The Catalog of Good Deeds

The joyousness which accompanies the performance of the Divine Liturgies of St. Basil the Great and St. John Chrysostom was regarded by the early Church as not suitable for the penitential season of the Great Fast. For this reason, the Synod in Laodicea (363 AD) forbade the performance of the Divine Liturgies during the Great Lent. except on Saturday, Sunday, the Feast of the Annunciation, and Holy Thursday.

The Christians of that time were in the habit of receiving Holy Communion almost daily and now were deprived of the strengths derived from Holy Communion for about a week. The greatly saddened them.

The Church, desiring Her children to continue their pious habit of daily receiving the Holy Communion, permitted its reception but from Holy Gifts that had been consecrated in a preceding Liturgy. Thus the Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts was formed, and was celebrated on evenings from Monday through Friday during Great Lent; there is no consecration of the Sacred Elements at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, but those who desire to communicate receive the Holy Gifts which have been consecrated at the previous Divine Liturgy. The Christians did not eat anything all day.

It received its present form from St. Gregory the Great, Bishop of Rome in the sixth century. It became a Canon at the Quinisext Council in 692 AD. The Canon reads:

On all days of the holy fast of Great Lent, except on the Sabbath (i.e. Saturday), and the Lord's Day (i.e. Sunday) and the holy day of the Annunciation, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is to be served (Canon 52, Quinisect Council, 692 AD).

As the years passed, however, the Christians unfortunately lost their original zeal and ignored the benefits from Holy Communion, and so they did not receive it every day or even every Sunday. They received it at long intervals. Therefore the Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts lost its original and main meaning to those celebrating it. Today, it is used only during the Great Fast, on Wednesdays and Fridays; on Thursday in the fifth week of Great Fast; and on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in Passion (Holy) Week.

The Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts consists of Vespers, with special Prayers together with a portion of the Divine Liturgy, omitting its most important part, the consecration of the Holy Gifts; and the Third, Sixth and Ninth Hours (with the Typical Psalms) are used in a particular manner at the beginning.

The Sacred Elements, consecrated at the Divine Liturgy on Saturdays and Sundays, are preserved on the holy Altar in the tabernacle. The priest places the Gifts on the diskos with prayer and incensing after the Great Litany, during the chanting of the psalms (kathisma). He carries them in solemn procession around the back of the Altar, and to the Table of Oblation.

The evening psalm, Lord I call upon You, is then sung with the special hymns for the day. This is followed with the evening entrance, the hymn Gladsome Light, and two Biblical readings; from Genesis and from Proverbs. The Bible readings are punctuated by the Priest blessing the faithful with the censer and a lighted candle proclaiming "The Light of Christ illumines all!". This blessing symbolises the light of Christ's Resurrection, which illumines the Old Testament Scriptures and the entire life of mankind. This is the very Light with which Christians are illuminated in the life of the Church through Holy Baptism.

The Prayer of St. Ephraim is read after the singing of the evening psalm "Let my prayer rise in Your sight as incense. The augmented litany is chanted, and the Presanctified Gifts are brought solemnly and to the altar table. This is when the following special entrance hymn is chanted:

Now the powers of heaven do serve invisibly with us.

Lo, the King of Glory enters.

Lo, the mystical sacrifice is upborne, fulfilled.

Let us draw near in faith and love, and become communicants of life eternal.

Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.

The Prayer of St. Ephraim is read again, accompanied with a litany and a special prayer before Holy Communion (Eucharist). "Our Father Who art in heaven ..." is sung and the faithful receive Holy Communion to the singing of:

"O taste and see that the Lord is good. Alleluia"

The communicants "depart in peace" with thanksgiving to God for His Coming. The special dismissal prayer asks God for a successful fulfillment of Lent and to worthily celebrate the Great Feast of Pascha - the Resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord.

