Theme
In order to receive Christ within us, we must lay aside all earthly cares, and live in love among the Body of Christ.
Outline
- The Cherubic Hymn
- The Prayers
- The Triumphal Entry
- The Doors
Scripture References[1]
Habakkuk 2.20
Zephaniah 1.7
Zechariah 2.13
Matthew 5.23–24
Luke 23.39–43
Hebrews 9.26
Hebrews 10.10
1 John 4.13–21
Glossary
Aër: The outer veil covering the gifts.
Diskos/Paten: The footed plate for the Bread.
Quote
The soul that has not learnt to despise the petty concerns of earthly life will not be able to marvel at the things of heaven.
— St John Crysostom On Genesis
Prayer of the Cherubic Hymn
No one who is bound with the desires and pleasures of the flesh is worthy to approach or to draw nigh or to serve thee, O King of Glory, for to serve thee is a great and fearful thing even to the heavenly powers. Nevertheless through thine unspeakable and boundless love toward mankind thou didst become man, yet without change or alteration, and as Master of all dust take the name of our High Priest and deliver unto us the ministry of this liturgic and bloodless sacrifice. For thou alone, O Lord our God, rulest over those in heaven and on earth, who art born on the throne of the cherubim, who art Lord of the seraphim and Kind of Israel, who alone art holy and restest in the holy place. Wherefore I implore thee who alone art good and art ready to listen: look down upon me, the sinner and thine unprofitable servant, and cleanse my soul and my heart from an evil conscience, and by the power of the Holy Spirit earnable me, who am endued with the grace of the priesthood, to stand before this thy holy table, and perform the sacred mystery of thy holy and immaculate Body and precious Blood. For I draw near unto thee, and bowing my neck I pray thee. Turn not thy face from me, neither cast me out from among thy servants, but vouchsafe that these gifts may be offered unto thee by me, thy sinful and unworthy servant; for thou thyself art he that offereth and art offered, that accepted and is distributed, O Christ our God, and unto thee we ascribe glory, together with thine unoriginate Father, and thine all-holy and good and life-giving Spirt, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Extended Edition E-mail
Scriptures References[2]
Psalm 46 (47) NETS
Regarding the end. Over the sons of Korah. A Psalm.
All you nations, clap your hands;
shout to God with a voice of rejoicing,
because the Lord Most High is awesome,
a great king over all the earth.
He subdued peoples to us,
and nations under our feet.
He chose for us his own heritage,
the comeliness of Jacob, which he loved.
Interlude on strings[3]
God went up with shouting,
the Lord with a sound of trumpet.
Make music to our God; make music;
make music to our King; make music,
because God is king of all the earth;
make music with understanding.
God became king over the nations;
God is seated on his holy throne.
Rulers of peoples gathered with the God of Abraham,
because the strong of the earth are God’s.
They were very much raised up.
Habakkuk 2.18–20 NETS
What use is a carved image,
because one carved it?
He shaped it a molten image, a deceptive representation,
because its shaper trusts in his shape,
to make idols dumb!
Woe to him who says to the wood, “Be sober! Wake up!”
and to the stone, “Be exalted!”
And it is a representation, that is, a beaten- out piece of gold and silver,
and there is no breath in it.
But the Lord is in his holy shrine;
let all the earth do reverence[4] before him!
Zephaniah 1.7–9 NETS
Show reverence[5] before the Lord God!
For the day of the Lord is near;
because the Lord has prepared his sacrifice,
he has consecrated his called ones.
And it shall be on the day of the Lord’s sacrifice
that I will punish the rulers and the king’s house
and all who dress themselves in foreign dress.
And on that day I will publicly punish all in the gateway,
who fill the house of the Lord their God with impiety and fraud.
