86 THE PREPARATION FOR THE LITURGY The Priest then cuts out the further eight corre sponding particles, saying: Of the honoured and glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist, John; of the holy, glorious Prophets Moses and Aaron, Elias, Elisha, David, Jesse, Isaiah and Jeremiah; of the Three Holy Youths, the Prophet Daniel and all the holy Prophets. Of the holy, glorious and all-praised Apostles Peter and Paul, of John the Theologian, of the Twelve, the Seventy and all the holy Apostles. Of our Fathers among the Saints, great Hierarchs and Ecumenical Teachers, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom, Athanasius and Cyril and John the Merciful, Patriarchs of Alex- andria, Nicolas of Myra, Spyridon of Trimythous, Gregory Palamas, Dionysios of Aegina, Nectarios of Pentapolis, the holy God-bearing Fathers of the seven Councils and all the holy Hierarchs. Of the holy Protomartyr and Archdeacon Stephen; of the holy glorious Great Martyrs, George the victo- rious, Demetrios the myrrh-streaming, Theodore the Recruit and Theodore the General. Of the Hieromar- tyrs Ignatius, Polycarp, Haralambos, Eleftherios and Kosmas the Aetolian. Of the holy martyrs Thekla, Katherine, Barbara, Irene, Euphemia, Kyriaki, Mari- na, Paraskevi and all the Holy Martyrs. Of our venerable and God-bearing Fathers, Antho- ny, Euthymios, Sabas the Sanctified, Arsenios, Paisios, Poemen, Sisoes, Ephrem and Isaac the Syrians, Max- imus the Confessor, John of Damascus, Symeon the New Theologian, Dionysios of Olympus, John the Russian, Seraphim of Sarov, Nicolas Planas, Arsenios the Cap- padocian; of the Athonite Fathers Peter, Athanasios,THE SERVICE OF PREPARATION OF THE EUCHARISTIC GIFTS 87 Maximus, Nikodimus, Silouan and Sabas; of the ven- erable women Mary of Egypt, Theoktisti, Synklitiki, Macrina, and all our venerable Fathers and Mothers. Of the holy and glorious Wonderworkers and Un- mercenary Physicians, Cosmas and Damian, Cyrus and John, Panteleimon and Hermolaos, Sampson and Diomedes, Mokius and Anicetus, Thalellaius and Tryphon, and all the holy Unmercenary Saints. Of the holy and righteous Forebears of God, Joachim and Anna, Zacharias and Elizabeth, Joseph the Betrothed, of (the names of the saints of the day and of the church, if they have not already been com- memorated) and of all the Saints, at whose interces- sions visit us, O God. Of our Father among the Saints John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople. (If the Liturgy of St Basil is being celebrated, he is commemorated instead.) The assembly of the saints At the Divine Liturgy, the assembly of saints is present together with Christ, and the faithful experience the communion of saints made manifest. After placing the Lamb which is being offered on the Paten, the celebrant cuts out pieces in honour and in memory of all the saints. ‘This reveals the indissoluble bond of the transcendent and sacred union of the saints with Christ.’ ‘Because the saints have struggled together with Christ, they enjoy greater glory and exaltation through this terrible Mystery, through communion in this saving Sacrifice. And indeed, the more we commemorate 81 ge Dionysius the Areopagite, Church Hierarchy, 3.3.9, PG 3.437C.88 THE PREPARATION FOR THE LITURGY them, the more they reconcile us with Christ and unite us with Him.’ The Church is ‘the assembly of the saints’, and the Divine Liturgy is par excellence the Mystery that assembles the entire Church into ‘a godly way of common life’, a ‘unified and single accord’.® In the Liturgy, we are with all the saints. The choir of saints has fulfilled the purpose of the divine econ- omy. ‘God the Word took flesh, preached, worked miracles, suf- fered and died in order for human beings to move from earth to heaven, and become heirs of the heavenly Kingdom.’ The choir of saints is the proof that the Kingdom of God has already been giv- en to us: ‘Through the myriads of members it has sent like colonists to heaven, [the Church] has truly inherited the very Kingdom of heaven.’ We give thanks to the Lord for the good things He has be- stowed on the saints, because we regard them as our own family, and we feel that the gifts God has given them are ours as well. And together with the saints, we give thanks to the Giver, offer- ing gifts of our own. At the Divine Liturgy we live the mystery of the Church, be- cause each eucharistic community is the one flock which offers its gifts to the one Shepherd (John 10: 16) ‘with one mouth and one heart’ (cf. Acts 4: 32 and Rom. 15: 6). We are nourished on the holy Body of Christ, on Holy Communion, and the Church is made manifest as the Body of Christ. ‘With this we are nourished, with this we are mingled, and we have become the one Body of Christ.”°° Communion in the holy Body of Christ creates the com- munion and unity of the Church: ‘As we partake of the holy Body of Christ, so we too become the Body of Christ.’°° 82 Symeon of Thessaloniki, On the holy Liturgy, 94, PG 155.281C. 3 st Isidore of Pelusium, Letters, 2.246, PG 78.685A; St Dionysius the Areopagite, Church Hierarchy, 3.3.1, 5, PG 3.428B, 432B. ®4 st Nicholas Cabasilas, Comm. Liturgy, 49 and 10, PG 150.480CD, 388C. 65 st John Chrysostom, On Matthew, 82.5, PG 58.743-4. 