Rubrics for the Divine Liturgy of St. James
T
he Divine Liturgy of St. James the Brother of God is the first apostolic liturgy. The liturgies of St. John Chrysostom and St. Basil the Great were based on it and replaced it, according to St. Nicodemus the Hagiorite.1 Today, it is celebrated only on October 23rd, the feast day of St. James.
The music for the hymn “Only-begotten Son” (page 126), the responses of the petitions (“Lord, have mercy”) (pages 88-123), the Thrice-holy Hymn (pages 183-197), and the “Alleluia” (pages 210-218) following the epistle reading are identical to those used in the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. Between the epistle and gospel readings, there is a set of petitions intoned by the deacon. The response for each petition is “Lord, have mercy,” except for the final petition, which has the response “Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.” After the gospel reading, the deacon intones another set of petitions. The response to the first five petitions is a single “Lord, have mercy,” the response to the next six is “Grant this, O Lord,” and the response to the final petition of the deacon is “To Thee, O Lord.” The cherubic hymn for the Divine Liturgy of St. James is the cherubic hymn of Holy Saturday: “Let All Mortal Flesh” (see page 297). After the creed and the deacon’s petitions: “Let us love one another with a holy kiss… Let us bow our heads unto the Lord,” the priest chants the hymn: “O magnify the Lord with me…” (see page 625) Immediately thereafter, the choir responds with the hymn: “The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee…” (see page 625). The responses for the anaphora are identical to the anaphora in the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (see pages 303-367), with the difference that there are eighteen petitions with the response, “Lord, have mercy” and then one petition with the response, “Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.” preceding the petitions “Through the compassions…, Peace be unto all…, Let us stand well…,” etc.
1
Vid. The Rudder, p. xxvii. St. Nicodemus the Hagiorite probably relied on the validity of a treatise (PG 45:849-852) attributed to St. Proclus (d. 446). Later scholars, however, (e.g., Swainson, C.A., The Greek Liturgies, Cambridge 1884, and Brightman, F.E., Liturgies Eastern and Western I, Eastern Liturgies, Oxford, 1896) question the validity of these statements and ascribe that treatise to a much later writer. Moreover, they believe that the Liturgy of St. James developed independently of and simultaneously with the other liturgies. (See also Fountouvlh, !Iwavnnou M., !Apanthvsei" eij" Leitourgika;" !Aporiva", Tovmo" DV, !Apostolikh; Diakoniva, !Aqhvna, 1994, sel. 49-50, and Conomos, Dimitri E., Byzantine Trisagia and Cheroubika of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries, pp. 13-18.)
624
At the consecration of the Holy Gifts, the deacon intones the petition “We believe and confess.” Then, instead of chanting “We hymn Thee…,” the choir chants the hymn: “We proclaim Thy death…” (see page 626). The priest then chants the hymn: “For Thy people…” (see page 626), and the choir responds by repeating three times the hymn: “Have mercy on us…” (see page 626). While the priest reads the long prayer “We offer unto Thee, O Master…,” the choir quietly repeats many times the hymn: “Remember them, O Lord our God” (see page 627). When the priest completes that prayer, he intones the petition: “Especially our all-holy, immaculate, most blessed…,” and the choir chants the hymn “Remember them…” for the last time with a different melody (see page 628). After the petition “Grant unto us and them…,” the choir chants the hymn: “Pardon, remit, and forgive…” (see page 629). Following the deacon’s petition: “In the peace of Christ let us chant unto the Lord,” the clergy receive communion. According to Athonite rubrics, at this point in the liturgy (whether it be the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, St. Basil the Great, St. James, or the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts), the reader reads the precommunon prayers: “I believe, O Lord, and I confess…,” “Behold, I approach…,” “Receive me today…,” Tremble, O man…,” “Thou hast smitten me…,” “Into the splendour…,” “O man-befriending Master…,” and again “Receive me today….” The reader then reads Psalms 33 (“I will bless the Lord…”) and 144 (“I will exalt Thee…”). After the reader has completed these two psalms, the choir chants the communion hymn from the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts: “O Taste and See…” (see pages 613-617). While the faithful receive communion, the choir repeats the hymn: “Receive me today…” (see pages 534-543). After the faithful have received communion, the choir chants the hymn: “Fill my mouth with Thy praise…” (see page 631). According to Athonite rubrics, at the end of every liturgy in which the faithful received communion, the reader reads the thanskgiving prayers for holy communion while the priest distributes the antidoron.
