Liturgy of Saint Gregory of Nazianzus (Spurious)

Prayer after the preparation of the holy altar.

Prayer of the holy Gospel.

Remember therefore, O Master, even now, all those who have commanded us, the unworthy, to remember them in our supplications and the petitions which we lift up to you, O Lord our God. Grant rest to those who have already departed; heal the sick; for you are the life of us all, and the salvation of us all, and the hope of us all, and the healing of us all, and the resurrection of us all; and to you we send up glory, honor, and worship, with your almighty and all-seeing Begetter, and with your all-holy and life-creating and consubstantial Spirit, now and always.

Prayer of the veil.

^A you were appointed for us as High Priest, and you delivered unto us the liturgy of this bloodless sacrifice, as Lord of all. For you rule over the heavenly, the earthly, and the netherworld; you who are borne upon the cherubic throne; the Lord of the seraphim, and King of Israel; the only holy one, who rests in the holy. Therefore, I entreat you, the only good and gracious God, look upon me, your sinful and worthless servant; and make me worthy, by the power of the Holy Spirit, now that I have been clothed with the grace of the priesthood, to stand at this your holy table, and to offer up your immaculate body and your precious blood. For I approach you, bowing my neck, and I beseech you, turn not your face from me, nor reject me from the number of your children; but make me worthy that these gifts be offered to you by me, your sinful and unworthy servant. For you are the one who sanctifies and is sanctified; who offers and is offered; who receives and is received; who gives and is distributed; and to you we send up glory, with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Another prayer of the veil among the Egyptians (21).

O Lord our God, almighty, who knowest the mind of men, searching hearts and reins; who hast called me, unworthy, to this your sacred ministry; do not reject me, nor turn your face from me; but blot out all my transgressions, and wash away all the filth of my body and the stains of the soul, and sanctify me entirely, that while I pray to you that you might grant to others the remission of sins, I myself might not be found disqualified. I beseech you, O Lord, ^C do not repel me in my humiliation and confusion, but send upon me the grace of your Holy Spirit, and make me worthy to stand at your holy altar without condemnation, and to offer to you this reasonable and bloodless sacrifice, with a pure conscience, for the remission of my sins and offenses, and to obtain forgiveness for the ignorances of your people, for the rest and refreshment of our departed fathers and brothers, and for the strengthening of all your people, and for your glory, of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, now, etc.

Prayer of peace.

restore him to his original dignity; you did not choose an angel, nor an archangel, nor a patriarch, nor a prophet to whom you would entrust our salvation, but you yourself, being unchanged, became flesh and became man, and were made like us in all things, sin only excepted. You became our mediator with the Father, and having broken down the middle wall of partition and the long-standing enmity, you joined the earthly to the heavenly, and united both into one, and fulfilled the dispensation in the flesh. And when you were about to ascend bodily into the heavens, divinely fulfilling all things, you said to your holy disciples and apostles: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you." This same peace, O Lord, now graciously grant unto us; graciously cleanse us from all defilement, from all guile and malice, and craftiness, and the lethal remembrance of injuries; and grant us to greet one another with a holy kiss, that we may partake without peril of condemnation of your immortal and heavenly gift, by your grace and the good pleasure of the Father, and the operation of the Holy Spirit. For you are the bestower and giver of all good things, and to you we send up glory and eternal doxology, with your Father who is without beginning, and your Holy Spirit, now and always. ^A

Another prayer of the kiss of peace.

Christ our God, the terrible and incomprehensible power of God and the Father: who sit above the flaming throne of the Cherubim and are attended by fiery powers, and are a consuming fire as God; yet through your ineffable condescension and love for mankind, you did not consume with fire at your approach the guileful traitor, but greeted him as a friend, drawing him to repentance and to the recognition of his own folly. Grant us, O Lord, at this terrible hour, in concord and without any duplicity of heart or remnants of malice, to embrace one another in a holy kiss; and do not condemn us if we are not perfectly, and as is pleasing to your goodness, cleansed from all dregs of sin and wickedness and the lethal remembrance of injuries. But you, in your ineffable and unutterable compassion, knowing our frail frame which leans toward the earth, blot out every stain of our offenses, that this divine mystery may not result in judgment or condemnation for us. For you are able to forgive every sin, and to overcome the iniquities and injustices of wretched men, being the purification of the whole world; and to you is due from all, with one accord, glory, honor, and worship, together with your immaculate Father and your life-giving Spirit, now, etc. ^B

