In today's episode, ancient Christianity meets the present and the future as we introduce the most used service in the Eastern Orthodox Church, a service that has been known since ancient times as the Divine Liturgy. We have often opened our episodes by saying that the videos on this channel are not in-depth explanations or discussions about topics, but just introductions of them. We then go on to say that that the best way to learn more about them is to visit an Orthodox church and to talk to a priest. And we have never meant it as much as we do in this episode.
If you would like to learn about the divine liturgy, if you would like to know about how Orthodox Christians worship and have... worship since ancient times, please visit an Orthodox Church and talk to a priest. This video and any video and any content you can ever see online will only ever scratch the surface of what is happening in the Divine Liturgy.
We are today going to give the preamble to the introduction of something that is truly indescribable. One of the things I love most about being an Orthodox Christian and hosting this show is that when I talk about things of the early church I am really talking about things that are lived and practiced in my everyday Christianity today. It is the service conducted around the entire world by Orthodox Christians.
There are a few different forms of divine liturgy used by the Eastern Orthodox Church. The main one you will most likely encounter is the divine liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom. Another liturgy that you will hear more often during Great Lent, which is the lead-up to Easter, is the liturgy of Saint Basil the Great.
They are very similar, but Saint Basil's is slightly longer. The divine liturgy is what Orthodox Christians call the main Sunday service. It is a cosmic event. It is an event in which the angels participate, an event outside of time itself. The origins are as old as our religion.
Here, heaven meets earth. It is an event that happens in a particular space at a set time, and yet it is an event that we believe transcends space and time. There is no substitute for it.
There is nothing on earth that can compare with it. It is impossible to give a proper explanation of it, even though people have tried to do so through books and entire courses. and these are people far smarter than me.
We are just going to give an introduction to some of the things that happen in the Divine Liturgy, a little overview as to the service, and what to expect when you visit. By the time you're watching this video, you may have already visited a Divine Liturgy, I hope you have, or you may be planning to do so very, very soon. Your first visit may be a powerful and awe-inspiring experience, or it may be a bit of a culture clash. That is completely normal.
You may need a few visits to get used to it, but go and pay attention to the hymns, which are absolutely absolutely full of powerful theology and make sure that you ask questions afterwards about the things that you don't understand and you will have questions. If you have no questions at all something's gone wrong because I've been an Orthodox Christian my entire life and I still find things in the divine liturgy to learn about and to understand and appreciate. It is so powerfully vast all of the information that it will take several visits and a lifetime really to fully understand what's going on here but for those beginning on their journey into Orthodoxy just remember that it will take several liturgies before you start understanding and seeing the flow of what is happening.
It is a service built entirely on Christ and the Scriptures. If you like the Bible, you will love the liturgy. About three quarters of the service are just straight lifted from the Bible, and the service connects parts of the Old and the New Testament together.
The liturgy is not a standalone event. It is connected to a wider life and an understanding of Christ, the Scriptures, and our lives as Christians. It is connected to how we pray and how we perceive the calendar.
Everything from the icons to the music to the architecture is all connected and interwoven and built upon our foundation of Jesus Christ. The word liturgy has been defined in several different ways. And even though not all of those definitions are accurate, they're all worth hearing because they help us understand a little of what is going on. It's either work of the people or the common work or a service provided to the people. My main point in calling out the word liturgy is that it's a very important point.
out the definition of the word liturgy is that no matter how it is defined, people are always involved. This isn't a spectator event. We're not just here to listen to the music or to learn something.
We are here as participants in the Divine Liturgy. We participate in the service just by being there. In Orthodox churches, a service cannot be conducted just by the priest.
The people must always be there. Now that might be one or two people, or it might be several hundred people, but there must be a congregation. If you're a Christian, If you turn up early for a Divine Liturgy at an Orthodox Church, you will probably find that there is a service going on already.
And this is ANOTHER SERVICE! ...that precedes the Divine Liturgy. It might be Matins or the prayers of the hours, but that's another story. During the service you will mostly hear prayers and hymns.
