MEANING OF HOLY QURBANA

Holy Qurbana

THE MALANKARA ORTHODOX LITURGY

Since the 17th century, the Malankara Orthodox Church uses the Syrian  Orthodox Liturgy, which belongs to the Antiochene liturgical tradition.  The East Syrian (Persian), Byzantine, Armenian, Georgian, Maronite  liturgies also belong to the same liturgical family. In the first half  of the fifth century, the Antiochene Church adopted the anaphora of  Jerusalem, known under the name of St James, the brother of Our Lord. In  the forth and the fifth centuries, the liturgical language of Jerusalem  and Antioch was Greek. Therefore, the original form of St James liturgy  was composed in Greek.

Following the Council of Chalcedon (451), the Eastern Church was  divided into two, one group accepting the council and the other opposing  it. Both groups continued to use the Greek version of St James. The  Byzantine emperor Justin (518-527) expelled the Non-Chalcedonians from  Antioch and they took refuge in the Syriac speaking Mesopotamia on the  Roman-Persian Border (modern Eastern Syria, Iraq and South East Turkey).  Gradually, the Antiochene liturgical rites were translated into Syriac.  New elements such as Syriac hymns were introduced into it.

It was Mar Gregorios of Jerusalem, who came to Malankara in 1665 who  introduced Syrian Orthodox liturgical rites in our Church. The most  striking characteristic of the Antiochene liturgy is the large number of  anaphoras (Order of the celebration of the Eucharist). About 80 are  known and about a dozen are used in India. All of them have been  composed following the model of St James.

Structure of the Eucharist

1.Preparation rites (tuyobo): The important elements of the  preparation rites are the vesting of the celebrant and the preparation  of the bread and wine on the altar. The priest places the bread in the  paten and pours the wine in the chalice and holds them in the form of a  cross. Then he remembers the names of the faithful, the sick and the  departed. Then he places the paten and the chalice on the altar and  covers them with the veil (Sosappa). The preparation rites are concluded  with censing.

1. Public celebration or Pre-anaphora: The pre-anaphora  begins with a solemn procession around the altar. Formerly at this time  the bread and wine were solemnly brought to the altar in a procession.  During the procession, the congregation sings the anthem (manitho)  composed by Patriarch Mar Severios of Antioch (+518). This entrance hymn  is a beautiful summary of our doctrine of Christ. In fact there are  several liturgical hymns and prayers that describe the faith of the  Church in a rather simple style. After the procession, the priest begins  the Trisagion, which is addressed to Christ.
2. Reading of the Scriptures: Then the Epistles and the  Gospel are read. Formerly, the lessons from the Old Testament were also  read at this moment. The Gospel is the “life-giving proclamation” of the  words and deeds of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our worship and our hope are  founded on the salvific work and the life-giving words pf the Lord. In  the early Church, the Scripture reading was followed by the sermon, a  custom still followed by many Churches. Sermon is an important element  of the worship and it aims at explaining the meaning and relevance of  the text that was read.
3. Promiun-Sedra and the Blessing of the Censor. The Syriac  word Sedra means ‘row’ or ‘series’. Sedra is a series of prayers and  meditations. Promiun (Greek word means introduction) is the introduction  to Sedra. Promiun and  sedra help us to participate in the Holy Qurbana  with devotion and attention.

Then as the first step of the censing of the whole church, the  celebrant offers incense and blesses the censer. The blessing of the  censer in the Name of the Holy Trinity implies that we offer our prayers  to the Triune God. Incense and censer are the symbols of Christ, who  “offered Himself as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Eph.5:2).  According to the Book of Revelation, ‘the prayers of the saints ascend  before God as an incense’ (Rev.5:8). Therefore the offering of incense  means that the prayers of the Church ascend towards God as a fragrant  offering that pleases God.

