Anaphora / liturgyLiving

Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts

Ἀκολουθία τῶν Προηγιασμένων Δώρων

Akolouthia ton Proegiasmenon Doron

Vespers joined to communion from Gifts consecrated at an earlier Liturgy; traditionally ascribed to St Gregory the Dialogist.

Last verified 2026-09-20

In Brief

The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is not an anaphora at all. It is Vespers combined with communion from Gifts consecrated at an earlier Divine Liturgy: there is no anaphora because the Gifts are pre-consecrated, and there is no consecration.¹ In the Byzantine tradition it is the service of the Lenten weekdays, prescribed on the Wednesdays and Fridays of Great Lent, on the Thursday of the fifth week and on Monday to Wednesday of Holy Week, though it may be celebrated on any weekday of the Fast.¹ The tradition ascribes it to St Gregory the Dialogist, Pope St Gregory I; scholarship regards the ascription as late and unreliable, and the rite's actual author as unknown.^1,2

At a Glance

Attribution: Traditional (ascribed to St Gregory the Dialogist); scholarship: no reliable attribution¹
Date: Practice and chant by the early 7th c.; the service by the 8th c.³
Original Language: Greek (original)⁴
Used By: All Churches of the Byzantine (Constantinopolitan) tradition, Catholic and Orthodox⁵as of 2026-09-20
When Used: Wednesdays and Fridays of Great Lent, Thursday of the fifth week, and Monday–Wednesday of Holy Week; any Lenten weekday is permitted¹as of 2026-09-20
Structural Type: Vespers joined to a communion rite using previously consecrated Gifts; no anaphora, no consecration¹
Earliest Witness: Barberini gr. 336 (Vatican), c. 780: the oldest Byzantine euchologion, already containing the rite⁴
Standard Editions: Goar's Euchologion (1647); the modern text in the Greek Euchologion and the Lenten Triodion; Brightman's edition of the 9th-c. text⁴

The Shape of the Liturgy

1. Opening dialoguethe Vespers litanies; there is no anaphoral dialogue
2. Institution narrative (absent)no institution narrative: nothing is consecrated here
3. Anamnesis (absent)no anamnesis
4. Offering (absent)no offering of unconsecrated gifts
5. Epiclesis (before institution) (absent)no consecratory invocation: the Gifts were consecrated earlier
6. Epiclesis (after anamnesis) (absent)no consecratory epiclesis in this service
7. Intercessionsthe Vespers litanies and the litany for the offered Gifts
8. Commemorations / diptychsthe commemorations of the hierarch and the people at the entrance of the Gifts
9. Doxologythe service ends with the elevation, communion, thanksgiving and dismissal

Shape of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts⁴

Part by Part

Part by part
Part	Incipit	Translation
Opening blessingOur translation. The Divine Liturgy's own opening blessing; the 9th-c. Barberini text opens 'Εὐλογητὸς ὁ Θεός' instead.	Εὐλογημένη ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος	Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
The Vespers psalmodyOur translation. Psalm 103, the Great Litany, the gradual psalms, then 'Lord, I have cried' with the Lenten stichera.	Κύριε ἐκέκραξα πρὸς σέ, εἰσάκουσόν μου	Lord, I have cried unto thee, hear me.
The light of ChristOur translation. Sung between the Old Testament readings, with the candle blessing and the people's prostration.	Σοφία· πρόσχωμεν. Τὸ φῶς τοῦ Χριστοῦ φαίνει πᾶσιν	Wisdom! Let us attend. The Light of Christ illumines all.
'Let my prayer be directed'Our translation. The censing psalm (Ps 140/141); the Chronicon Paschale records a chant added after it under Patriarch Sergius in the early 7th c.	Κατευθυνθήτω ἡ προσευχή μου ὡς θυμίαμα ἐνώπιόν σου	Let my prayer be directed as incense before thee.
The litaniesOur translation. For the catechumens, those preparing for illumination, and the faithful.	Εὔξασθε οἱ κατηχούμενοι τῷ Κυρίῳ	Let the catechumens pray to the Lord.
The entrance of the GiftsOur translation. Sung in silence as the reserved Gifts are brought in, like the Great Entrance.	Νῦν αἱ δυνάμεις τῶν οὐρανῶν σὺν ἡμῖν ἀοράτως λατρεύουσιν	Now the powers of heaven do serve invisibly with us.
The Lord's PrayerOur translation. No anaphora intervenes: the service goes from the litanies to the prayer and the Lord's Prayer.	Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς	Our Father, who art in heaven.
The elevationOur translation. The elevation names what this service is: communion from Gifts consecrated before.	Τὰ προηγιασμένα ἅγια τοῖς ἁγίοις	The Presanctified holy things are for the holy.
Communion and dismissalOur translation. Then 'I will bless the Lord' in place of 'We have seen the light', the thanksgiving, and the dismissal.	Μετὰ φόβου Θεοῦ, πίστεως καὶ ἀγάπης προσέλθετε	With the fear of God, with faith and love, draw near.