And the kiss is given. ^C The deacon says: Let us stand well. The people say: The mercy of peace. The priest says aloud: ^D The love of God the Father, and the grace of the only-begotten Son, our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ; and the com-

communication and gift of the Holy Spirit be with you all. The people say: And with your spirit. The priest says: Let us lift up our hearts. The people say: We lift them up unto the Lord. The priest says: Let us give thanks to the Lord. The people say: It is meet and right. The priest says: It is meet and right, it is meet and right. ^A

Beginning of the Oblation

For it is truly meet and right to praise Thee, to hymns-celebrate Thee, to bless Thee, to adore Thee, to glorify Thee, the only true God, the lover of mankind, the ineffable, the invisible, the incircumscript, the beginningless, the eternal, the timeless, the immeasurable, the immutable, and incomprehensible to thought: the maker of all things, the redeemer of all; Thou who art propitious to all our iniquities, who healest all our infirmities, who redeemest our life from corruption, who crownest us with mercy and compassions. Thee the angels praise; Thee the archangels adore; Thee the principalities hymn; Thee the dominations proclaim; to Thee the powers declare Thy glory; to Thee the thrones send up acclamations; thousand thousands stand before Thee, and ten thousand times ten thousand ^B offer Thee service. Thee the invisible things celebrate; Thee the visible things adore, all of them performing Thy word, O Master.

The deacon says: You who are seated, arise. The priest says: O Thou who art God, Lord truly from God truly; who hast shown to us the light of the Father; who hast granted to us the true knowledge of the Holy Spirit; who hast revealed this great mystery of life; who hast established for men the choir-dancing of the incorporeal ones, when Thou didst deliver to us, who are on earth, the seraphic hymn, receive also our voice with that of the invisible ones. Join us to the heavenly powers. Let us also speak with them, having cast away the imagination of every absurd thought, and let us cry out as they do, with unceasing voices, ^C with tireless mouths let us hymn Thy greatness.

The deacon says: Look toward the east. The priest says: For around Thee stand the seraphim, six wings to the one, and six wings to the other; and with two wings they cover their faces, and with two they cover their feet, and with two they fly, and they cry one to another. In a loud voice: Celebrating the triumphal hymn of our salvation with a clear and bright voice, they chant, they sing, they shout, they give glory, they cry out, and saying: The deacon says: Let us attend. The people say: Holy, holy, holy, Lord Sabaoth, heaven is full, etc. The priest says: Holy, holy art Thou, O Lord, and all-holy. ^D Surpassing is the light of Thy substance in

and ineffable is the power of Thy wisdom. No speech ^A shall measure the sea of Thy philanthropy. Thou didst make me man, as a lover of mankind, not Thyself having need of my service, but I rather having need of Thy mastery. When I was not, Thou didst bring me forth out of mercy. Thou didst set up the heaven for me as a roof; Thou didst fix the earth as a foundation for me; for my sake Thou didst bridle the sea; for my sake Thou didst reveal the nature of animals; Thou didst subject all things under my feet; nor didst Thou leave out anything of the works of Thy philanthropy toward me. The people say: Lord, have mercy. The priest says: Thou didst form me, and didst lay Thy hand upon me; Thou didst inscribe the image of Thy power in me; Thou didst implant the gift of reason; Thou didst open the paradise for me for my delight; Thou didst deliver the doctrine of Thy knowledge; Thou didst show me the tree of life; Thou didst point out the wood of life to me; ^B Thou didst make known the sting of death; Thou didst forbid me the enjoyment of one plant; of it alone Thou didst tell me not to eat. I ate, I transgressed the law; by the inclination of my mind I neglected the commandment; and I seized the sentence of death. The people say: Lord, have mercy. The priest says: Thou, O Master, didst change the punishment for me; as a good shepherd Thou didst run to the wandering one; as a true father Thou didst sympathize with me who had fallen; Thou didst bind me up with all remedies for life. Thou Thyself didst send prophets to me; for my sake, the sick one, Thou didst give the law for help. Thou Thyself didst minister to me those things ^C for health which had been transgressed; Thou didst rise as a light to those who were wandering; to those who were ignorant, Thou who art always present didst arrive; Thou didst come into a virginal womb. Being the uncircumscribed God, Thou didst not deem it robbery to be equal to God, but didst empty Thyself, taking the form of a servant; Thou didst bless my nature in Thee; for my sake Thou didst fulfill the law; Thou didst suggest to me the resurrection from my fall. Thou didst give forgiveness to those held fast by Hades; Thou didst drive away the curse of the law; in the flesh Thou didst destroy sin; Thou didst make known to me the authority of Thy power; Thou didst restore sight to the blind; Thou didst raise the dead from the tombs; ^D by a word Thou didst restore nature; Thou didst show me the economy of Thy compassion; Thou didst endure the violence of the wicked; Thou didst give Thy back to the scourges; and Thou didst set Thy cheeks for blows; Thou didst not turn Thy face away from the shame of spittings for my sake. The people say: Lord, have mercy. The priest says: As a sheep Thou didst come to the slaughter; even to the cross Thou didst show Thy care for me; by Thy own tomb Thou didst kill my sin; into heaven Thou didst exalt my first fruits; Thou didst signify to me the presence of Thy coming, in which Thou art about to come to judge the living and the dead, and to render to each according to his works. The people say: According to Thy mercy, O Lord.

