In the last installment of this article, I had reached the point in the Liturgy where the Trisagion Hymn is sung. It was in 433 C.E., when Saint Proclus was Patriarch of Constantinople, that the city was evacuated due to a series of earthquakes. The citizens established campsites in the outskirts of town and were constantly praying for God to bring an end to this tribulation. As soon as the earth would start shaking they would pray with the words, Lord Have Mercy. During one prayer service, a boy from the crowd was snatched up into the air by an unseen force and carried up to such a height that he was no longer to be seen by human eyes. Then, whole and unharmed, the child was lowered to the ground and he reported that he heard and he saw the angels glorifying God singing: Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal. All the people began to sing this Trisagion Prayer, adding to it the refrain, Have mercy on us! After this all of the earthquakes stopped. [The word Trisagion is from the neuter of Late Greek trisagios thrice holy – thrice (tris) + holy (hagios)].

What follows immediately after the Trisagion Hymn are the readings for the day. They are traditionally introduced by Psalm verses.

In the seventh century the Divine Liturgy had three readings: from the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Gospels. By the reign of the Patriarch Germanos of Constantinople (715-730 CE), the Old Testament reading disappeared and only two readings remained: the Epistle and the Gospel. For the longest time the Psalms that were read before the readings remained. These were finally shortened to only a few verses. The few verses before the Epistle are called the Prokeimenon, a Greek word meaning that which precedes. The Alleluia, with Psalm verses in-between, precede the Gospel.

The readings from the New Testament really constitute the focus of the first part of the Divine Liturgy. This section is called the Liturgy of the Word and is concluded with the sermon, reflections on the readings for the day, and then the petitions for the day (there was also a litany for the Catechumens). Originally those intending to convert to the faith were only able to attend this part of the Liturgy. They were not permitted to attend the Liturgy of the Faithful which characterizes the larger portion of the Liturgy after the Liturgy of the Word.