LITURGY OF ST. DIONYSIUS
of yours, O Lord, nor do all mouths, all minds, and tongues suffice to glorify you as is worthy. For by your Word the heavens were made, and by the breath of your mouth all the heavenly powers, all the lights that are in the firmament, the sun and the moon, the sea and the dry land, and whatever is in them. Those that have no voice, by their silence, and those that are endowed with speech, with voices, discourses, and hymns, perpetually bless you; because you are by nature good, and exist incomprehensibly in your essence above all praises. A
Raising his voice. This visible and sense-endowed creature praises you, O Lord, as does also that which is intellectual and placed beyond the condition of the senses. The heaven and the earth glorify you, the sea and the air proclaim you; the sun in its course praises you, the moon in its changes venerates you: the hosts of archangels, and the throngs of angels, those powers more sublime in the faculty of the world and of mind, send blessings to your region. Beams of excellent B and hidden light send down the sanctifications of your glory; principalities and orders praise you with joy; powers and dominations venerate you; virtues, thrones, and inaccessible seats exalt you, splendors of eternal light, mirrors without spot, holy substances, recipients of sublime wisdom, before all others searchers of the will hidden from all, with pre-eminent motions of inimitably elegant voices, and with voices worthy of a rational creature: the many-eyed cherubim, whose motions are most subtle, bless you: the seraphim, interwoven with six wings, and full of feathers, C sanctify you, those very ones who with their wings cover their faces, and with their feathers veil their feet, and flying on all sides and clapping their wings one to another, so that they might not be consumed by your devouring fire, sing sweet songs, pure from all material nature, with an equal harmony of all, referring to you eternal glory, crying out in one hymn worthy of God and saying:
People. Holy, Holy, Holy.
Priest inclined. Holy are you, God the Father Almighty, the maker and creator of every creature, invisible and visible, and sensible. Holy are you, God the Only-begotten Son, the power and wisdom of the Father, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Holy are you, D God the Holy Spirit, the perfecter and sanctifier of holy things. The Holy and undivided Trinity, consubstantial, and of equal glory, whose mercy toward our race is most profuse. You are holy and the sanctifier of all things, who did not leave that very race of ours in exile from paradise, when meanwhile it was entangled in every kind of sin, but was manifested to it by the Word who suffered poverty before the world; the Word (God) truly took it (the human race) upon himself, assimilated to it in all things, except sin, so that he might prepare it for holiness, and dispose it for this life-giving banquet.
Raising his voice. Who was conceived, formed, and fashioned by the Holy Spirit, and was born as man from the virgin blood of the holy Mother of God, Mary, and from her pure and most holy body, the prince of life, and taking divinity into flesh, with the law and properties of nature preserved, yet in a way above nature; and he was known as God in the Spirit, and man in the flesh. And in as much as he was the Word before the ages, he was born from you as was worthy of God, and by virtues and miracles, such as were fitting for the maker of all, he testified himself to be such: then also because he bestowed absolute healing, and perfect salvation, upon the whole human race. But at the end and consummation of his dispensation, for our sake, and before his saving cross, he took the bread into his pure and holy hands, and looked up to you, God the Father, giving thanks, he blessed [+], sanctified [+], broke, and gave it to his disciples the holy apostles, saying: Take and eat of it, and believe that this is my body, that very thing which is broken and given for you and for many, for the expiation of faults, the remission of sins, and eternal life.
People. Amen.
Priest. In the same way also over the chalice which he mixed with wine and water, he gave thanks [+], blessed [+], sanctified [+], and gave it to the same disciples of his and holy apostles, saying: Take, drink all of you from it, and believe that this is my blood of the New Testament, which is poured out for you and for many, and given for the expiation of faults, the remission of sins, and eternal life.
People. Amen.
Priest. He himself also gave the commandment to the whole assembly and congregation of the faithful through the same holy apostles, saying: Do this in my memory, as often as you eat this bread and drink the mixture that is in this chalice, and celebrate this banquet, you shall perform the commemoration of my death until I come.
People. O Lord, we make memory of your death.
