What Happens During the Divine Liturgy? A Complete Beginner's Guide

If you have never been inside an Orthodox church on a Sunday morning, your first visit can be a lot to take in. People stand, candles flicker before icons, incense hangs in the air, and the singing hardly stops. It is easy to come away moved but unsure what you saw.

This guide walks through the Divine Liturgy, the Sunday Eucharist of the Orthodox Church, in order, and answers the practical questions visitors are often too shy to ask. Customs differ between parishes and jurisdictions (Greek, Antiochian, Russian, Serbian, OCA and others); where practice varies we say so. We quote the service from the English text published by the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese, a diocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.¹ Your parish may use another translation.

In brief

The Divine Liturgy is the Orthodox celebration of the Eucharist, the meal Christ gave his disciples on the night before he died. It has two parts. The first centers on Scripture: litanies, psalms, hymns, readings from the apostles and the Gospel, and a sermon. The second centers on the offering of bread and wine, the great prayer of thanksgiving in which the Church asks the Holy Spirit to change them into the Body and Blood of Christ, and Holy Communion. The shape is very old: around AD 150 Justin Martyr described Christians gathering on Sunday for readings, a sermon, prayers, a kiss of peace, and thanksgiving over bread and wine. The service most Orthodox Christians attend today, the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, grew over centuries around that core; the longer Liturgy of St. Basil is used ten times a year. Visitors are welcome to pray with the Church, but Holy Communion is given only to prepared Orthodox Christians, which the Church understands as an expression of real unity, not a judgment on anyone. In many parishes visitors may receive the blessed bread (antidoron) at the end.

Thesis: The Divine Liturgy is the ancient Christian Sunday Eucharist, developed in Constantinople into a sung act of worship in which the Church offers thanks to the Father through Christ in the Holy Spirit, and a visitor who knows its outline can follow it with understanding.

Where it comes from: a short history

The Didache, an early church manual whose exact date is debated, tells believers to gather "every Lord's day" to "break bread, and give thanksgiving."² The fullest early account comes from Justin Martyr, who addressed a defense of the faith to the emperor Antoninus Pius around AD 150. He mentions the kiss of peace and the president's thanksgiving over bread and "a cup of wine mixed with water," then describes the weekly gathering:

And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray.³

{{very-strong: Justin's mid-second-century account already shows the two-part shape of the Liturgy: readings and a sermon, then prayer, the kiss of peace, thanksgiving over bread and wine, and Communion.}} He adds that "not as common bread and common drink do we receive these."⁴ See also Justin Martyr: What the Earliest Christian Apologist Tells Us About Worship and Belief and Sunday Worship Before Constantine.

Justin says the president gave thanks "according to his ability," which suggests the prayer was not yet fixed. Later the great churches developed written prayers, and two came to prevail in Constantinople. The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, named after the preacher who became Archbishop of Constantinople in 398 and died in exile in 407, is the one you will almost always attend.⁵ The Liturgy of St. Basil the Great, with a longer eucharistic prayer, is served ten times a year: on the eves of Christmas and Theophany (or on the feast itself when it falls on a Sunday or Monday), on St. Basil's day (January 1), on the five Sundays of Great Lent, and on Holy Thursday and Holy Saturday.⁶

Did these saints write the services as we hear them? No. Fr. Thomas Hopko's handbook for the Orthodox Church in America says the two liturgies "probably received their present form after the ninth century" and were not written "exactly as they now stand by the saints whose names they carry," though their eucharistic prayers go back to the fourth and fifth centuries.⁷ {{debated: How much of the eucharistic prayer that bears Chrysostom's name he himself composed or revised is still studied by specialists.}} The Jesuit historian Robert Taft, author of a multi-volume history of this Liturgy, reopened the question in 1990 by comparing its vocabulary with Chrysostom's writings by computer.⁸

Taft's work shows an old core with many later additions. The oldest surviving manuscript of the Liturgy is the eighth-century Barberini codex 336. {{strong: The Cherubic Hymn, sung during the procession with the gifts, was introduced under the emperor Justin II in 573-574.}} In the eighth century the service did not yet open with today's blessing and Great Litany.⁹ Hopko dates the present form of the preparation rite to around the fourteenth century.¹⁰ Orthodox Christians see this as a living tradition growing around what Justin already knew.

