www.byzcath.org Forums Mysteries: The Life of Worship Vespers, Matins & the Divine Liturgy The Revised Divine Liturgy The Antiphons of the Liturgy

Jeff,

Thanks for posting the antiphons here. They are beautiful.

"Essentially, it standardizes the common practice in this particular part of the Liturgy, rather than either leaving in optional verses, or requiring parishes to sing more than they have in the past."

I fear we're standardizing minimalism from multiple angles ...

"the Cantor Institute has offered to provide the omitted verses and litany petitions in booklet form for use by the priests and cantors in those parishes that take them"

This seems like a nice gesture. But this furthers the notion that the priest is the one who "serves" Liturgy (as Father Alexander Schmemann puts it) and the "Laity" can continue to do something else (read the bulletin, doze in the pew, or say the rosary, etc.). So much for "common-union."

Pittsburgh we have a problem.

Lord Jesus Christ son of God have mercy on me a sinner.

Dear John,

Certainly any parish could print off copies for everyone. But other than six psalm verses for Sunday and four more for weekdays, the relevant texts consist of the the petitions of the additional litanies (for the deacon or priest), the prayers and exclamations of the litanies(for the priest), and the people's responses ("Lord, have mercy(2); Amen."; "Grant it, O Lord", "Amen"). If the people are not following the litanies, but rather doing something else, then we DO have a problem - one that restoring all the optional litanies may not fix!

So let me amend that from "for use by the priests and cantors" to "for general use in those parishes that take them". Having the complete variable hymns for the year, with music, WITHOUT having to juggle extra paper, would do much more to allow for common participation, I think. (Especially in those places where the cantor has been using his own translations of the hymns!)

Yours in Christ,
Jeff Mierzejewski

Fr. Insider,


As to how I was formed, I think I received a good formation. I certainly learned that the use of quotes means someone is reposting another's words. I also learned long ago from my mother it is not nice to be rude and that it is gracious to except correction when one has made a mistake. As for cliques, I am not part of any. But long-time posters here tend to defend each other from the unwarranted attacks of newcomers be they laity or clergy. My apologies for not responding sooner.

Fr. Deacon Lance, The Outsider (I like to think of myself as Ponyboy)

Indeed it was never required to be omitted; in fact the 1988 Liturgikon includes the the little litany which follows the first antiphon, the Second Antiphon, as well as the second Psalm of Typika. Were it not to be taken the Synod would have omitted that sequence from the Liturgikon.

The text of all three antiphons, both the daily and Sundays, as well as the three festal antiphons for major feast days, and the Psalms of Typika with the Beatitudes, are included in the Anthology for those parishes who use it - no extra text or supplement required.

Whoops, Fr. Insider that should be accept, not except, correction. Sorry for the typo.

Dear Insider,

Deacon Lance was quoting me in that passage. I am arguing that antiphons should be retained or enlarged.

From the Johnstown Service Book:

THE FIRST ANTIPHON PRAYER

O Lord our God, Whose power is beyond description, Whose glory surpasses all understanding, Whose mercy is without limit, Whose love for man is beyond expression: O Master, in Your kindness look down upon us and this holy church and bestow upon us and upon those praying with us Your abundant mercies and compassion. For to You are due all glory, honor and adoration, to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and forever. Response: Amen.

THE FIRST ANTIPHON

St. Paul the Apostle instructed the members of the Church of Ephesus, "Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord." (Ephesians 5:19). The first Christians continued in their worship the traditions of the Hebrew Temple and synagogues of praising God through singing. Thus, the Book of Psalms became the first book of Christian hymns. St. Ignatius of Antioch, in the first years of the second century, wrote to that same Church of Ephesus, "Join yourselves, person by person, into a choir, that loving each other in harmony, and taking up the song of God together, you might with one voice sing to the Father through Jesus Christ, so that He might hear you and know by your works that you are members of His Son."

Sunday:
Exclaim to the Lord all the earth, sing to His Name, render glory to His praise.
(Psalm 66:1-2).
Through the prayers of the Birth-giver of God, O Saviour, save us.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and forever. Amen.

Through the prayers of the Birth-giver of God, O Saviour, save us.

Weekday:
It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Your Name, O Most High. (Psalm 92:1).

Through the prayers of the Birth-giver of God, O Saviour, save us.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and forever. Amen.

Through the prayers of the Birth-giver of God, O Saviour, save us.

Or:

Bless the Lord, O my soul; blessed are You, O Lord. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. Blessed are You, O Lord. (Psalm 103:1-4).

