Anaphoras: The Book of
Divine Liturgies
Preface
Introduction
Order of the Liturgy
Mawrbo
Preparatory Order
Public Celebration
Kiss of Peace
Supplications
Anaphoras
St. James
St. Mark
St. Peter
Twelve Apostles
St. John
St. Xystus
St. Julius
St. John Chrysostom
St. Cyril
St.
Jacob of Sarugh
St. Philoxenus
St. Severius
Mar Bar Salibi
Appendix
Supplication to
Virgin Mary
Consecration of
Vestments/Vessels
Purification of Altars
Blessing of Icons
For the Sick
Repentance
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©
Syrian Orthodox Dioceses of North America and Canada. Reproduced with permission.
No part of the material may be reproduced in any form or by any means, without
written permission from the publisher.
The Prayer of the
Kiss of Peace
The celebrant, with crossed hands, says aloud:
O Merciful, Holy and Almighty Lord God Who are peace, tranquility, love,
gentleness, purity and goodness; O Father and Lord of those who seek peace,
make us worthy, while filled with meekness and hope, and adorned with
faith and spiritual love for You and for each other, that we embrace one
another in spirit and in the excellence of love which is the fulfillment
of Your law, so that we may become to You the children of tranquility
and peace and be worthy of the spiritual blessings which Your Only-begotten
and Holy Son has promised us, through Whom and with Whom befit You praise,
honor and dominion with Your Holy Spirit, now, always and forever.
People: Amen. Barekhmor.
Celebrant: Peace be with you all.
People: And with your spirit.
Deacon: Barekhmor. Let us give peace
to one another, everyone to his neighbor with a holy and divine kiss,
in the love of our Lord and God.
People: Make us worthy, O Lord and
God, of this peace all the days of our lives.
Deacon: After this holy and divine
peace which has been given, let us once again bow down our heads before
the merciful Lord.
People: Before You, our Lord and
our God.
The celebrant, with crossed hands, says aloud:
Now, O You Compassionate Lord of abundant mercy, from Whom flows
and comes down every good and perfect gift, bless and protect Your servants
and worshipers, those who have bowed the heads of their souls and bodies
before You, and grant them the gift of Your mercies and the perfect remembrance
of Your grace according to the promise and the grace of Your Anointed
One, with Whom it is due and right to offer You adoration with Your Holy
Spirit now, always and forever.
People: Amen.
The celebrant, with crossed hands, says aloud:
O Lord, Who, by Your paternal and blessed mercies, created us in
the beginning, and found it good that we be at the sublime state of the
angelic and immaterial life, when we who, as aforetime, were nothing,
became exiles from our first estate, by Your very eternal mercies sent
Your Only-begotten and Holy Son for our salvation, we sinners and offenders;
and He became man corporeally and unchangeably in order to make us more
divine and to return to our first inheritance. Even now, our God, send
Your grace for our atonement and purification and for the acceptance and
perfection of this pure and undefiled sacrifice which is being offered
to You on account of our sins according to the evangelic and life-giving
teachings of Your Anointed with Whom befit You praise, honor and dominion
with Your adorable Holy Spirit, now, always and forever.
People: Amen.
The celebrant waves the shushefo (veil) over
the elements.
Deacon: Barekhmor. Let us stand
well, let us stand with fear, let us stand with modesty, purity and holiness
and let us all stand, my brethren, in love and true faith. Let us intelligently
behold, with the fear of God, this awesome and Holy Eucharist which is
being set before us by this reverend priest who, in peace and tranquillity,
offers this living sacrifice on behalf of us all to God the Father, Lord
of all.
People: Mercy, peace and a sacrifice
of thanksgiving.
The celebrant lifts up the shushefo (veil)
and waves it three times over the elements, saying in a low voice:
You are the hard rock which sent forth twelve rivers of water
for the twelve tribes of Israel. You are the hard rock which was set against
the tomb of our Savior.
The celebrant puts his left hand on the altar,
turns to the people and blesses them, saying:
The love of God the Father +, the grace
of the Only-begotten Son + and the fellowship
and descent of the Holy Spirit + be with
you all, my brethren, forever.
People: Amen. And with your spirit.
The celebrant, extending and elevating his
hands, says aloud:
Upward, where Christ sits on the right hand of God the Father,
let our thoughts, minds and hearts be at this hour.
People: They are with the Lord God.
Celebrant: Let us give thanks to
the Lord in awe.
People: It is meet and right.
The celebrant bows down his head, waves his
hands over the elements, and says in a low voice:
Truly and very justly, glory is meet and right to You and adoration
is due to You because You are blessed, the Maker of all and God over all.
