacon: 'Who is
pure, approach the Holy Mysteries,
and who is
not pure should
not approach them, so
that he is
not burned by
the fire of Divinity.
Whoever causes a
friend to stumble,
or has an adulterous thought, or is drunk with wine, do not
approach.'"
?
When he says, "Blessed be the Lord, Jesus Christ", he makes
the sign of the cross over the Holy Body with the Espadikon, as blessing is
always accompanied by the sign of the cross, which is the sign of Christ, glory
be to Him.
?
After making the
sign of the
cross on the
Body by the
Espadikon which has now been dipped in
the blood, the
192
priest
moves the Espadikon,
thereby touching all
the wounds which he made in the Body during the Fraction.
It is as if he is trying to soothe the
wounds of the Master which, He bore for us.
Here
the priest and
the whole church
with him, have
to remember that nothing can soothe the wounds of the Master, or their
inflammation, except our
return to Him
through repentance and surrendering
ourselves to Him.
We must please Him and obey his
commandments. For as the Church explained, when the Lord said on the cross,
"I am thirsty",
it was not water He thirsted for, so
much as He thirsted for
the salvation of our souls and our
return to Him.
My beloved, think of these meanings
while hearing the priest saying, "The Holies are for those who are
holy."
The
congregation responds with
this reverent response:
"One is the HOLY FATHER. One is the
HOLY SON. One
is
the HOLY SPIRIT.
Amen." As the
priest warns the congregation saying,
"The Holies are
for those who
are holy", the congregation
respond, "We are
not saints, but unworthy
sinners, but the
only Holy and
Holiest is God, Trinitarian hypostasis." We simply say
that the required holiness to proceed to Communion for
the holy Mysteries, is Orthodox faith with purity of doctrine, life of
repentance and spiritual discipleship, which is the firm foundation of proper
Christian life.
Recite
my beloved, with
the congregation this
wonderful spiritual song, "One
is the Holy
Father..." as if
you are standing with the
Seraphim chanting with them their eternal
193
praise: "Holy, Holy, Holy is the
Lord of Hosts, the whole earth is full of Your glory!" (Isaiah 6:3).
As
the priest sees
the reverence of
the congregation, his humbleness and
feelings of unworthiness,
together with the presence of the awesome holiness of the
Mysteries, he gives the
congregation peace and
security by saying,
"Peace be with you
all," and the
congregation responds, "And
also with your spirit."
Recite
quietly this supplication
with the congregation,
to your father the
priest, wishing him
Divine peace, as
by his peace you have yours.
The
priest makes the
sign of the
cross over the
Body once again with
the Espadikon dipped
in the Blood,
and says,
"The Holy
Body and the
true honoured Blood
of Jesus
Christ, the Son of our God, Amen."
The Congregation answers:
"Amen", believing the words of the priest.
The
celebrant priest then
makes the sign
of the Cross
over the Body the
third time with
the Espadikon, saying,
"The Holy, honoured Body and the true Blood of Jesus Christ, the
Son of our God, Amen."
The congregation responds saying again,
"Amen."
The priest overturns the Espadikon and
holds it between his fingers turned upside down. He lifts it to the Chalice,
makes the sign of the Cross on the Blood, and places the Espadikon into the
Blood, saying, "The
Body and the
Blood of
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EMMANUEL, our
God. This is
true. Amen" The congregation responds,
"Amen, I believe," believing all that the priest has said. It is
worth mentioning that this response
is
mentioned in the
singular form. This
means that every
individual believes
and has personal
faith that these
Holy Mysteries are the
Holy Body and
Blood of Emmanuel
our God, truly and without any doubt or hesitation.
Note:
i)
Making the sign
of the cross
on the Holy
Body by the
Espadikon three times, then lifting the
Espadikon to place it
in
the Chalice, symbolises
the three days
which the Lord Jesus spent in the tomb, and on the
third day rose from the dead.
ii)
Overturning the Espadikon
and placing it
in the Blood upside down, so that it is submerged in
the Blood present in the Chalice, symbolises the action of Crucifixion of our
Lord Jesus Christ, glory be to Him, for at His Crucifixion they lay Him on His back
so that they
can nail Him
to the cross. Therefore, the
blood from Him
flowed from His
wounds, upon His Body,
upon where He
received lashings, upon where
they placed the
crown of thorns
on His head,
and upon where they pierced His side. His entire, precious body was
completed immersed in His pure blood. This is likened
to
a butcher who
slaughters a lamb
and immediately it is
drenched in its blood. So too was our beloved good Saviour, the Lamb of God who
takes away the sins of the world, as the priest says in the liturgy of St.