625
O Magnify the Lord Grave Mode (Chanted by the priest soon after the Creed)
Ú•º
Andante
> b & œ ˙ F
> b & œ ˙
œ. œœ œ œ œ
let
&b œ
œ
Un.
geth
-
-
fy
Lord
the
C
us
with
me,
> , C œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙
œ œœœ œ ˙
F
and
Un. , D , >œ œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ
G
Un.
O mag - ni
by Abraham Efthymiadis English Adaptation by Hieromonk Ephraim
D
ex
-
alt
œ œ œ œ ˙
His
name
to
œ œ œ œ ˙. -
-
er.
The choir immediately responds:
> b & œ ˙
˙
F
The Ho - ly
&b œ œ ˙
D> Un. ,F œ œœ œœ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œœœ œ œ œ œ œ œ
G
Spir
-
> œ œ ˙
Œ
F
thee,
and the pow
>Dj , > & b œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ shall
-
o
-
ver
-
-
-
shall
it
œ œœœ œ ˙ G
-
er
,
of
come
up
-
on
œ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ ˙ the
Most
High
> Un. œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙.
shad
-
-
-
-
ow
thee.
626
We Proclaim Thy Death Plagal First Mode Chanted instead of "We hymn Thee" at the consecration of the Holy Gifts
Ú¶™
Adagio
&b œ
˙
œ
D
We
œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙
˙
pro - claim
Thy
death,
,
O
& b œ . { Jœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ # œ œ . Jœ ˙ D
con
-
-
Allegro
&b
D
Ú¡£º
For
fess
Thy
peo
œ œ œ.
C
D
sup - pli
-
Thy
-
ur
n œ œ Jœ œ . œ œ œ œ A
and
Lord,
we
D > >œ œ œ œ [ œ œ œ œj œ œj ˙
G
A
res
,
-
rec
-
-
-
Then the priest chants:
> œ
œ
œ
&b ˙
-
G
by Abraham Efthymiadis English Adaptation by Hieromonk Ephraim
cate
-
œ
œ -
œ ˙ -
,
œ œ œ
ple
œ œ œ
and
œ
Thy
tion.
> œ œ œ
œ
Church
,
j œ œ œ œ ˙.
Thee.
Ú¡ºº Un. D , > > . b & . œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ bœ œ œ ˙ And the choir responds thrice:
Andante
Have mer
-
cy
on
us,
O
Lord
our
God,
might
-
y.
O
Fa
-
D C rit. > j .. œ œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ b˙
Intermediate Ending Finale Un. D
& b œ œœœ œ ˙
œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ C
O
Fa
-
ther Al - might
-
y.
ther Al
D
˙.
-
627
Remember Them, O Lord our God Plagal First Mode
Ú¶™
Adagio 1
> œ
& b .. œ D
Repeated quietly while the priest reads the long prayer: "We offer unto Thee, O Master"
œ
Re - mem
&b œ
O
-
œ œ ber
> œ. œ ˙
œ
, > œ œ œ œ œ œ them,
Lord
Lord
God.
Alternate Melodies
2
& b .. œ ˙ D
,
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ bœ œ œ œ œ œ ˙
Re - mem - ber
them,
O
Un. > &b œ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ
C
our
3
& b .. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ D
Re - mem
-
ber
D , > œ & b œ œ œœœ œ œ ˙ G
O
Lord
,
Lord
> , œ œ nœ œ œ ˙ O
Lord
by Abraham Efthymiadis English Adaptation by Hieromonk Ephraim
, >D >œ œ œ œ œj œ bœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ nœ
A
them,
O
> j j œ œ œ œ œœœ ˙ our
,
..
˙
God.
,
..
˙
our
jœ œ ˙ œ
œ.
O
>j œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ.
Traditional Melodies English Adaptation by Hieromonk Ephraim
God.
