Chapter 5: What We Believe About the Divine Liturgy
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1. STUDY GUIDE
Focus Areas for Reading
As you read this chapter, pay special attention to:
Essential Concepts:
- The meaning of "liturgy" as a common action of all the people, not just the priest
- The Prosfora (bread offering) as the gift of our very lives to God
- The multi-faceted presence of Christ in the liturgy (not only in the bread and wine)
- The liturgy as both remembrance and "making present again" key events in Christ's life
- The processions as movements of God toward man and man toward God
- The "liturgy after the liturgy" - continuing worship through acts of love in the world
- The four types of liturgy in the Orthodox Church
Critical Questions to Consider:
- Why does the liturgy use bread and wine rather than something more "valuable"?
- In what sense are we "on the altar" during the liturgy?
- How is the liturgy more than just a memorial?
- What do the various processions symbolize?
- How does the liturgy bridge 2,000 years of history so that we are "there"?
- Why is the liturgy incomplete without service to the world?
Key Passages:
- John 6:51 - "I am the living bread which came down from heaven"
- John 6:53-54 - "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood..."
- 1 Corinthians 11:24 - "This is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of Me."
- Hebrews 4:16 - "Let us draw near to the throne of grace"
- John 1:29 - "Behold the Lamb of God" (connection to the IC XC NIKA seal)
2. SUMMARY
Overview of Chapter Content
Chapter 5 provides a rich and accessible introduction to the Divine Liturgy, the central act of Orthodox worship. Rather than giving a dry, step-by-step walkthrough, Coniaris draws the reader into the deeper meaning behind each element of the liturgy. The overarching message is that the liturgy is not something we passively watch but actively participate in - it is a common action where we offer ourselves to God, encounter the living Christ in multiple ways, and are sent back into the world transformed. The liturgy is not merely a remembrance of past events but a mystical "making present again" of Christ's life, death, resurrection, ascension, and Pentecost.
Main Themes
The Bread Offering or Prosfora
The liturgy begins before Sunday morning - it starts with the baking and offering of altar bread. Jesus said, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh" (John 6:51). Jesus is the bread of life Who offers Himself for our salvation: "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood you have no life in you" (John 6:53-54).
The Prosfora: The Greek word for the offering bread is prosfora, meaning "an offering to God." Bread is used because it represents life - it is the staff of life. Once consumed, it becomes part of us, our flesh and bones. Thus in bringing the loaf of bread to God, we are offering our life to Him. It is the gift of our love.
The exchange: The priest accepts the gift and places it on the holy altar. This represents God accepting our gift. It passes into His possession. God is so pleased with the gift of our life that He transforms it through the Holy Spirit and gives it back to us as His Precious Body. We give ourselves to God, and He gives Himself to us. We come to the liturgy not just to receive Christ but also to give ourselves to Christ.
A meaningful project: Coniaris recommends that Orthodox Christian families bake the altar bread (prosfora) and bring it to church for the liturgy, involving the entire family in the offering.
Why Bread?
Some may object that a small loaf of bread has little value as a gift to God. But Coniaris uses a beautiful illustration: a little girl sees her father give her mother a birthday present and wants to do the same. She picks a dandelion from the garden and gives it to her mother. The mother is delighted - not because the flower has value, but because it represents the love of her child.
The principle: A gift which is poor in value can be rich in meaning because of what it expresses. We should put ourselves into the bread just as the child put herself into the flower. Then it will be precious to God as the flower was to the mother.
We Pour Ourselves Into the Gift
When the priest holds up the bread and wine at the altar, he tells God what we intend them to mean. It is not just the priest but the entire congregation who offers the sacrifice. We must pour ourselves onto the paten with the altar bread, offering to God our mind and heart, our soul and body, all that we have and are. We must pour our heart out into the chalice with the wine - all our hopes and fears, joys and sorrows, love and adoration, obedience and commitment, our whole self.
The key insight: If we do not offer ourselves to God under these symbols of bread and wine, then we are not really offering the liturgy as we should. The bread and wine may mean somebody else because we haven't done anything to make them mean us.
A Common Action
The word "liturgy" itself means a common action, something many people are doing together. That is why all the prayers are in the plural. The priest does not say "I offer this sacrifice to You, Lord" but "we..."