O Almighty Lord ... Who has brought us to these all-holy days for the purification of the soul and body, for the controlling of carnal passions ... and the hope of the resurrection ... enable us to fight the good fight, to accomplish the course of the Fast, to preserve inviolate the Faith ... to be accounted victors over sin ... and uncondemned, to attain unto and to adore Thy Holy Resurrection...

The evening reception of Communion is fulfilled after a day of prayer and fasting, with the total abstinence from food and drink at least from the early morning hours of the day - not an easy task.

The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is one of the great masterpieces of Orthodox piety and liturgical creativity. It reveals the central Christian doctrine and experience in its form and content; namely that our life must be spent in prayer and fasting in order to be in communion with Christ who will come like 'a thief in the night'. It tells us that all of our life, and not only on fast periods, is completed with the Presence of the Victorious Christ who is risen from the dead. It witnesses to the fact that Christ will come at the end of the ages to judge the living and the dead, and to establish God's Kingdom "of which there will be no end". It tells us that we must be ready for His arrival, and to be found watching and serving; in order to be worthy to "enter into the joy of the Lord".

The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is one of the most beautiful and meaningful liturgies in the Orthodox Christian Church.

Adapted from Fr Thomas Hopko's Orthodox Church in America

and Fr Nicholas M. Elias's Greek Orthodox Church, Athens

Source: http://www.orthodoxchristian.info/pages/Gifts.htm

As this Divine Liturgy (really Vespers with the communing of the faithful) is served only on weekdays during Great Lent, prostrations are done by the faithful at various parts of the service. This little pamphlet is designed to help you understand when prostrations are done, as well as explain a few of the interesting anomalies of this Divine Service.

- Prostrations are done when you enter the Church. Rather than just crossing yourself three times when entering you in fact cross yourself and prostrate yourself to the ground three times upon entering.

- When lighting candles and kissing the icons prostrations are done as well. Two prostrations following by the kissing of the icon, the placing of your candle, and finally a third prostration before the icon.

- When the curtain is closed (following the third Small Ektenia), all the faithful (except for the one person reading the psalms) prostrate themselves to the ground. They do not arise until the curtain has again been opened.

- After the first reading from the Old Testament the priest opens the Royal Doors and says “The Light of Christ Enlightens All!” As he blesses the faithful with the candle the faithful (including the Reader) make a prostration to the ground.

- During the singing of “Let my prayer arise…” the faithful and the singers prostrate themselves. The faithful prostrate themselves while the TRIO is singing (in some parishes the trio actually sings in the middle of the church on its knees). The trio prostrates itself while the CLERGY are singing. The people stand while the clergy are singing.

- During the two readings of the Prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian (after “Let my prayer arise…” and after the Great Entrance) the faithful prostrate themselves as does the priest.

- During the Great Entrance the faithful prostrate themselves as the Holy Gifts are brought out of the altar. They remain prostrate until the priest says quietly “With faith and love let us draw near…”

- When the Holy Gifts are brought out of the altar for the Communion of the faithful and the priest says “With the fear of God and faith draw near!” the faithful prostrate themselves.

- After the Communion of the faithful, when the priest again brings out the Holy Gifts and says “Always, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages!” the faithful prostrate themselves.

- If the Presanctified Liturgy is served on any day but Friday the faithful do three prostrations as they exit the church (except for those who have communed). If it is Friday we cross ourselves three times as usual, without prostrations.

The question, of course, arises as to why we are doing so many prostrations at the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. As we usually attend church services on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings when prostrations are forbidden, we feel a bit odd prostrating ourselves on the floor in the Church. However, we do prostrations on almost all days throughout the year except on Sundays. When we prostrate ourselves before the Holy Gifts we express our belief that the Holy Bread and the Holy Wine are truly the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is, we bow down before God Himself.

A few other practical tips regarding the Presanctified Liturgy:

-There is no prosphora offered at the Presanctified Liturgy. As there is no consecration of the Body and Blood of Christ at this service (the Gifts were PRESANCTIFIED at the Liturgy on Sunday), there is no prosphora offered.