Gregory, "You have gone as a lamb to the slaughter, even to the
cross."
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THE CONFESSION
The celebrant priest raises the Paten
very carefully with his hands and says
the Confession: "Amen.
Amen. Amen. I believe.
I believe, I
believe and confess
to the last breath…"
Note:
This
prayer is called
'Confession', as it
includes the confession of the whole
church, by the
priest, that the Mysteries on the altar, in the paten and
in the chalice, are the Body and Blood of the Lord.
During the priest's confession, the
congregation kneel before God, to the
Divine Mysteries carried
by the hands
of the priest.
Kneel,
my blessed one,
glorifying and honouring
the Life Giving Mysteries,
and concentrate with
the priest who is
praying the confession,
and meditate and
understand every powerful, divine
word.
After
the priest completes
the Confession, he places the paten on the altar, and covers it with
both his hands, as an example of the
Cherubim who covers
the Ark of
the Covenant, which was
the vessel of
manna in the
holiest of the holies, then
kneels before the altar reverently saying these inaudible prayers:
"For all glory and all honour and
all worship are due to the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy
Spirit, at all times and forevermore, Amen" ;
196
"Make us
all worthy, O our Master
to partake of
Your Holy Body and Your Honoured Blood, for the purification for our
souls, bodies and
spirits, and forgiveness
of our sins and our iniquities,
that we may become one body and one spirit with You" ;
"Absolve and
forgive us O God, our
sins which we
have done willingly and unwillingly."
These prayers are concluded with the
Lord's prayer, " Our
Father ..."
My
beloved, why don't
you learn these
prayers, which are solemn
but great in
meaning, and pray
them inaudibly with the
priest while you
are kneeling, giving
glory to the
One God, Trinitarian in
hypostasis, asking forgiveness
for your sins, supplicating
unto the Lord
to make you
worthy to partake of
these Holy Mysteries,
and thereby increase
your abiding and unity
in Christ, so
that you may
become one body and one spirit
with Him.
At the end of the Confession, the deacon
holds the Cross in his right hand and an illuminated candle in his left,
between them he holds
a veil folded
in the shape
of a triangle
and placed before his
eyes. He then
prays the deacon's confession: "Amen,
Amen, Amen, I
believe, I believe,
I believe that this is true Amen. Pray for us and for all the Christians
who said to us concerning them, 'remember us in
the house of
the Lord'. The
peace and love
of Jesus Christ be
with you. Sing a psalm,
Alleluia. Pray for
the merit of partaking
of these holy,
pure and heavenly Mysteries. Lord have mercy."
197
Note:
The Cross held by the deacon with his
right hand, is the sign of the Son of Man. Jesus Christ was crucified on the
cross for our salvation, so the Apostle would like us to place the sign of
the Cross before
us continually saying,
"For I determined not to
know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1
Corinthians 2:2).
The
illuminated candle held
in his left
hand symbolises the life of sacrifice that the Lord Jesus
lived for us, this sacrifice
is manifested in the tears that He wept
for us and the sweat that came forth from His Body for us, and the Blood that
is shed on the Cross, dripping until it covered His Holy Body. The Lord
Jesus, the lover
of mankind, sacrificed
His tears, sweat and blood for
us:
"Greater love has no one than this,
than to lay down one's life for his
friends" (John 15:13).
The candle that illuminates and
burns and melts
drips drops of
hot wax, reminding us of the
Lord Jesus who
wept for us,
and sweated drops of blood. All this He did out of His love for us and
at last, He did not withhold His Blood or His life to reconcile us with Him, so
that He may return us to the lost paradise
and the kingdom
prepared for us
before the foundation of the
world.