Zechariah 2.6–3.5 NETS
Oh, oh, flee from the land of the north, says the Lord, for I will gather you from the four winds of the sky, says the Lord. Return safe to Zion, you who inhabit daughter Babylon. For this is what the Lord Almighty says: Behind glory he has sent me to the nations who despoiled you. For he who touches you is as one who touches the pupil of his eye. For behold, I am bringing my hand against them, and they shall be booty to their own slaves. And you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me. Rejoice, and be glad, O daughter Sion. For behold, I am coming and will tent[6] in your midst, says the Lord. And many nations shall flee to the Lord for refuge on that day and shall become a people to him, and they will tent in your midst. And you shall recognize that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. And the Lord will inherit Judah, his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.
Let all flesh be cautious[7] before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy clouds.
And he showed me the great priest Joshua standing before an angel of the Lord, and the slanderer stood at his right to oppose him. And the Lord said to the slanderer, “The Lord rebuke you, O slanderer! And the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Behold, is not this like a brand plucked from the fire?” And Joshua was dressed with filthy clothes, and he stood before the angel. And he answered and said to those standing before him, saying, “Remove the filthy clothes from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have removed your lawlessness. And clothe him with a full-length robe, and put a clean turban on his head.” And they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments, and the angel of the Lord stood by.
Matthew 5.23–24 ESV
So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
Luke 23.39–43 ESV
One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
2 Corinthians 6:1–13 ESV
Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says,
“In a favorable time I listened to you,
and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” [Isaiah 49.8]
Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.
We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. In return (I speak as to children) widen your hearts also.
Hebrews 9.23–28 ESV
Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
Hebrews 10.8–14 ESV
When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
1 John 4.13–21 ESV
By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Something that didn’t fit into the talk
Concelebration with the Holy Spirit
In a Divine Liturgy where two or more priests are concelebrating, or where a priest is celebrating with a deacon this exchange occurs between them after the gifts are placed on the altar.
Priest: Remember me, brothers and concelebrants.
Concelebrants: Thy priesthood, the Lord God remember in his kingdom.
Priest: Pray for me, brothers and concelebrants.
Concelebrants: May the Holy Spirit descend upon thee, and the power of the Most High overshadow thee.
Priest: May the same Spirit serve with us all the days of our life.
The phrase ‘serve with us’ can also be translated ‘concelebrate’. What an amazing statement (using the words from St Gabriel to the Theotokos); we see the Holy Spirit celebrates the Liturgy with the priests. (For more, see a previous talk, “Bless Master: The Celebrants of the Divine Liturgy.”)
More Resources from the Q&A portion
[Welcoming Gifts: Sacrifice in the Bible and Christian Life]{.underline}; Jeremy Davis
The Lord of Spirits; ([podcast]{.underline}) Frs Stephen de Young & Andrew Stephen Damick
The Whole Counsel of God; ([podcast]{.underline}) Fr Stephen de Young
The Whole Counsel of God; ([blog]{.underline}) Fr Stephen de Young
Scripture from the Q&A portion
Matthew 7.6 ESV
“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
Proverbs 23.9 NETS
Say nothing in the ears of a fool, lest he despise your judicious words.
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References from the Greek Bible; differing Hebrew Bible references are noted in parentheses. ↩
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Bible Versions:
ESV: English Standard Bible (a revision of the Revised Standard Version)
OSB/SAAS: Orthodox Study Bible/St Athanasius Academy Septuagint
LES: Lexham English Septuagint (a diplomatic translation of the Vatican Codex)
LEB: Lexham English Bible (From Hebrew OT, and Greek NT)
NET: New English Translation (with extensive translation notes) (not related to the NETS)
NETS: New English Translation of the Septuagint (an academic translation of the LXX , in these quotes proper names have been standardized) ↩
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“Diapsalma” [apart from the psalm} is the Greek word used to translate the Hebrew “Selah”. No one is quite sure what the word means. ↩
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Hebrew “keep silence” (Or perhaps a different translation/textual variant of the Greek. Our hymns say “keep silence” and the hymnographers didn’t have access to the Hebrew text.) ↩
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Hebrew “Be silent” ↩
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See John 1.14 where the same word is used, although usually translated ‘dwelt’. This also calls to mind the Tabernacle where God tented with his people in the wilderness unto the time the Temple was built. ↩
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Hebrew “silent” ↩