Receive One Another

The Antiphons, named such because the three Antiphons are usually sung antiphonally (that is by two choirs alternating with the first choir singing the First Antiphon and the second choir singing the Second Antiphon and both alternating during the Beatitude verses of the Third Antiphon) begin with verses from the beautiful Psalm 102 (103), praising the Creation given to us by our Creator Whom we have just supplicated for peace in the Great Litany. St. Jerome (from his Homily 30) notes:

“Bless the Lord, O my soul!” The Prophet bestirs himself to praise God. To bless the Lord, that is, to praise the Lord, brings, moreover, a blessing upon oneself. O Lord, my God, You are great indeed! You, who are God of all, are especially my God, for I am not the slave of sin; I have merited to be called Your servant. “thou hast been magnified exceedingly.” When I behold the sky, the earth, the birds, quadrupeds, serpents, and all of Your creation, I marvel, and I magnify the Creator [. . .]

The Psalm verses of the First Antiphon describe the blessings of the Lord for which we should give thanks; in so doing, they also anticipate the mercies of Christ and the Mystery of His Incarnation, the ultimate expression of which is the Communion of the Gifts that will occur later during the Divine Liturgy. Therefore, it is fitting to remember this supreme act of mercy and compassion at the beginning of Liturgy.

Bless the Lord, O my soul! Blessed art Thou, O Lord! Bless the Lord, O my soul! And all that is within me, bless His Holy Name! St. Jerome asks, “What name of the Lord is the Psalmist thinking of here? If the Lord is called by name Lord, what does ‘and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name’ mean? Simply this, the advent of the Son implies the name of Father. Before the coming of Christ, God was known, but the Father unknown. Furthermore, He says Himself in the Gospel: ‘Father I have manifested Thy name to men’ (Jn. 17:6)” (Homily 29). So, just as the antiphons and beatitudes divided by the small litanies create a three-part structure that honors the Holy Trinity during this early part of Divine Liturgy, here we sing a psalm that anticipates the understanding of two Persons of the Holy Trinity: the Father and the Son.

Bless the Lord, O my soul! And forget not all that He hath done for thee! Who is gracious unto all thine iniquities, Who healeth all thine infirmities! Who redeemeth Thy life from corruption, Who crowneth thee with mercy and compassion! Here, at the beginning of Divine Liturgy, we call to mind “all that He hath done for thee.” The Lord made all the Heavens and the Earth for His creation, for “One does not build a house except for the sake of its occupant” (St. Jerome). But the Lord, through His Incarnation and Resurrection, has healed the infirmities that we inherited as a consequence of our Ancestor’s First Sin; not, importantly, as inherited guilt, but rather due to the change in our nature that occurred after that sin: the introduction of death, decay, sickness, and disease into a world that was originally made to be free of these debilities. The Mystery of Christ’s Incarnation and Resurrection redeems us from such corruptions through “an amending of our nature, and pardon, not of debt, but given through mercy and grace” (St. John Chrysostom, Homily XIV). The Lord’s mercy and compassion is, indeed, the crown of our soul.

Who fulfilleth thy desire with good things! Each time we pray “O Heavenly King,” either at home or at Church, we identify the Holy Spirit as the “treasury of good things.” The Lord knows our needs and desires even before we ask: He sees to our needs, foremost of which is our attainment of the Heavenly Kingdom, with a greater compassion and concern than that of any father.

