The Element of Understanding in the Prayers of the Liturgy
The Element of Understanding in the Prayers of the Liturgy
If we understand the prayers of the liturgy and all the rites surrounding them, we can pray in a spiritual way and exist in a spiritual atmosphere.
Let us try to follow all of that with understanding.
A Preparation Triangle:
The prayers of the liturgy require preparation that includes everything:
Preparation of the altar – preparation of the people – preparation of the priest.
1– The altar is prepared by the offering of incense upon it:
The offering of Vespers incense and the offering of Morning incense, with the “fasting” of the altar, meaning that no offering has been placed upon it on the same day.
The altar is also prepared by spreading its coverings:
All of that with secret prayers which the priest prays while spreading the altar and while placing the holy vessels upon it with great care.
2– As for the preparation of the people, it is done by many matters, among them:
A – The priest prays four absolutions over them:
One absolution after the offering of Vespers incense, a second absolution after the Midnight Prayer, and it is a very long absolution written in the Agpeya titled “The Absolution of the Priests,” then a third absolution after the offering of Morning incense, and a fourth absolution which is the Absolution of the Servants after the Offering of the Lamb and the Prayer of Thanksgiving…
Added to this is a fifth secret absolution after the Fraction prayer at the end of the liturgy, in which he says:
“They shall be absolved from my mouth by Your Holy Spirit.”
B – The people are also prepared by attending the meetings that precede the liturgy:
Concerning the rite of the offering of Vespers incense, and the Evening Prayer and its hymn, and the Midnight Praise, and the Agpeya prayers in the offering of Morning incense and at the beginning of the liturgy. Then after that the many readings in the Liturgy of the Catechumens. And it is supposed that these be a place of spiritual contemplation for the worshippers present in the church.
The fault of the people is that they do not attend all these preparatory meetings and prayers, so they come to the liturgy late without spiritual preparation, and they lose much benefit…
But I would like to place before you a very important rule, which is:
To the extent that you prepare yourselves spiritually for the Divine Liturgy, to that extent you benefit from it, and the same applies to Communion.
But the one who comes to the church after all these previous ecclesiastical spiritual preparations have passed him by, or he has taken them without depth… he comes with a heart not spiritually prepared, so he does not gain the desired benefit from the Divine Liturgy, nor the depth of the spiritual benefit from Communion.
C – The people are also prepared by confession and repentance:
Therefore the priest, after his return from the Pauline incense, says while circling the altar: “O God, who accepted the confession of the right-hand thief on the cross, accept the confession of Your people…”
The repentant person benefits from the liturgy, from the absolutions, and from Communion.
D – The people are also prepared by reconciliation:
Therefore the priest prays the “Prayer of Reconciliation” before beginning the Liturgy of the Faithful, before lifting the Prospharine. And the deacon calls out: “Greet one another with a holy kiss.” And the word holy means that it is a kiss of true love without pretense or hypocrisy.
And the importance of reconciliation lies in the saying of the Lord:
“If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother” (Matt 5:23–24).
E – And the church also prepares the people by the readings:
To transfer their mind from the worldly material atmosphere to a spiritual atmosphere, that they may live in the commandment of God with all its depth and spirituality. And these readings include the Gospel and the Psalms. And in the liturgy prayer they include a passage from the Epistles of St. Paul the Apostle (the Pauline), and from the Catholic Epistles (the Catholic Epistle), and from the Acts of the Apostles (the Praxis), with a reading also from the Synaxarium containing the story of the saint or saints of that day.
Let us now take one item of these readings, which is the Gospel… and see the extent of the church’s care and spirituality concerning the Gospel.
The Gospel:
There is no church that cares for the Gospel, its readings, and its use in the Divine Liturgy, like our Coptic Church does, and we shall mention examples for that:
1– The reading of the Gospel is repeated three times in every liturgy, with the Psalm:
We read a passage from the Gospel with its Psalm in the offering of Vespers incense, likewise in the offering of Morning incense, and also in the Liturgy of the Catechumens… And the three readings may confirm one meaning in the mind and heart of the believer who listens to them.
2– The reading of the Gospel is preceded by a litany and the offering of incense:
And the father priest says in this litany (the petition): “Let us be worthy to hear and to act according to Your holy Gospels, through the prayers of Your saints…”
Just our listening requires worthiness, for it is a grace from God that He granted us to hear His Gospel… Therefore He says: “Blessed… are your ears for they hear” (Matt 13:16).
Do you feel this blessing and this grace during the reading of the Gospel… and do you make it part of your life, as the father priest says in the litany: “We hear and act according to Your holy Gospels”… and this is the fulfillment of the Lord’s saying: “Whoever hears these sayings of Mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matt 7:24).
3– After the incense litany, there is a procession with the Gospel and incense around the altar:
This is a sign of the spreading of the message of the Gospel around all the inhabited world, so man became without excuse. And the incense symbolizes that our prayers concerning the Gospel rise to heaven with the incense as a sweet aroma before God.
4– The Gospel is read while surrounded by lit candles:
The deacons hold them as they stand around the Gospel. This is a sign of the psalmist’s saying: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps 119:105), and also his saying: “The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes from afar” (Ps 19:8).
And this means that the Gospel enlightens our minds and intellects, that we may know the commandment of the Lord and the landmarks of the spiritual path.
5– The priest places the Gospel upon his head:
A sign that his thought or mind is subject to the teaching of the Gospel. And this also happens during the ordination of the Patriarch or the bishop: the Gospel is placed on his head, that it may inspire his thought and that he may be subject to it.
6– The priests and deacons kiss the Gospel message:
A sign that we do not submit to the Gospel by compulsion, but we obey its commandments with love, and this is confirmed by what is mentioned in the Psalms:
“I rejoice at Your word as one who finds great spoil,”
“I have loved Your commandments,”
“Your testimonies are my meditation,”
“They are my delight” (Ps 119:162, 125, 24),
“Your words were found, and I ate them” (Jer 15:16).
7– And the deacon cries out: “Stand with the fear of God and listen to the holy Gospel”:
This shows us the great awe with which we listen to the life-giving word of God… And at the same time the chief priest lifts his crown from his head during the reading of the Gospel, in reverence for the word of God. And the whole church is in silence and attentiveness to the voice of the Lord speaking to them…
And in Russia I saw all the people kneeling during the reading of the Gospel.
8– The Gospel is read on two lecterns: one facing east and the other facing the people:
This is because we consider the reading of the Gospel a form of prayer, for it is communion with God, and prayer is communion with God. And for this reason every prayer of the Agpeya contains a passage from the Gospel, because it is part of the prayer. And thus we face the east and read the Gospel.
As for reading it again facing the people: that is because the mission of the Gospel is also teaching. It is prayer, and it is teaching.
9– The Gospel is read and accompanied by its interpretation:
This is in accordance with the saying of the Scripture: “Then He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures,” and “He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45, 27)…
Thus the sermon, according to the rite, comes directly after the reading of the Gospel, with its words present in the minds of the people…
This is the church’s rite concerning the Gospel:
And in all of that we remember the saying of the prophet Samuel to Jesse the Bethlehemite:
“Sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice” (1 Sam 16:5).
The Scripture then says: “And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice” (1 Sam 16:5).
Thus we ought to come to the church in holiness, sanctified in body and spirit, and chant the saying of the Psalm:
“Holiness adorns Your house, O Lord” (Ps 93:5).
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