^A Priest. Of this my liberty I offer to Thee the symbols, and to Thy words I ascribe the things accomplished. Thou hast delivered to me this mystical participation of Thy flesh, in bread and wine. ^B The people say: We believe. Priest. For on the night in which Thou didst deliver Thyself by Thine own authority. The people say: We believe. Priest. Taking bread into Thy holy, immaculate, ^C and undefiled hands, Thou didst look up to heaven toward Thine own Father, our God and the God of all; Thou didst give thanks † didst bless † didst sanctify † didst break, and didst give it to Thy holy disciples and apostles, saying: Take, eat, this is my body, which is broken for you and for many, and is distributed for the remission of sins; do this in my commemoration. Likewise after supper, taking the chalice, and having mixed it of the fruit of the vine and of water, Thou didst give thanks † didst bless † didst sanctify † didst give it to Thy holy disciples and apostles, saying: Drink of it all of you: this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins: do this in my commemoration. For as often as ye shall eat this bread, and drink this chalice, ye shall announce my death, and confess my resurrection and ascension until I come. ^D The people say: Amen. Three times. Thy death, etc. Priest. Therefore, O Lord, mindful of Thy descent upon earth, and of Thy life-giving death, and of Thy three-day burial, and of Thy resurrection from the dead, and of Thy ascension into heaven, and of Thy session at the right hand of the Father, and of Thy second, terrible, and glorious coming again from heaven. With a loud voice. Offering to Thee Thine own from Thine own gifts, according to all, through all, and in all. The people say: We praise Thee, we bless Thee. Deacon. Bow your heads to God with fear. Priest, bowing secretly, says: Therefore, O Lord, do Thou Thyself, by Thy voice, change these things set forth; be Thou present, perfect this mystical liturgy; do Thou preserve for us the memory of Thy worship. Do Thou [send] Thy holy Spirit...

upon us and upon these gifts ^A here set forth, that, having come in His holy, good, and glorious presence, He may sanctify and change these things set forth, these precious and holy gifts, into the very body and blood of our redemption. The people say: Let us attend. The deacon says: Amen. The priest shall proclaim: And may He make this bread to become thy holy body, of the Lord and God and Savior, and our supreme King, Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins and for eternal life to those who partake of it. The people say: Amen. The priest says: And this cup, thy precious blood, that of thy new covenant, of the Lord and God and Savior, and our supreme King, Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins ^B and for eternal life to those who partake of it. The people say: Amen. The priest says, and the people respond: Kyrie eleison. We beseech thee, Christ our God. For thy Church, O Lord, make firm the foundation. Root in us the concord of charity. Increase the truth of the faith. Disposed to us the straight path of thy worship. Strengthen the shepherds. Make secure those who are pastored. Grant to the clergy virtuous conduct. To the monks, temperance. To those in virginity, sobriety. To those in honorable marriage, a good life. To those in repentance, mercy. To the wealthy, goodness. To the needy, succor. To the poor, help. Gird the elders with strength. Render the young temperate. Convert the unbelievers. Check the schisms of the Church. Destroy the boastings of the heresies. Unite us all ^C in the concord of thy worship. The people say: Kyrie eleison. The priest says: Remember, O Lord, the peace of thy holy, one, catholic, and apostolic Church, which is from the ends of the earth to the ends of the earth, and the orthodox bishops who are in it, who rightly divide the word of truth. He shall lift up his voice. Especially [remember] our most holy and most blessed high priest, Abba N., pope and patriarch of the great city of Alexandria, and for those who survive, the ^D bishops, presbyters, deacons, lectors, chanters, exorcists, those living the monastic life, and the perpetual virgi-

virgins, the continent, widows, orphans, the laity, and for all the fullness of the holy Church of God of the faithful.