1. The Nicene Creed: Creed is the summary of the faith of the  Church since the apostolic times. Chanting of the Creed in the Holy  Qurbana and in all prayers and sacramental celebrations means that we  are worshiping in accordance with the faith of the apostles and the  Church fathers. Creed is the confession of our faith in the Holy  Trinity, the Church, one baptism, the Kingdom of God and the final  resurrection. These fundamental doctrines are regularly evoked in our  prayers.
2. Offering of the Holy Qurbana: The part of the celebration  that follows the Creed is called ‘Anaphora’ (Greek word means  ‘offering’). As the first step, the priest washes his hands, symbolizing  the purification of the heart. Then he kneels down before the altar and  says an inaudible prayer and commemorates the names.
3. Kiss of peace and the lifting up of the veil: Kiss of  peace is exchanged in accordance with our Lord’s words to reconcile each  other before offering a sacrifice (Mtt.5:23-24). Then the deacon asks  the people to bow down their heads and the priest prays God to send His  blessings upon those who have assembled before Him.  Then the priest  lifts up the veil with which the paten and chalice are covered. The  lifting up symbolizes that the life-giving and heavenly mysteries are  revealed through the Holy Qurbana. This is followed by the Trinitarian  blessing.
4. Introductory Dialogue: With the dialogue (Lift up your  hearts…, Let us give thanks to the Lord..) the central part of the  celebration begins. The priest says the prayer of thanksgiving, which  evokes God’s mercy towards us. In fact the whole Holy Qurbana is a  thanksgiving (Eucharist) for the great things that God had done for us  by sending His Son for our salvation. Then the congregation chants the  ‘Sanctus’ (= holy) or the angelic hymn (Is.6: 3), implying that we are  joining the heavenly worship and praising God along with innumerable  angels.
5. Words of Institution: The celebrant signs crosses over the  bread and wine proclaiming the institution of the Eucharist by Christ  in His Last Supper. Thus the event that took place in the Upper-room has  been evoked and we are made participants in it. The Roman Catholic  Church gives undue importance to the Words of Institution and teaches  that the bread and wine are ‘transformed’ into the body and blood of  Christ when the priest pronounces them. This is known as  ‘transubstantiation’ and the Orthodox Churches do not accept this  theory.
6. Anamnesis or the Commemoration of the Salvific works: During  the Last Supper, Our Lord instructed His disciples : “Do this in  remembrance of me” (Lk.22:16; 1 Cor.14:24-25). Following this  commandment, the priest evokes the events in the earthly life of our  Lord and His second coming. The Holy Qurbana has been founded on the  salvific works of our Lord and it anticipates His second coming and the  life in the coming world.
7. Invocation of the Holy Spirit (Epiclesis) Invocation of  the Holy Spirit is one of the characteristic traits of the Orthodox  liturgy. In the Anaphora of St James, we ask God the Father to “ send  the Holy Spirit upon us and upon the Eucharist placed on the altar”. The  Holy Spirit descends and makes the bread and the wine the very body and  blood of Christ. The same Spirit comes and abides in us to make us the  Church, the Body of Christ.
8. Intercessions (Tubden): The intercessions contain six  canons (‘set of prayers’), each consisting of three prayers. The first  three canons commemorate the living and the rest the departed. The  intercessions are the prayers for the well being of the whole members of  the Church, both living and the departed. Among the departed saints, we  remember those who have lived as witnesses to Christ, especially the  Virgin Mary, the Apostles, the martyrs, and all the doctors of the  Church who have zealously guarded the apostolic faith.
9. Fraction: The fraction ceremony is the preparation for the  communion. The prayer during the fraction evokes the passion, death and  resurrection of Christ, the living bread who was “broken” on the cross  for our salvation.
10. The Lord’s Prayer: Here the Lord’s Prayer serves as the  preparatory prayer for receiving the Holy Communion. The phrase Give us  this day our daily bread has been often interpreted as a request for the  Holy Communion. At the end of the Qurbana, we address God “Our Father”  and thus we confess that we are His sons through our communion with  Christ.
11. Holy Things to the Holy: This is an invitation to receive  the Holy Qurbana, as well a warning about its sacredness. The entire  congregation cries out: The One Holy Father…Holy Son, the Holy Spirit  with us. This means that through the Holy Qurbana, we have been granted  communion with the Holy Trinity. Then the service is concluded with the  Kukliun, which a cycle of prayers seeking the intercession of the Virgin  Mary and the saints, as well as commemorating the departed priests and  faithful.
12. Holy Communion and the Thanksgiving: The priest first  receives the communion, followed by all those who are in the Madbaha.  Then the Holy Mysteries are brought to the people to communicate them.  In the thanksgiving prayer that follows, the priest gives thanks to God  for His abundant mercy “wherewith He has made us worthy to partake of  His heavenly table”. With the dismissal, the celebration is concluded.

Meaning of the Holy Qurbana Holy Qurbana is our  participation in the Body and Blood of Christ. This faith has been  founded on Our Lord’s words during the Last Supper (This is my Body..my  Blood..). Following our Lord’s instruction Do this in remembrance of Me,  we offer the Holy Qurbana. St Paul says: “ As often as you eat this  bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes”  (1 Cor.11:26). Since the apostolic times, Holy Qurbana was the central  act of the Sunday worship (cfr. Acts 20:7). Since the Eucharist is the  Body and Blood of Christ, St Paul instructs to participate in it with  great devotion and care (1 Cor.11:27-28).

According to St Paul, through our participation in the one  Eucharistic bread we become one in Christ: “ The cup of blessing which  we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread  which we break, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?  Because there is one bread, we all partake of the one bread” (1 Cor.  10:16-17).

In fact, the goal of the incarnation was to unite the humanity as the  sons of God, because, as a result of sin, we had become alienated from  God. Baptism and Eucharist are the means to bring human beings into  union with Christ. Sacraments, daily prayers, Bible reading, the faith  of the Church, all have one aim to make us one in Christ. The Church and  its arrangements, especially the symbols help us to meditate on Christ  and to live in communion with Him and to worship the Triune God.

Meaning of the Symbols: Symbols represent invisible  divine realities. They are the means of creating a sense of divine  presence. A symbol can either be an object or an action. Bread, wine,  chalice, paten, altar, cross, candles, and censer are some of the  symbols that we use in the celebration of the Holy Qurbana. They are  used to express the depth of the meaning of the celebration and its  divine character.

The use of symbols is not against the teaching of the Bible. In the  Old Testament, the people of Israel used a large number of symbols. The  second commandment prohibits the making of ‘graven image, or any  likeness of anything in heaven, on earth or in sea’ (Ex.20:4). But the  Jews never understood it as a prohibition of the use of symbols in their  worship. Thus they considered the temple of Jerusalem and the objects  in it as most holy. The temple, the altar and the Ark of the Covenant  were the symbols of God’s presence in the midst of Israel. The cover of  the ark, known as ‘the mercy seat’ and the images of two cherubim above  it were considered as the most important liturgical objects  (Ex.25:10-22). The cover of the ark was qualified as Yahweh’s throne or  footstool. Christianity has inherited the custom using symbols from the  Old Testament.

Rev.Fr.Dr.B.Varghese Professor, Orthodox Theological Seminary, Kottayam