- Infants who do not eat solid foods do no commune at this service according to the ancient tradition of the Church. There is a long explanation to this practice. Please see Fr. Gregory if you would like to learn more.

- The cross is not held by the priest following the service. Again, this is an ancient practice of the Church and reminds us of the penitential character of Great Lent.

- The priest commemorates the saints from both the day of the Presanctified Liturgy and the day following, since the Liturgy is actually a Vespers service and it encompasses aspects of both days.

How to make a Prostration

Frederica Mathewes-Green

To make a prostration we make the sign of the cross on ourselves, kneel, place our hands on the floor and touch our foreheads down between our hands.

One former Episcopal priest said that seeing people prostrate themselves was one of the things that made him most eager to become Orthodox. He thought, "That's how we should be before God."

How to make a Prostration

“Orthodox America”

Prostrations are less awkward and less physically taxing if made in the following manner. Keeping the feet together, bend slightly and fall "lightly" to the floor, onto the hands, positioning them at a comfortable distance in front of the knees (which touch the ground only after the hands) to allow one to spring back up to a standing position, after lightly touching the head to the floor. It takes very little practice to master this technique, which requires surprisingly little physical stamina.

Source: http://www.stvladimiraami.org/pamphlets/presanctifiedliturgytips.pdf

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

The last Beatitude taught us to have hunger, an unceasing desire, for higher things. In the Beatitudes, Jesus is teaching us how to climb a Divine ladder that leads us to blessedness, or Theosis. In this Beatitude we are called to become merciful.

What is mercy?

Gregory says,

The obvious meaning of the words calls men to mutual charity and sympathy, which are demanded by the capricious inequality of the circumstances of life; for all live not in the same conditions, neither as regards reputation nor physical constitution nor other assets. Life is in many ways divided up into opposites, since it may be spent as slave or as master, in riches or poverty, in fame or dishonor, in bodily infirmity or in good health–in all such things there is division. Therefore the creature in need should be made equal to the one who has a larger share, and that which goes short should be filled by what has abundance; this is the law mercy gives men in regard to the needy…

Mercy is a voluntary sorrow that joins itself to the sufferings of others.

We all have differing issues in life. Some of us are rich and some are poor. Some live in highly industrialized nations and others in rural underdeveloped nations. Some have very good health while other suffer from painful maladies. Mercy, Gregory is pointing out, has to do with placing ourselves in an equal situation with those who do not enjoy the same benefits of life that we do. This is why he says it's a “voluntary sorrow.”

We all would like to share in the good fortune of others but not generally in their misfortune. Mercy involves intensified charity where we choose to also share in the misfortunes of others. This is the height of virtue.

Think of the kind of world it would be if all developed this virtue. Gregory says,

Envy would be futile, hate would die out, remembrance of injuries would be banished along with lies, fraud, and war, all of which are the off spring of covetousness. If that hard and unfeeling attitude were removed, the evil growths would be weeded out with it completely, as with the root of wickedness. And with the departure of evils there would enter instead the whole array of good things, peace and justice with all their train of virtues… Therefore mercy, as the definition has shown, is the parent of kindness, and the pledge of charity; it is the bond of all loving disposition…

There is another meaning here as Jesus says, for they shall obtain mercy. This implies that those who are merciful will have their reward later. Gregory says this shows us a higher doctrine. Mercy is a course we must choose with faith.

He who made man in His own image endowed the nature of His handiwork with the principles of all goodness. Hence nothing good enters into us from outside, but it lies with us to have what we will, and to bring forth the good from our nature as if from some inner chamber. For from the parts we are taught about the whole, that there is no other way of obtaining one's desire except by procuring the good for oneself. Therefore the Lord says to His hearers: “The Kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21); and, Everyone that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks, it shall be opened. (Matt 7:8) So it depends on us and is in the power of our free will to receive what we desire, to find what we seek, and to enter where we wish to be.