The veil held by the deacon between his
hands, he lifts and places it in
front of his
eyes because of
the glory of
Christ that dwells upon the altar, and he cannot face the splendour
of this
glory, so he covers
his eyes like
the Seraphim who cover their faces with their wings
because of the splendour of the glory of God, which is invisible and
unspeakable.
198
When the deacon says the Confession, he
confirms his belief
in
the priest’s profession,
which is mentioned
prior to the deacon’s
Confession. He declares
his belief regarding
the theological facts of
faith about the
truth of the
Life Giving Body which the Lord
took of the Virgin Mary, and gave it up for us on the Holy wooden Cross by His
own will, and that His Divinity
did not depart
from His humanity
for a single instant nor a
twinkle of an eye, and that this Body is given for us, for our salvation,
forgiveness of sins and eternal life to those who partake of it worthily.
The
deacon then asks
the congregation to
pray for themselves and all the
Christians who asked of us to pray for them,
and he asks
us to praise
and sing during
the communion of the feast of the wedding of the Lamb. Lastly he requests
prayer for those
who will partake
of these heavenly Mysteries, in
repentance and worthiness so that the Communion
becomes a source
of blessing, fulfillment
and spiritual growth, and
judgement or a
reason for weakness, sickness and death, which is what
the Apostle Paul warned us of in 1 Corinthians 11:29-30.
Finally, the
deacon concludes the
Confession with the powerful words, "Lord have
mercy," as it is by God's that we
can come to church, "But
as for me, I will
come into Your house in the
multitude of Your mercy, in fear of You
I will worship towards Your holy
temple" (Psalm 5:7). By
the mercy of God, not by our own
worthiness, we come into the holy temple to see the priest when he opens the
veil of the sanctuary saying,
"Have mercy upon
us O God,
the Father Almighty, O
Holy Trinity have
mercy upon us." During the
Communion, the deacon
says, "Lord have mercy," so our own communion may
be according to God's
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mercy.
Do not treat
us according to
our sins O Lord
because, "If You
Lord, should mark
iniquities, O Lord who can stand? But there is forgiveness
with You" (Psalm
130:3-4).
Before proceeding to take the Holy Communion, contemplate on
the words of the deacon:
"Pray for the merit
of partaking of
these Holy, Pure
and Heavenly Mysteries",
examine yourself before partaking of the Holies so as to take grace instead of
condemnation.
It
is worth mentioning
that the Protestants
think the Communion is merely a
spiritual sharing between believers, and do not place restrictions or
conditions of repentance on those partaking. Their elders do not warn their
people that,
“none
is supposed to
partake of it
except ready believers, who are without blame or stumbling.
Whoever partakes of it without
knowledge or understanding or
confession of Christian faith
or whoever partakes
of it while
carrying a hidden or conspicuous
sin or certain guilt, faces the wrath of God and His penalty, and is a criminal
in the Body and Blood of the Lord."
As for us Orthodox people, we believe
in the transubstantiation and that what
we partake of is not normal bread or normal wine, but the Holy Body and Blood
of the Lord truly and in truth.
St.
John Chrysostom gave
an effective sermon
about Communion with repentance and preparation, which is also mentioned
by the church in the eleventh hour of Tuesday of the Holy Pascha: "I want
to remind you brothers of what I repeated
by telling you
about our partaking
of the Holy Mysteries of
Christ as I
saw you in
great degradation and lack of fear, worship and mourning, so I
cry for myself and
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say, 'Do these people know for whom they
are standing? Do they know what
is the power
of this Mystery?
Then I unwillingly get angry,
even if I could go out, I will leave you out of distress and if I rebuke one of
you, he does not care but complains as if I oppressed him! How strange, for
those who do oppress
you and steal
your goods, you
don't rage against them
like you rage
about me who
cares for your salvation, fearful
for wrath of
God to fall
upon you as a
result of your
negligence towards this
Great Mystery, do you know whom do you partake of? It is the
Holy Body of the Word of
God and His
Blood shed for
our salvation. If anyone
partakes unworthily of
them he will
have penalty and perish
like Judas who
surrendered the Lord
as he partook unworthily of the
supper.'"