Priest. Following, therefore, your Lordly commandment, celebrating in this perpetual sacrifice the commemoration of your death and resurrection in a mystery: we also await your second coming, the renewal of our race, and the vivification of our mortality. For not simply, but with glory worthy of God, in an ineffable Spirit you will arrive terribly, and sitting upon the high throne of your majesty, you will demand the recognition of your kingly power from all things created and made; and you will justly execute vengeance for your image, from those who have corrupted it through evil passions. This sacrifice, celebrated there, we commemorate to you, O Lord, and the passions which you sustained for us on the cross. Be propitious, O good one and lover of mankind, in the hour...
A of fear and trembling, to the congregation of those worshipping you here, and to all the children of the holy Church redeemed by your precious blood. May the coals of fire be driven away from those who have been stained by your blood and signed with your Sacraments, in your holy name, just as once the Babylonian flame was from the children of the house of Hananiah. For we know no others besides you, O God, nor do we have in any other the hope of obtaining salvation, since you are the helper and savior of our race. And for this reason your wise Church, through the mouths and tongues of us all, makes supplication to you, and through you, and with you to your Father, saying: People. Have mercy. Priest. We also. Deacon. How to be feared is this hour. Priest (inclining, says the Prayer of the Invocation of the Holy Spirit). I call upon you, O God the Father: have mercy on us, and wash away, through your grace, the uncleanness of my evil deeds; blot out, through your mercy, what I have committed that is worthy of hatred. For I do not extend my hands toward you with confidence; nor can I look up to heaven, because of the multitude of my iniquities and the filth of my misdeeds. But in your kindness, grace, and long-suffering, strengthening my spirit, I ask that you send your holy Spirit upon me, and upon these proposed offerings, and upon your faithful people. Priest. Hear me, O Lord. People. Kyrie eleison, Kyrie eleison, Kyrie eleison. Priest. Through His descent and overshadowing, may He make this bread indeed the living body, and life-bestowing to our souls, the saving body, the heavenly body, the body saving our souls and bodies, the body of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins and eternal life to those receiving it. People. Amen. Priest. And may He make that which is mixed in this chalice the living blood, and life-bestowing to the souls of us all, the saving blood, the heavenly blood, the blood saving our souls and bodies, the blood of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ, for the remission B of sins and eternal life to those receiving it. People. Amen. Priest. But according to the tradition and divine commendation of those who were spectators of your mysteries, and interpreters of your wonders, we offer this eucharist before you, O Lord, and through it we commemorate your charity toward us, and the whole dispensation of your only-begotten Son in this world, that you may also remember through it the mercy congenital and natural to you, which at any hour is poured out over your creatures, and that you may deliver us from the wrath reserved for the unrighteous, and from the afflictions of those who work wickedness, and from the cruel assault of demons, who assault our souls when we depart from here; and may you make us worthy of your kingdom, and of the dwellings of those who have kept your commandments, and we shall return to you glory and thanksgiving, etc. People. Amen. Priest (inclining). By your truthful words, and by your most veracious doctrines, you have said, O Lord, that there is great joy in heaven and on earth over one sinner doing penance. Rejoice therefore now, O Lord, at the conversion of your servants who stand here before you; join also the exultation of us to the souls of the pious and just, the Fathers, Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Preachers, Evangelists, Martyrs, Confessors, the zealous for divine worship, the benefactors, the givers of alms, and those who communicate in the needs of the poor, and may there be from all, one praise C today before you, at this holy altar and in the heavenly Jerusalem. Priest (raising his voice). And because of these and other things of this kind, may your holy Church be established, which is from the ends to the ends of the earth, and may it be preserved in tranquility and peace, and in the evangelical and apostolic doctrines, through divine prelates rightly dispensing the word of truth and instructing in the dogmas of true religion: through holy priests, who embrace the word of life, and conduct themselves excellently in dispensing your heavenly mysteries: through modest deacons, performing the pure and royal ministry without blemish: through true faithful, who are occupied with works and acts worthy of a Christian; through D the choirs of virgins of both sexes, [and] the mortification of the flesh...