56 Nicholas of Methoni, To those who hesitate, PG 135.512C.THE SERVICE OF PREPARATION OF THE EUCHARISTIC GIFTS 89 Communion in divine Love creates the communion of the love of the saints. In this way, the life of every saint is extended within time eternally. For before passing through the gate of death, the saints partook of the food which is the medicine of immortality. And through death, they entered into Life. Then the Priest cuts out a small particle, saying: Re- member, O Master, Lover of mankind, every bishopric of the Orthodox, our Archbishop [name], the honoured order of presbyters, the diaconate in Christ and every order of clergy and of monastics, our brothers and fel- low celebrants, priests and deacons, and all our brethren whom, through your compassion, you have called to your service, most loving Master. And places it below the Lamb. He then commemorates the Bishop who ordained him, if he is still alive, and then com- memorates those whose names he has among the liv- ing, taking out particles and placing them in the same way below the Lamb. Then from another part of the seal the Priest cuts fur- ther particles for the departed, saying: For remembrance and forgiveness of sins of the blessed founders of this holy house. He then commemorates the Bishop who ordained him, if he is dead, and commemorates those whose names he has among the departed. And he con- cludes by saying: And of all our Orthodox fathers and brethren who have fallen asleep in communion with you, Lord, Lover of mankind, in the hope of resurrec- tion to eternal life. And he places particles for those he has commemorated on the Paten. Likewise the Deacon also commemorates those he wishes from the living and the dead, as the Priest cuts out particles for them.90 THE PREPARATION FOR THE LITURGY Finally the Priest says: Remember me also, Lord, your unworthy servant, and forgive all my offences, both voluntary and involuntary. And taking the sponge,* he draws in together all the particles on the Paten, so that everything is safe and nothing will fall. Remember, O Master, Lover of mankind When the celebrant takes out a particle of the prosphora fora brother who is living, ‘because it is placed near the eucharistic Bread, when that becomes the Body of Christ in the course of the Liturgy, the particle too is immediately sanctified. And when itis placed in the Chalice, it is united with the holy Blood. That is why it transmits divine grace to the soul of the one for whom it is of fered. So a spiritual communion takes place [between that person and Christ]. If [the person commemorated] is among the godly, or those who have sinned but then repented, that person receives the communion of the Holy Spirit invisibly in his soul.’®’ Once the celebrant has commemorated the living, he goes on to commemorate the departed — those who are unable to help themselves, and who look to us to show them our love. The first way in which the departed are helped is by the prayers of the saints, which reach even to hell. In the life of St Macarius the Egyptian, it is recounted that the saint once en- countered the skull of a pagan priest in the desert, and heard a voice coming from it, saying, ‘Whenever you have compassion up- on those in hell and pray for them, they receive a little comfort. The second way in which they are helped is by the Divine 87 gy Symeon of Thessaloniki, Church Building, 103, PG 155.748D-749A. 8 palladius, Sayings of the Fathers, 38, PG 65.280B.THE SERVICE OF PREPARATION OF THE EUCHARISTIC GIFTS 91 Liturgy. Our brethren who have fallen asleep are not deprived of the sanctification which Holy Communion conveys to the living. For ‘Christ gives of Himself to the departed too, in a way known to Him’. In the Divine Liturgy, the souls of the departed ‘receive remission of sins through the prayers of the priests’ and by the grace of the precious Gifts which have been sanctified. StJohn Chrysostom writes: ‘Not by accident did the holy Apos- tles decree that the departed should be commemorated in the presence of the awesome Mysteries. They knew that there is much to be gained from that, much benefit. When all the people stand with their hands raised [in prayer], when the entire priesthood is present and the terrible Sacrifice [that is, Christ] is in their midst, how is it possible for God not to bow to our supplications on their behalf?’ Therefore ‘let us never tire of helping those who have de- parted and offering the Divine Eucharist for them. For here be- fore us lies Christ, the propitiation of the whole world.’” During the time when the priest is commemorating the living and departed brethren, each of the faithful may also commemo- rate his family and those dear to him. On the Holy Mountain, the celebrant rings a little bell so that those present can commemo- tate whomever they wish at the same time he is cutting out par- ticles on their behalf. When the priest has finished commemorating the living and the departed, he beseeches Christ to remember also his own un- worthiness. Commemoration at the Divine Liturgy is one of the greatest gifts we can receive or offer to our brethren. Christ is before us, crucified, and we take courage from the example of the thief on the Cross and beseech Him: ‘Remember us, Lord, in Your Kingdom’ (cf. Luke 23: 42), 5 st Nicholas Cabasilas, Comm. Liturgy, 42 and 45, PG 150.457C, 464D. ® On Philippians, 3.4, PG 62.204; On 1 Corinthians, 41.5, PG 61.361.92 THE PREPARATION FOR THE LITURGY God in the midst of gods In the Lamb and the particles assembled on the holy Paten, we have an image of the Church. Close to Christ and His holy Moth. er, in the company of the angels and saints, we experience there ality of the eucharistic Ecumenical Council of the Church: ‘We see Christ Himself and the whole of His one Church, having in its midst Him who is the true Light... His Mother is to the right... The saints and angels to the left, while below we have the entire devout assembly of the faithful. And this is the great mystery: God in the midst of humans, or rather in the midst of gods [Ps. 81: 1], those who are being led to deification by Him who is truly God by nature, who became flesh for their sake. This is also the Kingdom which is to come, the polity of eternal life: God with us, seen and partaken of.’! At the Divine Liturgy, we see upon the Paten the ‘assembly of God’, which ‘the Son assembled together through Himself’” Christ has assembled us together into the Liturgy of His Kingdom. Then the Deacon takes the censer* and says to the Priest: Master, bless the incense. And the Priest bless- es it, saying the Prayer of the Incense: We offer incense to you, Christ our God, as a fra- grance of spiritual sweetness. Accept it on your Altar above the heavens and send down upon us in return the grace of your All-holy Spirit. 71 ge Symeon of Thessaloniki, On the holy Liturgy, 94, PG 155.285AB. 7 St Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 3.6.1, SC 211, p. 69.