The celebrant stretches out his hands and says
aloud:
To You, O Lord, both heaven, which is the throne of Your Majesty,
and the earth, which is the footstool under Your feet, sing praise. The
earth glorifies Your Holy Name in this church that chants the sound of
glory to You from the mouth of her children; by the succession of the
prophets, the company of the apostles, the sufferings of the martyrs,
the orders of the confessors, the theology of the doctors, the orderly
standing of the ascetics, the endurance of the abstinents, the hosts of
the just, the assemblies of the righteous and the faithful of all ages.
In that heavenly Church which is set on high, where Your first-born are
inscribed in Your holy books, You are praised by sons of the angels, the
joyful voices of the archangels, the melodies of the cherubim, the zeal
of the primacies, the splendor of the principalities, the brilliance of
the thrones, the honor of the lords, the fiery glow of the legions, the
companies of the victorious, the assemblies of the perfect, the feasts
and the rejoicing of the saints and the hallowing of the seraphim, who,
with their six wings and the serenity of their voices, praise and cry
out, saying:
People: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God
Almighty; heaven and earth are full of His glories. Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is He Who came and will come in the Name of the Lord. Hosanna
in the highest.
The celebrant, waving his hands over the elements,
prays silently:
Holy, holy, holy, O Holy and Most High God, Who are hallowed thrice
and are gloriously confessed; Holy Father Who is begetter and not begotten,
Holy Son Who is begotten, and not begetter and the Holy Spirit Who proceeds
from the Father and is life-giving and adorable, sanctify us, now, O Holy
One Who sanctifies all, so that we may become guests, prepared in holiness,
for the banquet, which is full of life and the enjoyment of Your Only-begotten
Son our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is one of the Holy Trinity, and partake
in His Holy and Lordly Mysteries.
The celebrant takes the host from the paten
with his right hand. He puts it on the palm of his left hand, and
raising his eyes skyward, says aloud:
When He became man of His own will and was brought up according
to the measures of the human stature, He was not deprived of His glory,
nor did He lose His divinity. When He became incarnate, He was still the
same Word, Might and Wisdom of God, in nature and substance, even when
He took the image of a servant for the salvation of our life before His
redemptive passion. This very One took bread in His holy hands, He blessed
+ +, sanctified +,
broke and gave it to His disciples, and said: This is My Body which invites
you and many for the forgiveness of sins and for life eternal.
People: Amen.
The celebrant takes the chalice with both hands,
then he holds it with his left hand and makes over it the sign of the
Cross three times. Then he puts the second finger of his right hand on
its edge and tilts it crosswise, saying:
He then blended wine and water in the cup of life. He blessed +
+, sanctified + and gave it to the
company of His disciples, and said: This is My Blood which seals and confirms
the New Covenant of My death and invites you and many faithful for the
forgiveness of sins and for life eternal.
People: Amen.
The celebrant takes the gomouro from the northern
side with his left hand; then he takes the spoon from the southern side
with his right hand and puts it on the gomouro. He now raises them with
his right hand to remind the faithful of the Lord's second coming, which
will be like a flash of lightning, and puts them on the southern side.
Then he places the sponge on the northern side and says aloud:
Whenever you partake of this Bread and of this Cup remember and commemorate
My death until I come.
People: Your death, our Lord, we
commemorate, Your resurrection we confess and Your second coming we wait
for. May Your mercy be upon us all.
The celebrant, with crossed hands, says aloud:
We also, O Lord our God, adorable and holy, Jesus Christ, hold the Mystery
of Your redemptive act as a pledge of life, and in Your passion and Your
death for our sake will we glorify. We rejoice in the salvation and in
the remembrance of Your most marvelous resurrection. We beseech Your goodness
and everlasting mercies that you cast us not from Your presence on that
fearful and last day of judgment. Do not let us stand in disgrace and
reproach, in darkness and gloom, in hell and torment, in weeping and gnashing
of teeth, in pain and in sadness, in sorrows and sighing and threatened
and rebuked. Let not our enemies mock us, let us not be ridiculed by our
adversaries. We are, O Lord, those who were not ashamed of Your passion,
nor did we deny Your Holy Name. Do then acknowledge us and let the light
of Your countenance shine upon us and upon Your Holy Orthodox Church which
You have betrothed from among the nations so that with a loud, joyful
voice she may cry out to You and to Your Father, saying:
People: Have mercy upon us, O God,
Father Almighty. We glorify You, we bless You, we worship You and we beseech
You. O Lord our God, have compassion and mercy upon us, O Good One.
The celebrant, stretching out his hands at
equal level and gazing upward, says silently:
We also, O Lord, Your weak and sinful servants, offer You thanksgiving
and acknowledge Your loving-kindness unto all and for all.
People: We glorify You, we bless
You, we worship You, O Lord God, and we beseech You for mercy. Have mercy
upon us.