Authorship & Date

The service books name St Gregory the Dialogist, and in the Presanctified Liturgy itself he is still commemorated as its traditional author.¹ The Serbian Church's official account phrases the modern scholarly reading carefully: Gregory "first documented" the rite, and what was once taken for his invention is "now generally supposed" to be his recording of what was otherwise being practiced at Constantinople.¹ The name begins to appear in late-medieval manuscripts, and "no reliable attribution to St Gregory can be made".^2,3

The rite has collected other names along the way: Epiphanius of Cyprus, Germanus of Constantinople, and, in a sixteenth-century Athens codex, Gregory the Theologian, apparently confused with the Dialogist.⁶ P. Trembelas argued that the Dialogist ascription is most likely because he popularized the rite in the West, having introduced its form into the Good Friday service at Rome.⁶ The entry keeps the tradition and the scholarship apart: traditionally Gregory's, historically unknown.

Witnesses & Editions

The practice and its chant are earlier than any manuscript. The Chronicon Paschale records a chant added after "Let my prayer arise" under Patriarch Sergius of Constantinople in the early seventh century, the first literary trace of the rite.³ The first manuscript witness is Barberini gr. 336 in the Vatican (c. 780), the oldest Byzantine euchologion, whose text Brightman prints at pp. 345–352: it opens "Blessed be God" with Psalm 103, the readings, and the entrance of the Gifts as the modern service knows them.⁴ The standard modern monograph is Stefanos Alexopoulos's The Presanctified Liturgy in the Byzantine Rite (Peeters, 2009); this entry's claims are drawn from the earlier sources, and the monograph is listed for further reading.⁷

Theology & Spirit

The rite's theology is the theology of the Fast. The festal Divine Liturgy is "not in keeping with the season" of Lent, so the Church gives the faithful communion without festivity: Vespers, with its lamplighting psalms and the great "Lord, I have cried", joined to the communion rite.¹ Because the Gifts are already the Body and Blood, the service needs no consecration and has none; what it has is the evening office opened toward the chalice. "The service consists of Daily Vespers combined with additional prayers and communion."¹

The preparation belongs to the previous Liturgy. At its Proskomide the celebrant takes out a second Lamb, consecrates and elevates it with the first, immerses it in the precious Blood, and reserves it in the artophorion.⁶ "The communion bread has already been consecrated and intincted with the precious Blood and reserved at the previous Sunday's Divine Liturgy."¹ Unconsecrated wine is placed in the chalice; whether this wine must be thought of as the Blood of Christ varies with local practice, and the celebrant consuming the remainder may or may not partake of the chalice.¹ The entry states the practice exactly as the Serbian Church states it and goes no further.

The service's own time is the evening, because the faithful fast the whole workday and break the fast with communion; in modern parish practice it is often transposed to the morning.⁶ And unlike Vespers it "takes place at the end of a liturgical day": communion on Friday evening and Saturday morning counts as two separate days.¹ The council in Trullo (692) ordered the Presanctified on every Lenten day except Saturday, Sunday and the Annunciation.⁸

Relations

The rite depends on the two anaphoras: the Gifts it distributes were consecrated at an earlier Divine Liturgy of Chrysostom or of Basil, in Lent for example from a Sunday Liturgy of Basil for Wednesday's Presanctified.¹ Its entrance of the Gifts, sung "Now the powers of heaven with us invisibly do worship", is the Vespers counterpart of the Great Entrance, made in silence.^1,4 The elevation, "The Presanctified holy things are for the holy", answers the elevation of the Divine Liturgy with the one word the whole service turns on: presanctified.⁴

Anaphora of St John ChrysostomsuppliesThe Gifts consumed here were consecrated at an earlier Divine Liturgy of Chrysostom or of Basil.¹
Anaphora of St Basil (Byzantine)suppliesIn Lent the Gifts may come from a Sunday Liturgy of Basil.¹

Disputed Questions

Who composed the Presanctified Liturgy? The Byzantine tradition answers: St Gregory the Dialogist, still commemorated as its author in the service itself.¹ The scholarly literature answers: no reliable attribution can be made; the rite has also been given to Epiphanius and to Germanus, and the Dialogist's name most likely attached because he carried the rite west and shaped Rome's Good Friday service.^2,6 The entry's position: the ascription is a tradition, and the history it preserves may be true in part, Gregory recording rather than inventing; the composer's identity remains unknown.

