The Meaning of Our divine Services: The divine Liturgy

Transcription

1 The Meaning of Our divine Services: The divine Liturgy The catholic consciousness of the Church, where it concerns the teaching of faith, is also expressed in the Orthodox Divine Services which have been handed down to us by the Ecumenical Church. By entering deeply into the content of the Divine service books we make ourselves firmer in the dogmatic teaching of the Orthodox Church. Protopresbyter Michael Pomazansky, Orthodox Dogmatic Theology The importance of attending Divine Services cannot be overstated. We sometimes hear others pose the question, What would Jesus do? as if it is possible to imitate the Lord through a mere act of will. The Orthodox spiritual life, on the other hand, allows the Lord to work through us; we grow into the likeness of Christ through the acquisition of grace. Whereas we use our will to obey the Lord s commandments, we can only acquire grace through a synergistic communion with Him: by receiving His Precious Body and Blood and by participating in His Services so that the prayers of the Church become the voice of our spirit crying to the Lord. In this way, our spirit is oriented toward Christ. Although the Divine Services transmit the essence of our Faith, experiencing them can be so overwhelming that it imperils the correct understanding of their meaning. If we experience the Divine Liturgy without understanding, we risk losing a proper orientation toward the world, which Giorgios Mantzarides claims must be understood symbolically for us to understand our relationship with God: We need to begin seeing the world symbolically once again. In this perspective, the whole world becomes a symbol of the personal relationship of God with man and of man with God. Within the bounds of this symbolic relation, man and the world find their realization (Orthodox Spiritual Life, 67). Let us begin a study of the Divine Liturgy by considering the Holy Altar Table, the Throne of God, wherein the Divine Sacrifice of Christ s Body and Blood occurs. The image of the Divine Liturgy is given to us in Revelation. Read chapters 4 & 5 of Revelation and you will see how the Hierarchal Divine Liturgy follows the vision of St. John, which depicts the Church Triumphant in Heaven. Those who claim that the Divine Liturgy is not Scriptural fail to see how St. John s vision uncovers (apocalypse) the Mystical Supper instituted by the Lord. As an image of the New Jerusalem, the Holy Table s length and breadth and height are equal (Rev. 21:16). Each consecrated Altar has sealed within it the relics of a martyr (our Altar contains the relics of Great Martyr Lazar), because St. John saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God (Rev. 6:9). The Table is covered with a white linen and, over that, an elaborate brocade; in this way it is vested like the priest who wears an elaborate brocade phelonion (cape) over a white linen sticharion (robe). On the Table is the antimins ( instead of the Altar ): a linen cloth with relics sown into it (ours also has the relics of St. Lazar), the image of Christ s descent from the Cross, and the signature of the Bishop who lends it to the Church. Originally, the antimins were only for temporary Altars that were not consecrated, but now all Altars have one: it represents the sacrificed Lamb: Worthy is the Lamb that was slain (Rev. 5:12). On the Altar is a Gospel with an icon of the Resurrected Christ on the cover and the images of the four Evangelists: And the first beast was like a lion [Mark who represents Christ as the King of all men], and the second beast like a calf [Luke who emphasizes Christ as the sacrifice offered for all men], and

2 2 the third beast had a face as a man [Matthew who represents Christ as the Son of Man], and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle [John s exalted theology] (Rev. 4:7). Next to the Gospel is a cross, the universal symbol of Christ s victory over death. Our Lord Himself revealed to His Apostles that, before His Second Coming in power and great glory, will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven (Matt. 24:30). St. Constantine, before the pivotal Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312 A.D., saw a vision of the cross above the sun and heard the words, in this sign you shall conquer. By resting on the Altar Table, the Table of Sacrifice, the cross represents the instrument by which Christ s sacrifice for us was enacted. Through this sacrifice, He overcame death by death, so for us it represents victory and blessing. This cross that rests on the Altar is used by the bishop at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy to bless the people as he distributes the antidoron. In Greek practice, the priest does not use the blessing cross, only the bishop; however, in Slavic practice, it is customary for the priest to also use this cross to bless the people. The seven-branched candelabrum represents the seven golden candlesticks (Rev. 1:12) amidst which Christ appears; it also hearkens back to the layout for the Tent of Meeting in Exodus 25:37. Behind the Altar are images of the seraphim, representing the two cherubim of gold that covered the mercy seat of the Ark (Exodus 25:18) and the elevated Crucifix, representing Christ hanging on the Tree, the Fruit of Eternal Life, the tasting of which can overcome the death that entered into the world through eating the forbidden fruit. Importantly, in a Tabernacle (small container shaped like a temple) either on the Table or suspended above it, is the Lamb Himself: a small particle of Christ s Body & Blood for communing those sick or near death. Beginning and The Great Litany The Liturgy of the Catechumens begins with the announcement of the Kingdom of Heaven and ends before the Passion [...] We find the death of Christ twice: first in the Proskomedia (with the entombment after the Great Entrance), and secondly after the Consecration [...] The Liturgy of the Catechumens, which is Christ s ministry on earth, thus falls between His death during the Proskomedia and His entombment after the Great Entrance. Mother Maria, The Experience of the Liturgy in An Introduction to the Divine Liturgy This Liturgy of the Catechumens is the second of the three-part Divine Liturgy. Bishop Alexander (Mileant) of Buenos Aires and South America ( 2005) describes it as the point where the faithful are prepared for the Mystery. This preparation takes place by emphasizing the teachings of Christ during His earthly ministry, which are available not only to the faithful but to those who are preparing to be received into the Church (Gr. katechoumenos one being taught orally ), hence: Liturgy of the Catechumens. Although only the second of three parts, we begin our study with the Liturgy of the Catechumens because it is the first part most people experience, the proskomedia taking place exclusively within the Altar.