Deacon: Barekhmor, How awful is
this hour and how dreadful is this moment, my beloved, wherein the Holy
Spirit from the topmost heights takes wing and descents and hovers and
rests upon this Eucharist here present and sanctifies it. Be in calm and
awe, while standing and praying. Pray that peace may be with us and for
all of us tranquillity.
People: May peace be with us and
tranquillity to all of us.
The Invocation of
the Holy Spirit
The celebrant waves his hands over the Mysteries,
and bowing down his head, says silently:
Yea, O Lord, because we are Your creation and the image of Your Majesty,
let the Holy Spirit, Who is consubstantial with You and Your Only-begotten
Son in nature and in substance, in honor and in glory, in dominion and
in authority, come down, hover and rest upon these offerings, and may
He descend and dwell in our hearts. I beseech You, O Lord, Who take pity
on men, have mercy and pity on me, save me, pour Your gift upon me and
cleanse me. Let not Your grace reject me because of the defilement and
filth of my vices. I know, O Lord, that I have sinned. I acknowledge that
I have stumbled. Your mercies, O Lord, are abundant and Your grace is
immeasurable. May Your Holy Spirit come to me and purify the impurity
of my soul, forgive my debts, sanctify my thoughts and accept my sacrifices
and offerings.
The celebrant stretches out his hands and,
looking upward, says aloud:
Answer me, O Lord; answer me, O Lord; answer me, O Lord; O Good One, have
compassion and mercy upon me.
People: Kyrie eleison. Kyrie eleison.
Kyrie eleison.
The celebrant stretches out his left hand and
waves his right hand over the Body and says aloud:
May He perfect this cup into the Blood of Christ +
+ +.
People: Amen.
The celebrant waves his right hand over the
chalice, saying:
May He perfect this cup into the Blood of Christ +
+ +.
People: Amen.
The Diptychs
The celebrant, with outstretched hands, says
aloud:
May He, by this divine communion, make us pure and holy in Your eternal
kingdom, in Your blessed household, in the habitation of Your glory, in
the ecstasy that shine forth in light, in the rejoicing of those who fulfilled
Your will and in the delight of Your right hand so that from all, in all,
by all and for all, we raise glory, honor, dominion and exaltation to
You and to Your Only-begotten Son and to Your Holy Spirit, now, always
and forever.
People: Amen.
The celebrant says silently:
Accept, O Lord, this our sacrifice which is being offered to You
by mind, word and thought, particularly, for the tranquility and the peace
of Your Holy Church, the steadfastness of her just and upright shepherds
our blessed Patriarch Moran Mor Ignatius (N),
Moran Mor (N), our Prelate Mor (N)
with all the rest of the orthodox bishops; for the honor and exaltation
of her priests, the splendor and modesty of her deacons, the atonement
and forgiveness of her children, the unity and accord of her congregations,
the victory of the faithful kings, the visitation of the sick and afflicted
and the help of all those who are in peril.
Canon of the Living Fathers of the Church.
The deacon stands in the Royal Entrance and intones Canon of the Living Fathers:
Barekhmor. Let us pray and beseech our Lord and our God at this
great, awful and holy time for all our fathers and leaders who are ruling
over us this day and in this present life, who tend and rule the Holy
Churches of God in the four corners of the world; our, venerable and blessed
Patriarch: Mor Ignatius and Mor (N), Mor
Basilius and our Prelate Mor (N), that they may be confirmed
by God with the rest of all the orthodox bishops. May their prayers be
a stronghold for us. Let us beseech the Lord.
People: Kyrie eleison.
The celebrant, with outstretched hands, says
aloud:
In You everything is sustained and preserved. In You all the good requests
are granted, all the abundant blessings, all the pleasant good tidings,
all the rejoicing of pleasantness, all the strength and the mightiness,
all the perfect guardianship and the sustenance of Your creation, and
to You befit praise, honor and dominion and to Your Only-begotten Son
and to Your Holy Spirit, now, always and forever.
People: Amen.
The celebrant says silently:
Yea, O Compassionate and Merciful Lord, Who, when asked for the least,
grants in abundance, answer my poor self who is calling upon You at this
time on behalf of all those who are fallen in all kinds of hard temptations
and take refuge in You. Come quickly and save them. Bring salvation to
all those who partake in the offerings of Your Church and in the needs
of Your saints. Remember all those who have asked us to remember them
and help all those who call upon Your Holy Name.
Canon of the Faithful Brethren
Deacon: Barekhmor. Again, we remember
all our faithful and true Christian brethren who have urged and entreated
our humble and weak selves to remember them at this hour and at this time:
and on behalf of all those who are fallen into all kinds of hard temptations
and who take refuge in You, Lord God Almighty, and for their salvation
and speedy visitation by You; for this city sustained by God and for the
concord and prosperity of all its faithful dwellers that they may attain
righteousness. Let us beseech the Lord.
