The Holy and Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom

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The Holy and Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom
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• The point of the liturgy is not to become
  relevant to life, but rather the reverse, to
  make life relevant to the liturgy. On entering
  the church, we leave the world behind, and enter
  a life in heaven surrounded by the angels and the
  saints.

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This is where I come to church
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The Sydney church, ancient, with a modern twist
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On entering the Church the first thing we see is
the iconostas
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On entering the church the priest says the
beginning prayers

• These are prayers in front of the iconostas
• These prayers are said in order to prepare the
  priest and the deacon to have to have the proper
  disposition in order to celebrate the Liturgy.
• Essentially, we come from the world and enter
  heaven, when we come into the Church. WE are
  surrounded by icons of the angels and saints, and
  thus we need time and a prescribed form in order
  to be able to offer the Liturgy.

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The Vesting prayers

• These prayers are said while the priests vests
  himself to celebrate the Divine Liturgy.
• What are vestments,
• Why do we have them?
• Why the prayers?
• Imperial times

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Byzantine Bishop
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Byzantine Priest and deacon
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Byzantine sub-deacon and server, holding a
byzantine censor.. Note, 12 bells
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Proskomedia
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• Before the Divine Liturgy begins, the priest and
  a deacon, if one is serving, begin by preparing
  the gifts of bread and wine for use in the
  service. This preparation is itself a
  considerable service. More than simply setting
  aside the bread and wine, a very symbolic ritual
  has developed.

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• Five loaves of bread are used, reminiscent of the
  five loaves in the wilderness, from which the
  masses were fed. During the proskomedia, the
  priest cuts out a square called the Lamb from the
  main loaf of bread (prosphora). This will be
  consecrated during the Liturgy of the Faithful to
  become the holy body of Christ. He also removes
  small particles and places them on the discos (or
  paten) in commemoration of the Mother of God,
  various saints, and the living and departed
  faithful. The remainder of the bread is blessed
  and distributed to parishioners and visitors
  after the service this bread is called
  antidoron.
• During the Proskomedia, the priest also blesses
  wine and water, which are poured into the
  chalice. Warm water will be added to the chalice
  after the epiclesis.
• Naturally, the gifts are censed several times
  during the Proskomedia. The conclusion of the
  Proskomedia leads directly into the beginning of
  the Divine Liturgy.

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If a bishop begins the Liturgy, he begins it by
blessing the four corners of the world
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• The deacon (or priest, if no deacon is serving)
  continues with the Great Ektenia, so called
  because it is longer than most litanies and its
  petitions touch on the needs of the world peace
  and salvation, the Church, her bishops, her
  faithful, captives and their health and
  salvation, deliverance from anger and need. It is
  concluded, as with most litanies, by calling to
  the remembrance of the faithful the witness of
  the Theotokos and the saints. In light of that
  powerful witness, the faithful are charged to
  commend their lives to Our Lord Jesus Christ. A
  closing prayer is exclaimed by the priest.

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• There follow three antiphon. The first two
  anitphons are followed by a shorter litany and a
  prayer. The third is followed by the small
  ektenia, which is followed by the small Entrance,
  at which is sung, "O Come, let us worship and
  fall down before Christ. O Son of God... save us
  who sing to You Alleluia!" "Son of God" is
  normally followed by an insertion, such as "risen
  from the dead," "wondrous in thy saints," or
  "through the prayers of the Theotokos," depending
  on the day.

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• Only Begotten Son and Word of God, Who willed for
  our salvation to be incarnate of the holy Mother
  of God and ever virgin Mary, Who did without
  change become man and was crucified, O Christ our
  God, Trampling down death by death, Who are one
  of the Holy Trinity, Glorified with the Father
  and the Holy Spirit, save us.

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• The hymn is very theological, composed in honor
  of the incarnate Jesus Christ. The hymn also
  served to clearly respond to multiple heresies
  that plagued the Church such as the meaning of
  the incarnation, changelessness of God,
  resurrection, Trinitarian theology.