Active participation: During the liturgy, we are all offering a sacrifice to God. We are not just watching something being done by the priest at the altar. Nor is it being offered for us at our request or with our approval. We ourselves are offering it. We are sacrificing. We are bringing the bread and the wine to God. We are laying our lives on the altar in complete surrender to God.
Stamped With a Seal
A special seal is stamped on top of the offering loaf before it is baked. The middle part of the seal contains a square piece of bread with the words IC, XC, NIKA - a Greek abbreviation for JESUS CHRIST CONQUERS. Since this is the piece that will be changed into the Body of Christ, it is called the Lamb of God.
The arrangement on the paten:
- A large triangular piece to the left of the Lamb represents the Virgin Mary
- Nine smaller triangular pieces to the right commemorate the angels, prophets, apostles, and saints of the Church
- Small pieces for the living and dead members of the congregation are placed below
Thus, around the Lamb of God on the paten is gathered the entire Church - angels, saints, loved ones in heaven, and members of the local congregation. ALL are alive in God's presence and all constitute the one living Body of Christ.
Submitting names: Since the prosfora represents us, families should submit a list of names to the priest when presenting the loaf - one column for the Living and another for the Departed. As the priest prays for each name, he cuts a small piece of bread representing that person and places it near the Lamb.
We Are On the Altar
By baking the altar bread and bringing it to church, we realize that we are not only at the altar but on the altar in every liturgy. The bread and wine which the priest places on the altar represent us. When the priest elevates them at the altar, we kneel, remembering that these are our gifts: our love, our thanksgiving, our obedience, our life. We remember that we are on the altar, offering ourselves to God.
A Multi-Faceted Presence
Although Jesus is truly present in the consecrated bread and wine at the liturgy, to focus exclusively on the Eucharist is to miss some vital aspects of the mystery. At the liturgy Christ is also truly present in:
- The readings of the Word of God and in the sermon - listening to these, we are truly listening to Jesus
- The celebrant priest who symbolizes in a special way Christ's presence in our midst
- All those taking part in the Eucharist - God's people themselves; the same Christ dwells in all of us
- Our service to each other - as we minister and serve each other, we serve Christ
Seeing the Eucharist this way, Holy Communion is more than the consecrated bread and wine; it is truly a sacred event, a moment of encounter with the living Christ.
The Gospel Book - God Talks to Us
Coniaris compares the liturgy to a young man and woman exchanging gifts. First they exchange words, then gifts. Similarly, in the liturgy we come to give God a gift (the bread), but we don't do it in silence - we begin by talking.
The exchange of words: We begin by praying for the world and its needs. Then Jesus comes to talk to us. He speaks to us through one of His apostles in the reading of the Epistle (Apostolos), then through His only-begotten Son in the reading of the Gospel, then through His minister, the priest, in the sermon. Each is called "The Word of God." We talk to God, and He talks to us - a friendly conversation with God.
"Wisdom, Let Us Attend"
The first part of the liturgy is talking with God. We begin by praying for the world. Then Jesus comes to talk to us. To remind us that Jesus is coming to speak, the priest does something to make us pay attention: he takes the Gospel book, carries it out to the people, holds it high so everyone can see it, and says "WISDOM. LET US PAY ATTENTION." He is telling us that Jesus is now about to speak His wise words to us.
Jesus comes in every liturgy to speak to us and to show us the way. The priest holds the Gospel book high to show that it is not the priest but CHRIST Who will speak to us. As He spoke to His disciples long ago, so He speaks to us today to give us light and guidance.
A Theophany
The small entrance announces the coming of a theophany - a Greek word meaning God shows Himself to us. God is about to show Himself to us by revealing His will in the Scripture readings and sermon. He will allow us to see how much He loves us, how precious we are to Him. The small entrance is like a window through which we look to see God as He reveals Himself to us.
Connection to Jesus's life: The small entrance with the Gospel book reminds us of the time in Jesus's life when He began to teach people in public shortly after His baptism - the beginning of His teaching ministry at the age of 30. It tells us that He continues to come to teach us today in the liturgy.
