[The Form of Prayer After the Participation.]
XV. O Lord God Almighty, the Father of Thy Christ, Thy blessed Son, who hearest those who call upon Thee with uprightness, who also knowest the supplications of those who are silent; we thank Thee that Thou hast thought us worthy to partake of Thy holy mysteries, which Thou hast bestowed upon us, for the entire confirmation of those things we have rightly known, for the preservation of piety, for the remission of our offences; for the name of thy Christ is called upon us, and we are joined To Thee. O Thou that hast separated us froth the communion of the ungodly, unite us with those that are consecrated to Thee in holiness; confirm us in the truth, by the assistance of Thy Holy Spirit; reveal to us what things we are ignorant of, supply what things we are defective in, confirm us in what things we already know, preserve the priests blameless in Thy worship; keep the kings in peace, and the rulers in righteousness, the air in a good temperature, the fruits in fertility, the world in an all-powerful providence; pacify the warring nations, convert those that are gone astray, sanctify Thy people, keep those that are in virginity, preserve those in the faith that are in marriage, strengthen those that are in purity, bring the infants to complete age, confirm the newly admitted; instruct the catechumens, and render them worthy of admission; and gather us all together into Thy kingdom of heaven, by Jesus Christ our Lord, with whom glory, honour, and worship be to Thee, in the Holy Ghost, for ever. Amen. And let the deacon say: Bow down to 127 The Coptic has, “the Lord.” God through His Christ, and receive the blessing . And let the bishop add this prayer, and say: O God Almighty, the true God, to whom nothing can be compared, who art everywhere, and present in all things, and art in nothing as one of the things themselves; who art not bounded by place, nor grown old by time; who art not terminated by ages, nor deceived by words; who art not subject to generation, and wantest no guardian; who art above all corruption, free from all change, and invariable by nature; “who inhabitest light inaccessible;” 128 1 Tim. vi. 16. who art by nature invisible, and yet art known to all reasonable natures who seek Thee with a good mind, and art comprehended by those that seek after Thee with a good mind; the God of Israel, Thy people which truly see, and which have believed in Christ: Be gracious to me, and hear me, for Thy name’s sake, and bless those that bow down their necks unto Thee, and grant them the petitions of their hearts, which are for their good, and do not reject any one of them from Thy kingdom; but sanctify, guard, cover, and assist them; deliver them from the adversary and every enemy; keep their houses, and guard “their comings in and their goings out.” 129 Ps. cxxi. 8. For to Thee belongs the glory, praise, majesty, worship, and adoration, and to Thy Son Jesus, Thy Christ, our Lord and God and King, and to the Holy Ghost, now and always, for ever and ever. Amen. And 130 The Coptic adds: “And let the presbyters and deacons watch the few fragments that are left, that they may perceive that there is nothing superfluous; lest they fall into the great judgment, like the sons of Aaron and Eli, whom the Holy Spirit destroyed, because they did not refrain from despising the sacrifice of the Lord: how much more those who despise the body and blood of the Lord, thinking that to be merely material food which they receive, and not spiritual!” the deacon shall say, Depart in peace . 131 The Coptic inserts, “when they have been blessed.” These constitutions concerning this mystical worship, we , the apostles, do ordain for you, the bishops, presbyters, and deacons .
