Lent

The Eucharist is a rite full of symbolism, to the extent that any and every act within it can take on added meaning. This is true for even the most practical actions, like the breaking of the bead. Just as we saw with the Eucharistic Prayers, in contemporary times, this is a place where my … Continue reading Communion in Christ’s Body Once Broken: The Breaking of the Bread

Last time, we saw how, during the Great Entrance in the Byzantine rite, the congregation sings the Cherubic Hymn, which identifies the worshiping body with the angels worshiping at God’s throne in Isaiah 6. This image was relevant to the Byzantine liturgists and commentators because of an established tradition to sing the angels’ hymn from … Continue reading Angelic Worship: The Sanctus

If it is true that the older Eucharistic liturgies essentially play-act the Gospel, it is fair to wonder what role we as the gathered community play in this piece of sacred theatre. For, contrary to what more contemporary worship expressions may lead us to believe, the congregation is not intended to be the ‘audience’, but … Continue reading Playing Our Part: The Cherubic Hymn

The idea of storytelling has come up more than once in this series so far. The Gloria for example worships God through an overview of salvation history. And we’ve seen how even the form of the service itself in some traditions is way of telling the story of Jesus. But nowhere is the liturgical storytelling … Continue reading How We Tell Our Story: Anaphorae

Across all historical Christian liturgical traditions, the Eucharistic celebration is divided up into two sections, the liturgy of the Word (focused on reading and teaching of the Scriptures), and the liturgy of the Eucharist itself. And across all of these traditions, since at least the third century, the Eucharistic rite has been prefaced with the … Continue reading Hearts Lifted High: The Sursum Corda