RITES IN THE UNITED STATES 233 



intoned aloud, the choir answering "Amen." After the suc- 

 ceeding prayer of commemoration of the Resurrection and 

 hope of the Second Coming and a prayer for mercy, the Epi- 

 klesis is said : "How tremendous is this hour and how awful 

 this moment, my beloved, in which the Holy and Life-giving 

 Spirit comes down from on high and descends upon this Eu- 

 charist which is placed in this sanctuary for our reconciliation. 

 With silence and fear stand and pray! Salvation to us and 

 the peace of God the Father of all of us. Let us cry out and 

 say thrice: Have mercy on us, O Lord, and send down the 

 Holy and Life-giving Spirit upon us! Hear me, O Lord! and 

 let Thy living and Holy Spirit descend upon me and upon this 

 sacrifice ! and so complete this mystery, that it be the Body of 

 Christ our God for our redemption!" The prayers for the 

 Pope of Rome, the Patriarch of Antioch, and all the metro- 

 politans and bishops and orthodox professors and believers of 

 the Catholic Faith immediately follow. This in turn is fol- 

 lowed by a long prayer by the deacon for tranquillity, peace 

 and the commemoration of all the saints and doctors of the 

 early Church and of Syria, including St. John Maro, with the 

 petition for the dead at the end. Then comes the solemn offer- 

 ing of the Body and the Blood for the sins of priest and people, 

 concluding with the words : "Thy Body and Thy Holy Blood 

 are the way which leads to the Kingdom !" The adoration and 

 the fraction follow ; then the celebrant elevates the chalice to- 

 gether with the Host, and says : "O desirable sacrifice which 

 is offered for us ! O victim of reconciliation, which the Father 

 obtained in Thy own person ! O Lamb, Who wast the same 

 person as the High Priest who sacrificed!" Then he genu- 

 flects and makes the sign of the cross over the chalice: "Be- 

 hold the Blood which was shed upon Golgotha for my redemp- 

 tion; because of it receive my supplication." The "Sanctus 

 fortis" is again sung, and the celebrant lifts the Sacred Body 

 on high and says : "Holy things for holy persons, in purity 

 and holiness !" The fraction of the Host follows after several 

 prayers, and the priest mingles a particle with the Blood, re- 

 ceives the Body and the Blood himself, and gives communion 

 to the clergy and then to the people. When it is finished he 

 makes the sign of the cross with the paten and blesses the 

 people. 



Then follow a synapte (litany) of thanksgiving, and a sec- 



