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Holy Catechism
Nikolaos Voulgaris, tr. Daniel, 1893
Of the Prayer behind the Ambo
In peace let us go forward.
With these two words the Priest begins to dismiss the people. And as he began In peace, so also he makes the ending of the Service in peace. The Lord’s Brother has In Christ’s peace let us go. S. Clement, Depart in peace. In which it is evident that the Priest is imitating Christ, Who, after He had made His holy disciples and Apostles sharers in that mystic Supper, as we find in Matt. xxvi. 46, said to them, Rise, let us be going. And I said that the Priest now begins dismissing the people, since the full dismissal takes place later, namely, after the distribution of the Antidoron, and after the blessing of the people. In fact we have on this point a Synodical decree. Thus we see that as well S. James as Basil and Chrysostom in the Prayer of Propitiation or Behind the Ambo, supposes the people to be present in the Temple and listening.
O Lord, Who blessest those that bless Thee.
This Prayer is commonly called the Prayer behind the Ambo, which we said of old stood in the churches before the door of the Sanctuary, and in the midst, that is in the Soleas. In the Liturgy of James it is called the Prayer of Propitiation, since it is clear that by it the great God is propitiated and appeased, forgiving those present as not remembering iniquity (which is in fact the final cause of the divine and holy Liturgy,) “all their offences voluntary and involuntary, done knowingly and in ignorance, committed in transgression, omitted in negligence, which His All-holy Spirit knows.” These are the words of the Brother of the Lord, S. Germanus names it the Seal of all petitions, a summing up and conclusion. For whereas, he says, the whole divine Liturgy is celebrated principally on behalf of those who offered, and such as they offered for, secondly on behalf of all who are in need; so at the close it adds the fitting arrangement of each prayer recited aloud. For since some of those who stand outside the Altar often proceed to question, disputing and saying, What then is the object, and the intent and meaning of the prayers whispered by the High Priest? and they desire to attain some knowledge of these too, so the holy Fathers arranged the character of this as a summing up of all that is asked in the prayers, teaching inquirers to know “the web by the hem.”
And this Prayer is said outside the Sanctuary, since the Priest by condescending in this way, shows the people his love, and the brotherhood and friendship which exists in Christ the Saviour. Cabasilas gives this interpretation in his last chapter. And why do I say brotherhood? I should rather say identity, since “The Cup of Blessing which we bless, is it not the Communion of the Blood of Christ? The Bread which we break, is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ? Because we the many are one Bread, one Body.” 1 Cor. x. 16, 17. Chrysostom, Hom. 24, explaining this word, says, “Why do I say Communion? We are that Body itself. For what is the Bread? It is Christ’s Body. And what are the partakers? They are Christ’s Body: not many bodies, but one Body. For as the bread composed of numerous grains is united (a simile which as we saw Augustine also introduces) so that the grains are no longer to be seen, yet are really there, only the difference between them vanishes through coalition, so likewise we are joined to one another and to Christ. For you are not nourished by one body, and your neighbour nourished by another, but all by the same.” And I observe that the great Basil, in this Prayer behind the Ambo, calls God and the Father, the Father of Lights, since He is the Unoriginated Fountain, the Root and the Source of the Son and of the Spirit; the original and real cause of each of the two lights.