Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom

Priest: Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages.

People: Amen.

The people respond with Lord, have mercy, after each petition.

Deacon: In peace, let us pray to the Lord.

For the peace from above and for the salvation of our souls, let us pray to the Lord.

For the peace of the whole world, for the stability of the holy churches of God, and for the unity of all, let us pray to the Lord.

For this holy house and for those who enter it with faith, reverence, and the fear of God, let us pray to the Lord.

For pious and Orthodox Christians, let us pray to the Lord.

For our Archbishop (Name), for the honorable presbyterate, for the diaconate in Christ, and for all the clergy and the people, let us pray to the Lord.

For our country, the president, all those in public service, and for our armed forces everywhere, let us pray to the Lord.

For the Holy and Great Church of Christ, for our Sacred Archdiocese, for this Sacred Metropolis, for this city and parish, for every city and land, and for the faithful who live in them, let us pray to the Lord.

For favorable weather, for an abundance of the fruits of the earth, and for peaceful times, let us pray to the Lord.

For those who travel by land, sea, and air, for the sick, the suffering, the captives and for their salvation, let us pray to the Lord.

For our deliverance from all affliction, wrath, danger, and distress, let us pray to the Lord.

Help us, save us, have mercy on us, and protect us, O God, by Your grace.

Deacon: Commemorating our most holy, pure, blessed, and glorious Lady, the Theotokos and ever-virgin Mary, with all the saints, let us commend ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God.

People: To You, O Lord.

After the Communion Hymn the Deacon exclaims:

With the fear of God, faith, and love, draw near.

And the people receive Holy Communion.

The Priest receives the holy Chalice from the hands of the Deacon and begins communing the people, saying to each one:

The servant of God (Name) partakes of the Body and Blood of Christ for the remission of sins and life eternal.

After all have communed, the Priest blesses the people, saying:

Save, O God, Your people, and bless Your inheritance.

People: We have seen the true light; we have received the heavenly Spirit; we have found the true faith, worshiping the undivided Trinity, for the Trinity has saved us.

Priest (in a low voice): Wash away, Lord, by Your Holy Blood, the sins of Your servants here remembered through the intercessions of the Theotokos and all Your saints. Amen.

Deacon (in a low voice): Exalt, Master.

Priest (in a low voice): Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let Your glory be over all the earth.

Blessed is our God,

And, facing the people, he exclaims:

Always, now and forever and to the ages of ages.

People: Amen.

Let our mouths be filled with Your praise, O Lord, that we may sing of Your glory, because You have made us worthy to partake of Your Holy Mysteries. Keep us in Your sanctification, that all day long we may meditate upon Your righteousness. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.

Deacon: Arise! Having partaken of the divine, holy, pure, immortal, heavenly, life-creating, and awesome Mysteries of Christ, let us worthily give thanks to the Lord.

Help us, save us, have mercy upon us, and protect us, O God, by Your grace.

People: Lord, have mercy.

Deacon: Having prayed for a perfect, holy, peaceful, and sinless day, let us commend ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God.

People: To You, O Lord.

Priest (in a low voice): We give thanks to You, Master Who loves mankind, benefactor of our souls, that even on this very day You have made us worthy of Your heavenly and immortal Mysteries. Make straight our path, fortify us in Your fear, guard our life, make secure our steps, through the prayers and supplications of the glorious Theotokos and ever-virgin Mary and of all Your saints. And he exclaims: For You are our sanctification, and to You we give glory, to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages.

People: Amen.

Priest: Let us go forth in peace.

Deacon: Let us pray to the Lord.

People: Lord, have mercy.

Priest: O Lord, Who blesses those who bless You and sanctifies those who put their trust in You, save Your people and bless Your inheritance. Protect the whole body of Your Church. Sanctify those who love the beauty of Your house. Glorify them in return by Your divine power, and forsake us not who have set our hope in You. Grant peace to Your world, to Your churches, to the clergy, to our civic leaders, to the armed forces, and to all Your people. For every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from You, the Father of lights. To You we give glory, thanksgiving, and worship, to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages.

