The entrance prayers are the prayers recited by the deacon and priest upon entering the temple (church building) before celebrating the Divine Liturgy in the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite.
The entrance prayers are the preliminary portion of the Liturgy of Preparation which is done quietly and precedes the public part of the Divine Liturgy (see also kairon ).
The rubric states that the priest and deacon who wish to celebrate the Divine Liturgy, must be free of moral sin, continent, and must fast from the night before. In addition, they are required to have performed the devotions required by the Eucharistic discipline and have celebrated (or at least attended) Vespers and Matins for that day. They should keep themselves in a state of spiritual calm and reverence as they prepare to celebrate the Sacred Mysteries.
When it comes time for the service, the priest and deacon enter the temple, clothed in choir dress: podryasnik (inner cassock) and riassa (outer cassock). If they are monks they wear klobuks and mandyas; [1] if either of them has been granted the kamilavka he wears it. If the priest has been granted the pectoral cross he wears it.
After venerating the icon in the narthex they enter the nave and make three metanias (bows at the waist) or prostrations, depending upon the day. They may venerate other icons in the nave, and then they proceed to the front of the temple and stand just in front of the ambon (an elevated area in front of the Holy Doors of the Iconostasis). There they make three more metanias, the priest gives the opening blessing, "Blessed is our God, always, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages." The deacon responds, "Amen", and continues with the usual beginning (a series of prayers which includes the Trisagion and the Lord's Prayer).
At the conclusion of the usual beginning, the priest and deacon step up onto the ambon and venerate the icons of Christ and the Theotokos (Virgin Mary). For this purpose, there are often smaller "kissing icons" hung on doorposts of Holy Doors (on the picture above, they can be seen as two small gold squares to either side of the Holy Doors). If there are no "kissing icons" they will venerate the major icons of Christ and the Theotokos on the Iconostasis. As they venerate the icon of Christ, the deacon says the following troparion:
We venerate Thy most pure icon, O Pure One, asking the forgiveness of our transgressions, O Christ God. For of Thine own will Thou was well-pleased to ascend the Cross, that Thou mightest deliver from bondage to the enemy them whom Thou didst fashion. Wherefore, we cry to The thankfully: Thou didst fill all things with joy, O our Saviour, when Thou camest to save the world. [2]
As they venerate the icon of the Theotokos, the deacon says:
O Theotokos, in that thou art a well-spring of loving-kindness, vouchsafe unto us thy compassion. Look upon the people who have sinned. Manifest thy power as ever; for trusting in thee we cry aloud unto thee: Hail! as afforetime did Gabriel, Chief Captain of the Bodiless Powers.
The priest then removes his klobuk or kamilavka, bows his head, and gesturing with his right hand towards the Holy Doors, he says:
Stretch forth Thy hand, O Lord, from thy holy dwelling-place on high, and strengthen me for this, Thine appointed service; that standing uncondemned before Thy dread Throne, I may fulfill the sacred, bloodless sacrifice.
They then make three metanias in front of the Holy Doors, bow to each other, and then to either side of the nave and enter the altar (sanctuary) by the two side doors ("Deacon's Doors") of the iconostasis.
Then, standing in front of the Holy Table (altar table) they venerate it, making prostrations if it is a weekday, or metanias if it is Sunday. The priest kisses the Gospel Book and the front edge of the Holy Table, the deacon kisses the blessing cross and the right (south) edge of the Holy Table. The deacon then receives the priest's blessing and they both say their vesting prayers, put on their sacred vestments, and begin the Liturgy of Preparation during which the bread and wine are prepared for the Eucharist. About half an hour before the Liturgy is scheduled to begin, the priest gives the blessing for the Little Hours (normally the Third Hour and Sixth Hour) to begin.
When a bishop will be celebrating the Divine Liturgy (which, in that case is called a "Hierarchical Divine Liturgy"), his entrance prayers are much more solemn. Instead of the ritual being done quietly, it takes place publicly, with the congregation assembled and the choir chanting hymns. All of the other clergy arrive early, before the bishop. The deacons and servers receive blessings and vest in the manner described above. However, only the priest who will be performing the Liturgy of Preparation (traditionally, the youngest priest in terms of the date of his ordination) will say the entrance prayers with the deacons in the manner prescribed above, vest, and begin the Liturgy of Preparation; the other priests remain in choir dress.
