Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts

The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts may be described as the heart of the services of Great Lent. It is at this spiritually emotional service that the bread and wine, which has been consecrated earlier at Sunday’s Divine Liturgy, is carried in a procession quietly to the table of oblation. Before the Entrance of the Presanctified Holy Gifts, the choir sings the “Hymn of the Entrance,” a lovely, solemn hymn. During the entrance, while we bow down with our heads to the ground, the church is cloaked in silence, a reminder of Psalm 46:10: "Be still, and know that I am God.” We rise up to the singing of “Let us draw near in faith and love, and become communicants of life eternal.” During communion following the Lord’s Prayer, the participants and the choir sing: “O taste and see that the Lord is good!” (Ps 34:8) As Father Hopko in his introduction in the prayer book for the service stated: “The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is one of the most beautiful and most meaningful liturgical services in the Orthodox Christian Church.”

On Wednesday March 23, St. John’s hosted Fr. Jacob Ramsey, rector at Holy Apostles Church in Saddle Brook and his parishioners to a combined Presanctified Liturgy. It was our pleasure and joy to have Fr. Jacob and his parishioners join us in worship. Following the service, a small Lenten meal was served in the church building next door. We are truly blessed to have this wonderful service available to us.