What you will see

The iconostasis. A screen or wall of icons separates the nave, where the people stand, from the altar. Christ is pictured to the right of the central Royal Doors, the Virgin and Child to the left. Hopko writes that it "exists to show our unity with Christ, his mother and all the angels and saints."¹¹ See Do Orthodox Christians Worship Icons?

Standing. Orthodox Christians traditionally stand to pray. The Council of Nicaea in 325, noting that some knelt "on the Lord's Day and in the days of Pentecost," ruled that on those days "prayer be made to God standing."¹² Fr. David Barr's etiquette guide lists the moments to stand (the Gospel, the two Entrances, the eucharistic prayer, Communion, blessings and the dismissal) and adds: "When in doubt, stand."¹³ If you need to sit, sit; some parishes have pews.

Candles, incense, the cross and icons. People light candles before icons as they arrive. Incense recalls Psalm 141:2 (140 in the Septuagint): "Let my prayer be set before You as incense." Orthodox Christians cross themselves often, joining thumb and two fingers and moving "from the head to the breast and from shoulder to shoulder, right to left," the reverse of the Latin custom.¹⁴ Venerating an icon usually means crossing oneself and bowing, kissing the icon on the hand or feet of the saint or the book or scroll it holds (not the face), and crossing oneself again.¹⁵ None of this is required of visitors. See also The Sign of the Cross in the Early Church.

The Liturgy, step by step

The Liturgy often follows straight on from Matins, lasts around ninety minutes, and is nearly all sung.¹⁶

1. The Proskomedia (prepared beforehand)

Before the service, at a side table in the sanctuary, the priest prepares the bread and wine. The round loaves (prosphora) are stamped with a seal bearing IC XC (for Jesus Christ) and NI KA, which Hopko renders "The Victor." The priest cuts out the square center, the Lamb, which will be consecrated, reciting Isaiah 53:7, "He was led as a lamb to the slaughter." He pours wine mixed with water into the chalice and sets small pieces of bread beside the Lamb for the Virgin Mary, the saints, and the living and departed.¹⁷ The rest of the loaves become the antidoron.

2. "Blessed is the Kingdom..."

The Royal Doors open and the priest proclaims: "Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever and forever." The people answer "Amen." Hopko calls this opening the key to the whole service.¹⁸

3. The Great Litany

The deacon or priest leads short petitions, each answered "Lord, have mercy": "In peace let us pray to the Lord"; "For peace throughout the whole world"; for clergy, civil authorities, the city, and "those who travel by land, by sea and by air, for the sick, the suffering and for those who are held in captivity."¹⁹

4. The antiphons

Three sets of psalm verses follow, which Hopko notes were originally chanted by the people in procession to the church.²⁰ Practice varies: Hopko lists Psalms 103 and 146 and the Beatitudes for Sundays, while the text quoted here uses shorter verses with refrains. Every Liturgy includes the hymn "O Only Begotten Son," which addresses Christ, "Who by Your death did conquer death."

5. The Little Entrance

The clergy carry the Gospel book out into the church and back through the Royal Doors while all sing, "O come, let us adore and bow down before Christ." It was once the actual entrance of the bishop and people into the church.²¹

6. The Trisagion

On most days the "Thrice-Holy" hymn follows, sung several times: "Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us." It echoes the seraphim of Isaiah 6:3, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts."

7. The Epistle and the Gospel

A reader chants the Epistle, from Acts or the apostolic letters. "Alleluia" is sung with incense, and the priest or deacon calls, "Wisdom! Let us stand and listen to the holy Gospel." The people sing "Glory to You, O Lord, glory to You!" before and after. Revelation is the only New Testament book not read at the services.²²

8. The homily

The sermon often follows the Gospel, as in Justin's day, when "the president verbally instructs"; in many parishes it comes near the end instead. Hopko calls it "an essential part of the eucharistic liturgy."²³ A litany of fervent prayer follows.