Populus. Lord, have mercy.

Sacerdos. Remember, O Lord, those who have reigned piously ^A (23).

Remember, O Lord, those who are in the palace, our faithful and orthodox brothers, and the whole army.

Remember, O Lord, those who offer these holy gifts, and for whom and through whom they have offered them, and grant them all a heavenly reward.

Remember, O Lord, those who are in the mountains, in caves, and in the chasms of the earth.

And those who are in captivity, our brothers, and grant them peaceful returns to their own homes. ^B

Diaconus. Pray for the captives.

Populus. Lord, have mercy.

Then the priest bows his head, saying in secret:

Remember, O Lord, also my own wretched and unhappy soul and my humility, and forgive me all my offenses; and where sin abounded, let your grace abound more, and do not, because of my sins and the defilement of my heart, deprive your people of the grace of your holy Spirit.

He lifts his head and says aloud:

For your people and your Church entreat you, and through you and with you, saying to the Father:

Populus. Have mercy on us, O God, our Savior. (Thrice.)

Sacerdos. Have mercy on us, O God, our Savior. (Thrice.)

Populus. Lord, have mercy. (Thrice.) ^C

Sacerdos. Remember, O Lord, the air and the fruits of the earth.

Remember, O Lord, the temperate rising of the river waters.

Remember, O Lord, the rains and the seeds of the earth.

^D (23) It could be translated as "who have reigned piously"; but the Coptic Liturgy expressed both meanings, as do the Arabic versions. Christians who used this Liturgy or others of the Alexandrian rite, by ancient custom and by the precept of the apostle Paul, prayed for emperors and kings, none of whom was then an enemy of the Christian name. Soon it was prayed for the same, after they had given their name to Christ, not because they were Christians, but because they were emperors. But when, from Constantine onwards, they had preserved the religion, they were truly called pious and Christ-loving, whence this formula was universally accepted into liturgical books. It seems, however, to have been retained for the sole reason that no one believed it ought to be changed, since that could not be done without affront to the reigning prince. Thus it remained in the Missal books, although in some it is slightly changed; for in many, the prayer is made simply for kings. The ancient Nestorians retained the formula without change; as is read in that Greek one, namely, that while they seemed to satisfy the office, they designated in their minds certain princes of their own sect who were Christians, such as those Tartars whose emperor was defeated by Genghis Khan, and certain Indian kings in Malabar. Similarly, the Egyptian Jacobites thought of the kings of Ethiopia and Nubia, who were, as they still are, subject to the Alexandrian see. Regarding the Mohammedan Caliphs, Sultans, or others, the words of the Liturgies cannot be understood: nor does it follow from this that the Liturgies are older than the Mohammedan empire, as they now appear. They were indeed instituted long before those times, since they are expressed from Greek, but it cannot be denied that they have undergone some change in different places: but neither can anything be designated which pertains to insinuating the doctrine of real transmutation.

^A Make glad again and renew the face of the earth. Inebriate her furrows, multiply her produce; present them to us for seed and for harvest, and now, blessing, bless. Order our life. Bless the crown of the year of thy goodness, for the sake of the poor of thy people, for the sake of the widow and the orphan, for the sake of the stranger and the proselyte, and for the sake of all of us who hope in thee and call upon thy holy name. For the eyes of all hope in thee, and thou givest them their food in due season. Deal with us according to thy goodness, thou who givest food to all flesh. Fill our hearts with joy and gladness, that in all things, always having all sufficiency, we may abound in every good work, to do thy holy will. People. Kyrie eleison. The priest says, and the people respond. Kyrie eleison. Grant unto thy people concord. To the world, stability. To the air, mildness. To those who are sick, salvation. To those who are in need, refreshment. To those in exile, rest. To the orphans, help. To the widows, protection. ^B To those who are afflicted, minister unto them for good. Those who are standing, strengthen. Those who have fallen, raise up. Those who are steady, make secure. Of the deceased, be mindful. Those who are in confession, accept their intercessions. Those who have sinned and have repented, number them with thy faithful. The faithful, number them with thy martyrs. Those who are present in this place, make them imitators of the angels. And us, called by thy grace to thy ministry, though we are unworthy, receive. People. Kyrie eleison. The priest says. Be mindful, O Lord, also of this our city, and of those who dwell in it in the orthodox faith, and of every city and country, with all their people. Deliver us from famine and pestilence, from earthquake and drowning, from fire, and from the captivity of barbarians, and from the swords of foreigners, and from the uprising of enemies and heretics. ^C People. Kyrie eleison. The priest says. Be mindful, O Lord, of those of our holy Fathers, the orthodox bishops, who have gone before, and of all those who from the beginning have been well-pleasing to thee, the holy Fathers, patriarchs, apostles, prophets, preachers, evangelists, martyrs, confessors, ^D