Gregory laments on this teaching:

How is it possible that with this in mind we should spend our pity on the misfortunes of others? Should the soul not rather be disposed to have pity on itself if it thinks of what it once possessed, and from what state it has fallen?

His answer is as follows:

it is blessed to be concerned with one's physical health. For if a man is concerned about this, he will live in good health. Thus also is the merciful called blessed, because the fruit of mercy becomes itself the possession of the merciful;

We need to ask, when the time of judgment comes what will happen to us. Will we feel acclamation by the God of all creation?

Gregory concludes:

Therefore, brethren, let us heed the voice of the Lord, who in a few words teaches us so many things about the future life. Let us become merciful, so that through mercy we may become blessed, in Christ Jesus Our Lord to whom be glory and power for ever and ever.

Source: http://orthodoxwayoflife.blogspot.com.by/2009/09/5th-beatitude-blessed-are-merciful.html

Our Publishing House published a book titled The Yonder Land in 2011. Its main characters are the residents of the Boarding Home No.3 for the mentally challenged, as well as the sisters and brothers of the Sisterhood of Saint Elisabeth, nuns of St. Elisabeth Convent, and doctors. There is a chapel in honour of St. Xenia of Petersburg in the Boarding Home. Today, just a couple of days after the patron saint's day of this chapel, we would like to share some excerpts from this wonderful book with you.

The society casts some people away as worthless. God finds them precious. They lack the privileges, the comfort, and the opportunities of this world. The Lord gathered them in the Boarding Home. This is where they spend their lives filled with suffering and pain, dreams and joys... Someone may view their lives as joyless, unbearable, and harsh. In fact, they are more real and more grounded in reality than the life of a regular person in this world where everything is based on self-deception and the desire to live for one's own sake.

Archpriest Andrew Lemeshonok: They look at every person with immense shrewdness. We often treat other people like silhouettes roaming around. We get tired of them and try to hide from them as quickly as possible. When you come to the boarding home, the residents who stay here look at you and see through you because they are attentive, compassionate, and loving.

Lena, 30

Lena is benevolent and polite. She has a gorgeous voice. She dreams of her own home and a family.

– What makes you happy?

I'm happy because God. We go to church, confess, and take communion. We love God. We pray for everybody.

– What is beauty?

Beauty is Love. The beauty of heart is when a person loves another person, his neighbour. You see? It's when he treats him with an open and warm heart. When he shares something to make the other person happy. When he helps that person and shows his kindness. Gets him on the right track.

Gregory, a parishioner: I recall how I had to go to the boarding home to attend a Liturgy. The day before, I had sprained my ankle and had not slept for almost the entire night. I was too tired to get up that morning. My mood was so gloomy! My soul protested: “What do you need it for? Today, you really have the reason to stay at home.”

I made myself go to the boarding home. I thought, "I'll get to church today even if I have to crawl..." Interestingly enough, although my leg ached badly at first, the pain soothed down halfway to the boarding home.

When I was standing in the church, I was immersed in thinking about all my problems. I had problems at work and I was anxious for my mum, who had a weak heart. I confessed but my condition did not improve. On the contrary, I felt even more pain. I was almost crying. The Communion began. The patients queued for the Chalice. I was struck by the pure eyes of a man who had usually behaved with visible insanity. After the Communion, his eyes were so amazing! I recalled Christ for some reason. His eyes were so pure and clear, filled with quiet sadness and placidity. The guy came to me, took my hand, and said, "Don't worry. Everything will be alright. Just don't worry, please." For some reason, I believed him.

Another man came to me after having received the Sacrament. He hugged me and said, "Calm down! You can't do anything. Everything will be fine with you and your mum. Everything will be alright."

Since that moment, I cannot perceive anyone from the boarding home as an ill person.

An old friend of mine who had the habit of asking me for a sweet or a small coin took communion, too. He came to me and said, "Listen, are you going to take communion? Why are you waiting here for so long?"

