Divine Liturgy Explained

Soorp Badarak means "Holy Sacrifice".

A Hymn about Holy Communion -- Marmeen deroonagan Like the Liturgy of the Word, the Eucharist also begins with a hymn to Jesus Christ. This first hymn of the Eucharist asserts that when we receive the Body and Blood of Christ in Holy Communion, we are being joined to the same Son of God who is praised by the angels in heaven: "The body of the Lord and the blood of the Savior are present before us. The heavenly hosts invisibly sing with unceasing voice: Holy, holy, holy, Lord of hosts" [23]. Marmeen deroonagan reminds us that in Holy Communion we become one with Almighty God. We literally tap into the divine power of God, for whom "All things are possible" [Matthew 19:26].

The Procession with the Gifts of Bread and Wine. Another similarity between the Eucharist and the Liturgy of the Word is that both begin with a procession. The deacon processes around the altar elevating the veiled chalice above his head. Like the procession with the Gospel in the Liturgy of the Word, this procession draws our attention and devotion to the bread and wine, which become for us the Body and Blood of Jesus. While the deacon processes around the altar the priest prays once again that God will make him worthy to preside over this sacrament: "€¦Cleanse my soul and my mind from all the defilements of the evil one; and by the power of your Holy Spirit enable me €¦ to stand before this holy table and to consecrate your spotless body and your precious blood" [24].

At the end of the procession, the deacon hands the gifts to the celebrant as they alternate verses from Psalm 24. Yet again, the words of the Psalm express our faith that the contents of the chalice will become for us the Lord, "strong in his power, mighty in battle." As the deacon hands the chalice to the priest he says: "This is the king of glory!" [Sa eenkn eh takavor parats] [25]. The Procession with the Gifts concludes with a proclamation by the deacon, leading into a prayer by the priest. On behalf of all those present he asks God to "grant this bread and this cup to be for us, who taste of them, a remedy of forgiveness of our sins" [26]. A Call to Attention: Let us Stand in Awe After the Kiss of Peace the deacons invite the people to give their undivided attention to the Eucharistic Prayer, the main prayer of the Badarak. In the course of this long prayer [29-39] the celebrant, praying on behalf of all the people, asks God to do for us just what Jesus promised at his last Supper: to fill us with His Body and Blood, the sacrament of His holiness and divine life, in the bread and wine of Holy Communion. In preparation for this important prayer, the deacons call on us to "lift up your minds in the fear of God;" to "give thanks to the lord with the whole heart" [29]. This is our cue to clear our minds of extraneous thoughts. We must now focus on God. At this moment nothing is more pressing and urgent than He. The Eucharistic Prayer The Eucharistic Prayer of the Armenian Church is attributed to the great fourth-century Egyptian theologian St. Athanasius, who strongly influenced Armenian theology. The Eucharistic Prayer of St. Athanasius is more than a simple prayer in the usual sense of the term. It is a poetic, highly theological declaration of the Armenian Church's understanding of God's intervention in human history, mostly in the person and deeds of Jesus Christ. The prayer retells the whole story of our salvation [29-32], focusing on the beginning and the end of Christ's life: his birth as a human being [29-30], and his death on the cross [30-31] as a sacrifice to God the Father for us. Christ's crucifixion led to his resurrection, by which he destroyed the permanence of death and replaced it with a new and never-ending life with God for those who choose to accept it. The Prayer is called "Eucharistic" because the story of our salvation in Christ pivots around Christ's last Supper [31-32]. It was during that meal in the Upper Room, on the night before his execution, that Jesus gave his disciples bread and wine, declaring them to be his Body and Blood. More important, Jesus told them that in this ritual meal, he had established "the new covenant in my blood" [32] a radically new relationship of love and fellowship between God and humanity. "Do this," he told them, "in remembrance of me" [1 Corinthians 11:24-25].

When we celebrate the Eucharist and receive Holy Communion, we recall and recommit ourselves to this new covenant in the Church. We rededicate ourselves to Christian life as children of God and heirs of eternal life with him. We renew our oath of baptism. Filled with Christ himself, we say, "Yes, Lord. I want to follow you and be with you in this life and for all eternity." Through the Eucharist, the Church offers us true inner peace, a real sense of belonging, and the true security that comes from being with God. The Eucharistic Prayer is therefore the Church's prayer of life in Christ. It is the unique ministry of the priest to offer this prayer to God on behalf of all the faithful. Over the centuries this prayer, the heart of the Divine Liturgy, has been covered over by deacons' litanies and hymns so that today much of the Eucharistic Prayer is offered inaudibly by the celebrant. It is important, therefore, that we realize that this Prayer is not "private," and it is not "the priest's prayer." It is the prayer of all the children of God, the Church, to their Father in heaven.