The congregation must lift their hearts
to God asking for His blessing and mercy
on all the
worthy partakers, so
that the sacrament may
become a blessing
in their lives,
and they abide in
Christ and Christ
abides in them
according to His true promise, "He who eats My Flesh
and drinks My Blood abides in Me and I in him" (John 6:56).
My beloved, why don't you contemplate on
all the previous prayers. While kneeling and with the confession of the priest
and his inaudible prayers, then the confession of the deacon including the
instructions to pray
for all Christians
and for the merit of partaking of
these Heavenly Mysteries, take the blessing of praying for the needy.
Rise
from your kneeling
and sing with
the congregation,
"Glory unto You O Lord, glory unto
You", giving glory to God who blessed the church with these Divine
Mysteries, so that they become
remedy, life and
salvation for our
souls,
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bodies and spirits, and for the
forgiveness of sins and abiding in Christ, and finally attaining eternal life
(Romans 6:22).
Then the congregation chants Psalm 150,
which is the Psalm of joy and exultation as the deacon says, "Sing with
praises saying Alleluia!" Hymns
and praises are
then sung according to the
church season.
Meanwhile the
priest rises and
asks absolution from
his brothers the priests,
and forgiveness from
the deacons and congregation and starts giving the
Eucharist to all those who are prepared.
My beloved, if you have confessed and
are careful, proceed
to
the holy place
for partaking of
the Communion of the
Divine Mysteries, the Bread of life.
The
period between confessions
must not exceed
3 - 4
weeks.
Care must be given concerning eating and sleeping ...
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Care for eating
The person who wants to partake of the
Holy Communion, must fast at least nine hours beforehand, as mentioned in the
Apostolic cannons, "No
one receives the
Eucharist except with purity
and fasting, and
if a person
approached and took from
the Communion carelessly,
they will be
cut off from the church of God
forever."
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The
nine hours represent
the nine hours
the Lord Jesus suffered on
Good Friday (from
9am to 6pm).
At the third hour
(9am) Pontius Pilate
condemned the Saviour
to be crucified, then
the path to
crucifixion began with a long series
of tortures like
lashing, the placing
of the crown
of thorns, scourging, striking
with reeds, mockery,
spitting on His Holy face and
clothing Him with a purple robe. After all this, "They
led Him away
to be crucified" (Matthew
27:31).
Even St. Mark
the Evangelist records, "They led
Him away to crucify Him" (Mark
15:20).
And so the Saviour suffered on the Cross
until He gave up His Spirit, at the ninth hour (3pm). Even after His death, one
of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and
water came out.
Then He was
taken down from the Cross at the eleventh hour (5pm),
and after anointing His Body with the spices, He was laid in the tomb at the
twelfth hour (6pm).
The period of His sufferance and torture
was nine hours, and so we fast
nine hours, remembering
the nine hours
Christ suffered for us. We commemorate
and honour and
the passions of the
Lord for our
salvation, so that
we may be found
worthy to partake
of His pure
Body which has
been broken for us, and His Precious Honoured Blood which has been shed
for us.
Children fast for six hours, in
consideration for their young age. Infants fast for three hours, which is the
normal period between weaning the infant.
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Note:
In
the case of
afternoon Masses, such
as during the
Great Lent, adults should take care to fast from midnight, the night
before.
Care of eating is also related to taking
care when bathing and brushing
teeth. The person
who intends to
receive Holy Communion must
bathe the night
before, and not
in the morning, as bathing is
considered breaking the fast because the body pores absorb water during
bathing, and also some of the water might enter into the mouth accidentally.
Also
brushing teeth in the morning
of receiving the
Holy Communion is not
permissible, as some
water might enter the
throat and hence
break the fast.
In the case
of certain mouth infections
which necessitate brushing
teeth in the morning,
special absolution must
be taken from
the confession father. Bathing
and washing the
mouth is considered luxury
and comfort for
the body, while
God ordered the Passover lamb (who signifies the Body of Christ)
to
be eaten with bitter
herbs, in haste,
with a belt
on their waist, their sandals on
their feet and their staff in their hand
(signifying readiness and preparation,
not rest and idleness),
(Exodus 12:8-11).
?
