3 Litanies/ Prayer• Same ones as the ones during the procession:

– Peace– Fathers– Congregation

• Abouna enters altar, kisses it and asks congregation for forgiveness: – Matthew 5:23-24– Humility

• At the end, lift up part of prospherin– St. Mary Magdalene

Litany Of Peace

• Safety from devil• God’s peace

– Philippians 4:7

• Kings, armies, counsellors and even our neighbours– 1Tim 2:1-4

• All believers– One body

Litany of Fathers

• Pope, Bishops, Priests and deacons– Heb 13:7– 2Tim 1:3

• Keep them in FAITH for many years and peaceful times

Litany of Congregation

• Congregation and any holy meeting• Houses of prayers

– Church at home

• Houses of purity– Devoid of sin

• Houses of blessing– End of result

• God’s protection

Ending…….

• Accept our prayers through His love to Jesus christ……..

Creed

• Traditionally, non-believers leave athis point• Deacon:

– In the wisdom of God let us attend, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, in truth:

WE BELIEVE…….

• Calling to gather hearts and thoughts• Cree id said ALOUD

Background

Summary of our beliefWritten by the guidance of the Holy Spirit

First Ecumenical Council

• 325AD• Arius heresy, priest

– Denied the divinity of Jesus Christ

• Pope Alexandros Pope of Alexandria and bishops degraded Arius from priesthood

• The heresy gained force and popularity• The Council assembled

– 318 bishops worldwide– Nicea

First Ecumenical Council

• Arius got a chance to discuss his views

• Deacon of Pope Alexandros, Athanasius (25 years old) challenged Arius

Athanasius Vs Arius

• Solomon the king spoke with the tongue of our Lord Jesus Christ saying "The Lord possesses me at the beginning of His ways." (Proverb 8:22)

• The ‘Lord begot Me’ as is written in the Hebrew version, and in the same chapter our Lord Jesus Christ said, "I have been established from everlasting, from the beginning, before there was ever an earth"

Athanasius Vs Arius

• “My Father is greater than I,” (John 14:28), so, the Son is not the same like the Father but less than He is.

• The Son in flesh is less than the Father as He said, "If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, 'I am going to the Father,' for My Father is greater than I." That means that He, in His flesh, will go to the Father who is greater than the flesh of the Son, as He, in His Divinity, is in the bosom of the Father all the time.

Athanasius Vs Arius

• "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth." (Mathew 28:18).

• The Son, as He is born from the Father before all ages, has gained all authority and He considered Himself equal to the Father when He said, “Go and baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Athanasius Vs Arius

• Our Lord Jesus Christ said about Himself that He doesn't know the hour of judgement when He told His disciples "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angles of heaven, but My Father." (Mathew 24:36) Therefore, if the Son doesn't know the time of judgement how is He then God?

• Our Lord Jesus Christ said this to His disciples lest they ask Him about this mystery which they were not allowed to know. Also Saint Peter said to Him "Lord you know everything.”

Athanasius Vs Arius

• Lord Jesus Christ said He can't do His will but the will of His Father (John 5:30), thus He is less than the Father.

• Our Lord Jesus Christ spoke in many situations as being God incarnate who became man. But speaking as the divine God He said, "He who has seen Me has seen My Father," and "I am in My Father and My Father in Me", and "I am in the Father and the Father in Me".

Outcome of the Council

• Arius’s doctrine was a heresy• Excommunicate Arius from the Church• To preserve the Christian faith, there is a need for a clear

definition for the faith– Creed

• Written in Greek• The council selected Pope Alexandros, Deacon Athanasius,

and a Syrian bishop to write the creed

Creed

"WE BELIEVE IN ONE GOD: THE FATHER ALMIGHTY, MAKER OF HEAVENAND EARTH: THE VISIBLE AND THE INVISIBLE.

