Rubrics for the

Divine Liturgy of St. James

T
he Divine Liturgy of St. James the Brother of God is the first apostolic liturgy. The liturgies of St.
John Chrysostom and St. Basil the Great were based on it and replaced it, according to St. Nicode-
mus the Hagiorite.1 Today, it is celebrated only on October 23rd, the feast day of St. James.
The music for the hymn “Only-begotten Son” (page 126), the responses of the petitions (“Lord, have
mercy”) (pages 88-123), the Thrice-holy Hymn (pages 183-197), and the “Alleluia” (pages 210-218) follow-
ing the epistle reading are identical to those used in the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.
Between the epistle and gospel readings, there is a set of petitions intoned by the deacon. The response
for each petition is “Lord, have mercy,” except for the final petition, which has the response “Lord, have
mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.” After the gospel reading, the deacon intones another set of pe-
titions. The response to the first five petitions is a single “Lord, have mercy,” the response to the next six is
“Grant this, O Lord,” and the response to the final petition of the deacon is “To Thee, O Lord.” The cherubic
hymn for the Divine Liturgy of St. James is the cherubic hymn of Holy Saturday: “Let All Mortal Flesh” (see
page 297).
After the creed and the deacon’s petitions: “Let us love one another with a holy kiss… Let us bow our
heads unto the Lord,” the priest chants the hymn: “O magnify the Lord with me…” (see page 625) Immedi-
ately thereafter, the choir responds with the hymn: “The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee…” (see page 625).
The responses for the anaphora are identical to the anaphora in the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (see
pages 303-367), with the difference that there are eighteen petitions with the response, “Lord, have mercy”
and then one petition with the response, “Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.” preceding
the petitions “Through the compassions…, Peace be unto all…, Let us stand well…,” etc.

1
Vid. The Rudder, p. xxvii. St. Nicodemus the Hagiorite probably relied on the validity of a treatise (PG 45:849-852)
attributed to St. Proclus (d. 446). Later scholars, however, (e.g., Swainson, C.A., The Greek Liturgies, Cambridge
1884, and Brightman, F.E., Liturgies Eastern and Western I, Eastern Liturgies, Oxford, 1896) question the validity of
these statements and ascribe that treatise to a much later writer. Moreover, they believe that the Liturgy of St. James
developed independently of and simultaneously with the other liturgies. (See also Fountouvlh, !Iwavnnou M., !Apanthv-
sei" eij" Leitourgika;" !Aporiva", Tovmo" DV, !Apostolikh; Diakoniva, !Aqhvna, 1994, sel. 49-50, and Conomos, Dimitri
E., Byzantine Trisagia and Cheroubika of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries, pp. 13-18.)
624

At the consecration of the Holy Gifts, the deacon intones the petition “We believe and confess.” Then,
instead of chanting “We hymn Thee…,” the choir chants the hymn: “We proclaim Thy death…” (see page
626). The priest then chants the hymn: “For Thy people…” (see page 626), and the choir responds by repeat-
ing three times the hymn: “Have mercy on us…” (see page 626).
While the priest reads the long prayer “We offer unto Thee, O Master…,” the choir quietly repeats many
times the hymn: “Remember them, O Lord our God” (see page 627). When the priest completes that prayer,
he intones the petition: “Especially our all-holy, immaculate, most blessed…,” and the choir chants the hymn
“Remember them…” for the last time with a different melody (see page 628).
After the petition “Grant unto us and them…,” the choir chants the hymn: “Pardon, remit, and forgive…”
(see page 629).
Following the deacon’s petition: “In the peace of Christ let us chant unto the Lord,” the clergy receive
communion. According to Athonite rubrics, at this point in the liturgy (whether it be the Liturgy of St. John
Chrysostom, St. Basil the Great, St. James, or the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts), the reader reads the pre-
communon prayers: “I believe, O Lord, and I confess…,” “Behold, I approach…,” “Receive me today…,”
Tremble, O man…,” “Thou hast smitten me…,” “Into the splendour…,” “O man-befriending Master…,” and
again “Receive me today….” The reader then reads Psalms 33 (“I will bless the Lord…”) and 144 (“I will
exalt Thee…”). After the reader has completed these two psalms, the choir chants the communion hymn
from the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts: “O Taste and See…” (see pages 613-617).
While the faithful receive communion, the choir repeats the hymn: “Receive me today…” (see pages
534-543).
After the faithful have received communion, the choir chants the hymn: “Fill my mouth with Thy
praise…” (see page 631).
According to Athonite rubrics, at the end of every liturgy in which the faithful received communion, the
reader reads the thanskgiving prayers for holy communion while the priest distributes the antidoron.
 625

