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Before the Gospel is proclaimed at the Divine Liturgy, the priest or bishop proclaims the following prayer (which is also a good prayer for any Orthodox to say before they begin to read or study the Scriptures):
Illumine our hearts, O Master, who loves humankind, with the pure light of Your divine knowledge. Open the eyes of our mind to the understanding of Your divine knowledge. Open the eyes of our mind to the understanding of Your Gospel teachings. Implant also in us the fear of Your blessed commandments, that trampling down all carnal desires, we may enter upon a spiritual manner of living, both thinking and doing such things as are well-pleasing to You.
You are the illumination of our souls and bodies, O Christ our God, and unto You we ascribe glory, together with Your Father, who is from everlasting, and Your all-holy, good, and life-creating Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
While the prayer is all inclusive of everyone present at the Liturgy, unfortunately many clergy in the Church choose to read the prayer silently as if it applies only to them. Like the Lord’s Prayer, this prayer is in the first-person plural, “we” and “us” are the ones praying, not just the priest alone. We can only pray together as community, if we do the prayers aloud for all to hear, otherwise we assemble at the Liturgy just for private prayers (We do pray at the Liturgy that God will give us both one mouth and one heart—not just one heart, but that we might pray common words in a common voice). If each of us in the Liturgy is to fulfill Christ’s command that we serve one another (see yesterday’s post, Want to Be a Great Christian? Serve Others), we need to hear what we are asking God to do for us.
We Orthodox ought to consider St Paul’s teaching when it comes to saying prayers aloud in the Liturgy: But how are men to call upon him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? (Romans 10:14) The purpose of the clergy is to help us hear so we can believe. But if the clergy choose to say prayers silently, the rest of us can’t hear what we are to believe and we won’t know what we are asking God to do in and through us. That is of no service to the community.