Who composed the Presanctified Liturgy?

St Gregory the Dialogist (Pope St Gregory I), traditionally commemorated as its author; he may have recorded an existing Constantinopolitan practiceByzantine tradition; Serbian Orthodox Church¹
Ascribed also to Epiphanius of Cyprus and to Germanus of Constantinople; a 16th-c. codex points to Gregory the Theologian by apparent confusion with the Dialogist; Trembelas: the Dialogist ascription most likely because he popularized the rite in the West, introducing its form into the Roman Good Friday serviceGeorge Zaravelas, citing P. Trembelas⁶
No reliable attribution to St Gregory can be made; the name appears in late-medieval manuscriptsDamaskinos Olkinuora; Robert Taft (2014)²

The entry keeps the traditional ascription and the scholarly verdict distinct: traditionally Gregory's, historically unknown.

Go Deeper

Three old customs have fallen away, and the history records them. In olden times the Presanctified was also served on the Wednesday and Friday of Cheese Week and on Good Friday; by the tenth century the communion of the Presanctified in Constantinople was optional, and the Elevation of the Cross kept an old custom of its own.⁶ The ninth-century form in Barberini begins "Blessed be God", where the modern books begin "Blessed is the Kingdom": the service has grown toward the festal shape without becoming festal.^1,4 After the elevation the service goes "as the Divine Liturgy", with the differences its nature requires: no "We have seen the light" but "I will bless the Lord", and the antidoron given before the end.⁶

On Domus Dei

The Byzantine Rite

Official resources

Sources

Primary textSerbian Orthodox Church, Presanctified Liturgy, structure section; "Communion during Great Lent"; history section; "Liturgical day". LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · Read in full: days prescribed, structure of the service, the reserved Gifts and the chalice, Gregory the Dialogist as 'first documented' and as traditional author, Trullo can. 52 quoted
ScholarshipOlkinuora, Damaskinos, “Liturgy of the Byzantine Rite”, St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology, 2024, §2; §2; Washut2014: §2. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · signed, peer-reviewed entry read in full (§§2–3)
ReferenceWashut, Kyle, “The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts”, New Liturgical Movement, 2014, §2. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · read; popular-level, relies on Alexopoulos; its Cheesefare claim is NOT used
Primary textBrightman, F. E., Liturgies Eastern and Western, vol. 1: Eastern Liturgies, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1896, pp. 345–352; p. 348; p. 351; p. 345. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · archive.org full text; pp. lxxxiii, lxxxv, lxxxviii–lxxxix checked; order locators spot-checked 13 Sep 2026 (pp. 362, 377–378, 393, 394; glossary s.v. Zeon, Cancelli, Ektene). Checked 19 Sep 2026 for the Ge'ez entry: Preface p. xiii, the Ethiopic translations are the Rev. C. J. Ball's ('the Rev. C. J. Ball for the Ethiopic (including the collation of the British Museum manuscripts)'); p. lxiii, the Egyptian rite; pp. lxxii-lxxiii, the Rome printing of 1548 ('Testamentum novum.. Missale') and the Lord's anaphora there; pp. 194-244, the Ethiopic Liturgy of the Apostles from BM Or. 545 (1670-75); p. 232, 'THIS bread… IS MY BODY' (a rubric between) and 'DRINK… THIS CUP'
Primary textMetropolitan Cantor Institute, Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh, The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · read
Primary textZaravelas, George, “The History and Rite of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts”, Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, history section; history/rite section; timing section; structure section. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · Read in full: the second Lamb at the Proskomide and its reservation, the service structure, evening timing and morning transposition, old customs (Cheese Week, Good Friday, 10th-c. Constantinople), the multiple attributions and Trembelas on the Dialogist
ScholarshipAlexopoulos, Stefanos, The Presanctified Liturgy in the Byzantine Rite: A Comparative Analysis of its Origins, Evolution, and Structural Components, Liturgia Condenda 21, Leuven: Peeters, 2009, xvi+358, bibliographic. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · Bibliographic existence confirmed via the author's CUA faculty publications page and the Journal of Ecclesiastical History review listing (JEH 62, 2011). The book itself was not opened: registered for the reading list only, not cited for claims
Primary textCouncil in Trullo (Quinisext), “Canons”, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2nd series, vol. 14, 1900, can. 52. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · cann. 32 and 52 read (NPNF tr. Percival)

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