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The small entrancepage 7

• The origin of these entrances goes back to the
  early church, when the liturgical books and
  sacred vessels were kept in special storage rooms
  for safe keeping and the procession was necessary
  to bring these objects into the church when
  needed. Over the centuries, these processions
  have grown more elaborate, and nowadays are
  accompanied by incense, candles and liturgical
  fans. In the liturgical theology of the Church,
  the angels are believed to enter with the clergy
  into the sanctuary, as evidenced by the prayers
  which accompany the various entrances

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Deacon carrying the Gospel book , during the
small entrance
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• The deacon carries the Gospel in a way that
  covers his face. This represents the coming of
  the Lord.
• The Priest recites the following prayer"O
  Master, Lord our God, Who has appointed in Heaven
  legions and Hosts of Angels and Archangels for
  the service of your Glory, grant that with our
  entrance there may be an entrance of Holy Angels
  serving with us and glorifying your goodness for
  to you are due all glory, honor, and worship to
  the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy
  Spirit now and for ever and ever.  Amen

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Tropar

• is a short hymn of one stanza, or one of a series
  of stanzas. The word probably derives from a
  diminutive of the Greek tropos (something
  repeated, manner, fashion). The early
  tropars were also called sticheron (probably from
  stichos, verse) but currently the two terms
  are treated separately, with different melodies
  used for each.
• Most troparia are chanted to one of the Eight
  Tones used in the Eastern liturgical tradition,
  though some have unique melodies to which they
  are chanted. Sometimes, troparia will be
  interpolated between verses of a psalm or other
  scripture.

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Kondak

• Historical format
• A kontakion is a poetic form frequently
  encountered in Byzantine hymnography. It was
  probably based in Syriac hymnographical
  traditions, which underwent an independent
  development in Greek-speaking Byzantium. It could
  best be described as a sermon in verse
  accompanied by music. In character it is similar
  to the early Byzantine festival sermons in
  prosea genre developed by Isaac the Syrianbut
  meter and music have greatly heightened the drama
  and rhetorical beauty of the speakers often
  profound and very rich meditation.
• The form generally consists of 18 to 24
  metrically identical stanzas called oikoi
  (houses), preceded, in a different meter, by a
  short prelude, called a koukoulion (cowl). The
  first letters of each of the stanzas form an
  acrostic, which frequently includes the name of
  the poet. The last line of the prelude introduces
  a refrain, which is repeated at the end of all
  the stanzas.
• The main body of a kontakion was chanted from the
  ambo by a minister (often a deacon) after the
  reading of the Gospel, while a choir, or even the
  whole congregation, joined in the refrain. The
  length of many kontakiaindeed, the epic
  character of somesuggest that the majority of
  the text must have been delivered in a kind of
  recitative, but unfortunately, the original music
  which accompanied the kontakia has now been lost.

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• Sacred Tradition ascribes the origin of the
  Kontak to St. Romanos the Melodist during the 6th
  century. Certainly, Romanos' inspired
  compositions represent the apex of the Golden Age
  of Byzantine hymnography. His masterpiece is the
  Kontakion for the Nativity of Christ. Up until
  the twelfth century, it was sung every year at
  the imperial banquet on that feast by the joint
  choirs of Hagia Sophia and of the Church of the
  Holy Apostles in Constantinople. Most of the poem
  takes the form of a dialogue between the Mother
  of God and the Magi, whose visit to the newborn
  Child is celebrated in the Orthodox Church on the
  25th of December, rather than on the 6th of
  January (the Feast of the Theophany on January 6
  celebrates the Baptism of Christ in the Orthodox
  Church).

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Note, the three choirs
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• Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy
  on us.
• ????? ? Te??, ????? ?s?????, ????? ????at??,
  ????s?? ?µ??.

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The Trisagionpage 10

• The trisagion  is a pious and oft-repeated prayer
  in the liturgy. This prayer originated in a
  miracle which occurred in Constantinople in the
  middle of the fifth century. Emperor Theodosius,
  Patriarch Proclus, and all the people were
  beseeching God on open ground for deliverance
  from the destruction which threatened them from
  violent earthquakes. They suddenly saw a boy
  snatched up to heaven when he was returned to
  earth, he reported that he had heard the angels
  singing the trisagion. At the bidding of the
  Patriarch Proclus, the whole people sang it with
  devotion and the terrifying earthquakes ceased.