How the Small Entrance Originated
In ancient times, the Gospel book was hand-written and extremely expensive. To protect it from being stolen or burned, it was kept locked in a big vault or safe. The priest had to go to the vault, unlock it, and carry the Gospel book to the altar for the liturgy. The small entrance was built around this act.
Today the Gospel book sits enthroned on the holy altar of every Orthodox Church. It should also be kept enthroned on our family altar at home. The same Jesus Who speaks to us in the liturgy can speak to us at home every day if we open the Bible and read a chapter.
Examine the Gospel Book
The Gospel Book on the holy table is not the complete New Testament - it contains only the four Gospels. The epistles are in another book called the "Apostolos" or Apostle, read by the chanter. On the four corners of the Gospel Book are engravings of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. One side has an engraving of the crucifixion (facing up during weekdays, when we remember the life, passion, and death of Jesus). The resurrection side faces up on Saturday and Sunday, when we remember and celebrate the resurrection.
Through the Gospel Book, Christ speaks to us in every liturgy the very same words He spoke to His disciples. He enters into conversation with us. He is really present when we hear His word read to us.
You Are There
Coniaris compares the liturgy to a farm dinner: the family comes in from the fields, washes their hands, sits down, receives the mail and instructions for the day, and then is served food for strength to carry out assignments.
The two parts of the liturgy:
- Liturgy of the Word - First, we receive the Word of God. God gives us His instructions in the Epistle lesson, the Gospel lesson, and the sermon - telling us what He wants us to do and how to live.
- Liturgy of the Faithful - But we are too weak to carry out the Word of God on our own. So in the second part, God gives us the power we need. He gives us Himself - the Bread of Life - through the Sacrament of Holy Communion.
He Comes In Disguise
Dr. Panayiotis Trembelas wrote that when Christ was born in Bethlehem, He chose to be born not of royalty but of a poor, humble peasant girl. His place of entry into this world was not a palace but a cold, damp cave that served as a stable. Who would have thought this child born in such a desolate place was God Himself?
The parallel to Communion: This very same thing happens in the Sacrament of Holy Communion. The all-powerful Christ, Lord of heaven and earth, sheds His divine glory and majesty for us under the humble forms of bread and wine. Just as He came humbly in Bethlehem, He comes to us humbly in the liturgy, disguised under the forms of bread and wine. The Sacrament of Communion is the perpetuation of Christmas.
Memorials
When something important happens, we don't want to forget it. We make memorial plaques to help us remember. But beyond lifeless plaques, we can remember an event by making it into a play or movie - the life comes alive before our very eyes. The liturgy is not like a memorial plaque but more like a play or movie on the life of Jesus. What Jesus said and did two thousand years ago happens again before our very eyes in the liturgy.
A Remembrance
The liturgy is a remembrance. We remember a real historical event that has great meaning for us: the life of Jesus. We do this in obedience to Jesus Who said, "Do this in remembrance of Me." St. Paul wrote, "As often as you shall drink this cup and eat this bread you shall show forth the death of Jesus till He comes again."
Making Present Again
But the liturgy is not just a remembrance. It is also a making present again today of the life of Jesus so that we are there just as the disciples were there when these great things happened. The sacrifice on Calvary is not repeated, since the Lamb of God was sacrificed "once only, for all time." It is made present again mystically in the liturgy through the Holy Spirit so that we are there today:
Five ways WE ARE THERE:
WE ARE THERE when Jesus teaches - even as His disciples were there. We sit at His feet on the Mount of Beatitudes and He speaks as He spoke then. The Epistle, the Gospel reading, and the sermon are Jesus speaking to us today. We are there!
WE ARE THERE as Jesus goes forth to die for us and we repeat the prayer of the dying thief, "Lord, remember me when You come into your kingdom." This happens in the Great Entrance when the priest carries the covered chalice and paten, praying, "Remember, O Lord, each one of us when You come into Your kingdom." We are at Calvary at this moment.
WE ARE THERE at the Last Supper and Jesus directs His invitation personally to each one of us: "Take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you for the forgiveness of sins," and "Drink ye all of it. This is my blood..." He is the Host. We are the guests. Through the liturgy, the Last Supper is not a banquet that took place 2,000 years ago for twelve special people. It is your banquet and my banquet today. We are all invited.
