These pages are not a new translation of the Divine Liturgy service written by Saint John Chrysostom. Nor is it a sequential study of this service. It also does not contain historical explanations or theological expansions {For more information on the Divine Liturgy, see (Introduction to the Divine Liturgy), by Costi Bendali, and (In order to Understand and Live the Liturgy) by the Monastery of the Letter, and (The Sacrifice of Praise) by Frieda Haddad, and (The Lord's Table) by Father Afnasyev, (The Orthodox Church Faith and Doctrine) by Timothy Ware, and (Individual Worship and Collective Worship) by Father Florovsky, all in Al-Nour Publications (publisher). They are simple notes, that is, brief notes highlighting some passages from the text of the service and some of the main themes of this long and rich prayer that Saint John Chrysostom carried from Antioch to Constantinople in the fourth century, and which, in its broad outlines, is recorded in Greek manuscripts. From the eighth century. We wanted to direct the attention and thinking of believers to some of the spiritual peaks in this text.
We have written not for scholars but for laymen, men and women, and even for disciples, for souls less familiar with doctrinal discussions who nevertheless desire definite preliminary ideas.
A few words on the general structure of the ministry of Saint John Chrysostom will not be useless.
This service that we are now contemplating combines, like the ancient Christian services, two models of liturgical gathering: the service of the Word and the service of the Eucharist.
First comes the service of the word, and it is based on the word in both its aspects: the word of man, which addresses God, and the word of God, which addresses man. Man turns to God through peace petitions, which are a series of requests made by the priest or deacon on behalf of the community. These requests are separated by hymns and the recitation of passages from the Holy Bible (Stikhons, especially from the Psalms) with prayers that we call “secret” (secret avashins), which are recited by the priest.
Then, the “small entry” (small turn) of the priest holding the book of the Gospels indicates that this part of the service directs the mind to the written divine word. After the Magnificat prayer (Trisagion: (Holy God, Holy the Strong, Holy the Immortal, have mercy on us...) repeated three times), the Epistle and the Gospel corresponding to the day are recited, usually followed by a sermon.
Then the thanksgiving Eucharistic service begins. The bread and wine are carried to the Holy Table. This is the Great Entry (Great Session), followed by the recitation of the Creed. The priest then recites the great prayer of thanksgiving, which includes thanksgiving to God for all his gifts and the evangelical supplication in establishing the sacrament of thanksgiving at the Lord’s Last Supper, and invoking the Holy Spirit on us and on the offerings.
This long prayer, which includes some intercessions and remembrances, culminates in the Lord’s Prayer (Our Father who art in heaven...). The believers then receive the body and blood of the Lord. The service ends with short intercessions and blessings.
These are the major outlines of the ministry of Saint John Chrysostom, some elements of which this booklet will extract in order to better present them to readers so that they can capture them with attention and piety.
Many people have done what we sought to do here. They did it much better than us. If this booklet has any merit, it is in its simplicity and brevity.
May the Lord make this work of ours, despite His humility, a help to some souls to worship Him in spirit and truth.
Beirut, birth 1971
- In peace
- Entry of the holy angels
- Enter the book
- We move forward with repentance
- Peace be upon you all
- Amen
- Pure light
- Souls and bodies
- Let us hear the Holy Gospel
- Grand entry
- A company of love and a company of faith
- the doors
- Under the breath of the Holy Spirit
- Do you believe this?
- A prayer of thanksgiving
- Offering
- Pentecost
- Blessed are you among women
- All of them and all of them
- The Lord's Prayer
- Lord's supper
- We have seen the true light
The great supplication that begins the divine service begins with a request that insists that peace be given to us.
Indeed, these students are very important and essential. It is repeated three times in slightly different ways. These are not unnecessary repetitions, as each one carries a deep and special meaning.
A- (In peace we ask the Lord). The aim is, first, to put ourselves in a state of inner peace. Who will participate? (1) In the Divine Mass, he must expel from his mind all confusion, close every window to physical and worldly experiences, and be freed from all domination by (the affairs of) this world, from every hostile feeling towards any person, and from every personal anxiety. He must stand before God in a state of calm, confident attention, and focus on (the only need).
B- And here it is, immediately, a second request: (For the peace that comes from above and for the salvation of our souls, let us pray to the Lord). The peace that we asked for a moment ago is something different from a psychological state that we achieve through our efforts. This is peace that comes (from above). We must humbly acknowledge that this peace is a gift from God, and be open to this gift and extend our hands to it. We must, on the other hand, acknowledge that divine peace and (the salvation of our souls) are deeply interconnected. Peace is an indication of the Savior’s presence and work in us.
C - Finally, this is a third peace request: (For the peace of the whole world, the good stability of God’s holy churches, and the union of all, we pray to the Lord). The peace we seek goes beyond our isolated personas and takes on the character of practical application. We pray for the peace of the universe, not only for humans, but for all creatures, for animals, for plants, for planets and all of nature. Thus we enter into universal piety and compassion for all that God has created. We pray for all of Christ's disciples and for all of them to worship God (in spirit and in truth). We pray for the end of wars and conflicts between nations, nations and classes. We pray that all people will be united in one love.
Every temple of the Lord is a house (divine presence) and a house of prayer. Every temple is also a house of peace. May the soul of everyone who enters this temple become determined to participate in the divine meeting, so that it also becomes a house of peace.
