"Cold Macaroni"?

Someone asked me last week whether the Gospel comes through in the liturgy of the Orthodox Church, or if it kind of drifts into the background like it seems to do in so many other churches.

My father has a special name for churches like that; churches whose teachings either communicate a timid, lukewarm, non-committal version of the Gospel, or avoid it altogether: "cold macaroni." These are the churches that don't want to discomfort or offend their audience with all that Death-and-Resurrection talk; or risk upsetting them by asking them to, y'know, be holy and stuff. These are the churches that look nice and allow people to sit comfortably in their pews and feel good about checking the "go to church" box on their To-do list every week; the ones that Frederica Mathewes-Green described as being a "social worker club with excellent aesthetics."

I can't say whether any particular Christian denomination tends more than the others toward the "cold macaroni" approach, but I can tell you that, if I saw this nonsense coming out of an Orthodox church, I'd be out the door.

So, in response to the above inquiry, I submit for your perusal some excerpts from the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, which is the standard liturgy for most Orthodox churches. Keep in mind as you read it that it is not intended to be sliced up like I have it here, but should be offered as a single complete prayer by the whole body of believers. You can read the rest of it here.

Be on the lookout as you read it for any sign of "cold macaroni"; any timidity or hesitation. I think you'll find none.

(Some of the Liturgy is spoken by the priest, some by the deacon, some by the congregation, and some by everyone together. I have not specified below which is which)

The Introduction:

Blessed is the kingdom of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages.

During the Great Litany:

Lord, our God, whose power is beyond compare, and glory is beyond understanding; whose mercy is boundless, and love for us is ineffable: look upon us and upon this holy house in Your compassion. Grant to us and to those who pray with us Your abundant mercy.

For to You belong all glory, honor, and worship to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

During the First Antiphon:

Lord our God, save Your people and bless Your inheritance; protect the whole body of Your Church; sanctify those who love the beauty of Your house; glorify them in return by Your divine power; and do not forsake us who hope in You.

For Yours is the dominion, the kingdom, the power, and the glory of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen

During the Second Antiphon:

Only begotten Son and Word of God, although immortal You humbled Yourself for our salvation, taking flesh from the holy Theotokos and ever virgin Mary and, without change, becoming man. Christ, our God, You were crucified but conquered death by death. You are one of the Holy Trinity, glorified with the Father and the Holy Spirit-save us.

Lord, You have given us grace to offer these common prayers with one heart. You have promised to grant the requests of two or three gathered in Your name. Fulfill now the petitions of Your servants for our benefit, giving us the knowledge of Your truth in this world, and granting us eternal life in the world to come.

During the Small Entrance:

Master and Lord our God, You have established in heaven the orders and hosts of angels and archangels to minister to Your glory. Grant that the holy angels may enter with us that together we may serve and glorify Your goodness. For to You belong all glory, honor, and worship to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

During the Trisagion Hymn:

Holy God, You dwell among Your saints. You are praised by the Seraphim with the thrice holy hymn and glorified by the Cherubim and worshiped by all the heavenly powers. You have brought all things out of nothing into being. You have created man and woman in Your image and likeness and adorned them with all the gifts of Your grace. You give wisdom and understanding to the supplicant and do not overlook the sinner but have established repentance as the way of salvation. You have enabled us, Your lowly and unworthy servants, to stand at this hour before the glory of Your holy altar and to offer to You due worship and praise. Master, accept the thrice holy hymn also from the lips of us sinners and visit us in Your goodness. Forgive our voluntary and involuntary transgressions, sanctify our souls and bodies, and grant that we may worship and serve You in holiness all the days of our lives, by the intercessions of the holy Theotokos and of all the saints who have pleased You throughout the ages.

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed are You on the throne of glory of Your kingdom, seated upon the Cherubim always, now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.

During the Great Entrance:

No one bound by worldly desires and pleasures is worthy to approach, draw near or minister to You, the King of glory. To serve You is great and awesome even for the heavenly powers. But because of Your ineffable and immeasurable love for us, You became man without alteration or change.

The Creed:

I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages. Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten, not created, of one essence with the Father, through whom all things were made.
For us and for our salvation, He came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man.
He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and He suffered and was buried.
On the third day He rose according to the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. His kingdom will have no end.
And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father, who together with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who spoke through the prophets.
In one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.
I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
I expect the resurrection of the dead.
And the life of the age to come. Amen.