People: Kyrie eleison.
The celebrant, with outstretched hands, says
aloud:
Hear, O Lord, the prayers of Your people. Accept the supplication of Your
flock. Have compassion and mercy upon the sinners, upon the offenders,
upon those who are gone astray, upon those who are lost, upon the captives
and the persecuted, upon the weary and the distressed, upon the unjustly
treated and the oppressed, upon the strangers and the expelled, upon the
miserable and the poor, upon the orphans and the widows, upon those who
are ill-treated, upon those who travel by sea or by land and upon all
those who know, confess and believe that You are the Good God and Helper
of all to Whom befit glory, honor and dominion and to Your Only-begotten
Son and to Your Holy Spirit, now, always and forever.
People: Amen.
The celebrant says silently:
Grant, O Lord, Your people and the whole world prosperous times that are
filled with riches of pleasantness. Bless the rotation of the years with
rain, dew and a variety of good things, and with all kinds, varieties
and types of profitable things because You are He Who always helps His
creation.Grant, O Lord, Your people and the whole world prosperous times
that are filled with riches of pleasantness. Bless the rotation of the
years with rain, dew and a variety of good things, and with all kinds,
varieties and types of profitable things because You are He Who always
helps His creation.
Canon of the Faithful Kings
Deacon: Barekhmor. Again, we remember
all the faithful and true Christian rulers, who in the four corners of
the earth, have supported and confirmed the churches and monasteries of
God in the true faith, and for all Christendom, all the clergy and all
the faithful people that they may attain righteousness. Let us beseech
the Lord.
People: Kyrie eleison.
The celebrant, with outstretched hands, says aloud:
Save and deliver us, O Guardian of all, from all difficulty and chastisement,
from all persecution and plague, from all calamity and captivity, from
all devastation and famine, from all war and plunder and from all blows
and bloodshed of peoples alien to Your worship. Do not reprove or chastise
us with anger and wrath, because of the multitude of our sins, but fill
us with mercy and kindness, acquire us like a father who loves his children
for we have no other god besides You of Whom we may seek salvation and
to Whom our eyes and our hearts are lifted up, and to You we raise praise
and to Your Only-begotten Son and to Your Holy Spirit, now, always and
forever.
People: Amen.
The celebrant says silently:
Blessed are You, O Holy One and Lover of saints and Most Holy Lord, Who
are always pleased that we participate in the commemoration of Your saints,
particularly and especially that of the most honorable among all the saints,
the unblemished, holy Virgin Mary Mother of God, and that of John the
preacher and the messenger and the fulfiller of Your Mysteries and that
of St. Stephen the first-born, head and the first of the martyrs, and
the rest of all the saints who pleased You.
Canon of the Mother of God and the Saints
Deacons: Barekhmor. Again, we commemorate
her who is worthy to be blessed and glorified by all generations of the
earth, the holy, glorious, blessed, exalted and ever Virgin Mary, Mother
of God. With her, let us remember the prophets, the apostles, the preachers,
the evangelists, the martyrs, the confessors, the blessed St. John the
Baptist, the forerunner of his Master, the holy, illustrious St. Stephen,
the head of the deacons and the protomartyr, and the exalted heads of
the apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul. Let us also remember together all
the saints, both men and women. May their prayers be a stronghold for
us. Let us beseech the Lord.
People: Kyrie eleison.
The celebrant, with outstretched hands, says
aloud:
Remember, O Lord, all those whom we have mentioned and all the
fathers and the heads of the fathers, the just and the righteous, the
prophets and the apostles, the preachers and the messengers, the martyrs
and the confessors, the teachers and the workers of miracles, the celibates
and the saints, the chaste and the abstinent, the hermits and the monks
and the true faithful and all the benefactors. By their acceptable prayers
and holy supplications, look upon us with a merciful eye and with a peaceful
and kind countenance. Join us with the companies, the ranks and the positions
of Your beloved ones so that with them and among them we may, purely and
solemnly, sing unto You, O Lord, uninterrupted praise, and through You
and with You, to Your Only-begotten Son and to Your Holy Spirit, now,
always and forever.
People: Amen.
The celebrant says silently:
O Lord, make worthy of Your kingdom's pleasure the fatherly bishops, the
renowned doctors, the saintly high priests: Ignatius, Dionysius, Basilius,
Julius, Cyril and the rest of all the saints who valiantly strove and
were persecuted for the sake of Your indivisible, orthodox and inseparable
faith.
