During the past several weeks I have been attempting to share with my readers how the Divine Liturgy was celebrated during the time of John Chrysostom. One particular difference was in how the Gifts were brought to the Holy Table. As we now celebrate the Divine Liturgy, there is a procession through the Church with the bread and wine and the priest audibly prays, during this procession, for all the living who are truly a part of our worship. This process takes place after the faithful sing the most poignant Cherubic Hymn.

In either 573 or 574, Justinian I had the Cherubic Hymn added to the standard liturgy. The previous prayer used was that of the Liturgy of St. James, which had then been inserted into the Liturgy of St. Basil. That hymn, beginning with the phrase Let all mortal flesh keep silent, is currently only used on Great and Holy Saturday.

During the period of the fourth through the ninth centuries, the shape of the   Eastern Divine Liturgy reached its final form under the guidance of liturgists such as John Chrysostom. In this same period the major formative changes occurred as a result of the Church’s developing theological understanding. The hymns Only Begotten Son, Trisagion Hymn,  Cherubic Hymn, the Hymn to the Mother of God and, of course, the Nicean-Constantinopolitan Creed were added to the Liturgy to counter heresies and express the true beliefs of the Church.

Originally the bread and wine had most probably been brought to church by the people and then brought to the Holy Table by deacons without any singing. In the time of John Chrysostom, the gifts were transferred in a simple manner. It requires a good deal of imagination to realize this in view of the splendor which latter came to attend what we now call the Great Entrance.

For whatever reason, and the real reason is truly unknown, the bringing of the gifts to the Holy Table became an elaborate procession. As it now is served, great stress is placed on the procession itself, rather than on its objective, and makes it a focus of popular devotion. As it is now served, wherein the gifts are brought through the entire church, people can come to realized that these gifts, symbols of life itself, also represent them and that what we actually ask God during the Liturgy is to accept the gift of life     itself, in union with Jesus and communion with the Holy Spirit. We join Jesus in    offering thanksgiving to the Father for the gift of life. Through this action our worship involves us in a very personal way: Christ + Us, inspired by the Holy Spirit, offer ourselves in thanksgiving to the Father!

Jesus + Us, In the Spirit = the Offering