the Great Litany, as in all prayers of the Church, we pray as one for that which is necessary for us all (peace, favorable weather, the fruits of the earth), for those in need (the sick, the suffering, the imprisoned), and for our safety and salvation. We respond to these petitions by asking only for God’s mercy and nothing more, heeding the words of our Lord: “When you pray, do not use meaningless repetition … for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him” (Matt. 6:7–8, VP). And “Do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ … Your heavenly Father knows that you need these things. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day” (Matt. 6:31–33, VP).
Thus, with faith, reverence, and fear of God, we entrust ourselves and one another, and our whole life, to Christ our God.
3. Priest leading the Divine Liturgy
The Mini Creed
Praise the Lord, o my soul: while I live I will praise the Lord; while I exist I will praise my God.
—Ps. 145:1–2 [146:1–2], EL
Our surroundings may be magnificent: icons all around us and looking down upon us, the voices of the clergy and choir soaring; or
we may be in a church that is not so magnificent, with clergy and chanters who are not so musically talented. But however splendid the service may be, our prayer is simple. Some may be praying in attentive silence, others in movement—by making the sign of the cross—while yet others may be remembering specific people or needs during the Litany. Either way, we are praying together. And once the Great Litany ends, we are all drawn into a common act of worship and veneration, in a part of the service called the antiphons (a Greek word meaning “opposite voices”). These antiphons are refrains with psalm verses sung in alternation by the chanters and interspersed with what is called the Little Litany.
Again and again in peace let us pray to the Lord.
Help us, save us, have mercy on us, and keep us O God, by your grace.
Commemorating our all-holy, most blessed and glorious lady, Mother of God and ever-virgin Mary, with all the saints, let us entrust ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God.
There are three sets of antiphons, though the third is not always chanted as a refrain with the psalm verses. On most Sundays throughout the year, the refrain for the first set of antiphons is: “At the prayers of the Mother of God, Saviour, save us”; while for the second set of antiphons, the refrain is: “Son of God, risen from the dead, save us who sing to you: Alleluia!” The refrain for the third set of antiphons is the principal hymn of the day, which is chanted during the Entrance of the Gospel.
After the second set of antiphons, shortly before the Entrance of the Gospel, when the clergy bring out the Gospel book in procession to the middle of the church (see chapter 4), we sing a hymn that could be called a mini Creed:
Only-begotten Son and Word of God, who, being immortal, accepted for our salvation to take flesh from the holy Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary, and without change became man; you were crucified, Christ God, by death trampling on death, being one of the Holy Trinity, glorified with the Father and the Holy Spirit: save us!
This hymn was originally the beginning of the Liturgy, an Entrance Hymn (Eisodikon). The phrases of this short hymn sum up some of the most basic and fundamental aspects of our Orthodox Faith. Let us pause to consider them one by one.
Only-Begotten Son and Word of God
It is important to explain this term Word of God. When we speak of the Word (with a capital w), we are not usually speaking of the gospel, or the Bible; we are not talking about the written or spoken word. Instead, we are referring to a person, to the Second Person of the Trinity. We read at the beginning of St. John’s Gospel:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.… He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.… The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. (John 1:1–4, 10–11, 14, NIV)
St. John is referring to Jesus Christ. The Word is usually the term that is used for Christ before His Incarnation—that is, before His human birth. Christ is coeternal with God the Father. He always existed. He is, as we say in the Creed, “begotten of the Father before all ages. Light from Light, true God from true God.”
Christ is not a mere prophet or moral teacher. He is God Himself, one of the Trinity. We have one God, and yet our God is not one person, but three persons in one Godhead.
When we use the terms Father and Son in the Trinity, we must not get confused with how we normally think of father-son relationships. It does not mean that once there was just the Father, and then the Son came along. These terms, Father and Son, help us to understand the eternal relationship between the persons of the Trinity, but they cannot be pushed too far or be taken too literally.
The Son and the Holy Spirit are coeternal with the Father. God was always, is always, and will always be Trinity. But it is the second person of the Trinity, the Only-begotten Son and Word of God, Who became a man and lived among us. It is because of this act of God becoming a human being like us that we are able to become one with God.
Who, Being Immortal, Accepted for Our Salvation to Take Flesh from the Holy Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary
The veneration of the Virgin Mary as Mother of God (Theotokos) is firmly rooted in the doctrine of the Incarnation—that is, the human birth of the eternal Son of God, Jesus Christ. In the very word Theotokos is revealed the mystery of the Incarnation. The Virgin Mary gave birth to God in the flesh, one person with two natures—human and divine. Since the salvation of the world through the Incarnation was effected by God through the Virgin Mary, we venerate her as the Mother of our God and as the ultimate example of synergy—of cooperation with God’s will. She is humankind’s offering to God, from whom He took flesh for our salvation.
We venerate the Mother of God always in light of her role in the Incarnation. We do not venerate her simply on account of her own virtue but in virtue of the fact that Christ entered the world through her. This is why most icons of the Mother of God show her with Christ in her arms.
Some non-Orthodox Christians are not comfortable with the veneration of the Mother of God. Many wonder, does all of this veneration of the Virgin Mary somehow overshadow Jesus Christ? I have found this to be an almost knee-jerk reaction of some people when looking upon the significant position of the Virgin Mary in Orthodox worship.
The simple fact of the matter is this: there would be no Jesus without Mary. To venerate the Virgin Mary is to revere Christ becoming a man for our salvation, to fall down in awe before the great mystery of the Incarnation. He Whom heaven itself, even the highest heaven, could