The bishop is formally received in the church before the Little Hours. The bells ring as the bishop approaches the church, and the clergy come out of the altar (sanctuary). The priest who celebrated the Liturgy of Preparation carries a tray covered with an aër on which is placed a blessing cross. The protodeacon carries the censer. Other servers [3] carry the dikirion and trikirion, the bishop's crozier and a standing candlestick.
The bishop enters the church clothed in his monastic habit and klobuk, and carrying his walking stick. As he enters the narthex, a server takes his walking stick and the subdeacons place the episcopal mandyas on him as the choir chants Axion Estin (or, if it is one of the Great Feasts, the Ninth Irmos of the canon of the feast). The bishop kisses the blessing cross and holds it for each of the priests to kiss. The last to kiss the cross is the youngest priest, who receives it again on the tray. The bishop is then handed his crozier and the clergy go in procession to the ambon in front of the iconostasis. Instead of saying his own vesting prayers, the prayers are recited aloud for him by the protodeacon, and the bishop venerates the icons. He then turns and blesses as the choir sings Ton Despotin . He then stands on the kathedra (a platform in the center of the temple) and the priests each come to him, receive a blessing, and return to the altar to vest. The subdeacons remove the bishop's mandyas and place his episcopal vestments on him.
When the priest and deacon say their entrance prayers before the Paschal Vigil, they say them standing before the epitaphios (winding sheet). The order is the same as normal, except that in the usual beginning they do not say the prayer, "O Heavenly King...". This prayer is a hymn of Pentecost, and so will not be said again until that feast day.
During Bright Week—the week beginning on Pascha (Easter Sunday)—the ritual is the same, except that the usual beginning is entirely replaced by Paschal hymns.
At a Hierarchical celebration of the Paschal Divine Liturgy Axion Estin is replaced by the Irmos of the Ninth Ode of the Paschal Canon:
Shine! Shine! O new Jerusalem! The glory of the Lorth hath shown on thee. Exult now and be glad, O Zion. Be radiant, O pure Theotokos, in the Resurrection of thy Son.
Subdeacon is a minor order or ministry for men in various branches of Christianity. The subdeacon has a specific liturgical role and is placed between the acolyte and the deacon in the order of precedence.
In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a church. Iconostasis also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere within a church. The iconostasis evolved from the Byzantine templon, a process complete by the 15th century.
Divine Liturgy or Holy Liturgy is the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine Rite, developed from the Antiochene Rite of Christian liturgy which is that of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. As such, it is used in the Eastern Orthodox, the Byzantine Catholic Churches, and the Ukrainian Lutheran Church. Although the same term is sometimes applied in English to the Eucharistic service of Armenian Christians, both of the Armenian Apostolic Church and of the Armenian Catholic Church, they use in their own language a term meaning "holy offering" or "holy sacrifice". Other churches also treat "Divine Liturgy" simply as one of many names that can be used, but it is not their normal term.
The sticharion is a liturgical vestment of the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, roughly analogous in function to the alb of the Western Church. The sticharion is worn by all classes of ordained ministers in the Constantinopolitan Rite and comes in two forms: one worn by priests and one worn by deacon and other altar servers.
The Liturgy of Preparation, also Prothesis or Proskomedia, is the name given in the Eastern Orthodox Church to the act of preparing the bread and wine for the Eucharist.
Panagia, in Medieval and Modern Greek, is one of the titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity.
Choir dress is the traditional vesture of the clerics, seminarians and religious of Christian churches worn for public prayer and the administration of the sacraments except when celebrating or concelebrating the Eucharist. It differs from the vestments worn by the celebrants of the Eucharist, being normally made of fabrics such as wool, cotton or silk, as opposed to the fine brocades used in vestments. It may also be worn by lay assistants such as acolytes and choirs. It was abandoned by most of the Protestant churches that developed from the sixteenth-century Reformation.
In Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches, an entrance is a procession during which the clergy enter into the sanctuary through the Holy Doors. The origin of these entrances goes back to the early church, when the liturgical books and sacred vessels were kept in special storage rooms for safe keeping and the procession was necessary to bring these objects into the church when needed. Over the centuries, these processions have grown more elaborate, and nowadays are accompanied by incense, candles and liturgical fans. In the liturgical theology of the Orthodox Church, the angels are believed to enter with the clergy into the sanctuary, as evidenced by the prayers which accompany the various entrances.
Easter Saturday, on the Christian calendar, is the Saturday following the festival of Easter, the Saturday of Easter or Bright Week. In the liturgy of Western Christianity it is the last day of Easter Week, sometimes referred to as the Saturday of Easter Week or Saturday in Easter Week. In the liturgy of Eastern Christianity it is the last day of Bright Week, and called Bright Saturday, The Bright and Holy Septave Saturday of Easter Eve, or The Bright and Holy Septave Paschal Artos and Octoechoes Saturday of Iscariot's Byzantine Easter Eve. Easter Saturday is the day preceding the Octave Day of Easter.
Solemn Mass is the full ceremonial form of the Tridentine Mass, celebrated by a priest with a deacon and a subdeacon, requiring most of the parts of the Mass to be sung, and the use of incense. It is also called High Mass or Solemn High Mass. However, in the United States the term "High Mass" is also used to describe the less elaborate Missa Cantata, which lacks deacon and subdeacon and some of the ceremonies connected with them.
Acolouthia in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches, signifies the arrangement of the Divine Services, perhaps because the parts are closely connected and follow in order. In a more restricted sense, the term "acolouth" refers to the fixed portion of the Office. The portions of the Office that are variable are called the Sequences. While the structure and history of the various forms of the Divine Office in the numerous ancient Christian rites is exceedingly rich, the following article will restrict itself to the practice as it evolved in the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire.
A Christian burial is the burial of a deceased person with specifically Christian rites; typically, in consecrated ground. Until recent times Christians generally objected to cremation because it interfered with the concept of the resurrection of a corpse, and practiced inhumation almost exclusively. Today this opposition has all but vanished among Protestants and Catholics alike, and this is rapidly becoming more common, although Eastern Orthodox Churches still mostly forbid cremation.
Bright Week, Pascha Week or Renewal Week is the name used by the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Rite Catholic Churches for the period of seven days beginning on Easter and continuing up to the following Sunday, which is known as Thomas Sunday.
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The Epitaphios is a Christian religious icon, typically consisting of a large, embroidered and often richly adorned cloth, bearing an image of the dead body of Christ, often accompanied by his mother and other figures, following the Gospel account. It is used during the liturgical services of Good Friday and Holy Saturday in the Eastern Orthodox Churches, as well as those Eastern Catholic Churches, which follow the Byzantine Rite. It also exists in painted or mosaic form, on wall or panel.
Eastern Orthodox worship in this article is distinguished from Eastern Orthodox prayer in that 'worship' refers to the activity of the Christian Church as a body offering up prayers to God while 'prayer' refers to the individual devotional traditions of the Orthodox.
The Ambon or Ambo is a projection coming out from the soleas in an Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic church. The ambon stands directly in front of the Holy Doors. It may be either rounded or square and has one, two, or three steps leading up to it.
Vesting prayers are prayers which are spoken while a cleric puts on vestments as part of a liturgy, in both the Eastern and Western churches. They feature as part of the liturgy in question itself, and take place either before or after a liturgical procession or entrance to the sanctuary, as depends on the particular liturgical rite or use which is being observed.
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The Liturgy of the eighth book of the Apostolic Constitutions is a complete text of the Christian Divine Liturgy and found in the eighth book of the Apostolic Constitutions. It is the oldest known form that can be described as a complete liturgy and can be dated to the second half of the 4th century. It belongs to the Antiochene Rite.