Thou hast given unto us, O Lord, sanctification in the communion of the all-holy body and precious blood of Thy only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ; give unto us also the grace of Thy good Spirit, and keep us blameless in the faith, lead us unto perfect adoption and redemption, and to the coming joys of eternity; for Thou art our sanctification and light, O God, and Thy only-begotten Son, and Thy all-holy Spirit, now and ever, and to all eternity. Amen.
The Deacon.
In the peace of Christ let us keep watch.
The Priest.
Blessed is God, who blesseth and sanctifieth through the communion of the holy, and quickening, and pure mysteries, now and ever, and to all eternity. Amen.
Then the prayer of propitiation.
O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, Lamb and Shepherd, who takest away the sin of the world, who didst freely forgive their debt to the two debtors, and gavest remission of her sins to the woman that was a sinner, who gavest healing to the paralytic, with the remission of his sins; forgive, remit, pardon, O God, our offences, voluntary and involuntary, in knowledge and in ignorance, by transgression and by disobedience, which Thy all-holy Spirit knows better than Thy servants do:
And if men, carnal and dwelling in this world, have in aught erred from Thy commandments, either moved by the devil, whether in word or in deed, or if they have come under a curse, or by reason of some special vow, I entreat and beseech Thy unspeakable loving-kindness, that they may be set free from their word, and released from the oath and the special vow, according to Thy goodness.
Verily, O Sovereign Lord, hear my supplication on behalf of Thy servants, and do Thou pass by all their errors, remembering them no more; forgive them every transgression, voluntary and involuntary; deliver them from everlasting punishment: for Thou art He that hast commanded us, saying, Whatsoever things ye bind upon earth, shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever things ye loose upon earth, shall be loosed in heaven: for, thou art our God, a God able to pity, and to save and to forgive sins; and glory is due unto Thee, with the eternal Father, and the quickening Spirit, now and ever, and to all eternity. Amen.
[4086] [This title is misleading, as we have no copies of the originals of these liturgies, and they are encrusted with the ideas of later ages. I shall distinguish between the interpolations legitimately made by councils and the manifest corruptions which contradict Scripture and ancient authors. N.B.: I print the deacon's parts as such.]
[4087] [A Lavabo: he prepares himself by the prayer for purification.
[4088] [Here is a token of theological but legitimate interpolation.]
[4089] [On the lawful and unlawful additions to these additions to these liturgies, see Hickes' Christian Priesthood (Oxford, 1847), p. 151.]
[4090] This is addressed to the priest. Some translate, "O Lord, bless us." [This latter is the more primitive idea.]
[4091] [The Lesser Entrance with the Holy Gospels.]
[4092] [The Theotoce or Deipara Of course, added after the Council of Chalcedon.]
[4093] [See a specimen of the unlimited capacity for extension of these prayers, in vol. v. [323]p. 412, Elucidation VI., this series.]
[4094] [At great length. Cf. Justin Martyr, vol. i. [324]p. 186, this series.]
[4095] [The reading of the Scriptures in the common tongue is a very precious part of the daily offices in the East.]
[4096] [Frequent Amens are to be supposed.]
[4097] [Here there is an evident interpolation, not Mariolatrous, yet not primitive, as follows:]-- The Priest. Commemorating with all the holy and just, our all-holy, pure, most glorious Lady, the God-mother, and ever-virgin Mary, let us devote ourselves, and one another, and our whole life, to Christ our God. The People. To Thee, Lord.
[4098] [So as to be sure no enemy was among the faithful.]
[4099] These clauses are elliptical. After "prayer" supply "remain;" the door is for "shut the door;" and "all erect," for "stand all erect."
[4100] [Here begins the Liturgy of the Faithful.]
[4101] [Here is the Great Entrance, or bringing-in of the unconsecrated elements. It has a symbolical meaning (Heb. i. 6) now forgotten; and here, instead of the glorified Christ, no doubt the superstitious do adore bread and wine in ignorance.]
[4102] [The sexes sat apart, the salutations of each confined to its own: an apostolic feature. 1 Pet. v. 14 et alibi; and see Clementine, [325]p. 486, supra. [Note that beautiful tribute of Augustine to the purity of primitive rites, "Honesta utrinsque sexus discretione," Civ. Dei, lib. ii. cap. xxviii. p. 77, ed. Migne.] See vol. ii. 291 and iii. 686, this series.]
