Great Entrance
| This article forms part of the series on the Divine Liturgy | |
| Liturgy of the Preparation | |
| Proskomedia Liturgical objects Vestments | |
| Liturgy of the Word | |
| Great Litany Antiphons Little Entrance Troparion Thrice-Holy Hymn Epistle Gospel Homily Litany of Fervent Supplication Litany for the Departed Litany of the Catechumens | |
| Liturgy of the Eucharist | |
| Cherubic Hymn Great Entrance Litany of the Completion Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed Anaphora Epiclesis Megalynarion Lord's Prayer Communion Dismissal Antidoron | |
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The Great Entrance is one of the two processions in the liturgical life of the Church. Like the Little Entrance, the Great Entrance generally originated in times when functions now concentrated in the sanctuary, such as the proskomedia and the storage of liturgical vessels, were segregated into separate architectural elements and the procession was needed to bring these objects into the church.
Performance
The Great Entrance occurs at a later point during the Divine Liturgy when the bread and wine to be offered are carried from the Table of oblation, located at the north side of the sanctuary (sometimes occupying its own apse), out the North Door and back through the Holy Doors to be placed on the altar. This entrance interrupts the Cherubic Hymn and is accompanied by a series of intercessions formulated according to the customs of the jurisdiction.
The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, celebrated on Wednesdays and Fridays during Great Lent, and is a Vespers service combined with the distribution of Holy Communion that had been consecrated the previous Sunday. The Great Entrance is performed not with bread prepared for the offering but with bread that has already been consecrated, and in complete silence and subdued reverence.