[Sec. III.—Ordination and Duties of the Clergy.]
[15] Καὶ ὁ ἐπίσκοπος εὐχαριστείτω: Δέσποτα ὁ Θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ, ὁ Πατὴρ τοῦ Χριστοῦ σου τοῦ εὐλογημένου Παιδός, ὁ τῶν μετ' εὐθύτητος ἐπικαλουμένων σε ἐπήκοος, ὁ καὶ τῶν σιωπώντων ἐπιστάμενος τὰς ἐντεύξεις: εὐχαριστοῦμέν σοι, ὅτι κατηξίωσας ἡμᾶς μεταλαβεῖν τῶν ἁγίων σου μυστηρίων, ἃ παρέσχου ἡμῖν εἰς πληροφορίαν τῶν καλῶς ἐγνωσμένων, εἰς φυλακὴν τῆς εὐσεβείας, εἰς ἄφεσιν πλημμελημάτων, ὅτι τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Χριστοῦ σου ἐπικέκληται ἐφ' ἡμᾶς καὶ σοὶ προσῳκειώμεθα. Ὁ χωρίσας ἡμᾶς τῆς τῶν ἀσεβῶν κοινωνίας, ἕνωσον ἡμᾶς μετὰ τῶν καθωσιωμένων σοι, στήριξον ἡμᾶς ἐν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ τῇ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος ἐπιφοιτήσει, τὰ ἀγνοούμενα ἀποκάλυψον, τὰ λείποντα προσαναπλήρωσον, τὰ ἐγνωσμένα κράτυνον. Τοὺς ἱερεῖς ἀμώμους διαφύλαξον ἐν τῇ λατρείᾳ σου, τοὺς βασιλεῖς διατήρησον ἐν εἰρήνῃ, τοὺς ἄρχοντας ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ, τοὺς ἀέρας ἐν εὐκρασίᾳ, τοὺς καρποὺς ἐν εὐφορίᾳ, τὸν κόσμον ἐν παναλκεῖ προνοίᾳ: τὰ ἔθνη τὰ πολεμικὰ πράϋνον, τὰ πεπλανημένα ἐπίστρεψον. Τὸν λαόν σου ἁγίασον, τοὺς ἐν παρθενίᾳ διατήρησον, τοὺς ἐν γάμῳ διαφύλαξον ἐν πίστει, τοὺς ἐν ἁγνείᾳ ἐνδυνάμωσον, τὰ νήπια ἅδρυνον, τοὺς νεοτελεῖς βεβαίωσον, τοὺς ἐν τῇ κατηχήσει παίδευσον καὶ τῆς μυήσεως ἀξίους ἀνάδειξον, καὶ πάντας ἡμᾶς ἐπισυνάγαγε εἰς τὴν τῶν οὐρανῶν βασιλείαν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, δι' οὗ σοὶ δόξα, τιμὴ καὶ σέβας ἐν ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας: ἀμήν. Καὶ ὁ διάκονος λεγέτω: Τῷ Θεῷ διὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ κλίνατε καὶ εὐλογεῖσθε. Καὶ ὁ ἐπίσκοπος ἐπευχέσθω λέγων: Ὁ Θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ, ὁ ἀληθινὸς καὶ ἀσύγκριτος, ὁ πανταχοῦ ὢν καὶ τοῖς πᾶσι παρὼν καὶ ἐν οὐδενὶ ὡς ἐνόν τι ὑπάρχων, ὁ τόποις μὴ περιγραφόμενος, ὁ χρόνοις μὴ παλαιούμενος, ὁ αἰῶσιν μὴ περατούμενος, ὁ λόγοις μὴ παραγόμενος, ὁ γενέσει μὴ ὑποκείμενος, ὁ φυλακῆς μὴ δεόμενος, ὁ φθορᾶς ἀνώτερος, ὁ τροπῆς ἀνεπίδεκτος, ὁ φύσει ἀναλλοίωτος, ὁ φῶς οἰκῶν ἀπρόσιτον, ὁ τῇ φύσει ἀόρατος, ὁ γνωστὸς πάσαις ταῖς μετ' εὐνοίας ἐκζητούσαις σε λογικαῖς φύσεσιν, ὁ καταλαμβανόμενος ὑπὸ τῶν ἐν εὐνοίᾳ ἐπιζητούντων σε, ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ τοῦ ἀληθινῶς ὁρῶντος, τοῦ εἰς Χριστὸν πιστεύσαντος λαοῦ σου: εὐμενὴς γενόμενος ἐπάκουσόν μου διὰ τὸ ὄνομά σου καὶ εὐλόγησον τούς σοι κεκλικότας τοὺς ἑαυτῶν αὐχένα, καὶ δὸς αὐτοῖς τὰ αἰτήματα τῶν καρδιῶν αὐτῶν τὰ ἐπὶ συμφέροντι καὶ μηδένα αὐτῶν ἀπόβλητον ποιήσῃς ἐκ τῆς βασιλείας σου, ἀλλὰ ἁγίασον αὐτούς, φρούρησον, σκέπασον, ἀντιλαβοῦ, ῥῦσαι τοῦ ἀλλοτρίου, παντὸς ἐχθροῦ, τοὺς οἴκους αὐτῶν φύλαξον, τὰς εἰσόδους αὐτῶν καὶ τὰς ἐξόδους φρούρησον: Ὅτι σοὶ δόξα, αἶνος, μεγαλοπρέπεια, σέβας, προσκύνησις καὶ μετὰ σὲ καὶ διὰ σὲ τῷ Παιδί σου Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ, τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν καὶ βασιλεῖ, δι' οὗ σοι ἐποφείλεται παρὰ πάσης λογικῆς καὶ ἁγίας φύσεως ἡ ἐπάζιος εὐχαριστία ἐν ἁγίῳ πνεύματι, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων: ἀμήν. Καὶ ὁ διάκονος ἐρεῖ: Ἀπολύεσθε ἐν εἰρήνῃ. Ταῦτα περὶ τῆς μυστικῆς λατρείας διατασσόμεθα ἡμεῖς οἱ ἀπόστολοι ὑμῖν τοῖς ἐπισκόποις καὶ τοῖς πρεσβυτέροις καὶ τοῖς διακόνοις.