The Gospel is circumambulated in a procession heading towards the temple. This is the ritual called (little entry) (little cycle). What does this little entry mean? The meaning of this entry is expressed in the prayer that the priest recites at that time, which includes: (...Make our entry coupled with the entry of holy angels who participate with us in the service and in the glorification of your goodness). Angels share our meeting. They pray with us and for each of us. We are surrounded by a multitude of angels. They watch over us, help us and love us. We must strive to enter into a trusting and intimate relationship with them.
Let us notice that the text of the Mass says that we and the angels serve the (goodness) of God. The text does not say that we serve God's glory or power, it puts the emphasis on the goodness of the Master. The glory of God is, certainly, the radiance of His goodness, and God’s power makes this goodness effective. But divine service directs our attention, first, toward goodness. The ritual of the “small entry” is an entry into the goodness of God, into this goodness that the angels know much better than we do. It is an entry into this righteousness, to which a prayer is directed that we constantly repeat in the Mass: (Lord, have mercy).
During the small entrance procession (little cycle), the priest or deacon carries the book of the Holy Gospels. The procession stops in front of the doors of the iconostasis. The priest or deacon (bearer of the Book of the Gospels) raises the book and shows it to the believers, saying: (Wisdom! Let us be upright), then he enters the temple and places the book on the holy table.
The Little Kingdom is not only an entry for angels, but it is also an entry for the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ into the heart of each of us. The declaration: (Wisdom!) means that the Gospels are the supreme wisdom, it is the revealed divine wisdom that exceeds, incomparably, all human knowledge, and the request: (Let us be upright!) indicates the great reverence with which we should accept the word of the Master. Then, highlighting the Gospel to believers is an invitation to hear the teacher’s word and follow it.
The Book of the Gospels remains on the table throughout the Divine Liturgy. Also placed on it are the “holy offerings” that will be used in the Lord’s Mystical Supper (in the Divine Sacrifice). Thus, the connection between the heavenly, invisible food, which is the Word of God, and participation in the body and blood of our Savior is confirmed. The Gospels remain on the holy table as if they stand up and pray. Did the Gospel of Jesus enter our hearts in this small entry?
We move forward with repentance
Although the service of Saint John Chrysostom does not begin, like some other Christian Masses, with a special prayer to confess sins and declare divine forgiveness, these two elements (confession of sins and declaration of divine forgiveness) are nevertheless present in it, albeit in a less clear form than in others. They appear clearly in the prayer that the priest says before reciting the message. Indeed, this prayer, which, unfortunately, is generally ignorant of believers, contains the following words: (... O You who do not neglect those who sin, but establish repentance for salvation... You, O Lord, accept from the mouths of us sinners also the thrice-sanctified praise, and visit us with the riches of your goodness and forgive us all our sins. Voluntary and involuntary. Sanctify our souls and bodies...). Everything that needs to be said is said in this prayer. It does not contain an enumeration of sins, but rather a humble acknowledgment of our status as sinners and a recourse to God's infinite mercy.
In this same prayer, the priest turns to God and says: (You have made us worthy of us, your humble and undeserving servants, to stand at this hour also before the glory of your holy altar...). You have qualified us to stand before the Lord's table. Let us see well the gentle and filial emphasis in this prayer. We do not say here: (We qualified), but: (You qualified us). We do not doubt that our merciful Master has responded to our longing for the grace of forgiveness by returning us as His reconciled and beloved children.
This is the phrase that the priest often repeats during the Mass as he turns towards the believers and blesses them.
We saw at the beginning of these reflections the meaning of the request for peace and the importance of this request, which is often repeated by the priest or deacon. The phrase (peace be upon you all) is, in a sense, God’s answer to this request, but we have become so accustomed to this phrase that many of us can no longer feel the value and weight of what it carries.
When the priest raises his hand in blessing and says: (Peace to you all), he is communicating to us a reality. He gives us a gift from God and a grace. He gives us the peace that comes to us from God and not from us, the peace that comes upon us and enters us. Do we feel this peace in our hearts?
Are we truly aware that the Lord gives us His peace? Do we have faith that the peace given to us in this way and many times carries within itself what calms our disturbances and pain? We may have heard, hundreds of times, in Mass, this (Peace be upon you all) without paying serious attention to it. The appropriate hour has now come in which we must seek, with a new heart, to accept within ourselves this peace of Jesus given to us and to preserve it.
This is the word that the faithful say most often during Mass. It is the people's answer to the prayers that the priest or deacon says out loud.
What is the value of the word Amen that we say? In Hebrew, it means that the subject of our speech is certain and stable. Then, uttering this word means a commitment from us. The word means each one of those who say it, it means him personally.
Indeed, we have heard this “Amen” so often, and said it so often, that it has lost much of its momentum and strength. We made it an automatic reaction to some words in the Mass. Instead of (It is, truly, like this), which is the original meaning of the word Amen, we place a lukewarm acceptance in a superficial commitment, as if one of us is saying: (Yes, with all consent, let it be like this). We do not feel that our entire life and our entire being are deeply involved in an act of fervent faith and trust.
Let us begin, today in particular, in this Mass in which we are participating now, let us begin to give the word Amen that we say the meaning it should have for us. Let us make every Amen a living rush toward God and a cry that unites us with His Word and His will.
The message is read. It is followed by the recitation of the Gospel, and the priest prepares for it with a prayer that begins thus: (O Master, lover of mankind, shine into our hearts the light of your divine knowledge...).
As we said before, the Divine Mass not only brings together the believers around the Lord’s Supper, but it also brings them together around the Lord’s Word. It wraps around the book like it wraps around the cup. In proclaiming the Gospel and in truly receiving this message, we will find ourselves in living contact with Him who is “the light of the world.”
