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Prayer - Pascha Cycle - "Liturgical Prayer"

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Setting the Scene

"Liturgical Prayer" by Fr. Deacon John-Mark Titterington

By the title ‘Liturgical Prayer’ in this address is meant Prayer during the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom and I would like to mention some characteristics of it.

First - it is God-centred. It may seem odd to make this claim but many so-called prayers today, are, in fact man-centred. But the priest sets the tone for the whole service when he begins with the exclamation “Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father, and of the Son and of the the Holy Spirit” Later on, in one of the prayers, he says: the people “have not bowed down to flesh and blood but unto Thee, the fearful God”.

Our prayers, then, throughout are God-centred and this is achieved by the operation of the Holy Spirit. The high-spot of the prayers is probably when the priest prays over the Gifts of Bread and Wine “changing them by the Power of the Holy Spirit” into the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

The prayer - pray-ing - is both continuous and general and only occasionally particular. There is no re-run of the latest world crisis from today’s Guardian, (a UK newspaper, Ed.). The Church treats her faithful laity as adults and expects them to fill in the blanks themselves while she provides the supportive outline.

There are two exceptions to this. (1) during the litany at the Great Entrance when the priest does remember by name the needy.(These names are also mentioned on two other occasions during the Liturgy but in a low voice). And (2) during the Prayer of Consecration the priest again remembers several classes of people.

Our Lord’s Book of Prayers and Praises was the Book of Psalms, and there are plenty of examples culled from this in the Service. Psalms 104 and 146 are followed by the Beatitudes; then comes the Thrice-Holy Hymn and the Cherubic Hymn. The last two have becomes classics of hymnody comparable with the Psalms by our constant use of them. Each Sunday and feast has its own additions from the Psalms and all of them are well-tried prayers.

Mouth and mind are not the only part of us to pray: we can pray with our whole being and acted prayers here range from making the deliberate Sign of the Cross over our bodies, helping us to underline the words spoken, to the carrying into the Church items we are about to use. At the Little Entrance we carry in the Book for the readings, and at the Great Entrance, the Bread and Wine and both actions are accompanied by prayer. In one sense, the whole service is a series of actions joined by prayer.

Early on, the deacon says to the priest “It is time for the Lord to act. Bless, Father”. Notice the action word/the verb: “to act”. This is what the Greek word Liturgy means: an action on the part of everyone present. This means that there are no spectators. In the action of the Liturgy, everyone has a part.

Notice, secondly, that the deacon is not, as it were, telling the priest to get on his bicycle. He says “it is time for THE LORD to act”. All that is done, is done by the action of God through the operation of the Holy Spirit working with the hands, feet, mouths, minds of all the people present.

After that, the next point is obvious: the prayers of the Liturgy are all corporate. I’ve sometimes wondered what they would discuss at a meeting of the Deacons Union. Would they talk about the correct action to be taken if, at the start of a Litany, the Choir and the people went on strike and refused to respond? If that did happen, it would pointless for the deacon to continue, as a litany, like all the prayers in fact, is a combined operation of all present. It follows that the Orthodox Church knows nothing of “private masses” common in other branches of the Church because it is unthinkable to us that the priest would ever try to serve a Liturgy by himself. Liturgical prayer is a community exercise - “Let us bow our heads unto the Lord”.

The most frequently heard complaint of our Liturgical praying is that it is repetitive. Yes, it is -- by design: “Again and again, in peace, let us pray” In this way the Orthodox Church is simply following the command or Our Lord that we should be persistent in prayer and not half-hearted. Twice in St. Luke’s Gospel, Our Lord commends people who persist in asking: the friend on a journey : “yet because of his persistence” Jesus says the man “will rise and give him as many loaves as he needs”(Lk.11v.8). Later on St. Luke says “Then Jesus spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not loose heart” and goes on with the story of the un-just judge who came out with a quick judgement simply because the widow’s persistence was wearying him, and Jesus approved of this (Lk.18 vv1-8).

We need to be ready here because people are quick to remind us of Our Lord’s warning against “vain repetition”. Jesus puts the accent there on the word “vain” by which He means “hypocritical babblings”. He is urging us to “pray without ceasing” as St. Paul says (I Thess 5v17) and we do use many words -- but they must not be “vain”. They must come from a heart desiring to seek God Himself. Jesus positively instructs us to repeat the words of His own prayer and so,too, our worship with its familiar psalms, hymns and prayers bring praise to God “in spirit and in truth” which He Himself seeks (Jn 4v23). These liturgical acts then, do not violate Jesus’ command against vain repetition.

Two last points. Underlying all prayers and all actions of the Liturgy is one necessity: PEACE. St. Paul insists that harmony with God, ourselves and other people is made possible through Christ who unites human beings to God and each other. Jesus commanded us “first be reconciled (i.e. at peace) with your brother - and then come and offer your gift” at the altar(Mt5v24). Peace is the underlying condition of all prayer.

Second: we have heard a lot about the prayers of priest and deacon; choir master and reader. What are the liturgical prayers of the faithful laity? They are three, all short:-

1. Lord have mercy -- over and over again: the perfect prayer of forgiveness and asking; 2. Alleluia -- repeated often = praise the Lord for all His mercies; and 3. Amen = a perfect prayer in itself: so be it Lord as You have decreed -

but we note that liturgical prayer includes, for everybody present, the ‘prayer of the heart’ which is helping to make audible prayers deeply seated in our consciousness. So the people’s ‘shorts’ are not just an expression of assent, but are an outward and audible sign that we are interiorly pray-ing along with the said prayers.

Finally we must ask why the Church orders our liturgical prayer in these ways?

The answer is easy. We are all engaged on a pilgrimage -- back home to God. Our way may be hard and long. The Church seeks to equip her faithful members with the means of staying close to God -- staying on course for heaven -- every day/every hour of that pilgrimage. This can only happen when the prayers and praises have sunk deep into the hearts -- into the consciousness -- by constant use and repetition, again and again.

And, just as the action of the Holy Spirit changes the Bread and Wine into the Body and Blood of Our Lord, so the operation of the same Holy Spirit is, over a lifetime, changing us into whatever God wants us to be i.e. people blessed in the Kingdom of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Alleluia.

Practical

From a recently attended Liturgy write down those prayers and actions that were especially meaningful or inspiring to you.  Describe any elements that were less easily appreciated or understood.  Discuss these with your priest or catechist.

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