The Preface Theologians refer to the first part of the Eucharistic Prayer as the "Preface" [29-30]. The Preface praises God for sending his son, Jesus Christ, into the world to be born, and to take on the condition of humanity in order to cleanse it and reconcile it with God the Father. This is the mystery of Christ's incarnation. It is the teaching of the Armenian Church that in the incarnation the process of our salvation already began as Jesus embraced humanity, purifying it and infusing it with his divinity." Like the divine master-builder building a new work," our Eucharistic Prayer declares, "[Jesus] made this earth into heaven" [29].

We see the same mystery revealed in the bread and wine of the Badarak. As the twelfth-century Armenian St. Nersess Lambronatsi wrote, "For our sake you became earthly that we may become heavenly. For our sake you became bread that we, by partaking of you, may be sanctified." The Last Supper After the Sanctus, the Eucharistic Prayer describes "the outpouring of [Jesus'] infinite loving-kindness to us" [30]. The Prayer recalls God's repeated attempts, detailed in the Old Testament, to coax mankind back from the vain and sinful distractions of this life to the loving security of God. This culminates in the sacrifice of God's only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, who died on the Cross as a redemption for our sinfulness. "The world-saving Cross...the occasion of our redemption" [30] is perpetuated for us in our celebration of the Lord's Supper. The Eucharistic Prayer narrates this event, quoting Christ's own words: "Take, eat; this is my body...Drink this all of you. This is my blood" [31 ]. Our celebration of the Badarak rests on the authority of these words of the Lord. We repeat the Lord's Supper in the Divine Liturgy not by any human authority, but because our Lord told us to do so [Mathew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24, Luke 22:19-20, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26]. Our Eucharistic Prayer declares: "Your only-begotten, beneficent Son gave us the commandment that we should always do this in remembrance of him" [31].

Our celebration of the Badarak rests on the authority of these words of the Lord. We repeat the Lord's Supper in the Divine Liturgy not by any human authority, but because our Lord told us to do so [Mathew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24, Luke 22:19-20, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26]. Our Eucharistic Prayer declares: "Your only-begotten, beneficent Son gave us the commandment that we should always do this in remembrance of him" [31].

The Epiclesis"Epiclesis" (eh-pi-clee'-sis) is the term theologians use to describe the next part of the Eucharistic Prayer. In the Epiclesis we call on God's Holy Spirit to come down "upon us and upon these gifts," so that they may become "truly the Body and Blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" [34]. This is our main supplication in the Eucharistic Prayer.

The Intercessions After the Epiclesis, in the presence of Jesus Christ in his Body and Blood, we pray to our heavenly Father for all of our daily cares and concerns. The Prayer lists them one by one. These subsidiary requests of the Divine Liturgy are called "Intercessions." We pray for peace in the world, for the stability of the Armenian Church, for our Catholicos, Bishops and clergy, for civil leaders, for travelers, prisoners, captives, for the sick and suffering, for temperate weather and sufficient food, for those who help the poor, for all the living and all the dead [35, 37,38-39].

The Prayer lists them one by one. These subsidiary requests of the Divine Liturgy are called "Intercessions." We pray for peace in the world, for the stability of the Armenian Church, for our Catholicos, Bishops and clergy, for civil leaders, for travelers, prisoners, captives, for the sick and suffering, for temperate weather and sufficient food, for those who help the poor, for all the living and all the dead [35, 37,38-39]. We should never underestimate the power of prayer. Jesus said, "If two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven." [Matthew 18:19]. There is no better time to ask our heavenly Father for whatever we need than during the Badarak, when we are assembled in the presence of Christ as the Church.

While the priest silently makes these intercessions in the Eucharistic Prayer [35, 37, 38-39], the deacons chant a litany in which they recall the names of the great saints of the Church [34-37]. We remember that the saints already live in the presence of God in heaven. But they also invisibly participate in our liturgy. We ask them to intercede with God -- literally, to put in a good word for us -- so that He may hear our prayers and answer them. All of this is expressed in the refrain, Heeshya Der yev voghormya, "Be mindful, Lord, and have mercy." The Conclusion of the Eucharistic Prayer The great Eucharistic Prayer ends with a final reference to Holy Communion, a closing doxology in praise of the Holy Trinity, and of course, the seal of all prayers, Amen: "And having cleansed our thoughts, make us temples fit for the reception of the Body and Blood of your Only-begotten, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, with whom to you, O Father almighty, together with the life-giving and liberating Holy Spirit, is befitting glory, dominion and honor, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen" [39]. Two Hymns of Praise The priest's exclamation, Ee surpootyoon surpots, "Holiness for the holy" [42] is the original invitation for the faithful ("the holy") to come forward to receive communion ("holiness"). It is a relic from an earlier time when Holy Communion was distributed at this point in the Divine Liturgy.