WE BELIEVE IN ONE LORD JESUS THE CHRIST, THE ONLY BEGOTTENSON, BORN OF THE FATHER BEFORE ALL AGES. LIGHT OF LIGHT, VERY

GOD OF VERY GOD; BEGOTTEN NOT CREATED. CONSUBSTANTIAL WITHTHE FATHER; BY WHOM WERE ALL THINGS MADE. THIS IS HE WHO FORUS HUMANS, AND FOR OUR SALVATION, CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN,

AND WAS MADE MAN BY THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE VIRGIN MARY.HE WAS INCARNATE; CRUCIFIED UNDER PONTIUS PILATE, HE

SUFFERED, WAS BURIED AND ROSE FROM THE DEAD ON THE THIRDDAY ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES.

HE ASCENDED UP TO HEAVEN AND SITTETH AT THE RIGHT HAND OF HISFATHER, FROM WHENCE HE SHALL COME IN GLORY TO JUDGE THELIVING AND THE DEAD; FOR WHOSE KINGDOM THERE IS NO END.

WE BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT."

Anathema

• Affirms the faith• Warning to those who digress from the creed:

"And as for them that say concerning the Son of God, there was a time when He was not, and He was not before He was

produced, and He was produced from things that are not, and He is of another substance or essence, or created, or

subject to conversion or mutation, the Universal Apostolic Church says let them be anathema."

Other matters

• Easter date

• No Re-baptism

• Priests do not need to be celibate

Still awake???

Second Ecumenical Council

• Heresy of Macedonius, Bishop of Constantinople

• 381 AD

• Consequently, the council added to the Nicean creed– Affirmation of the faith in the church universal, the oneness of

baptism and in awaiting the resurrection of the dead and life eternal

Third Ecumenical Council

• Heresy of Nestorius, Bishop of Constantinople– Jesus was 2 separate people: human and divine

• Pope Cyril Pillar of faith wrote many books and letters arguing this heresy– The Pope exaplained, the iron molten in an excessively high degree of

heat. In that state, the iron, and the heat were united into one, and though there substances were two, there union was complete without mixing, nor fusion nor change. No one could either separate or divide them. Such were the two natures of the Son of God.

• Nestorius also denied that St. Mary was the mother of God• 412 AD the council gathered and condemned the heresy

• The devil fights the church in every generation• The Lord protects the church and the faith• He send the right people at the right time

Why do we recite the creed?

• Confession of faith in front of God• Self reminder

– Psalm 116:10

• 3 virtues: 1Corin 13:13 (+ confession and repentance)– Faith: Heb 11:6, Heb 11:1– Love: the Holy Kiss 1John 4:20-21– Hope for eternal life: we sing this at the end of the

creed

• Abouna washes his hands 3 times– Psalm 26:6-12– Prepare to touch the sacrifice

• Shakes his hands to the congregation– Not responsible of anyone

taking communion who is not worthy

• Dries his hands in a clean white towel– The Lord after the last supper

Prayer of Reconciliation

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Begotten Son”John 3:16

Why…..?

• Sin is the wall between us and God

• It is a separation from God• The cross was the bridge to

the Father• Jesus reconciled us• No longer condemned

• U-turn back to God:– Repentance– Confession

– Holy Communion

Prayer of Reconciliation• Abouna takes the lefafa, holding it in front of

him– Wall of sin separating us from God

• Deacon opposite holding the cross • “According to your good will, fill our hearts

with your peace”– John 14:27

• Lifts up our hearts and minds towards the heavenly kingdom

God’s Peace

• Armour against the world and the king of this world

• Deep and strong• Everlasting• Changes• Purifies• Constantly asked for in the mass

– “Peace be with you all”

Prayer of Reconciliation

• The deacon: “Greet one another with the Holy Kiss….”

• Abouna and the deacon remove the prospherin after shaking it– Earth shook as the tomb was

rolled away

From this point onward….

• Abouna always bows to the scarifice after each prayer

• Abouna ccannot leave the sacrifice unattended

• And how about us??– We are in the presence of the King of Kings– Be careful what you do

Prayer of Reconciliation

• We greet each other:– Love: 1Peter 1:22– Forgiveness: Matthew 5:23-24

• Greet with our hearts• “through the intercessions of mother of God

St. Mary”• Aspasmos as an alternative