Care for sleeping
We
refer here to
bodily secretions, which
prohibit the partaking of
Holy Communion. This
relates to secretions, through masturbating
for example, or
menstruating, in the case of a woman. These secretions are
considered breaking the fast, however, it does not prohibit, them from
attending the church or
partaking in prayer
with the congregation.
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Concerning this, St. Severus, son of Moqafaa said,
"Although he
is considered having
broken his fast,
it does not prohibit
the prayer, or him entering
the church or attending the mass but only prohibits
partaking of the Holy Mysteries. As for
married couples, they
should not have sexual
relations the night
before receiving the
Holy Communion, and the couple should remain as such during that day.
The night prior
to the Mass,
they should be repentant, and prepare themselves physically and spiritually, and
during the day
they should be
kept busy contemplating on
the blessing they
just received, and the
great Divine Host who now dwells within them as a result. They are to spend the
day thanking God for this great gift."
It
was said about
St. Epifamios, Bishop
of Cyprus, that
he was calling the Holy Spirit in person during the Mass. One day he
called Him but He did not overshadow the place, so he grieved
very much and
feared that God
prevented His Spirit from
him. He then
looked at the
deacon beside him and found him infected with leprosy, so
he ordered him to go out of the church. After the service he called him and
asked him the reason
for the evil
that occurred to
him, and he confessed that he had relations with his
wife the night before.
My beloved, while waiting for your turn
to receive the Holy
Communion, pray :
"O
Sovereign of Life,
and King of
ages, the Word
of God our Lord,
God and Saviour
Jesus Christ, the
true Bread which came
down from Heaven,
giver of life
to those who receive
it, make me
worthy, without condemnation
to partake of Your Holy Body and Honoured Blood, so that by
partaking of the
Holy Mysteries I
become one with
You to
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the end, You the Son of God the Father,
Glory to You with
Him and with the Holy Spirit forever,
Amen."
"O Sovereign of Life and King of
ages, our Lord and God Jesus
Christ, the true
living Bread which
came down from Heaven,
who gave life
to those who
partake of Your
Holy Body and Honoured
Blood, bless Your
servant with Your Heavenly Blessings so that I may be
worthy to receive Your Holy Body and
Your Sacred Blood
worthily. Remind my heart of Your Grace and save me, to taste
the sweetness of Your Heavenly Grace,
hidden in this
Mystery. Give me a
steadfast faith, free
of doubt to
proceed to You,
believing that this is
Your Holy Body
and Honoured Blood,
O Emmanuel our God.
Make me worthy
to receive them without falling into condemnation, but
for the forgiveness of my sins and
uniting with You
spiritually, and for
the acceptance before Your
Holy pulpit. Glory
be to You
with Your Gracious Father
and the Holy
Spirit, now and forevermore, Amen."
"Lord, I
am not worthy
to have You come under
my roof because I am a
sinner, but only
say the words,
"Your sins are
forgiven," and my soul will be healed. I am barren and empty of any goodness, I have nothing but Your
compassion, mercy and
love to mankind.
You descended from Heavenly
Glory to our
humility and consented
to be born in a manger. O Holy
Saviour, do not reject my humble and
miserable soul which
is waiting for
Your Glorified coming. As You did
not refuse to enter the leper's house to heal him, please Lord, come into my
soul to cleanse it. As You did not
stop the adulteress
from kissing Your
feet, please do not prevent me from coming near You to receive Your Holy
Body and Your Sacred Blood.
May this Holy Communion banish every corruption and
mortify all my evil
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desires. Help me to obey Your
commandments and heal my soul and my
body from every
sin. May Your
Spirit dwell within me and make
me united with You so I may live for the glory of Your name. Amen."
THE HOLY COMMUNION
All
that you have
done, my blessed
one, in your
spiritual struggle and preparation
for the holy
Mass, whether it be
repentance, confession, humbleness,
fasting or prayers,
is considered the pursuit,
and now in partaking of
the holy sacrament of Communion,
you have attained the prize. You partake of the Communion, which is the living
Sacraments of God, as a
reward for your
spiritual struggle, for
as the Apostle Paul says, "I
press towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ
Jesus" (Philippians 3:14). Here, take more care against any idle or evil
thought, paying attention to what
the Apostle Paul
said, "Let no
one defraud you of your reward" (Colossians 2:18).