Thy youth shall be renewed as the eagle’s! The Psalmist here, after promising that the Lord saves us from our infirmities and from corruption itself (here understood to be the corruption of the mortal body), promises that the Lord will restore our youthful vitality. This is possible in this life through the the revifiying power of the Holy Spirit witnessed in the healings wrought by the Apostles in Acts and the Holy Spirit’s activity in the lives of the saints. But, this Psalm, and all of the Divine Liturgy, points to the ultimate renewal that will take place when the present world passes away (Mt. 5:18, Mk. 13:31, I Cor. 7:31, 2 Pt. 3:10-13, 1 Jn. 2:17). This passing, in which “the former things have passed away” (Rev. 21:4) does not mean that all of creation will be irrevocably destroyed. Rather, its form and condition in the present age will pass away and it will then be renewed (Is. 65:17-25, Rom. 8:19-22, 2 Cor. 5:17, 2 Pt. 3:13): “He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’” (Rev. 21:5); also: “I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away” (Rev. 21:1). To the extent that the Divine Liturgy is eschatological, that is pointing toward the establishment of the Lord’s Kingdom, we experience this future Kingdom within the Liturgy, which begins with the Kingdom’s invocation, continues with its representation, and concludes with our participation in the Heavenly Banquet of the Kingdom. In this Kingdom, both body and soul are renewed, as is all of creation. In the Kingdom, all of renewed creation praises God; therefore, our worship in the Divine Liturgy also consists of praise:

God meant Man to lead the creation in its praise of Him. Sin has deprived us of our place at the head of the chorus; it has driven us out and sealed the lips created to praise our Maker. Christ, the Lamb whose death takes away the sin of the world, ends this fathal isolation and opens our lips that our mouth may show forth God’s praise. In Christ we return to join the rest of creation, taking our rightful place as leaders in the choir. The Liturgy begins with this antiphonal praise because our salvation consists of praise. (Fr. Lawrence Farley, Let Us Attned: A Journey Through the Orthodox Liturgy 25)

King David compares our renewed youth to that of an eagle because the vigor and majesty of the eagle, whom the Ancients believed could renew itself like the mythical Phoenix.

Compassionate and merciful is the Lord, long-suffering and plenteous in mercy! What gloss is necessary here for a Christian? We who are about to partake of the Body and Blood of Christ, who hung on a Tree and endured mocking for our sake, even betrayal by those closest to Him, must consider the limitless reaches of compassion, mercy, long-suffering endurance of trials!

The people then glorify (doxologize) the correct understanding of God: the Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The first verse of the Psalm is repeated to emphasize our praise of the Lord. The deacon then raises his orarion and begins the Little Litany…

Next: Part Five, “The Little Litany”

“For our Bishop ______, for the honorable presbytery, the diaconate in Christ, for all the clergy and people, let us pray to the Lord.” St. Ignatius of Antioch (+108), disciple of the Apostle John, Patriarch of Antioch, and early Church Father, wrote: “Let no one do anything that has to do with the Church without the bishop’s approval. You should follow the bishop as Jesus Christ did the Father. Follow, too, the presbytery as you would the apostles. And respect the deacons as you would God’s Law.” After praying for the good estate of all the autocephalous and autonomous Orthodox Churches, it is natural to pray for the local head of our Church, the bishop, and for the clergy who serve with his blessing. The petitions of the Litany are careful to follow each other in order of importance, in this way, the rational order of worship imitates the harmonious and Divinely-structured order of the universe. Within this petition, the order is bishop, the honorable (timos) priesthood (literally presbytery, the ‘elders’ who have rule over the ecclesia or local churches), the deacons (diakonias, or ‘servants’) whose service is in Christ, all the clergy (kleros, from which we get kliros, meaning ‘a lot,’ referring to those who are called to serve the Church by lot, as in the selection of the Apostle Matthias: “And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias” [Acts 1:26]), and the people (from laos, ‘people’ or ‘crowd’). The Apostle Paul is careful to instruct: “Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow” (Heb. 13:7). In this petition we take his words to heart.

“For the President of our country, for all civil authorities, and for the armed forces, let us pray to the Lord.” Following the instruction of the Apostle, we pray for those entrusted with the responsibility to lead and defend our nation: “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty” (I Tim. 2:1-2). Naturally, petitions for our secular leaders come after those for our spiritual shepherds.

“For this city, for every city and country, and the faithful dwelling therein, let us pray to the Lord.” Having just prayed for our secular leaders, we then ask for mercy upon our city, for all cities, and for the faithful Christians who live in it; in this way we join Moses who petitions: “destroy not Thy people and thine inheritance” (Deut. 9:26).

