October 20, 1999
The Pious Priests and Deacons
of the Holy Diocese of
Denver
Beloved in the Lord,
In my pastoral visits to your parishes, I have observed certain things that need attention and correction. I realize that many of you are not accustomed to serving with a bishop, or for reasons unknown to me you seem to become nervous and forget what you know or should know.
I am therefore taking this opportunity to direct your attention to certain anomalies I have observed. Please read my words carefully.
a. The Vespers:
1. At Great Vespers the priest who is censing during the Kuvrie, ejkevkraxa wears the felonion and epitrachelion. When a bishop is presiding from the throne, he does not cense the Holy Altar, but immediately exits the sanctuary through the north door, approaches the bishop to receive a blessing, and censes the bishop three times. Following this, the priest turns and censes the icons on the iconostasion three times each, and then turns to the bishop and again censes him nine times. The priest continues to cense the chanters, the congregation and icons on the south side of the church, and then those in the Narthex. Returning up the center aisle, the priest censes the people and icons on the north side of the church. Arriving at the center of the solea, he then again censes the bishop nine times and the icons three times each. Bowing to the bishop, the priest then returns to the altar through the south door. Beginning with the front of the Holy Altar, he then censes all four sides of the table and the front once again. Finally, standing in the front of the altar, he censes all those standing in the altar area.
2. At Small Vespers there is no entrance and the Fw`" iJlaro;n is read, not sung.
b. The Orthros:
1. When the priest is expecting the bishop, he does not vest prior to Matins, but begins Orthros simply wearing an epitrachelion.
2. If the priest wishes to prepare the oblation before the bishop arrives (which he should not) he may do so also simply wearing an epitrachelion. The oblation stops after the priest commemorates the bishop. No other names are commemorated until the bishop vests and completes the oblation; while the bishop is commemorating, the priest may read the names for the oblation along with the bishop.
3. When a bishop is to celebrate, the priest vests after he receives the bishop's blessing to do so; not before.
4. The Sunday Orthros Gospels of the should be chanted and not simply read; at the very least they should be INTONED.
5. When the Gospel book is to be venerated by the people, which is done on Sundays following an Eothinon (resurrectional) Gospel only, the priest brings it forth from the altar when the chanter chants, "ÆIdou; ga;r ajlhqeivan hjgavphsa"...," not before.
6. At the veneration of the Gospel during the chanting of Psalm 50, the priest does not take the Gospel Book to the throne for the bishop to venerate; rather, the bishop will approach the priest who stands in the middle of the solea.
7. When the bishop is present before the people the priest never blesses, either with his hand or with the Gospel Book. This also is the case at funerals when the priest says, "For you are the resurrection ..." The bishop alone does all blessings when he is present.
c. The Divine Liturgy:
1. When a celebrating bishop is at the throne, the priest does not bow toward him before intoning any petitions or ekphoneses; rather he bows toward him only after he intones something.
2. When a bishop is not the celebrant, after the Duvnami" of the ÓAgio" oJ Qeov", the priest goes to the Prothesis to recite "Blessed is He Who comes ..." and then to the wooden crucifix to recite "Blessed is He Who is enthroned in glory..."
3. When the priest enters the Altar with the gifts at the Great Entrance, and the bishop is present (presiding from the throne or simply in attendance), he turns toward the bishop and says in a low voice, "May the Lord God remember your archpriesthood in His Kingdom ..."
4. Immediately after reciting the Amvon prayer as the choir sings "Blessed is the name of the Lord ...," the priest goes directly to the Prothesis and stands before the Holy Gifts to read the prayer, "To; plhvrwma tou` Novmou kai; tw`n Profhtw`n Ð The fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets ..." I do not see a good number of our priests read this prayer when I observe them while being in attendance in the altar.
5. When a bishop distributes the Holy Eucharist at the Holy Altar, the priests receive the holy Body from the bishop's right, go around the Altar Table, and return to receive the sacred Blood from the bishop's left.
d. Dismissals:
1. At the dismissal, a feast Ð such as of the Transfiguration or the Elevation of the Holy Cross, or the Dormition Ð is not commemorated in the place of the patron saint toward the end; it is not logical to be saying in effect: "through the prayers of the feast of the ..."
2. The commemoration of a feast is mentioned, however, in connection with the person or object involved at the beginning; e.g., "... through the intercessions of His all-pure and all-blameless Mother whose Dormition we celebrate this day, ...," or "... by the power of the precious and life-giving Cross whose Universal Exaltation we celebrate this day, ..."
3. Only when a bishop is the celebrant Ð in other words at the celebration of the sacraments such as the Divine Liturgy Ð does the service end with the bishop saying "Through the prayers of our holy fathers ..." followed by the senior priest saying "Through the prayers of our holy master ..."
4. At other services, when the bishop presides Ð such as Vespers or the Paraklesis Ð the service ends with the concelebrant clergy saying "Through the prayers of our holy master ..." followed by the bishop saying "Through the prayers of our holy fathers ..."
e. The Kalymavchion:
1. The kalymavchion is worn:
(a) When taking Kairov" during Orthros
(b) At all censings (such as at Matins, during the Doxology at the end of Matins, during the Cherubic Hymn, and at Vespers except as noted below)
(c) For the Artoklasia or Memorial Service
(d) At processions/litanies outside the Liturgy (e.g., liti at Vespers, processions with the cross and epitafion during Holy Week)
(e) At the Dismissal of all services
(f) During the Mystery of Marriage, except during the Gospel
2. The kalymavchion is NOT worn:
(a) During the Proskomide
(b) During the censing of the Proskomide
(c) At any time during the Divine Liturgy except as noted above (i.e., censings and Dismissal)
(d) During entrances (Small Entrance, Great Entrance, Entrance at Vespers even though the priest carries the censer or the Great Entrance of the Liturgy)
(e) During the Mysteries of Baptism/Chrismation except at the chanting of "ÓOsoi eij" Cristo;n ejbaptivsqhte, Cristo;n ejneduvsasqe," and at the Dismissal
(f) During the Mystery of Holy Unction except at the Dismissal
(g) During the Paraklisis and Akathist, except at the censing and at the dismissal.
3. The epikalymavchion may not be worn outside the Church; the only time it is worn in public is during an Orthodox religious ceremony or when representing the Bishop at a formal, public affair.
The above observations have to do with basic things regarding our holy services which everyone should know. Finally, do not add your own words to the services, especially in the English language. You are not to be innovators of Saint John Chrysostom's Liturgy, but faithful adherents to this spiritual masterpiece. Do not make it common by using temporal expressions. The Divine Liturgy is not a rehearsal where we "try" different things. We celebrate the Divine liturgy exactly as the Church has given it to us. The best English translations of the Divine Liturgy are by Father George Papadeas and Father Nicholas M. Elias.
Please make a point of remembering these basic requirements.
With Paternal Blessings,
+Metropolitan Isaiah
Presiding Hierarch
of
the Diocese of Denver