People: Amen. Blessed be the name of the Lord, from this time forth and to the ages.

Priest (in a low voice): Christ our God, You are the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. You have fulfilled the Father’s entire plan of salvation. Fill our hearts with joy and gladness always, now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Deacon: Let us pray to the Lord.

People: Lord, have mercy.

Priest: May the blessing of the Lord and His mercy come upon you by His divine grace and love for mankind, always, now and forever and to the ages of ages.

People: Amen.

Priest: Glory to You, O God, glory to You.

Priest: May He Who rose from the dead, Christ our true God, through the intercessions of His all-pure and all-immaculate holy Mother; the power of the precious and life-giving Cross; the protection of the honorable, bodiless powers of heaven; the supplications of the honorable, glorious prophet and forerunner John the Baptist; of the holy, glorious, and praiseworthy apostles; of the holy, glorious, and triumphant martyrs; of our righteous and God-bearing fathers; of (name of the saint of the church); of our father among the saints John Chrysostom, archbishop of Constantinople; of the holy and righteous ancestors of God Joachim and Anna; of (saint of the day), whose memory we celebrate today; and of all the saints; have mercy on us and save us, for He is good and loves mankind.

People: Lord, protect for many years the one who blesses and sanctifies us.

Priest: Through the prayers of our holy fathers, Lord Jesus Christ, our God, have mercy on us.

People: Amen.

The Priest, blessing the people, says:

May the Holy Trinity protect all of you.

Offering the antidoron to the faithful, the Priest says:

May the blessing and the mercy of the Lord come upon you.

To the last person receiving the antidoron, he says:

By His divine grace and love for mankind, now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

The Deacon at the Prothesis consumes the Holy Gifts reverently and with absolute attention, saying:

And when you obtain the blessed Communion, of the life-creating mystical Gifts, straightway give praise and great thanks, and fervently from your soul say to God,

Glory to You, O God; glory to You, O God; glory to You, O God.

And immediately he offers the following prayers of thanksgiving:

I thank You, O Lord my God, for You have not rejected me, a sinner, but have deemed me worthy to be a partaker of Your Holy Gifts. I thank You that You deemed me worthy, unworthy as I am, to partake of Your pure and heavenly Gifts. O Master, Who loves mankind, Who for us both died and arose and Who graned us these, Your dread and life-creating Mysteries, for the benefit and sanctification of our souls and bodies: Grant that these may be to me for the healing of both soul and body, for the averting of everything hostile, for the enlightenment of the eyes of my heart, for the peace of the powers of my soul, for faith unashamed, for love unfeigned, for the fullness of wisdom, for the observance of Your commandments, for an increase of Your divine grace, and for abiding in Your Kingdom; that being kept by them in Your holiness I may ever be mindful of Your grace, and no longer live for myself but for You, our Master and benefactor. And thus, when from this life I have passed in the hope of life eternal, may I attain to everlasting rest, where the sound of those who celebrate is unceasing, and unending is the delight of those who behold the ineffable beauty of Your Countenance. For You are, indeed, the true object of our desire and the inexpressible gladness of those who love You, O Christ our God, and all creation praises You unto the ages. Amen.

O Master Christ, our God, King of the ages and creator of all, I thank You for all the good things You have granted me and for the Communion of Your pure and life-giving Mysteries. I beseech You, therefore, O Good One Who loves mankind, keep me under Your protection and in the shadow of Your wings; and grant that, with a clear conscience and until my final breath, I may worthily partake of Your Holy Gifts for the remission of my sins and for life eternal. For You are the bread of life, the well-spring of holiness, and the giver of all that is good, and to You we ascribe the glory, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

(The Translator)

O You Who willingly grant me Your Flesh for food, You are a fire, and You consume the unworthy! Burn me not, O my Maker, But rather pass through my composite members Into all my joints, my innermost core, and my heart.

