A Study of the Divine Liturgy
Class 7
Texts: Isabel Hapgood, Service Book; Nicholas Cabasilas, Commentary on the Divine Liturgy

Liturgy of the Catechumens - The Third Antiphon, the Trisagion Hymn, the sacred acclamations preceding the readings from Holy Scripture

1. Section 19 - The meaning of the third antiphon

The third antiphon in the cathedral rite is Psalm 94, “Come, let us rejoice in the Lord.” Cabasilas comments on the first three verses, which also still appear in our Horologion as the first two stichoi in the third of the daily antiphons.

1. The third antiphon is Ps. 94, because the words of the psalm convey the sense of an “encounter before the Lord Who draws near and appears,” and therefore this psalm is an appropriate accompaniment to the Small Entrance with the Gospel book. The Gospel book represents Christ, and the Small Entrance represents His being manifest in the world and the beginning of His public ministry.

2. The words “Come let us rejoice” conveys the joy the prophets felt when they were admitted to the mystery of the coming of Christ to earth even before the time.

3. “…let us shout with jubilation unto God our Savior…”. Our Lord was given the name Jesus, which means Savior, for of the three Persons of the Holy Trinity, it is the Son Who came to be our Savior.

4. “Let us come before His countenance with thanksgiving”. “Presence [countenance]” means the appearance of the Savior. We should not sit at home, but run out to meet Him. “…and with psalms let us shout in jubilation unto Him.” Psalms are the divinely inspired hymns due to God alone. By chanting psalms unto Christ, we are confessing His divinity. The words “For the Lord is a great God and a great King over all the earth” continue this confession of His divinity.

B. Section 20 - The showing of the Gospel, and the Trisagion

1. The priest elevates the Gospel book and shows it to the people, thus symbolizing the manifestation of the Lord when He began to appear to the multitudes. He enters the altar.

2. At this point, the hymns from the Old Testament cease, and we chant hymns of the New Testament commemorations (the dismissal hymns and kontakia of the day) of the Mother of God, the saints, and so forth.

3. We then praise the Holy Trinity with the triune hymn, the Thrice-Holy (Trisagion). The words “Holy, holy, holy” are taken from the angelic acclamation in the vision of Esaias (Isaiah 6:3), and the adjectives “mighty” and “immortal” are inspired by the words of King David in Psalm 41:2, “My soul thirsted for God, the might, the living…”. The Church chooses these two Scriptures and puts them together, adding the words, “have mercy on us.” Thus She shows the harmony of the Old and New Testaments, as well as the mystery that angels and men form one Church, a single choir, because of the coming of Christ Who is of both heaven and of earth. Thus it is appropriate that we chant this hymn after the bringing in and showing of the Gospels, which represent the coming of Christ, Who by His coming placed us in the heavenly choir.

C. Section 21 - The prayer which accompanies the Trisagion, and the sacred acclamations
In this section, Cabasilas first goes back to a point before the Trisagion begins, to the Prayer of the Trisagion, read by the priest quietly during the troparia following the Small Entrance, in preparation for the Trisagion Hymn. The text is in Hapgood, p. 85. After discussing this prayer, he goes on to comment on the greetings and commands that introduce the Scripture readings.

1. The prayer of the Trisagion hymn

a. Before the hymn begins, the priest asks God to accept it and to give grace to those who chant it.

b. What grace? One that accords with the hymn itself, that is, the grace of holiness (sanctification): He asks that their souls and bodies may be cleansed, that their sins may be forgiven, and that they may live in holiness all the days of their life.

c. God grants this gift because of Who He is - He is holy, holiness itself - and because He delights to “rest in the saints.”

d. The priest concludes with the doxology, so that the people can answer “Amen,” and this is the signal to begin the Trisagion Hymn.

2. The admonition “ Let us attend” - The priest admonishes those present to cast away negligence and inattention, and to listen carefully to what is said and done.

3. He wishes “peace” to them all. (Recall our earlier discussion of the word “peace” in regard to the Great Litany at the beginning of the Divine Liturgy).

4. “Wisdom” - This signifies the sum of those thoughts which are in accord with the ceremony. At that time, we should not be concerned with any purely human sentiment. This single word signifies an entire train of thought, and its repeated use during the service keeps serving to recall the minds of the listeners to the holy thoughts and sentiments that should fill their minds at this time

5. The necessity of these reminders (“Wisdom,” “Let us attend”): “…forgetfulness is a great tyrant; no other human frailty defeats men so often and so easily.” If our minds and hearts are not in accord with the mysteries celebrated, our attendance is in vain. But this is not easy to achieve, and we must keep constant watch on ourselves and behave with circumspection. We need these periodic reminders from the clergy in order to recall our minds to the mysteries being celebrated. This is also why later we will sing the verse, “Let us set aside all earthly cares” during the Great Entrance.

6. “Stand aright”

a. This warns us to be ready for the unseen warfare that ensues when we hold converse with God and assist at the Holy Mysteries.

b. There must be no inattention; we must act with fervor and reverence throughout the service.

c. Standing and not sitting is necessary, because the attitude of the soul corresponds to the posture of the body. It is the attitude of servants waiting upon their master.