3 3 The service begins with the deacon asking the priest, who represents the Bishop s authority, to bless. Note that in the Church, everything follows a correct order: just as nine ranks of angels serve the Lord, so too do the lower orders of clergy serve the bishop. Deacon literally means servant and his orarion (the distinctive stole he wears either on his shoulder or crossed about his chest) represents the wings of the angels. The priest responds not with his own blessing, but with the exclamation that the Heavenly Kingdom is blessed. In so doing, he follows in the footsteps of Christ, who proclaimed the Kingdom at hand (Mark 1:15) and St. Paul who expounded on the Kingdom (Acts 28:23). The priest s exclamation signals that during the Liturgy, we experience the very same Kingdom Christ proclaimed. The Royal Doors are open, signaling that the veil separating the earthly from the spiritual has been pulled back and we now have access to the Kingdom of Heaven through our mediator, Christ. While exclaiming Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages, the priest makes the sign of the cross with the Gospel over the Altar Table, signifying that this is the part of the Divine Liturgy where the Word will be proclaimed and, in the homily, expounded. For this reason, the Liturgy of the Catechumens is sometimes called the Liturgy of the Word. The people respond with Amen, which means so let it be, verily, and truly in Hebrew. By so responding, all consent to the unfolding of the Kingdom. The deacon, standing before the Royal Doors, is outside the Altar with the faithful. He begins the petitions that we all pray, supplicating our Lord in Heaven to have mercy on us who have been, since the Fall, exiled from Paradise where Adam and Eve freely walked with God in spiritual concord. These petitions are called the Great Litany or Great Ectenia. Litany derives from the Greek litanos, which means entreating ; ectenia means extended or protracted, meaning that these petitions are a protracted list of supplications. Because the Great Litany begins with petitions for peace (Gr. irini), this litany is also known as the irenicon, or peace-making message or proposition for peace. The deacon is leading the people in prayer, intoning the supplications that all are praying in the heart. It is important to emphasize here that the mystical action of prayer takes place silently within the hearts of all present. The deacon s supplications are not meant to replace this necessary spiritual and interior movement, but rather to provide direction. The first three supplications are for the peace that is necessary before we can enter the Kingdom: If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift (Matt. 5:23-24). St. Paul begins most of his epistles by evoking this peace from above: Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:2). It is for this reason the priest begs forgiveness from the clergy and people before beginning the service. In like manner should we ask forgiveness of our brother and sister before Liturgy begins. In peace let us pray to the Lord: Always remembering that prayer is more than the words we speak it is the internal action of our spirit inclining toward the Lord we must be careful to cultivate an inner peace when we pray. To this purpose, St. John Cassian ( 435) recommends that the faithful come to church services well before they begin, so that the layers of the world, its thoughts and its cares, can be shed and the proper spirit of peace may be the beginning, and not the end, of prayer.

4 4 For the peace from above and the salvation of our souls, let us pray to the Lord: There is a greater peace than that achieved by shedding the cares of the world. There is the peace of the grace of God, bestowed on us by our Creator and Savior: Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you (John 14:27). In the second of the three litanies asking for peace, we ask for this peace and that our souls be saved. For the peace of the whole world, the good estate of the holy churches of God, and the union of all, let us pray to the Lord: Having asked for peace and salvation for our souls, we immediately supplicate the Lord for peace for all, the health (literally, the good stability, eustatheias, from the stem stathmos, meaning the weight-bearing pillar of a structure ) of Christ s Church, and that all may be united in Christ, which is the purpose of His Body, the Church. Our salvation is not a solitary enterprise; it takes place in the context of our participation in the Church Militant (that of the faithful here on earth) and the Church Triumphant (that of the saints and bodiless powers). That the spiritual life is shared is the deep theological truth behind the supplicatory prayer to the Mother of God: Most Holy Theotokos save us. We ask that we be saved together because, in being united together through Christ, our salvation is bound up with one another; therefore, after asking for peace and salvation for one s self, it is natural and right to immediately ask the same for the world. Of course, the chief means by which God provides for the salvation of the world is through participation in His Church. Therefore, we follow our prayer for the world with a prayer for His holy churches. It is important to understand this litany correctly. By churches we do not mean the many and varied confessions of faiths and doctrines that proliferate; neither do we mean the brick and mortar buildings. Rather, we mean the local churches of the One Church, the Orthodox Church. Within our One, Holy, Apostolic Church there are 15 autocephalous churches and another seven autonomous churches. In this supplication, we pray for their good keeping and welfare. We conclude this petition with the request that we all be united in the Lord, remembering that this is the purpose of the Church: to provide for our salvation and deliverance from the world by grafting us onto Christ, the Living and True Vine (John 15:1-8). For this holy house, and for those who with faith, reverence, and fear of God enter herein, let us pray to the Lord: After praying for the self-governing Orthodox Churches, it is then natural that we pray for our home parish, consisting of the faithful who are uniting themselves to Christ. We pray for the temple, literally holy house, which is a consecrated place of worship a sacred space set aside wherein people experience the Divine Mysteries. Once the Altar Table of a Church is consecrated, it is to be an Altar until the Second Coming of Christ. There is no retiring or closing an Orthodox temple, or house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth (I Tim. 3:15). We honor the holiness of God, experienced in the Divine Mysteries, by entering the church with faith and in reverence and fear of God: let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear (Heb. 12:28). We place our faith in God that He will compensate for our insufficiencies and weaknesses with His grace. We approach in reverence, never having idle conversation (remembering how Christ threw out the money changers from the Temple [Mark 11:15 33, Matt. 21:12 27, Luke 19:45-20:8, & John 2:12 25]) or inappropriate transactions in church, especially in the nave (or body) of the church. And we draw near in fear of God, ever mindful of

5 5 the dread and awe-inspiring reality of God and the account we must make before His Throne during the Last Judgment. So, in the Great Litany, the first three petitions are for peace and the fourth petition is for the temple wherein peace is to be acquired and for the faithful who are seeking it. For our Bishop, for the honorable presbytery, the diaconate in Christ, for all the clergy and people, let us pray to the Lord: St. Ignatius of Antioch ( 108), disciple of the Apostle John, Patriarch of Antioch, and early Church Father, wrote: Let no one do anything that has to do with the Church without the bishop s approval. You should follow the bishop as Jesus Christ did the Father. Follow, too, the presbytery as you would the apostles. And respect the deacons as you would God s Law. After praying for the good estate of all the autocephalous and autonomous Orthodox Churches, it is natural to pray for the local head of our Church, the bishop, and for the clergy who serve with his blessing. The petitions of the Litany are careful to follow each other in order of importance, in this way, the rational order of worship imitates the harmonious and Divinely-structured order of the universe. Within this petition, the order is bishop, the honorable (timos) priesthood (literally presbytery, the elders who have rule over the ecclesia or local churches), the deacons (diakonias, or servants ) whose service is in Christ, all the clergy (kleros, from which we get kliros, meaning a lot, referring to those who are called to serve the Church by lot, as in the selection of the Apostle Matthias: And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias [Acts 1:26]), and the people (from laos, people or crowd ). The Apostle Paul is careful to instruct: Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow (Heb. 13:7). In this petition we take his words to heart. For the President of our country, for all civil authorities, and for the armed forces, let us pray to the Lord: Following the instruction of the Apostle, we pray for those entrusted with the responsibility to lead and defend our nation: I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty (I Tim. 2:1-2). Naturally, petitions for our secular leaders come after those for our spiritual shepherds. For this city, for every city and country, and the faithful dwelling therein, let us pray to the Lord: Having just prayed for our secular leaders, we then ask for mercy upon our city, for all cities, and for the faithful Christians who live in it; in this way we join Moses who petitions: destroy not Thy people and thine inheritance (Deut. 9:26). For favorable weather, abundance of the fruits of the earth, and peaceful times, let us pray to the Lord: Up until this point in the Litany, we have been praying for people, the Church, and the cities wherein we live, not asking for anything other than peace and mercy. Now our petitions become supplications for good things from above. The Apostle and Brother-to-the-Lord, James, reminds us of the power of prayer when he wrote about the Prophet Elias (Elijah), who prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit (James 5:18). That prayer for rain and a bountiful yield from our crops continues to this day in the Orthodox Church, as