This light (shines in the darkness), which means that it is surrounded by darkness and opposing forces, however, the darkness will not overcome it. We achieve this affirmation in the entire vast world surrounding us. It is also a real affirmation for each one of us, because every human being carries within himself, at the same time, the power of darkness and a light that will never be extinguished.
Let us prepare to hear the Gospel by being open to the light. Let this light, this knowledge that comes to us from God and not as a result of our labors, this same inner light that came from the Lord Jesus and radiate around him, guide all our steps on the path. Yes, every step of ours. There are no small things in the life of the soul. The message that I write, the conversation that I create, and the time that I spend, God guides us in all of these, just as He guides us in major decisions that require an existential commitment from us.
Let this light shine, not only for me to walk in the path that God wants, but to illuminate every aspect of my spiritual life, and to make every person and everything stand in the place that the Divine Spirit wants for them. O Light of the World, make me advance from light to light.
The priest continues the prayer before the Gospel, and recites these words: (For you are the enlightenment of our souls and bodies, O Christ our God...).
Enlightening our bodies? We are well aware that (the light of the world) illuminates our souls. But how does it illuminate our bodies, and to what extent? In the priest's prayer before the Gospel we also hear these words: (...that we may trample all fleshly desires). How can the body itself be trampled and enlightened at the same time?
The body, in itself, is good; God created it and blessed it. But this body, which was wounded and weakened by the sin of the first two ancestors, is often a source of different experiences. It may also be a dividing wall, a selfish isolation, a tool of resistance to the Holy Spirit. However, these are all deviations. The body, as God thought of it and wanted it, is an instrument of salvation. Thus, God is the principle of love between man and woman, and He made the marital union a secret. Likewise, God requires us to preserve our bodies, take care of our health, and pray for the sick. Then God honored our body to such an extent that He Himself wanted it to be embodied in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. For this reason, the Divine Mass calls us, through the same prayer that is recited before the Gospel, to trample the lusts of the flesh (the bad ones that separate us from God and from our brothers) and to be guided (by the illumination of our bodies) as well as by the illumination of our souls.
Since we will listen to the reading of the Word of God, let us ask, with the opening of the Gospel according to Saint John, that (this Word become flesh) in us, and (dwell in us) and enter into our depths until our body becomes its transparent covering.
(Wisdom. Let us be upright and listen to the Holy Gospel), said now by the deacon or priest. Today's Gospel passage is read.
We must note that what is meant is not just hearing the Gospel, but rather listening to it in depth, by paying close attention to the divine word and opening to it not only our ears but also our hearts.
The word "Gospel" means (good news). Therefore, the ritual phrase (let us hear the Holy Gospel) therefore means (let us hear the Holy Good News). This is because every passage of the Gospel contains good news, a joyful message, an announcement of something great that concerns each of us. At first glance, the Gospel may not seem to us like “good news.” Each one of us may say in his heart as he listens to the passage that will be recited: (I have heard this many times! It has nothing to do with me at all). However, every part of the Gospel, whatever it is, even if we have heard it many times, always has something to say to us. If we listen to this Gospel with humility and reverence, we will discover in it, every time, a sentence or word that we had not noticed until now, and it will attract our attention as if we were hearing it for the first time. This message - this notification - is not directed to the group of worshipers as a whole, but rather to each worshiper personally. It's directed at me.
When I hear the Gospel being read, I must think, “This is the word that our Lord has kept for me to this day. This is what He wanted to say to me today. This is what He is saying to me. I will keep, with great care, this word in my heart.”
Now the bread and wine are carried to the holy table, which were prepared and placed on another table standing on one side of the temple. This takes place in a procession in front of the believers, which we call “the Great Entry” (the Great Cycle) to distinguish it from the “Little Entry” (the Small Cycle), which we continued on above and in which the Book of the Gospels is transmitted.
Meanwhile, the choir chants: (O you who secretly represent the Cherubim, and you who sing triple praise and sanctification for the life-giving Trinity, let us cast aside every worldly concern). In (The Small Entry) we depicted the entry of the angels in conjunction with our own entry, but in the (Great Entry) we depict what goes beyond that, as we declare that we have become, (secretly) and by the grace of God, the image of the angels and their representatives. Thus we are similar to angels, so to speak. Therefore, in this transformative moment, we must abandon all worldly concerns and renounce everything that does not direct us towards God.
However, we cannot forget or neglect the needs of our brothers and sisters. Rather, we must not forget or neglect their needs. Likewise, we hear the priest in this (Grand Entry), and before he passes through the royal door heading to the Holy Table, we hear him mentioning the shepherds of the church, the country, and the city from which we come, and he also mentions all those for whose intention the divine sacrifice was performed. After this, the priest places the bread and wine on the holy table and incenses them while the choir sings: (For we are about to receive the King of all, exalted from the angelic ranks in an unseen state).
A company of love and a company of faith
“The Grand Entry” is followed by many requests. Divine service leads us towards a collective declaration of our faith. The deacon or priest prepares for this confession by addressing the believers, strongly urging them to love: (Let us love one another, so that with one resolve we may confess with affirmation...). The chorus continues: (...with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a Trinity of equal essence and inseparable).
This moment has a very important meaning, because the words that were said now express the very nature of the Church. In common love and in common love, the Church declares her faith in the great communion of love, this communion formed by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The church is a loving company. This communion of love declares itself a communion of faith; Those who do not want to love cannot deserve to acknowledge the love of the three divine Persons. I could not say: (I believe in love) (that is, I believe in God, love), had I not included this divine love and my love for all people, men and women.