9. The Great Entrance and the Cherubic Hymn

The choir begins the Cherubic Hymn: "We who mystically represent the Cherubim, and who sing to the life-giving Trinity the thrice-holy hymn, let us now lay aside all earthly cares." The priest prays quietly to Christ as the true priest: "it is You, O Christ, Who offer and are offered." The clergy then carry the bread and wine in procession into the church and back to the altar, and the choir finishes: "That we may raise on high the King of All, Who comes invisibly escorted by angelic hosts."²⁴

10. The kiss of peace and the Creed

The priest says, "Let us love one another so that with one accord we may confess...," and the people finish: "The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity consubstantial and undivided." In eighth-century Constantinople, Taft found, the kiss was still "exchanged within each order by everyone in the church."²⁵ Today it is usually exchanged among the clergy, though in some parishes the people greet one another with "Christ is in our midst."²⁶

Then the cry, "The doors, the doors, in wisdom let us be attentive," once a call to guard the church doors so only the baptized remained.²⁷ All say or sing the Nicene Creed. Listen for one phrase: the Holy Spirit "proceeds from the Father," with no "and the Son." That addition (the Filioque) came later in the Latin West; see The Filioque: Why One Phrase Helped Divide East and West.

11. The Anaphora and the Epiclesis

The eucharistic prayer, the Anaphora, opens with a dialogue whose core ("Lift up your hearts") St. Cyprian of Carthage already knew in the third century.²⁸ It now begins: "Let us stand aright, let us stand with fear, let us be attentive so that we may offer the holy sacrifice in peace." "A merciful peace, a sacrifice of praise."

The prayer thanks God that "You brought us out of non-existence into being and, when we had fallen, You raised us up again." It joins the angels: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord of hosts! Heaven and earth are full of Your glory." It recalls the Last Supper, "on the night on which He gave Himself up for the life of the world," with Christ's words over the bread and cup said aloud. Lifting the gifts, the priest proclaims: "And offering to You Yours of Your Own, in behalf of all and for all."

Then comes the Epiclesis ("calling down"), which Orthodox Christians regard as essential: "Send down Your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these gifts lying here before us," and, blessing the gifts, "And make this bread the precious Body of Your Christ... And that which is in this chalice the precious Blood of Your Christ... Changing them by Your Holy Spirit."²⁹ Orthodox teaching usually speaks of "change" without the Western account of transubstantiation, "with a concern to preserve the mystery," as Fr. John Breck puts it.³⁰ Some congregations kneel or prostrate during this prayer.³¹ See also What Did the Early Christians Believe About the Eucharist?

12. The Lord's Prayer

The priest asks that we may "dare to call upon You, God our heavenly Father," and all pray the Our Father. Hopko notes that the early Church taught this prayer only to the baptized, which is why it comes here, just before Communion.³²

13. Holy Communion

The priest lifts the Lamb: "Holy things are for the holy!" The people reply: "Only One is Holy." After the clergy receive, the priest comes out with the chalice: "In the fear of God, with faith and with love come forward!" The faithful pray together, "I believe, O Lord and confess, that You are truly the Christ, Son of the living God," asking that Communion be "for the healing of my soul and my body." They receive the Body and Blood together from a spoon, each called by his or her baptismal name. Infants receive too: Hopko writes that all the baptized, "including small children and infants, may partake."³³ Afterwards all sing, "We have seen the true light."

Who may receive, and why. Communion is given only to baptized Orthodox Christians who have prepared by prayer and fasting and, in most traditions, by confession.³⁴ Non-Orthodox visitors are asked not to come forward. This is not meant as a snub. An answer on the OCA's website explains: "For Orthodox Christians, the Eucharist is a visible sign of unity," the "result of unity, not the means by which unity is achieved."³⁵ Orthodox Christians likewise do not receive Communion in other churches. Fr. John Breck calls the refusal "painful" and stresses that it "implies no particular judgment on the Eucharistic services of other Churches."³⁶ The practice is ancient. The Didache says, "let no one eat or drink of your Thanksgiving (Eucharist), but they who have been baptized into the name of the Lord," and Justin says the same.³⁷

14. The antidoron

The antidoron is bread from the same loaves, blessed but not consecrated; it is not Communion. The word means "in place of the gifts," and Hopko notes that "today usually all of the people take pieces of this bread."³⁸ In many parishes visitors are welcome to take it: one Greek Orthodox parish invites them "to receive the antidoron bread at the conclusion of the service," and Frederica Mathewes-Green tells newcomers, "If someone hands you a piece of blessed bread, do not panic; it is not the eucharistic Body."³⁹ Practice varies: one OCA parish limits it to "any baptized Christian" in its diocese, and we found no single church-wide rule.⁴⁰ If it is offered to you, accept it, and eat it carefully, without scattering crumbs.