When
the priest comes
with the paten,
covered and containing the
Holy Body, toward
those who will
be receiving the sacrament,
bow and respond,
"Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!"
After completing your 'Prayer before
Holy Communion', take
a small corporal (veil), that is given
out specifically for those receiving
Communion, and proceed
and kneel before
the Holy Body as
you accept the
sacrament from the
priest. When the priest says,
"The Body of
Emmanuel our God, this is true, Amen", respond
saying, "Amen," thus you are
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bearing
witness that what
you have received
is indeed the
Holy Body of the Lord Jesus.
After you receive the Holy Body cover
your mouth with the corporal, as if
to cover this
precious jewel, until
you have consumed the jewel.
When
your turn comes
to receive the
Honoured blood, proceed towards
the chalice carefully so the priest may give you the
Sacred Blood, and
feel and believe
that you are approaching the
blood from the
divine side of
Jesus Christ who was crucified,
and drink of the Blood from the side of the Lord when He was wounded by a
spear. When the priest says, "The Blood
of Emmanuel, Our
God, this is
true, Amen," respond saying,
"Amen," but do
not place the corporal over your mouth after you receive
the Blood.
You
must then drink
some water so
that none of
the Holy
Communion remains in your mouth.
Then stand in a quiet place, offering
prayers of thanksgiving
('Prayer after Holy Communion') to God
who allowed you to receive His Holy Body and Blood, and gave you this spiritual
gift. These are some prayers
of thanks for
you to pray quietly:
"Our mouth is filled with gladness
and our tongue with joy upon the partaking of Your Immortal Mysteries O Lord.
For that which no eye has seen, nor ear heard nor entered into the heart
of man, that
which God has
prepared for those who
love His Holy
name, You have
revealed to the
young children of Your Holy Church. Indeed O Father, this is the
pleasure placed before You for You are compassionate and
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we send up to You the glory and the
honour O Father, Son and Holy Spirit now and forevermore, Amen."
"I thank You my Lord Jesus Christ,
the life-giver, of whose Body and Blood
I am not
worthy to partake
of. I ask
and entreat You, do not condemn me for partaking of Your Holy Body and
precious Blood, but let them be for the forgiveness of my sins, blotting out of
my iniquities, and for everlasting life.
Save me from
every evil deed,
and grant me
an inheritance in Your heavenly kingdom, as You are God the Saviour of
those who call unto You."
"What is
this ocean of
Your goodness for
those who fear You?
And what is
this compassion and
great concern for those who love You? I thank You, my God
who cares for me, and gave me this Heavenly, Immortal Food, and opened for me
the way to Eternal Life. Kindle within me the fire of Your divine love, and
preserve me in the grace of Your holy gifts, not for judgement, but for purity
of soul, body and spirit, so that I live
in You, through
You, and for
You, and bestow upon me the Christian perfection and
righteousness which is pleasing to You.
To You I
send up glory,
honour and worship with
Your Good Father
and consubstantial Holy Spirit, now and forevermore, Amen."
"My tongue praises and my soul
glorifies the Lord. My heart rejoices
for You have
come to me
Lord and dressed
me in purity and allowed me to
Your feast. May my union with You today
be everlasting and
through it I
grow in strength
of faith and hope. Let my communion be a symbol of the grace of Your
Salvation, let it be a purification to my body and my soul and
preparation for the
everlasting love and
joy. To You O Lord, I surrender
myself and my will, call to You my senses
and bless them
and let my
mind to be
according to
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Your will. Enlighten my heart, awaken my
conscience, cast away all the shadows of evil, hush the storms, walk with me
and guide me. Give me comfort, quench my thirst, look with love at all my shortcomings, abide with me for the day is
coming to an end and stay with me for a new day. You alone are my aim and
happiness, now and forevermore, Amen."
About the necessity of quietness and
praying after the Holy Communion,
one of the
fathers says, "After
receiving the Holy Mystery,
we must not
hurry to leave
the church, or start talking. But let us be alone in
silence and prayer for a few moments after the Holy Liturgical Prayer, to thank
God and appreciate His
eternal gift, for
during these precious moments, we are most able to worship
our God, and touch the presence of
the Divine Host
dwelling inside our
souls. So as a one spiritually renewed, or converted, we leave the
church and greet
others so that
they may know
that the unspeakable Mystery
has been fulfilled
within us, which
is the Mystery of love which proclaims much more our love for
others."
