The Priest puts a spoonful of incense in the censer and stands before the door of the sanctuary holding the censer and says this Litany of the Holy Gospel. A Deacon stands behind the Priest holding aloft the Holy Gospel and a cross.

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

— Colossians 3:1-2

The Priest offers incense to the Holy Gospel. The Priest and the Deacon then ascend the sanctuary, and the Priest puts a spoonful of incense in the censer. Together, the two process once anticlockwise around the altar as the Priest censes the Holy Gospel held towards him by the altar servant while reciting inaudibly these words of St Simeon the Elder who recognised Christ as the fulfilment of the prophesies of the Old Testament about the coming Messiah.

“Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace,
According to Your word;
For my eyes have seen Your salvation
Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,
A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles,
And the glory of Your people Israel.”

— Luke 2:29-32

The Priest offers incense to the Holy Gospel three times.

The Deacon, standing at the right-hand side of the door of the sanctuary and facing the congregation, raises the cross aloft. Everyone from this point should stand still and focus only on hearing the word of God.

If someone enters the church or passes by it during the Gospel reading, they should stand in place without movement until the reading is completed.

The Holy Bible is God’s revealed thought for the salvation of humans. In interpretation, we must adhere to the thought of the Fathers so that the interpretation does not deviate from the right framework.

This litany describes the secret presence of the Lord Christ in the church through the reading of the Gospel. The Lord Christ, who was present among His saintly disciples, blessed their eyes and ears because they saw and heard Him, likewise He, Himself, blesses our eyes and ears now, as He is also present in the midst of His Church, teaching us with His pure mouth as He did with the apostles and every generation. He is present everywhere and at all times.

Two Deacons stand at opposite sides of the lectern holding lit candles, for the words we are about to hear are of the Lord Jesus Christ Who is the Light of the world.

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

— John 8:12

The Gospel reader kisses the Gospel before and after its reading. Kissing before the reading indicates readiness to listen and act upon the Gospel, and kissing after the reading signifies belief and submission.

When the congregation is small, that may allow enough time for the Gospel to be kissed by each member — as it used to be always the case in the past.

As an exception, only in Pascha week starting Wednesday eve until the Feast of the Resurrection, the reader does not kiss the Gospel, the cross, the veils, or the priests’ hands in condemnation of the kiss of Judas.

The Psalm preceding the Gospel has a profound theological and contemplative weight, as it anticipates and points to the Lord Jesus Christ with the spirit of prophecy. So, when we hear the deacon chanting, “A psalm of David…”, it really means, “a psalm about David”. And “David” is the prophetic and code name for our Lord Jesus Christ.

Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king; and they shall be amazed at the Lord and at His good things in the latter days.

— Hosea 3:5

[Israel] will be called, and by faith she will return and know the God of all and David along with Him, that is, the One who is from the seed of David, Christ according to flesh, the Lord and the King of all.

— St Cyril of Alexandria

therefore, I will save My sheep, and they will not be as plunder anymore; and I shall judge between one ram and another. I shall raise up one Shepherd over them, and He will tend them, even My Servant David. He shall be their Shepherd, and I, the Lord, will be their God; and David will be the Ruler in their midst. I, the Lord, have spoken.

— Ezekiel 34:22-24

“My Servant David shall be the Ruler among them, and there will be one Shepherd of them all; for they will walk in My ordinances and observe My judgments, and do them.

— Ezekiel 37:24

But they shall work for the Lord their God, and I will raise up for them David their king.’

— Jeremiah 37:9

These prophets in the Old Testament speak in the spirit of prophecy about our new David, not David the son of Jesse, our Lord Jesus Christ. The word “David” means “beloved” and is a title for Christ.

to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

— Ephesians 1:6

So the Psalm preceding the Gospel always speaks prophetically about our Lord Jesus Christ, emerging His presence to us in the church and comforting His people with the words of His life-giving grace. The Gospel reading is a personal presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The mangaleya or analogion (the stand upon which the Gospel book is placed and read from), which carries the Holy Gospel, is placed in an elevated spot to serve as a reminder of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:

— Matthew 5:1-2

So it is fitting that the sublime teaching of the Lord is delivered from a high mountain — the mangaleya.

By standing during the Gospel reading, the congregation expresses their respect for the presence of the Lord in the reading. It signifies their readiness to implement and act upon what the Spirit speaks to the churches. And i symbolises the spiritual condition we should be in: that of standing victorious with Christ and ready for every good work.

We should follow along with the sacred readings with reverence, humility, tranquility, attentive ears, and prepared hearts.

The reader should ensure clarity in the reading, with clear enunciation, avoiding the distortion of the clarity of the reading by the melody. The goal is for people to hear the voice of God, not the melody or the beauty of the reader’s voice. Melodising the Gospel reading aims to enhance concentration.

The Priest censes toward the Gospel as if censing the Lord Himself, praying inaudibly during the reading of the Gospel. He implores the Lord to make us worthy to hear the Holy Gospel, and to live its words and bring forth fruits in Christ Jesus, our Lord. The Priest prays to the Lord Who is present with us through the words of the Holy Gospel being read, asking Him to remember all His creation.

The catechumen have begun to be His people because they believed in His divinity. But they become our people through baptism. We pray for them and on their behalf that the Lord may bless and establish them in what they have accepted, lest the devil deceive them and draw them to him again, losing their eternal salvation after putting their hands on the plow.

But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

— Luke 9:62

The Church is most concerned that these early young sprouts remain firm in faith and do not waver, stumble, or fall away, but continue to the end. The crucial point is always at the end, not the beginning.

But he who endures to the end shall be saved.

— Matthew 24:13

Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?

— Galatians 3:3

For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:

— Philippians 3:18

Idol worship includes all types of sin.

Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

— Colossians 3:5

In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.

— 1 John 3:10

Faith is not complete without commitment to the commandments of Christ our God. The sign of love for Christ is to keep His commandments.

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.

— Matthew 7:21

He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and [a]manifest Myself to him.”

— John 14:21

He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.

— John 14:24

It is not good for a person to come to baptism proclaiming love for Christ our God and then not adhere to His pure commandments. We pray that we may have strength, validity, and surety, that it is a strong, unshaken, and confirmed faith.

At the conclusion of the reading of the Holy Gospel, the Priest says, inaudibly, this doxology to the Holy Trinity.

This response is chanted after the reading of the Holy Gospel. A season-specific verse may be chanted instead of this verse, as well as verses asking the intercessions of the Theotokos, other saints, the pope, and the metropolitan/bishop.