Glory to Jesus Christ! I'm Father Bohdan Hladio, I am at Saint Volodymyr Ukrainian Orthodox
Cathedral in Toronto, Ontario in Canada and this will be the next in our short
films about those parts of the Divine Liturgy
which the faithful normally don't see or witness.
Today, we'll be doing the priest's Entrance Prayers
and so, as it says in the priest's Service Book:
"When the priest desires to perform the Divine Mystery,
he must first be at peace with all, have a pure heart, fast from the previous
evening; and remain in a prayerful spirit until
the service begins." And so, when we
come to the church, we of course, all of us,
but especially the priest, should be at peace with everyone; not having enmity
against anyone — and that's part of having the pure heart
as much as we can as sinful people... and then we fast. That means not only
from food and drink — but also if the priest is
married from marital relations, etc. And also to prepare himself prayerfully
like any Christian who is going to receive Holy Communion.
The priest would read the "Prayer Rule before Holy Communion," and he might do
that the evening before or the morning of, before he comes
to church. And then when he does come to church, as
it says: "When the time comes, he and the deacon enter the church and
bow before the Holy Doors three times." They then
say what we call the "Entrance Prayers" — which consists of
the "Usual Beginning" — those usual prayers, the order of prayers we have at the
beginning of almost every service in our church,
followed by the "Troparia of Compunction" — "Have mercy on us..."
which are read by everyone in the Evening Prayers.
Then he venerates the icon of the Saviour and the icon of the Mother of God
on the iconostas. He says a prayer asking God to strengthen him
for his service; bows to the faithful (usually
the priest and/or deacon are alone in church at this time... occasionally
somebody is already there) — but we bow to the faithful asking their
forgiveness; and then reciting Psalm 5, enter the Holy Altar
"O God, cleanse me, the sinner, and have mercy upon me."
"Blessed is our God always, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen."
"Glory to You, O God, glory to You!" "O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit
of Truth, everywhere present and filling all
things; Treasury of blessings and Giver of Life,
come and abide in us and cleanse us of all stain and save our souls, O Good One."
"Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us."
"Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us." "Glory to the Father and to
the Son and to the Holy Spirit, both now and
ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen." "All Holy Trinity, have mercy on us. Lord,
be gracious unto our sins, Master pardon our transgressions,
Holy One, visit us and heal our infirmities for Thy name's sake."
"Lord, have mercy, Lord, have mercy, Lord, have mercy." "Glory to the Father and to
the Son and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever unto the ages of ages. Amen."
"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive
those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but
deliver us from the evil one. For Thine is the Kingdom, the power and
the glory of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen." "Have mercy on us, O Lord, have
mercy on us — for laying aside all excuse, we sinners offer this to our Master
the supplication: Have mercy on us!" "Glory to the Father and
to the Son and to the Holy Spirit." "O Lord, have mercy on us, for in Thee have we put
our trust. Do not be angry with us, nor remember our
iniquities, but look down on us even now since Thou art compassionate
and deliver us from our enemies, for Thou art our God and we are Thy people; we are
all the work of Your hands and we call upon Your name."
"Now and ever unto the ages of ages. Amen." "O Blessed Theotokos, open the doors of
compassion to us whose hope is in you that we may not perish, but be delivered
from adversity through you; for you are the salvation of the
Christian people." "We venerate Your most pure image, O Good One
and ask forgiveness of our transgressions, O Christ our God.
Of Your own good will Thou wast pleased to ascend the Coss in the flesh and
deliver Your creatures from the bondage to the enemy.
Therefore, with thankfulness we cry aloud to Thee: Thou hast filled all with joy,
O our Saviour, for Thou didst come to save the world!"
"Make us worthy of mercy, O Theotokos, Fountain of Tenderness!
Look on us sinful men and reveal your power as always
for we have put our hope in you. Rejoice! — we cry to you as once did Gabriel,
the leader of the Bodiless Hosts."
"O Lord, stretch forth Your hand from Your holy dwelling place on high
and strengthen me for this, Your appointed service; that standing without
condemnation before Your throne, I may offer the bloodless sacrifice.
For Yours is the power and the glory unto the ages of ages.
Amen." "Forgive me." "Forgive me."
"I will enter Thy house and I will worship toward Thy holy temple in the
fear of Thee. Lead me, O Lord, in Thy righteousness
because of my enemies; make my way straight before Thee,
for there is no truth in their mouth; their heart is destruction; their throat
is an open sepulcher; they flatter with their tongue. Judge them, O God, let them
fall by their own counsels. Because of their many transgressions
cast them out, for they have rebelled against Thee.
But let all who take refuge in Thee rejoice; let them always sing for joy
and do Thou dwell in them that those who love Thy name may exult in Thee
for Thou blessest the righteous, O Lord, Thou coverest
with good will as with a shield." "O God, cleanse me, the sinner and have mercy upon me!"
"O God, cleanse me, the sinner, and have mercy upon me!"
And at this point, the priest and the deacon
get their vestments; and they begin their vesting prayers.
Thank you!