Immediately before the Creed, the priest says these words: (Doors! Doors! Let us listen wisely!). What does this phrase mean?
In the first centuries of Christianity, catechumens and sinners who undergo a period of contrition were not allowed after which they would declare their repentance before the believing community. These catechumens and repentants were not allowed to participate in the second part of the Divine Mass, that is, in the divine sacrifice itself. In this part of the divine service, they were asked to go out. Then the doors of the church are closed, while the faithful whose personal situation is consistent with the law of the local church remain inside.
Today, in fact, the doors of the church are not closed, as catechumens, sinners, and even non-believers are allowed to attend the entire Divine Liturgy. Does this mean that the announcement of closing the doors has been emptied of its meaning? of course not. In the heart of each of us is an invisible door that must be closed, if not materially, then spiritually, when administering the holy sacraments. At this time, we must put aside all distractions, all concerns, all thoughts and all desires that are contrary to God and alien to Him.
On the contrary, there are doors that we must open, also unseen, in our hearts. (Let us listen!) says the text of the Divine Mass. Let us therefore remain open to and listen to the words and inspirations that come from God. The Lord directs to each of us the phrase that He said to the deaf and mute: “Open!” (i.e., be opened) (Mark 7:34).
Under the breath of the Holy Spirit
Here the reader or the group of believers recites the Creed, while the priest lifts the curtain over the bread and wine and turns it over them in a fluttering motion.
This ritual, which seems strange at first glance, is primarily linked to material reasons, like many other rituals. This is because, in hot countries, flies should have been kept away from the sacred offerings. This movement was later given a deep spiritual meaning, and the fluttering of the curtain over the bread and wine was considered a symbol of the breath of the Holy Spirit and the wind that filled the house when it blew on Pentecost. We now proclaim our Constitution of Faith, so we cannot properly profess the Christian faith unless, at this time, the Holy Spirit comes upon us. We may recite well and correctly the expressions of our faith, but unless we are inspired by the Holy Spirit, our ritual remains dead and sterile. Then let the Holy Spirit come and move the words within us and give them life!
Now, then, the Constitution of Faith as drawn up by the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople is recited (2).
The Constitution of Faith begins with the word “I believe.” (3). What does it mean to believe? What is meant here is not pure mental agreement with some beliefs. What is meant is the true act of faith that occurs under the influence of divine grace, and is based on revealed truths that the human mind alone cannot comprehend, the act of faith that we express, intimately, in absolute trust and obedience. We may have correct beliefs without, however, having this inner attitude, the attitude of faith that saves.
What do we believe in? We repeat the “Articles of Faith” and ancient words from the fourth century. We can also, even now, return to those ancient springs to draw new forces from them. But in our faith, all its articles must contain a movement of the spirit, a rush to God, and a call, and not be merely a dry list of vague “principles.”
We believe in God the Creator, and we worship His purposes for the created universe, for all the elements of this universe, and for the renewal that will come, in Christ, to a world excluded by sin. We do not attribute to our God any of the evils that He fights with us, these evils caused by the revolution of the forces of darkness.
We believe in Jesus Christ, the only and eternal Son of the Father, who is His own nature. In Christ and through him we want to become adopted children of the Father. We want to worship and love Jesus Christ not only in his divine nature, but also in the human nature that he assumed from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. We want to become participants in the salvation that was accomplished on the cross, and participants in the resurrection and ascension of our Lord and Savior Jesus. We fervently look forward to His second coming and His kingdom.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver, who proceeds from the Father. We want to seek light in the divine written and oral revelation, revelation inspired by the Holy Spirit, and we want to seek light in the work of the Holy Spirit who is always present among us.
We believe in the universal Church, descended from the holy apostles, and we unite with all its visible and invisible members, and with all the good souls who, even if they do not know how to name Christ, implicitly seek Him and from Him receive all that is in them of truth, goodness, and beauty that Jesus baptized secretly.
We now enter into the heart of the prayer of the Divine Mass, in the great act of thanksgiving and offering, of which the sanctification of bread and wine forms a part. Here is the Eucharist itself, because the Eucharist means (prayer of thanksgiving).
(It is a duty and a right to glorify You, bless You, and praise You...). Whoever praises, blesses, and thanks with a sincere heart will have, deep down, an attitude of gratitude. He is in a psychological state that we can call (a Eucharistic state), and he advances in life praising him with joy and confidence, as he has been established in a joy that overwhelms and transcends him at the same time.
What do we thank God for in the Great Prayer of Thanks? We express our thanks to Him (for everything). We remember before Him everything He did for us: (You brought us out of nothingness into existence). The Lord raised mankind after the fall, and He is still working to bring us to the coming kingdom. We thank the Lord (for the goodness done to us, which we know and which we do not know), for all this goodness with which He includes us every day in countless ways.
But our act of gratitude becomes more clear and specific: (We also thank you for this service that you have agreed to accept from our hands, even though thousands of archangels have stood before you...). The heavenly powers (angels) alone could have given God more worthy worship than ours. But God accepts what we offer Him with our sinful hands. At this time, the angels unite with us to sing the praises of victory: (Holy, holy, holy. The Lord of hosts), the Lord of the angelic hosts. (Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!)