^A and of every just spirit, perfected in the faith of Christ.

*Loudly.*

Especially the most holy, most glorious, immaculate, and blessed above all, our Lady, the Theotokos and ever-virgin Mary. The holy and glorious prophet, precursor, Baptist, and martyr, John. The holy Stephen, the first deacon and first martyr. And our holy and blessed Father Mark, the apostle and evangelist. And our holy Father Gregory. And those whose commemoration we make this day, and the whole choir of thy saints, by whose prayers and intercessions have mercy upon us, and save us, for the sake of thy holy name, which has been invoked upon us.

*The deacon recites the Diptychs.* *The priest says in a low voice:*

Remember, O Lord, those who have fallen asleep in the orthodox faith, our fathers and brethren, and give rest to their souls with the holy ^B and the just. Lead them and gather them into a verdant place, by the water of rest, in the paradise of delight, and with those whose names we have recited.

*Then he makes the commemoration of the living and the dead, and after the Diptychs the priest says:*

Remember, O Lord, those whom we have mentioned and those whom we have not mentioned, the faithful and orthodox, together with whom grant us also, as thou art a good and man-loving God.

*The people say:* Remit, pardon, forgive.

*The priest says:* For thou art our God, merciful, desiring not the death of the sinner, but rather that he should turn and live. O God, visit us with thy salvation; deal with us according to thy gentleness, for thou doest far more than we ask or think, that in this, as in all things, thy most holy and honored and blessed name ^C may be glorified and exalted, praised and blessed and sanctified, together with thy immaculate Father and the holy Spirit.

*The people say:* As it was, and is, and shall be. *The deacon says:* Come down, ye deacons. *The priest says:* Peace to all. *The people say:* And with thy spirit.

*Preface to the fraction.*

*The priest says:* Jesus Christ, the saving name, who... ^D

^A gave form to these divine, immaculate, and heavenly mysteries; who didst set the priests in the order of ministers; and who, by Thy invisible power didst transform them. Who appearest to the pure in heart, and to those who sincerely approach, dost offer them through Thyself. Bless now, as Thou didst bless then. Sanctify now, as Thou didst sanctify then. Break now, as Thou didst break then. As Thou gavest to Thine own disciples and apostles then, so now, O Lord, give to us and to all Thy people, O lover of mankind, Almighty Lord our God. *The deacon says:* Pray. *The people say:* Lord, have mercy. *The priest says:* Peace to all. *The people say:* And with thy spirit. ^B

Prayer of Fraction

(25) For although this might not exceed others in antiquity, yet this prayer, because of its clear exposition of Jacobite doctrine, cannot be older than the Council of Chalcedon, since it contains the confession of one nature in Christ, but without confusion or alteration. What follows, to acknowledge that the Jacobites consider Christ to be consubstantial with the Father according to divinity, and consubstantial with us according to humanity, is indeed most true, although it may seem strange to those who have not known their opinion except from common authors. For those things which are read in this prayer we find in the Coptic Euchologion of the Royal Library, where among the Theotokia, or prayers to the Deipara, these occur: "The Word was made man, without division, one out of two, in divinity pure without corruption, equal, or consubstantial with the Father: in humanity undivided, consubstantial with us." The rest are expressed in the same words in the hymn to Christ. More concerning their opinion about the Incarnation is found in the *Historia patriarchali* (Hist. Patr. Alex., p. 305, 561, 365, and 582), and that must be spoken of elsewhere more fully. But this prayer accurately explains it, and it ought to have great authority, since it responds accurately to various confessions of faith and the sentiments of theologians. The other prayers of fraction which follow, especially the one which occurs in the last place, since they exist in Coptic copies, have already been explained in the notes to the Gregorian Liturgy in that language. Furthermore, from the comparison of both codices, if there was any obscurity in either, it is fully discussed, and the faith of true—not metaphorical—transmutation which they contain is egregiously confirmed in three different languages: Greek, Egyptian, and Arabic. Yet in this last language, since we have many versions, the number of witnesses to the ancient faith increases to a greater degree, among whom no one, by interpreting, diverts the literal and simple meaning to figurative locutions, or warns, through an added observation, that they should be understood otherwise than as the words sound.