When I took communion, my heart was filled with quiet joy. Everyone in the Church must have had that feeling of Fatherly love. My heart felt warm and blissful... and tranquil, amazingly unagitated. The only thing that you want to do in such a situation is simply to pray to God, "Lord forgive my doubts and lack of faith." When you are happy, it is the best time to ask the Lord to forgive you.

Sister Yulia: Why do people end up in the boarding home? It's a huge mystery of the salvation of the human soul. A person can be sick and miserable, crippled by physical defects, but his soul can be amazingly pure and beautiful nonetheless!

They are finely attuned to God and other people. They are unsophisticated, open-hearted, and kind. These people are not of this world.

Xenia, 38

Xenia is often aggressive and angry but when she is in a good mood, she agrees to share what she feels.

– Have you been happy this week?

No, I haven't. I don't know if I have ever been happy. I have not been happy for a long time. I had seizures, and they injected some drug to calm me down. My eyes were swollen. Right now, I am getting back to my normal state after the injection. The last time I was happy was when I gave birth to my daughter at the age of 18. I was very beautiful. I won the first prize at Miss Yurmala-1991 Fashion Contest but I didn't sign the contract to work in France. I didn't fly to France because I had to look after my daughter. I ended up in a mental hospital. My relative called an ambulance on me.

– What do people live for? What do you live for?

We live in order to live and help each other.

Fragments from The Yonder Land,

published in St. Elisabeth Convent in 2011.

February 6, 2018

The life of the pupils of our Sunday School is so exciting and colourful that everyone – children, their parents, and the residents of the boarding home – are happy to go to school on Sundays. Novice Galina Shpakova, the headmaster of the Sunday School, has told us about the recent events, which stay in the memory of the big and the little ones.

We Took Part in Friendly Contests!

The recent draughts and table tennis tournaments have shown that there are plenty of young talents in our school! It turned out that some of the children play better than adults...

The children were divided into several groups according to their age to participate in the tournaments. The best table tennis players were selected out of more than fifty contestants. There were seventy draughts players to choose from! Even so, everyone received an award in the end!

We Learned a Lot!

Classes in the Sunday School are captivating, too. Not only children but also their parents come to acquire new knowledge. There are meetings for adults with seminarians, priests, matushkas, and theologians.

There are special classes for the residents of the boarding home for the mentally challenged. The sisters teach them to paint, read, and pray. The residents of the boarding home rehearse various drama performances with the help of the teachers and the sisters.

We Shared Our Love!

Thanks to the Sunday School classes, the parents of our pupils met the young patients of the boarding home for children. Recently, on St Xenia of Petersburg Day, young singers of the Bozhya Korovka (Ladybug) Choir greeted the residents of the boarding home for children. The singers' parents visited the boarding home together with their children, in spite of the fact that it was a working day. They shared the joy of this feast with the young patients. The children were singing a song about little people with strong faith, and it sounded so heart-warming!

The parents did their best to help the residents of the boarding home to feel the feast, too: a birthday party for all children born in this month was held there last Sunday. Small gifts, sweets and biscuits, a concert, and stories about the children's holy patrons blended together in one big and meaningful day, which will be remembered in the boarding home for a long time.

February 12, 2018

St. Elisabeth Convent

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The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts as one of the great masterpieces of Orthodox piety and liturgical creativity.

Practical Tips on the Presanctified Liturgy

The Fifth Beatitude: What is mercy?

The most important thing to know about the Great Canon

The Text of the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete for Monday

Great Lent Chants by the Sisters of St.Elisabeth Convent

General Themes of The Great Canon of St Andrew of Crete

Personal Stories: They Are Finely Attuned to God and People

Ministry of St. Elisabeth Convent: 20th Anniversary of the Church in Honor of St. Xenia of Petersburg

How Is the Sunday School of St Elisabeth Convent Doing These Days?

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