15. The dismissal

The priest says, "Let us depart in peace," and the people answer, "In the Name of the Lord." The final blessing asks Christ's mercy through the prayers of his Mother and the saints, including St. John Chrysostom, "for He is gracious and He loves mankind."⁴¹ People then kiss the cross held by the priest and take antidoron.

Practical etiquette for visitors

Barr's guide reminds readers that "there are different local and/or cultural traditions even among the Orthodox."⁴²

• What to wear. Dress modestly, as for a formal occasion: no shorts, low-cut or sleeveless tops. Some parishes invite visiting women to wear a skirt and headscarf; in others few women cover their heads.⁴³ Skip lipstick, since people kiss icons and the cross.
• Arriving late. Enter quietly. If the Epistle or Gospel is being read, an Entrance is under way, or the sermon is being preached, wait at the back until it ends.⁴⁴
• Children. Children belong in the service; one Greek Orthodox parish says "Orthodox practice is for the whole community to worship together." If a child is very restless, step out for a few minutes.⁴⁵
• Greeting the priest. Orthodox Christians usually ask his blessing and kiss his right hand; a visitor's handshake and thanks are fine.⁴⁶
• Coffee hour. Many parishes share coffee or a meal afterwards. Stay if you can.

For a broader comparison, see Why Orthodox Worship Feels So Different from Protestant Worship.

Honest questions visitors ask

"Isn't this the 'vain repetition' Jesus warned against?"

Jesus said, "when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words" (Matthew 6:7, NKJV; the RSV has "do not heap up empty phrases"). The warning targets the idea that God can be pressured by word count, not repetition as such, which Scripture uses freely: Psalm 136 says "For His mercy endures forever" in every verse; in Gethsemane Jesus "prayed the third time, saying the same words" (Matthew 26:44); and the living creatures in heaven "do not rest day or night, saying: 'Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty'" (Revelation 4:8). The danger is real for Orthodox worshippers too, which is why the Liturgy keeps calling, "Wisdom! Be attentive!" A fixed prayer said with attention is not vain.

"Why so ritualistic? Doesn't God want worship 'in spirit and truth'?"

Jesus did say that "true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth" (John 4:23). Orthodox Christians answer that spirit and truth are not opposed to form. God told Moses to "make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain" (Hebrews 8:5); Paul asked that "all things be done decently and in order" (1 Corinthians 14:40); and Revelation pictures heavenly worship with an altar, incense, hymns and prostrations. Every church follows some order of worship. The Orthodox order keeps Justin's shape, is woven through with Scripture, and involves the body because God took flesh. The Russian Primary Chronicle, compiled in Kiev in the early twelfth century and mixing history with legend, has envoys returning from worship in Constantinople saying, "we knew not whether we were in heaven or on earth."⁴⁷ That is what the ritual is for.

"Why can't I take Communion? Isn't that unloving?"

The hurt here is understandable. Many Protestants practice open communion out of a sincere conviction that the Table belongs to all who trust in Christ, and Breck acknowledges that many Protestants "do believe that Holy Communion offers them a true participation in Christ's Body and Blood." The Orthodox answer is that Communion expresses unity already present in one faith and one Church. Paul warned against eating "in an unworthy manner" (1 Corinthians 11:29), and the Church applies that warning to its own members first. The practice is not a verdict on anyone's faith. As the OCA's answer gently says, one who believes everything the Church teaches might ask why he or she has not become Orthodox.⁴⁸

What we can say confidently

• By about AD 150 Christians gathered on Sunday for readings, a sermon, prayers, the kiss of peace, thanksgiving over bread and wine, and Communion (Justin, First Apology 65-67).
• The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is the ordinary Sunday service; St. Basil's is used ten times a year.
• Many parts of today's service, such as the Cherubic Hymn (573-574) and the present preparation rite, were added to an older core.
• The Creed sung at the Liturgy has the Spirit proceeding "from the Father," without the later Western addition.