“For favorable weather, abundance of the fruits of the earth, and peaceful times, let us pray to the Lord.” Up until this point in the Litany, we have been praying for people, the Church, and the cities wherein we live, not asking for anything other than peace and mercy. Now our petitions become supplications for good things from above. The Apostle and Brother-to-the-Lord, James, reminds us of the power of prayer when he wrote about the Prophet Elias (Elijah), who “prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit” (James 5:18). That prayer for rain and a bountiful yield from our crops continues to this day in the Orthodox Church, as does the prayer for peace, which the Apostle Paul suggests we should make to “follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another” (Rom. 14:19).

“For travelers by land, sea, and air; for the sick and the suffering; for captives and their salvation, let us pray to the Lord.” Once we have asked for the edifying things that make peace, we pray for the salvation of our brothers and sisters who are not present in this Divine Liturgy: those who are traveling, those who are too sick to attend Divine Liturgy, those who are incapacitated in some other way, and those who are imprisoned or held captive by foreign powers, bandits, or some other authority holding them against their will. In this way, we fulfill the Apostle James’s injunction for the faithful to pray for those who are sick (James 5:14-16).

“For our deliverance from all affliction, wrath, danger, and necessity, let us pray to the Lord:.” The template for the Church’s prayers are the Psalms of King David, the principal theme of which is turning to the Lord in times of affliction: “Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses. Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins” (Ps. 24 [25]: 16-18). We pray that the Lord may bring us out of affliction, but we must be mindful that the patient endurance of all troubles and pains is the path of Christ that leads to a Heavenly reward: “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (II Cor. 4:17). Therefore, St. Paul instructs us to be “patient in tribulation” (“tribulation” here is from the same Greek word that is often rendered as “affliction,” thlipsis) because of the promise that Christ gives us: “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John: 16:33). So, knowing that affliction produces patience (Rom. 5:3), we pray that we may be delivered from it on account of our weakness, knowing full well that as long as we suffer, we are not separated from the love of Christ (Rom. 8:35). The emphasis in this petition is deliverance from suffering inflicted on us by others: the wrath of tyrants, the danger that accompanies persecution and the necessity that occurs when one is acted on by force. The Greek word rendered here as “necessity” is anagke, which means ‘to be subject to authorities,’ ‘compulsion,’ or even ‘violence,’ ‘torture,’ or ‘bodily pain.’

“Help us, save us, have mercy on us, and protect us, O God, by Thy grace.” This is the single most-common petition, occurring eight times in the Divine Liturgy; therefore, we should carefully examine for what we are asking. First, we ask for God’s help. At the end of the second chapter of his epistle to the Hebrews, St. Paul specifies that Christ is able to succor us because He assumed our nature (Heb. 2:18). Not only having made and fashioned us as our Creator, but having lived as one of us, Christ knows what we suffer, but He also knows how to assuage it in a way conducive to our salvation. Second, we pray that the Lord save us, remembering His role as the Savior of humankind. Third, we ask for mercy from the Lord. This is the most basic prayer in the Christian lexicon: “Lord have mercy.” Fourth, we ask that the Lord protect us. The Greek word, diaphulasso, is literally rendered, ‘through-guard,’ for the Lord guards us and protects us, often through the intercession of our guardian angel. Finally, we ask that the Lord do all of this through the miraculous action of His Divine energies, His grace, which is the gift of God, freely given. God is under no compulsion to assist us, but rather chooses to act out of His love for us: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8); further, that Grace comes to us through our only intercessor to the Father, Christ: “grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).