Eventually, two hymns were added here, before the distribution of Holy Communion. The first is addressed to Christ: Meeayn soorp, "The one holy" [42]. It is sung while the celebrant elevates the Eucharistic bread and the chalice over his head. The hymn is an acclamation that they are the Body and Blood of Christ. The second hymn is sung in praise of the three persons of the Holy Trinity: Amen, Hayr soorp, Vorteet soorp, Hokeet soorp [43].

Following this hymn, the priest turns toward the people with the chalice and proclaims it to contain "the holy, holy, and precious Body and Blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who, having come down from heaven, is distributed among us." The celebrant continues with an incisive affirmation of the power of the sacrament: "This is life, hope of resurrection, expiation and remission of sins." Finally, the priest asks the people to "Sing psalms to the Lord our God ... our immortal heavenly king" [44]. Finally, the priest asks the people to "Sing psalms to the Lord our God ... our immortal heavenly king" [44]. Confession and Absolution Sin is anything that distracts us from "undivided devotion to the Lord" [1 Corinthians 7:35]. In a stress-filled and secular world Christians tend to deviate from God, forgetting their responsibilities, but also their abundant blessings as baptized children of God. St, Paul writes that we must be "blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world" [Philippians 2:15].

When we fall short of this high calling, as we are bound to do, the Church provides a sacrament by which we can demonstrate our remorse and desire to return to the path that leads to God. The Armenian Church has many forms for reconciliation with God. The most direct vehicle is Holy Communion itself, which is given "for the expiation and remission of sins" [31]. There can be no closer meeting with the Lord in this life than receiving Him in the Eucharist.

It is an ancient tradition of the Church that even before receiving Holy Communion the faithful have opportunities to examine their lives and confess to a priest whatever they have done that has distracted them from the life in Christ. The priest prays that God will absolve them of their sinfulness and restore their status as children of God.

Today mental health professionals recognize the value of liberating ourselves of painful thoughts and feelings by sharing them with someone we trust. When we divulge our inner demons to someone, we can take control of them and be renewed. Confession offers all of this and more, the assurance of God's abiding acceptance and love.

In America it has become the custom to offer a general confession and absolution immediately before Holy Communion is distributed [48]. Led by the deacons, the people read a prepared examination of conscience that helps each person reflect on whatever sins he or she has committed. Then the priest, not by his own authority, but by the "very word" of Jesus Christ [49], absolves the sins of all who have made confession.

Holy Communion In the Armenian Church Holy Communion is distributed in the following manner. The communicant stands before the priest, makes the sign of the cross and says Megha Asdoodzo, "I have sinned against God." The priest then places a small particle of our Lord's Body and Blood -- the bread having been dipped into the wine -- directly into the mouth of the communicant. The communicant again makes the sign of the Cross and steps aside for others to approach the blessed sacrament.

After all have received Holy Communion, using the chalice to imprint the sign of the Cross over the communicants, the priest imparts the blessing of Psalm 28:9: "Save your people, Lord, and bless your inheritance; shepherd them and lift them up from henceforth until eternity" [50].

The Prayer lists them one by one. These subsidiary requests of the Divine Liturgy are called "Intercessions." We pray for peace in the world, for the stability of the Armenian Church, for our Catholicos, Bishops and clergy, for civil leaders, for travelers, prisoners, captives, for the sick and suffering, for temperate weather and sufficient food, for those who help the poor, for all the living and all the dead [35, 37,38-39].

So to reiterate; the Badarak is a Sacrifice for the remission of sins. In the section above titled "The Eucharist Prayer" they are quoted to say, ""Do this," he told them, "in remembrance of me" [1 Corinthians 11:24-25]." The Badarak is not merely a remembrance of the Lord's final sacrifice but it is rather a re-sacrifice of the only Begotten of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. They place Him into "places made with hands", the bread and the wine, and they ingest the bread and wine to infuse Christ within them so that they may be absolved of their sins.