Canon of the Fathers and Doctors of the
Church
Deacon: Barekhmor. Again, we commemorate
those who have gone before, fallen asleep in holiness, and are at rest
among the saints; those who have kept the one apostolic faith without
blemish and entrusted it to us. We proclaim the three sacred and holy
Ecumenical Synods of Nicaea, of Constantinople and of Ephesus. We also
remember our glorious and God-fearing fathers, prelates and doctors present
at the Synods. Bishop James, the first bishop of Jerusalem, the apostles
and martyrs and the saints: Ignatius, Clement, Dionysius, Athanasius,
Julius, Basilius, Gregorius, Dioscoros, Timothy, Philoxenus, Antemus,
Ivanius. Particularly, St. Cyril that exalted and firm tower who declared
and made manifest the incarnation of the Word God, our Lord Jesus Christ
Who took flesh. We also remember our Patriarch St. Severius, the crown
of the Syrians, that rational mouth, pillar and teacher of all the Holy
Church of God; and our saintly and holy father St. Jacob Burd`ono the
supporter of the orthodox faith and St. Ephrem, St. Jacob, St. Isaac,
St. Balai, St. Barsaumo, head of the anchorites, St. Simon the Stylite
and the chosen St. Abhai. Let us, also, remember all those before them,
with them and after them, who kept the one, true and uncorrupted faith
and delivered it to us. May their prayers be a stronghold to us. Let us
beseech the Lord.
People: Kyrie eleison.
The celebrant, with outstretched hands, says
aloud:
Remember, O Lord, those who piously and most gloriously confirmed and
strengthened Your Holy Church purchased by the Blood of Your Only-begotten
Son. Those who, by the splendid rays of theology, led and turned the peoples
who were in the darkness to the light of the Gospel of Your Christ. Those
who, by the strong resolution of the soul and by the serenity of the mind,
risked their lives for the sake of Your truth. Those who abundantly drew
water from the pure rushing streams of orthodoxy and irrigated the spiritual
and rational vineyard. Those who, by eloquence and manifestation inspired
by Your Holy Spirit, cast out from Your Holy Church the madness of heresies
mixed with wickedness. Those who completed their struggle with labors
and sweat and fulfilled Your will. May we, too, who uphold their truth,
stand with them before You confidently and without shame, and we offer
You a new song and unceasing praise and to Your Only-begotten Son and
to Your Holy Spirit, now, always and forever.
People: Amen.
The celebrant says silently:
Grant, O Lord, by this sacrifice, rest and atonement, and make good remembrance,
on Your rational and spiritual altar, of all our natural and spiritual
fathers and brothers, and with them remember all those who, from this
place and from everywhere, have gone before and rested in true faith and
in Christian manner.
Canon of the Faithful Departed
Deacon: Barekhmor. Again, we commemorate
all the faithful departed who from this holy sanctuary, from this place
and from everywhere have departed, fallen asleep in true faith and are
at rest; those who have already departed and have attained to God the
Father of spirits and of all flesh. Let us ask and beseech Christ our
God, Who has received their souls and spirits unto Himself, that, in His
abundant mercy, He may make them worthy of the remission of trespasses
and the forgiveness of sins, and carry us and them to His heavenly kingdom.
Let us cry out and say kyrie eleison three times.
People: Kyrie eleison. Kyrie eleison.
Kyrie eleison.
The celebrant, with outstretched hands, says
aloud:
We beseech You, O Fountain of Life and Lord of the dead, on behalf of
all those who, by Your command have departed from this life and journeyed
to You in true faith, that You remember them kindly according to Your
essential and substantial mercies. Do not neglect our intercession on
their behalf because they are Your image, but lift them up by Your grace
and raise them to the summit of immortal life in those heavenly mansions
where Your Only-begotten Son is continually blessed and glorified by the
rational hosts who are above, in Whom and through Whom we greatly hope
to find mercy and forgiveness of sins both for us and for them.
People: O God, remove, pardon and
forgive the offenses of ours and theirs which we have committed before
You willingly and unwillingly, wittingly and unwittingly.
The celebrant says silently:
O God, remove and pardon our offenses committed in thought, word and deed,
those that are manifest and those that are concealed, yet are evident
to You.
The celebrant, with outstretched hands, says aloud:
O You, the Knower of hidden secrets and the Judge of thoughts, remit and
blot out all our sins, the known and the unknown, the voluntary and the
involuntary, the hidden and the manifest, those of the present and of
the past and of the times to follow. And when, by Your command, we are
released from this life and become worthy of the end in accordance with
the general way which is predestined and inscribed for everyone, make
us prepared to stand, uncondemned, before You. Help us, O God our Redeemer.
Show us the ways of life and the paths full of light which lead straight
to the haven of Your goodness so that, by us and for us and on our behalf,
Your Honored Name be glorified with that of our Lord Jesus Christ and
with that of the Holy Spirit, now, always and forever.
People: Amen. As it was is now and
ever shall be unto ages of ages and all the ages of the world without
end. Amen. Barekhmor.