WE ARE THERE as Jesus ascends into heaven and we ascend with Him. When the priest carries our gifts into the altar at the Great Entrance and places them on the holy table, we are carried into the very presence of God. Every liturgy is an ascension into the presence of God. This is why we sing the very same hymn the angels sing: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth..."
WE ARE THERE as Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to His apostles on Pentecost. When we kneel during the liturgy for the epiclesis prayer, we experience Pentecost. We pray with the priest that God may send the Holy Spirit upon us and upon our gifts of bread and wine to change them into the Body and Blood of Jesus. We receive the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit and we leave filled with God's wisdom, life, power, and presence.
The key: In every liturgy the life, the teaching, the suffering, the death, the resurrection, the ascension, and Pentecost are not just remembered but also made present again so that we are there to actually participate in them!
Fr. Schmemann says, "The liturgy is, first of all, the Paschal (Easter) gathering of those who are to meet the Risen Lord and enter with Him into His kingdom." And Nicholas Gogol says, "The liturgy is the eternal repetition of the great act of love for us."
P. Evdokimov sums it up: "During the liturgy, through its divine power, we are projected to the point where eternity cuts across time, and at this point we become true contemporaries with the events we commemorate."
The Processions
The liturgy is full of processions or movements. These processions show what is happening in the liturgy: God is moving toward man, and man is moving toward God. We are all moving closer to the Second Coming of Jesus. For the Orthodox Christian, life is not going around in circles. It is movement toward a goal - the kingdom of God.
The goal announced from the start: The first words of the liturgy are: "Blessed be the kingdom of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..." As a bus driver announces the destination at the beginning, so the priest announces that the goal of the liturgy is to take us to the Kingdom of heaven. We reply "Amen" - meaning "O.K. That is where we want to go."
The First Procession: Begins before we even come to church. When we wake up on Sunday morning and decide to come to church, we are making our first movement to God. Getting out of bed, washing, driving to church - this is part of the first procession we are making to come to God. These processions at home are just as religious as any that take place in the liturgy.
The Second Procession: The bringing of the bread and wine to the altar for the liturgy. We are moving to come to God with a sacrifice - a gift that expresses our life. We are making a procession to God to lay our life on His altar in complete obedience and commitment.
The Small Entrance and the Gospel: The priest brings the Gospel book out to us, holds it high, and says "WISDOM. LET US PAY ATTENTION." He announces the coming of Christ to speak to us. Three other processions follow: a lay person reads the Apostolos, the priest reads the Gospel, and then the priest comes to the pulpit for the sermon. All these movements show God coming to us time and again as He did in the history of salvation when He sent Moses, the prophets, the patriarchs, and finally His own Son to speak to us.
The Great Entrance: One of the more impressive processions. As candle and standard bearers go before him, the priest carries our gifts of bread and wine in a solemn procession to the holy table. Two meanings:
- Calvary - This procession reminds us of Jesus on His way to suffer on the cross. As He proceeds by us we pray the prayer of the repentant thief: "Remember me, Lord, when You come into Your kingdom."
- Ascension - It is a movement forward and upward, an ascension toward God. Christ takes us with Him in His glorious Ascension to His Father. We enter the heavenly sanctuary and stand before the Throne of God singing, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth..."
The Procession for Holy Communion: The priest proceeds from the holy table to us with the chalice. We are at the Last Supper. Christ is the Host. He invites us with the same words He used for His disciples: "Take, eat... Drink ye all of it..." We make a movement to go forward - signifying our going to God. No liturgy is complete unless we take part in the procession to the altar to be united with Jesus. "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I in him," said Jesus.
We are never "worthy" to come to Jesus. We come because only He can make us worthy. We come praying, "I am not worthy, Master and Lord, that You should come to me...yet since You, in Your love for all, wish to dwell in me, in boldness I come..."
The Procession to Collect Our Gifts: The offering plate is another procession - the giving of money to support God's work. This time we place on the paten not bread but the fruit of our labor and sweat. We truly give ourselves to God through this gift.