He who comes in the name of the Lord... what is meant here is the one who approaches us at this minute, which is the greatest gift that the Father offers to humanity. (You are the one who loved the world so much that you gave your only son so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life...) The key word in the Mass and in all of God’s relationship with humans is said here: (You are the one who loved the world so much...). All of God's existence and all of human existence are a mystery of love. Here we are at this same time facing selfless love.
The Divine Liturgy now clarifies, through the mouth of the priest, the visible form in which the “gift of love” appeared. The words of the Master will be repeated, and they are the words that he said (on the night in which he was betrayed, and even more so, that he surrendered himself for the life of the world). Let us hear again these words: (Take, eat, this is my body which is being broken for you for the remission of sins... Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins.
Each of these words we should weigh in our hearts. (Take): It is worth noting here this boldness with which we come forward and (take) with our wrong hands. What do we take? (My body...my blood). These two words are spirit and life. We will not understand them with a kind of secret materialism (matérialisme sacramentel) and we will not see them as merely a symbolic expression, a metaphor, or a mere allusion. These two words - (My body... My blood) - we accept as the true active declaration of the presence of the Savior's body and blood, an invisible presence, but completely real, living and active. This news is a (broken) body, and this wine is (spilled) blood. Our Divine Mass is, like the First Secret Supper, an invitation to us to participate, according to our ability, in the breaking of the Lord’s body and the shedding of His blood. We are called to give ourselves, to be broken and destroyed. This is because the Eucharist, as we said, is a sacrament of love. We know from the Bible that there is no greater love than this: that a person lay down his life as a ransom for his loved ones.
(For you…). The Master's body is broken for me, and the Master's blood is shed for me. It is appropriate for us, then, in order not to drown the proclamation of Christ in generalities, to know and see how personal the Lord’s words are to us, and how much they mean to each one of us individually. At this particular time, the Lord tells me that he died for me and that he is the true Easter Lamb who bears all my sins. Do I feel the greatness and dimensions of divine forgiveness? Do I feel that I am purified and that I am clothed with the blood of the Redeemer?
The Lord offers us his body and blood. What can we, in return, offer him? We can offer Him everything we have and everything we can give. We offer ourselves to Him above all else. We can (reciprocate) everything that He did for us, that is, we can acknowledge His good deeds to us and prostrate ourselves to His goodness in all these good deeds. For this reason, the priest, as he quickly reminds us of the entire history of human salvation: the cross, the tomb, the resurrection, the ascension and the second coming, as he reminds us of all of this, raises the bread and wine to God, saying: “What you have of yours we offer to you above all things and for all things.” something).
Let us pause for a moment at these words: (What is yours is what is yours...). We have nothing, because there is nothing that we have not received from God. Therefore, we can only offer God what He has given us. We pray to him and ask him to take again and sanctify, for his sake and for ours, everything that he had made for ours. We pray to Him to sanctify first this bread and this wine, these two elements that symbolize all of creation and which will become the visible instruments of our communion with the Lord. We must remember here all those whose labor produced these bread and wine for us: the wheat planter, the farmer, the baker, the vinedresser, and the worker, the maker of glass and metal vessels. The whole universe and all human labor are reduced to these lowly material elements through which God Himself comes to us. At this time the divine act of creation reaches its climax.
At this time also, we pray for all creation and dedicate to God all people and the entire world. We complete the service of the priest so that our priesthood becomes a priesthood of service and (a royal priesthood), this priesthood that the Holy Bible attributes to all believers.
In our supplication to Him and our intercession, we raise to God all things and all people, all human needs and all distresses and adversities. And I present to you, my Lord, my soul and my body, which are from you and yours. I return them to you, and they have become more yours than before, by grace and prayer: (what is yours is of what is yours...).
The priest now invokes the Spirit of God over the Holy Offerings.
(...And we ask, and we supplicate, and we ask, send Your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these offerings that have been placed. And make that this bread is the body of Your honored Christ, and as for what is in this cup, the blood of Your honored Christ, transforming them with Your Holy Spirit so that they may be for those who receive them for the awakening of the soul, the forgiveness of sins, the fellowship of Your Holy Spirit, and the fullness of the Kingdom of Heaven... ).
We now reach another facet of the Mass. The Divine Mass is not just a gathering of believers around the Word of God. Nor is it just a gathering of believers over the Last Supper. The Mass is a Pentecostal meeting, it is Pentecost. The Mass is a coming, it is the descent of the Holy Spirit among us and upon us. This Pentecostal character of the Mass is indicated by many expressions in the text of the Divine Service. The priest, before beginning the Mass, invokes the Holy Spirit: (O heavenly King, the Comforter, Spirit of truth, present everywhere and everywhere and filling all things, treasurer of good deeds and giver of life, come and dwell in us...). We pray many times in service to the Holy Spirit (the good and the life-giving one) along with our supplication to the Father and the Son. We heard the priest after the grand entrance asking: “…May the good spirit of your grace descend upon us and upon these offerings that have been placed and upon all your people.” Then the priest also asked that (the fellowship of the Holy Spirit), along with the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, be with us all. We also heard him announce to the deacon that the Holy Spirit himself “participates with us in the service.” Now this Spirit is summoned with more urgency: (We ask you, we entreat and ask, so send your Holy Spirit...).
On what will the Holy Spirit be sent? (...on these offerings placed). Transforming bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ is not a magical process performed by a priest. The text of the Mass says: (...transforming them with Your Holy Spirit). This conversion, which is God's response to our prayers, is not a goal in itself, but it is accomplished (so that they may be for the recipients to purify the soul and forgive sins) and also (for the fellowship of your Holy Spirit). Everything is done by the Holy Spirit and in the Holy Spirit.