The priest prays:

THE SECOND ANTIPHON PRAYER

O Lord our God, save Your people and bless Your inheritance; preserve the fullness of Your Church, sanctify those who love the beauty of Your House, glorify them by Your divine might and forsake us not who put our hope in You. For Yours is the might and Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever and forever. Amen.

THE SECOND ANTIPHON

(Sunday)
O God, have mercy on us; and bless us; let the light of Your countenance shine upon us and have mercy on us. (Psalm 67:1). O Son of God, risen from the dead, save us who sing to You: Alleluia!

(Weekday)
The Lord is King, He is robed with beauty. The Lord is clothed with strength and has girded Himself. (Psalm 93:1). Through the prayers of Your Saints, O Saviour, save us!

The Hymn of the Incarnation

The Hymn of the Incarnation was introduced into the Divine Liturgy in the sixth century. It was originally sung as an entrance hymn as the clergy and people entered into the Church from, the outside, in a procession, to begin the Divine Liturgy. This hymn presents the Orthodox teaching concerning the Person of Jesus Christ in a capsule form, saying that He is both fully God and fully man.

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and forever. Amen.

O Only-begotten Son and Word of God, Who being immortal, willed for the sake of our salvation to become incarnate of the holy Birth-giver of God and ever-Virgin Mary and without change became man. And was crucified for us, O Christ God, Who by Your death did conquer death, O You Who are one of the Holy Trinity, equally glorified with the Father and the Holy Spirit, save us!

The priest prays:

THE THIRD ANTIPHON PRAYER

O Lord, Who has permitted this community to pray together in harmony, Who promised that You will grant the requests of two or three gathered in Your Name (Matthew 18:20), please fulfill all those petitions of Your servants that are beneficial to them, giving us in this world the knowledge of Your truth and life eternal in the world to come. For You, O God, are gracious and You love mankind, and to You we render glory, to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and forever. Amen.

(At this point in the Liturgy the Beatitudes are sung if it is the custom of the local parish.)

The Beatitudes

Lord, remember us, when You come into Your kingdom.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you, when men revile you and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for My sake.
Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. (Matthew 5:3-12).

The OCA version can be found here - http://www.sspeterpaul.org/sjcli.html

Deacon Lance,

Unfortunately, the words in your post were not attributed to anyone or referred to in another thread. That I am sorry about, for it has lead to a misunderstanding.

As far as a clique, I am not quite sure about that. Where your posts on another forum are rather traditional, orthodox, and seemingly in support of a full liturgy, your posts here on this forum seem to indicate the exact opposite on your stand at times. Could it be that in order to show loyalty to one�s mentors for whatever reason you post one way here, and yet when seemingly out of site of the powers to be you post what your heart truly tells you?

I am willing to point these examples out if you would like.

The Insider

Fr. Insider,

I will admit to playing the devil's advocate to a degree here. I will state that I am not completely on anyone's side in this debate. I am against inclusive language. I am in full support of the Anaphora aloud. I don't think anyone should be forbidden from taking the Liturgy as it appears in the 64 Liturgicon. I also recognize the need to achieve some degree of uniformity throughout the Metropolia and that I think the best way to do that is somewhere between the Blue Book and the Red Book. I don't think the antiphons and little litanies are a crucial matter as the post above from ACROD's book shows. I do think the Angel of Peace petitions should be taken before the Our Father, but don't think it a problem omitting them after the Great Entrance. Fr. David is my friend and one of my instructors but so is Fr. Elias, both have different views on the Liturgy and I can appreciate both view points and both are aware I don't completely agree with either.

Fr. Deacon Lance

Dear Fr. Deacon Lance,

Can I ask,respectfully, why it is you think the antiphons aren't a crucial matter? I've said why I think they are important--why do you think they aren't? Are you working simply from the existing practice of the ACROD?

Thanks for the discussion,
Karl

We do the antiphons but not the beautitudes in my parish. The anaphora is taken silently.

Pseudo-Athanasius

"Can I ask,respectfully, why it is you think the antiphons aren't a crucial matter?"

Given that the antiphons are the most greatly varied part of the Liturgy among even the Orthodox, I can not see that taking only on verse is a crucial matter when for example the Greeks often take no verses, and the Russian often only do a few verses of the Typical Pslams which equal out to our own one verse antiphons.

"I've said why I think they are important--why do you think they aren't?"

It is not that I don't think they are unimportant, but again given that usage varies greatly between Churches, I think they are less important then say the Anaphora. Is the Church any less gathered if one verse is taken rather than three? Is it less gathered if we take only three verses rather than the whole Pslam? If taking only a verse of Pslam is wrong why continue with one verse Prokimen, two verse Alleluia, or one verse Communion Pslam?

"Are you working simply from the existing practice of the ACROD?"

Theirs and ours.

Fr. Deacon Lance