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A
reference point in the typiko of Great Lent is the communion of the
Presanctified Precious Gifts. The discordance between the festal and joyful
nature of the celebration of the Divine Eucharist and the compunction of Great
Lent makes it inappropriate to celebrate the bloodless sacrifice on fast days.
And yet, the importance of Holy Communion for the spiritual struggle of the
faithful has established participation in the Presanctified Gifts even on such
days.
The
difference between the Presanctified Liturgy and the more common types of the
Eucharist is that the Precious Gifts have already been sanctified as Body and
Blood earlier, at the Divine Liturgy on the previous Saturday or Sunday. At the
proskomidi, the celebrant takes out a second lamb [central portion of the
loaf], which he places with the first on the paten. He sanctifies and elevates
this as normal, and, after pouring the warm water into the chalice, immerses the
second lamb in the precious blood and places it carefully in a special
artoforio or tabernacle [a vessel kept on the holy alter where the reserved
gifts are kept] until the day when the Presanctified is to take place.
The
service of the reception of the Presanctified Gifts is not contained in the
seven services celebrated during the day and night, nor is it a Divine Liturgy,
but simply a way of distributing the Precious Gifts, and is attached to
Vespers. The singing of the ancient hymn “Now the powers…” marks the join
between the two services. What happens before the hymn is Vespers and then
after the hymn we move into the Presanctified.
The
timing of the Presanctified on the evening of Wednesdays and Fridays in Lent
was preferred because of the all-day fast on these days until the time for
Vespers, so that after receiving the Precious Gifts, the faithful were able to
consume food. In parish practice, the communion of the Presanctified Gifts is
often transposed to the morning, on the one hand because it is impossible for
the faithful to maintain a strict fast, and, on the other, because of the habit
of celebrating the bloodless sacrifice in the morning hours. Because of the
change of time of the Presanctified, Vespers has also been moved to the
morning, since the two services are combined. This is why it has become
customary for Vespers to be celebrated in the morning during Lent, whether or
not it is followed by the Presanctified. Other days when the Presanctified is
regularly held are the Thursday of fifth week (Great Canon of Saint Andrew of
Crete), the first three days of Great Week and the days when saints are
commemorated.
In olden
times, the Presanctified Gifts were given on the Wednesday and Friday of Cheese
Week, and also on Good Friday. To this day, the Divine Liturgy cannot be
celebrated in its entirety on these days, according to the old practice of the
Church of Jerusalem. A remnant of the old custom is the addition to the Triodio
of a reading from the Old Testament at Vespers in the two days of Cheese week.
In the Byzantine era, there was communion of the Presanctified Gifts on every
Wednesday and Friday of the year. Indeed, in the 10th century, communion of the
Presanctified Gifts was optional in Constantinople.
In
accordance with the old custom, a Presanctified Liturgy could also be held on
the feast of the Elevation of the Precious Cross, instead of the full Divine
Eucharist of Saint John Chrysostom which is celebrated today. The reason for
this is to be found in the sombre character of the feast of the Elevation of
the Cross, which is the equivalent of Good Friday, when there is a similar
interdiction on the celebration of the Divine Eucharist. It also used to be the
case that the Presanctified was held on the feast of the Annunciation, but canon
52 of the Quinisext Synod exempted that day, as well as Saturdays and Sundays,
from the necessity to hold the Presanctified, intimating that the full Divine
Eucharist could be celebrated.
The
composition of the Presanctified Liturgy is attributed to a number of Church
Fathers, among whom were Epifanios of Cyprus, Yermanos of Constantinople and
Pope Gregory the Dialogist. Also, in codex 766 of the national Library in
Athens (16th century), there is indirect testimony to the fact that it is a
product of the pen of Saint Gregory the Theologian. In particular, the codex
states that at the end of the Presanctified Liturgy, we have the dismissal hymn
and kontakio of Saint Gregory the Theologian, probably because of confusion
with the Dialogist. Ioannis Foundoulis prefers that no tropario of any saint be
sung, but rather that, after “Glory. Both now”, we should immediately have the
tropario “At the prayer, Lord”. However that may be, the author is not known
today. According to P. Trembelas, the attribution to Saint Gregory the
Dialogist is most likely due to the fact that he was responsible for
popularizing it in the West, since he introduced it into the form of service
for Good Friday in the Church of Rome, according to the Roman rule.
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| Photo from here |
Briefly,
the structure of the service of the Presanctified is as follows. Essentially,
it begins with the readings and the “Let my prayer” in Vespers and with the
prayers for the catechumens and the faithful. Then comes the singing of “Now
the powers”, and the celebrant censes the congregation. In the middle of this,
we have the Entrance of the Holy Gifts, after which the hymn is completed. This
is followed by a litany, the prayer “by placing the holy gifts on the holy
altar”, the Lord’s Prayer, the two prayers of bowing the head and the
exclamation “Let us attend. The Presanctified holy things to those who are
holy”. Thereafter, the structure of the Presanctified is identical to that of
the Divine Eucharist, with only a few differences in hymns and prayers. These
are: a) instead of “We have seen the light”, we sing “I will bless the Lord”;
b) the prayer read before the icon of Christ is “Almighty Lord” and c) the
antidoro is given before the end of the service, “Through the prayers”, while
psalms 33 and 144 are read. The last is the old order of service not only for
the Presanctified but for the full Liturgy, too.
The
availability of the Presanctified Gifts demonstrates the Church’s desire to
meet the spiritual needs of its members. As the prime expression of the
sacramental community, the Holy Eucharist is a necessary feature of the life of
the faithful. Its absence would weaken the bond of the faithful with the
Eucharistic assembly, but its presence, even through the dispensation of having
the Presanctified, fortifies the faithful in prayer and fasting during the
bright sadness that is Lent.
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