The celebrant takes power from the Mysteries,
stretches out his right hand toward the people and shall say:
Celebrant: Peace be with you all.
People: And with your spirit.
The celebrant takes blessing from the chalice,
paten and the edge of the tablitho, crosses himself, then he draws the
sign of the Cross first to the north then to the south. He then turns
to his right-hand side and draws the sign of the Cross on the people three
times, saying:
Celebrant: May the mercies of God
the Great + and our Savior Jesus Christ +
be with you all, my brethren + forever.
The curtain is drawn across the sanctuary.
The people sing a hymn suitable for the occasion, then they may chant
the general litany. The celebrant breaks and the signs the Mysteries,
then he recites the metrical homily of St. Jacob:
O Father of truth, behold Your Son, the well-pleasing sacrifice unto You,
Accept You Him Who died for me, and may I be forgiven through Him.
Receive this offering from my hands and reconcile with me.
And remember not the sins I committed before Your greatness.
Behold His Blood is shed on Golgotha by the wicked, and it is pleading for me.
For my sake, accept my petition.
If you weigh how much my debts and how much Your mercy,
Your compassion is heavier than the mountains that are weighed by You.
Look, You, at the sins and look at the offering for them.
The offering and the sacrifice are much greater than the debts.
Because I sinned, Your beloved One endured the nails and the spear.
Sufficient are His passions to reconcile You and by them shall I live.
Glory be to the Father Who delivered His Son for our salvation,
Adoration to the Son Who died on the Cross and gave life to all of us,
Thanks be to the Spirit Who began and fulfilled the Mystery of our salvation,
O Trinity, exalted, above all, have mercy on us all.
The curtain is withdrawn.
The Lord's Prayer
The celebrant, with
outstretched hands, says aloud:
We worship You, O God the Father Almighty the Creator and Maker of all
that is visible and invisible, Who are mysterious and incomprehensible,
indescribable and infinite, the good source and the fountain of life,
Who has no beginning, the King of kings, the Lord of the angels, Who,
with supreme exaltation that surpasses all creatures, ranks and powers,
are glorified on the triumphant throne of Your Majesty on high, You, Who
when You beheld our race to be in danger, and stricken by absence of the
word of life, You did not turn away from us Your assistance and diligence.
You first sent the prophets and the just to preach in every manner and
in all ways for our restoration; and in the latter days, You spoke to
us through Your beloved Son Who is Your First-begotten; the brightness
and the splendor of Your bosom, that Sun of Your being, the truth, the
life and the salvation, the incorporeal Who became incarnate; that Who
having no flesh, took flesh, Who, when He was on earth with us, taught
us the fatherly prayer and became for us an unblemished sacrifice, an
acceptable offering and a sweet fragrance and delivered us to these holy
and life-filled Mysteries. You then, our God, make us perfect by His most
instructive discipleship so that with a clear soul, a pure mind and with
tongues full of rejoicing, we may cry out to You, and pray and say: Our
Father Who art in heaven.
People: Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy
kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this
day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those
who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver
us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever
and ever. Amen.
Celebrant, with outstretched hands, says aloud:
To You, O Lord, belong dominion, power, might, kingdom and glory. You
are able to deliver us from the evil one and his deeds, from afflictions,
temptations and the rods of wrath and to forgive our offenses and sins
by the great multitude of Your loving-kindness so that, when Your Name
is hallowed by us and Your will is done by us, we may glorify You with
holiness together with Your Only-begotten Son and with Your Holy Spirit,
now, always and forever.
People: Amen. Barekhmor.
Celebrant: Peace be with you all.
People: And with your spirit.
Deacon: Before partaking of these
Divine and Holy Mysteries that have been offered, let us bow down our
heads before the merciful Lord.
People: Before You, our Lord and
our God.
The celebrant, with outstretched hands, says aloud:
O our blessed God, bless Your people and Your inheritance with Your lofty
arm and by Your mighty power. Grant us all Your grace and Your blessings
that we may, undefiled and sinless, join with Your Holy Mysteries and,
by receiving them, may we be filled with all the spiritual fragrance and
with the ardent faith in You, and we offer You praise and thanksgiving
and to Your Only-begotten Son and to Your Holy Spirit, now, always and
forever.
People: Amen. Barekhmor.
Celebrant: Peace be with you all.
People: And with your spirit.
Celebrant: May the grace +
and the mercies of the Holy and Glorious Trinity, uncreated +,
self-existent, eternal, adorable + and of
one substance be with you all, my brethren, forever.
People: Amen.
Here incense is burnt.
The Elevation of the Holy Mysteries
Deacon: Barekhmor. With fear and
trembling let us look.
People: Lord, have compassion and
mercy upon us and help us.
Celebrant: The Holies to the holy
and pure alone ought to be given.