6 6 does the prayer for peace, which the Apostle Paul suggests we should make to follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another (Rom. 14:19). For travelers by land, sea, and air; for the sick and the suffering; for captives and their salvation, let us pray to the Lord: Once we have asked for the edifying things that make peace, we pray for the salvation of our brothers and sisters who are not present in this Divine Liturgy: those who are traveling, those who are too sick to attend Divine Liturgy, those who are incapacitated in some other way, and those who are imprisoned or held captive by foreign powers, bandits, or some other authority holding them against their will. In this way, we fulfill the Apostle James s injunction for the faithful to pray for those who are sick (James 5:14-16). For our deliverance from all affliction, wrath, danger, and necessity, let us pray to the Lord: The template for the Church s prayers are the Psalms of King David, the principal theme of which is turning to the Lord in times of affliction: Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses. Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins (Ps. 24 [25]: 16-18). We pray that the Lord may bring us out of affliction, but we must be mindful that the patient endurance of all troubles and pains is the path of Christ that leads to a Heavenly reward: For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory (II Cor. 4:17). Therefore, St. Paul instructs us to be patient in tribulation ( tribulation here is from the same Greek word that is often rendered as affliction, thlipsis) because of the promise that Christ gives us: In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world (John: 16:33). So, knowing that affliction produces patience (Rom. 5:3), we pray that we may be delivered from it on account of our weakness, knowing full well that as long as we suffer, we are not separated from the love of Christ (Rom. 8:35). The emphasis in this petition is deliverance from suffering inflicted on us by others: the wrath of tyrants, the danger that accompanies persecution and the necessity that occurs when one is acted on by force. The Greek word rendered here as necessity is anagke, which means to be subject to authorities, compulsion, or even violence, torture, or bodily pain. Help us, save us, have mercy on us, and protect us, O God, by Thy grace: This is the single most-common petition, occurring eight times in the Divine Liturgy; therefore, we should carefully examine for what we are asking. First, we ask for God s help. At the end of the second chapter of his epistle to the Hebrews, St. Paul specifies that Christ is able to succor us because He assumed our nature (Heb. 2:18). Not only having made and fashioned us as our Creator, but having lived as one of us, Christ knows what we suffer, but He also knows how to assuage it in a way conducive to our salvation. Second, we pray that the Lord save us, remembering His role as the Savior of humankind. Third, we ask for mercy from the Lord. This is the most basic prayer in the Christian lexicon: Lord have mercy. Fourth, we ask that the Lord protect us. The Greek word, diaphulasso, is literally rendered, through-guard, for the Lord guards us and protects us, often through the intercession of our guardian angel. Finally, we ask that the Lord do all of this through the miraculous action of His Divine energies, His grace, which is the gift of God, freely given. God is under no compulsion to assist us, but rather chooses to act out of His love for us: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God (Eph.

7 7 2:8); further, that Grace comes to us through our only intercessor to the Father, Christ: grace and truth came by Jesus Christ (John 1:17). Calling to remembrance our all-holy holy, most pure, most blessed, glorious Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary with all the saints, let us commend ourselves and each other, and all our life unto Christ our God: Whereas we have but one intercessor before the Father, we have a host of intercessors the saints to Christ. Foremost among these is the Mother of God. As such, we orient ourselves to God by calling to mind (from Gr. mnemosyne, remembrance or giving heed to ) her supreme obedience to God, for the miracle of the Annunciation took place with her consent. In so doing, she gave her life, which she had previously dedicated to God in the Temple, to following the will of God. Remembering her example, and that of all the saints, we dedicate our lives to Christ. The Greek verb parathometha here literally means attach and its use suggests that we are to attach our life to Christ. Note here how we do not do this alone, but we all dedicate ourselves to Christ together. Just as we earlier prayed for the union of all, here we presume that union and attach ourselves to Christ. The Mother of God is here given her full title in the Church: All-holy (Panagia) because she is the foremost example of cooperation between God and man, most pure (ahrantos or undefiled ) because she did not sin, most blessed and glorious because she is called by Gabriel blessed art thou among women (Luke 1:28) and the Prophet Isaiah calls her glorious: his resting-place shall be glorious: (Is. 11:10), Lady because it is the traditional title for a queen, and as the Mother of the King of All and Bride of Christ, she is both Queen Mother and Queen, Theotokos because she was the birth giver of God, as recognized by Elizabeth when she called her the mother of my Lord (Luke 1:43) and formally by the Church (over the title Christokos) at the Third Ecumenical Council in 431 A.D., Ever-Virgin because the Church has universally taught that she was always a virgin (her perpetual virginity was declared at the Fifth Ecumenical Council in 553 A.D.), and Mary, the English rendition of her name, Mariam. Having called to mind the Mother of God and all the saints, because we are fellow citizens with the saints (Eph. 2:19), and renewing our dedication to attach ourselves to Christ like our fellow citizens have done, the deacon concludes his portion of the Great Litany. The people respond, affirming the deacon s petition that we unite ourselves to Christ, by saying To Thee O Lord, for it is to our Lord Christ that we direct and dedicate our spirit during this most sacred Divine Liturgy. The priest then responds with his exclamation: For unto Thee are due all glory, honor, and worship: to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. The priest is here proclaiming why we have dedicated ourselves to a life of union and attachment to Christ: because everything that is good, every blessing, every ephemeral moment of inspiration, and every lasting reward comes to us through the Holy Trinity: our Heavenly Father and Creator, Christ, the Son of God, our Redeemer and Savior, and the Holy Spirit our Comforter and Benefactor. If one accepts that No man can serve two masters (Matt. 6:24), and that every life represents service to someone or something (whether an ideal or material), even if