What remains disputed

• How much of the eucharistic prayer bearing Chrysostom's name he wrote or revised himself.
• The date and origin of the Didache.
• Whether non-Orthodox visitors should take antidoron, along with head coverings and pews; parishes answer differently.
• Popular claims that Basil and Chrysostom "shortened" a much longer original service; we could not verify their source and have left them out.

Conclusion

The first time, the Liturgy can feel like stepping into a river halfway across. That is normal. Do not worry about doing everything right; listen for the Gospel, and notice how much of what you hear is Scripture. The people of God gather, hear Christ in the Gospel, offer bread and wine and themselves to the Father, call down the Holy Spirit, and receive the risen Christ, to whom the Liturgy sings, "by Your death did conquer death." The Liturgy is offered "in behalf of all and for all," and that includes the visitor at the back. For the people and writings behind this tradition, see our Church Fathers guide.

Notes

1. "The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom," English text, American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of North America (Ecumenical Patriarchate), acrod.org, Prayer Corner, Liturgical Texts. All quotations from the service are from this text. Wording varies slightly between published translations. ↩
2. Didache 14, trans. M. B. Riddle, in Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 7, ed. Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson and A. Cleveland Coxe (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1886), revised for New Advent by Kevin Knight. ↩
3. Justin Martyr, First Apology 65 and 67, trans. Marcus Dods and George Reith, in Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, ed. Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson and A. Cleveland Coxe (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1885), revised for New Advent by Kevin Knight. The address to Antoninus Pius is in chapter 1; in chapter 46 Justin says Christ was born "one hundred and fifty years ago." ↩
4. Justin Martyr, First Apology 66, same translation. He continues that the food over which thanks has been given is "the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh." ↩
5. Thomas Hopko and David C. Ford, The Orthodox Faith, vol. 3, Church History, "Saint John Chrysostom," online edition, Orthodox Church in America, oca.org (archbishop in 398, exiled 404, died 407). ↩
6. Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, "The Divine liturgy of St. Basil is celebrated ten times a year," antiochpatriarchate.org. The page notes an exception when Christmas or Theophany falls on a Sunday or Monday; in that case St. Basil's Liturgy is served on the morning of the feast itself, as set out for Christmas in "Eve of the Nativity of our Lord," Lives of the Saints, Orthodox Church in America, oca.org. ↩
7. Thomas Hopko, The Orthodox Faith, vol. 2, Worship, "The Divine Liturgy," online edition, Orthodox Church in America, oca.org. ↩
8. Robert F. Taft, "The Authenticity of the Chrysostom Anaphora Revisited: Determining the Authorship of Liturgical Texts by Computer," Orientalia Christiana Periodica 56 (1990): 5-51; reprinted in Taft, Liturgy in Byzantium and Beyond (Variorum, 1995). ↩
9. Robert F. Taft, "The Liturgy of the Great Church: An Initial Synthesis of Structure and Interpretation on the Eve of Iconoclasm," Dumbarton Oaks Papers 34/35 (1980-1981): 45-75: Barberini 336 as "earliest extant MS of the liturgy" (50 n. 35); "Neither the opening blessing nor the great synapte ('litany of peace') were part of the enarxis at that time" (50); the Cherubic Hymn "introduced into the liturgy under Justin II in 573-574" (54). For an overview of the rite's history, see Taft, The Byzantine Rite: A Short History (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1992). ↩
10. Hopko, The Orthodox Faith, vol. 2, "Prothesis": "In its present form, the prothesis probably dates from the fourteenth century." ↩
11. Hopko, The Orthodox Faith, vol. 2, "The Church Building: Icons." Placement of the two main icons and the doors: Frederica Mathewes-Green, "First Visit to an Orthodox Church: 12 Things I Wish I'd Known" (see note 16). ↩
12. First Council of Nicaea (325), Canon 20, trans. Henry R. Percival, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2nd series, vol. 14, ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1900), New Advent edition. ↩
13. David Barr, "Church Etiquette," originally published in The Word (Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese), January 1997, 4-7, as reproduced by Christ the Saviour Orthodox Church (OCA), Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Barr also notes that churches in the Orthodox "old countries" usually have no pews; Mathewes-Green mentions American churches with pews. ↩