And in summary, first we need to understand what the bread and wine becomes at the Badarak. The bread and the wine do not simply "represent" the body and blood of Christ in the Badarak, it actually "becomes" His body and blood. Here are direct quotes:

In the section "A Hymn about Holy Communion -- Marmeen deroonagan":

- "The body of the Lord and the blood of the Savior are present before us."

In the section "The Procession with the Gifts of Bread and Wine"

- "Like the procession with the Gospel in the Liturgy of the Word, this procession draws our attention and devotion to the bread and wine, which become for us the Body and Blood of Jesus."

- "Yet again, the words of the Psalm express our faith that the contents of the chalice will become for us the Lord, "strong in his power … mighty in battle." As the deacon hands the chalice to the priest he says: "This is the king of glory!"

In the section "A Call to Attention: Let us Stand in Awe"

- "In the course of this long prayer [29-39] the celebrant, praying on behalf of all the people, asks God to do for us just what Jesus promised at his last Supper: to fill us with His Body and Blood, the sacrament of His holiness and divine life, in the bread and wine of Holy Communion."

In the section "The Eucharistic Prayer"

- "It was during that meal in the Upper Room, on the night before his execution, that Jesus gave his disciples bread and wine, declaring them to be his Body and Blood."

In the section "The Preface"

- "We see the same mystery revealed in the bread and wine of the Badarak. As the twelfth-century Armenian St. Nersess Lambronatsi wrote, "For our sake you became earthly that we may become heavenly. For our sake you became bread that we, by partaking of you, may be sanctified."

In the section "The Epiclecis"

- ""Epiclesis" (eh-pi-clee'-sis) is the term theologians use to describe the next part of the Eucharistic Prayer. In the Epiclesis we call on God's Holy Spirit to come down "upon us and upon these gifts," so that they may become "truly the Body and Blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" [34]. This is our main supplication in the Eucharistic Prayer."

In the section "The Intercessions"

- "After the Epiclesis, in the presence of Jesus Christ in his Body and Blood, we pray to our heavenly Father for all of our daily cares and concerns."

In the section "The Conclusion of the Eucharist Prayer"

- "And having cleansed our thoughts, make us temples fit for the reception of the Body and Blood of your Only-begotten, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,"

In the Section "Two Hymns of Praise"

- "It is sung while the celebrant elevates the Eucharistic bread and the chalice over his head. The hymn is an acclamation that they are the Body and Blood of Christ."

In the section "Holy Communion"

- "The priest then places a small particle of our Lord's Body and Blood -- the bread having been dipped into the wine -- directly into the mouth of the communicant."

So you see that the bread and wine become the actual body and blood of Christ. Why is this a problem and what are the results of such a claim? This is what we call transubstantiation. Where the elements of the bread and wine mystically turn into the real body and blood of Christ. Why? So that when the worshiper eats and drinks of it he is being "infused" with Christ's flesh and blood making him holy. They are actually eating the flesh of Christ and drinking His blood.

Now onto the sacrifice:

Also in the section "The Eucharistic Prayer"

- "Through the Eucharist, the Church offers us true inner peace, a real sense of belonging, and the true security that comes from being with God."

In the section "The Last Supper"

- This culminates in the sacrifice of God's only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, who died on the Cross as a redemption for our sinfulness. The world-saving Cross...the occasion of our redemption" [30] is perpetuated for us in our celebration of the Lord's Supper."

Also in the section "Two Hymns of Praise"

- "Following this hymn, the priest turns toward the people with the chalice and proclaims it to contain "the holy, holy, and precious Body and Blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who, having come down from heaven, is distributed among us." The celebrant continues with an incisive affirmation of the power of the sacrament: "This is life, hope of resurrection, expiation and remission of sins." Finally, the priest asks the people to "Sing psalms to the Lord our God ... our immortal heavenly king" [44]."

In the section "Confession and Absolution"

- "The Armenian Church has many forms for reconciliation with God. The most direct vehicle is Holy Communion itself, which is given "for the expiation and remission of sins"

- "Then the priest, not by his own authority, but by the "very word" of Jesus Christ [49], absolves the sins of all who have made confession."

Also in the section "Holy Communion"

- "After all have received Holy Communion, using the chalice to imprint the sign of the Cross over the communicants, the priest imparts the blessing of Psalm 28:9: "Save your people, Lord, and bless your inheritance;"

So you see how the Badarak is definitely a resacrifice of Christ not just as a remembrance but an actual sacrifice to atone for sin.