Opening the library…
The Liturgy of the Blessed Apostles
Unknown
Prayer.
Strengthen, O our Lord and God,
On common days.
Adored, glorified, lauded, celebrated, exalted, and blessed in heaven and on earth, be the adorable and glorious name of Thine ever-glorious Trinity, O Lord of all.
On common days they sing the Psalm (xv.), Lord, who shall dwell in Thy tabernacle? entire with its canon, of the mystery of the sacraments.
(Aloud.)
Who shall shout with joy? etc.
Prayer.
On commemorations and Fridays.
Thy name, great and holy, illustrious and blessed, the blessed and incomprehensible name of Thy glorious Trinity, and Thy kindness to our race, we ought at all times to bless, adore, and glorify, O Lord of all.
Responsory at the chancel, as above.
Who commanded, etc.
To the priest, etc.
Prayer.
How breathes in us, O our Lord and God, the sweet fragrance of the sweetness of Thy love; illumined are our souls, through the knowledge of Thy truth: may we be rendered worthy of receiving the manifestation of Thy beloved from Thy holy heavens: there shall we render thanks unto Thee, and, in the meantime, glorify Thee without ceasing in Thy Church, crowned and filled with every aid and blessing, because Thou art Lord and Father, Creator of all.
We shall repeat the hymn to Thy glorious Trinity, O Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
On fast-days.
And on account, etc.
At the commemoration of saints.
Thou, O Lord, art truly the raiser up of our bodies: Thou art the good Saviour of our souls, and the secure preserver of our life; and we ought to thank Thee continually, to adore and glorify Thee, O Lord of all.
At the lessons.
Holy art Thou, worthy of praise, mighty, immortal, who dwellest in the holies, and Thy will resteth in them: have regard unto us, O Lord; be merciful unto us, and pity us, as Thou art our helper in all circumstances, O Lord of all.
Enlighten, O our Lord and God, the movements of our meditations to hear and understand the sweet listenings to Thy life-giving and divine commands; and grant unto us through Thy grace and mercy to gather from them the assurance of love, and hope, and salvation suitable to soul and body, and we shall sing to Thee everlasting glory without ceasing and always, O Lord of all.
On fast-days.
To Thee, the wise governor, etc.
Thee, the renowned seed of Thy Father, and the image of the person of Thy Father, who wast revealed in the body of our humanity, and didst arise to us in the light of Thy annunciation, Thee we thank, adore, etc.
And after the proclamation:—
Thee, O Lord God Almighty, we beseech and entreat, perfect with us Thy grace, and pour out through our hands Thy gift, the pity and compassion of Thy divinity. May they be to us for the propitiation of the offences of Thy people, and for the forgiveness of the sins of the entire flock of Thy pasture, through Thy grace and tender mercies, O good friend of men, O Lord of all.
Bow your heads.
The Priest says this secret prayer in the sanctuary:—
O Lord God Omnipotent, Thine is the Holy Catholic Church, inasmuch as Thou, through the great passion of Thy Christ, didst buy the sheep of Thy pasture; and from the grace of the Holy Spirit, who is indeed of one nature with Thy glorious divinity, are granted the degrees of the true priestly ordination; and through Thy clemency Thou didst vouchsafe, O Lord, to make our weakness spiritual members in the great body of Thy Holy Church, that we might administer spiritual aid to faithful souls. Now, O Lord, perfect Thy grace with us, and pour out Thy gift through our hands: and may Thy tender mercies and the clemency of Thy divinity be upon us, and upon the people whom Thou hast chosen for Thyself.
(Aloud.)
And grant unto us, O Lord, through Thy clemency, that we may all together, and equally every day of our life, please Thy divinity, and be rendered worthy of the aid of Thy grace to offer Thee praise, honour, thanksgiving, and adoration at all times, O Lord.
He who has not received baptism, etc.
And the Priest begins the responsory of the mysteries, and the Sacristan and Deacon place the disk and the chalice upon the altar. The Priest crosses his hands, and says:—
We offer praise to Thy glorious Trinity at all times and for ever.
And proceeds:—
May Christ, who was offered for our salvation, and commanded us to commemorate His death and His resurrection, Himself receive this sacrifice from the hands of our weakness, through His grace and mercies for ever. Amen.
And proceeds:—
Laid are the renowned holy and life-giving mysteries upon the altar of the mighty Lord, even until His advent, for ever. Amen.
Praise, etc.
Thy memory, etc.
Our Father, etc.
The apostles of the Father, etc.
Upon the holy altar, etc.
They who have slept, etc.
Matthew Mark, Luke, etc.
Bless, O Lord, etc.