8 8 the person being served is one s self, then it is only reasonable that we would want to serve the Source of all goodness. Part of that service is to deny ourselves, to flee praise and honor and, instead, to ascribe all glory and honor to that Source of all. Orthodox can be translated alternately as right belief or right worship. It is fitting that both belief and worship come from the same root word, because, in the Christian understanding, one cannot worship correctly without believing correctly and, conversely, one cannot believe correctly without worshiping correctly. Therefore, as we stand in prayer in the Divine Liturgy the Church s ultimate manifestation of right worship the priest, our shepherd and spiritual guide, proclaims that right worship must be directed to the Holy Trinity. Furthermore, as a representative of the Apostle to the Gentiles, St. Paul, the priest instructs that all glory, honor, and worship should be given to the Holy Trinity in the present moment and throughout all future ages: Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen (I Tim. 1:17). As their response to the initial blessing by the priest, the people respond with Amen ( so let it be, verily, or truly in Hebrew). By so responding, all consent in dedicating their lives to glorying, honoring, and worshiping the Holy Trinity. During the Great Litany, the priest has a silent prayer that he reads in the Altar, called the Prayer of the First Antiphon: O Lord our God, Whose dominion is indescribable, and Whose glory is incomprehensible, Whose mercy is infinite, and Whose love for mankind is ineffable: Do Thou Thyself, O Master, according to Thy tender compassion, look upon us and upon this holy temple and deal with us, and them that pray with us, according to Thine abundant mercies and compassions. In this prayer, the priest, in his most import function, calls down the Lord s mercy upon all those present and those who are absent with good cause (those remembered in the Litany: the sick, suffering, captives, and travelers by land, sea, and air). Recognizing that God s power is incomparable, for He hangeth the earth upon nothing (Job 26:7), the priest appeals to the Lord s infinite mercy and compassion, that He will deal with us, not according to our works, but according to His mercy. As we read in the eighth of the morning prayers in the Jordanville Prayer Book: For if Thou shouldst save me for my works, this would not be grace or a gift, but rather a duty; yea, Thou Who art great in compassion and ineffable in mercy. God s mercy is great; St. Paul describes God as rich in mercy (Eph. 2:4). Christ Himself testifies to the depth of God s compassion: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved (John 3:16-17). The First Antiphon The Antiphons, named such because the three Antiphons are usually sung antiphonally (that is by two choirs alternating with the first choir singing the First Antiphon and the second choir singing the Second Antiphon and both alternating during the Beatitude verses of the Third Antiphon) begin with verses from the beautiful Psalm 102 (103), praising the Creation given to us by our Creator Whom we have just

9 9 supplicated for peace in the Great Litany. St. Jerome (from his Homily 30) notes: Bless the Lord, O my soul! The Prophet bestirs himself to praise God. To bless the Lord, that is, to praise the Lord, brings, moreover, a blessing upon oneself. O Lord, my God, You are great indeed! You, who are God of all, are especially my God, for I am not the slave of sin; I have merited to be called Your servant. thou hast been magnified exceedingly. When I behold the sky, the earth, the birds, quadrupeds, serpents, and all of Your creation, I marvel, and I magnify the Creator [...] The Psalm verses of the First Antiphon describe the blessings of the Lord for which we should give thanks; in so doing, they also anticipate the mercies of Christ and the Mystery of His Incarnation, the ultimate expression of which is the Communion of the Gifts that will occur later during the Divine Liturgy. Therefore, it is fitting to remember this supreme act of mercy and compassion at the beginning of Liturgy. Bless the Lord, O my soul! Blessed art Thou, O Lord! Bless the Lord, O my soul! And all that is within me, bless His Holy Name! St. Jerome asks, What name of the Lord is the Psalmist thinking of here? If the Lord is called by name Lord, what does and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name mean? Simply this, the advent of the Son implies the name of Father. Before the coming of Christ, God was known, but the Father unknown. Furthermore, He says Himself in the Gospel: Father I have manifested Thy name to men (Jn. 17:6) (Homily 29). So, just as the antiphons and beatitudes divided by the small litanies create a three-part structure that honors the Holy Trinity during this early part of Divine Liturgy, here we sing a psalm that anticipates the understanding of two Persons of the Holy Trinity: the Father and the Son. Bless the Lord, O my soul! And forget not all that He hath done for thee! Who is gracious unto all thine iniquities, Who healeth all thine infirmities! Who redeemeth Thy life from corruption, Who crowneth thee with mercy and compassion! Here, at the beginning of Divine Liturgy, we call to mind all that He hath done for thee. The Lord made all the Heavens and the Earth for His creation, for One does not build a house except for the sake of its occupant (St. Jerome). But the Lord, through His Incarnation and Resurrection, has healed the infirmities that we inherited as a consequence of our Ancestor s First Sin; not, importantly, as inherited guilt, but rather due to the change in our nature that occurred after that sin: the introduction of death, decay, sickness, and disease into a world that was originally made to be free of these debilities. The Mystery of Christ s Incarnation and Resurrection redeems us from such corruptions through an amending of our nature, and pardon, not of debt, but given through mercy and grace (St. John Chrysostom, Homily XIV). The Lord s mercy and compassion is, indeed, the crown of our soul. Who fulfilleth thy desire with good things! Each time we pray O Heavenly King, either at home or at Church, we identify the Holy Spirit as the treasury of good things. The Lord knows our needs and desires even before we ask: He sees to our needs, foremost of which is our attainment of the Heavenly Kingdom, with a greater compassion and concern than that of any father.