^A one operation, one hypostasis, one will, one nature of God the Word incarnate and worshiped. And having been crucified under Pontius Pilate, and having confessed the good confession, having suffered and been buried and having risen on the third day, and having ascended into the heavens, and having sat at the right hand of the greatness of the Father, Thou didst trample down death, and despoil hell, breaking the brazen gates and bursting the iron bars, and Thou didst call back the captive Adam from corruption, and didst liberate us from the servitude of the devil.

Therefore we beseech and implore Thee, O benign and good One, deign to grant unto us that with a pure heart we may dare, without fear, to invoke the Lord of all, the heavenly God, the holy Father, and to say, etc.

Another Prayer of the Fraction

Thou art indeed the Word of the Father, God before the ages, the great High Priest, who for the salvation of the human race wast incarnate and didst become man, and didst call to Thyself from all nations a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for Thy possession. Therefore we beseech and implore Thee, O benign and good Lord, let not this sacrifice, which we have offered for our infirmities, be for reproof and shame, not for judgment and condemnation of our sins, but as Thou hast deigned to fill these most holy and precious gifts of Thine with all sanctity, through the descent of Thy most holy Spirit upon them, so also deign to sanctify ^B the souls, bodies, spirits, and consciences of us Thy sinful servants, so that with an illuminated soul, a face not ashamed, a pure heart, a conscience void of hypocrisy, with sanctified lips, perfect charity, and secure faith, we may dare with confidence, without fear, to say the holy prayer which Thou didst deliver to Thy holy disciples and sacred apostles, saying: When you pray, pray in this manner: Our Father, etc.

*People.* Hallowed be, etc.

Another Prayer of the Fraction

Blessed art Thou, O Christ God Almighty, the liberator of Thy Church: O Word, whom they attain by thought, and man, whom they behold. Who through Thine incomprehensible incarnation didst prepare for us heavenly bread, this Thy body which Thou hast constituted as a sacrament, most holy in all things. Thou hast mixed for us a cup from the true vine, namely from Thy divine and immaculate side. Who, after Thou hadst yielded up Thy spirit, didst pour forth from that same side blood and water, in which there should be sanctification for the whole world. Possess us, O good Lord, Thy unworthy servants: make us a people of acquisition, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. Sanctify also us, O God, as Thou hast sanctified these holy ^C gifts set forth, and hast made them invisible from visible, mysteries which Thou alone understandest, O Lord God and Saviour ours.

^A Jesu Christ. Thou therefore, O Lord, through Thy great mercy hast deemed us worthy, through baptism, to become Thy sons and heirs. Thou hast taught us the form of the mystical prayer, whereby we may pray unto Thine immaculate Father. Thou, therefore, even now, O Sovereign Lord, make us worthy, with sanctified conscience and with a good mind, as becometh sons, with desire and good confidence, to dare to call upon the holy God in heaven, Thy Father, and to say. The people say: Our Father. And after the Lord's Prayer, the priest says: Yes, O Lord, O Lord, who hast given unto us the power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy, crush and subject the heads of our enemies under our feet quickly, and scatter all their crafty design against us; for Thou art the King of all of us, O Christ our God; and to Thee we send up glory, and thanksgiving, and adoration, day by day, with Thine unoriginate Father, and with the Holy Spirit, now, etc. The deacon says: Bow your heads. ^B Prayer of the inclination of the head. Thou who didst bow the heavens and descend to earth, for the salvation of the race of mankind, Thou who hast poured forth the whole abundance of Thy grace; Thou who doest all things more abundantly than we ask or think—O Thou lover of mankind, O Good One, stretch forth Thine invisible, blessed hand, full of mercy and compassions, and blessing, bless Thy servants, and cleanse them from all defilement of flesh and spirit; and make us partakers and fellow-bodies of Thy grace, that in holiness and righteousness we may offer our supplication unto Thee; and to Thee beseemeth all glory, majesty, power, and authority, together with Thine immaculate Father, and the Holy Spirit, now, etc. Another prayer, in like manner. Attend, O Lord Jesus Christ our God, from Thy holy dwelling-place, and from the throne of the glory of Thy kingdom, and come to sanctify us who bow down before Thee. Thou who sittest on high with the Father, and here art invisibly present with us; deem us worthy by Thy mighty hand to partake of Thine immaculate body and precious blood, and through us, all the people. For Thou art He who breakest and art broken, yet remainest unbroken; and to Thee we send up glory, with the Father, and with the Holy Spirit, now, etc. ^C (27) This sentiment, and others like it which are found passim in the books of the Orientals, can never come into the mind of those who reject the true transmutation of the elements into the body and blood of Christ: nor can they be explained by them, in whatever way they may twist them. For the Orientals recognize Christ as truly present in the Eucharist—as living, and as a priest according to the order of Melchizedek, a High Priest of good things to come, who perfects with His presence and the ineffable operation of the Holy Spirit the sacrament which He Himself instituted. For this reason, those things which are read above have reference: Thou who then didst bless, even now bless: Thou who then didst sanctify, even now sanctify: Thou who then didst break, even now break: Thou who then didst give to Thy disciples and apostles, even now, O Lord, give to us and to all Thy people. Therefore, the priest, before he breaks the eucharistic bread, which he ought to do so that he may imitate the example of Christ, invokes Him that He may be present at the fraction and sanctify it; and by that means, Christ breaks through the ministry of the priest, just as He blesses and sanctifies by the same ministry of His. When, however, that bread ^D