“Calling to remembrance our all-holy holy, most pure, most blessed, glorious Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary with all the saints, let us commend ourselves and each other, and all our life unto Christ our God.” Whereas we have but one intercessor before the Father, we have a host of intercessors⎯the saints⎯to Christ. Foremost among these is the Mother of God. As such, we orient ourselves to God by calling to mind (from Gr. mnemosyne, ‘remembrance’ or ‘giving heed to’) her supreme obedience to God, for the miracle of the Annunciation took place with her consent. In so doing, she gave her life, which she had previously dedicated to God in the Temple, to following the will of God. Remembering her example, and that of all the saints, we dedicate our lives to Christ. The Greek verb parathometha here literally means “attach” and its use suggests that we are to attach our life to Christ. Note here how we do not do this alone, but we all dedicate ourselves to Christ together. Just as we earlier prayed for the “union of all,” here we presume that union and attach ourselves to Christ. The Mother of God is here given her full title in the Church: All-holy (Panagia) because she is the foremost example of cooperation between God and man, most pure (ahrantos or ‘undefiled’) because she did not sin, most blessed and glorious because she is called by Gabriel “blessed art thou among women” (Luke 1:28) and the Prophet Isaiah calls her glorious: “his resting-place shall be glorious: (Is. 11:10), Lady because it is the traditional title for a queen, and as the Mother of the King of All and Bride of Christ, she is both Queen Mother and Queen, Theotokos because she was the birth giver of God, as recognized by Elizabeth when she called her “the mother of my Lord” (Luke 1:43) and formally by the Church (over the title Christokos) at the Third Ecumenical Council in 431 A.D., Ever-Virgin because the Church has universally taught that she was always a virgin (her perpetual virginity was declared at the Fifth Ecumenical Council in 553 A.D.), and Mary, the English rendition of her name, Mariam.

Having called to mind the Mother of God and all the saints, because we are “fellow citizens with the saints” (Eph. 2:19), and renewing our dedication to attach ourselves to Christ like our fellow citizens have done, the deacon concludes his portion of the Great Litany. The people respond, affirming the deacon’s petition that we unite ourselves to Christ, by saying “To Thee O Lord,” for it is to our Lord Christ that we direct and dedicate our spirit during this most sacred Divine Liturgy.

The priest then responds with his exclamation: For unto Thee are due all glory, honor, and worship: to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. The priest is here proclaiming why we have dedicated ourselves to a life of union and attachment to Christ: because everything that is good, every blessing, every ephemeral moment of inspiration, and every lasting reward comes to us through the Holy Trinity: our Heavenly Father and Creator, Christ, the Son of God, our Redeemer and Savior, and the Holy Spirit our Comforter and Benefactor. If one accepts that “No man can serve two masters” (Matt. 6:24), and that every life represents service to someone or something (whether an ideal or material), even if the person being served is one’s self, then it is only reasonable that we would want to serve the Source of all goodness. Part of that service is to deny ourselves, to flee praise and honor and, instead, to ascribe all glory and honor to that Source of all. “Orthodox” can be translated alternately as “right belief” or “right worship.” It is fitting that both “belief” and “worship” come from the same root word, because, in the Christian understanding, one cannot worship correctly without believing correctly and, conversely, one cannot believe correctly without worshiping correctly. Therefore, as we stand in prayer in the Divine Liturgy⎯the Church’s ultimate manifestation of “right worship”⎯the priest, our shepherd and spiritual guide, proclaims that right worship must be directed to the Holy Trinity. Furthermore, as a representative of the Apostle to the Gentiles, St. Paul, the priest instructs that all glory, honor, and worship should be given to the Holy Trinity in the present moment and throughout all future ages: “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen” (I Tim. 1:17). As their response to the initial blessing by the priest, the people respond with “Amen” (“so let it be,” “verily,” or “truly” in Hebrew). By so responding, all consent in dedicating their lives to glorying, honoring, and worshiping the Holy Trinity.