10 10 Thy youth shall be renewed as the eagle s! The Psalmist here, after promising that the Lord saves us from our infirmities and from corruption itself (here understood to be the corruption of the mortal body), promises that the Lord will restore our youthful vitality. This is possible in this life through the the revifiying power of the Holy Spirit witnessed in the healings wrought by the Apostles in Acts and the Holy Spirit s activity in the lives of the saints. But, this Psalm, and all of the Divine Liturgy, points to the ultimate renewal that will take place when the present world passes away (Mt. 5:18, Mk. 13:31, I Cor. 7:31, 2 Pt. 3:10-13, 1 Jn. 2:17). This passing, in which the former things have passed away (Rev. 21:4) does not mean that all of creation will be irrevocably destroyed. Rather, its form and condition in the present age will pass away and it will then be renewed (Is. 65:17-25, Rom. 8:19-22, 2 Cor. 5:17, 2 Pt. 3:13): He who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. (Rev. 21:5); also: I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away (Rev. 21:1). To the extent that the Divine Liturgy is eschatological, that is pointing toward the establishment of the Lord s Kingdom, we experience this future Kingdom within the Liturgy, which begins with the Kingdom s invocation, continues with its representation, and concludes with our participation in the Heavenly Banquet of the Kingdom. In this Kingdom, both body and soul are renewed, as is all of creation. In the Kingdom, all of renewed creation praises God; therefore, our worship in the Divine Liturgy also consists of praise: God meant Man to lead the creation in its praise of Him. Sin has deprived us of our place at the head of the chorus; it has driven us out and sealed the lips created to praise our Maker. Christ, the Lamb whose death takes away the sin of the world, ends this fatal isolation and opens our lips that our mouth may show forth God s praise. In Christ we return to join the rest of creation, taking our rightful place as leaders in the choir. The Liturgy begins with this antiphonal praise because our salvation consists of praise. (Fr. Lawrence Farley, Let Us Attned: A Journey Through the Orthodox Liturgy 25) King David compares our renewed youth to that of an eagle because the vigor and majesty of the eagle, whom the Ancients believed could renew itself like the mythical Phoenix. Compassionate and merciful is the Lord, long-suffering and plenteous in mercy! What gloss is necessary here for a Christian? We who are about to partake of the Body and Blood of Christ, Who hung on a Tree and endured mocking for our sake, even betrayal by those closest to Him, must consider the limitless reaches of compassion, mercy, long-suffering endurance of trials! The people then glorify (doxologize) the correct understanding of God: the Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The first verse of the Psalm is repeated to emphasize our praise of the Lord. The deacon then raises his orarion and begins the Little Litany The Little Litany The two small litanies divide the three antiphons into a three-part structure honoring the Holy Trinity. These litanies are a condensed summation of the petitions from the Great Litany: the

11 11 second and third of these petitions are the last two petitions from the Great Litany and the first repeats the Great Litany s first petition, in peace let us pray to the Lord, with the addition, again and again. The meaning of again and again is usually misunderstood to only refer to the frequency with which the petition is said. However, this understanding comes from an imperfect translation of the Greek eti kai eti, which should more accurately be translated to an even greater extent (Hatzidakis, The Heavenly Banquet, 113). The result is that the call is less for a superficial repetition of prayer, but that we plumb deeper into our continued prayer. We are called to pray without ceasing, but our prayer is to increasingly delve spiritually to an even greater extent. The other two petitions ask the Lord for help, salvation ( That thy beloved may be delivered: save with thy right hand, and answer me, Ps. 107 [108]:6), mercy, and protection before concluding by calling to mind the Theotokos and all the saints so that we may attach the entirety of our life to Christ through His Holy Church just as they have done. The Second Antiphon While the deacon intones the small litany, the priest prays the Prayers of the Second Antiphon in the Altar: O Lord our God, save Thy people and bless Thine inheritance. Preserve the fullness of Thy Church. Sanctify them that love the beauty of Thy house: do Thou glorify them by Thy divine power, and forsake not us who put our hope in Thee. This prayer is an adaptation and Christian update of Psalm 27 (28): Blessed is the Lord, because He hath heard the voice of my supplication. The Lord is my helper and my defender; my heart hath hoped in Him, and I am helped and my flesh hath flourished again, and out of my desire will I confess Him. The Lord is the strength of His people, and the champion of salvation for His anointed one. Save Thy people and bless Thin inheritance; shepherd them and bear them up unto eternity (Ps. 27 [28]: 6-9). The priest s prayer is a Christianization of King David s prayer because, whereas the people to whom the Psalmist refers are the Jewish people, we now understand the people to be right-believing Christians those who are part of the Body of Christ, grafted onto the living vine after Christ came unto his own, and they that were His own received Him not (John 1:11). After His rejection by His people, God opened the way for all the nations to receive His inheritance, which is a place in the Kingdom of Heaven for eternity, victory over death, disease, and suffering, and communion with God in His saints: But as many as received Him, to them gave he the right to become children of God (John 1:12). When commenting on this new meaning of inheritance, St. Symeon the New Theologian ( 1022) writes: All those who believe in Christ become akin to Him in the Spirit of God and form a single body before emphasizing the true purpose of the Christian life by challenging us: If you want to know whether I am speaking the truth, become a saint by practicing the commandments of God and then partake of the holy Mysteries. Then you will understand the full import of this statement (from Ethical Chapters). As part of the one Body of Christ, Christians participate in the fullness of him that filleth all in all (Eph. 1:23), a fullness the priest prays the Lord will preserve.

12 12 Importantly, this prayer reveals the necessity of participation in the life of Christ s Body His Church for entering into this inheritance unto eternity. The priest asks that those who love the beauty of the holy temple where He dwells to be sanctified and glorified by His Divine energies. Unlike the art on display in museums and coffee shops, this prayer reveals that the art that beautifies God s house can work to our salvation by instilling within us a love leading to repentance and, ultimately, sanctification. However, there is a deeper meaning to this prayer. The prayer alludes to Psalm 25 (26):8, a verse that the Orthodox understand as referring to the Mother of God: Lord, I love the habitation of thy house, And the place where thy glory dwelleth. The Lord s house is the place where thy glory dwelleth, the womb of the Mother of God. In praying that the Lord sanctify those who love the beauty of Thy house, the priest is praying for those who love the virtue and noetic beauty of the Mother of God. In being equated with the Church itself the Body of Christ we understand that the Theotokos, who shares our mortal fallen nature, through her sinlessness and obedience, prepares the way for the Savior of all mankind. As such, we are to remember her beauty and, in all ways, emulate it. This is why it is typical for Orthodox Churches to have the domed ceiling above the Altar adorned with an image of the Theotokos the container of the uncontainable God. The priest concludes his prayer asking that we not be forsaken, thereby echoing King David: Cast me not off, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation (in Psalm 26 [27]:9). After the small litany, the people sing the Second Antiphon. Whereas the first antiphon is a thanksgiving for God s mercy, ending with Glory Both now; the second antiphon begins with only Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, thereby emphasizing that the joyful praise of Psalm 145 (146) that follows is directed to the Trinity. We celebrate both the compassion of our Triune God and His inerrant judgment, wherein we learn that those who put their trust in important people are deluded: Trust ye not in princes, in sons of men, in whom there is no salvation. His spirit shall go forth, and he shall return unto his earth. In that day all his thoughts shall perish. About this verse, St. Jerome writes, All the self-reliance of princes vanishes; all their plans perish [...] today, he is; tomorrow, he is no more (Homily 55 on Psalm 145). This Psalm also anticipates Christ and His ministry, both His earthly ministry and that continued by His Church after His ascension. This ministry is one of mercy and charity, for mercifulness is dear to God, and ever stands near Him, readily asking favour for whomsoever it will [...] God would have her rather than sacrifices (St. John Chrysostom, Homily 32 on Hebrews 12). This ministry consisting of illuminating the blind, setting aright those who are fallen, adopting and caring for orphans and widows, and feeding the hungry will continue for as long as He is King, which is for eternity: The Lord shall be king unto eternity; Thy God, O Zion, unto generation and generation. As if to emphasize that the Lord reigns from now until His coming Kingdom, the people conclude Psalm 145 (146) with Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. The Psalm that begins with Glory concludes with Both now, thereby emphasizing the exclamation of God s compassion that comes in between as essential to the Christian life.