We should note something important. The priest said: (Send your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these offerings...). The priest did not ask for the Holy Spirit to descend on the offerings first, but rather that it descend upon us in the first place. Here lies Pentecost in the thanksgiving service. The Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts before it descends on the two material elements, bread and wine, which are tools of strengthening and sanctification. Do we feel the full value of this internal, non-material Pentecost? Do we feel that we have been granted, at this moment, the presence and power of the Holy Spirit? Also, those who did not secretly participate in the Mass can themselves, if their hearts are turned toward God, then receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Some barriers and obstacles may prevent one from truly entering into the secret. But the Spirit blows wherever it pleases, and no limits can limit boundless love.
Even during the thanksgiving sacrifice, the Holy Spirit is not given only for the sacrament of thanksgiving. The purpose is to enter the Pentecostal life, into the life of the Holy Spirit. Did we, at some point, take seriously the promises that the Lord Jesus made, after the Resurrection, not only to his apostles but also to all believers? Did we, at some point, believe that we could, in the name of Jesus, cast out demons and heal the sick? This is what the Lord Jesus assured us. This misery of distrust is that we do not dare (with faith, humility, and obedience to the divine will) to attempt to exercise the authority that Christ gave to those who believe in Him. This holy audacity undoubtedly presupposes in us the power of total renewal and also presupposes in us that our entire being be revealed in abandonment, joy, and love. When the Church calls upon us to receive the Holy Spirit, are we given this Spirit in vain and in vain? Were the promises of the Savior in the Bible given in vain?
The priest now mentions those in whom Pentecost was clearly manifested, that is, the saints who make up the glorified Church, the heavenly Church. (4). Icons remind us that these saints are present with us and participate with us in prayer. We asked God, during the small entry, that our entry into the temple be accompanied by the entry of the angels and saints. This commemoration of the saints is now dedicated, and the priest offers (this verbal worship for the sake of the grandfathers, fathers, patriarchs, prophets, apostles, preachers, evangelists, martyrs, confessors, ascetics, and every righteous soul who died in faith, especially for the sake of the most holy, pure, most blessed and glorious, Our Lady, the ever-virgin Mother of God, Mary).
The choir responds by chanting in joy, “She is more honorable than the Cherubim and incomparably more glorious than the Seraphim,” she is the one who, “without corruption, gave birth to the Word of God.”
The reason we venerate Mary is not only because of the only privilege she received, but because she was the humble servant of the Lord, who asked to have Him according to the words of the angel of the good news and who heard the words of her Son and kept them in her heart. Mary surrounds us with silent, attentive, merciful and interceding tenderness. Therefore, our confident and friendly familiarity with it brings freshness, calm, and hope into our lives.
The priest continues, saying: (Remember, O Lord...); Here he mentions, once again, those who fell asleep in the hope of resurrection. Then he prays for those to whom God has given authority over the nations. He also prays for those who are shepherds of souls and for the leaders of the church. He mentions, in particular, the bishop of the local church in order to “correctly convey the word of your truth.” Here it is worth paying attention to these words, because this is exactly what we ask first for the bishops and priests. Finally, the priest asks the Lord to remember the travellers, the sick, and the prisoners. Let us think, here, about the totality of human suffering and the hardships and tribulations of every human being. Then the priest also asks God to remember (those who offer fruits...and those who care for the poor). This is the time to remember that we have nothing, that we are merely stewards of the Lord’s bounties, and that we must share the bounties with those who are in need. We must also remember that a giving that does not cost anything is a giving that is worthless. What will I put on the tray that is now circulating among believers?
The priest concludes: “And remember, O Lord, those who are thinking in the thoughts of every one of those present, all of them.” The choir answers: (All of them and all of them). Let us pay close attention to what this sentence contains. It expresses the universality of the Church's prayer and the universality of our personal prayer. We do not exclude anyone from our prayers. We open our arms and extend them to all needs and all hardships. To all of you we belong, to all of you, and to all of you we unite.
Al-Talaba Al-Salamiyya Al-Kubra continues. Let us note, among the requests we make to God, the request in which we seek the presence of an angel (guide, trustee, and preserver of our souls and bodies). Have we experienced all the richness of this presence, the presence of a guardian angel, especially when we submit to Him? Has our angel, in fact, become our close friend and beloved companion? What place do we assign to him in our lives?
And now the greatest request ends with prayer par excellence, this prayer that did not come to us from a purely human authority, but it was the Lord Jesus himself who taught it to us, and it is the one that should, rightly, occupy a central place in our prayers. There may not be enough space here for a detailed analysis of this prayer {See on this subject the author’s book (Our Father), by the author, in (Al-Nour Publications), in the French language (publisher)}, but some discussion of this text may help us say it as it should be said in Spirit and truth.
(Our Father...). We can call this Father (My Father), but we must also say (Our Father) because He is the Father who loves all people (5).
(dad…). The Lord Jesus is, by nature, the Son of the Father in the only and exceptional sense. But we ourselves can become children of the Father by adoption and grace.
(He who is in the heavens). We are not obliged to believe in the existence of a physical, physically located heaven. Heaven is, essentially, a psychological state, a state of vision, love and union. The word “heaven” reminds us of the distance between the Creator and his creatures. This distance, by nature, is impossible to cross, but our God became a human being and resides among us, and we live, move, and have our being through Him.
