The words you don’t hear
In almost every relationship someone will inevitably complain about the words they don’t hear from the other member of the relationship, whether it’s the spouse or a parent or a boss at work or a teacher. The words he or she does not hear might be “I love you,” or, “Can I help you with that?” or, “Good job!” and any others that often go unspoken even in the most caring and loving relationships. It hurts when we realize the words we don’t hear in a marriage or a family or in a workplace. Well, here is something that hurts in our gathering for the Liturgy: the many words you don’t hear in the Liturgy!
I always look forward to the conclusion of the Liturgy. Partly out of relief that I made it to the end without a catastrophe. But also because of the beautiful prayers that come at the end. After giving communion to everyone, I look to the congregation with the chalice and say: O God, save Your people, and bless Your inheritance.
Then the choir and hopefully the entire congregation sing: We have seen the true light; we have received the heavenly Spirit; we have found true faith, worshiping the undivided Trinity, who has saved us.
While that is sung, I tidy up at the Altar Table. Gathering all the consecrated Bread that was not given out in communion, I add the pieces to the chalice while saying these words “in a low voice”: Wash away, Lord, by Your Holy Blood, the sins of Your servants here remembered through the intercessions of the Theotokos and all Your saints. Amen. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let Your glory be over all the earth.
Those are powerful words that speak of what Christ does for us. So why has our tradition relegated such powerful words to be read silently, “in a low voice” that is not heard by anyone? And why do we today, when we want to move the Church forward from the liturgical decadence and theological illiteracy of the post-Byzantine centuries still, obsessively hold on to the practices that crept in during those post-Byzantine centuries?
As I return the chalice to the preparation table (Prothesis) where it all began before the Liturgy, the choir sings another beautiful hymn which SCANDALOUSLY is ignored in almost all Greek churches! (Though it IS printed in the Liturgy book used in our churches.)
Let our mouths be filled with Your praise, O Lord, that we may sing of Your glory, for You have made us worthy to partake of Your Holy Mysteries. Keep us in Your holiness, that all the day we may meditate upon Your righteousness. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.
How beautiful to leave the Liturgy with our mouths filled with praise of God, instead of everyday talk. Our mouths have just received the Body and Blood of Christ. How can we go back to just ordinary talk? No, the song has it right: Let our mouths be filled with your praise, O Lord. . .Keep us in Your holiness! Praise is the only thing worthy to come out of our mouths after receiving the Body and Blood of Christ! Praise the Lord, and the Lord will keep us in His holiness. Good luck hearing this in a Greek church. But you do hear it at Holy Trinity in Portland, Maine.
Right before the “Dismissal” of the Liturgy, the priest goes to the Prothesis on the left side of the Altar to read one final prayer; and yes, “in a low voice.”
Christ our God, You are the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. You have fulfilled the Father’s entire plan of salvation. Fill our hearts with joy and gladness always, now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
Don’t you want your heart to be filled with joy and gladness? Why should it be only the priest who reads and hears these words? Why are so many of the most meaningful and most inspiring words of the Liturgy relegated to the private edification of the priest? Father Alexander Schmemann created a liturgical revolution in the Orthodox Church here in America about 50 years ago. It wasn’t a revolution of creating something new or changing the Liturgy. No! It was simply Father Alexander reading all the prayers of the Liturgy and saying, Why does nobody hear these prayers, which help us deepen our faith and leave the Liturgy with such joy and thanksgiving? The revolution he caused was merely to look at what is already there and uncovering it. Tell that to the individuals who are still printing translations of the Liturgy as if we’re still stuck in 19th-century Greece just coming out of the 400-year Turkish enslavement! We are not slaves to anyone except our own reluctance to see what is already there in our tradition and uncover it.
In the Liturgy of St. Basil, that final prayer becomes longer, and more profound.
The mystery of Your dispensation, O Christ our God, has been accomplished and perfected as far as it is in our power. We have had the memorial of Your death. We have seen the type of Your resurrection. We have been filled with Your unending life. We have enjoyed Your inexhaustible delight which in the world to come you will be well pleased to give to us all, through the grace of Your holy and good and life-giving Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages.
As with many of the prayers in St. Basil’s Liturgy, there is soul-stirring theology in these sentences. But again, no one hears it. And no one hears the Anaphora of St. Basil’s Liturgy which contains the most extraordinary summary of who we are and what God has done for us, and what it is we are doing when we receive Communion. But. . .Wow, what revelations and promises in this final prayer! And again, only the priest hears it.
Is it wrong to criticize our Greek Orthodox practices? Shouldn’t we make every effort to bring out the meaning of the Liturgy through greater attention to its words and actions? It’s not an easy thing to do in 21st-century America. Praise God, the Church is making good strides forward. But we still have much work to do. In the meantime, we praise God who fills us at every Liturgy with “unending life” and “inexhaustible delight” as that last prayer affirms. In the final analysis, life and delight are more important than words. But words help, because our Lord who is the Master of the Liturgy is also the Word. The Logos, the Word of God!
Father Constantine Sarantidis
The authors of the two Liturgies used in the Orthodox Church: St. Basil the Great and St. John Chrysostom. (Byzantine mosaic in the Palatine Chapel, in Palermo, Sicily, c. 1150 AD)