The Holy Anaphora:

It is proper and right to sing to You, bless You, praise You, thank You and worship You in all places of Your dominion; for You are God ineffable, beyond comprehension, invisible, beyond understanding, existing forever and always the same; You and Your only begotten Son and Your Holy Spirit. You brought us into being out of nothing, and when we fell, You raised us up again. You did not cease doing everything until You led us to heaven and granted us Your kingdom to come. For all these things we thank You and Your only begotten Son and Your Holy Spirit; for all things that we know and do not know, for blessings seen and unseen that have been bestowed upon us. We also thank You for this liturgy which You are pleased to accept from our hands, even though You are surrounded by thousands of Archangels and tens of thousands of Angels, by the Cherubim and Seraphim, six-winged, many-eyed, soaring with their wings,

Singing the victory hymn, proclaiming, crying out, and saying: Holy, holy, holy, Lord Sabaoth, heaven and earth are filled with Your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna to God in the highest.

Together with these blessed powers, merciful Master, we also proclaim and say: You are holy and most holy, You and Your only-begotten Son and Your Holy Spirit. You are holy and most holy, and sublime is Your glory. You so loved Your world that You gave Your only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. He came and fulfilled the divine plan for us. On the night when He was betrayed, or rather when He gave Himself up for the life of the world, He took bread in His holy, pure, and blameless hands, gave thanks, blessed, sanctified, broke, and gave it to His holy disciples and apostles saying:

Take, eat, this is my Body which is broken for you for the forgiveness of sins.

Amen.

Likewise, after supper, He took the cup, saying:

Drink of it all of you; this is my Blood of the new Covenant which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Amen.

Remembering, therefore, this command of the Savior, and all that came to pass for our sake, the cross, the tomb, the resurrection on the third day, the ascension into heaven, the enthronement at the right hand of the Father, and the second, glorious coming.

During Holy Communion:

I believe and confess, Lord, that You are truly the Christ, the Son of the living God, who came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the first... Loving Master, Lord Jesus Christ, my God, let not these holy Gifts be to my condemnation because of my unworthiness, but for the cleansing and sanctification of soul and body and the pledge of the future life and kingdom. It is good for me to cling to God and to place in Him the hope of my salvation.

Having beheld the resurrection of Christ, let us worship the holy Lord Jesus, the only Sinless One. We venerate Your cross, O Christ, and we praise and glorify Your holy resurrection. You are our God. We know no other than You, and we call upon Your name. Come, all faithful, let us venerate the holy resurrection of Christ. For behold, through the cross joy has come to all the world. Blessing the Lord always, let us praise His resurrection. For enduring the cross for us, He destroyed death by death.

The Dismissal:

Lord, bless those who praise You and sanctify those who trust in You. Save Your people and bless Your inheritance... For every good and perfect gift is from above, coming from You, the Father of lights. To You we give glory, thanksgiving, and worship, to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages.

Christ our God, You are the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. You have fulfilled all the dispensation of the Father. Fill our hearts with joy and gladness always, now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

May Christ our true God who rose from the dead, as a good, loving, and merciful God, have mercy upon us and save us, through the intercessions of His most pure and holy Mother; the power of the precious and life giving Cross; the protection of the honorable, bodiless powers of heaven, the supplications of the honorable, glorious prophet and forerunner John the Baptist; the holy, glorious and praiseworthy apostles; the holy, glorious and triumphant martyrs; our holy and God-bearing Fathers; the holy and righteous ancestors Joachim and Anna; Saint (of the day) whose memory we commemorate today, and all the saints.

The Resurrection Apolytikia:

Though the tomb was sealed by a stone and soldiers guarded Your pure body, You arose, O Savior, on the third day, giving life to the world. Therefore, O Giver of life, the heavenly powers praise You: Glory to Your resurrection, O Christ, glory to Your kingdom, glory to Your plan of redemption, O only loving God.

When you descended unto death, O life immortal, You destroyed Hades with the splendor of Your divinity. And when You raised the dead from the depths of darkness, all the heavenly powers shouted: O Giver of life, Christ our God, glory to You.

Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad, for the Lord has shown the power of His reign: He has conquered death by death, and become the first born of the dead. He has delivered us from the depths of Hades; and has granted to the world great mercy.

The joyful news of Your resurrection was told to the women disciples of the Lord by the angel. Having thrown off the ancestral curse, and boasting, they told the Apostles: death has been vanquished, Christ our God is risen, granting to the world great mercy.

To the Word, coeternal with the Father and the Spirit, born of the Virgin for our salvation, let us, the faithful, give praise and worship. Of His own will He mounted the cross in the flesh, He suffered death, and raised the dead by His glorious resurrection.

The heavenly powers appeared at Your tomb, and those guarding it became like dead. Mary stood at Your grave seeking Your pure body. You stripped the power of hades, not touched by its corruption. You met the virgin woman, as one who grants life. O Lord, who rose from the dead, glory to You.

By Your cross You destroyed death, and to the thief You opened paradise. You transformed the sorrow of the Myrrhbearers, and commanded the Apostles to proclaim that You have risen from the dead, Christ our God, granting to the world great mercy.

From on high You descended, O merciful Lord, and accepted the three-day burial to free us from our passions. Glory to You, O Lord, our life and our resurrection.