(Hallowed be your name). It is not enough for us to sing praises to God without ceasing. Rather, we must “sing out” this name of God, which is above all names and carries a truth that surpasses all truths. We should also act so that our actions are worthy of the majesty and perfection of our Father.
(Thy kingdom come). The Kingdom of God can be manifested by some external things, some structures, some institutions, some principles and some rituals. But this kingdom, as the Bible says, is first within us. It is an internal event. It is giving oneself completely to God.
(Thy will be done…). The coming of the Kingdom of God will happen, especially, by our fulfilling God’s will in all matters, big and small, so to speak. But God does not have small matters. The small details of our daily lives become great by our obedience to the divine will.
(As in heaven so on earth). The angels' perfect obedience to God should be a model for our own obedience to Him. Our obedience must be unlimited love for God and people.
(Give us this day our essential bread). This request has taken several forms that differ slightly from each other, but they are all correct. The bread that we ask for is, at the same time, the earthly food necessary for our daily life and the invisible inner food with which the Word of God nourishes our souls, just as it is also a participation in the Lord’s given body and His shed blood, and it is also the banquet of the heavenly kingdom, a banquet of which this bread is an anticipation. .
(And leave to us what we owe as we leave to those who owe us.) Here, we do not turn to God as someone who entrusts Him with forgiveness or as someone who gives Him notice. There is no equal comparison between divine forgiveness and the forgiveness that we make: (Forgive us because we forgive). This is the idea that the phrase wants to express, as if it expresses a necessary condition for the forgiveness of our sins, which is that we have forgiven our debtors. We have removed a barrier that prevented the forgiveness of our sins, and this barrier is our refusal to forgive others. From now on, divine forgiveness can cross over to us and erase our sins.
(And do not test us.) This phrase translates the original text of the Gospels better than the phrase “Lead us not into temptation,” or the phrase “Do not let us yield to temptation.” We must not be proud of our resistance to temptation. Moreover, we must not pray to God to be glorified in us because we have overcome these temptations. Rather, we must humbly ask God to remove temptations from us and not test our many weaknesses.
(But save us from evil.) This translation seems more correct than (But deliver us from evil). God does not want evil for anyone, neither material evil nor moral evil. He is a God of salvation, a God of mercy, a God of love. He struggles with us against the evil that seeped into the world through the disobedience of angels and sin. God allows this evil to leave humans free to say “no” to it as well as to say “yes” to it. And God, in his struggle against our common enemy, happens to him (a God whom we might be able to call, to some extent, a suffering God) apparently being, in some souls, wounded and even killed. But we firmly believe that love and resurrection will be stronger than death.
We now enter the stage of the Mass that relates to the thanksgiving table.
The priest prays, first of all, for Christ to be present to sanctify us: (Come, sanctify us, O You who sits on high with the Father and is here with us invisible, and accept to receive with your dear hand your pure body and your precious blood, and through us to all your people).
These words direct our attention to two important aspects of the Mass. We ask Christ to give us (with His hand) His body and blood. We believe that, through Communion, we receive Christ. But we must be able to see, with eyes of faith and love, the Lord Jesus Himself coming to each of us so that, as He did with His Apostles, He may present to us the “Holy Gifts” through which He gives Himself. It is not the priest who gives us communion. The Lord, behind the priest, is the one who, at the same time, brings us closer and closer personally. Do we see him coming to us? Do we see him offering us the bread and wine that God has become? Do we hear the secret and personal word that He wants to say to us at this time, which is supposed to guide our private lives?
We also pray that the precious body and blood of the Lord will be distributed (through us) to all your people. It is not the priest alone who, in fulfilling his ministry, will make other people participate in the Lord's Supper. As all those who partook today must distribute and give to those around them what they themselves received. This means that by their work and their word - not their preaching word but their loving and secretly witnessing word - they should make the grace that has come to them radiate. What is meant here is not only those who participated, in a visible way, in the sacrament of thanksgiving. Those who did not receive material communion were united, spiritually, by the sacrament of thanksgiving and were nourished, in purpose and intention, by the body and blood of the Lord, so they were opened to the Holy Spirit. These must give others, in their practical lives and by their example, the Savior’s offering. We are all responsible for transmitting this offering (to all your people) in a process of transmission that has no limits.
The priest now separates the holy bread, saying: “The Lamb of God is separated and divided, which is separated and not divided, from which it is always eaten and is never emptied....” Let us pause for a moment on these words. What we will eat is elaborate bread, it is the body of the Savior that was broken on the cross. What we will buy is spilled myrrh, it is the blood of the Lord that was shed on the cross. But we do not commemorate the sacrifice of Calvary materially, but rather participate in it spiritually. Every communion of the body and blood of the Lord is a “sacrifice” for the one who receives it. The recipient submits his body to be pierced with a spear of fire. He dies to himself and lives again as a renewed man. This sacrificial aspect of the Lord's Supper must be translated into practice: What will I give today for the Savior in order to be united with His sacrifice? How will I put to death in me, for His sake, what must die? In what way will I complete this very sacred spiritual suicide, which is Communion?
Like the Lamb of God, and with the Lamb of God, I must be “separated” and “always eaten,” by presenting myself to others and laying down myself for them, thus becoming a human being for the sake of others. Lord Jesus, I entrust my spirit into your hands to be broken, separated, and distributed.
