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A study of the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, using the text of the Liturgy in the Hapgood translation and the commentary by Nicholas Cabasilas
8 FEB 2024 · In this class, we arrive at the end of the commentary on the Divine Liturgy by St. Nicholas Cavasilas and begin reading his theological discussion on how the Eucharistic Sacrifice benefits the reposed.
24 JAN 2024 · Follow our discussion by reading along in the text, beginning with section 36 on p. 88 of the original/50 of the PDF.
https://ia801600.us.archive.org/16/items/allah-coranul-cel-sfant/A_Commentary_On_The_Divine_L%C4%B1turgy_text.pdf
22 JUN 2023 · Tonight we will read the commentary by St. Nicholas Cabasilas on the prayers following the consecration and on the litany and prayers preceding and following the Our Father.
8 JUN 2023 · In this class, we read and elucidate Cabasilas's commentary, sections 29 and 30, in which he defeats the arguments of certain Latin polemicists against the invocation of the Holy Spirit at the consecration.
1 JUN 2023 · Tonight we will discuss the Eucharistic prayer of consecration, the Anaphora.
18 MAY 2023 · Class 10 on the Divine Liturgy. Tonight we will discuss the Litany following the Great Entrance, the Creed, and the Dialogue preceding the Eucharistic Anaphora.
11 MAY 2023 · Class 9 of a study of the Divine Liturgy. In this session, we talk about the Great Entrance, that is, the transfer of the offerings from the Table of Oblation to the Holy Table.
27 APR 2023
23 MAR 2023 · A Study of the Divine Liturgy
Class 7
Texts: Isabel Hapgood, Service Book; Nicholas Cabasilas, Commentary on the Divine Liturgy
Liturgy of the Catechumens - The Third Antiphon, the Trisagion Hymn, the sacred acclamations preceding the readings from Holy Scripture
- Section 19 - The meaning of the third antiphon
The third antiphon in the cathedral rite is Psalm 94, “Come, let us rejoice in the Lord.” Cabasilas comments on the first three verses, which also still appear in our Horologion as the first two stichoi in the third of the daily antiphons.
1. The third antiphon is Ps. 94, because the words of the psalm convey the sense of an “encounter before the Lord Who draws near and appears,” and therefore this psalm is an appropriate accompaniment to the Small Entrance with the Gospel book. The Gospel book represents Christ, and the Small Entrance represents His being manifest in the world and the beginning of His public ministry.
2. The words “Come let us rejoice” conveys the joy the prophets felt when they were admitted to the mystery of the coming of Christ to earth even before the time.
3. “…let us shout with jubilation unto God our Savior…”. Our Lord was given the name Jesus, which means Savior, for of the three Persons of the Holy Trinity, it is the Son Who came to be our Savior.
4. “Let us come before His countenance with thanksgiving”. “Presence [countenance]” means the appearance of the Savior. We should not sit at home, but run out to meet Him. “…and with psalms let us shout in jubilation unto Him.” Psalms are the divinely inspired hymns due to God alone. By chanting psalms unto Christ, we are confessing His divinity. The words “For the Lord is a great God and a great King over all the earth” continue this confession of His divinity.
B. Section 20 - The showing of the Gospel, and the Trisagion
1. The priest elevates the Gospel book and shows it to the people, thus symbolizing the manifestation of the Lord when He began to appear to the multitudes. He enters the altar.
2. At this point, the hymns from the Old Testament cease, and we chant hymns of the New Testament commemorations (the dismissal hymns and kontakia of the day) of the Mother of God, the saints, and so forth.
3. We then praise the Holy Trinity with the triune hymn, the Thrice-Holy (Trisagion). The words “Holy, holy, holy” are taken from the angelic acclamation in the vision of Esaias (Isaiah 6:3), and the adjectives “mighty” and “immortal” are inspired by the words of King David in Psalm 41:2, “My soul thirsted for God, the might, the living…”. The Church chooses these two Scriptures and puts them together, adding the words, “have mercy on us.” Thus She shows the harmony of the Old and New Testaments, as well as the mystery that angels and men form one Church, a single choir, because of the coming of Christ Who is of both heaven and of earth. Thus it is appropriate that we chant this hymn after the bringing in and showing of the Gospels, which represent the coming of Christ, Who by His coming placed us in the heavenly choir.
