Perhaps the most sacred portion of our communal worship (i.e. Divine Liturgy) follows upon the recitation of the Creed of our faith. It is called the Anaphora (Greek ἀναφορά for offering up or carrying back). In the sacrificial language of the Greek version of the Old Testament, known as the Septuagint, προσφέρειν (prosphora) is used for the offerer bringing the gifts to the altar and ἀναφέρειν is used for the priest offering up the selected gifts upon the altar. It is by no coincidence, I believe, that the loaf of bread we use in the Liturgy is also called the Prosphora. (As I shared in the last issue, we, together with Jesus, are the bread on the paten and the wine in the chalice since they are, being food, truly the symbols of life. We join with Jesus in offering our lives and praise and worship to the Father).
The Anaphora begins with the special exhortation for all present to stand aright and be attentive since all present must be focused on the mystery that is about to be performed. In years past, when choirs (or at least a small group of select singers) typically responded to the priest, people were not as intimately involved in the action of the Liturgy. Therefore the priest or deacon would draw their attention to the important parts by declaring: Be Attentive!
After getting everyone’s attention, the priest imparts the blessing of God, that is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, so that the action of worship can proceed.
After the blessing the priest exhorts all to do something very important, saying: Let us lift up our hearts. All present confirm their willingness to do this by responding: We have lifted them up to the Lord! This is a very important action and it behooves all of us to think about lifting up our hearts so that what we do together, namely worship God, might be beneficial to all of us. This prayer is a direction/exhortation.
The next action in the Liturgy is the priest’s exhortation to give thanks to the Lord. The response designates exactly to whom we give thanks, namely the Trinity, one in substance and undivided.
These few simple actions and words set the stage for us truly remembering what the Lord did at the Last Supper, making it real for us at the very moment of our own worship.
The way we typically worship, the priestly prayer that immediately follows the declaration of our intent to worship God as Trinity, is only said partially out loud. I would encourage all to take time to read the beginning of that prayer. It is truly a beautiful and powerful prayer and further explains who we see the God that we worship to be. The prayer states that God is ineffable, inconceivable, invisible, incomprehensible, ever-existing yet ever the same. The God we worship is all of this and He is with us and in us!