Historical Prospective of the Liturgy

THE INSISTENT EKTENIA

ipodiakonos zoran j. bobic

The Insistent Ektenia• After 2 first petitions we response with 3 times “Lord have mercy”;

• This ektenia is also known as “Ektenia of Fervent Supplication”;

• Petition do indeed express persistence, urgency and pressing need;

• The first supplication = urge to pray with their whole soul and mind;

• Second petition is a direct appeal to the Almighty Lord;

• Third supplication = Jewish character and it is purely Judaic expression;

• Priest prayers silently during the recital of Insistent Ektenia;

The Insistent Ektenia• Priest prayers silently during the recital of Insistent Ektenia:

• This is ancient prayer;

• Actual date of composition is an open question;

• Both the prayer-collect from and its Judaic expression;

• This suggest a date hundred years before it appear in Barberini text (8th century);

• Perhaps Pre-Nicene era:

• Because of all this: this is one of the oldest part of ancient prayers (“common prayers”);

•The Dismissals & prayers of the Apostolic Const. (Book VIII) are representative of the fullest development of these post-Gospel intercessions;•The length and content of universal prayer are unknown;•Justin mentions this in His 67th Chapter of his First Apology;•No 2nd century writer shed any light on this;•However we do have Clément's prayer in his Epistle to the Corinthians;

The Insistent Ektenia• Before 4th century: different churches use different variants of intercessory

prayers;

• By the end of the 4th century Church developed an elaborate system of dismissals;

• The intercessory prayer played a vital role;

• Apostolic Constitution (Book VIII):• 4 sets of dismissal;

• Example: 1st set begins with deacon bidding the catechumens to kneel;• Then series of petitions;

• They answer: Lord have mercy;

• At the end deacon bids them to bow for the Bishop’s blessings;

• Finally they were told to depart;

• Above applied for people with evil spirit; people who finished preparation for baptism;

The Insistent Ektenia• This ektenia was never dialogue between the deacon and the people;

• People do not answer to deacon but God;

• Deacon role was never as active intercessor;

• Active intercessor = reserved for priest;

• Priest may insert “special petitions” for special intentions;