13 13 The people then sing an important theological hymn written by St. Justinian, Byzantine Emperor ( 565). St. Justinian was the author of important theological texts, most of which are concerned with efforts to clarify the Church s teaching about Christ s Nature while attempting (and failing) to reconcile the Church with the Monophysites (those who believe Christ has one nature, e.g. the Copts). The hymn that concludes the Second Antiphon is sometimes called a short creed because it encapsulates our understanding of Christ and the Trinity: O Only-begotten Son and Word of God, Who art immortal, yet didst deign for our salvation to be incarnate of the Holy Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, and without change didst become man, and wast crucified, O Christ God, trampling down death by death, Thou Who art one of the Holy Trinity, glorified with the Father and the Holy Spirit, save us! The short creed deftly encapsulates John 1:1, 14 ( And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us ), 18 and John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life, as well as the role of the Mother of God (Matt. 1:20-21) in the Incarnation and Christ s Oneness with the Father and the Spirit: And Jesus when he was baptized, went up straightway from the water: and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him; and lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Matt. 3:16-17). It also ends with what Mother Maria describes as the cry to be saved, the cry so often repeated in our liturgical texts with the echo of St. Peter drowning in the waves (An Introduction to the Divine Liturgy, 5) from Matthew 14: The Third Antiphon: The Beatitudes As the deacon intones the second and final small litany of the Liturgy, the priest prays the Prayer of the Third Antiphon: O Thou who hast bestowed upon us these common and concordant prayers, and Who hast promised that when two or three are agreed in Thy Name Thou wouldst grant their requests: Do Thou Thyself now fulfill the requests of Thy servants to their profit, granting us in this present age the knowledge of Thy truth, and in that to come, life everlasting. The priest, on behalf of all the people gathered, prays that we may acquire knowledge of the Truth and eternal life. Importantly, this prayer reveals that eternal life is a quality of the coming age, of the next eonian. Commonly rendered eternal, eonian certainly has that connotation, such as when we read in the Apostle Paul s epistle to the Romans: But now being made free from sin and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end eternal life (Rom. 6:22). But the eon, the longest period of time in the Holy Bible, can actually be divided into seven distinct divisions: pre-eternal time (see II Tim. 1:9: before times eternal ), five eons (The eon in Paradise, the eon between the expulsion from the Garden until Noah (antediluvian), the present eon, and two future eons, these are the ages of ages : and he made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto his God and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion for the eons of the eons. Amen [Rev. 1:6].), and the eternity that reigns at the end of the eons ( but now once at the end of the ages hath he been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself [Heb. 9:26]). Life everlasting is rooted in the present Christ has already been victorious over the Devil but it will acquire its full meaning with the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven. Christians are to always have their attention directed to this Kingdom, which Christ describes in many of His parables. But, since it is not possible to understand the goodness that God has set aside for us in the Eternal Kingdom, we also pray for knowledge of the Truth:

14 14 knowledge of He Who has promised life everlasting : Jesus Christ. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. Neither for these only do I pray, but for them also that believe on me through their word; that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us (John 17:19-21), so prays Christ to His Father on behalf of His Apostles. To know the Truth is to know Christ; to know Christ is to be in God who would have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth (I Tim. 2:4). Importantly, this Knowledge of Truth is inter-personal as well as personal, for we are directed to gather together and where there are two or more gathered in Christ s name, there He is (Matt. 18:19-20). This is the meaning of the Divine Liturgy as a gathering of the faithful. It is significant of the Third Antiphon s importance that the Small Entrance occurs during its conclusion. The Third Antiphon may consist of different hymns, but in contemporary practice, with some variation according to the liturgical season, it is usually the Beatitudes. As we consider the meaning of these Beatitudes, therefore, we should consider the high regard the Church has for them in using them as the entrance hymn for the Holy Gospel. It cannot be overstressed that, as the Son of God, Christ is so much more than teacher; those who attempt to limit Him by characterizing Him as a mere instructor of ethics attack His salvific role in our life. Once we acknowledge the danger of such a misunderstanding, though, we can acknowledge Christ s Sermon on the Mount as the most important of His ethical teachings about how we should live even as we strive for union with Him through participation in Holy Communion. The entirety of the Sermon of the Mount, of which the Church only gives us the Beatitudes during this point of the Liturgy, was so important to the Apostle and Evangelist Matthew who depicted it that he parallels Christ s teaching the New Law with Moses s teaching the Law to the Hebrews after receiving it on Mount Sinai. The branch that has been grafted onto the living vine is bound to it with lessons in humility and godliness. When we sing these words during Divine Liturgy, let us hear not only with our ears, but let us attend with our hearts, lest we turn, instead, to the golden calves in our lives and cause our redeemer to shatter His lessons for us against our hardened hearts. Before the first Beatitude, we sing the repentant thief s prayer to the Lord: And he said, Jesus, remember me when thou comest in thy kingdom (Luke 23:42). Like the thief, whose meekness and humility as he hangs upon a cross beside our Lord exemplifies the virtues of the Beatitudes, we ask that the Lord remember us in His coming Kingdom. In doing so, we affirm the forward-pointing, or eschatological, dimension of Divine Liturgy. The Kingdom of Heaven has already begun; we know this because the saints experience glimpses of It while still in the flesh. However, the Kingdom will be experienced more fully in the future, both after our individual deaths and, for all who escape the judgment of God, after the Second Coming of Christ. The entire Divine Liturgy is structured around expectation of this Kingdom wherein we hope to be received; this is why every Church

