RITES IN THE UNITED STATES 223 



said secretly, only the concluding part being intoned, to which 

 the choir responds with the Sanctus. The prayer before con- 

 secration follows, with a comparison of the Old and the New 

 Law, not found in either Greek or Roman Rite : "Holy, Holy, 

 Holy ; Thou art in truth most Holy ; who is there who can 

 dare to describe by words thy bounties which flow down upon 

 us without measure? For Thou didst protect and console our 

 forefathers, when they had fallen in sin, by means of the 

 prophets, the Law, the priesthood, and the offering of bullocks, 

 showing forth that which was to come. And when at length 

 He came, Thou didst tear in pieces the register of our sins, 

 and didst bestow on us Thine Only Begotten Son, the debtor 

 and the debt, the victim and the anointed, the Lamb and Bread 

 of Heaven, the Priest and the Oblation, for He is the distribu- 

 tor and is always distributed amongst us, without being ex- 

 hausted. Being made man truly and not apparently, and by 

 union without confusion, He was incarnate in the womb of the 

 Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and journeyed through all the 

 passions of human life, sin only excepted, and of His own free 

 will walked to the cross, whereby He gave life to the world 

 and wrought salvation for us." Then follow the actual words 

 of consecration, which are intoned aloud. Then follow the 

 Offering and the Epiklesis, which differs slightly in the Gre- 

 gorian and Catholic form ; the Gregorian is : "whereby Thou 

 wilt make the bread when blessed truly the body of our Lord 

 and Saviour Jesus Christ"; and the Catholic form: "whereby 

 Thou hast made the bread when blessed truly the Body of our 

 Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." As there is actually no 

 blessing or consecration after the Epiklesis, the Catholic form 

 represents the correct belief. Then come the prayers for the 

 living and the dead, and an intoning by the deacons of the 

 Commemoration of the Saints, in which nearly all of the 

 Armenian saints are mentioned. Then the deacon intones 

 aloud the Ascription of Praise of Bishop Chosroes the Great 

 in thanksgiving for the Sacrament of the Altar. After this 

 comes a long Ektene or Litany, and then the Our Father is sung 

 by the choir. The celebrant then elevates the consecrated 

 Host, saying "Holy things for Holy Persons," and when the 

 choir responds, he continues : "Let us taste in holiness the 

 holy and honorable Body and Blood of our Lord and Saviour 

 Jesus Christ who came down from heaven and is now distrib- 



