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Holy Catechism
Nikolaos Voulgaris, tr. Daniel, 1893
Of the Reading of the Epistle and Gospel
67. Ex. What follows the thrice-holy Hymn?
C. The Reading of the Acts of the Apostles or the Epistles and the Holy Gospel. “Next comes the Reading of the Sacred Tablets by the Ministers.” So writes Dionysius, in his Treatise on the Rites at the Communion. And in his Apology for Christians, Justin says: “The Records of the Apostles are read,”1 which signifies the sending of the Apostles to the Gentiles. “And it exhibits the preaching of the Gospel in all the world.” This is the comment of Symeon, in his book on the Temple and the Liturgy. And it is always preceded by the injunction, Let us give heed, or that we should fix our attention there. Take heed, that is, listen to this, is the interpretation of the blessed Germanus; and “let us take heed, hearken, give ear, all of us, with quiet thought.” First then the Apostle, next the Gospel is proclaimed, as the Thessalonian interprets, because first the Disciples were made strong, and sent forth; then they travelled over the world, and proclaimed the Gospel. The preface said before the Epistle signifies again “the declaration of the Prophets, and the foretelling of the appearance of Christ the King;” Germanus. Alleluia is chanted plainly and with intonation, to allow time to the Deacon to cense the Priests’ sanctuary and the people. And it has many explanations. Al signifies “cometh, appeared;” El signifies “God;” U signifies “Praise ye, glorify;” Ia signifies “God.” And it is chanted between the Epistle and the Gospel, because, as we said, these put forward the manifestation of God and the Word, and His Gospel proclamation; and so the choir seasonably sings, He cometh, God appeared: let His Name be glorified.
In a Hebrew Greek Lexicon I find another etymology. הללו Allelu is translated Praise ye, glorify. יה Ia means God.2 And I observe that יה Ia is the first and last letter of יהוה Ieoba, which is the four-lettered name of God, so glorious and famous.3 This the Septuagint indeed have represented sometimes by Lord, sometimes by God, but S. Epiphanius, in his first book against Heresies, explains the etymology, “Who was, and shall be, even eternally existing.” The yod means Who was; the cholem, Who is; the qamets, Who shall be. The meaning is hinted at in Apoc. i. 4 by the blessed John, earlier than Epiphanius. “Grace to you, and peace, from Him Which is, and Which was, and Which is to come,” which is the very name of God, Ieoba. The ה E is not read, being without a point. And the Alleluia is chanted in Hebrew by all the Church, since the Son of Thunder himself so writes that he heard it sung in heaven by the blessed angels. (Apoc. xix. 1.)
The Incense at this time signifies the sweet smell of the Holy Ghost, in which smell we partake through the doctrine and true wisdom of the Holy Gospels. These we ought to listen to standing up, lifting our mind erect and aloft.
Wisdom, let us stand, and hear the Holy Gospel.
“Wisdom: the word of God, which was in the Prophets spoken and proclaimed beforehand to us, but was manifested in the Gospels, which we have heard and seen with our eyes; believing Him to be Wisdom and the Word of God, we all of us cry aloud and say, Glory be to Thee, O Lord, glory to Thee.”
“Let us stand and hear: that is, let us lift up our thoughts together with our deeds away from the things of earth, and let us listen to the manifestation of what is good, and to the appearance of the Son of God, in which He was seen by us no longer amid clouds, and speaking to us in dark sayings, as of old to Moses by voices and lightnings and trumpets, with sound and darkness and fire on the Mount, or to the ancient Prophets in dreams; but plainly appeared as truly man, and was seen by us; through Whom God, even the Father, spake to us mouth to mouth, and not in dark sayings; concerning Whom the Father from heaven bears witness, This is My Son.” Germanus.
And I observe that while the Holy Gospel is read, the High Priest rightly lays down his pall, showing thus his lowliness and ministry, which he offers as a slave to the very Son of God, Who is spoken of in the Gospel. “Whilst the Gospel is in reading, the Celebrant puts off his pall, betokening his service to the Lord; but removing it from his shoulders, he gives it to the deacon, who folds it and holds it in his right hand near the High Priest.” Symeon of Thessalonica.
It is read, all uncovering themselves (except that the Bishop of Alexandria keeps on his head what is called by ancient tradition the Holy Cap, as shown by the Thessalonian himself in the Temple), and bowing the head,4 in token of servitude to the Son of God. So Syricius, in the Chronicon, and Micrologus, in his book on Church Observances. “The Deputies, with their cloaks on, and going before with torches,” says John of Citrus.