During the Great Litany, the priest has a silent prayer that he reads in the Altar, called the “Prayer of the First Antiphon:” O Lord our God, Whose dominion is indescribable, and Whose glory is incomprehensible, Whose mercy is infinite, and Whose love for mankind is ineffable: Do Thou Thyself, O Master, according to Thy tender compassion, look upon us and upon this holy temple and deal with us, and them that pray with us, according to Thine abundant mercies and compassions. In this prayer, the priest, in his most import function, calls down the Lord’s mercy upon all those present and those who are absent with good cause (those remembered in the Litany: the sick, suffering, captives, and travelers by land, sea, and air). Recognizing that God’s power is incomparable, for He “hangeth the earth upon nothing” (Job 26:7), the priest appeals to the Lord’s infinite mercy and compassion, that He will deal with us, not according to our works, but according to His mercy. As we read in the eighth of the morning prayers in the Jordanville Prayer Book:
“For if Thou shouldst save me for my works, this would not be grace or a gift, but rather a duty; yea, Thou Who art great in compassion and ineffable in mercy.” God’s mercy is great; St. Paul describes God as “rich in mercy” (Eph. 2:4). Christ Himself testifies to the depth of God’s compassion: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved” (John 3:16-17).

Next: Part Four, “The First Antiphon”

The Liturgy of the Catechumens begins with the announcement of the Kingdom of Heaven and ends before the Passion [. . .] We find the death of Christ twice: first in the Proskomedia (with the entombment after the Great Entrance), and secondly after the Consecration [. . .] The Liturgy of the Catechumens, which is Christ’s ministry on earth, thus falls between His death during the Proskomedia and His entombment after the Great Entrance.
+Mother Maria, “The Experience of the Liturgy” in An Introduction to the Divine Liturgy

This Liturgy of the Catechumens is the second of the three-part Divine Liturgy. Bishop Alexander (Mileant) of Buenos Aires and South America (=2005) describes it as the point where “the faithful are prepared for the Mystery.” This preparation takes place by emphasizing the teachings of Christ during His earthly ministry, which are available not only to the faithful but to those who are preparing to be received into the Church (Gr. katechoumenos ‘one being taught orally’), hence: “Liturgy of the Catechumens.” Although only the second of three parts, we begin our study with the Liturgy of the Catechumens because it is the first part most people experience, the proskomedia taking place exclusively within the Altar.

The service begins with the deacon asking the priest, who represents the Bishop’s authority, to bless. Note that in the Church, everything follows a correct order: just as nine ranks of angels serve the Lord, so too do the lower orders of clergy serve the bishop. Deacon literally means “servant” and his orarion (the distinctive stole he wears either on his shoulder or crossed about his chest) represents the wings of the angels. The priest responds not with his own blessing, but with the exclamation that the Heavenly Kingdom is blessed. In so doing, he follows in the footsteps of Christ, who proclaimed the Kingdom at hand (Mark 1:15) and St. Paul who expounded on the Kingdom (Acts 28:23). The priest’s exclamation signals that during the Liturgy, we experience the very same Kingdom Christ proclaimed. The Royal Doors are open, signaling that the veil separating the earthly from the spiritual has been pulled back and we now have access to the Kingdom of Heaven through our mediator, Christ. While exclaiming “Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages,” the priest makes the sign of the cross with the Gospel over the Altar Table, signifying that this is the part of the Divine Liturgy where the Word will be proclaimed and, in the homily, expounded. For this reason, the Liturgy of the Catechumens is sometimes called the Liturgy of the Word. The people respond with “Amen,” which means “so let it be,” “verily,” and “truly” in Hebrew. By so responding, all consent to the unfolding of the Kingdom.

The deacon, standing before the Royal Doors, is outside the Altar with the faithful. He begins the petitions that we all pray, supplicating our Lord in Heaven to have mercy on us who have been, since the Fall, exiled from Paradise where Adam and Eve freely walked with God in spiritual concord. These petitions are called the “Great Litany” or “Great Ectenia.” Litany derives from the Greek litanos, which means ‘entreating’; ectenia means ‘extended’ or ‘protracted,’ meaning that these petitions are a protracted list of supplications. Because the Great Litany begins with petitions for peace (Gr. irini), this litany is also known as the irenicon, or ‘peace-making message’ or ‘proposition for peace.’ The deacon is leading the people in prayer, intoning the supplications that all are praying in the heart. It is important to emphasize here that the mystical action of prayer takes place silently within the hearts of all present. The deacon’s supplications are not meant to replace this necessary spiritual and interior movement, but rather to provide direction.

