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Understanding the Orthodox Liturgy

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Understanding the Orthodox Liturgy Understanding The Orthodox Liturgy A Guide for Participating in the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom By The Very Reverend Michel Najim & T.L. Frazier ISBN No. 1-879038-25-0 COVER LAYOUT: Orthodox Data Information Associates GRAPHICS: IconoGraphics Electronic Byzantine Clip Art Collection by TheoLogic Systems Front Cover: Icon of the Mystical Supper by the Convent of the Virgin Mary, Caftoun, Lebanon Back Cover: Fourth century Antiochian chalice We would like to express our profound gratitude to Doctor Paul Touma Khoury, whose generous financial backing helped make this project possible. "Lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." -- Matthew 6:20-21 CONTENTS ENDORSEMENT by Metropolitan PHILIP .............................................................................................................................................. ix I. GENERAL INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 1 The Meaning of the Liturgy................................................................................................................................ 1 Vespers and Other Preparations for the Divine Liturgy......................................................................................................................................... 8 Sunday Morning Preparation............................................................................................................................ 14 Kairos: The Entrance Prayers Prior to the Divine Liturgy ........................................................................................................................................ 15 The Vesting....................................................................................................................................................... 19 The Washing of the Hands ............................................................................................................................... 27 The Proskomide (or “Prothesis”)...................................................................................................................... 29 II. THE DIVINE LITURGY...................................................................................................................................... 65 The Structure of the Liturgy ............................................................................................................................. 65 The Opening Prayer.......................................................................................................................................... 67 III. THE LITURGY OF THE CATECHUMENS.............................................................................................................................................. 69 The Great Ektenia (or “The Litany of Peace”) .............................................................................................................................................. 72 The Antiphons and the Monogenes .................................................................................................................. 77 The Little Entrance ........................................................................................................................................... 85 The Prayer of the Entrance ............................................................................................................................... 86 The Trisagion Hymn......................................................................................................................................... 87 The Readings .................................................................................................................................................... 92 The Epistle ........................................................................................................................................................ 94 The Holy Gospel............................................................................................................................................... 96 The Homily....................................................................................................................................................... 98 The Prayers for the Catechumens................................................................................................................... 101 IV. THE LITURGY OF THE FAITHFUL....................................................................................................................................................... 106 The Prayers of the Faithful....................................................................................................................................... 106 The Great Entrance................................................................................................................................................... 107 The Prayer of the Cherubic Hymn............................................................................................................................ 114 The Procession.......................................................................................................................................................... 117 The Litany of the Prothesis....................................................................................................................................... 119 The Prayer Before the Offering (Proskomide).............................................................................................................................................. 120 The Holy Kiss........................................................................................................................................................... 122 The Creed ................................................................................................................................................................. 124 The Anaphora (The Eucharistic Prayer)........................................................................................................................................... 129 The Anamnesis ......................................................................................................................................................... 146 The Lord’s Prayer..................................................................................................................................................... 160 The Elevation............................................................................................................................................................ 166 Holy Communion ..................................................................................................................................................... 169 Post-Communion and Thanksgiving ............................................................................................................................................................ 177 The Dismissal ........................................................................................................................................................... 181 BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................................................................................................................................... 189 INDEX ...................................................................................................................................................................... 193 "We have seen the true Light, we have received the heavenly Spirit; we have found the true Faith, worshiping the undivided Trinity: for He has saved us." The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom We are pleased to endorse this excellent book and video, UNDERSTANDING THE ORTHODOX LITURGY by the Very Reverend Michel Najim and T.L. Frazier. We authorize its use in all the churches of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, and recommend it to all English-speaking Orthodox Christians everywhere. It will be especially useful to all those who have an interest in Orthodox Christianity and the formative years of the Church. Father Michel and T.L. Frazier have captured for us the true meaning of our liturgical prayers, chants and ritual. Every word and movement of the Holy Liturgy has a specific reality -- to lead us to the undivided Trinity and salvation in God's Kingdom. Holy Orthodoxy means "of true worship." It is because of liturgy that the Church has survived for almost 2000 years, for those who worship and understand what and who they worship, have embraced the Eternal Light of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Given at the Archdiocesan Office, on the 16th day of May, 1995 in Englewood, New Jersey Metropolitan PHILIP Primate Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America I. GENERAL INTRODUCTION THE MEANING OF THE LITURGY When Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt, he was given a very explicit set of instructions on how they were to worship the God who freed them. These instructions were revealed by God on Mount Sinai and are found in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy in the Old Testament. From this beginning arose the complex liturgical Temple worship of ancient Israel. In the New Testament, we find that Jesus’ disciples, who were all Jewish, at first continued to worship
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