The Liturgy of the Word
Prayers during the Procession of Incense
Cross of Incense before the Sanctuary
The Priest offers incense in the form of a cross before the door of the sanctuary, first towards the altar, then the icon of the Theotokos, the nave of the church, the icon of the Theophany, and finally towards the altar again.
Priest (Inaudible)
We worship You, O Christ, with Your good Father and the Holy Spirit for You have come and saved us.
In the abundance of Your mercy, I will enter into Your house and worship before Your holy temple.
Before the angels I will sing praises to You, and worship before Your holy temple.
We send you greetings with Gabriel the angel, saying, “Hail to you, O full of grace; the Lord is with you.”
Hail to the angelic orders, and my lords and fathers, the apostles; the choirs of the martyrs, and all the saints.
Hail to John, the son of Zechariah; hail to the priest, the son of the priest.
Let us worship our Saviour, the good Lover of mankind; for He had compassion upon us, and came and saved us.
Following this, the Priest censes the Holy Gospel, the relics of the saints, any metropolitans or bishops present, and any other concelebrants. He then processes in the nave of the church censing the congregation.
Cross of Incense before the Chancel
After processing around the nave, the Priest offers incense before the chancel in the form of a cross, first towards the east, then to the north, the west, the south, and once more to the east.
Priest (Inaudible)
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever, in one hypostasis; we worship and glorify Him.
He who offered Himself as an acceptable sacrifice upon the Cross for the salvation of our race.
His good Father smelled His aroma in the evening upon Golgotha.
He opened the gate of Paradise, and restored Adam again to his authority.
Through His cross and His holy resurrection He restored mankind once again to paradise.
The Prayer of Return
After censing in the nave, the Priest returns to the altar and says this inaudible prayer asking God to accept the confession of the people. He places a spoonful of incense in the censer and processes once more around the altar.
Priest (Inaudible)
O God, Who received the confession of the thief upon the honoured Cross, accept the confession of Your people, and forgive all their sins for the sake of Your holy name which is called upon us. According to Your mercy, O Lord, and not according to our sins.
After processing around the altar, the celebrant offers incense again in the form of a cross before the door of the sanctuary.