14. Hopko, The Orthodox Faith, vol. 2, "The Church Building: Sign of the Cross"; Mathewes-Green ("the opposite of Roman Catholics"). ↩
15. Barr, "Church Etiquette"; Mathewes-Green, "12 Things," who adds that visitors "don't have to follow suit." ↩
16. Frederica Mathewes-Green, "First Visit to an Orthodox Church: 12 Things I Wish I'd Known," published as the booklet 12 Things I Wish I'd Known (Ancient Faith Publishing); text consulted at azbyka.ru. She describes Matins preceding the Liturgy and the Liturgy ending "ninety minutes later." ↩
17. Hopko, The Orthodox Faith, vol. 2, "Prothesis" (the seal: "IC XC" and "The Victor (NI KA)"); Mathewes-Green on loaves baked by parishioners. Isaiah 53:7 in NKJV wording. ↩
18. Hopko, The Orthodox Faith, vol. 2, "Blessed is the Kingdom." ↩
19. ACROD text, "The Great Litany of Peace." ↩
20. Hopko, The Orthodox Faith, vol. 2, "Antiphons." ↩
21. Hopko, The Orthodox Faith, vol. 2, "Small Entrance"; Taft, "The Liturgy of the Great Church," 50, on the patriarch and people entering the church at the introit. ↩
22. Hopko, The Orthodox Faith, vol. 2, "Epistle" and "Gospel." ↩
23. Hopko, The Orthodox Faith, vol. 2, "Gospel"; Justin, First Apology 67. On placement later in the service: "At what point in the Divine Liturgy is a homily given, and how is it offered?" ROCOR Europe, Diocese of Great Britain and Western Europe (Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia), orthodox-europe.org, which says Russian custom usually places the homily before the people's Communion or at the end, and that preaching right after the Gospel is "relatively rare" in that Church. ↩
24. ACROD text, "The Cherubic Hymn" and "The Great Entrance." Hopko, "Offertory: Great Entrance," calls the hymn "a late addition." ↩
25. Taft, "The Liturgy of the Great Church," 55. ↩
26. Hopko, The Orthodox Faith, vol. 2, "Love and Faith" (the kiss of peace "exchanged by the celebrating clergy, which in times past was certainly exchanged among the faithful people as well"); Mathewes-Green, "12 Things" (the greeting "Christ is in our midst"). ↩
27. Hopko, The Orthodox Faith, vol. 2, "Love and Faith." ↩
28. Cyprian of Carthage, On the Lord's Prayer 31, trans. Robert Ernest Wallis, in Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 5 (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1886), New Advent edition. ↩
29. ACROD text, "The Anaphora." Hopko, "Epiklesis," calls this prayer "an essential part of the Divine Liturgy." ↩
30. John Breck, "Why Not 'Open Communion'?" Orthodox Church in America, oca.org. ↩
31. Mathewes-Green, "12 Things" ("as some congregations do during part of the Eucharistic prayer"). ↩
32. Hopko, The Orthodox Faith, vol. 2, "Our Father." ↩
33. ACROD text, "The Communion Rite" and "The Communion Prayer"; Hopko, The Orthodox Faith, vol. 2, "Communion" (communion "on a spoon"); Mathewes-Green on the baptismal name. ↩
34. Breck, "Why Not 'Open Communion'?" (prepared "by prayer, by appropriate fasting, and—in most traditions—by confession of sins"). Mathewes-Green describes fasting from midnight. ↩
35. "Receiving Communion," Questions and Answers, Orthodox Church in America, oca.org (the online text reads "notthe," corrected here). ↩
36. Breck, "Why Not 'Open Communion'?" ↩
37. Didache 9 (ANF vol. 7); Justin, First Apology 66: no one may partake "but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins." ↩
38. Hopko, The Orthodox Faith, vol. 2, "Benediction and Dismissal." ↩
39. Ron Guthrie, "A Visitor's Guide to the Divine Liturgy," Assumption Greek Orthodox Church (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America), assumption.oh.goarch.org; Mathewes-Green, "12 Things." ↩
40. Parish directory entry, Christ the Savior / Holy Spirit Church, Orthodox Church in America, oca.org/parishes. We found no single church-wide rule on visitors and antidoron. ↩
41. ACROD text, "The Dismissal"; Hopko, "Benediction and Dismissal." ↩
42. Barr, "Church Etiquette," Christ the Saviour Orthodox Church (OCA) edition. ↩
43. Barr, "Church Etiquette" (modest dress, lipstick); "Church Etiquette," St. Elizabeth the New Martyr Orthodox Church, Cullman, Alabama ("Non-Orthodox women who are visiting the church are invited to wear a headscarf and a skirt"). ↩
44. Barr, "Church Etiquette," who adds that Orthodox arriving after the Gospel should normally not receive Communion. ↩
45. Guthrie, "A Visitor's Guide to the Divine Liturgy." ↩
46. Barr, "Church Etiquette." ↩
47. The Russian Primary Chronicle, entry for 6495 (987), trans. Samuel H. Cross, Harvard Studies and Notes in Philology and Literature 12 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1930), 199; Cross discusses its compilation on pp. 77-78. ↩
48. Breck, "Why Not 'Open Communion'?"; "Receiving Communion," OCA Questions and Answers. ↩

