Author: Fr. Athanasius Iskander

Understanding the Liturgy: The Liturgy of the Faithful

Introduction: The Liturgy of the Faithful follows the same steps the Lord followed in the Last Supper. By reviewing the Synoptic Gospels’ account of the Last Supper, as well as the account given by Saint Paul in 1Cor:15, we find out that the Lord: 1. Gave Thanks, 2. Blessed, 3. Broke, 4. Gave to the …

Understanding the Liturgy: Mercy, Peace, the Sacrifice of Praise

“Offer in order, stand in trembling, look towards the East.” With this exhortation the deacon signalled the people (in older times) to bring forward their offerings to the altar. But now things have changed, the offering of the bread and wine has been moved to the begin­ning of the Liturgy, and the deacons, rather than …

Understanding the Liturgy: The Prayer of Reconciliation

The prayer of reconciliation made its ap­pearance in the Liturgy around the sixth cen­tury. Earlier documents show the Kiss of Peace following immediately after the Liturgy of the Catechumens. [24] The offering of the gifts would then start as soon as the Catechumens leave. We first hear about a “prayer before the Kiss of Peace” …

Understanding the Liturgy: The Liturgy of the Catechumens

THE LITURGY OF THE CATECHUMENS The teaching part of the Liturgy was called the Liturgy of the Catechumens, because those can­didates for baptism (catechumens) were allowed to attend it. It concluded with the kiss of peace, which not only was a sign of reconcilia­tion among all, but also gave the faithful “Godparents” a chance to …

Understanding the Liturgy: The Offertory

The offertory, simply defined, is the rite of bringing the offerings of bread and wine into the Altar. This rite has undergone a process of evolution in churches all over the world. This evolution involved basically three stages. We have enough information that enables us to reconstruct these stages of development. In the beginning: In …