The cycle of worship that began with the Vigil continues in the morning with the reading of the Third Hour and the Sixth Hour. The Third Hour (three hours after sunrise,about 9 a.m.) is the time when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles on the day of Pentecost. The prayers of this service address our continuing need for the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, given to us by being anointed with holy chrism following our baptism, so that we may live faithfully the way of the Orthodox Church and Faith. The Sixth Hour (after sunrise, around noon) is the time when the Lord Jesus was crucified. The prayers of this service are marked by thanksgiving to God for His Only-begotten Son, Who died so that we might escape death. Our prayers also ask for God's help, so that we may be saved from temptation and from our sins.
The Divine Liturgy is the greatest of the worship services of the Orthodox Church. In it, we celebrate the most holy Mystery of Holy Communion. In what is sometimes called the "Mystical Supper," bread and wine that have been offered are blessed by God to be the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. The faithful who have prepared themselves by prayer and fasting, and by the Mystery of Confession, receive the Body and Blood of our Lord, as the apostles did at the Last Supper on Thursday evening, before our Lord was taken to be tried and crucified. The Mysteries are offered as part of a larger service of worship that is ancient and virtually unchanged in practice over many centuries. We gather to offer ourselves and our prayers and praise and worship to God; to hear the words of Holy Scripture, and the sermon, for our instruction; and finally, to receive the grace of God through the Body and Blood of Christ,so that we may be fed and strengthened in the life of faith by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has given Himself for us, that we might forever be with Him.
Home