Pray for me, my fathers, brethren, and masters, that God may grant unto me the capability and power to perform this service to which I have drawn near, and that this oblation may be accepted from the hands of my weakness, for myself, for you, and for the whole body of the Holy Catholic Church, through His grace and mercies for ever. Amen.
And they respond:—
May Christ listen to thy prayers, and be pleased with thy sacrifice, receive thy oblation, and honour thy priesthood, and grant unto us, through thy mediation, the pardon of our offences, and the forgiveness of our sins, through His grace and mercies for ever.
Presently he bows at the other side, uttering the same words; and they respond in the same manner: then he bows to the altar, and says:—
God, Lord of all, be with us through His grace and mercies for ever. Amen.
And bowing towards the Deacon, who is on the left (Epistle side), he says:—
God, the Lord of all, confirm thy words, and secure to thee peace, and accept this oblation from my hands for me, for thee, for the whole body of the Holy Catholic Church, and for the entire world, through His grace and mercies for ever.
He kneels at the altar, and says in secret:—
He rises, and says this prayer in secret:—
We thank Thee, O our Lord and God, for the abundant riches of Thy grace to us:
And he proceeds:—
Us who were sinful and degraded, on account of the multitude of Thy clemency, Thou hast made worthy to celebrate the holy mysteries of the body and blood of Thy Christ. We beg aid from Thee for the strengthening of our souls, that in perfect love and true faith we may administer Thy gift to us.
Canon.
And we shall ascribe to Thee praise, glory, thanksgiving, and adoration, now, always, and for ever and ever.
He signs himself with the sign of the cross, and they respond:—
Amen.
Peace be with you:
They respond:—
With thee and with thy spirit.
And they give the (kiss of) peace to each other, and say:—
For all:
The Deacon says:—
Let us thank, entreat, and beseech.
The Priest says this prayer in secret:—
O Lord, mighty God, help my weakness through Thy clemency and the aid of Thy grace; and make me worthy of offering before Thee this oblation, as for the common aid of all, and to the praise of Thy Trinity, O Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Another prayer.
O our Lord and God, restrain our thoughts, that they wander not amid the vanities of this world. O Lord our God, grant that I may be united to the affection of Thy love, unworthy though I be. Glory be to Thee, O Christ.
Ascend into the chamber of Thy renowned light, O Lord; sow in me the good seed of humility; and under the wings of Thy grace hide me through Thy mercy. If Thou wert to mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? Because there is mercy with Thee.
[The Priest says the following prayer in secret:—
O mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, beseech for me the only-begotten Son, who was born of thee, to forgive me my offences and my sins, and to accept from my feeble and sinful hands this sacrifice which my weakness offers upon this altar, through thy intercession for me, O holy mother.]
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with us all, now, etc.
He signs the sacraments, and they respond:—
Amen.
The Priest proceeds:—
Lift up your minds:
They respond:—
They are towards Thee, O God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, O glorious King.
The Priest.
Suicer says that a canon is a psalm or hymn (canticum) wont to be sung on certain days, ordinarily and as if by rule. He quotes Zonaras, who says that a canon is metrical and is composed of nine odes. See Sophocles, Glossary of Byzantine Greek, Introduction, § 43. The canon of the Nestorian Church is somewhat different. See Neale, General Introduction to the History of the Eastern Church, p. 979.
“The psalm, or verses of a psalm, sung after the Epistle, was always entitled gradual, from being chanted on the steps (gradus) of the pulpit. When sung by one person without interruption, it was called tractus; when chanted alternately by several singers, it was termed responsory.”—Palmer, Origines Liturgicæ, vol. ii. p. 46, note.
i.e., while the lesson from the Old Testament is read. [But the Malabar Liturgy and Dr. Badger’s translation insert before this, according to Hammond, the Sanctus Deus, Sanctus fortis, etc.]
Renaudot understands by the proclamation the reading aloud of the Gospel. [According to Hammond, the deacon’s bidding prayer, during which, in Dr. Badger’s translation the Offertory is said also.]
Bema.
The Malabar Liturgy fills up, “let him depart.”
[Here begins the Liturgy of the Faithful.]
[The Offertory.]
[Here the Edinburgh editors insert the title of this liturgy given on p. 561, supra, and add: “In the Syriac copy, 70, Biblioth. Reg., this title does not occur, the service going forward without interruption—Etheridge.” See Elucidation IV.]
[2 Cor. v. 19, 20.]
i.e., Catholics. But the word Catholics is omitted in most mss.
Which is said also in the Liturgy of Nestorius.
In another ms. [Evidently corrupt and mediæval.]
[Here begins the Anaphora.]