The Great Entrance and the Offering

The threshold of the Liturgy of the Faithful: the Cherubic Hymn and the solemn transfer of the prepared gifts to the altar, then the call “Let us love one another,” the kiss of peace, and the confession of the Creed — the whole assembly made one in faith and love as it approaches the great prayer.

Tradition: Pan-Orthodox

Overview

With the catechumens dismissed, the Liturgy of the Faithful begins. The choir sings the Cherubic Hymn, during which the clergy carry the diskos and chalice in solemn procession from the table of oblation to the holy altar — the Great Entrance, the most visually dramatic moment of the rite, in which the offering of the whole Church and of all creation is brought forward. There follows the immediate preparation for the anaphora: the litany of supplication, the summons “Let us love one another, that with one mind we may confess” and the kiss of peace, the guarding of the doors, and the congregational confession of the Symbol of Faith (the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed). Only a Church made one in love and in faith may offer the holy oblation. This section covers the entrance and the approach to the anaphora.

Files

File Description
the-cherubic-hymn-and-the-great-entrance.md The Cherubikon; the transfer of the gifts to the altar; the commemorations; Schmemann on the “sacrament of offering”
the-creed-and-the-kiss-of-peace.md “Let us love one another”; the kiss of peace; “The doors! The doors!”; the Symbol of Faith and the approach to the anaphora

See Also