68. Ex. Tell us why we have only four Gospels, neither more nor less?
C. Forasmuch as their authors were four only, allegorically explained to be those four-faced living creatures which the Prophet saw (Ezek. i. 10) representing the Cherubim, and the fourfold form of the Economy of the Son of God. The first living creature, like a lion, betokens the dominion and royalty of Christ. The second, like a calf, shows the Sacrificial and Priestly rank of Christ. The third, having a man’s face, manifests His appearance as man. The fourth, like a flying eagle, signifies the lighting down of the grace of the Holy Ghost, which He gave us.
The lion is assigned to Mark. “The voice of one crying in the wilderness.” The desert is the attribute of the lion. The calf is assigned to Luke. “There was in the days of Herod a certain priest named Zacharias.” The calf, as the sacrificial victim, is the attribute of Priesthood. The man is assigned to Matthew. “Abraham begat Isaac.” Genealogy is the attribute of man. The eagle is assigned to John. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” These are lofty ideas. Loftiness is the attribute of the eagle. Matthew was the first to write the Gospel; Mark was second; Luke was third; John was last of all. Matthew wrote it in Hebrew; Luke and John wrote in our tongue; concerning Mark, opinions may be cited that he wrote it in Latin; though Jerome (Epp. 123) will have it that Mark too wrote it in Greek.5
I observe, however, that these four-faced living creatures are certainly allegorically interpreted as being the four Catholic Covenants given to mankind; one at the Deluge, in the Bow; the second to Abraham, in the sign of Circumcision; the third, the giving of the Law by Moses; the fourth, the Covenant of the Gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Notes
- The author appears to understand the Records of the Apostles in Justin to stand for their Epistles. But Justin intends by this the Gospels, as he himself shows by what he says in the First Apology (p. 85 E. ed. Ven. 1747). “For the Apostles in the records made by them, which are called Gospels.” Moreover, it is clear that in the most ancient arrangement, there were also Readings from the Old Testament in the Liturgy. The same saint says that in the Communion, “The records of the Apostles, or the writings of the Prophets, are read as the occasion allows,” (id. p. 86 B.) And the Liturgy of S. James after the Trisagion, directs, “Then are read at great length the holy oracles of the Old Testament and the Prophets.” And the Western Church to this day, on some feasts, reads a section from the Old Testament in place of the Apostle. However, the now prevailing order for a section to be read from an apostolic book, then one from the holy Gospel, as likewise the selection of the sections read on each day, is very ancient. Because Chrysostom (in the treatise “Not without risk to the Hearers”) testifies that by an old tradition of the Fathers, it was enjoined for the Book of the Acts to be read from Passover to Pentecost, as is still done in the holy Church of God.
- This is the true interpretation of Alleluia.
- A question arises whether the name Ia is a shortening of the four-lettered name or not (see Stephen Caratheodores on the Delphic Ei). But the real pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton is difficult to determine, because in Hebrew all the vowels of the words are not written, and because, through reverence, the Hebrews did not pronounce this name, and it was uttered only at times by the priests in the temple in blessing the people. But it seems most probable that it was pronounced Iao. (See Œconom. on the LXX. Bk. ii. p. 848—849.) But the Hebrew grammarians who invented certain points and other signs to supply the vowels, assigned by custom to the Tetragrammaton the vowels o and a, not to signify its pronunciation, for it is not to be uttered, but that the word Adonai (Lord) should be pronounced in its stead. And when the Tetragrammaton occurs together with Adonai, since the Hebrews, to avoid repeating Adonai twice, read Elohim (God) for the Tetragrammaton, therefore the grammarians in such passages printed the Tetragrammaton not with the vowels of Adonai, but with those of Elohim, namely, o and i. Hence those who pronounce the Tetragrammaton Ieoba, according to the pointing which they find usually given to it, give a ridiculous pronunciation.
- Perhaps this “and bowing the head,” &c., is not correct. Because first, as we showed in what was said about the Little Entrance, what is now exclaimed “Stand up,” clearly refers to the attitude of body; secondly, the showing our servitude does not fit with the reading of the Gospel, which was so called because it signifies good things to men, the incarnation of God, the deification of men, the forgiveness of sins, regeneration, adoption, and inheritance of the kingdom of heaven. So as adopted to be sons by grace, and having confidence, we stand upright.
- The affirmation of some that the Gospel according to Mark was written in Latin, has no foundation, and is generally rejected by the critics. Not only were the three Gospels written in Greek, but also the remaining books of the New Testament, although concerning the Epistle to the Hebrews, some are of opinion that it was written in Hebrew.