The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts #
One of the distinguishing features of Great Lent is the absence of the full Divine Liturgy on weekdays. The celebration of the Liturgy is an expression of spiritual joy and triumph, which, according to the Holy Fathers, is not entirely compatible with the penitential sorrow over sins characteristic of the Lenten season. The Divine Liturgy is served every Saturday and Sunday, but these days are not, in the full sense, considered fasting days. Because of the special veneration of Saturday, already recognized in the Old Testament, and the great event of Christ’s Resurrection, these two days differ from the rest of Lent: no full prostrations (earthly bows) are performed during the services, food with oil is permitted at meals, and the divine services follow the usual, customary order. Thus, the days that are truly considered fasting days include all weekdays except Saturday and Sunday.
The early Christians had the custom of partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ at every Divine Liturgy. A whole week without Communion seemed to them too great an interval. Out of their ardent desire to receive Communion more frequently, the Holy Fathers composed a special service—the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts.
Strictly speaking, this service is not a full Liturgy, as it does not include the consecration of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Instead, at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, the faithful receive Communion from Gifts that were consecrated in advance—at a previous full Liturgy of either St. Basil the Great or St. John Chrysostom.
The practice of celebrating the service in this manner dates back to the earliest centuries of Christianity. The rite as we have it today was composed by St. Gregory the Dialogist, Bishop of Rome, who lived in the 6th century. This Liturgy is celebrated on Wednesdays and Fridays during the first six weeks of Lent, on the first three days of Holy Week, and also on feast days of great saints when the service includes a polyeleos (a festive segment of Matins).
The Order of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts #
The Church Ustav follows a certain logic: the stricter the fasting discipline of the day, the later in the day the Liturgy is celebrated. In ancient times, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts was served in the evening—after the faithful had already prayed the Third, Sixth, and Ninth Hours, as well as Vespers for the following day. In modern practice, these Hours and Vespers have been combined into a single service, followed immediately by the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts.
Vespers takes the place of the Liturgy of the Catechumens and concludes with the final litanies of the Liturgy. After this, the Liturgy of the Faithful follows in an abbreviated form, omitting those parts that pertain to the consecration of the Holy Gifts.
After the reading of the Hours, the Obednitsa prayers are read. This portion of the service was traditionally used by monastic hermits to compensate for their inability to attend the Divine Liturgy. During Great Lent, part of this service includes the chanting of the Beatitudes—the Gospel verses on blessedness—accompanied by the prayer of the repentant thief: “When Thou comest into Thy Kingdom, remember us, O Lord.”
The Vespers, which is combined with the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, begins with the exclamation from the full Divine Liturgy: “Blessed is the Kingdom.” This is followed by the reading of Psalm 103, the Great Litany, and the reading of a kathisma with three small litanies at each Glory. After the kathisma, the hymn “Lord, I have cried” is chanted with accompanying stichera.
During the chanting of the stichera at “Lord, I have cried”, the priest takes the Presanctified Lamb, which has been stored in the tabernacle on the Holy Table, already infused with the Holy Blood. He then places it on the diskos, which is set upon the prothesis (table of oblation). After this, he pours wine and water into the chalice to facilitate the distribution of the Holy Gifts to the faithful and covers both the diskos and the chalice with veils. During this, he says nothing except the brief prayer: “Through the prayers of our holy fathers, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us.” This is because all the necessary prayers for consecration were already pronounced at the previous full Liturgy.
The clergy then perform the Little Entrance. On ordinary days, this is simply a procession with the censer, while on feast days of certain saints and on the first three days of Holy Week, the entrance is made with the Gospel book. After the entrance and the prokeimen, two readings (paremias) are usually read: the first from the Book of Genesis, recounting the fall of the first ancestors, their expulsion from Paradise, and subsequent events; the second from the Book of Proverbs, exhorting the faithful to love and seek divine wisdom.
After the reading of the first paremia, the Royal Doors are opened. The deacon proclaims: “Wisdom, let us attend.” At this moment, the priest, holding the censer in one hand and three interwoven lit candles in the other, makes the sign of the cross while facing east, proclaiming: “The Light of Christ”; then, turning to the people in the west, he makes the sign of the cross again over the congregation, saying: “enlightens all.”