Bibliography

Primary sources

• The Holy Bible, New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982. (Matthew 6:7 also cited from the Revised Standard Version.)
• "The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom." English text. American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of North America (Ecumenical Patriarchate). acrod.org.
• The Didache. Translated by M. B. Riddle. In Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 7. Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1886. Revised edition at newadvent.org.
• Justin Martyr. First Apology. Translated by Marcus Dods and George Reith. In Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1. Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1885. Revised edition at newadvent.org.
• Cyprian of Carthage. On the Lord's Prayer. Translated by Robert Ernest Wallis. In Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 5. Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1886. Revised edition at newadvent.org.
• First Council of Nicaea. Canons. Translated by Henry R. Percival. In Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2nd series, vol. 14. Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1900. Revised edition at newadvent.org.
• The Russian Primary Chronicle. Translated by Samuel H. Cross. Harvard Studies and Notes in Philology and Literature 12. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1930.

Orthodox and patristic sources

• Hopko, Thomas. The Orthodox Faith, vol. 2, Worship. Online edition, Orthodox Church in America, oca.org. Print edition: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press.
• Hopko, Thomas, revised and expanded by David C. Ford. The Orthodox Faith, vol. 3, Church History. Online edition, Orthodox Church in America, oca.org.
• Breck, John. "Why Not 'Open Communion'?" Orthodox Church in America, oca.org.
• Orthodox Church in America. "Receiving Communion." Questions and Answers. oca.org.
• Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East. "The Divine liturgy of St. Basil is celebrated ten times a year." antiochpatriarchate.org.
• Orthodox Church in America. "Eve of the Nativity of our Lord." Lives of the Saints. oca.org.
• Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, Diocese of Great Britain and Western Europe. "At what point in the Divine Liturgy is a homily given, and how is it offered?" orthodox-europe.org.
• Barr, David. "Church Etiquette." The Word, January 1997, 4-7. Reproduced by Christ the Saviour Orthodox Church (OCA), Harrisburg, PA.
• Mathewes-Green, Frederica. 12 Things I Wish I'd Known: First Visit to an Orthodox Church. Booklet. Ancient Faith Publishing.
• Guthrie, Ron. "A Visitor's Guide to the Divine Liturgy." Assumption Greek Orthodox Church, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. assumption.oh.goarch.org.
• St. Elizabeth the New Martyr Orthodox Church, Cullman, Alabama. "Church Etiquette." cullman.orthodoxws.com.
• Orthodox Church in America. Parish directory: Christ the Savior / Holy Spirit Church. oca.org/parishes.

Other scholarship

• Taft, Robert F. "The Liturgy of the Great Church: An Initial Synthesis of Structure and Interpretation on the Eve of Iconoclasm." Dumbarton Oaks Papers 34/35 (1980-1981): 45-75.
• Taft, Robert F. "The Authenticity of the Chrysostom Anaphora Revisited: Determining the Authorship of Liturgical Texts by Computer." Orientalia Christiana Periodica 56 (1990): 5-51. Reprinted in Liturgy in Byzantium and Beyond. Variorum Collected Studies. Variorum, 1995.
• Taft, Robert F. The Byzantine Rite: A Short History. American Essays in Liturgy. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1992.