Ascetica, ut illa quæ sunt magni Basilii: quanquam reapse haud aliud cogitari potest Basilius, propter æqualem spiritus verborumque vim: aut inviti etiam, hæc esse magni Basilii admittant. Sciendum vero est priora illa dici universali Ascetica; hæc autem particularia. Oportebat autem mundi lampadem, præter alios doctrinarum suarum radios, quibus subsolanam regionem collustrat, his quoque ambabus lucubrationibus nos illuminare. A οὐδ' οὕτως ἄλλος εἴη Βασίλειος διὰ τὸ ἰσοδύναμον τοῦ πνεύματος καὶ τοῦ φθέγματος· ἢ μὴ καὶ οὐ βουλόμενοι, πάντως καταδέξονται τοῦ μεγάλου Βασιλείου εἶναι. Ἰστέον δὲ ὡς τὰ μὲν ἄλλα τὰ καθόλου ἀσκητικὰ εἴρηται· ταῦτα δέ, τὰ μερικά· ἔδει γὰρ τὸν λαμπτῆρα τοῦ κόσμου πρὸς ταῖς ἄλλαις αὐτοῦ ἀκτῖσι τῶν διδαγμάτων καταυγάζοντα τὴν ὑφ' ἥλιον, φωτίσαι ἡμᾶς καὶ τοῖσδε τοῖς δυσὶ συγγράμμασι (8).
TOY EN ΑΓΙΟΙΣ ΠΑΤΡΟΣ ΗΜΩΝ ΘΕΟΔΩΡΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΣΤΟΥΔΙΤΟΥ ΕΡΜΗΝΕΙΑ ΤΗΣ ΘΕΙΑΣ ΛΕΙΤΟΥΡΓΙΑΣ ΤΩΝ ΠΡΟΗΓΙΑΣΜΕΝΩΝ
S. P. N. THEODORI STUDITAE EXPLICATIO DIVINAE LITURGIAE PRAESANCTIFICATORUM.
B Audi me diligenter, fili, quomodo debeas præsanctificatorum ritum exsequi: namque in sacris aliis functionibus aperte et extra omnem ambiguitatem res sancta peragitur: hæc autem velato ac lugubriter fit: ideoque magis mystica in cunctis hæc functio evadit. Igitur sacerdos ornatu sacerdotali indutus, trisagium totum recitans, nec non dici troparium, dicensque ter verba: Propitius esto, Deus, mihi peccatori, orationem quoque thymiamatis recitans, ante sacram mensam consistit, et in modum crucis thurificans exclamat; non tamen verba benedictum regnum pronuntiat, quæ sunt veluti triumphalia et absolutæ auctoritatis propria; sed benedictus Deus dicit, tanquam humilitatis indicium et enixæ deprecationis. Tum etiam propheticum illud procemium a fratribus recitatur, et sacerdos preces vesperi dicit: qua utraque dictione expleta, collectam elata C voce peragit. Statim vero a lectore graduum canone incepto, sacer mystagogus quinquagesimum psalmum oretenus recitat, et præsanctificatum panem in prothesi totum componit. Statimque ad singulas graduum antiphonas, parvam precem elata voce dicit: et dum a Psalte canitur psalmus, ipse sanctuarium totum cum templo thurificat: cantatisque tropariis post gloria, introitus sine evangelio cum thurificatione dicitur: lectisque lectionibus, fratres sedent. His expletis, sacerdos canit dirigatur, cum ei adjunctis versiculis, fratribus genu flectentibus, quod etiam
Ἄκουσον δή μοι, τέκνον, καλῶς τὸ πῶς δεῖ τὴν τῶν προηγιασμένων ἐπιτελεῖν τελετήν. Ἐν γὰρ ταῖς ἄλλαις ἱερουργίαις ἀνακεκαλυμμένως καὶ ἀναμφιδοιάστως ἡ ἱερουργία ἐπιτελεῖται· ἐν δέ γε ταύτῃ συνεσκιασμένως καὶ πενθηρῶς· διὸ καὶ μυστικωτέρα εἰς πᾶν ἡ τελετή γίνεται. Τοίνυν ὁ ἱερεὺς τὴν ἱερατικὴν ἐνδυόμενος στολήν, τὸ τρισάγιον ὁλοκλήρως φθεγγόμενος, καὶ τὸ τῆς ἡμέρας τροπάριον, σὺν τῷ Ἰλάσθητί μοι, ὁ Θεός, τῷ ἁμαρτωλῷ, ἐπιλέγων τρίτον, καὶ τὴν εὐχὴν τοῦ θυμιάματος λέγων ἐνώπιον τῆς θείας τραπέζης