It is very important to define for yourself such concepts as the Divine Liturgy, the Sacrament of Communion and the Eucharist. In Greek, the Eucharist means "the sacrament of thanksgiving". But the liturgy is the greatest church service, during which the Flesh and Blood of Christ are sacrificed in the form of bread and wine. Then the Sacrament of Communion itself takes place, when a person, eating consecrated bread and wine, communes with God, which implies his purity, both physical and spiritual. Therefore, it is imperative to confess before Communion.
Church service is daily, weekly and annual. In turn, the daily cycle includes those services that the Orthodox Church performs throughout the day. There are nine of them. The main and main part of the church service is the Divine Liturgy.
Daily cycle
Moses described the creation of the world by God, starting the "day" with the evening. So it happened in the Christian Church, where the "day" also began to begin with the evening and was called Vespers. This service is performedat the end of the day, when believers thank God for the past day. The next service is called Compline, and it consists of a series of prayers that are read in order to ask God for our forgiveness of all sins and protection of the body and soul during sleep from the evil machinations of the devil. Then comes the Midnight Office, calling on all believers to always be prepared for the day when the Last Judgment will come.
At the morning service, Orthodox parishioners thank the Lord for the past night and ask him for mercy. The first hour corresponds to our seven o'clock in the morning and serves as a time of consecration by prayer for the coming of a new day. At the third hour (nine o'clock in the morning) the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles is remembered. At the sixth hour (twelve o'clock in the afternoon) the crucifixion of Christ is remembered. At the ninth hour (third hour of noon), the death of the Savior Christ is remembered. Then comes the Divine Liturgy.
Orthodox liturgy
In the church service, the Divine Liturgy is the main and main part of the service, which is held before lunch, or rather in the morning. At these moments, the whole life of the Lord is remembered from the moment of His Birth to the Ascension. In such an amazing way, the Sacrament of the Holy Communion takes place.
The main thing to understand is that the liturgy is the Great Sacrament of the Lord God's Love for man, established by him on the day of the Last Supper, which he commanded his apostles to perform. After the Lord ascended to Heaven, the apostles began to celebrate the Sacrament of Communion eachday, while reading prayers, psalms and Holy Scripture. The first rite of the Liturgy was composed by the Apostle James.
All church services in the most ancient times were held in monasteries and with hermits at the proper time for them. But then, for the convenience of the believers themselves, these services were combined into three parts of worship: evening, morning and afternoon.
In general, the liturgy is, first of all, thanksgiving to the Son of God for His blessings, visible and invisible, which He sends through people or any circumstances, for His death on the cross and saving sufferings, for His resurrection and ascension, for mercy and the opportunity to turn to Him for help at any moment. People go to the liturgy to transform their consciousness and change their perception of reality, so that a mysterious meeting with God and with themselves takes place, the way the Lord wants to see and expects for Himself.
The liturgy is also a prayer to God for all your relatives, friends, for yourself, for the country and for the whole world, so that in difficult times he will protect and console. At the end of the week, there is usually a special thanksgiving service and Sunday liturgy.
During the liturgy, the most important sacrament of the Church takes place - the Eucharist ("thanksgiving"). Every believing Christian can prepare and receive Holy Communion by this time.
Orthodox liturgy is divided into three types, which bear the names of Saints John Chrysostom, Basil the Great and the Presanctified Gifts.
Liturgy of John Chrysostom
This is the name of the church liturgyreceived thanks to its author, who is considered to be the Archbishop of Constantinople John Chrysostom.
He lived in the 4th century, when he brought together various prayers and created the rite of Christian worship, which takes place on most days of the liturgical year, except for some holidays and several days of Great Lent. Saint John Chrysostom became the author of the priest's secret prayers read during the service.
The Liturgy of Chrysostom is divided into three successive parts. First comes the proskomedia, followed by the Liturgy of the Catechumens and the Liturgy of the Faithful.
Proskomedia
Proskomidia is translated from Greek as "offering". In this part, everything necessary for the performance of the Sacrament is being prepared. For this, five prosphora are used, but it is for the communion itself that only one is used, which has the name "Holy Lamb". Proskomidia is performed by an Orthodox priest on a special altar, where the Sacrament itself is performed and the union of all the particles around the Lamb on the paten, which creates a symbol of the Church, at the head of which is the Lord himself.
Liturgy of the Catechumens
This part is a continuation of the liturgy of St. Chrysostom. At this time, the preparation of believers for the Sacrament of Communion begins. The life and sufferings of Christ are remembered. The Liturgy of the Catechumens got its name because in ancient times only instructed or catechumens who were preparing to receive Holy Baptism were allowed to attend it. They stood in the porch and had to leave the temple after specialwords of the deacon: “Announcement, come out…”.
Liturgy of the Faithful
Only baptized Orthodox parishioners attend. This is a special divine liturgy, the text of which is read from the Holy Scriptures. At these moments, important sacred rites, prepared earlier during the previous parts of the liturgies, are completed. The gifts from the altar are transferred to the throne, the believers are prepared for the consecration of the Gifts, then the Gifts are also consecrated. Then all believers prepare for Communion and take communion. Next comes Thanksgiving for Communion and dismissal.
Liturgy of Basil the Great
The theologian Basil the Great lived in the 4th century. He held an important church position as Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia.
One of his main creations is considered the service of the Divine Liturgy, where the secret prayers of the clergy read during the church service are recorded. He also included other prayer requests there.
According to the Christian Charter of the Church, this rite is performed only ten times a year: on the day of the memory of St. Basil the Great, on Christmas and Epiphany, from the 1st to the 5th Sunday of Great Lent, on Great Thursday and on Holy Saturday weeks.
This service is in many ways similar to the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, the only difference is that the dead are not commemorated here at litanies, secret prayers are read, certain chants of the Mother of God occur.
The Liturgy of St. Basil the Great was accepted by the entire Orthodox East. But throughFor some time, John Chrysostom, referring to human weakness, made reductions, which, however, concerned only secret prayers.
Memorial Day of Basil the Great is celebrated on January 1 according to the old style and on January 14 according to the new one.
Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts
This tradition of church worship is attributed to St. Gregory the Great (Dvoeslov), the Pope of Rome, who held this high post from 540 to 604. It is held only during Great Lent, namely on Wednesday, Friday and on some other holidays, only if they do not fall on Saturday and Sunday. In essence, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is vespers, and it combines the service just before Holy Communion.
One very important feature of this service is that at this time the Sacrament of the Priesthood to the rank of deacon can take place, while at the other two liturgies, Chrysostom and Basil the Great, a candidate for the priesthood can be ordained.
