Great Lent officially begins on Clean Monday, seven weeks before Pascha ( Ash Wednesday is not observed in Eastern Christianity ) and runs for 40 contiguous days, concluding with the Presanctified Liturgy on Friday of the Sixth Week.

Saint Gregory Dialogus, who is credited with compiling the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts.

However, since it is considered especially important to receive the Holy Mysteries ( Holy Communion ) during this season, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts — also called the Liturgy of St. Gregory the Dialogist — may be celebrated on weekdays.

Because the Divine Liturgy is not celebrated on weekdays, it is replaced with the Typica, even on days when the Presanctified Liturgy is celebrated.

When the feast day of the patron saint of the parish church or monastery falls on a weekday of Great Lent, there is no Liturgy ( other than the Presanctified ), but fish is allowed at the meal.

Those who have the strength are encouraged to fast completely, eating only on Wednesday and Friday evenings, after the Presanctified Liturgy.

At the end of the Presanctified Liturgy on Friday ( since, liturgically, the day begins at sunset ) a special canon to St. Theodore, composed by St. John of Damascus, is chanted.

The next day ( Thursday morning ) a special Presanctified Liturgy is celebrated, and the fast is relaxed slightly ( wine and oil are allowed ) as consolation after the long service the night before.

Since during Holy Week Vespers is usually joined to either the Presanctified Liturgy or the Divine Liturgy, and since the faithful must observe a total fast from all food and drink before receiving Holy Communion, it is celebrated in the morning ( Vespers on Good Friday is an exception to this, usually being celebrated in the afternoon ).

The Presanctified Liturgy is celebrated on each of the first three days, and there is a Gospel reading at each one ( during the Forty Days there was no Gospel reading unless it was a feast day ).

The Prayer of Saint Ephrem is said for the last time at the end of the Presanctified Liturgy on Holy and Great Wednesday.

Ordination of a bishop, priest, deacon or subdeacon must be conferred during the Divine Liturgy ( Eucharist )— though in some churches it is permitted to ordain up through deacon during the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts — and no more than a single individual can be ordained to the same rank in any one service.

The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts always is similarly combined with vespers, with the first half of Vespers ( up to and including the Old Testament readings ) making up a significant portion of the service.

On Great and Holy Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is celebrated, at which the faithful may receive Holy Communion from the reserved Holy Mysteries.

In many churches, especially Greek Orthodox, a service of Anointing ( Holy Unction ) is held on Wednesday evening, following the Presanctified Liturgy.

* Morning — Third Hour, Sixth Hour, Ninth Hour, Typica, Vespers ( sometime with the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts or, on the Annunciation, the Liturgy of Saint john Chrysostom )

Basil the Great, the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, and the Liturgy of the Presanctified.

* The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts ( which has no Consecration of the Gifts but distributes the Holy Mysteries from a Lamb sanctified in advance, always as a Vespers ( Liturgies on fast days always being served in conjunction with the office of vespers ) is celebrated only on certain weekdays of Great Lent: on Wednesdays, Fridays and any of the more important feast days which may occur ( however, if the Great Feast of the Annunciation occurs on a weekday of Great Lent, the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is celebrated ).

In the Eastern Orthodox Church the bread and wine that are consecrated during the Divine Liturgy are referred to as " the Gifts.

In the Eastern Orthodox and Greek-Catholic Churches, the term " ablution " refers to consuming the remainder of the Gifts ( the Body and Blood of Christ ) at the end of the Divine Liturgy.

* The Rite of Peace comes at the beginning of the Liturgy of the Eucharist, before the Offertory ( Presentation of the Gifts )

The saint is shown consecration | consecrating the Sacred Mysteries | Gifts during the Divine Liturgy which bears his name.

The remaining loaves are blessed and offered back to the congregation after the end of the Divine Liturgy ( Eucharist ); this bread is called the Antidoron ( Greek: αντίδωρον, antídōron ), i. e. a " gift returned ", or " in place of the Gifts ".