O Magnify the Lord

Grave Mode

(Chanted by the priest

Ú•º
soon after the Creed) by Abraham Efthymiadis
English Adaptation by
Andante Hieromonk Ephraim

> >œ , D ,
& œ ˙
b œ. œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙
F Un. G Un.

O mag - ni - fy the Lord with me,

> > , C
& œ ˙
b œ œœœ œ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙
F C D

œ œ œ œ ˙
and let us ex - alt His name to -

&b œ œ œ œ œ ˙.
Un.

œ
geth - - - er.

The choir immediately responds:

,F D>
> œ
& œ ˙
b ˙ œœ œœ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œœœ
œ œ œ œ œ œ
F G Un.

The Ho - ly Spir - - - it shall come up - on

> ,
&b œ œ ˙ Œ œ œ ˙ œ œœœ œ ˙ œ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ ˙
F G

thee, and the pow - er of the Most High

>Dj , > >

& b œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙.
Un.

shall o - ver - shad - - - - ow thee.

626

We Proclaim Thy Death

Plagal First Mode

Chanted instead of "We hymn Thee" by Abraham Efthymiadis

Ú¶™
at the consecration of the Holy Gifts English Adaptation by
Hieromonk Ephraim

,
Adagio

&b œ œ ˙ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ n œ œ Jœ œ . œ œ œ œ
D A

We pro - claim Thy death, O Lord, and we

, >œ >
& b œ . { Jœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ # œ œ . Jœ ˙ œ œ œ [ œ œ œ œj œ œj ˙
D G A G D

con - - - fess Thy res - ur - rec - - - tion.

Ú¡£º Then the priest chants:

> , > ,
Allegro

&b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
D

œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ
For Thy peo - - - ple and Thy Church

&b ˙ œ œ œ. j
C D

œ œ œ œ ˙.
sup - pli - cate Thee.

Ú¡ºº
And the choir responds thrice:

> > ,
Andante

b .
& . œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ bœ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ
Un. D C

Have mer - cy on us, O Lord our God, O Fa - ther Al -

.. œ > j
Intermediate Ending Finale

& b œ œœœ œ ˙
D

œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ b˙
D Un. rit. C D

˙.
might - y. O Fa - ther Al - might - y.
 627

Remember Them,
O Lord our God
Plagal First Mode

Ú¶™
Repeated quietly while the priest reads Traditional Melodies
Adagio the long prayer: "We offer unto Thee, O Master" English Adaptation by

> , > ,
Hieromonk Ephraim
1

& b .. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ jœ œ ˙
D

œ. œ
Re - mem - ber them, O Lord

> >j
&b œ œ. œ ˙ ..
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ. ˙
O Lord our God.

> ,
Alternate Melodies
, ,
2

& b .. œ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ bœ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ nœ œ œ ˙
D

Re - mem - ber them, O Lord O Lord

> ..
&b œ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ
C Un.

œ ˙
our God.

by Abraham Efthymiadis
English Adaptation by

, >œ œ œ œ œj œ >D ,
3 Hieromonk Ephraim

& b .. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ bœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙
D A

Re - mem - ber them, O Lord our God,

> œ D , >
& b œ œ œœœ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ œ œœœ ˙ ..
G
j j

O Lord our God.

