After the second Old Testament reading, that we might be made to feel more repentant, compunctionate verses are chanted from Psalm 140. In the Russian practice, this is often done by three chanters who come forth from the choir to the middle of the church. “Let my prayer be set forth as incense before Thee, the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice,” “Lord, I have cried unto Thee, hearken unto me, attend to the voice of my supplication when I cry unto Thee,” and these other verses:

“Set, O Lord, a watch before my mouth and a door of enclosure round about my lips.”
“Incline not my heart unto words of evil to make excuse with excuses in sin.”

After each of these verses, the choir chants “Let my prayer be set forth as incense before Thee, the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.” During these responses the faithful prostrate themselves. And during these verses the priest censes the Holy Table (in some practices from all four sides), and in the last response himself prostrates before the Holy Table. The deacon in this last verse, censes the prothesis [thus Fr Antonov has it, although there seem to be variations of practice - ed.]. After this, the Prayer of Saint Ephraim is read with three prostrations, and thereafter the form of the service is more akin to the full Liturgy.

It may be that an Epistle and Gospel sequence is inserted here, if the service of the day is of polyeleos rank. Otherwise, here we begin those parts of the Liturgy which are familiar to the faithful from the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom: the threefold litany, that for the catechumens, their expulsion from the church, and the two short litanies which begin the Liturgy of the Faithful. Then we have the Great Entrance during which the Gifts are ceremoniously taken from the table of oblation to the Holy Table, but in place of the usual Cherubicon, we have another one which refers more expressly to the transfer of the Gifts:-

“Now the hosts of Heaven invisibly do minister with us, for, behold, the King of Glory doth enter; behold the Mystic Sacrifice, all-accomplished, is escorted in. Let us with faith and love draw nigh, that we may become communicants of life eternal. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.”

The words in this hymn, “behold the Mystic Sacrifice, all-accomplished, is escorted in,” indicate very clearly that in the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, the bread and the wine have been already consecrated. As a sign of their reverence before the Holy Gifts, the Great Mystery of the Body and Blood of Christ, the faithful fall to the ground and remain prostrate as the Gifts are transferred in silence. After the Entrance, the Royal Gates are closed and the veil is drawn half-way across. Then the Liturgy continues, although the Creed, the Mercy of Peace, and the Eucharistic Prayers are all omitted. Thus, in effect, after the Great Entrance we have the Litany which prepares the faithful for Communion, ending with the Lord’s Prayer. The rest of the service is very much like the Liturgy of St John, with the Communion of the faithful and the thanksgiving prayers, however there are some distinguishing points. 1)In place of “The Holies are for the holy,” the priest says: “The Presanctified Holies are for the holy”; 2) Instead of “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” when the Gifts are presented to the faithful, we sing “I will bless the Lord at all times”; 3) Instead of the usual Prayer Beyond the Ambon, another is read, in which on behalf of all the faithful the priest asks God to lead us through the honourable days of the fast, for the cleansing of our souls and bodies, that we might complete the course of the fast in struggling well, that we might crush the heads of the invisible serpents, and that we might reach and worship the Holy Resurrection.

§ 112. The Order of the Presanctified Liturgy - in this section Fr Antonov simply lists the parts he has described above.

§ 113. Differences Between Vespers and the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts and Normal Vespers and Liturgy - in this section also Fr Antonov simply re-iterates what he has told us in the preceding sections.

… to be continued in the next issue with
“The services for the Sundays of the Great Lent”