Divine Liturgy


Divine Liturgy or Holy Liturgy is the usual name used in most Eastern Christian rites for the Eucharistic service.
File:Прва_Литургија_у_завршеном_храму_Св.Саве_у_Биограду,_Божић_7.1.2021.jpg|thumb|Church of Saint Sava, Christmas, Belgrade, 7 January 2021
The Eastern Orthodox Churches, Eastern Catholic Churches and Eastern Lutheran Churches believe the Divine Liturgy transcends both time and the world. All believers are seen as united in worship in the Kingdom of God along with the departed saints and the angels of heaven. Everything in the liturgy is seen as symbolic, but not merely so, for it makes present the unseen reality. According to Eastern tradition and belief, the liturgy's roots go back to the adaptation of Jewish liturgy by Early Christians. The first part, termed the "Liturgy of the Catechumens", includes the reading of scriptures like those in a synagogue, and in some places, also a sermon/homily. The second half, the "Liturgy of the Faithful", is based on the Last Supper and the first Eucharistic celebrations by Early Christians. Eastern Christians believe that the Eucharist is the central part of the service in which they participate, as they believe the bread and wine truly become the real Body and Blood of Christ, and that by partaking of it they jointly become the Body of Christ. Each liturgy has its differences from others, but most are very similar to each other with adaptations based on tradition, purpose, culture and theology.

Byzantine Rite

Three Divine Liturgies are in common use in the Byzantine Rite:
As well as these, there are two others that are used locally and rarely, the Liturgy of St. James and the Liturgy of Saint Mark.

The Hierarchical Liturgy

As numbers in a diocese increased dramatically, the bishop who presides over the Eucharistic assembly appointed presbyters to act as celebrants in the local communities. Still, the Church is understood in Eastern Orthodoxy in terms not of the presbyter, but the diocesan bishop. When the latter celebrates the liturgy personally, the service is more complex and festive. To demonstrate unity with the greater Orthodox community, the hierarch commemorates the hierarch he is subordinate to or, if he is head of an autocephalous church, he commemorates all his peers, whose names he reads from a diptych.

Typical structure

The format of Divine Liturgy is fixed, although the specific readings and hymns vary with season and feast.
The Divine Liturgy consists of three interrelated parts; when not in conjunction with vespers, the liturgies of John Chrysostom and Basil the Great are structured thus:
A typical celebration of the Byzantine Liturgy consists of:

Liturgy of Preparation

This part of the Liturgy is private, performed only by the priest and deacon. It symbolizes the hidden years of Christ's earthly life.
  • Entrance and vesting prayers, the sacred servers enter the church, venerate the icons and put on their vestments.
  • Liturgy of Preparation – the priest and deacon prepare the bread and wine for the Eucharist at the Table of Oblation, concluding with the "great censing" when the deacon cense the entire church.
  • Kairos – a preliminary dialog takes place between the priest and the deacon.

    Liturgy of the Catechumens

This is the public part of the Liturgy, in which both catechumens and baptized faithful would be in the nave:

When the liturgy is at the usual time, this order is followed:

  1. "O come let us worship and fall down before Christ", or a Psalm verse on feasts.
  2. The refrain of the second antiphon, sung as "who art risen from the dead" on Sunday and "who art wondrous in Thy saints" on weekdays with no feast.
  • Troparia and Kontakia
  • *Hymns commemorating specific saints or feasts, as appropriate to the liturgical calendar and local custom
But when the liturgy is joined to vespers after the Old Testament readings the Little Litany is said and the liturgy continues from this point:

  • Trisagion, the "Thrice-Holy" hymn :
  • *On Christmas, Theophany, Lazarus Saturday, Holy Saturday, Easter and Pentecost, we sing "As many as have been baptised into Christ have put on Christ. Alleluia!"
  • *On Feasts of the Cross, we sing "We venerate Thy Cross, O Master, and we glorify Thy Resurrection."
  • Prokeimenon
  • Epistle Reading
  • Alleluia, with verses
  • Gospel Reading
  • * A sermon may be given here.
  • Litany of Fervent Supplication – "Let us all say with our whole soul and with our whole mind…"
  • Litany for the Departed – this is not said on Sundays, Great Feasts or during the Paschal season
  • Litany of the Catechumens and Dismissal of the Catechumens

Liturgy of the Faithful

In the early Church, only baptized members who could receive Holy Communion were allowed to attend this portion of the Liturgy. In common contemporary practice, with very few local exceptions, all may stay. However, in some places, catechumens are formally dismissed for further study.

  • First Litany of the Faithful
  • Second Litany of the Faithful
  • Cherubikon chanted as spiritual representatives of the angels
  • * Replaced on Maundy Thursday with "Of Thy Mystical Supper..."
  • * Replaced on Holy Saturday with "Let all mortal flesh keep silence..."
  • Great Entrance – procession taking the chalice and diskos from the Table of Oblation to the altar
  • Litany of Completion – "Let us complete our prayer to the Lord"
  • The Kiss of Peace
  • Symbol of Faith
  • Anaphora
  • * Exclamation by the deacon: "Let us stand upright..."
  • * Blessing by the priest and Sursum Corda
  • *The Epinikios Hymnos or Sanctus
  • * The Eucharistic Canon, containing the Anamnesis
  • * Epiklesis, the calling down of the Holy Spirit upon the Holy Gifts to change them into the Body and Blood of Christ
  • * Commemoration of Saints, interrupted by
  • ** The Theotokion, usually It is Truly Meet unless it is the Liturgy of St. Basil, when "All of creation rejoices in thee..." is sung, or a feast, Maundy Thursday or Holy Saturday, when the Irmos of Ode IX from the Canon at Matins is sung.
  • * Commemoration the dead in general, and of the living, concluding with of bishop and civil authorities – "Remember, O Lord…"
  • Litany of Supplication – "Having called to remembrance all the saints…"
  • Lord's Prayer
  • Bowing of Heads
  • "Holy Things are for the Holy"
  • Communion Hymn, during which:
  • * Cutting the Lamb for the consumption by the clergy
  • * Communion of the priests and deacons
  • * Cutting the Lamb and putting the pieces into the chalice for the consumption by the congregation
  • Holy Communion of the faithful
  • "We have seen the true light"
  • "Let our mouths be filled with Thy praise, O Lord…"
  • Litany of Thanksgiving
  • Prayer behind the Ambon
  • * Any special services are normally said here
  • "Blessed be the name of the Lord..."
  • Psalm 33
  • Dismissal
  • * A sermon is given here if it was not given after the Gospel
Almost all texts are chanted throughout the Divine Liturgy, not only hymns but litanies, prayers, creed confession and even readings from the Bible, depending on tradition.
In ancient rubrics, and contemporary Greek practice, the sermon, Nicene Creed and the Lord's Prayer are spoken/read, rather than chanted. Slavic traditions chant or sing everything except the sermon.

Oriental Orthodox Churches

"Divine Liturgy" is the normal word for church service in Oriental Orthodoxy. In their own languages, followers of the Byzantine Rite apply it to their Eucharistic services but, while in English the same word is at times used to speak of the corresponding services of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the normal names used in those Churches refers either to the aspect of offering/sacrifice or of sanctifying.
The Oriental Orthodox Churches own a richness of different liturgies, which are named after the anaphora included.