Adapted from

 

“THE HOUSE OF GOD

& THE CHURCH SERVICES”

 

By the Priest N. R. Antonov

Continuation 

§ 144.  The Mysterion of the Priesthood (continued).  The laying on of hands to the rank of presbyter (priest) is less elaborate than that to the episcopate.  After the Great Entrance, the candidate is led by two deacons to the Royal Gates.   As they approach, the exclamation “Command” is made loudly.  This is addressed to the people in the church, asking their agreement to the ordination.  If they do not agree, they may respond with  an “Anaxios” (Not worthy).  Then, as they come closer to the gates, the exclamation is made a second time, this time addressed in the plural to the clergy; and then last of all the ordaining Bishop is addressed: “Command, most reverend Master.” 

 

On entering the sanctuary, having received the hierarch’s blessing, the candidate is led three times round the Holy Table by an archimandrite or archpriest, and as he goes round he kisses the four corners of the Table, and also the epigonation (the lozenge shaped vestment that hangs over the bishop’s knee) and the hand of the bishop.  His being led round the Holy Table three times signifies the candidate’s unbreakable bond with the Church, his kissing the Holy Table his warm love for God, and his kissing of the bishop’s vestment and hand his filial submission to him.  During this circumambulation of the Table, the choir chants the three hymns that are sung at the crowing ceremony in a wedding: “O holy Martyrs,” “Glory to Thee, O Christ God,” and “Rejoice, O Esaias.” 

 

When they have gone round the Holy Table in this way, the candidate kneels at the right side of the Table on both knees and, as a sign of his complete surrender to the Lord, he places his crossed hands on the rim of the Holy Table and rests his forehead on them, awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit. The hierarch covers the candidate’s head with his omophorion, blesses him three times, and read the prayer: “The Grace Divine, Which always healeth that which is infirm, and completeth that which is wanting, elevateth through the laying on of hands the most devout deacon, … N.…, to be presbyter.  Wherefore, let us pray for him, that the Grace of the All-holy Spirit may come upon him.”  The hierarch says the word, “Axios” which means “Worthy,” i.e. worthy to celebrate the service.  The clergy within the sanctuary chant “Lord, have mercy,” and the choir responds, “Kyrie eleison.”   As this is being sung, the bishop three times blesses the head of the candidate, and quietly reads the prayer in which he calls down upon him the Grace of the Holy Spirit, and beseeches for him those gifts which befit the priest.  [According to the Service Book, and at least present usage, while he reads this prayer a priest reads a litany in a low voice, this begins as does the Litany of Peace and continues with petitions for the candidate.  It is not mentioned in Fr Antonov’s account.] 

 

After the prayer, the hierarch gives the newly ordained priest the vestments of the priestly rank (the stole, the cincture, the phelonion) and a priest’s Service Book.  As he gives each of these, he cries “Axios.”  This cry is taken up first by the clergy in the sanctuary and then by the choir in the church, who each time sing a threefold “Axios.”   The clergy within the sanctuary then greet the newly-ordained priest with a brotherly kiss, and the Liturgy continues.  After the consecration of the Holy Gifts, the hierarch gives the newly-ordained presbyter a portion of the Holy Body of Christ, telling him “receive thou this Pledge and preserve it whole and unharmed until thy last breath, because thou shalt be held to an accounting therefor in the second and terrible Coming of our Great Lord, God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.”  Now as a guardian and dispenser of the sacred Mysteries of Christ, the newly ordained priest holds this portion in his hands at the Holy Table until the time of communion. 

 

The Prayer Beyond the Ambon is always read by the newly ordained priest, and in this way he enters upon his priestly ministry.

 

The Laying-on of Hands for a Deacon is very much like that for the priest.  The most important differences are that: a) he is not ordained before the consecration of the Gifts as a priest is, but after that consecration, as a sign that he does not celebrate the Mysteries but only ministers at their celebration; b) he is lead around the Holy Table not by an Archimandrite or Archpriest but by a Protodeacon; c) when he kneels before the Holy Table, he does not do so on both knees, but on one only (as in genuflecting), signifying that the diaconal ministry is not so onerous as that of the presbyters.  At the Liturgy in which he is ordained, the deacon recites the Thanksgiving Litany (Upright!  Having partaken of….), which precedes the Prayer Beyond the Ambon.  

 

… to be continued in the next issue

with “The Supplicatory Services”