ἐφίσταται, καὶ σταυροειδῶς θυμιῶν ἐκφωνεῖ· οὐχὶ τὸ Εὐλογημένη ἡ βασιλεία ἀνακηρύττει, ὡς νίκης τρόπαιον καὶ αὐθεντίας ἀπροσωπολήπτου, ἀλλ' Εὐλογητὸς ὁ Θεός λέγων, ὡς ταπεινότητος σύμβολον καὶ ἱκετηρίας ἀπαραθραύστου· τὸ δὲ προφητικὸν ἐκεῖνο προοίμιον παρὰ τῶν ἀδελφῶν κηρύττεται, καὶ ὁ ἱερεὺς τὰς εὐχὰς ἐπιλέγει τοῦ λυχνικοῦ· τέλος δὲ κἀκείνων καὶ τούτων καβάντων, τὴν συναπτὴν σὺν τῇ ἐκφωνήσει ἐπιτελεῖ· καὶ ὁ ἑτοίμως ὁ ἀναγνώστης τὸν τῶν ἀναβαθμῶν κανόνα ἐναρξάμενος, ὁ θεῖος οὗτος μυσταγωγὸς τὸν νʹ ἀνὰ στόμα διεξιών, τὸν προηγιασθέντα ἄρτον ἐν τῇ προθέσει διακοσμεῖ ἀνελλιπῶς· εὐθὺς δὲ εἰς ἕκαστον ἀντίφωνον τῶν ἀναβαθμῶν, μικρὰν αἴτησιν ἐκφωνεῖ· τοῦ δέ γε ψαλμοῦ παρὰ τοῦ Ψάλτου ἐχομένου, τὸ ἱερατεῖον ὅλον σὺν τῷ ναῷ ἐπιθυμιᾷ· καὶ τῶν τροπαρίων ψαλλομένων μετὰ τὴν δόξαν, ἡ εἴσοδος χωρὶς τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου μετὰ θυμιατοῦ λέγεται, καὶ τῶν ἀναγνωσμάτων ἀναγινωσκομένων, οἱ πρός μονάζοντας,
μονάζοντας, A while the brethren are sitting. After the completion of these, the priest sings "Let my prayer arise" along with his fellow-members, while the brethren bend the knee, which also occurs during the prayers. For after the entrance of the divine gifts, the doors are immediately shut; and the priest covers the gifts with the uppermost veil, which the Word knows to call the *aer*. But at the hour of the elevation, he does not indeed lift the veil, but from underneath it, lifting the bread, he says: "The Presanctified Holy Things." Then the *aer* is lifted. From these and other examples, a mystical sacrifice is proclaimed, and a rite just completed in like manner and presanctified is united by the visitation of the cross and the holy blood. Then, as the brethren are being called to partake, [he says,] "With the fear of God, and faith, and love." By these words, the Word indicates in this a divine type of the divine and life-giving Trinity: calling the fear the divine and light-originating glory of the Father; the faith, the only-begotten and co-eternal Word; love, the good and all-holy Spirit. B For after the communion of the brethren, the "Save, O God, Thy people" is said; and tracing the divine sign of the precious cross, the divine gifts are by no means placed upon the divine table, but being already finished at the *prothesis*. For the minister of the sacred action performs this after his own communion, according to the prescribed prayer. Thus, my child, I too, being instructed, offer, just as I have seen those who are most perfectly instructed; and this occurs not only here, but also in other sacred actions. C Then is the proclamation of the communion; and the restoration of the gifts to the *prothesis*; and the closing of the divine doors—excepting, however, the elevation of the bread, because it is elevated in an unveiled manner, and the perfect oblation happens at the beginning; and "Blessed be the Kingdom" is proclaimed to our God, to whom be glory forever. Amen. D