People: Barekhmor. One Holy Father.
One Holy Son. One Holy Spirit.
People: Glory be to the Father and
to the Son and to the Living Holy Spirit, Who are one, forever and ever.
Amen.
The celebrant carries the paten with his right
hand and the chalice with his left hand, and putting his right hand on
his left hand in the shape of the Cross, he says:
The one Holy Father with us Who formed the world by His compassion.
People: With us. Amen.
Celebrant: The one Holy Son with
us Who redeemed us by His Person's precious sufferings.
People: With us. Amen.
Celebrant: The one Holy and Living
Spirit with us Who is the Perfecter and Fulfiller of all that has been
and that which will be. May the Name of the Lord be blessed forever and
ever.
People: With us. Amen.
The celebrant puts the paten and the chalice
on the tablitho and covers the Holy Mysteries. Then he descends from the
altar step and burns incense. Then the people shall intone the following
prayer:
People: In offerings and in prayers,
let us remember our fathers, who while they were alive, taught us to become
children of God in this transitory world. O Son of God, grant them rest
in the heavenly kingdom, with the just and the righteous, in the world
that never passes away. Lord have mercy upon us and help us.
Then they shall sing the service of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, the saints and the faithful departed. On the festivals of
our Lord they may say:
By the resurrection of Christ the King, we receive atonement for our souls.
Let us, in true faith, cry out together in praise of the Son Who redeemed
us by His Cross and say: Blessed be Your salvation, our Savior. Holy,
holy are You Who everywhere magnify the commemoration of Your Mother,
Your saints and the faithful departed. O Christ the King, halleluiah.
Halleluiah, halleluiah, O Christ the King, halleluiah. The heavenly hosts
stand with us in the sanctuary and exalt the Body and Blood of the Son
of God Who is sacrificed before us. Come near, O faithful, partake of
Him for the remission of offenses and sins, halleluiah, halleluiah, halleluiah,
O Christ the King, halleluiah. On Your altar, Lord, remember our fathers,
our brethren and our elders. Let them stand at Your right hand of the
shining forth of Your Majesty. Christ the King, halleluiah, Christ the
King, halleluiah.
Here the celebrant blesses the bread (bourktho)
and delivers the sermon of the day.
The celebrant turns to the people with outstretched
hands, saying:
My brethren and my beloved, pray for me.
The curtain is drawn across the sanctuary.
The celebrant kneels on the altar step and
prays silently:
Make us worthy, O Lord God, to eat Your Holy Body and drink Your Atoning
Blood and become inheritants in Your heavenly kingdom with all those who
pleased Your good will, our Lord and our God, forever.
Then the celebrant ascends the altar step and
partakes of the Holy Mysteries, then he communicates the clergy and the
deacons.
Celebrant: Let us cry out and say.
Deacon: Worshipped and glorified
are the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. From eternity and forever
and ever glory to Him. Halleluiah.
The Procession of the Holy Mysteries
The curtain is drawn back. The celebrant carries
the paten in his right hand and the chalice in his left hand. He then
turns around from the left-hand side toward the people, saying:
From Your atoning altar, may atonement descend upon Your servants, O Son
of God, Who came for our salvation and will come for our resurrection
and the restoration of our kind, forever.
People: Amen.
The celebrant descends from the altar step,
walks forward two steps and says:
Stretch out, O Lord God, Your invisible right hand and bless this congregation
of Your worshipers who are prepared to receive Your Precious Body and
Blood for the remission of debts, the forgiveness of sins and confidence
in Your presence, our Lord and our God, forever.
People: Amen.
The celebrant crosses his hands, walks one
step forward and says:
May the mercies of God the Great and of our Savior Jesus Christ be upon
the bearers of these Holies, their donors, their receivers and upon all
those who labored and took part and are taking part in them. May the mercy
of God be upon us and upon them in both worlds.
People: Amen. Our Lord, have mercy
upon us. Our Lord, spare us and have mercy upon us. Our Lord, answer us
and have mercy upon us. Glory to God in the highest, exaltation to His
Mother, a crown of glory to the martyrs and compassion and mercy to the
departed. Halleluiah.
The celebrant administers the Holy Communion
to the faithful.
The celebrant, with outstretched hands, says:
Glory be to You, glory be to You, our Lord and our God, forever. Our Lord,
Jesus Christ, let not Your Holy Body, which we have eaten, and Your Atoning
Blood, which we have drunk, be unto us for judgment nor for revenge, but
for eternal life and for the redemption of all of us, and have mercy upon
us.
People: The world shall kneel and
worship You and every tongue shall confess Your Name for You are the Raiser
of the dead and the Good Hope to those who are buried, halleluiah.
The celebrant returns to the altar.
Deacon: We give thanks to You, our
Lord and our God, and especially for Your grace unto us.
