1. Commentary on Divine Liturgy
The Synaxis (Commemoration of Saints)
The Diptych (Intercession for the departed)
The Fraction
The Confession
The Communion
9/18/2018

2. Commentary on Divine Liturgy
The Synaxis (Commemoration of the Saints)
+ In it we remember all the saints as the Lord Jesus commanded concerning the woman who poured the perfume on His head.
+ It reflects the unity of the Church between those who are on earth and the departed.
+ It represents the `cloud of witnesses' which surrounds the believers and to which the Apostle Paul referred to in Heb. 12:1-4.
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3. Commentary on Divine Liturgy
The Diptych (Intercession for the departed)
+ It reflects the feeling of love and gratitude towards our beloved who departed.
+ When the Priest mentions the name(s) of the deceased he covers one hand with a napkin and puts one spoonful of incense into the censer.
+ Synaxis and Diptych are not prayed on Maundy Thursday.
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4. Commentary on Divine Liturgy
End of Diptych and Pre-Fraction
+ After St. Basil's Diptych the priest says, "Lead us throughout the way into Your Kingdom ...", and ending with, "Peace be with you all" without doing the sign of the Cross.
+ The Eucharist Liturgy starts with a doxology, “Glory and honour…” and most befitting it ends with another doxology, “…that as in this so also in all things Your great and holy name be glorified…”
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5. Commentary on Divine Liturgy
Pre-Fraction (Introduction to Fraction): “Again let us give thanks unto God Almighty...”
+ A prayer of thanksgiving to God, Who made us worthy to complete the Liturgy, and a plea that He may make us worthy to partake of the holy body and the precious blood of Christ.
+ The three sentences, "...the Holy Body...", "...the Honoured Blood...", and, "...belonging to His Christ the almighty our God...", are a continuation of the introduction to the Fraction.
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6. Commentary on Divine Liturgy
The Fraction
+ A prayer of thanksgiving to God for His inexpressible gift, as He gave us His Holy Body and Honoured Blood as an eternal life to those who worthily partake of them.
+ The most versatile part of the Liturgy, since we have various prayers for the various seasons and occasions.
+ Ends with the Lord’s Prayer-Priest’s inaudible prayers…
While the people recite the Lord’s Prayer, the priest recites three prayers, the last of which is called the Absolution of the Father. The deacon responds by saying, “Saved Amen, and with your spirit, in the fear of God let us attend.” The words “saved Amen” are also said at the beginning of the Liturgy of the Catechumens, after the priest recites the Absolution, “May Thy servants ...” It is a very difficult word to interpret, but being said after the recital of the Absolutions, one could say that because in both Absolutions the priest admits his own sins and unworthiness, the response is to mean, you have been saved indeed by admitting your weakness before the Lord. “And with your spirit” means may the Absolution you just gave us be with you also. Because the Absolution at the beginning of the Liturgy of the
Catechumens is said aloud, the people respond, “Saved, Amen ...” The Absolution of the Father is however said in a low voice, only the deacon hears it and so he exclaims, “Saved, Amen, and with your spirit.” The people respond, “Lord have mercy”.
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7. Commentary on Divine Liturgy
The Confession
+ Prayers before Confession: “The Holies for the Holy...”
As the priest calls the holy ones to receive the holy things, all the Congregation tremble. They respond; "One is the Holy Father. One is the Holy Son. One is the Holy Spirit. Amen." As if they are saying "There is One Sun that shines on all of us and pours Its own rays of holiness upon us.
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8. Commentary on Divine Liturgy
The Confession, cont. + The Confession is a declaration of faith stating what we believe about our faith. The priest lifts up the paten in both hands and says the Confession. The deacon follows by affirming the confession of faith. + As we hear the deacon's call, "Pray for the merit of partaking of these Holy, Pure and Heavenly Mysteries", we ought to lift our hearts to the Lord and beseech His blessings and His mercies on all those partaking, so that their communion fulfils the Lord's promise…
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9. Commentary on Divine Liturgy
The Communion
+ It is of great importance that every partaker should approach the Sacraments in preparedness, repentance and confession, so that he does not take condemnation to him/herself (1Cor.11:27).
+ When the Lord ascended to heaven the disciples looked steadfastly towards heaven, even after He was out of their sight. We should do likewise after the Holy Communion…
+Communion Praises
The tradition of holding a small veil in the right hand to cover the mouth after receiving the body of the Lord has an interesting history behind it. It goes back to the old days, when the Body was given to the communicants in their hands. It all started in the fourth century, when some rich ladies in Rome, out of reverence to the body of the Lord, made silken veils adorned with the cross and held them in their right hand in order to receive the body of Christ in it. These veils were called
“corporals” from the Latin “corpus” which means body. The custom must have spread rapidly into the East (Constantinopolis and Alexandria.) Sometime in the middle ages, the Church in Egypt started to give communion directly into the mouth of the communicant. In spite of this, the habit of carrying a corporal in the right hand and raising it to the mouth, as if it contained the body of Christ, still survives!
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10. Commentary on Divine Liturgy
The Dismissal
The priest stands before the altar and dismisses the angel of the Sacrifice by sprinkling some of the water on the altar and sprinkling the rest upwards saying, "O angel of this offering who ascends to the highest with this praise, remember us before the Lord that He may forgive us our sins.“
Distribution of the Eulogia (Morsel of Blessing)
In the old times, when communion was over, and the priest raised the paten up high in commemoration of the ascension of the Lord, the people
usually showed their yearning for the second coming of the Lord by saying, “Maranatha!” (O Lord come!) (ICor 16:22,) or “Amen, come Lord Jesus” (Rev 22:20). How and when and why did this essential part of the Anamnesis become replaced with “Glory to God in the highest” is a mystery. A proclamation of the Church’s yearning for the coming of the Lord is in keeping with the Lord’s words, “For every time you shall eat of this bread and drink of this cup, you proclaim my death, confess my resurrection, and remember me till I come.” The same is also obvious from the priests words at the “oblation:” “as we also commemorate His holy passion, his resurrection from the dead, His ascension into the heavens and His sitting at Thy right hand O father, and his second coming from the heavens, awesome and full of glory ...”
The exclamation, “Maranatha” or “Amen, come Lord Jesus” is the only part of the Liturgy where we commemorate the Lord’s second coming, and by doing so, we are faithful to His own admonition to us, “remember me till I come.”
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