After completing the thanksgiving
prayers, go back to your usual place in the church and sing with the
congregation the praises and hymns
said during the
Holy Communion time. After the Holy Communion has been
given, and the angel of the Sacrifice has been dismissed, pray with the
congregation the final ritual prayers.
If you are a deacon, you can take off
your service vestments only after the angel of the sacrifice has been
dismissed, and by no means beforehand.
It is better to chant Psalm 46, "Oh
clap your hands all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph! For
the
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Lord
most High is
awesome, He is
a great King
over all the earth.
He will subdue
the peoples under
us, and the nations under our feet. He will choose
our inheritance for us, the excellence of Jacob whom He loves. God has gone
up with
a shout, the
Lord with the
sound of a
trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises for God is the King of all
the earth. Sing
praises with understanding. God
reigns over the nations.
God sits on
His Holy Throne.
The princes, the people
have gathered together,
the people of the God of Abraham. For the shields of the
earth belong to God. He is greatly exalted, Alleluia."
Let
us contemplate on
this marvellous psalm,
so that you may meditate on its meaning while you say
it...
"Oh clap your hands, all you
peoples, shout to God with the
voice of triumph." Clapping
is a sign
of joy and happiness, and what greater joy than a
person receiving the Holy Body and
Blood of Christ,
so that you
will abide in Christ and receive eternal life. Attending
the Holy Mass and partaking of the
Holy Mysteries is
attending the supper
of the wedding of the Lamb, accompanied by joy.
"He
will subdue the
peoples under us,
and the nations under our feet." By partaking of the Divine Mysteries we
receive power to overcome our enemies, both the hidden and the visible, these
devils who fight us by seductions and lusts, we are victorious over our corrupt
nature and evil intentions. People
who want to
harm us or
persecute us, we
can bear through love,
service and sacrificing
for them. When
we receive Holy Communion, we take Christ within us, so that we can
overcome the world, "Because He who is in You is greater than
he who is
in the world"
(John 4:4), and,
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"They overcame
him by the
Blood of the
Lamb"
(Revelation 12:11).
"He will choose our inheritance for
us, the excellence of Jacob whom He loves." What a great choice for the Lord to choose
us to partake
of His Holy
Body and Blood,
to abide and unite
with Him for
Eternal Life. The
Lord who loved the
spiritual beauty of
Jacob, such as
patience in affliction, persistence in prayers, trust in God and
humbleness, also loves
to see us
bearing the fruits
of the Spirit, to be adorned by
virtues, wearing the wedding clothes
and qualified to enter into the presence
of the bridegroom.
"God has gone up with a shout, the
Lord with the sound of a trumpet."
The Communion of the Holy Mysteries, the disappearance of
the Holy Body
and Blood of
Christ after we had
seen them before
us on the
altar, signifies the ascension
of the Lord
when He was
taken from them
and carried up into
heaven. The ascension
of the Lord
was accompanied by joy,
whether from His
disciples who,
"Returned to
Jerusalem with great
joy" (Luke 24:52),
or from the Heavenly
Hosts who were
calling out, "Lift
up your heads O you gates! and be lifted up you everlasting doors! and
the King of Glory shall come in" (Psalm 24:7).
"Sing praises to God, sing praises!
For God is the King of all the earth" How wonderful is this Psalm, which
is full of happiness because of
the great occasion
of the Lord’s Ascension to Heaven it proclaims! It
repeats the word ‘sing’ five times in
two versus only.
Let us feel
this great and glorified joy, after partaking of the
Holy Communion.
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“God
Sits on His
Holy Throne.” As
the Lord sits
on His Holy Throne
on the right
of Glory in
Heaven, after His Ascension, He
also sits on the
thrones of our
hearts, when we have
the Holy Communion
in faith and
preparedness, thus our hearts will be heavenly thrones, and our bodies
will be heaven.