consecrates, it is the living body of Christ the Lord Himself, say the Copts, that Christ is He who as God, present by His omnipotent power, invisibly perfects the sacraments through the Holy Spirit: while working visibly through the priest, He breaks it—that is, He does exactly what He did at the institution of the Eucharist. He is also the One who is broken: because His living body is broken under the species of bread, yet it remains incorruptible, since it is now subject to no suffering, being the same body. Thus the Nestorians in their Liturgies say that the living and rational oblation of our first-fruits, and the unslain victim, is offered to God. Likewise, ^B the Lamb of God who is daily sacrificed sacramentally, and lives forever; and other matters, concerning which one must look at the notes to the Liturgy of Theodore. With a similar understanding, the Greeks have said that Christ is in the sacrament as He who offers and as He who is offered, following Gregory the Theologian, who spoke thus in his *Apologeticus*: "That no one is worthy of the great God, and of the victim, and of the high priest, who has not first offered himself to God as a living and holy sacrifice." Indeed, no one is worthy of the great God, as host and priest, who has not first exhibited himself to God as a living and holy host. On that occasion, no small disturbances were stirred up in the Church of Constantinople in the year of Christ 1156 under Manuel Comnenus (a), concerning which Cinnamus (bk. IV), Nicetas (bk. VII), and other authors have written at length. Namely, when Basil the deacon, in interpreting the Gospel, had publicly preached this doctrine from the pulpit, Michael the protecdicus of the Church of Constantinople, Nicephorus Basilacius, and others, impugned it, as if he were introducing Nestorian heresy. To them adhered Soterichus Panteugenus, the patriarch-designate of Antioch, Eustathius, the metropolitan ^D of Dyrrachium, and others as well. A synod was held the same year, and anathema was pronounced against those who impugned the doctrine explained by Basil. Leo Allatius accurately explained the whole history of that controversy from Greek authors (*Exercit.* 26, adv. Creighton, p. 522 et seq.); he then collected many testimonies of both ancient and recent theologians, not only from published books but also from manuscripts. All those things Dositheus, Patriarch of Jerusalem, translated into his *Enchiridion* (p. 47 et seq.), or the edition of the treatise which he had written under the title *Shield of the Orthodox Faith*, and which the Jerusalem or Bethleemite synod, because it had been approved and confirmed in it, published some time ago in Paris. So far, however, is it from being the case that he had retracted what he had written in 1672 and proposed to the synod, that he rather confirmed it with new and many arguments. The fact that he described a large part of the testimonies from Allatius does not prove that he was *Latinophron*, since all who saw him at Constantinople or Jerusalem know that he consented out of hatred for the Roman Church, and this is sufficiently demonstrated by Nectarius, whose disciple he was, in his book against the primacy of the Roman pontiff; of which work, the fame in the East was that he was its author rather than its editor. But when he published that work, and in the Preface, in which he briefly summarized the life of Nectarius, he praised him highly—no less than Melitius Syrigus, whose refutation of the Confession of Cyril Lucaris he also published—for the enmity he had perpetually exercised against the Latins, one seeks in vain for any propensity of his towards the Latins, from which he was very far removed. But when he transferred the Allatian collection of testimonies from Greek authors into his own work, by that same act he professed that there was no controversy between the Greeks and the Latins regarding the faith of the Eucharist; and he acknowledged that nothing was referenced by Allatius that was unknown or disapproved of by the Greeks. Regarding that same controversy, one must also see what the same Allatius wrote in the Preface to *Excerpta varia rhetorum et sophistarum* (Rome, 1641), in which he corrects many and, indeed, very grave errors of Wolphius while he was interpreting Nicetas.

