A Sample Sermon for Children at the Presanctified Divine Liturgy
By His Eminence Metropolitan Chrysostomos III of Mani
By His Eminence Metropolitan Chrysostomos III of Mani
First of all, I want to congratulate you for coming to church today and for standing quietly and reverently here in the house of God.
I will say a few words to you about the Presanctified Divine Liturgy — this special Liturgy — which is celebrated only during this period of Great Lent. The wise Fathers of our Church established the Presanctified Divine Liturgy because during this time we cannot celebrate the regular, bright, and complete Divine Liturgy, as we call it. And this is because this period is penitential — a time of fasting, greater self-restraint, and prayer — a time of more intense spiritual struggles. We say everything in a lower tone of voice, the lights are few, everything is more compunctionate. Whereas when we celebrate the regular Divine Liturgy, everything is bright, joyful, and full of praise.
It is called “Presanctified” because the Precious Gifts — that is, the Bread and the Wine offered on the Holy Altar — have already been changed into the Body and Blood of Christ at the previous Divine Liturgy. That is, they have been sanctified beforehand.
During it, very beautiful hymns are chanted, as you have already heard, such as “Let my prayer arise…” and “Now the powers of heaven invisibly worship with us. For behold, the King of glory enters…”. These are magnificent hymns, with a mystical and heavenly majesty that lift our hearts up to heaven. And just as the fragrant incense rises high into the sky, so too our prayers rise up to the heavenly throne of God.
But the Presanctified Divine Liturgy reminds us of something else as well. It reminds us of the first Christians — the ancient Church — those faithful Christians who had great and fervent faith in Christ, who boldly confessed that they were Christians, who kept His divine commandments, who loved one another, who helped each other, who were not afraid of martyrdom and death for the true God. And you know, the persecutions against Christians in those times — by idolaters, the impious, and the enemies of Christianity — were many and harsh. In those centuries our Church brought forth many martyrs — that is, saints — such as Saint Ignatius, who was martyred in the Colosseum of Rome; the aged Saint Polycarp; Saint George; Saint Demetrios; Saint Paraskevi; Saint Barbara; Saint Marina; Saint Sebastian; and many others whom we celebrate and honor.
Those first Christians, who loved Christ with all their heart, could not live without Holy Communion — without this spiritual food, which is the Body and Blood of Christ. They desired the provision of life. They wanted Christ to dwell within them — to be Christ-bearers in their daily life. If one of their great longings was Baptism, the other was Holy Communion — a sacred longing, a holy desire, which saved them from sin and united them with the Author of Life and Conqueror of Death, Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of the world.
They even depicted this longing in the Catacombs. Whoever visits them (in Rome) sees these representations: the basket with the loaves, the Holy Chalice; further on, the famous symbol ΙΧΘΥΣ — the fish — whose letters stand for “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior” (Ἰησοῦς, Χριστός, Θεοῦ, Υἱός, Σωτήρ); the thirsty deer; the Vine; the Good Shepherd, that is, Christ. All these images reminded them of the Secret Supper, the Precious Gifts, the Holy Eucharist, the celebration of the Divine Liturgy. They symbolize this sacred longing and holy desire that the first Christians had for Holy Communion. And so they received Communion both at the regular Divine Liturgies and at the Presanctified Liturgies.
And let me add something more: they stood with great order inside the church; they all chanted together; they all said together the “Our Father,” the “Lord, have mercy,” and the “Amen.” When the time came to receive Communion, they approached carefully, quietly, with reverence and faith. First the priests received Communion, then the deacons, then the subdeacons, the readers, then the chanters, the deaconesses, then the children, and finally all the people. They chanted the beautiful hymn, “Taste and see that the Lord is good,” and their eyes filled with tears. They felt divine compunction, love, and joy.
And for those who were unable to come to church — because they were sick, or in prison, or captives, or even in the Colosseum awaiting martyrdom — their fellow faithful Christians undertook to bring them Holy Communion so that they would not remain without it. Remember the little boy Tarcisius, who was beaten and breathed his last on the road, on the Appian Way just outside Rome, because he refused to hand over the Precious Gifts that he was hiding close to his heart and was secretly carrying to imprisoned Christians, while his enemies pressured him to throw them to the ground.
I will finish now, my dear children, by giving you a few pieces of advice as you come to receive Holy Communion.
Any child who forgot and ate something in the morning, or drank water or anything else, will not receive Communion today. He will come another time. I will wait for him on another day.
When you come forward to receive Communion, you must not talk at all. We pray silently within ourselves. We move forward slowly. We do not push one another. We come with respect and reverence. The holy angels are here and they see us.
When we arrive here in front, we make the sign of the Cross, we place the red cloth under our chin — because not even the smallest “crumb” must fall — and we open our mouth well.
After receiving Communion, we wipe our mouth with the cloth, take the antidoron, and return quietly to our place.
On the day we receive Communion, we must be very careful to behave well and to be joyful. Christ, my children, is within us. We have received the Body and Blood of Christ. We are His own children. Be certain of this: Christ blesses us, sanctifies us, and loves us.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
