Altar table prepared for Presanctified Divine Liturgy

This is Wednesday of the third week of the Great Fast and our parish was originally planning to celebrate the Divine Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts this evening. However, with our bishop’s decision to cancel services to assist in efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus we sadly will not be assembling for that beautiful service.

With sorrow at the absence of our parishioners, but with renewed faith in God’s continued love and care for Saint Elizabeth Parish, this morning I visited the church and prayerfully consumed the presanctified Lamb that we left on the altar table after our Divine Liturgy Sunday. This was the bishop’s instruction under the circumstances.

We will not assemble together for the service this evening, but we will continue “with faith and love” to pray at home. And we can certainly enjoy some of its beauty through recordings. Below is one of my favorite recordings of the hymn Now the Powers of Heaven, which is sung during the solemn transfer of the holy Gifts.

I can say that of all liturgical recordings, this is one of the most beautiful. It was not done in a studio, but was made during the actual celebration of the Presanctified Liturgy. You can even hear the censer’s bells as the Gifts are borne into the altar.

It is sung in Slavonic, but the English text is:

Now the powers of heaven with us invisibly do serve.

Lo, the King of Glory enters, lo, the mystical sacrifice is upborne, fulfilled.

Let us draw nigh with faith and love and become communicants of life eternal.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!