§ 144.   The Mysterion of the Priesthood.  Having explained the significance of the Divine graces granted in the Mysteria of the Church for a truly Christian life, we must now at last acquaint ourselves also with those Mysteria, which serve as the sources of the other Mysteria, by which Divine Grace is imparted to the persons in the Church hierarchy for the completion of the other Mysteria.  This is the Mysterion of the Priesthood, in which the Holy Spirit is granted to those properly set aside through hierarchal (or episcopal) ordination that they might celebrate the Mysteria and might guide the people in faith and piety.  This Mysterion was instituted by Jesus Christ Himself, Who, having chosen the Apostles from the many numbers of those who had heard His teaching (Luke 6:13, John 14:16, 17:12, Matt.18:18; 28:19), granted then the authority to teach and celebrate the Mysteries, and Who, after His Ascension, sent down upon them the Holy Spirit, clothing them with the powers necessary for their ministry (Acts 1:8, 2:4).  From those times the fire of the grace of the Holy Spirit lighted then is handed on successively from generation to generation.  The visible and symbolic sign of this continuous bond between the clergy and the Holy Apostles is the laying-on of hands, which is employed in the calling down of the grace of the Holy Spirit on the persons being ordained.  In accord with the three degrees within the priesthood, the Mysterion of ordination exists in three rites: that for the consecration of Bishops, for the ordination of priests and for the ordination of deacons.

The most complex and solemn is that for the consecration of Bishops.  It is divided into three sections: the nomination, the laying-on of hands and the Bishop’s presentation to the community of the Church.

When a candidate for the episcopate is selected by the Holy Synod, there follows the nomination.  This consists of the following:  in the presence of members of the Synod, after the chanting of the troparion and contakion in honour of the Holy Spirit (“Blessed art Thou, O Christ our God”), and a short litany on which the First Hierarch makes the exclamation, the decree concerning his selection is read to the candidate.  The candidate responds formally, giving  thanks, accepting the appointment, and confirming that he does not object to it.  Then he makes an acceptance speech, and receives the blessing of the hierarchs gathered there.  With the chanting of Many Years to the newly-nominated Bishop, this short ceremony ends.  Usually on the closest festal day, the consecration takes place.  [We have slightly shortened Fr Antonov’s description here, because he includes details that could only have applied in Imperial Russia, such as the rôle of the Over-Procuror, and the order of events is somewhat different than that in the “Hapgood” Service Book.  As none of us have ever attended such a ceremony, we have been unable to ascertain which order is nearer present day practice - Ed.]

For the consecration itself, before the end of the Hours, the hierarchs appointed to consecrate the nominee, come out from the sanctuary in their full vestments, and sit on the dais in the centre of the church.  Then the candidate is brought out of the sanctuary, supported by an archpriest and a protodeacon, and he is led to stand at the edge of an eagle-mat placed between the ambon and the bishops’ dais.  The presiding hierarch asks the candidate “Wherefore art thou come, and what dost thou ask, and how believest thou?”  The candidate replies: “I seek the grace of the laying-on of hands unto the episcopate,” and he recites the Symbol of Faith (the Creed).  The presiding hierarch blesses him and he is led to stand in the centre of the eagle-mat, and a second question is put to him: “Reveal unto us more particularly how thou believest concerning the properties of the Three Persons of the Ineffable Godhead, and concerning the Incarnation of the Person of the Son and Word of God.”  To this he makes a second confession of the Faith.  He is blessed again and led to stand on the head of the eagle, and questioned a third time concerning the canons, and the traditions and regulations of the Church.  Having made a third confession, he receives from each of the Bishops their blessing, and after the chanting of the “Many Years” he is led back to the sanctuary.