The Movement of Love: The priest says, "Let us love one another that we may with one mind confess." The priests exchange the kiss of peace. In the early Church, the entire congregation did the same - each person reached out to the nearest person with a handshake or kiss to express the love of Jesus and show there were no resentments. The greeting was "Christ is in our midst." The response: "He is and ever shall be." There can be no movement to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus unless there is first a movement of love and reconciliation toward our fellow humans. Before we bring our gift at the altar, we must first be reconciled to our neighbor.
The Procession Back to the World: The final movement can best be described as a RETURN - our return from heaven to earth, from the Kingdom of God back to our kitchen, school, or home. But as we return, we are different from what we were when we began the liturgy. We are transformed: "We have seen the True Light. We have received the Heavenly Spirit. We have found the true faith." We come wounded and leave healed. We come hopeless and leave with hope. We come weak and leave strong. We come as sinners and leave as saints. We come in darkness and leave in light. We come hungry and leave filled with the Bread of Life. We come in sadness and leave in joy.
Now Christ sends us back as witnesses to proclaim the good news of His Kingdom and to continue His work. We return to the world as "other Christs" to transform and change it for Him. The true liturgy begins when we return to the world to work for Christ, to make real His love throughout acts of mercy. This is the "liturgy after the liturgy."
Bishop Anastasios Yannoulatos writes beautifully: "The Liturgy has to be continued in personal, everyday situations. Each of the faithful is called upon to continue a personal liturgy on the secret altar of his own heart... Without this continuation, the Liturgy remains incomplete... The sacrifice of the Eucharist must be extended in personal sacrifices for the people in need, the brothers and sisters for whom Christ died."
Four Liturgies
There are four different liturgies in the Orthodox Church:
The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom - The most common liturgy, celebrated on Sundays and weekdays.
The Liturgy of St. Basil the Great - Celebrated only ten times a year, mainly during the Sundays of Lent. Very similar to St. John Chrysostom's liturgy, except that the prayers offered privately by the priest are much longer.
The Liturgy of St. James, the Brother of the Lord - Celebrated only once a year on the Feast Day of St. James, October 23, and only in certain places such as Jerusalem.
The Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts - Used only on Wednesdays and Fridays of Lent and on the first three days of Holy Week. Called "Pre-sanctified" because no consecration takes place; the communion elements are reserved from the previous Sunday's Eucharist. It is not a Eucharistic liturgy but rather an evening Vesper Service that includes the distribution of pre-consecrated elements of Holy Communion. Its purpose is to offer more frequent opportunity to receive Holy Communion during Lent. It is used during Lent because the normal liturgy is an extremely joyful expression of the Resurrection and is considered inappropriate during the deeply penitential season of Lent.
Summary (from the book)
The liturgy is full of movements of God to man and man to God:
- We wake up and get ready for church; first Procession.
- We bring a gift of bread to express the giving of our life to God.
- The processions of the Small Entrance, the reading of the Epistle, Gospel and sermon that show Christ as coming to speak to us today.
- We go to the altar to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus.
- We give our offering of money to God to help the poor and the needy; to continue the work of His Church in the world today.
- The movement of love and reconciliation to our neighbor through a handshake or the kiss of peace.
- The movement back to the world to serve as witnesses of the resurrection and to celebrate the "liturgy after the liturgy" through acts of love.
God has made and continues to make many movements to come to us, but He will not forcefully break down the door of our heart; He awaits our response: "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).
3. VISUAL OUTLINE
THE DIVINE LITURGY
"A Common Action" (not a spectator event)
|
┌──────────────┴──────────────┐
| |
LITURGY OF THE WORD LITURGY OF THE FAITHFUL
(God speaks to us) (God feeds us)
| |
Epistle Great Entrance
Gospel Epiclesis (Pentecost)
Sermon Consecration
Small Entrance Holy Communion
| |
"WISDOM, LET "Take, eat..."
