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Rich Spirituality 115

vestment in the sacristy, the celebrant says
special prayers for each part of his vestment.
Then in procession he walks towards the
main altar, washes his hands, reciting Psalm
26, and, turning to the congregation, makes
a brief confession. A priest pronounces the
absolution, the celebrant ascends to the altar,
and the curtain is drawn. If the celebrant is a
bishop, before the curtain is closed the choir
sings, "o chosen of God," while the bishop
prays to the Holy Spirit. The bread and wine
are placed in the chalice and the procession,
which symbolizes Christ's mission among the
people, begins. After Trisagion, the lesson of
the day from Prophets and Epistles is read in
the nave, the Gospel is chanted, and the
Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed is recited from
the altar. According to ancient tradition, the
sermon, which is the interpretation and the
message of the biblical lessons of the day,
comes after the reading of the gospel and is
followed by the creed. However, for prac-
tical reasons, in most of the Armenian parish
churches, the sermon is delivered later,
before the Lord's Prayer.
In the early church, those persons who
were not baptized and those who were
not prepared to receive Holy Communion
attended only the liturgy of the Word. With
the proclamation of the deacon that none of
the catechumens should approach the Divine
Mystery, the celebration of the eucharist