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• The Cherubikon was added to the Divine Liturgy by
  the Emperor Justin II (565 578)

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The Gospel
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• The petitions of this litany are similar to those
  of the Great Litany, but the augmented repetition
  of the words "Lord, have mercy" makes its
  petitions more fervent. Here we pray that the
  Lord will be compassionate toward us, for life,
  peace, health, salvation and the forgiveness of
  the sins of the "brethren of this holy and
  all-venerable temple" (the parishioners). The
  last petition of this litany refers to those who
  are active and do good works

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Cherubic hymnPage 17

• The Cherubikon, or Cherubic Hymn, is the hymn
  normally sung at the Great Entrance during the
  Byzantine liturgy.. The hymn symbolically
  incorporates those present at the liturgy into
  the presence of the angels gathered around God's
  throne.
• The Cherubikon is divided into two parts. The
  first is sung by the people before the celebrant
  begins the procession with the Gifts, and the
  second, immediately after the celebrant has
  completed the commemorations.

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Byzantine priest holding has hands up and forward
for the cherubicon
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Preparing for the Great Entrance
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I believe in one God
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Icon of St Constantine the Great and the Fathers
of the First Council of Nicaea of 325 as holding
the NicenoConstantinopolitan Creed of 381
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Disnyfication
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III

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III

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• This Symbol of Faith was formulated by the First
  (325 A.D) and the Second (381 A.D.) Ecumenical
  Councils as the framework of truths of the
  Christian believer. It summarizes the basic
  dogmas from the vast treasures of Divine
  Revelation. The belief in the Holy Trinity is
  confessed in the first eight articles the
  remaining four articles refer to the destiny of
  man related to Gods desire for salvation

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Holy Holy Holy

• th this hymn the worshipers glorify the Holy
  Trinity the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The
  hymn originates from the ecstasy of Isaiah in
  which he witnesses the angelic order of Seraphim
  crying "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts"
  and from the vision of the Apostle John in which
  he saw worshipers in Heaven exclaiming "Holy,
  holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was, and is,
  and is to come!" (Is. 63, Rev. 48). Through the
  singing of this prayer, the Church raises the
  hearts of the believers to contemplation of the
  Lords glory and, together with the heavenly
  powers, to extol and worship Him.

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The eucharistic prayer
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• What is the moment of consecration?
• Answer There is non
• The whole of the consecratory prayer is
  essential. The words of Christ, followed by the
  epiclesis are essentail.

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• Following the Creed, the priest begins the
  anaphora, the great eucharistic prayer over the
  gifts, so called because of the initial phrase
  "Let us lift up our hearts." The two principal
  anaphoras in use in the Eastern Church are those
  of St. John Chrysostom and St. Basil the Great.
• After remembering the history of our fall and
  redemption and the institution of the eucharistic
  meal, the priest invokes the Holy Spirit, asking
  that he be sent down on the gifts. It is
  sometimes noted that this invocation, the
  epiclesis, is the climax of the change of the
  gifts of bread and wine into the body and blood
  of Christ, but there is not total agreement among
  Orthodox scholars whether the change can actually
  be pinpointed to a single moment in the service.
  It is certainly true that the prayers of the
  service treat the gifts as consecrated and
  changed after this point.

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• Having invoked the Holy Spirit and consecrated
  the gifts, the priest commemorates the saints,
  beginning with the Theotokos. At this point, the
  assembled faithful chant the ancient hymn in
  honour of the Virgin, "It is truly meet to bless
  you, O Theotokos, ever-blessed and most pure, and
  the Mother of our God. More honorable than the
  cherubim, beyond compare more glorious than the
  seraphim, without corruption you gave birth to
  God, the Word. True Theotokos, we magnify you."
• The priest prays that the bishop, in whose name
  he is celebrating the Liturgy, will be kept in
  the Orthodox Faith and preserved in health and
  years.

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• Prayer before communion
• Pg. 33
• Prayer after communion pg. 34

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The Holy Eucharist