15 15 Altar faces East, in expectation of Christ s Second Coming and the fullness of the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. The word rendered blessed here is makari, which means joyousness springing from within. The word beatitude itself is Latin in origin (beatus) and means happy, fortunate, or blissful. Some translations render makari as happy, but, as Jim Forest points out: Happy in some respects makes for an unhappy translation. Its root is hap, the Middle English word for luck. [...] But [...] the word blessed [...] was [...] chosen by translators in the seventeenth century. Blessed meant something consecrated to or belonging to God (The Ladder of the Beatitudes, 18). In beginning his teaching with makari (Berakah in Hebrew, a variation of which begins many Jewish Prayers, such as Psalm 113:2: Blessed be the Name of the Lord from henceforth and for evermore. ), Christ echoes the Psalms, 35 different verses of which begin with Blessed. In fact, the first word in the Psalms is berakah: Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the wicked (Ps. 1:1). The Psalms, however, emphasize uprightness and keeping apart from the wicked as in Psalm 118 s Blessed are they that are perfect in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord (Ps. 118:1); St. Hilary of Poitiers calls this probity: The primary condition is to enter into the way of truth with experienced moral conduct and oriented towards the seeking of a life without fault by the practice of the virtue normally known as probity (Commentary on Psalm 118). Christ, on the other hand, calls blessed lowly qualities that would, heretofore, have been considered defects of character or spirit. What the world despises, God raises up. St. Symeon the New Theologian describes such ones as being insulted, reproached, and in dire traits because of His righteous commandment (The Discourses, 53). The Greek word for poor here is ptochos, which does not mean someone who has a very modest life, but someone who is destitute. There is a different word penes for a person who has the basic necessities [...] a destitute person has been reduced to begging (Forest 24). Importantly, Christ uses such an adjective to describe the blessed one s spirit. Those whose spirits are so destitute that they are reduced to begging for spiritual satisfaction are promised the ultimate spiritual boon: access to the Kingdom of Heaven. What is the mark of those so blessed? St. Symeon calls it everflowing tears that purify the soul (53). St. John Chrysostom links poverty of spirit to the humble and contrite mind (Homily 15, 185) and St. Gregory of Nyssa tells us who it is that is poor in spirit by identifying such a person as one who is given the riches of the soul in exchange for material wealth, who is poor for the sake of the spirit. He has shaken off earthly riches like a burden, so that he may be lightly lifted into the air and be borne upwards (The Beatitudes, Sermon 1, 89). St. Gregory claims that the one who attains the Kingdom of Heaven gives up material wealth for spiritual wealth. Although Christ says that it is poverty of spirit that is rewarded, St. Gregory clarifies that the path to a destitute spirit is freedom from enslavement to material concerns. When one is free of this attachment and when tears continually flow, God makes up for what is lacking in the spiritually destitute person. And what better real estate agent could we ask for than the Architect of Heaven? He who houses his spirit in destitution will exchange a hovel for the Kingdom.

16 16 Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. When discussing the kind of sorrow to which Christ here refers, St. Gregory of Nyssa marks the Apostle Paul s distinction between godly sorrow that worketh out repentance to salvation and ungodly or worldly sorrow that worketh out to death (2 Cor. 7:10): We should not think it a loss to be deprived of some of the pleasant things of this life, but rather to lose the better things for the sake of enjoying the others (Sermon 3, 116). Christ promises us the enjoyment of comfort; however, just as godly sorrow can be contrasted with ungodly sorrow, the Divine consolation here promised should be contrasted with the pleasant things of this life. The Evangelist Matthew uses parakaleo to render comforted. It is the same root from which we derive parakletos, used by Christ to name the Paraclete, or Holy Spirit, that He asks the Father to send His apostles: And I will ask the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth: whom the world cannot receive; for it beholdeth him not, neither knoweth him: ye know him; for he abideth with you, and shall be in you (Jn. 14:26-27). The promise of the Holy Spirit, Whose descent upon the Apostles during Pentecost marks the beginning of the Church, animates, guides, and comforts those who willingly indenture their life to Christ, sorrow over their sins, and actively work for the salvation of their souls. It is the Holy Spirit that replenishes our spirit from His abundance of spiritual joy, for His is the treasury of good gifts and He is the giver of joy. This is our reward: not the comfort of a temporary condolence, but the promise of what St. John Chrysostom calls abundant consolation (Patrologia Graeca 57:188). It is with profundity that the Church gives us this promise in the midst of the Divine Liturgy, which itself is an icon of the future Kingdom when God will be all in all (1 Cor. 15:28); as we sing of that comfort that will be, we experience a foretaste of it now through right worship and our imminent communion of the Divine and Holy Gifts. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. The Lord here reminds us of Psalm 36 (37): Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: Fret not thyself, it tendeth only to evil-doing. For evil-doers shall be cut off; But those that wait for the Lord, they shall inherit the land. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: Yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and he shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the land, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace (8-11). The earth that is to be inherited is the new Promised Land, the new earth (Rev. 21:1). The meek have as their foremost example Christ, Who is meek and lowly in heart (Matt. 11:29). St. Gregory of Nyssa notes that He calls meekness a standard attainable in the life of the flesh [...] He does not set up complete absence of passion as a law for human nature; for a just lawgiver could not in fairness command things that nature does not permit (The Beatitudes, Sermon 2, 104). Rather, meekness can be acquired by subjugating one s passions to properly-directed reason: For the reasoning power restrains the desires like a rein and does not suffer the soul to be carried away to unruliness (103). Acknowledging our self rule, God declares us heirs of a superior estate.