The first three supplications are for the peace that is necessary before we can enter the Kingdom: “If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift” (Matt. 5:23-24). St. Paul begins most of his epistles by evoking this peace from above: “Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:2). It is for this reason the priest begs forgiveness from the clergy and people before beginning the service. In like manner should we ask forgiveness of our brother and sister before Liturgy begins.

In peace let us pray to the Lord: Always remembering that prayer is more than the words we speak – it is the internal action of our spirit inclining toward the Lord – we must be careful to cultivate an inner peace when we pray. To this purpose, St. John Cassian (=435) recommends that the faithful come to church services well before they begin, so that the layers of the world, its thoughts and its cares, can be shed and the proper spirit of peace may be the beginning, and not the end, of prayer.

For the peace from above and the salvation of our souls, let us pray to the Lord: There is a greater peace than that achieved by shedding the cares of the world. There is the peace of the grace of God, bestowed on us by our Creator and Savior: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you” (John 14:27). In the second of the three litanies asking for peace, we ask for this peace and that our souls be saved.

For the peace of the whole world, the good estate of the holy churches of God, and the union of all, let us pray to the Lord: Having asked for peace and salvation for our souls, we immediately supplicate the Lord for peace for all, the health (literally, the ‘good stability,’ eustatheias, from the stem stathmos, meaning ‘the weight-bearing pillar of a structure’) of Christ’s Church, and that all may be united in Christ, which is the purpose of His Body, the Church. Our salvation is not a solitary enterprise; it takes place in the context of our participation in the Church Militant (that of the faithful here on earth) and the Church Triumphant (that of the saints and bodiless powers). That the spiritual life is shared is the deep theological truth behind the supplicatory prayer to the Mother of God: “Most Holy Theotokos save us.” We ask that we be saved together because, in being united together through Christ, our salvation is bound up with one another; therefore, after asking for peace and salvation for one’s self, it is natural and right to immediately ask the same for the world. Of course, the chief means by which God provides for the salvation of the world is through participation in His Church. Therefore, we follow our prayer for the world with a prayer for His holy churches. It is important to understand this litany correctly. By “churches” we do not mean the many and varied confessions of faiths and doctrines that proliferate; neither do we mean the brick and mortar buildings. Rather, we mean the local churches of the One Church, the Orthodox Church. Within our One, Holy, Apostolic Church there are 15 autocephalous churches and another seven autonomous churches. In this supplication, we pray for their good keeping and welfare. We conclude this petition with the request that we all be united in the Lord, remembering that this is the purpose of the Church: to provide for our salvation and deliverance from the world by grafting us onto Christ, the Living and True Vine (John 15:1-8).

For this holy house, and for those who with faith, reverence, and fear of God enter herein, let us pray to the Lord: After praying for the self-governing Orthodox Churches, it is then natural that we pray for our home parish, consisting of the faithful who are uniting themselves to Christ. We pray for the temple, literally “holy house,” which is a consecrated place of worship – a sacred space set aside wherein people experience the Divine Mysteries. Once the Altar Table of a Church is consecrated, it is to be an Altar until the Second Coming of Christ. There is no “retiring” or “closing” an Orthodox temple, or “house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (I Tim. 3:15). We honor the holiness of God, experienced in the Divine Mysteries, by entering the church with faith and in reverence and fear of God: “let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Heb. 12:28). We place our faith in God that He will compensate for our insufficiencies and weaknesses with His grace. We approach in reverence, never having idle conversation (remembering how Christ threw out the money changers from the Temple [Mark 11:15–33, Matt. 21:12–27, Luke 19:45-20:8, & John 2:12–25]) or inappropriate transactions in church, especially in the nave (or body) of the church. And we draw near in fear of God, ever mindful of the dread and awe-inspiring reality of God and the account we must make before His Throne during the Last Judgment.

So, in the Great Litany, the first three petitions are for peace and the fourth petition is for the temple wherein peace is to be acquired and for the faithful who are seeking it.