US ATTEND" "Drink ye all..."
| |
└──────────────┬──────────────┘
|
LITURGY AFTER
THE LITURGY
(We go back into the world
transformed, as witnesses)
THE PROSFORA (BREAD OFFERING) CYCLE:
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
WE BAKE ──→ WE BRING ──→ PRIEST PLACES ──→ GOD TRANSFORMS
the bread to church on altar through Holy Spirit
| |
└──── WE OFFER OUR LIFE ──────────────────────┘
|
GIVES BACK TO US
as His Precious Body
|
COMMUNION:
We give → God gives back
THE PATEN (HOLY DISKOS):
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
THE ALL HOLY (Virgin Mary)
△
┌─────────────────────┐
│ IC XC │ △ △ △
│ NI KA │ △ △ △ ← THE 9 ORDERS
│ (THE LAMB) │ (prophets, apostles,
└─────────────────────┘ saints, angels)
□ □ □ □ □
□ □ □
□
THE LIVING AND THE DEAD
= The ENTIRE Church gathered around Christ
THE SEVEN PROCESSIONS:
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
- HOME → CHURCH (First movement toward God)
↓
- BREAD → ALTAR (Offering our life)
↓
- GOSPEL → PEOPLE (Christ comes to speak)
"Wisdom! Let us attend!"
↓
- GIFTS → HOLY TABLE (Great Entrance: Calvary & Ascension)
"Remember me, Lord..."
↓
- CHALICE → PEOPLE (Holy Communion: Last Supper)
"Take, eat..."
↓
- PERSON ↔ PERSON (Kiss of Peace: Love & Reconciliation)
"Christ is in our midst"
↓
- CHURCH → WORLD (Return as witnesses, "other Christs")
"We have seen the True Light"
FIVE WAYS "WE ARE THERE":
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
- Mount of Beatitudes → Jesus TEACHES us
(Epistle, Gospel, Sermon)
- Calvary → Jesus DIES for us
(Great Entrance)
- Last Supper → Jesus FEEDS us
(Holy Communion)
- Ascension → Jesus LIFTS us to God
(Great Entrance/Gifts on Altar)
- Pentecost → Jesus EMPOWERS us
(Epiclesis Prayer)
FOUR LITURGIES:
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
┌────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────┐
│ Liturgy │ When Used │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────┤
│ St. John Chrysostom │ Most Sundays/weekdays │
│ St. Basil the Great │ 10x/year (Lent) │
│ St. James │ Oct 23 only │
│ Pre-Sanctified Gifts │ Lent Wed/Fri + Holy │
│ │ Week (Mon-Wed) │
└────────────────────────────┴──────────────────────┘
4. REFLECTION QUESTIONS
Personal Understanding
Active vs. Passive: Have you ever attended a liturgy feeling like a spectator? How does understanding that "liturgy" means "a common action" change your approach to worship?
The Prosfora: Coniaris says that by bringing bread to church, we are offering our very lives to God. What does it mean to you to be "on the altar" during every liturgy? How would this awareness change how you experience worship?
The Dandelion Gift: The illustration of the little girl giving her mother a dandelion is about the meaning behind a humble gift. What "dandelions" do you offer God in your daily life? How can you make them more intentional?
The Exchange: The liturgy is described as an exchange - we give ourselves to God, and He gives Himself back to us. Where in your life do you experience this kind of reciprocal giving with God?
Theological Reflection
Multi-Faceted Presence: Christ is present in the liturgy not only in the bread and wine, but also in the Scripture readings, the priest, and the gathered people. Which of these modes of Christ's presence do you find most surprising? Most comforting?
Remembrance vs. Making Present Again: How is "making present again" different from simply "remembering"? Why is this distinction so important for understanding the liturgy?
The Liturgy as Christmas: Coniaris says that "the Sacrament of Communion is the perpetuation of Christmas" because Christ comes humbly under the forms of bread and wine, just as He came humbly in the manger. How does this connection deepen your understanding of both Christmas and Communion?
WE ARE THERE: Of the five ways we are "there" in the liturgy (Jesus teaching, Calvary, Last Supper, Ascension, Pentecost), which one resonates with you most? Why?
Liturgical Understanding
The Small Entrance: The priest lifts the Gospel book and says "Wisdom. Let us attend." How might understanding this as Christ coming to speak personally to you change how you listen to the Scripture readings?
The Great Entrance: This procession represents both Calvary (Christ going to the cross) and the Ascension (being lifted to God's throne). How can holding both meanings together enrich your experience of this moment?