Burn up the thorns of all my transgressions; Purify my soul; sanctify my thoughts; Make firm my legs, as well as my bones; Illumine the clarity of my five senses; Nail down the whole of me by Your fear. Ever overshadow, watch, and guard me from every soul-destroying act and word.

Purify, cleanse, and train me; Adorn, elucidate, and illuminate me; Show me to be the dwelling of Your Spirit alone, And no longer the dwelling of sin; So that, as Your house, by the entrance of Communion As Fire, every evildoer and passion may flee, I bring to You intercessors, all the sanctified, The captains of the bodiless angels, Your Forerunner, the wise apostles, And to them I add Your pure, immaculate Mother. Receive, O my compassionate Christ, their petitions, And make of your hired servant a child of light!

For You are alone our sanctification, O Good One, and the brightness of our souls; And to You, as is fitting, as our God and Master, Do we all ascribe glory from day to day.

Anonymous

May Your holy Body, O Lord Jesus Christ, our God, be to me for life eternal, and Your precious Blood for remission of sins. And may this Eucharist be to me for joy, health, and gladness. And at Your awe-some Second Coming, deem me, the sinner, worthy to stand at the right hand of Your glory, through the intercessions of Your all-pure Mother and all Your saints. Amen.

All-holy Lady, Theotokos, the light of my darkened soul, my hope and protection, my refuge and consolation, and my joy, I thank you that you have made me worthy, though I am unworthy, to partake of the pure Body and precious Blood of your Son. But as the one who gave birth to the true Light: enlighten the noetic eyes of my heart. You who conceived the source of immortality, give life to me, dead in sin. You who are the compassionately loving Mother of the merciful God, have mercy on me and give my heart compunction and contrition, humility in my thoughts, and release from my captive thoughts. And make me worthy until my final breath to receive without condemnation the sanctification of the pure Mysteries for the healing of both soul and body. And grant me tears of repentance and confession, that I may praise and glorify you all the days of my life. For you are blessed and glorified unto the ages. Amen.

Priest: Lord, now let Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.

The grace that shone forth like a torch from your mouth illumined the universe. It laid up for the world the treasures of freedom from avarice. It showed us the height of humility. But while instructing us by your words, Father John Chrysostom, intercede with the Word, Christ, our God, that our souls be saved.

You received divine grace from heaven, and through your lips you teach us all to worship the one God in Trinity, all-blessed, venerable John Chrysostom. Rightly we praise you, for you are a teacher who makes clear the things divine.

And the following: The Church was revealed to be a many-lighted heaven, which illuminates all of the faithful; standing in it, we cry aloud: O Lord, make firm this house.

Priest: Glory to You, O God, glory to You.

May He Who rose from the dead, Christ our true God, through the intercessions of His all-pure and all-immaculate holy Mother; of the holy, glorious, and praiseworthy apostles; of (name of the saint of the parish); of our father among the saints John Chrysostom, archbishop of Constantinople; and of all the saints; have mercy on us and save us, for He is good and loves mankind.

Through the prayers of our holy fathers, Lord Jesus Christ, our God, have mercy on us.

Deacon: Amen.

Then both the Deacon and the Priest wash their hands and lips in the special drain in the holy Altar, divest themselves of their clerical vestments, and venerate and kiss the holy Table. They then exit the holy Altar, giving thanks to the Lord.

This Marks the End of the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom. If no Deacon serves, everything is said by the Priest from within the holy Altar (except Master give the blessing, Master give the direction, etc., and all dialogues between the Priest and Deacon). The people chant together with the choir and chanters. When there are many concelebrants, they exchange the kiss of peace and then kiss each other’s right hands; the first Priest says Christ is in our midst, and the next Priest responds He is and always shall be.