SAINT NICHOLAS

Byzantine Catholic Church
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23300 King Drive, Clinton Township, MI 48035   *   +1-586-791-1052   *   stnicksbyzantine@yahoo.com

Divine Liturgy

There are several forms of the Byzantine Divine Liturgy.

 

The Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom is celebrated throughout most of the year.

The Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom is the most celebrated Divine Liturgy in the Byzantine Rite.

It is named after the anaphora with the same name which is its core part and it is attributed to Saint John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople in the 5th century.

It reflects the work of the Cappadocian Fathers to both combat heresy and define Trinitarian theology for the Christian Church.

The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom was probably the divine liturgy used originally by the School of Antioch and was, therefore, most likely developed from West Syrian liturgical rites.

In Constantinople, it was refined and beautified under John's guidance as Patriarch of Constantinople (398–404). Having become the liturgical form of the Church of Holy Wisdom, Hagia Sophia, it became over time the normative liturgical form in the churches within the Byzantine Empire.

 

The Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great is celebrated ten times each year: on the five Sundays during the Great Fast (Lent), joined together with Vespers on the Eves of Christmas (December 25) and Theophany (January 6), joined together with Vespers on Holy Thursday and Holy Saturday (or on the day of those feasts when they fall on a Sunday), and on the feast day of Saint Basil (January 1).

The Liturgy, as it is currently celebrated in the Byzantine Rite differs very little from the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom; the primary difference being in the silent prayers said by the priest and the hymn All of Creation which replaces the usual Axion Estin.

In general, the prayers of St. Basil are more penitential, and therefore lend themselves to the Church's liturgical preparation for important holy days; hence, their use during Great Lent and on the eves of Nativity and Theophany (both of which are strict fast days, known as Paramony). The service may be divided into the Liturgy of the Catechumens and the Liturgy of the Faithful

 

The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts (which has no consecration but distributes the Holy Mysteries consecrated the previous Sunday) is generally celebrated on Wednesdays and Fridays of the Great Fast and the first three weekdays of Holy Week.

 

The Archiraticon is an editon of the Divine Liturgy with the additional texts and rubrics that are used when a bishop celebrates.