Overview
Because of the penitential character of Great Lent, we do not offer up the Anaphora (the part of the Divine Liturgy during which we call upon the Father to send down His Holy Spirit to transform the Bread and Wine into the Body and Blood of His Son) on weekdays of the Great Fast. On these days, the faithful instead partake of Holy Communion at what is known as the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts.
The Presanctified Liturgy is normally associated with St Gregory the Great (540-604), Pope of Rome, who had been the papal legate to Constantinople, and who records the service in its present form.
The Presanctified Liturgy is a Vesperal Liturgy, which means that the first half of the service of Vespers serves as the basis for the Liturgy of the Catechumens, rather than the usual Antiphons or Typika. The Liturgy is served in the evening in order to allow the faithful to Commune without breaking the prescribed lenten fast from food and drink until the 9th hour of the day.
However, unlike the Vesperal Liturgies celebrated on the eves of the Nativity, Theophany and Pascha, where the Holy Gifts are consecrated during the Anaphora of St Basil the Great, this Vesperal Divine Liturgy involves the distribution of the Holy Gifts already consecrated (pre-sanctified) on the preceding Saturday or Sunday.
Although the 52nd canon of the Quinisext Council (of Trullo) in 692 AD says that this Liturgy can be celebrated on every weekday of Great Lent (except for the feast of the Annunciation on the 25th of March, when we always celebrate the Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom), current practice is to hold it only on Wednesdays and Fridays of Lent, as well as on the Thursday of the Great Canon (5th week of Lent) and on the first three days of Holy Week. The Presanctified Liturgy may also be served on the feasts of St Charalambos (10 Feb), the 1st and 2nd Findings of the Head of St John the Baptist (24 Feb), and the 40 Martyrs of Sebastia (9 March) when these fall on weekdays of Great Lent.
The Pre-Sanctification
During the Prothesis before the Divine Liturgy on the preceding Saturday or Sunday, the priest will bless additional prosphora (as many as the number of Presanctified Liturgies to be celebrated during the week) and extract a Lamb from each; these are placed on the Diskos together with the Lamb extracted for that day.
At the Anaphora, the priest will bless all the Lambs as if they are one (i.e, “Make this bread the precious Body of Thy Christ”, not “make these breads”), because Christ is one. Having lifted them all up with the exclamation “The holy things for the holy”, he breaks the Lamb to be distributed at that Liturgy in the customary manner, placing the piece marked IC into the chalice and pouring in the zeon. He then takes the remaining Lambs and either dips them into the chalice OR uses the Communion spoon to pour the Blood of Christ onto the underside of each Lamb.
Following the intinction, he places them upside down in the artophorion or onto a second diskos, where they remain covered until the Presanctified Liturgy.
Preparation
The priest and deacon do not take Kairos before the Presanctified Liturgy, since the “bloodless sacrifice” for which the Kairos is a preparation has already been accomplished.
During the 9th Hour, the priest and deacon simply come out of the altar (wearing their outer cassocks and head coverings), make a bow to the ground towards the high-priestly throne, then stand before the Beautiful Gate, bowing their heads and making three reverences, saying “Through the prayers of our holy fathers, Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us”. They turn towards the congregation to ask their forgiveness, and then enter the Sanctuary. They bow thrice before the Holy Table and kiss it, saying nothing.
The clergy then put on simple dark vestments (black or deep purple) without signifiers of rank, such as the pectoral cross or the epigonation. The chalice and table covers should likewise be dark and unadorned. They do not say the customary Psalm verses as they put on each vestment; only the “Through the prayers…”.
The Liturgy of the Catechumens
The Presanctified Liturgy begins with the usual exclamation, ‘Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, always, now and forever, and to the ages of ages. Amen’. After this, we begin the service of Vespers as normal. During the reading of the evening Kathisma from the Psalter, the Beautiful Gate is shut, and the priest places the Gospel Book to the side and opens the antimension. He places the diskos on the antimension and, with great care and reverence, takes one of the Lambs out of the artophorion and places it on the diskos. Having covered and censed the Lamb, he makes three prostrations before carrying the diskos to the Table of Preparation (Prothesis), where he pours wine and water into the chalice, covers everything, and censes the Sanctuary. He does all this saying nothing other than “Through the prayers of our holy fathers, Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us”. When all is done, he closes the antimension and replaces the Gospel Book.
After the reading of the kathisma, the deacon censes the Sanctuary and the rest of the church while the choirs sing “Lord, I have cried” with its appointed evening troparia. During the final hymn, the priest and deacon perform the Small Entrance with the censer (or the Gospel Book, should a Gospel reading be appointed for that evening). After this follows two readings from the Old Testament: from the books of Genesis and Proverbs. During the reading from Genesis, a lit candle is placed on the Gospel Book on the holy altar to show how the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the fulfilment of all the Scriptures. When the reading from Genesis is finished, the priest blesses the congregation with the candle, saying “the Light of Christ enlightens all”.
Following the second Old Testament reading, the priest solemnly censes the four sides of the holy alter, the sacred icons and the people, while he and the choirs alternately sing the opening verses of Psalm 140, with the following refrain: “Let my prayer be set forth as incense before Thee, the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice” (v.2). The hymn is concluded by the whole congregation making three prostrations (in some traditions, accompanied by the Prayer of St Ephraim).
The deacon then comes out and intones the usual Litanies of Fervent Supplication and of the Catechumens, while the priest quietly says their corresponding prayers within the Sanctuary. For the first three weeks of Lent, the Liturgy of the Catechumens ends with the usual dismissal of the Catechumens. From the fourth week onwards, however, an additional litany and dismissal is said for those “that are to be illumined” (Photizomenoi). Historically, these were the catechumens who had been approved for Holy Baptism on Great and Holy Saturday. The last four weeks before their baptism would have been dedicated to the memorisation of the Symbol of Faith and a detailed explanation of its content, as well as frequent exorcisms and prayers.
The Liturgy of the Faithful
The Liturgy of the Faithful, as with the other Divine Liturgies, begins with two prayers of the faithful said silently in the Sanctuary while the deacon intones two short litanies. After this, the Choirs sing the following Cherubic Hymn: Now the heavenly powers invisibly do minister with us: For lo, the King of glory entereth. Behold, the mystical sacrifice all accomplished is borne on high. In faith and love let us draw near that we may become partakers of eternal life. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.
The priest does not say any prayer of preparation for the offering of the Holy Oblation, since the Anaphora will not be said. Instead, having first said the words of the hymn thrice, he simply censes the holy altar, the Gifts on the Table of Preparation, the icons and the congregation while saying Psalm 50.
During the Great Entrance, the priest does not place the aer on the shoulders of the Deacon, but instead covers his head with it. Since he has already come face to face with God in the already consecrated Gifts, he imitates Moses, who veiled his face after he had spoken to God “face to face” on Mount Sinai (Exodus 34). He holds the diskos with the Presanctified Gifts in his right hand and the chalice with the unconsecrated wine in his left. The choir do not chant during the entrance; all that is heard is the priest quietly saying, “Through the prayers of our holy fathers, Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us”. Since the Gifts are already the Body and Blood of Christ, the faithful kneel during the entrance.
The priest places the Gifts upon the altar, covers them with the aer and censes them as normal. He makes three prostrations before the holy altar, and then closes the Beautiful Gate. The deacon intones the Litany of Completion, which concludes in the recitation of the Our Father. The Communion of the Clergy and the Faithful, and thereafter the remainder of the Divine Liturgy follows the same order as those of Saints John Chrysostom and Basil, with only the words of the prayers differing.
After the dismissal, Psalms 33 and 144 are read during the distribution of the antidoron.
