gospel of the day. The "anthem of the gospel" follows, ending the liturgy of the catechumens.
The liturgy of the faithful begins with a long litany (the Antiochene-Byzantine συναπτή).[1] This is the prayer of the faithful. It follows the usual order—petitions for all classes. The people answer: "O our Lord, have mercy on us," and then to a second list of petitions: "Amen." It ends like the Antiochene and Byzantine forms: "Let us commit our souls and one another's souls to the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost." Meanwhile, the celebrant incenses the altar and puts on the ma‘prâ (chasuble) which has been lying on it. He says a prayer aloud, summing up the petitions of the prayer of the faithful. A blessing by the celebrant (the "Inclination") follows, and then, rather late, the deacon says the form of dismissing the catechumens.[2] Now the bread and wine are brought to the altar; they are again offered and covered with a veil. The "anthem of the mysteries" is sung; meanwhile the celebrant says a number of prayers preparing to offer the sacrifice. Here follows the Creed.[3] The preparation for the anaphora consists of prayers said aloud by the deacon, and a number of others said silently by the celebrant. The great Intercession follows; they count the ḳudâshâ as beginning at this point.[4] The place of the Intercession is an important element in classifying liturgies. In the normal Antiochene family it follows the Consecration; at Alexandria it comes after Sursum corda, during what we should call the Preface. Its place in the East Syrian rite, before the Sursum corda, as soon as the gifts are brought to the altar, following (or a part of) the offertoryact, is now unique, though there are reasons which make this place seem natural.[5] The diptychs are read—namely, a list of petitions for the church, katholikos, bishops, clergy, kings, and
- ↑ Called ḳaruzuthâ (κηούσσειν).
- ↑ Merely a form now, of course.
- ↑ The Nicene Creed with verbal variants and, of course, without the Filioque clause.
- ↑ It is chiefly from here to the Communion that the other two liturgies have different prayers.
- ↑ Namely, if the people once offered the bread and wine, it would seem natural to pray for them at that moment. The Intercession came at the offertory in the old Gallican rite. Dom Cagin and his school think that originally it did so at Rome too (Fortescue: The Mass, pp. 103, 144).
