Description
These pages are not a new translation of the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, neither are they a rigid commentary on this liturgy. They contain no historical explanations or theological developments. They are merely “notes,” i.e. short remarks that set off certain passages of the text of the liturgy, certain principle themes of this long and very rich prayer which St. John Chrysostom took from Antioch to Constantinople in the fourth century and which, in its main lines, is found already fixed in the Greek manuscripts of the eighth century. We have wished to “orient” the attention and reflection of the faithful towards certain spiritual heights of this text. We have not written for the learned, but for the laity, men and women, and even for school children, for souls that are the least familiar with dogmatic discussions and who never the less want some clear and elementary notions of the liturgy. – From the Preface