C. Section 21 - The prayer which accompanies the Trisagion, and the sacred acclamations
In this section, Cabasilas first goes back to a point before the Trisagion begins, to the Prayer of the Trisagion, read by the priest quietly during the troparia following the Small Entrance, in preparation for the Trisagion Hymn. The text is in Hapgood, p. 85. After discussing this prayer, he goes on to comment on the greetings and commands that introduce the Scripture readings.
1. The prayer of the Trisagion hymn
a. Before the hymn begins, the priest asks God to accept it and to give grace to those who chant it.
b. What grace? One that accords with the hymn itself, that is, the grace of holiness (sanctification): He asks that their souls and bodies may be cleansed, that their sins may be forgiven, and that they may live in holiness all the days of their life.
c. God grants this gift because of Who He is - He is holy, holiness itself - and because He delights to “rest in the saints.”
d. The priest concludes with the doxology, so that the people can answer “Amen,” and this is the signal to begin the Trisagion Hymn.
2. The admonition “ Let us attend” - The priest admonishes those present to cast away negligence and inattention, and to listen carefully to what is said and done.
3. He wishes “peace” to them all. (Recall our earlier discussion of the word “peace” in regard to the Great Litany at the beginning of the Divine Liturgy).
4. “Wisdom” - This signifies the sum of those thoughts which are in accord with the ceremony. At that time, we should not be concerned with any purely human sentiment. This single word signifies an entire train of thought, and its repeated use during the service keeps serving to recall the minds of the listeners to the holy thoughts and sentiments that should fill their minds at this time
5. The necessity of these reminders (“Wisdom,” “Let us attend”): “…forgetfulness is a great tyrant; no other human frailty defeats men so often and so easily.” If our minds and hearts are not in accord with the mysteries celebrated, our attendance is in vain. But this is not easy to achieve, and we must keep constant watch on ourselves and behave with circumspection. We need these periodic reminders from the clergy in order to recall our minds to the mysteries being celebrated. This is also why later we will sing the verse, “Let us set aside all earthly cares” during the Great Entrance.
6. “Stand aright”
a. This warns us to be ready for the unseen warfare that ensues when we hold converse with God and assist at the Holy Mysteries.
b. There must be no inattention; we must act with fervor and reverence throughout the service.
c. Standing and not sitting is necessary, because the attitude of the soul corresponds to the posture of the body. It is the attitude of servants waiting upon their master.
18 MAR 2023 · A Study of the Divine Liturgy
Class 6
Texts: Isabel Hapgood, Service Book; Nicholas Cabasilas, Commentary on the Divine Liturgy
Liturgy of the Catechumens - The Three Antiphons
- Two Different Sets of Antiphons
A. The ancient cathedral rite - Pss. 91, 92, and 94 . These are the texts that Cabasilas comments on. We still use selected verses from these psalms for the daily antiphons. You will find these antiphons in the Great Horologion (HTM) on pp. 148 and 149. They are also in the little red Book of Hours from HTM.
B. The typicon of St. Savvas (current usage) - Pss. 102 and 145, the Beatitudes
II. The Antiphons, the Priestly Prayers, and the Commentary by Cabasilas
- Section 15 - Of the antiphonary chants and their accompanying prayers
1. In the first two paragraphs, Cabasilas discusses the exclamation (ekphonesis) of the priest at the conclusion of the Litany of Peace.
a. God’s fulfillment of our petitions is just not because we deserve His gifts, but because justice demands that He be given all glory.
b. The prayer read by the priest is not audible, but the final doxology is, in order to join the people to the prayer of the priest. They unite themselves to the prayer by the “Amen.”
c. The prayer of the First Antiphon begins with the reference to this theme: God’s glory.