In the Eastern Orthodox and Greek Catholic Churches, the pyx is the small " church tabernacle " which holds the Lamb ( Host ) that is reserved for the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts during Great Lent.

* Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts

However, on Wednesdays and Fridays the faithful may receive Holy Communion from the reserved Mysteries ( Sacrament ) at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts.

At the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, some of the stichera from the previous night's Matins ( Lauds and the Aposticha ) are repeated at Lord, I have cried ( see Vespers ).

At the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, some of the stichera from the previous night's Matins ( Lauds and the Aposticha ) are repeated at Lord, I have cried ( see Vespers ).

The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts does not contain the Words of Institution, since it is actually a Vespers service at which the faithful receive from the Reserved Mysteries ( Sacrament ) which were Consecrated the Sunday before ( hence the name: " Pre-sanctified ").

During the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts ( wherein Communion is received from the reserved Sacrament ), when the consecrated Holy Mysteries are brought out during the Great Entrance, everyone makes a full prostration — even the chanters stop singing and prostrate themselves while the entrance is made in silence.

In the ordinary form of the Roman Rite, if 2 November falls on a Sunday, the Mass is of All Souls, but the Liturgy of the Hours is that of the Sunday.

The words are selected from Holy Scripture or in some cases from the Liturgy, and the music is generally more elaborate and varied than that of psalm or hymn tunes.

In the revised Liturgy of the Hours, Job is read during the Eighth and Ninth Weeks in Ordinary Time.

A breviary ( from Latin brevis, ' short ' or ' concise ') is a liturgical book of the Latin liturgical rites of the Catholic Church containing the public or canonical prayers, hymns, the Psalms, readings, and notations for everyday use, especially by bishops, priests, and deacons in the Divine Office ( i. e., at the canonical hours or Liturgy of the Hours, the Christians ' daily prayer ).

In the Orthodox Liturgy, if celebrated in Greek, the priest is addressed by the deacon as Despot even today.

After Lazarus Saturday comes Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and finally Pascha itself, and the fast is broken immediately after the Paschal Divine Liturgy.

Among Eastern Christians, the Eucharistic service is called the Divine Liturgy ( Eastern Orthodox ) or similar names ( Oriental Orthodox ).

It comprises two main divisions: the first is the Liturgy of the Catechumens which consists of introductory litanies, antiphons and scripture readings, culminating in a reading from one of the Gospels and, often, a homily ; the second is the Liturgy of the Faithful in which the Eucharist is offered, consecrated, and received as Holy Communion.

The main Anaphora of the East Syrian tradition is the Holy Qurbana of Addai and Mari, while that of the West Syrian tradition is the Liturgy of Saint James.

The famed apologist St. Justin Martyr ( c. 150 ) wrote: " No one else is permitted to partake of it, except one who believes our teaching to be true ...." For the first several hundred years, non-members were forbidden even to be present at the sacramental ritual ; visitors and catechumens ( those still undergoing instruction ) were dismissed halfway through the Liturgy, after the Bible readings and sermon but before the Eucharistic rite.

The Liturgy of St Gregory the Theologian in use by the Coptic Church is named after him.

The Eastern Orthodox Church also has ordination to minor orders ( known as cheirothesia, " imposition of hands ") which is performed outside of the Divine Liturgy, typically by a bishop, although certain archimandrites of stavropegial monasteries may bestow cheirothesia on members of their communities.

Customarily, the newly consecrated bishop ordains a priest and a deacon at the Liturgy during which he is consecrated.

At priestly ordination the bishop imposes hands upon the deacon who is by that matter and the form of the consecratory Preface ( Liturgy ) | preface ordained to the priesthood.

He is known for his eloquence in preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, and his ascetic sensibilities.

In the Byzantine Rite Liturgy, the Nicene Creed is recited on all occasions, following the Litany of Supplication.

The Great Entrance of the Divine Liturgy commemorates the " Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem ", so the meaningfulness of this moment is punctuated on Palm Sunday as everyone stands, holding their branches and lit candles.

During Great Lent, when the celebration of the Liturgy is forbidden on weekdays, there is always Liturgy on Saturday as well as Sunday.