The Liturgy

Trinity, Salvation, Bible, Prayers

 

H.G Bishop Moussa

 

When I meet in the liturgy I meet with the following;

1. The Trinity

2. The Story of Salvation

3. The Bible

4. Different types of Prayers

The liturgy is a tool by itself. It gives us a lot of experiences and

motivations.

 

1. Trinity:

 

From the prayer of ‘Reconciliation’ we speak about the Father, when we say

“O great and eternal God who formed man into in corruption, and death

etc.”

Furthermore, in the mass we begin a passage by saying “right and worthy”

in which we continue to speak about God the Father, God as the Creator

and God as the Saviour.

The mass tells us that the Father who created us is dwelling in heaven and

worshipped by the angels in heaven. It speaks of our creation, that the

Father created us in the image of Jesus Christ, the Son, through the Holy

Spirit. It is here we learn that the hypostases are working, but the Father is

the Creator.

The mass speaks about the Son many times, when we say: “When we

disobeyed your commandment by the guile…”, “was incarnate and became

man”, “He rose from the dead.” and “He ascended to the heavens and sat

at your right hand….”

Through the Liturgy we are taught that Jesus Christ granted us the

salvation. The Liturgy speaks of the Only Begotten Son, the Incarnation, the

Crucifixion and the Resurrection. The Liturgy brings together the Trinity

through the Father, by the grace of the Holy Spirit.

We are speaking of the son being incarnate on our behalf throughout the

Liturgy. We say things like, “he tasted is and gave it…” “For every time you

shall eat of this bread.”, “therefore as we also commemorate the holy

passion, his resurrection from the dead”, “He instituted for us this great

mystery of godliness….”

We begin to see the Holy Spirit in the mass when the priest says inaudibly,

“and we ask you O lord our God….” This is where the priest calls upon the

Holy Spirit Where the Son redeemed us through the will of the Father and

the work of the Holy Spirit.

Through the Liturgy we learn:

• The son is the redeemer.

• The Holy Spirit is the sanctifier.

• God is the Father

At this moment the Holy Spirit changes the bread to be the body and the

wine to be blood. We say, “I believe…for the remission of sins.” we all then

say “Lord has mercy”.

In this instant, the bread and wine is transferred into the body and blood of

Jesus Christ. This is the exact moment when we have Jesus Christ is among

us. This is why the next parts of the mass ask God of things and we pray for

the church and other matters.

 

2. Salvation:

 

Secondly, the liturgy tells us the story of the salvation from the birth of

Jesus Christ until the resurrection. When we have communion at the end of

the mass we are saved because we have Jesus Christ dwelling within us.

 

3. The Bible:

 

Throughout the liturgy we read the evening incense, psalms, Gospel, Acts,

Catholic and the Pauline Epistles. In total we read nine chapters each mass.

In Jonah's fast and the great lent we read chapters from the Old Testament.

On Good Friday we read revelations because Jesus Christ opened the

heavens and we contemplate on paradise. In the past they used to read the

Old and New testaments during Passion Week.

Our church is very biblical. We read a lot in the liturgy. We stand in the fear

of God to read the liturgy. The iconostasis lights up because the Gospel is

the light of the world.

Deacon chants in the Liturgy “pray for the Holy Gospel” When the bible is

being read by the deacon, the bishop or pope takes the crown of his head

because Jesus Christ is the only crowned one.

We venerate the gospel in our church. All our doctrines, rituals and prayers

are derived from the bible. In each phrase from the liturgy can be traced

back to verses in the bible.

The bible is obeyed like a commandment. St Anthony heard a verse from the

bible “if you want to perfect sell everything and come to me.” It made him

a saint. St. Dedimus was blind but he recited the gospel. Recite the gospel

and the gospel will preserve you.

 

4. Different types of Prayers:

 

We can find a lot of types of prayers in the mass.

Thanks giving prayer.

- To thank God for what He gives.

- To ask for mercy from God because we are sinners: “evnoti” We say have

mercy upon us. The priest stands with his arms outstretched like the cross.

We are sinners.

Request Prayers

- We ask the Lord for the peace of the world, the pope and bishops, the

travelers, sick, departed, strangers, orphans, oblations, widows, guests,

presidents and dignitaries of the state. We request for all for we have many

needs.

Praises

- We sing, “praise the Lord…with the sound of trumpets…etc” praising God

and glorying Him.

Arrow prayers

-Where we repeat the name of the lord Jesus Christ, to take the blessing of

his name. “Christ my good saviour…” it pierces heaven and gets to the Lord.

The liturgy is the school through which I meet these things.

 

Question Time:

 

1. Do we believe in jinx and evil eye?

If we look towards others with envy, this is done by the devil. This may send

the devil to attack him if he is liable to that but if he as a believer

protected by God then he is protected from this evil. St Jostina, a magitian

called Caprianous, to tried to make her fall for a man by sending the devil

to play on her emotions but the devils could not complete their task and

Caprianious was puzzled that the devils always came back. He threatened

the devils saying that he would become Christian if they didn’t tempt her

and then the devils disappeared. Caprianious then became a normal man,

always doing the sign of the cross forgetting about these things.

 

2. If a man prays his head should be uncovered, so why does a priest cover

his head?

The priest should remove his covering at the start. We believe that the altar

is the place that becomes heaven and in heaven all angels are covered.

 

3. In the commemoration of the saints, we read about the cross bearers.

Who are they and why are they significant?

 

It was in the days of Islam we were asked to carry crosses made of iron.

Their necks became blue from the bruising. They call us the ‘blue necks’ all

those who have given their lives to Christ can be cross bearers.

4. When we read from the bible at home should we stand up?

Practically we do not do it. Ideally we should. The church wants us to be

obedient to the bible and the spirit full of humility. As long as we are doing

that, it’s okay.

5. How does God chose saints/ worthy people?

It is a joint process. God watches us from the inside. If we are obedient and

are learning with a conscience and listen in truth He will give each one

according to their honesty.

6. God knows His plan for us, so do we have the freedom?

An example is a teacher in school who teaches everyone. Some will learn,

some will not but the teacher can predict who will succeed and who will

not. God knows what will happen but will not impose. He knew that Judas

will deliver and betray him but he did not ask him too.

||    Pope Shenouda    ||    Father Matta    ||    Bishop Mattaous    ||    Fr. Tadros Malaty    ||    Bishop Moussa    ||    Bishop Alexander    ||    Habib Gerguis    ||    Bishop Angealos    ||    Metropolitan Bishoy    ||