The Prayer of Thanksgiving
The celebrant, with crossed hands, says aloud:
Now that we have enjoyed the fullness of Your Divine Holies and have drawn
the drink of life from the blessed fountain of Now that we have enjoyed
the fullness of Your Divine Holies and have drawn the drink of life from
the blessed fountain of Your compassion, O Lord, what have we to repay
Your goodness for generosity like this? But when we endeavor earnestly
to attain inner-most understanding and comprehend Your Majesty, then,
with a voice of praise, we shall say: O, the depth of Your riches and
Your wisdom! O, the extent of Your grace! O, the inscrutable depth of
Your mercies! For, while we were captivated by the wickedness of sin,
You brought us to such rejoicing and delight. By this, and for the sake
of this, we make petition that we be delivered from condemnation,
judgment, damnation and loss so that at the great, early dawn of the general
resurrection, we may be entrusted with that spiritual banquet with Your
saints and sing to You, with the perfect, thoroughly indivisible praise,
O Eternal Father, and to Your Only-begotten Son and to your Living Holy
Spirit, now, always and forever.
People: Amen. Barekhmor.
Celebrant: Peace be with you all.
People: And with your spirit.
Deacon: After having received these
Holy and Divine Mysteries, that have been given, let us again bow down
our heads before the merciful Lord.
People: Before You, our Lord and
our God.
The celebrant, with crossed hands, says aloud:
Lord, our Lord, the Refuge of the sinners, the Physician of the sick,
the Healer of the afflicted, the Helper for souls, Acceptor of prayers
and Grantor of requests, have compassion and mercy upon the sinners, Your
servants. Heal the wounds of Your people, accept the prayers of Your flock
and grant the requests of Your sheep. May this sacrifice, which we have
offered on Your holy altar, be for the pleasure of Your Lordship and for
the holiness and protection of our souls and bodies. May this atoning
and holy Blood with which our lips have been anointed, which is much greater
than the blood of the lamb that withheld the destroyer from the Israelites,
keep away and remove us from the destroyer, the adversary and all kind
of sin. May Your tranquility guide us, Your peace be with us and Your
right hand rest upon us, and to You we offer praise and thanksgiving and
to Your Father and to Your Holy Spirit, now, always and forever.
People: Amen. Barekhmor.
Celebrant: Huthomo
Deacons: Huthomo
The Dismissal of
the Faithful
Celebrant: Depart in peace +,
our brethren and beloved, while we entrust you to the grace and mercy
of the Holy and Glorious Trinity, with the food for the way and the blessings
which you have received from the atoning altar of the Lord; those who
are far off and those who are near, the living and the departed, redeemed
by the victorious Cross + of the Lord and
sealed with the seal of the Holy Baptism; may the Holy Trinity forgive
your offenses, pardon your debts and grant rest to the souls of your departed.
And may I, a weak and sinful servant, be helped and spared by your prayers.
Depart in peace +, happy and rejoicing, and
pray for me always.
People: Amen. May the Lord accept
your offering and help us by your prayers.
The veil is drawn across the sanctuary.
The deacons sing the following metrical homily
of St. Jacob of Sarug during the closing acts of the Liturgy:
The Lord Whom the seraphs fear to look at,
The same you behold in bread and wine on the altar.
The lightning clothed hosts are burned if they see Him in His brilliance.
Yet the contemptible dust partakes of Him with confidence.
The Son's Mysteries are fire among the heavenly beings,
Isaiah bears witness with us to have seen them.
These Mysteries which were in the Divinity's bosom,
Are distributed to Adam's children on the altar.
The altar is fashioned like the cherubim's chariot,
And is surrounded by the heavenly hosts.
On the altar is laid the Body of God's Son,
And Adam's children carry it solemnly on their hands.
Instead of a man clad in linen, stands the (priest),
And distributes alms (the Eucharist) among the needy.
If envy existed among the angels,
The cherubim would have envied men.
Where Zion set up the Cross to crucify the Son,
There grew up the tree that gave birth to the Lamb.
Where nails were driven in the Son's hands,
There Isaac's hands were bound for an offering.
Welcome, priest, who carries the Mysteries of his Lord,
And with his right hand distributes life to men.
Welcome, priest, who carries a pure censer,
And with its fragrance makes the world sweet and pleasant.
Welcome, priest, whom the Holy Spirit did raise up,
And on his tongue bears the keys to the house of God.
Welcome, priest, who binds man in the depth below,
And the Lord binds him in heaven on high. Halleluiah.
Welcome, priest, who unbinds men on earth,
And the Lord unbinds him in the highest. Kyrie eleison.
Praise be to the Lord. His mercy upon you and absolution for me.
And good commemoration to Mor Jacob the malphono.
The Post Communion Prayers to be recited by
the celebrant.
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