(28) It is customary for the prayer of Absolution to be pronounced a little before the confession of faith in the Eucharist, as may be observed in other Liturgies. There is no Arabic version of the Greek text for this part. But there can be no doubt as to the meaning, since in that very place it is noted in the Coptic codex that the prayer of Absolution should be said, but that it is to be taken from the Liturgy of Saint Basil: which is different from that which the Greek and Coptic codices represent. There are, indeed, various formulas for these absolutions.

The Confession of faith, "Holy body," and the rest follow, which are in complete agreement with the others; and therefore they need no new observations, as neither do the other prayers with which this Liturgy concludes.

(a) Cardinal Angelo Mai edited this synod in *Spicilegium Romanum*, volume X; he had already published the Acts of the other, held in the same cause in Constantinople in 1166, in volume IV of the *Veteres Scriptores*. EDIT. PATR.

LITURGIA S. GREGORII ALEXANDRINA

and of your commandments; and furthermore, every conscience, and every thought, and all actions, and all motions rising up within ourselves, by day and by night, to bind and to hold fast against the soul. And make them innocent of every evil conscience, and of every fruitless action, and of every inflamed thought... that are profane and opposed to the purity of the soul. Grant them the acknowledgment of sins, and to abstain perfectly from them. Give them the purity of repentance, and the conversion unto you: for you, Sovereign Lord, became poor voluntarily when you took on flesh for the salvation of our race; and you tore up the handwriting that was against us, through the stretching out of your divine hands upon the cross. Spare all, Sovereign Lord, lover of souls, because all things serve you, and from you are the rewards of our liberation, not ^A of the works of our own hands. Therefore we glorify your kingdom, and we praise you, Christ our God, [which...]

For all days, even unto the heretics and the heathens.

Fill us with your fear, and direct us to your good will: for you are our God, and to you is due glory, honor, and worship.

The priest says: The Body and the Blood.

The deacon says: With the fear of God let us attend.

The priest elevates the Despotic (Host) and says aloud: The holy things for the holy.

The people say: Lord, have mercy.

One holy Father, one holy Son, one holy Spirit. Amen.

The priest says: The Lord be with you all.

The people say: And with your spirit.

The priest says: Blessed be the Lord forever. Amen.

The people say: Amen.

The priest says: Peace to all.

The people say: And with your spirit.

The priest says: The holy Body and the precious, true Blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Amen.

The people say: Amen.

The priest says: The holy Body and the precious, true Blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Amen.

The people say: Amen.

The priest says: The Body and Blood of Emmanuel our God, this is truly so. Amen.

The people say: Amen.

I believe, I believe, I believe and I confess until my last breath, that this is indeed the life-giving flesh, which you took, Christ our God, from our holy Lady the Theotokos and ever-virgin Mary; and you made it one with your divinity, not by mixing, nor by mingling, nor by alteration; and you testified before Pontius Pilate the good confession, and you delivered it for us all... upon the wood of the holy cross, by your own will.

Truly I believe that thy divinity was never separated from thy humanity, in an instant, or in the twinkling of an eye. Thou didst deliver it for [our] redemption, and for the remission of sins, and for eternal life, to those who partake of it. I believe that this is true in reality. Amen. People. Amen. Deacon. In peace and charity. Priest in a loud voice. Incomprehensible God, uncircumscribed Word, eternal [God], receive this hymn from us sinners, from unworthy lips, together with the supernal powers; for to thee belong all glory, honor, and adoration, with thy Father who is without beginning, and thy life-giving Spirit, unto all ages of ages. Amen. ^B People say Psalm CL. Deacon. Assemble yourselves and enter, deacons, with reverence.

Prayer of thanksgiving after the communion of the holy mysteries

Prayer of the bowing of the head