Lord
..
our
God,
Remember Them, O Lord our God
628
Ú¶™
Adagio
>˙ b & œ
A
A
After the priest intones the petition: "Especially our all-holy, immaculate, most blessed. . .," the choir chants either of the following two melodies:
œ œ œ œ D
Re - mem - ber
them,
>œ . œ { b œ œ œ &
O
œ J œœœœ˙
G
O
, > , j œ œ œ œ œ. œ ˙
D
Lord
>œ œ , n œ œ œ œ œ œ. J A
our
Lord
&b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ D
Re - mem
-
ber
& b œ . { œJ œ œ œ ˙ Lord
our
,
God,
C
our
God.
A
Lord
O
nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
> b & œ œ œj œ œj œ œ œ œ œ
Lord
rit. C
œ.
by Abraham Efthymiadis English Adaptation by Hieromonk Ephraim
> , >œ œ œ œ œ œ n œ œœ œ œ œ œ œ
,
them,
O
God,
Un. D > > œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œj œ œj ˙
,
Alternate Melody B
Traditional Melody English Adaptation by Hieromonk Ephraim
our
O
> , j j b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
D
God.
j œ bœ œ nœ œ. bœ ˙. D
629
Pardon, Remit, and Forgive Chanted after the petition: "Grant unto both us and them. . ."
Ú•º
Andante A
&b ˙
Plagal First Mode
Par
-
œ œœœ œ œ
œ
#œ
D
don,
re
-
mit,
our
of - fen
-
-
-
Œ
& b œ #œ œ œ nœ œ bœ. and
in - vol
-
un
-
tar
-
Un. G >œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ œ. &b œ
and
ig
-
-
-
-
un
j œ œ œ œ ˙ -
-
œ
give,
œ
˙
œ
O
,
God,
, > nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙
œ ˙
j œ ˙
G
for
A
both vol
ces,
G
Un.
nœ
and
&b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙
> œ
by Hieromonk Ephraim
-
-
tar
Œ
œ.
no - rance.
-
œ ˙
-
D
y,
D
-
in knowl
-
y
nœ œ œ œ œ
,
edge
, rit.C j œ nœ œ œ œ œ b˙
D
˙.
Alternate Melody Adagio B
Ú¶º
& œ œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ G
Un.
Par
-
by Abraham Efthymiadis English Adaptation by Hieromonk Ephraim
Second Mode
-
W
-
don,
re
j œ
-
mit,
and
,
nœ œ bœ œ œ bœ œ F
k
for
C
-
give,
O
Pardon, Remit, and Forgive
630
E> , , > & bœ œ {œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ n˙ œ œ {œ œ God,
our
of
œ œ œ œ , œ & ˙ tar
-
-
-
œ.
and
y
& œ œ n œ bœ œ {œ bœ œ & œ. no
knowl
-
-
j œ œ œ œ -
-
-
-
-
œ œ
rance.
W
-
-
j œ œ œ œ
F
in
-
œ {œ ˙
F
in
fen
-
-
-
œ.
ces,
both
vol
œ œœœ œ ˙
E
vol
Œ
edge
rit. F
G
œ
j œ b˙
-
-
-
un
œœœ
˙
F
-
un
-
œ œ œ ˙
Un.
-
tar
-
y,
,
k
> , F G œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ œ
E
W
and
˙.
G
ig
-
-
-
631
Fill My Mouth with Thy Praise Presto A
& œ
&œ
so
Ú¡¶º
Un.
œ
Fill
my
œ
G
that
I
œ
Chanted by the choir after the faithful have received communion
> œ
Plagal First Mode
mouth
œ
œ
A
>œ
œ
with Thy praise,
œ
œ
œ
˙
may
hymn
Thy
glo
œ
˙
O
Lord,
œ œ >œ œ œ œ ˙ , and
im - bue
my
lips with joy,
,
˙
A
-
by Hieromonk Ephraim
ry.
Alternate Melody B
Second Mode
& œ
Un.
Fill
& œ œ Un.
so
that
œ
œ
G
œ
my mouth with
œ I
œ
may
œ
hymn
œ
Thy
œ
Thy
> œ œ œ ˙ praise,
O
œ œ œ
glo
-
Lord,
˙
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ E
and im - bue my
lips
,
with joy,
,
ry.
Immediately after completing either of the above melodies, the choir chants the following words in a monotone: We thank Thee, O Christ our God, for Thou hast counted us worthy to partake of Thy body and blood unto remission of sins and eternal life. Since Thou art good and lovest mankind, keep us without condemnation, we pray.