"Therefore, as we also commemorate his holy passion, his resurrection form the dead, His ascension into heavens, his sitting at your hand, O Father, and his second coming which shall be from the heavens, awesome and full of glory; we offer unto you your oblations from what is your, for every condition, concerning every condition and in every condition."
“Thine own of Thine own, we offer to Thee, in behalf of all, and for all”
"Deal with us according to your goodness, O you who give food to all flesh. Fill our hearts with joy and gladness, that we too, having sufficiency in every thing always, may abound in every good deed...Lord have mercy...Remember O Lord, those who have brought unto you these gifts, those on whose behalf they have been brought, and those by whom they have been brought. Give them all the heavenly reward....Pray for these holy and precious gifts, our sacrifices and those who have brought them....Lord have mercy."
But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written:
"...every worshipper is called to this all-embracing prayer in imitation of our Teacher, Christ. The Divine Liturgy is an opportunity for us to offer everything up to God for sanctification. When the celebrant says, ‘Thine own, of Thine own, we offer unto Thee in all and for all’, he is saying on behalf of the people, ‘All that You have ever given us is Yours. We offer it back to You, because You have made all things new for our sake.’ We offer our temporal life with all its concerns, and in exchange God gives us His divine Life which is eternal. We put all our life and hope, our gratitude and repentance - the entire content of our heart and prayer - into the gifts of the bread and wine which we bring as an offering to God. So we do not just give to God a loaf of bread and some wine, which are insignificant. What matters above all is the faith and love and the expectation we have of Him. We offer our poor selves and in return He gives us His love, His life, Himself. We offer our sacrifice ‘in all and for all’ in the light of all that Christ has done for us, and in accordance with His commandment. And God, Who is always faithful to His promises, for ‘he cannot deny himself’, is well pleased with the sacrifice of the faithful who form His Body and His Church, and He responds by placing His own life in the holy gifts; the priest then cries, ‘The holy things unto the holy!’ It is the Lord’s great pleasure that we eat and drink of His life and these words mark one of the most holy and most moving moments of the Divine Liturgy."
"When the people come together for the assembly, they are truly gathering as the Church. The purpose for their gathering is to offer worship, prayer, and thanksgiving to God. The Eucharist is not about “my needs” or “my piety”; instead, the central focus is on the Kingdom of God. His explanation may seem very one-sided, given that everyone has specific spiritual needs and concerns that are important; however, Schmemann is dealing with the overemphasis on the individual, who expects the Church to “fulfill their needs,” whatever those may be. Schmemann also repeats that the gathering is neither for the clergy alone nor for the laity alone, but for all the people of God together. The entire Church is set apart to be the people of God in order to offer their common prayer, blessing, and thanksgiving to the Lord, and ultimately to become the Eucharistic community."
"Without interior participation in the sacraments, it is difficult to live out the faith. A family can attend services on a routine basis, say rote prayers, and make financial offerings, and still have these actions be merely external; the rubrics and form of the sacraments have little or no connection to their lives without interior devotion."
"In the sinless Person of Christ, the self-sacrifice of God is a perfect offering. He has ‘obtained eternal redemption for us’ all, having been offered ‘through the power of the eternal Spirit’, and that once and for all. As for man, his offering bears fruit when his sacrifice conforms to the spirit of Christ’s unique Sacrifice. The better his preparation, the more complete will be the exchange of lives in the Liturgy. Of course, we state this only as a general rule, for God is far beyond all such rules. Sometimes we prepare only briefly and still He fills us with His life. Or we may toil all night and catch nothing. What is most important is our humility and our sense of unworthiness. The more unworthy we feel as we approach the Lord, the more we attract His grace. We glorify Him Who freely gives. Salvation, we must not forget, is the free gift of God, Who blesses everyone and everything the believer has embraced in his thanksgiving and supplication. If we pray for the whole world during the Liturgy, the whole world will be blessed. If Christ died and rose again with every man as the content of His heart, we who are His must do the same, for the same mystery works in us. All that we offer to God as we stand before Him with fervent heart, will be resurrected within us as we partake of His pure Body and precious Blood."
