Catechesis · Inquirer
The Liturgy of the Faithful
Catechesis · Inquirer
The Liturgy of the Faithful
The Liturgy of the Faithful is the second and central half of the Divine Liturgy. It begins after the dismissal of the catechumens and culminates in Holy Communion. The central ac…
Question
What happens at the altar?
The Liturgy of the Faithful is the second and central half of the Divine Liturgy. It begins after the dismissal of the catechumens and culminates in Holy Communion. The central actions are the Great Entrance (bringing the gifts to the altar), the anaphora (the great Eucharistic prayer of thanksgiving), the epiclesis (the invocation of the Holy Spirit over the gifts), and the distribution of Communion.
The Great Entrance is the solemn procession in which the deacon and priest carry the prepared bread and wine from the table of oblation (prothesis) through the nave and back into the sanctuary. The Cherubic Hymn is sung: "We who mystically represent the Cherubim... let us lay aside all earthly cares, that we may receive the King of all." The congregation is identified with the Cherubim; the gifts become the body of Christ carried to His own altar.
The teaching
The anaphora -- the great prayer of thanksgiving
The Sursum Corda -- "Lift up your hearts / We lift them up to the Lord" -- is the hinge between the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Faithful. The congregation is called to ascend: to lift their attention, their desire, their love to God. This is not a pious sentiment. It is a liturgical act: the assembly is ascending to the throne of God, where the heavenly worship is eternally taking place, where they will join their thanksgiving to the angelic Sanctus.
The Sanctus -- "Holy, holy, holy, Lord of Sabaoth, heaven and earth are full of Thy glory" -- is the joining of the earthly liturgy to the heavenly. The congregation sings what Isaiah heard the seraphim sing (Isaiah 6:3) and what John saw the four living creatures sing before the throne (Revelation 4:8). The earthly and heavenly liturgies are not two liturgies -- they are one. The congregation at the Divine Liturgy participates in the eternal worship of the angelic hosts.
Lift up your hearts. We lift them up to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord. It is meet and right.
This exchange -- one of the oldest in the Christian liturgical tradition -- is the moment at which the congregation declares its participation in the Eucharist. "We lift them up" -- the congregation is not passive; it ascends. "It is meet and right" -- the congregation affirms that giving thanks is the correct and fitting response to who God is and what He has done. The anaphora is an act of justice: it is right to thank God. Thanksgiving is not optional piety -- it is the proper human response to divine love.
The Sursum Corda
Divine Liturgy · the oldest exchange in Christian worship
Holy Scripture
"And when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, 'This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.'"
1 Corinthians 11:24
"The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?"
1 Corinthians 10:16
The Epiclesis
Why the Spirit is the one who makes the Eucharist real
The Orthodox emphasis on the epiclesis -- the invocation of the Spirit -- is not a liturgical technicality. It is a statement about who the Eucharist belongs to. The priest does not consecrate by his own authority. The Church does not produce the divine presence by its own action. The Spirit is invoked: "Send down Thy Holy Spirit upon us and upon these gifts." The Eucharist is a gift of God, not an achievement of the Church.