628 Remember Them, O Lord our God

After the priest intones the petition: "Especially

our all-holy, immaculate, most blessed. . .,"

Ú¶™
the choir chants either of the following two melodies: Traditional Melody
Adagio English Adaptation by

>˙ , > , >œ œ ,

Hieromonk Ephraim
A

b
& œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ j n
œ œ œ œ œ. J œ
A D A

œ. œ ˙
Re - mem - ber them, O Lord our God,

>œ . , > >

b œ { œ œ œ œ
& J œœœœ˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œj œ œj ˙
G D C Un. D

O Lord our God.

Alternate Melody by Abraham Efthymiadis

English Adaptation by

, > , >œ œ œ œ
Hieromonk Ephraim

œ
B

&b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ n œ œ œœ
D A

Re - mem - ber them, O Lord O

, > ,
& b œ . { œJ œ œ œ ˙ nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
D
j j
b œ œ

Lord our God, O Lord our God.

>
b
& œ œ œj œ œj œ œ œ œ œ j
rit. C D

œ. œ bœ œ nœ œ. bœ ˙.
 629

Pardon, Remit, and Forgive

Chanted after the petition: "Grant
unto both us and them. . ."

Andante Ú•º Plagal First Mode

>
by Hieromonk Ephraim

,
A

&b ˙ #œ œ œ œœœ œ œ nœ œ œ
D

œ œ ˙
Par - don, re - mit, and for - give, O God,

> ,
&b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ Œ œ ˙ nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙
A

our of - fen - - - ces, both vol - un - tar - - - y

j ,
& b œ #œ œ œ nœ œ bœ. œ œ œ œ ˙ Œ œ ˙ nœ œ œ œ œ
Un. G D

and in - vol - un - tar - - - y, in knowl - edge

>œ œ j j , rit.C
&b œ œ œ œ œ #œ œ. œ ˙ œ.
G

œ nœ œ œ œ œ b˙
Un. G D D

˙.
and ig - - - no - rance.

Alternate Melody

Ú¶º Second Mode by Abraham Efthymiadis

Adagio English Adaptation by
Hieromonk Ephraim

,
B

& œ œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ nœ œ bœ œ œ bœ œ
Un. G F C
j
œ

Par - -
W - don, re - mit, and
k for - give, O
630 Pardon, Remit, and Forgive

E>
> , ,
& bœ œ {œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ n˙ ˙ œœœ
F G

œ œ {œ œ W œ
God, our of - fen - - - ces, both vol - un -

œ œ œ œ œ , j ,
& ˙ œ. œ œ œ œ œ œœœ œ ˙ œ œ œ ˙
F E Un.

tar - - - y and in - vol - - - un - tar - y,

k
> , F G
& œ œ n œ bœ œ {œ bœ œ œ {œ ˙ Œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ œ
F E

in knowl - - - - edge and

W ig - - -

j j
& œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ b˙ ˙.
rit. F G

œ.
no - - - - rance.
 631

Fill My Mouth
with Thy Praise
Chanted by the choir after

Ú¡¶º
the faithful have received communion
Presto
by Hieromonk Ephraim

>
Plagal First Mode

>œ œ œ >œ œ œ œ ˙ ,
A

& œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙
Un. A

Fill my mouth with Thy praise, O Lord, and im - bue my lips with joy,

,
&œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ ˙
G A

so that I may hymn Thy glo - ry.

Alternate Melody

,
Second Mode
>
B

& œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙
Un. G E

œ
Fill my mouth with Thy praise, O Lord, and im - bue my lips with joy,

,
& œ œ œ œ œ ˙
Un.

œ œ œ œ
so that I may hymn Thy glo - ry.

Immediately after completing either of the above melodies,

the choir chants the following words in a monotone:

We thank Thee, O Christ our God, for Thou hast counted us worthy to partake of Thy body
and blood unto remission of sins and eternal life. Since Thou art good and lovest mankind,
keep us without condemnation, we pray.