A bearing within themselves the life-giving [nature] of Thine only-begotten Son. And hence, may we all be sent forth in one company to that Church of Jerusalem, of the first-born recorded in heaven, and there may we spiritually glorify Thee, God the Father, and Thine only-begotten Son, and Thy Holy Spirit. *People.* Amen. *Priest bowed.* Help, O Lord, all those who help Thy holy Church, with vows, tithes, ministry, and oblations: and those also who ask for the prayers of our weakness, grant them the end of their petitions, O Lord, lover of mankind. *Priest lifting his voice.* Grant perfect care and full salvation to all those who care for the poor, who provide nourishment for orphans and widows, and who visit the sick and afflicted. Reward them, O Lord; grant them abundance and good things here, and incorruptible delights there, for Thou art the Lord of both worlds, and the bestower of immense reward, and to Thee belongs beneficence, both here and there, and to Thine only-begotten Son. *People.* Amen. *Priest bowed.* Restrain the rage of kings, O King of kings, suppress the fury of soldiers; take away wars and seditions, cast down the pride of heretics, and may the one love toward mankind overcome the sentences pronounced against us according to Thy justice, and turn them into the meekness of Thy kindness. B *Lifting his voice.* And since Thou canst do all things, join our weakness to the companies of those Thy beloved and household [servants], O Lord: to that blessed congregation, to this divine portion, that through them our oblations and prayers may be received before the exalted throne of Thy majesty, in that we are unwarlike and weak, and in need of confidence before Thee. Indeed, our sin and our justice are nothing, compared to the poured-out and immense sea of Thy mercy. Looking therefore into the hearts of each one, send to each the good rewards of their petitions, so that in all and in each, Thy majesty and that of Thine only-begotten Son may be adored and praised. *People.* Amen. *Priest bowed.* Remember, O Lord, all the bishops, doctors, and prelates of Thy holy Church, those who from James the Apostle and martyr, even to this day, have pleased and do please Thee. *Lifting his voice.* Implant in us, O Lord, their true faith, and their zeal for true religion, their sincere and faultless charity, and their blameless conduct: that, cleaving to their footsteps, we may be partakers of their reward, and of the crowns of victory which are prepared for them in Thy heavenly kingdom: and there, together with them, may we sing to Thee unending glory, and to Thine only-begotten Son. *People.* Amen. *Priest bowed.* Remember, O Lord, all those who have fallen asleep with Thy hope, in the true faith: especially however and by name, our fathers, brothers, and masters, both physical and spiritual, and those for whom and for whose sake this holy oblation has been offered. *Lifting his voice.* Join, O Lord, their names with the names of Thy saints in their blessed habitation, who keep festival and rejoice in Thee; not recalling to them the memory of their sins, nor reminding them of those things which they did in their ignorance; because no one is bound to flesh, and innocent before Thee: for only one alone has been seen on earth without sin, Jesus Christ Thine only-begotten Son, who came to the composition, through whom we also have the hope of obtaining mercy. C *People.* Grant rest. *Priest bowed.* Forgive our sins and theirs, [the] voluntary [ones], committed knowingly and ignorantly. D *Priest lifting his voice.* Grant tranquility and peace which is from Thee to the earth and all its inhabitants; visit it through Thy benefits and the care of Thy mercy, through a good and temperate condition of the air, the fruitfulness of fruits, the abundance of crops, and the variety of flowers. Preserve it from all the plagues of wrath, and from the unjust insults of enemies, both spiritual and sensible, that without any harm of passions, we may sing perpetual hymns of glory to Thee, and to Thine only-begotten Son. *People.* Amen. *Priest bowed.* At this altar, and at that which is more sublime than heaven, may there be good remembrance to all those who have pleased Thee from the world. Especially, however, to the holy Mother of God, John the herald, Baptist and precursor, Peter and Paul, and the whole company of the apostles, and also Stephen, and the entire host of martyrs, and all those who, before them, with them, and after them, have pleased and do please Thee.