The Epiclesis: The prayer for the Holy Spirit to descend on the gifts is described as our experience of Pentecost. How does this connect the liturgy to the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in the Church?
Four Liturgies: Why do you think the Orthodox Church uses different liturgies for different seasons? What does the existence of the Pre-Sanctified Liturgy tell you about the character of Lent?
Living the Liturgy
The Kiss of Peace: The movement of love and reconciliation must come before receiving Communion. Is there someone in your life with whom you need to be reconciled before approaching the altar?
The Procession Back to the World: Coniaris says "the true liturgy begins when we return to the world to work for Christ." What does the "liturgy after the liturgy" look like in your daily life? How might you make it more intentional?
Transformation: "We come wounded, and we leave healed. We come hopeless, and we leave with hope." Have you experienced this kind of transformation through worship? What would it look like to expect it every Sunday?
Daily Bible Reading: The chapter mentions that the same Jesus who speaks in the liturgy can speak to us at home if we open the Bible daily. How might establishing a daily reading practice extend the liturgy into your week?
Application to Conversion Journey
Preparing for First Communion: How does this chapter prepare you to receive Holy Communion? What attitudes and preparations does Coniaris emphasize?
Offering Yourself: If you were to bake a loaf of prosfora and bring it to church, what would you be saying to God? How would this physical act deepen your participation?
The Whole Person: The liturgy engages body (standing, kneeling, processing), mind (listening to readings), heart (offering love), and spirit (receiving the Holy Spirit). How does this differ from other worship experiences you've had?
Being "Other Christs": Coniaris says we return to the world as "other Christs" to transform it. What does this look like practically in your relationships, work, and community?
5. KEY DEFINITIONS
Divine Liturgy - The central act of worship in the Orthodox Church, centered on the Eucharist (Holy Communion). The word "liturgy" comes from the Greek leitourgia, meaning "a common work" or "a public action." It is the communal offering of the people to God, not a performance by the priest alone.
Prosfora - Greek word meaning "an offering" or "that which is brought forth." Refers to the loaf of altar bread offered for use in the Divine Liturgy. The bread represents the life of the person offering it to God. It is baked by members of the congregation and brought to the priest before the service.
Lamb of God - The square piece of bread at the center of the prosfora seal, stamped with IC XC NIKA (Jesus Christ Conquers). This piece is cut from the offering loaf and will be consecrated to become the Body of Christ during the liturgy. The name recalls John the Baptist's words: "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).
IC XC NIKA - Greek abbreviation stamped on the prosfora seal, standing for "Jesus Christ Conquers" (Iesous Christos Nika). This is the inscription on the piece of bread that will become the Body of Christ.
Paten (Diskos) - The round liturgical plate on which the bread is placed during the liturgy. Around the Lamb of God on the paten, pieces are arranged representing the Virgin Mary, the angels and saints, and the living and departed members of the congregation - symbolizing the entire Church gathered around Christ.
Chalice - The cup used in the liturgy to hold the wine that will be consecrated as the Blood of Christ. Worshippers are called to "pour our hearts" into the chalice, symbolically offering all their hopes, fears, joys, and sorrows to God.
Liturgy of the Word - The first major part of the Divine Liturgy, focused on God speaking to us through the reading of the Epistle, the Gospel, and the sermon. It corresponds to the teaching ministry of Jesus.
Liturgy of the Faithful - The second major part of the Divine Liturgy, focused on the Eucharist. In this section, the bread and wine are consecrated and distributed as the Body and Blood of Christ. It corresponds to the Last Supper and provides spiritual power to live out God's Word.
Small Entrance - The procession in which the priest carries the Gospel book out to the people, holding it high and declaring "Wisdom! Let us attend!" This announces that Christ is about to speak to us through the Scripture readings. It also symbolizes a theophany - God showing Himself to us.
Great Entrance - The solemn procession in which the priest carries the bread and wine (covered with veils) from the preparation table to the holy altar. This has two symbolic meanings: (1) it recalls Jesus on His way to Calvary, and (2) it represents our ascension with Christ into the presence of God.
Epiclesis - The prayer during the liturgy when the priest invokes the Holy Spirit to descend upon the bread and wine to transform them into the Body and Blood of Christ. This is described as our experience of Pentecost - the moment the Holy Spirit descends and transforms both the gifts and the worshippers.
