- The readings of the liturgy (1):
The church has prepared five readings for each liturgy:
The Pauline Epistle ---> The Catholic Epistle ---> The Acts (Praxis) ---> The Sinaxarium ---> The Holy Gospel
1- The Pauline Epistle:
It is reading from one of the 14 epistles of St. Paul.
+ What dose Abouna do when the deacon read the Pauline Epistle?
The prist puts five spoonfuls of incense into the censer which represent the five righteous men of the Old Testament who offered acceptable sacrifices to the Lord. There men are:
- Abel: who offered the first born of his flock.
- Noah: who offered from every pure animal and bird after coming out of the Ark.
- Melchizadek: who offered bread and wine (a nonblood sacrifice).
- Aaron: who offered sacrifices for himselef and his people. He also was the archpriest in the Old Testament.
- Zacharias: who entered the sanctuary to offer incense.
Notes on the circuit of the Pauline Incense:
In the Pauline round of incense, the priest proceeds around the whole church in the remembrance of St. Paul who travels to preach the message of the Lord of the whole world.
In the Pauline round, the priest offers from the left side of the church and proceeds to the right indicationg that we were taken from darkness to god's light by St. Paul preach.
while the priest is offering incense around the church, each one should pray as the raised incense will deliver our prayers to Heaven.
2- The Catholic Epistles:
They are the Epistles of St. James, St. Peter, St. John, and St. Jude.
The word "catholic" is a Greek word meand universal.
These 7 epistles called "Universal Epistles" as they were written to all nations and not to particular person or a certain group of people.
+ What does Abouna do?
There is no round of incense during the reading of the Catholicaon. The priest remains in the sanctuary according to the Lord's command to his disciples that they should not depart Jerusalem before the coming of the Holy Spirit.
3- The reading of Praxis:
It is a reading from the book of Acts. It is the book of the Holy Spirit's work in the church.
+ What dose Abouna do?
The priest puts one spoonful of incense in the censor and prays "the Mystery of the Praxis".
The priest then proceeds around the Alter 3 times while praying the 3 minor litanies.
The priest then comes out of the Sanctuary and offers incense to the Gospel, the icons on the sanctuary's door.
(He doesn't proceed as far as the western end of the church but returns to the door of the sanctuary)
Notes:
- The priest does not go around the church as in the round of the Pauline which signifies the fact that the Apostles limited their preaching to Judea.
الرئيسية 
أحدث الصور 
التسجيل 
دخول 
موضوع: The Liturgical Ritual "Part 4" 
الإثنين يوليو 20, 2009 3:50 am