Be favorable, O Lord, lover of mankind. A
*Raising his voice:* And grant us a peaceful end, a departure with mercy, and that we may stand without blame at the right hand, and with face uncovered and confidence, may we run to the rising of Thine only-begotten Son, and to His second and glorious manifestation from heaven; and may we hear from Him that blessed voice, which He will pronounce to the blessed at the end: "Come, inherit the kingdom prepared for you" [Matthew 25:34], so that in this, as in all things, Thy most venerable name may be glorified and praised. *People.* As [it was]. *Priest.* Peace. *People.* And with thy spirit.
*The priest breaks the Host, and says the prayer before the Pater noster:*
Father of all and principle which is above all, eternal light and fountain of light, which illuminates all natures endowed with reason; Who callest the needy from the dust, and liftest the poor out of the mire, and hast called us, who were cast aside, rejected, and infirm, to the liberty and domestic dignity of Thy children, through Thy beloved Son: grant us that we may appear before Thee as holy children and not unworthy of this name; and may we perform all our ministry in accordance with blameless ways, and with purity of soul, cleanliness of intellect, and a divine mind, at whatever hour we call upon Thee, God the almighty, holy, and heavenly Father, let us pray and say: Our Father who art in heaven. *People.* Hallowed be Thy name, etc.
*Priest.* Deliver Thy servants and children, O Lord, from all temptations, however difficult and overwhelming, and from all sorrows that can bring harm to our body or soul. Keep us at the same time from evil and from all his power, and from his pernicious snares, for Thou art King of all, and to Thee we render glory. *People.* Amen. *Priest.* Peace. *People.* And with thy spirit. *Deacon.* Before. *People.* Before Thee, O Lord.
*Priest.* Behold, O Lord, Thy faithful people, who are bowed before Thee, and await Thy gift, and gaze upon the deposit of the sacraments of Thine only-begotten, O God the Father. Take not Thy grace from us, and do not repel us from Thy ministry, and from the participation of Thy sacraments, but prepare us, that we may be pure and without stain, and worthy of this banquet, and that with a blameless conscience, we may always enjoy His precious body and blood, and B may we recline in a life of glory and without end in the spiritual dwelling, and may we feast at the table of Thy kingdom, and we will render unto Thee glory and praise. *People.* Amen. *Priest.* Peace. *People.* And with thy spirit. *Priest.* May the grace of God be, etc. *People.* And with thy spirit. *Deacon.* With fear. *Priest.* Holy things to the holy. *People.* One Father holy. *Deacon.* Let us stand decently. *People.* Before Thee.
*Priest.* We give Thee thanks, O Lord, and with grateful mind acknowledge Thy kindness, that out of nothing Thou didst bring us forth unto that which we are, and didst make us members of Thy household and children of Thy sacraments, and didst entrust this religious ministry to us, and didst make us worthy of this spiritual table. Conserve in us, O Lord, the deposit of Thy divine mysteries, that after the manner of the angels, we may order our life, and finish our course before Thee, that we may be cautious and inseparable through the reception of Thy holy things, accomplishing Thy great and perfect will, and may we be found prepared for that final C fullness, and for standing before Thy majesty, and may we be made worthy of the joy of Thy kingdom, through the grace, mercy, and love toward mankind of Thine only-begotten Son, through whom and with whom it is fitting that glory, honor, etc., be unto Thee. *People.* Amen. *Priest.* Peace. *People.* And with thy spirit. *Deacon.* After. *People.* Before Thee, O Lord.
*Priest.* Christ, King of glory, and Father of the world to come, holy sacrifice, heavenly Pontiff: Lamb of God, who takest away the sin of the world, spare the sins of Thy people, and dismiss the follies of Thy flock. Conserve us through the communion of Thy sacraments, from every sin, whether it be completed by word, or thought, or deed; and may it make us far from Thy domestic familiarity, so that our bodies may be guarded by Thy body, and our souls may be renewed by Thy sacraments, and may Thy D blessing, O Lord, be in our whole man, interior and exterior, and may Thou be glorified in us and for us, and may Thy right hand rest upon us, and [that] of Thy blessed Father, and of Thy most holy Spirit. *People.* Amen. *Deacon.* Bless, O Lord.