In ancient times, this ritual held particular significance. During Great Lent, the church would be filled with catechumens preparing for Holy Baptism on the eve of Pascha. These catechumens would be blessed with the lighted candle before the Liturgy of the Faithful, symbolizing the grace of illumination they would soon receive in Baptism. This blessing was performed with the Royal Doors open. However, because the catechumens were not permitted to look upon the sanctuary, they would bow to the ground in humility, recognizing their unworthiness. In penitential days of Lent, all the faithful now take part in this prostration, preserving the spirit of repentance.
After the priest’s exclamation, “enlightens all,” the reader announces the title of the second paremia. The deacon proclaims: “Let us attend,” and the reader proceeds with the reading. After the second paremia, a verse from Psalm 140 is sung: “Let my prayer be set forth before Thee as incense”, along with three verses:
- “Lord, I have cried unto Thee…”
- “Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth, and a door of enclosure about my lips.”
- “Incline not my heart to words of evil, to contrive excuses for my sins.”
During this moment, the faithful in the church pray while making a full prostration, while the priest, standing before the Holy Table, offers incense as a sign of the prayers rising up to God. Before the singing of “Let my prayer be set forth”, the Royal Doors are opened and remain open until the transfer of the Holy Gifts to the Holy Table.
Following the chanting of these verses, the priest recites the prayer of St. Ephraim with full prostrations. This marks the conclusion of the Vespers portion of the service. What follows is the actual Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts.
The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts begins either with the reading of the Gospel, if the Typikon prescribes it for that day, or with the Augmented Litany. After the Augmented Litany follows the Litany for the Catechumens. Starting from Wednesday of the fourth week of Lent, a special additional Litany for Those Preparing for Illumination, that is, for baptism, is also included. After the prayers for the catechumens, two litanies are recited on behalf of the faithful, just as in the full Divine Liturgy. During these litanies, the priest quietly prays that those about to commune may receive the Body and Blood of Christ, which are already prepared upon the prothesis (table of oblation), without condemnation.
Instead of the usual Cherubic Hymn, a special hymn is sung, its content adapted to the already consecrated Gifts:
“Now the hosts of heaven (that is, the holy angels) invisibly worship with us; for behold, the King of Glory enters. Behold, the mystical sacrifice is accomplished (the Gifts have already been consecrated) and is carried forth (solemnly transferred). Let us draw near with faith and fear, that we may be partakers of eternal life. Alleluia.”
Before the words “Let us draw near with faith and fear…”, as in the full Liturgy before “As the King of all”, the Gifts are transferred through the northern doors from the prothesis to the Holy Table. The deacon carries the diskos with the Holy Lamb on his head, while the priest carries the chalice with the wine in his right hand and proclaims, as in the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom: “May the Lord God remember all of you…” and so forth. At each exclamation, the faithful make a full prostration. The choir completes the interrupted hymn: “Let us draw near with faith and fear…”
After the Holy Gifts are placed upon the Holy Table, the preparation of the faithful for Communion follows, including the breaking of the Holy Lamb, the actual Communion, thanksgiving prayers, and the dismissal. All this takes place in the same order as in the full Divine Liturgy. However, the elevation of the Body of Christ at the words “The Holy Things are for the Holy” does not take place, since the consecration was already performed at the previous full Liturgy. Instead, the priest simply touches the Holy Lamb, proclaiming: “The Presanctified Holy Things for the holy.”
The Communion Hymn at the Presanctified Liturgy is always the same:
“O taste and see that the Lord is good. Alleluia.”
Instead of “Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord”, the following is sung:
“I will bless the Lord at all times.”
Afterwards, the priest comes out to recite a special Prayer Behind the Ambo: “O Master Almighty”. In this prayer, he entreats the Lord to help us preserve the true faith, overcome sin, and reach the glorious celebration of Christ’s Resurrection in purity of heart.
Following the reading of Psalm 33 and the distribution of antidoron, the Liturgy concludes with the usual full dismissal.