[4103] [A token of the Ante-Nicene age, though some think of the later asceticism.]
[4104] [Here an interpolation as follows: "Let us commemorate our all-holy, pure, most glorious, blessed lady, God-mother, and ever-virgin Mary, and all the holy and just, that we may all find mercy through their prayers and intercessions." On which, and like interpolations (the Clementine free from all this), see Scudamore, p. 381.]
[4105] [Strongly censured by Hickes as a superstitious innovation (p. 153), with other evils introduced after the pseudo-Council of Nice a.d. 787, of which this is the least.]
[4106] [The Gospel and the Epistle sides.]
[4108] ["And Mary said, My soul doth magnify," etc.]
[4109] [In such places Amens are to be supposed.]
[4110] [Propitiation, not expiation.]
[4111] [See vol. v. [326]pp. 222-223.]
[4112] [See Field on "the meaning of the veil," p. 294, where he differs from authors who make it a late innovation; also pp. 448, 449.]
[4113] [This great primitive thought has been frittered away by references to the veil covering the oblation.]
[4114] [Based on Heb. v. 1-3.]
[4115] [See more on the veil in Field, p. 492.]
[4116] [The Sursum corda, found in all liturgies.]
[4117] [See Hammond's Lit. of Antioch, etc., p. 15, note 29.]
[4118] [Compare the Clementine, [327]p. 488; and note differences.]
[4119] [A token of Post-Nicene origin. Vol. v. [328]p. 259, Elucid. I.]
[4120] [Supposed by some to be a relic of the original formula as the Apostles delivered it. On the synaxis, see vol. v. [329]p. 259. Elucid. II.].
[4121] [These abrupt interjections of the deacon are made while the priest proceeds. This logically follows what the priest subjoins.]
[4122] To conceive. [A feeble interpolation in the Edinburgh edition.]
[4123] [Post-Nicene, but legitimate.]
[4124] [Understood mystically and spiritually down to a late period, even in the West. See Ratramni De Corpore et Sanguine, Oxon., 1838. Note the inference as to time of sanctification.]
[4125] [See vol. v. Elucidation VII. [330]p. 561.]
[4126] [An honorary title conceded to Jerusalem by the Second General Council: tes de' ge metro`s hapason to n ekklesion.]
[4127] Services. [Otherwise, "who do good works in Thy holy churches."]
[4128] [The Angelical Salutation is here an evident interpolation, marring the grand unities of the liturgy.]
[4129] [I place in a note what follows:]-- Then the Priest says aloud:-- Hail in the highest, our all-holy, pure, most blessed, glorious lady, the God-mother and ever-virgin Mary. The Singers. Verily it is becoming to bless Thee, the God-bearing, the ever-blessed, and all-blameless, and mother of our God, more honourable than the cherubim, and incomparably more glorious than the seraphim: thee, who didst bear with purity God the Word, thee the true God-mother, we magnify. And again they sing:-- In thee, highly favoured, all creation rejoices, the host of angels, and the race of men; hallowed temple, and spiritual paradise, pride of virgins, of whom God was made flesh and our God, who was before eternity, became a little child: for He made Thy womb His throne, and Thy bowels more capacious than the heavens. In thee, O highly favoured one, all creation rejoices: glory unto thee.
[4130] [A prayer entirely corresponding with the primitive ideas. See vol. vi. [331]p. 488, and elucidation, p. 541.]
[4131] [In all early liturgies always following the Lord's Prayer, to accentuate the petition against the evil one. It hurls back his "fiery darts," as it were; whence this name.]
[4132] [Duplicated, with other parts, in the Greek copies.]
[4133] [The taking-up of the gifts is here erroneously introduced in the Edinburgh edition.]
[4134] [The publican's prayer, adapted to the Christian worship: ila'stheti' moi, is the plea for mercy through propitiation. Luke xviii. 13.]
[4135] Ps. xxiii.
[4136] Ps. xxxiv.
[4137] Ps. cxlv.
[4138] Ps. cxvii.
[4139] [Here the chalice is filled for participation.]