2. The first antiphon, again, begins by declaring the primacy of praise and thanksgiving.
3. The prayer of the second antiphon prays for the Church, and especially for those who have adorned Her holy house (the church building). The doxology, again, refers to God’s glory and dominion.
4. The prayer of the third antiphon is a prayer for those praying with the priest - the congregation - that the Lord will fulfill their petitions in fulfillment of Christ’s promise to be where “two or three are gathered” in His name.
5. At the third antiphon, the Gospel is carried in procession to the altar. The priest prays for the holy angels to come and enter with him to offer the sacrifice.
B. Section 16 - A summary of the general significance of the sacrifice
Before he goes on to comment on each antiphon separately, Cabasilas recurs to the subject of entire meaning of the Liturgy.
1. The entire service (“the sacrifice”) is a figurative representation of the economy of Christ’s redemptive work. As we go through the Liturgy step by step, the author will comment on the symbolic meaning of each stage of the service.
2. The chants and readings do have another purpose - to act as purification and preparation of the faithful to receive the Mysteries, but they also have the symbolic purpose of representing the earlier stages of Christ’s redemptive work: His early hidden life (the proskomedia and the first two antiphons), the beginning of His public ministry (the entrance with the Gospel), and His preaching (the Scripture readings).
C. Section 17 - The meaning of the first antiphon
1. The first chant begins, again, with glorification. “It is good to give praise unto the Lord, and to chant unto Thy Name, O Most High” (Ps. 91: 1). This refers to the Father and the Son: The Son is “the Lord” and the Father is the “Most High.”
2. The rest of the commentary on this psalm relates to the second verse and the final verse: “To proclaim in the morning Thy mercy, and Thy truth by night…” and “”…upright is the Lord our God, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.”
a. Mercy and truth refer to the Son’s katabasis- “…the Son’s becoming nothing, His poverty, His works and sufferings while in the flesh…”
i. His mercy is shown in His compassion to our wretchedness
ii. His truth is shown in the fulfillment, in reality, of the types of the Old Testament iii. The psalm also refers to the manifestation of God’s judgment and justice.
D. Section 18 - The meaning of the singing of prophecies at the beginning of the Liturgy [also the 2nd antiphon]
1. The second antiphon celebrates the glory the Son received as the result of His self-emptying, and those things which He accomplished by His Passion and Death
2. In the symbolic structure of the Liturgy, the first two antiphons, by using the prophetic texts, indicate that in His hidden life and the early stages of His ministry, the full meaning of the Lord’s redemptive work was not understood; thus the recourse to the prophetic writings (i.e., the psalms), which predict Christ’s suffering and glorification in veiled language.
3. Verse 1: “The Lord is King, He is clothed with majesty.” - All the inhabitants of heaven and earth must acknowledge His kingship, for “All power has been given unto Me in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28: 18).”
4. Verse 2: “For He established the world which shall not be shaken…” - the author says that “This establishment is the name given to faith.” Matthew 28: 18 is immediately followed by Matt. 28:19 - “Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name…”. So the proclamation of Christ’s dominion is immediately linked to faith and baptism.
5. Verse 7: But faith is not enough. Thus the psalmist adds, “Thy testimonies are made very sure…” This refers to the keeping of the commandments. In Matthew 28, Christ confirms this, saying, immediately after the command to baptize, “…teaching them to keep all things whatsoever I have commanded you.”
6. The concluding verse is “Holiness becometh Thy house, O Lord, unto length of days” - The house (the church building) is not empty, but contains the Master of the house in person. The Lord promised in Matthew 28 that He would be with us always. St. Paul says that the Church is the “house of the living God (I Tim. 3:15).” After redemption comes sanctification.
A study of the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, using the text of the Liturgy in the Hapgood translation and the commentary by Nicholas Cabasilas
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