17 17 Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. St. Paisius Velichokovski closely connects the desire for righteousness with tears of repentance: With the passing of time and to the degree of effort, tears, and weeping will come forth, along with a slight hope for the soul s comfort. Hunger and thirst after righteousness shall appear, that is, a fiery effort to behave in everything according to His commandments and to achieve humility, patience, mercy, and love for everyone (Starets Paisii Velichokovskii, 153). St. Paisius here emphasizes that the hunger and thirst for righteousness is a profound longing for the Truth that comes from God, not ourselves. Righteousness in English can sometimes be confused with selfrighteousness, which refers to someone who is convinced of his own correctness. However, the Greek word diakaoisune refers to the quality or state of being justified by another, in this case God, not one s self. The very first Psalm clarifies that the state of righteousness is bestowed by God: Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous; but the way of the wicked shall perish (Ps. 1:5-6). The Lord knows the ways of those who are righteous because He can see into each and every heart. What we feel about ourselves is inconsequential at best and, when it comes to self-righteousness, damning. To those, though, who hunger and thirst for God s justification, that is who pursue righteousness with the relentlessness of one starving, God will meet out to them every kind of spiritual blessing: For thou wilt bless the righteous; O Lord, thou wilt compass him with favor as with a shield (Ps. 5:12). Therefore, writes St. Gregory of Nyssa, God the Logos promises to those who hunger for these things that they shall be filled (Sermon 4, 18:127). Occurring in the context of the Divine Liturgy, the Lord s promise of our imminent satisfaction by being filled suggests the spiritual consolation of the Divine Eucharist. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. The prayer for the Lord s mercy is the most common one in the Church. Mercy refers to a moderation of the severity of justice, but St. Gregory of Nyssa here suggests that it also includes an empathic quality: Mercy is a voluntary sorrow that joins itself to the sufferings of others. It is a loving disposition to those who suffer distress. In emphasizing the inner disposition, St. Gregory notes: if a man only wills the good, but is prevented from accomplishing it by lack of means, he is not inferior, as regards his state of soul, to the person who shows his intentions by works (Sermon 5, 18:133). Mercy, then, is a quality that first occurs within our heart. In fact, the prayer Lord Jesus Christ Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner is called the prayer of the heart. Fittingly, then, this Beattitude is followed by one that calls a blessing on the pure in heart. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. The Holy Apostle Paul describes Christians as distinct members of the Body of Christ and also as united in Christ, whose Body is both whole and one. When speaking of the various callings that the members of the Body receive, he makes distinctions: Now ye are the body of Christ, and severally members thereof. And God hath set some in the Church, first apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, divers kinds of tongues (I. Cor. 12:27-28). In a similarly diverse fashion, the Beatitudes distinguish between those who cultivate the different Godly virtues; those who so do receive the promise of Heavenly compensation. Although some Fathers emphasize how

18 18 the Beatitudes are related, for example St. Symeon the New Theologian and Blessed Theophylact, whose commentary on the Gospel of Matthew suggests that the virtues associated with the Beatitudes are cumulative, every saint does not always exhibit every Godly virtue. The Beatitude that is rewarded the most handsomely is purity of heart, for it is the pure in heart who behold God Himself. For there is nothing more needful to see God, writes St. John Chrysostom (Patrologia Graeca 57:189) as purity of heart, which St. Isaac the Syrian describes as a heart full of compassion for the whole of created nature [...] a heart which burns for all creation, for the birds, for the beasts [...] for every creature. When he thinks about them, when he looks at them, his eyes fill with tears. So strong, so violent is his compassion [...] that his heart breaks when he sees the pain and suffering of the humblest creature. That is why he prays with tears at every moment (Ascetic Treatises 81). St. Basil the Great describes the experience of seeing God as the genuine contemplation of realities : Now we behold as in a glass (I Cor. 13:12) the shadows of things, the archetypes of which we shall behold later, when we are set free from this earthly body and have put on an incorruptible and immortal body. Then we shall see, that is, if we steer our life s course towards the right, and if we take heed of the right faith, for otherwise no one will see the Lord (Letters 8:12). Purity of heart and the contemplation of God are not achieved by all saints in this life, but all will so behold Him in the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God. Those who acquire the inward peace of Christ the Prince of peace (Is. 9:6) are truly peacemakers. Peace between nations is important, but any peace without Christ is false. The antonym of peace is war, and the war that a Christian fights is spiritual; our warfare being unseen. Therefore, let us fight for the spoils of spiritual warfare: inner peace. St. Gregory of Nyssa ponders, I think a man is called a peacemaker who pacifies perfectly the discord between flesh and spirit in himself and the war that is inherent in nature, so that the law of the body no longer wars against the law of the mind, but is subjected to [...] divine ordinance (Sermon 7, 18:165). Under this ordinance, we will be able to make peace in wholeness instead of falling to pieces in the face of adversity; under this ordinance we receive adoption as sons through Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:5). Blessed are they that are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is you reward in the Heaven. As the clergy process from the north deacon door of the Altar to stand before the Royal Doors, the choir concludes the Third Antiphon with the final Beatitudes. The Liturgy of the Word is mounting to its culmination with the Gospel Reading, but first we witness humanity s entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven, represented by the clergy entering into the Altar through the Royal Doors, only after hearing our Lord s teaching that those persecuted for righteousness sake martyrs suffering for Christ will enter Heaven s Kingdom.

19 19 St. John of Kronstadt writes: In His last two pronouncements on beatitude, the Lord blesses his followers for the persecution they have already undergone and will continue to undergo for their faith and virtue (Ten Homilies on the Beatitudes, 87). The Church gives us this teaching now to remind us that there is no reward of Heaven without the suffering of the Cross. Christ thus instructed his Apostles before His own crucifixion: If the world hateth you, ye know that it hath hated me before you. If ye were of the world, the world would love its own: but because ye are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, A servant is not greater than his lord. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. (John 15:18-20) Between the world and the Kingdom of God there is enmity. This is not how God, the Creator of Paradise, would have it. Rather, our Adversary stalks this world (I Peter 5:8), mastering the minds of those of the world and inciting them to persecute those who conform to Heavenly, rather than worldly, principals. But to suffer for the Lord is no cause for sorrow, rather the Lord commands us to rejoice, literally to leap exceedingly with joy as did Peter and the Apostles who went rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name (Acts 5:40-41). In fact, suffering can help prepare our souls for Heaven, as St. Gregory of Nyssa observes when he writes: For a man who suffers cannot enjoy pleasure. Hence, as sin entered through pleasure, it is exterminated by the opposite (Sermon 8, 18:172). The Small Entrance O Master, Lord our God, Who hast appointed in Heaven the ranks and hosts of angels and archangels unto the service of Thy glory: With our entry do Thou cause the entry of the holy angels, serving and glorifying Thy goodness with us. For unto Thee are due all glory, honor, and worship: to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Thus the priest prays as the clergy depart from the Altar and stand before the Royal Doors. In acknowledging the Heavenly bodiless hosts that serve the Lord, the priest affirms the vision of Prophet Micah, who saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left (I Kings 22:19) and that of the Prophet King David, who prayed that Ye ministers of the Lord that do his pleasure (Ps. 102 [103]:21) would bless the Lord. The procession is led by an Altar server carrying a candle, representing the Word of God is light to our spirit, that the Law of God consecrates the path of our life, and that, we are expected to