Next: Part Three, “The Great Litany Continued”

This is a new series of articles on the meaning of the Divine Services, begining with the Divine Liturgy.

The catholic consciousness of the Church, where it concerns the teaching of faith, is also expressed in the Orthodox Divine Services which have been handed down to us by the Ecumenical Church. By entering deeply into the content of the Divine service books we make ourselves firmer in the dogmatic teaching of the Orthodox Church.
+Protopresbyter Michael Pomazansky, Orthodox Dogmatic Theology

The importance of attending Divine Services cannot be overstated. Protestants sometimes ask, “What would Jesus do?” as if it is possible to imitate the Lord through a mere act of will. The Orthodox spiritual life, on the other hand, allows the Lord to work through us; we grow into the likeness of Christ through the acquisition of grace. Whereas we use our will to obey the Lord’s commandments, we can only acquire grace through a synergistic communion with Him: by receiving His Precious Body and Blood and by participating in His Services so that the prayers of the Church become the voice of our spirit crying to the Lord. In this way, our spirit is oriented toward Christ. Although the Divine Services transmit the essence of our Faith, experiencing them can be so overwhelming that it imperils the correct understanding of their meaning.

Let us begin a study of the Divine Liturgy by considering the Holy Altar Table, the Throne of God, wherein the Divine Sacrifice of Christ’s Body and Blood occurs. The image of the Divine Liturgy is given to us in Revelation. Read chapters 4 & 5 of Revelation and you will see how the Hierarchal Divine Liturgy follows the vision of St. John, which depicts the Church Triumphant in Heaven. Those who claim that the Divine Liturgy is not Scriptural fail to see how St. John’s vision uncovers (apocalypse) the Mystical Supper instituted by the Lord. As an image of the New Jerusalem, the Holy Table’s “length and breadth and height are equal” (Rev. 21:16). Each consecrated Altar has sealed within it the relics of a martyr (our Altar contains the relics of Great Martyr Lazar), because St. John saw “under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God” (Rev. 6:9). The Table is covered with a white linen and, over that, an elaborate brocade; in this way it is vested like the priest who wears an elaborate brocade phelonion (cape) over a white linen sticharion (robe). On the Table is the antimins (‘instead of the Altar’): a linen cloth with relics sown into it (ours also has the relics of St. Lazar), the image of Christ’s descent from the Cross, and the signature of the Bishop who lends it to the Church. Originally, the antimins were only for temporary Altars that were not consecrated, but now all Altars have one: it represents the sacrificed Lamb: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain” (Rev. 5:12). On the Altar is a Gospel with an icon of the Resurrected Christ on the cover and the images of the four Evangelists: “And the first beast was like a lion [Mark who represents Christ as the King of all men], and the second beast like a calf [Luke who emphasizes Christ as the sacrifice offered for all men], and the third beast had a face as a man [Matthew who represents Christ as the Son of Man], and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle [John’s exalted theology]” (Rev. 4:7). Next to the Gospel is a cross, the universal symbol of Christ’s victory over death. Our Lord Himself revealed to His Apostles that, before His Second Coming in “power and great glory,” will “appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven” (Matt. 24:30). St. Constantine, before the pivotal Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312 A.D., saw a vision of the cross above the sun and heard the words, “in this sign you shall conquer.” By resting on the Altar Table, the Table of Sacrifice, the cross represents the instrument by which Christ’s sacrifice for us was enacted. Through this sacrifice, He overcame death by death, so for us it represents victory and blessing. This cross that rests on the Altar is used by the bishop at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy to bless the people as he distributes the antidoron. In Greek practice, the priest does not use the blessing cross, only the bishop; however, in Slavic practice, it is customary for the priest to also use this cross to bless the people. The seven-branched candelabrum represents the “seven golden candlesticks” (Rev. 1:12) amidst which Christ appears; it also hearkens back to the layout for the Tent of Meeting in Exodus 25:37. Behind the Altar are images of the seraphim, representing the two cherubim of gold that covered the mercy seat of the Ark (Exodus 25:18) and the elevated Crucifix, representing Christ hanging on the Tree, the Fruit of Eternal Life, the tasting of which can overcome the death that entered into the world through eating the forbidden fruit. Importantly, in a Tabernacle (small container shaped like a temple) either on the Table or suspended above it, is the Lamb Himself: a small particle of Christ’s Body & Blood for communing those sick or near death.