Now, the priest pours a little hot water into the cup, and by this he means (the heat of faith absorbed by the Holy Spirit). Once again, Pentecost is linked to Easter. Then the priest partakes of the holy offerings and invites the people to come forward and partake of the holy offerings as well. Many prayers full of piety and humility have been introduced, little by little, here into the divine service. But we must, in order to properly understand the work that is being done, be attentive to the words that the priest says at each reception: (The servant of God or the servant of God... so-and-so shall be given... the precious and holy body and blood of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ, for the remission of his sins and for eternal life. Amen. ).
This statement contains five basic assertions. The one who comes forward to receive Communion and is called by his name is a male or female servant. Am I really this servant, this maid? Do I really hear this call in my name, this very personal call? Here I am receiving the holy offerings. They are offerings, and they are signs of the free grace to which I have no right and which God’s love bestows on me from His never-failing goodness. What I receive is the body and blood of the Lord Jesus. Beyond the physical signs lies the truth, the presence of my Savior and his saving action. I participate in the offering and sacrifice of Calvary. The sacred offerings that I receive are an expression of the forgiveness of my sins, my sins that were taken up and carried by the slain Lamb of God. I was purified by the blood of the divine Lamb and immersed myself in it to wash myself with it, like these crumbs of bread that the priest pours into the cup. This offering is, for me, a pledge of eternal life, because the Lamb of God who was slain and whose redemption I share is also the Lamb who rose from the dead on the third day. Easter includes the Savior's resurrection as much as it includes his crucifixion. I pray to share in the Resurrection of the Savior.
The Mass ends in an atmosphere of thanksgiving, joy, and, one might say, ecstasy in God. Let us examine our consciences and see whether these above words mean a personal, living, real experience for us or whether they remain merely ritual expressions.
(Since we have rightly received the mysteries of Christ God...) says the priest. Have we really addressed these secrets? How did we eat it? And if we have partaken, have we truly participated, in spirit and in truth, in the mystery of Christ? If we did not receive Communion, does this mean that we could, or were supposed to, go with our hands empty, without having tried (to take) the divine truth? Even those who have not received Communion should, during the Mass, have received the breath of the Holy Spirit, through a touch of grace emanating from the Savior or through a purifying and transforming revelation. Whether or not we receive the secret Holy Communion, we must leave the church as we entered it. We must bring other people out.
The choir sang: (We have seen the true light, and we have received the heavenly Spirit, and we have found the true faith). The priest said: “We have seen the resurrection of Christ....” Did this divine service provide us with a connection with Christ, not only the sacrificed one but also the Risen One? In this Mass, did we get to see the One who is the light of the world? Did this holy service become a Pentecost for us, in which we receive not only the person of the Savior, but also his powerful and effective Holy Spirit? Have we discovered in this Mass true faith, faith in divine love that lays down his life for the life of the world, for me, for those whom God loves - love? If all of this is not achieved, the Divine Mass will have turned into an empty expression and word instead of a decisive internal event.
In the last prayer that the priest recites in front of the icon of the Lord, we hear him mentioning those “who rely on you.” Let us trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and rely on Him, no matter our weakness and no matter the dangers surrounding us. The Divine Mass should have made us feel confident and reassured. (Do not neglect us who rely on you...).
The priest also says: (Preserve the fullness of your church... sanctify those who love the beauty of your house... honor them in return with your divine power...). Let's pay attention here. The fullness of the Church, the beauty of the divine house, the sanctification of those who love this beauty: these are all great and beautiful words; But we make a grave mistake when we think that these are qualities of a humanly victorious, humanly beautiful, humanly strong, and rich earthly church. St. John Chrysostom speaks about those who offer precious offerings on the stone altar, while they close their hearts to the living altar that is established in every (street), that is, in the poor. How can we speak about the beauty of God’s house when there are those among us who participate in the sacrament of thanksgiving and leave the church to die of hunger? How can we dare to speak to the fullness of the Church when there is someone among us who shares the prayers of the group of believers without anyone paying attention to him or anyone seeking to come into contact with him? What beauty are we talking about then? On what filling?
The last word in the text of the Divine Mass wonderfully shows the divine truth whose shadows we saw through the symbols of the Mass. The priest asks Christ our God to have mercy on us and save us, and he concludes thus: (...because he is good and loves mankind). Thus, the Divine Mass reveals to us, through its stages, transcendent goodness and limitless love.
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Written by: Father Lev Guillah
Arabization: Elie Obaid
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Margins of grid mode
- (1) Most people make a mistake and say, “We are going to attend the Divine Mass.” The correct thing is to say, “We are going to participate in the Divine Mass.” The Divine Mass is a table of partnership, love and one faith. The priest cannot perform the Divine Liturgy unless there are believers participating with him in the Divine Liturgy.
- (2) The Council of Nicaea is the first ecumenical council, which is the First Council of Nicaea, and the Council of Constantinople is the first Ecumenical Council, or the First Council of Constantinople.
- (3) According to the constitution drawn up at the Council of Nicaea, it begins with “We believe,” but the Orthodox Church later decided that this constitution should be recited like this: “I believe.” Because she saw that the issue of confession of faith is a personal confession made by each believer individually. Especially after this part of the Divine Liturgy was attended by the general public (believers and non-believers).
- (4) There is only one church because the head is one, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. However, some people have become accustomed to saying “the heavenly church and the earthly church” and “the visible church and the invisible church.” See: [Callistos (Ware), The Orthodox Church: Faith and Doctrine, Chapter Three: The Church of GodThe Church, visible and invisible].
- (5) In contrast to the word “we believe,” which the Orthodox Church decided to make “I believe.” This is because “Our Father” refers to God the Father, who is the Father of all. It is not a declaration of personal faith for every believer.
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