There won't be a lot happening, but there is a lot happening behind the scenes and the priest is preparing for the Divine Liturgy. The liturgy is an expression of the kingdom of heaven on earth. Now knowing this helps you understand and see some of the kingdom focus that happens throughout the service and some of the royal themes that exist there. So when you hear from the liturgy, the priest the words blessed is the kingdom now and forever and to the ages of ages and the people chant amen the divine liturgy has begun this is the main service when you go into an orthodox church for the first time you will notice there is the main part where you will see all of the other people the congregation and then there is the sanctuary and between the sanctuary and the main part of the building is a wall of icons known as an iconostasis you will be in the congregation area and when you visit for the first time time, find a comfortable spot just to stand and be able to see what's going on.
All you have to do really is listen to the words and see what is happening. If it is your first visit, a note to remember is to wear comfortable shoes because there is a lot of standing in Orthodox services. Metropolitan Anthony Bloom, the Orthodox Bishop of Blessed Memory, once made the joke that good Orthodoxy begins in the legs because there is a lot of standing.
We begin the Divine Liturgy with something known as the Great Litany. Litany is a word that basically means supplication. During this time, we ask God for peace for the kingdom, for the country, and for the world.
These supplications are followed by further psalms, prayers, and readings about Christ, and about his incarnation, and his resurrection. Eventually, we come to a royal procession. This is a kingdom event, remember, and the first royal procession is known as the little entrance, and you will see the priest walking from the sanctuary into the main body of the church, and to the front of the church, carrying the book of the gospel.
Gospels. The origins of this procession are even more ancient than the authors of the service, because once upon a time these Gospel books were absolutely priceless, for a time they were even illegal under Roman persecution, so they were processed from a safe place into the main part of the church during the service. Nowadays we no longer have to hide or protect these Gospel books in quite the same way, and the Gospel stays on the altar between services, but the procession remains. There is also a deeper meaning to the procession Gospels are also representing the Word of God, Christ himself coming into the world.
If the Orthodox Church you're attending has seats, this is a point in which you are not sitting. Stand up for any procession that you see. Every time the priest comes into the main body of the church, it is generally a reason to stand up because of what it represents. After some more important hymns, we come to the readings.
The Divine Liturgy is a service that climbs higher and higher towards God. So first, we have an epistle reading, that is a reading from one of the letters of Paul or Peter or one of the New Testament books that is not the gospel, and this will be read from the center of a church by a reader. Then follows a reading from the Gospels and this will be the book that has processed around the church.
The gospel will be read from the royal doors by a deacon if he is present or by a priest. Because the gospel books contain the word of Christ they are the most important books that we have. The reading that you will hear from the Gospel and from the Epistle has not been randomly selected by the priest or by the community. It has been selected by the church and you will hear the same Gospel reading on the same Sunday all around the world. Once the Gospel reading is complete so is the first half of the Divine Liturgy.
Or to put it another way, within the Divine Liturgy there are two liturgies. The first of these two liturgies that make up the Divine Liturgy is the Liturgy of the Catechumens. Now a Catechumen is someone who is studying for the the Christian faith and preparing for baptism but has not yet entered the church. And at this point in the service, in ancient Christianity, the catechumens would leave.
They had seen the first part of the service, they had listened to the reading from the gospel, and then they would go away from the service to continue their education in the Christian faith. And so you will still hear a small part of the service known as the Litany of the Catechumens, and you will hear the priests say, let all the catechumens depart. If you are not a baptised Orthodox Christian, you no longer have the right to be a catechumen.
longer have to depart and you can stay and keep watching the rest of the service, but understand that it is a true blessing and an honor that you are there to be able to see something that the early church considered so holy that only baptized prepared believers could stay. This second liturgy that is about to begin within the divine liturgy is known as the liturgy of the faithful. More prayers and hymns will follow and lead up to what is known as the great entrance. This is the second royal procession.
procession of the service. This procession is longer than the first one and in this one you will see the priest carrying the prepared bread and wine for Holy Communion. Things are now leading up to the most sacred and holy part of the church service, Holy Communion.
More prayers and supplications follow this procession. session and the final preparations are made. You will hear the church recite the Nicene Creed as the major event of the service takes place in the sanctuary, the consecration of the gifts.
Eventually the priest will leave the altar and he will face the people, hold holding the chalice. In this chalice is the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. This is the most important part of the service, and something that we cannot cover in a video.
