What Does the Deacon Say? About the Lost Litanies, Part III

The final lengthy, variable proclamation of the deacon comes during the fraction rite. This one actually remains suggested in the official Arabic text as “(كرازة الیوم (برودیقي“, but I have never heard it actually sung nor have I ever encountered anyone who understands the rubric. It is an important and integral part of the liturgy because in this moment the deacon exhorts the faithful to pray for the priest offering the sacrifice. The priest mediates on behalf of the people, and, meanwhile, the people pray on behalf of the priest that God have mercy upon him and accept his offering.

The Sunday text, produced below, continues the theme of Sunday as the recapitulation of all time: in the variable verses, we see creation on the first day (Sunday) paralleled with the salvation wrought by Christ on His Resurrection (Sunday) paralleled with the current and last day of time. This prayer touches upon the eschatological orientation of Syriac theology - we have the consolation of the preceding acts of God’s mercy in creation and salvation, and now we look forward to the last day, if we aspire to what we have been enjoined to observe. But, as a warning, the last variable verse explicitly states that the one who does not keep Sunday will not be kept by Christ.