[4140] [Here the presbyter receives.]
[4141] Or patens.
[4142] [Here are difficulties explained by Drs. Neale and Littledale in their Translation, etc., p. 60.]
[4143] [The side-table or credence.]
[4144] [Here the laity are communicated.]
[4145] [Compare Neale's Tetralogia Liturgica, p. 192.]
[4146] [Here are confusions; but see Neale and Littledale, p. 62, note 20.]
[4147] [Interpolated, but not Mariolatrous; the Theotoce is commemorated, not adored.]
[4148] [A legitimate addition, according to the primitive laws.]
[4149] [Which must here be given.]
The Divine Liturgy of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Mark, [4150] The Disciple of the Holy Peter. [4151]
The Priest.
I. Peace be to all.
The People.
And to thy spirit.
The Deacon.
Pray.
The People.
Lord, have mercy; Lord, have mercy; Lord, have mercy.
The Priest prays secretly: [4152] [4153]
We give Thee thanks, yea, more than thanks, O Lord our God, the Father of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ, for all Thy goodness at all times and in all places, because Thou hast shielded, rescued, helped, and guided us all the days of our lives, and brought us unto this hour, permitting us again to stand before Thee in Thy holy place, that we may implore forgiveness of our sins and propitiation to all Thy people. We pray and beseech Thee, merciful God, to grant in Thy goodness that we may spend this holy day [4154] and all the time of our lives without sin, in fulness of joy, health, safety, holiness, and reverence of Thee. But all envy, all fear, all temptation, all the influence of Satan, all the snares of wicked men, do Thou, O Lord, drive away from us, and from Thy Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. Bestow upon us, O Lord, what is good and meet. Whatever sin we commit in thought, word, or deed, do Thou in Thy goodness and mercy be pleased to pardon. Leave us not, O Lord, while we hope in Thee; nor lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one and from his works, through the grace, mercy, and love of Thine only-begotten Son.
(In a loud voice.)
Through whom and with whom be glory and power to Thee, in Thy most holy, good, and life-giving Spirit, now, henceforth, and for evermore.
The People.
Amen.
The Priest.
II. Peace be to all.
The People.
And to thy spirit.
The Deacon.
Pray for the king. [4155]
The People.
Lord, have mercy; [4156] Lord, have mercy; Lord, have mercy.
The Priest prays.
O God, Sovereign Lord, the Father of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ, we pray and beseech Thee to grant that our king may enjoy peace, and be just and brave. Subdue under him, O God, all his adversaries and enemies. Gird on thy shield and armour, and rise to his aid. Give him the victory, O God, that his heart may be set on peace and the praise of Thy holy name, that we too [4157] in his peaceful reign [4158] may spend a calm and tranquil life in all reverence and godly fear, through the grace, mercy, and love of Thine only-begotten Son:
(In a loud voice.)
Through whom and with whom be glory and power to Thee, with Thy most holy, good, and life-giving Spirit, now, henceforth, and for evermore.
The People.
Amen.
The Priest.
III. Peace be to all.
The People.
And to thy spirit.
The Deacon.
Pray for the papas [4159] and the bishop.
The People.
Lord, have mercy; Lord, have mercy; Lord, have mercy.
The Priest.
O Sovereign and Almighty God, the Father of our Lord, God, and Saviour Jesus Christ, we pray and beseech Thee to defend in Thy good mercy our most holy and blessed high priest our Father in God D, and our most reverend Bishop D. Preserve them for us through many years in peace, while they according to Thy holy and blessed will fulfil the sacred priesthood committed to their care, and dispense aright the word of truth; with all the orthodox bishops, elders, deacons, sub-deacons, readers, singers, and laity, with the entire body of the Holy and only Catholic Church. Graciously bestow upon them peace, health, and salvation. The prayers they offer up for us, and we for them, do Thou, O Lord, receive at Thy holy, heavenly, and reasonable altar. But all the enemies of Thy Holy Church put Thou speedily under their feet, through the grace, mercy, and love of Thine only-begotten Son:
(Aloud.)
Through whom and with whom be glory and power to Thee, with Thy all-holy, good, and life-giving Spirit, now, henceforth, and for evermore.
The People.
Amen.
The Priest.