“The Princes of the People have Gathered
Together.” The princes of the people are God’s beloved strong ones, through
His strength. When
they partake of
His Holy Sacraments, they gain power to do virtuous
deeds, thus their life becomes exalted and enlightened, and people will see
their good deeds and glorify their Father who is in heaven.
The Dismissal
When the priest dismisses the
congregation by the sprinkling of the water, bow your head, so that the priest
might sprinkle you with the water on your forehead with his blessed hand, which
just carried the Holy Sacraments a little while ago.
When distributing the Eulogia (morsel of
blessing), proceed quietly, to take
this holy bread
which was blessed
when choosing the Lamb,
then sanctified by
attending the Holy Mass.
If it is a non-fasting day, kiss the
Eulogia then eat it before leaving
the church. If
it is a
fasting day, keep
it in a
small plastic bag or
clean handkerchief till
you break your
fast, then eat it
at home. It
is worth mentioning
that having Communion does not
break the fast of abstinence. So, if the Mass
ends early on
a fasting day,
the believer should
still
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keep abstaining from food until such a
time when the fasting period ends. This time should be decided with the advice
of your confession father.
Leave the church quietly, and at the
church’s door, make the sign of the cross on yourself and say Psalm 83: “How
lovely
is Your tabernacle O Lord of hosts…” It
is one of the Sixth
Hour Psalms in the Agbia.
Note:
We should not prostrate or bow after partaking
of the Divine Sacraments, because we
are in a
joyous situation, carrying the Lord Jesus inside ourselves.
Try to keep your peace and quietness
while departing. Many people involve themselves in idle conversations, thus
losing the spiritual benefit of attending the Liturgy.
Go to your house, singing praises and
giving thanks to God, who granted you
His special grace
on that day.
It is even preferable to keep praising all day.
Try to keep this day without sin, living
in fear and pleasures of God, through His presence with you.
What
Should We Do
After Partaking Of
The Divine
Sacrements?
His
Grace Bishop Gregorious
responded to a
question regarding what we
should do after
partaking of the Divine
Sacraments…
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? First:
Spiritual Practices –
* Rejoice
for the grace you have gained after partaking of the Holy Communion.
Contemplate on the honour of this Divine Sacrament;
* Concentrate
your thoughts on good and pure things, and do not occupy your mind with any
source of sin;
* Stay away
from bad company
or places that
may cause you to stumble;
* Avoid too
much joking and
laughter, because this quenches the flames of grace inside
you, as said by one of the spiritual fathers;
* Avoid
anger and any non-spiritual excitements;
* Try
not to talk about or condemn others;
* Try not
to involve yourself
in useless conversations, which are
not beneficial for
your spiritual growth. Practice the virtue of silence;
* It is
preferable to spend
the rest of
the day in spiritual
readings, prayers, hymns, relaxation, or even a nap, which in turn will help
calm the heart and body.
? Second:
Bodily Practices –
* Do not
spit, or eat
fruit/food containing seeds,
such as olives or grapes, for it
is not permissible to take these out of your mouth, after having received Holy
Communion;
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* Do not
shower immediately after
Communion; but wait
for at least 9 hours, or preferably, a
whole day;
* Do
not brush your teeth on that day, but rather, do so the night before having
Communion;
* Do
not smoke;
* If you
accidentally do any of the
above, speak to
your father in confession and receive his advice and absolution.
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CONCLUSION
My dear brothers and sisters,
After being together on this blessed
trip, from the time of the raising of Vesper Incense, to the end of the holy
Mass, and also discussing the practices and meditations to keep in your
mind and heart
in continuous concentration and
deep spiritual prayers, I
doubt it is
too much for a person
who cares for their spiritual life and eternity to follow them and abide
in them.
Let
us all try
to follow them, so that
we may benefit
from attending the Holy
Liturgy and partaking
of the Divine Sacraments.
Thereby, the following question will no
longer be an issue in our life:
“How can we Benefit from the Holy
Liturgy?”
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|| Pope Shenouda || Father Matta || Bishop Mattaous || Fr. Tadros Malaty || Bishop Moussa || Bishop Alexander || Habib Gerguis || Bishop Angealos || Metropolitan Bishoy ||