THE LITANY OF PEACE AND THE ANTIPHONS

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

THE MYSTERY OF PEACE

Deacon: In peace, let us pray to the Lord.
Cantor: Lord, have mercy [Kyrie eleison].

Immediately after the blessing of the Kingdom of God,

THE LITANY OF PEACE AND THE ANTIPHONS

[The Priest, lifting up the Gospel Book, and making

Choir [or chanters]: Amen.

The Liturgy transforms earth into heaven

At Christ’s Incarnation, the mystery of the Triune God was revealed to man. ‘Because the rites performed in the Divine Liturgy are a sacramental initiation into the Incarnation of the Lord, it is necessary for the Holy Trinity to shine forth and be proclaimed from the very beginning of the Liturgy. This is why the priest begins with the Trinitarian Doxology: “Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” The Divine Liturgy IS THE REVELATION OF THE BLESSED KINGDOM OF THE TRIUNE GOD.

The Liturgy, as a manifestation of the Kingdom, is at the same time the mystery of Christ’s presence, FOR THAT IS WHAT THE KINGDOM IS. ‘What is the Kingdom of God?’ asks Christ, through Saint John Chrysostom. And He replies: ‘It is My presence.’ It is the ACTUAL PRESENCE OF CHRIST THAT IS CELEBRATED IN THE DIVINE LITURGY. Throughout the Liturgy, Christ ‘APPEARS IN THE MYSTERIES THEMSELVES.’ [Matthew 41:2].

Deacon: In peace, let us pray to the Lord.
Chanters: Lord, have mercy [Kyrie eleison].

THE MYSTERY OF PEACE OF GOD

Immediately after the blessing of the Kingdom of God, our Mother Church teaches us the way of liturgical prayer: “Let us pray to the Lord in peace.”
The road that leads to the Divine Liturgy IS PEACE OF SOUL. Without this peace, we cannot take part in the Liturgy: ‘Without tranquility of thoughts, the human intellect cannot explore hidden mysteries.’ Real participation in the eucharistic Mystery is proportionate to our inner peace: ‘The more the heart ceases to be disturbed by recollections of external things, the more the intellect is astounded by understanding divine meanings.’

True peace of soul, however, is to be had at the heavenly Altar where the Holy Anaphora is celebrated: ‘True peace is from above.’ And we approach the Altar IN PEACE. Saint Basil writes: ‘Seek peace… Acquire a calm mind and a state of soul untroubled and undisturbed…that you may acquire the peace of God “which passes all understanding” [Philippians 4:7] as the guard of your heart.’ [Saint Basil the Great]

The fact that man has been created in the image of God means that human nature has been created ‘PEACEABLE, FREE FROM STRIFE AND FACTION, BOUND TO GOD AND TO ITSELF BY LOVE.’ The peace which man received as a gift from God was enjoyed by living a virtuous life close to Him. For ‘nothing gives such peace to our soul as knowledge of god and the acquisition of virtue.’ Sin, however, BROUGHT CONFUSION AND TROUBLE TO MAN AND TO THE WORLD. ‘For evil by its nature is DISPERSIVE, UNSTABLE, MULTIFARIOUS AND DIVISIVE.’ Through sin, man became an enemy both to himself and to God. Once man had reached that point, Christ was able to help him and give him peace. ‘Christ is the only one who can reconcile with God, the only one who gives peace of soul.’ It was for precisely this reason that ‘in His love for man God became man so that He might unite human nature to Himself and stop it from acting evilly towards itself, or rather from being at strife divided against itself.’ [Saint Maximus the Confessor]

The peace that Christ brought by becoming man is ACQUIRED THROUGH REPENTANCE: ‘From her unceasing tears, the soul receives peace in her thoughts. And from peace in thoughts she is raised to the limpid purity of the intellect. And through this limpidity of the intellect a man comes to see the mysteries of God. [Saint Isaac the Syrian] Tears of repentance are the beginning of the road. They form the first rung of the ladder that takes us up to contemplation of the divine Mysteries. The second rung is PEACE OF SOUL.

When we approach Christ in repentance, He sends us to the place where His peace reigns: “Go in peace” [Luke 7:50]. He sends us into the church, which is the ‘IMPREGNABLE PALACE OF [God’s] PEACE.’ There our soul, guided by Christ the High Priest, occupies itself with the contemplation of God in the Holy Spirit: that contemplation which is ‘peaceful and free from any disturbance.’ [Saint Maximus the Confessor]

The Divine Liturgy IS THE MYSTERY OF THE PEACE OF GOD: “This Mystery is a Mystery of peace.’ For the Divine Liturgy IS OUR ENCOUNTER WITH CHRIST, WHO IS “THE TRUE PEACE” FOR MAN. [Saint John Chrysostom]. Having instructed us in the first petition how we should pray, the Church now teaches us what we should first ask for: the peace of God and the salvation of our souls. That is what Christ taught us when He said, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness” [Matthew 6:33], for ‘the salvation of our souls’ means the Kingdom of God, and the ‘peace form on high’ means righteousness.’ The righteousness of God is virtuous life, the life that man scorned when he fell, and that has been given us anew as a gift from Him “who became for us…righteousness from God and sanctification'” [1 Corinthians 1:30]. [Saint Nicholas Cabasilas]

As the Angels heralded at His birth, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill among men” [Luke 2:14]. Christ BROUGHT TRUE PEACE TO THE EARTH. The Angels guarded well the place assigned to them ‘and are at peace with God, FOR THEY HEED HIS WILL AND REMAIN STEADFAST IN RIGHTEOUSNESS AND SANCTITY. We wretched humans, on the other hand, exalted our own desires in opposition to the will of the Master and assumed an attitude of enmity towards Him. This enmity WAS ANNULLED BY CHRIST, for He is our peace and through Himself He UNITED US WITH GOD THE FATHER, PUTTING SIN TO FLIGHT…SO CHRIST BECAME PEACE AND GOODWILL FOR US.’ [Saint Cyril of Alexandria]. [Resources: The Divine Liturgy by Hieromonk Gregorios of the Holy Mountain]

(To be continued)
_____________
“Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!”
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +

With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George