Liturgy of the Presanctified

This past week I was privileged to attend the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts at Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church with my good friend Greg.

Can I say? The liturgy was absolutely beautiful and quite affecting – and of course there was much with which I was completely unfamiliar.

The choir was beautiful, and the chanting – in English – really got under my skin and into my heart.

While the prayers were unfamiliar, they were shadows and echoes of prayers I had prayed in the Roman and Benedictine rites, both in the Mass and more especially in the Divine Office.

If you’re at all interested, there’s a great article on this particular liturgy over at the New Liturgical Movement.

Unlike the Latin rites, there were a whole lot of prostrations and several hundred signs of the cross.

The movement of the body, of course, helps dispose the spirit to prayer.

You can study the liturgy, the liturgical rites, their history and their meaning, but it is only in living the liturgy that you become aware of its meaning and message and power.