Any conversation and discussion about this topic of the Eucharist should be had in real life with a priest. This is the highest and holiest part of the Divine Liturgy, and the highest and holiest part of the Orthodox Christian life itself. You will now see members of the congregation going up to receive Communion, which is given to them from a spoon by the priest.
communion is reserved for baptized Orthodox Christian believers who have prepared themselves for receiving the gift. So if you are an Orthodox Christian who wants to take communion, make sure you do the pre-communion prayers. They are very important and very beautiful.
If you are a catechumen or a visitor to the Orthodox Church, do not go up to communion. Just stay where you are and watch. When communion is over, there are more prayers and hymns of thanksgiving for communion, which will lead to the prayers and hymns of dismissal. An important tip is that when you hear the words, let us complete our prayer to the Lord, the service is not over. There is still more to go.
This has caught a lot of people out on their first visit. The following several minutes are still very important. The dismissal seems like it is the completion of the service, but it is actually a vital part of the Christian life, because what happens here is that the priest blesses the people to go out into the world again. At the end of the service, the priest will stand at the front of the church holding a cross, and members of the church will come and kiss the cross. you are welcome to come and kiss the cross as well and receive a blessing.
Remember at this point that you are not kissing a piece of metal, you are kissing Jesus Christ. You may be given a piece of blessed bread either by the priest or by a member of the congregation. This is not communion, it is a piece of blessed bread known as antidoron and if it is given to you feel free to eat it.
The service is now over. You may hear a few further chanted prayers of Thanksgiving or you may see some Orthodox Christians who have taken communion standing with little prayer books reading thanksgiving prayers on their own, but the main part of the service is finished. On certain days and in certain churches an extra service may follow the divine liturgy. It may be a small memorial service or a small special service that occur on unique days of the year, but the divine liturgy is complete here. Hopefully the community has a place where they can have a cup of tea and coffee and a bite to eat, and you can meet members of the church and ask your questions.
There are no stupid questions, there are no wrong questions to ask, and you will have them after your first second, and hundred and fiftieth service. Make sure you have the discussion because questions about the Divine Liturgy are best asked and answered in real life. Now you may have noticed that something was missing in this little prelude to the Divine Liturgy, and that is we didn't mention the sermon. A sermon does happen during the Divine Liturgy.
It is very often just after the reading of the Gospel, but sometimes it will happen at the very end of the service. You may come from a background in which one of the main reasons you go to church is to learn something. something, to hear a good sermon, your idea of a good pastor might be that he can give a good sermon.
But in the Orthodox Church and in ancient Christianity, the sermon has not been the main focus of the service. Sermons are absolutely important, of course, and St. John Chrysostom, who wrote the Divine Liturgy that we use on most Sundays in the Orthodox Church, was famous for writing sermons. But in ancient Christianity and in the Orthodox Church today, the main focus of our Sunday services is worship and participation. Giving a good sermon is far from being the most important job of an Orthodox priest, or indeed of any priest throughout history. If you would like to know more about what is the most important job of a priest, please talk to him about it.
The Divine Liturgy has been the common language of the Church for centuries upon centuries. An Orthodox Christian today can travel around the world to any country and to any Orthodox Church. It may be a grand cathedral or a tiny chapel built out of an old garage, but the service will be the same.
The Bible reading will be the same. The hymns will be the same. It will be the same truths and most importantly, the same God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit being worshipped in truth.
Thank you very much for watching. We have been a little bit nervous for making this episode because it is just such an incredibly important topic and there is so much we wanted to say and we know we can't because we just can't fit it into a video even if it was 10 hours long. So once again, at risk of sounding like a broken record, please visit an orthodox church for a service and talk to the priest after the service. We have been saving a very special tea to have with this episode.
My brother got me this as a gift. It is called Gyokuro green tea and it's incredible. It's very rich.
It's like a very strong matcha taste. It is a very Unique green tea because in the later stages of the tea plant's life they cover the plants with very thick bamboo matting which prevents any sunlight from hitting it and so the plant will start to draw extra chlorophyll through its roots through the ground. The result is an incredibly rich and dark green tea and it is a spectacular gift and I have thoroughly enjoyed it and I'm very glad we saved it up for an important episode like this.