THE EPISTLE

Priest: Let us be attentive.

The Reader reads the verses from the Psalms.

Priest: Wisdom!

Reader: The reading is from (the name of the New Testament book).

Priest: Let us be attentive.

The Reader reads the designated Apostolic reading.

People: Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.

THE GOSPEL

Priest: (in a low voice) Shine within our hearts, loving Master, the pure light of Your divine knowledge and open the eyes of our minds that we may comprehend the message of your Gospel. Instill in us also reverence for Your blessed commandments, so that having conquered sinful desires, we may pursue a spiritual life, thinking and doing all those things that are pleasing to You. For You, Christ our God, are the light of our souls and bodies, and to You we give glory together with Your Father who is without beginning and Your all-holy, good, and life giving Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Priest: Wisdom. Arise. Let us hear the holy Gospel. Peace be with all (blesses the people).

People: And with your spirit.

Priest: The reading is from the holy Gospel according to Saint (name of the holy Evangelist). Let us be attentive.

People: Glory to You, O Lord, glory to You.

The Priest reads the designated Gospel reading.

People: Glory to You, O Lord, glory to You.

The Priest gives the homily.

(The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, pp. 10-11)

Scriptural readings are an integral part of the cycle of daily services. We start in the evening with Old Testament readings at the Vespers service, we continue with the morning Gospel during the Orthros service, which on Sundays always focuses on the Resurrection of our Lord, and conclude with the two New Testament readings of the Divine Liturgy, as outlined above. The first reading comes either from an epistle (a letter, most of the time written by St. Paul to one of the many churches he has founded) or the Acts of the Apostles, a book written by St. Luke that describes the first few years in the life of the Church. This reading is done by a person who has a special blessing, called a church reader. Some of our altar boys have recently been tonsured as readers. The second reading is always from one of the four Gospels (according to John, Matthew, Luke or Mark, depending on the ecclesiastical calendar) and is done by the priest or the deacon.

Before reading the gospel, the priest censes the book of the Gospels and recites a mystical prayer, asking God to open our hearts and minds in order to receive the message of the Holy Gospel. Censing is a means to invoke God’s presence - we need God in order to understand the Holy Scriptures in which He speaks to us His Divine Word. Our minds are not able to comprehend this Divine Word without divine assistance. The prayer also mentions our struggle against sinful desires - not everything we desire is good and beneficial for us; on the contrary, some things that appear pleasant are downright harmful. We need to learn to rein in our desires, so that we can do what is pleasing to God. This and only this can truly set us free; pursuing pleasures makes us slaves of our own desire. But when the light of Christ shines into our souls and bodies, we become children of Light and are able to walk the walk of righteousness without excessive difficulty.

As he is about to start the reading, the priest calls the people to attention and blesses them as the Lord blessed the apostles when He came to them through the closed doors, by granting upon them the peace from above (cf. John 20:19). The people bless the priest in return and give glory to God, listening very carefully. Following the reading, the priest gives an explanation, or homily (from the Greek omilia, instruction). This concludes the first part of the service, sometimes called the Liturgy of the Word.