The Divine Liturgy of Our Father

The Divine Liturgy of Our Father
Julio Cesar Assis
M.A. History of Ideas

University of San Paulo, Brazil
ideashistory@gmail.com
Jesus Christ the high priest with the Name and blessing ICXC
I shall enter into Your dwelling place; before Your holy temple I will bow in fear of You [1]
Traditional Christian churches reproduce the architecture of the Tabernacle [2],

model for the temple of Jerusalem. In the East is the Holy of Holies (the Altar
sanctuary), then the veil [3] (iconostasis), the Holy Place (the nave of the church)
and the entrance door.
North
I
c Heaven
Earthly Paradise
o
Holy Place n Holy of Holies
W o
Nave
e s
s t Holy
t a Table
s
i
s East
South
From a ritual point of view [4] the Our Father [5] is a synthesis of the tabernacle-
first temple-Christian orthodox liturgy.
Our Father which art in Heaven
Heaven is the Holy of Holies or Altar sanctuary, separated and connected to the
Holy Place by the iconostasis, the nave being the Earthly Paradise.
The priest prepares the church and faithful for the Liturgy: "Glory to God in the
highest [the sanctuary] and on earth [the nave] peace." [6] The word "peace" is
repeated about twenty times in the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom [7].
Hallowed be thy Name
“My Name is YHVH.” [8]
"Our High Priest” [9] Jesus Christ received the Name: “God exalted him and gave
him the Name above all names." [10] The Christian orthodox iconographers write in
the church icons the Greek equivalents of YHVH, which are ICXC
(IHCOYC XPICTOC) and Ho Ôn (Being).
Thy Kingdom come
“For favorable weather, an abundance of the fruits of the earth and for peaceful
times, let us pray to the Lord.” [11] The Kingdom is the union of the peace of the
Sanctuary with the faithful in the nave, the whole of humanity and of nature.
This union is the covenant
Your will be done, in earth as it is in Heaven
The Divine Liturgy does the will of God the Father: it takes to earth (the nave) the
peace of Heaven (the Sanctuary).
Give us this day our daily bread
Bethlehem means House of the Bread. "I am the living bread which came down
from Heaven. Who eats this bread will live forever. And the bread I will give is my
own flesh, so that the world has life." [12] The Davidic prophet-priest-king Jesus
Christ bears the sins that break up the union between Heaven and earth, sacrifices
himself and restores the covenant. The priest reactualizes in the altar the sacrifice
of the Lord and goes from Heaven (the Sanctuary) to earth (the nave) carrying the
essential bread.
And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us
“For forgiveness and remission of our sins and transgressions, let us ask the Lord.”
[13] The priest asks forgiveness for his sins so that he can forgive his brethren,
restoring the union between the Sanctuary and them, which also forgive one
another.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil
"For our deliverance from all affliction, wrath, danger, and distress, let us pray to
the Lord" [14]. Standing in front of the central door of the iconostasis, toward the
icon of Christ Cosmocrator, which carries the name ICXC - Ho Ôn, the priest
closes the rite: "Grant peace to your world." [15] The Divine Liturgy renewed the
covenant and restored the Kingdom, the peace of the Sanctuary in the church
nave, which the faithful shall bring to all humankind and the whole of nature.
For thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever
Amen
[1] Prayers Before the Holy Doors. Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom.
[2] The nomadic Tabernacle was always oriented toward the East. In the temple the Holy of Holies,
being the center of the world, was not located at any particular cardinal point. Traditional Christian
churches are oriented to Jerusalem, East of Europe and America. "The return of the Son of Man will
be like a lightning bolt coming out of the East and shinning in the West." (Matthew 24:27).
[3] "The veil shall separate the Holy Place of the Holy of Holies" (Exodus 26:31-33).
[4] The Temple Theology approach proposed by biblical scholar Margaret Barker:
www.margaretbarker.com.
[5] Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4.
[6] Great Doxology. Luke 2:14. The Holy of Holies is located literally "in the highest" because the
temple was on a mount in Jerusalem and the Sanctuary on a platform inside the temple, as it is
today in traditional Christian churches. “Altar” includes the meaning of Latin “altus”, high.
[7] Ecumenical Patriarchate: www.goarch.org/chapel/liturgical_texts/liturgy_hchc; Melkite:
www.melkite.org/PDF/LITURGY2009.pdf; the Bible in the Divine Liturgy:
www.orthodoxcentral.com/articles/bibleinliturgy.htm.
[8] Isaiah 42:8. YVHV means "Being" in itself and "the One who gives being" for the creatures.
[9] The Great Entrance. Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.
[10] Philippians 2:9-10. See also John chapiter 17.
[11] Litany of Peace. Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.
[12] John 6:50-51.
[13] The Petitions. Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.
[14] Idem.
[15] The Dismissal. Idem.

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The Divine Liturgy of Our Father

Julio Cesar Assis

M.A. History of Ideas

Traditional Christian churches reproduce the architecture of the Tabernacle [2],

Our Father which art in Heaven

Hallowed be thy Name

“My Name is YHVH.” [8]

This union is the covenant

Your will be done, in earth as it is in Heaven

Give us this day our daily bread

And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us

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