Theophany - Greek word meaning "God shows Himself." In the context of the liturgy, it refers to God's self-revelation through Scripture readings, the sermon, and the entire liturgical experience. The small entrance announces the coming of a theophany.
Apostolos - The book containing the Epistles (letters of the Apostles) used in liturgical readings. Also refers to the Epistle reading itself during the liturgy. Read by a lay person (chanter), not the priest.
Kiss of Peace - The liturgical exchange of peace among worshippers before the Eucharist. In the early Church, the entire congregation participated with handshakes or kisses. The greeting is "Christ is in our midst" with the response "He is and ever shall be." Symbolizes the reconciliation required before receiving Communion.
Making Present Again (Anamnesis) - The Orthodox understanding that the liturgy does not merely recall or repeat past events but mystically makes them present through the Holy Spirit, so that worshippers truly participate in Christ's life, death, resurrection, ascension, and the sending of the Spirit. The sacrifice on Calvary was "once only, for all time" but is made present again in every liturgy.
Liturgy After the Liturgy - A phrase describing the continuation of worship in daily life through acts of love, service, and witness in the world. The idea that the true liturgy begins when we leave the church and return to the world as "other Christs." Without this continuation, the liturgy remains incomplete.
Pre-Sanctified Gifts (Liturgy of) - A Vesper service with the distribution of Holy Communion elements that were consecrated at the previous Sunday's liturgy. Used on Wednesdays and Fridays during Lent and the first three days of Holy Week. No consecration takes place during this service. Its purpose is to provide more frequent communion during Lent while respecting the penitential character of the season.
Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom - The most commonly celebrated Divine Liturgy in the Orthodox Church, used on most Sundays and weekdays throughout the year. Named after St. John Chrysostom (c. 349-407), Archbishop of Constantinople.
Liturgy of St. Basil the Great - A longer form of the Divine Liturgy celebrated only ten times per year, mainly during the Sundays of Lent. Named after St. Basil of Caesarea (c. 330-379). Similar to St. John Chrysostom's liturgy but with significantly longer priestly prayers.
Liturgy of St. James - The oldest known Christian liturgy, attributed to St. James the Brother of the Lord. Celebrated only once a year on October 23 (the Feast of St. James) and only in certain places, particularly Jerusalem.
Procession - A liturgical movement or progression within the service. The processions show the dynamic, directional nature of the liturgy: God moving toward humanity and humanity moving toward God. Seven distinct processions are identified in the chapter.
Holy Table (Altar) - The central table in the sanctuary where the Eucharist is celebrated. The bread and wine are placed here during the Great Entrance and consecrated during the epiclesis. The Gospel book is enthroned on the holy table.
Consecration - The moment during the liturgy when the bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ through the invocation of the Holy Spirit (epiclesis). In Orthodox theology, this transformation is a mystery accomplished by the Holy Spirit, not by human words alone.
STUDY SUGGESTIONS
Before Reading
- Pray: "Lord Jesus Christ, open my eyes to see You in the Divine Liturgy"
- Read John 6:48-58 (Jesus as the Bread of Life)
- Read 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (The institution of the Lord's Supper)
While Reading
- Notice how many times Coniaris emphasizes participation over observation
- Mark the sections where you learn something new about a familiar part of the liturgy
- Pay attention to the illustrations and analogies - which ones make the liturgy "click" for you?
After Reading
- Attend a Divine Liturgy with this chapter fresh in your mind - notice the processions, the movements, the exchanges
- Try following along with a liturgy book, noting each part discussed in this chapter
- Reflect on what it means to be "on the altar" during the service
For Discussion
- Share which part of the liturgy you now understand differently after reading this chapter
- Discuss the concept of "making present again" vs. simple remembrance
- Talk about what the "liturgy after the liturgy" could look like in your community
For Deeper Study
- Attend the Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts during a Lenten Wednesday or Friday
- Ask your priest if you can observe the preparation of the prosfora (Proskomedia)
- Read Fr. Alexander Schmemann's For the Life of the World for a deeper exploration of liturgical theology
- Study the layout and furnishings of an Orthodox church and how they relate to the liturgy