+ From The Institutional Narrative, The Divine Liturgy of St Basil, Coptic Orthodox Rite
“Thine own of Thine own, we offer to Thee, in behalf of all, and for all”
+ Elevation of the Holy Gifts, The Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom
+ From The Seven Short Prayers, The Divine Liturgy of St Basil, Coptic Orthodox Rite
But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written:
“He has dispersed abroad,Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God. For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God, while, through the proof of this ministry, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal sharing with them and all men, and by their prayer for you, who long for you because of the exceeding grace of God in you. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!
He has given to the poor;
His righteousness endures forever.”
+ 2 Corinthians 8: 6 - 15
"...every worshipper is called to this all-embracing prayer in imitation of our Teacher, Christ. The Divine Liturgy is an opportunity for us to offer everything up to God for sanctification. When the celebrant says, ‘Thine own, of Thine own, we offer unto Thee in all and for all’, he is saying on behalf of the people, ‘All that You have ever given us is Yours. We offer it back to You, because You have made all things new for our sake.’ We offer our temporal life with all its concerns, and in exchange God gives us His divine Life which is eternal. We put all our life and hope, our gratitude and repentance - the entire content of our heart and prayer - into the gifts of the bread and wine which we bring as an offering to God. So we do not just give to God a loaf of bread and some wine, which are insignificant. What matters above all is the faith and love and the expectation we have of Him. We offer our poor selves and in return He gives us His love, His life, Himself. We offer our sacrifice ‘in all and for all’ in the light of all that Christ has done for us, and in accordance with His commandment. And God, Who is always faithful to His promises, for ‘he cannot deny himself’, is well pleased with the sacrifice of the faithful who form His Body and His Church, and He responds by placing His own life in the holy gifts; the priest then cries, ‘The holy things unto the holy!’ It is the Lord’s great pleasure that we eat and drink of His life and these words mark one of the most holy and most moving moments of the Divine Liturgy."
+ Fr Zacharias of Essex, Remember Thy First Love
"When the people come together for the assembly, they are truly gathering as the Church. The purpose for their gathering is to offer worship, prayer, and thanksgiving to God. The Eucharist is not about “my needs” or “my piety”; instead, the central focus is on the Kingdom of God. His explanation may seem very one-sided, given that everyone has specific spiritual needs and concerns that are important; however, Schmemann is dealing with the overemphasis on the individual, who expects the Church to “fulfill their needs,” whatever those may be. Schmemann also repeats that the gathering is neither for the clergy alone nor for the laity alone, but for all the people of God together. The entire Church is set apart to be the people of God in order to offer their common prayer, blessing, and thanksgiving to the Lord, and ultimately to become the Eucharistic community."
+ Fr William C. Mills, Church, World, and Kingdom: The Eucharistic Foundation of Alexander Schmemann's Pastoral Theology
"Without interior participation in the sacraments, it is difficult to live out the faith. A family can attend services on a routine basis, say rote prayers, and make financial offerings, and still have these actions be merely external; the rubrics and form of the sacraments have little or no connection to their lives without interior devotion."
+ Fr William C. Mills, Church, World, and Kingdom: The Eucharistic Foundation of Alexander Schmemann's Pastoral Theology
"In the sinless Person of Christ, the self-sacrifice of God is a perfect offering. He has ‘obtained eternal redemption for us’ all, having been offered ‘through the power of the eternal Spirit’, and that once and for all. As for man, his offering bears fruit when his sacrifice conforms to the spirit of Christ’s unique Sacrifice. The better his preparation, the more complete will be the exchange of lives in the Liturgy. Of course, we state this only as a general rule, for God is far beyond all such rules. Sometimes we prepare only briefly and still He fills us with His life. Or we may toil all night and catch nothing. What is most important is our humility and our sense of unworthiness. The more unworthy we feel as we approach the Lord, the more we attract His grace. We glorify Him Who freely gives. Salvation, we must not forget, is the free gift of God, Who blesses everyone and everything the believer has embraced in his thanksgiving and supplication. If we pray for the whole world during the Liturgy, the whole world will be blessed. If Christ died and rose again with every man as the content of His heart, we who are His must do the same, for the same mystery works in us. All that we offer to God as we stand before Him with fervent heart, will be resurrected within us as we partake of His pure Body and precious Blood."
+ Fr Zacharias of Essex, Remember Thy First Love