Next: Part Two, “Blessing & The Great Litany”

We live in times overwhelmed with images created by man, in a postmodern epoch where each person struggles to produce the most convincing image of himself and his idea, where people try to attract the most people they can through their self image in order to impress and to impose their “icon” (or artificial resemblance) or, better yet, their “idol,” on others (as St Andrew says : “αὐτείδωλον ἐγενόμην”, “I have become an idol to myself”; Canon of St. Andrew of Crete, Ode IV). It is an era which offers falsehood, delusion, and fantasy without transcending the antinomies and limitations of history.

Continue reading The Icon and the Kingdom of God: A Homily on the Sunday of Orthodoxy

    The twentieth-century’s tumultuous and disastrous legacy for matrimony continues into the twenty-first century: a skyrocketing divorce rate, shifting gender roles, changing legal definitions of what constitutes marriage, and a campaign for legally sanctioned same sex unions have exposed a fault line in American society that runs deeper than even those differences that are said to create the “battle of the sexes.” The fault line runs deep into the bedrock of society, forcing us to consider what underlying assumptions we choose to make the foundation for the most elementary family unit: husband and wife. The implications are profound. Families raise succeeding generations, modeling the behavior and values that will become the mores of the future. As the Church continues to recede as a presence that establishes the assumptions that define marriage, society is left to define these assumptions through legislation that amounts to little more than slipshod efforts to patch arbitrary answers over the emerging cracks.

Continue reading A Few Thoughts on Marriage: Love in the Western World and the Eastern Church

The following talk was given by His Grace Bishop Justin on September 6, 2009 at our annual Diocesan Days gathering in Jackson, CA. Bishop Justin was our guest speaker and concelebrant to both Bishop Maxim of Western America and Bishop Longin of the New Gracanica Diocese.

Continue reading Fishing for Souls – His Grace, Bishop Justin, of Timok, Serbia

What follows is a lecture delivered by His Grace Bishop Maxim on March 19, 2009 at Loyola Marymount University on the topic "Who do people say I am? True God and True Man: Chalcedon’s Christology in a Postmodern World." Bishop Maxim was the featured speaker along with His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan of the Armenian Church, Western Diocese. The symposium was sponsored by the Huffington Ecumenical Institute. For more information on the event, click here.

Continue reading For Discussion: The Theological, Historical and Cultural Significance of Chalcedon’s Christology

Click here to see a wonderful interview with His Grace Bishop Atanasije (Yevtich), in which he addresses some of the issues in the ongoing debate in Serbia about liturgical changes.

Interview with Bishop Atanasije (Yevtich) on the Liturgy and Liturgical Changes

His comments about being attached to books like Protestants reminded me of when I had the great blessing to visit him at his monastery in Tvrdos, Herzegovina. It was my first service as a deacon, and I was desperately clutching to my book, trying to figure out what was happening, since everything was in Serbian.

Every time he saw me, he would grab the book out of my hands and put it off to the side, telling me something to the effect that I should just be present and aware of the service and act from my heart. I remember thinking that that was a wonderful idea, and then sneaking off and finding my book.

With God’s help, I’m working toward his goal of liturgizing with the Spirit. But just what is the relationship between the letter (of the service books) and the Spirit? Comments?

– Fr. Gregory Edwards

According to a recent poll by the very reputable Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, Orthodox Christians make up only 0.6% of the population in the United States.

religions.pewforum.org/affiliations

This has to be significant in some way, especially when most Orthodox trace their roots to countries that are overwhelmingly Orthodox. Does it make a difference? Should it? How?