We invite you to join us in our journey through Lent for the Presanctified Wednesday morning at 10 a.m.
The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts
Because the Divine Liturgy is the “Banquet of Christ”, a festive, triumphant celebration, the ancient discipline of the Church came to regard it as out of harmony with the penitential climate of Great Lent. Yet to provide the faithful with the “food of immortality”, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, that is, with the Eucharistic Gifts consecrated beforehand, at the Liturgy of the previous Sunday, came into use early on. (It is attested as the approved custom by the Quinisext Council of 692.)
The Presanctified Gifts were offered to the faithful, after the ninth hour, about 3:00 p.m., usually at the end of a day of fasting, in what is actually an elaborated Office of Vespers with Holy Communion. The Presanctified is conducted from fifteen to eighteen times a year:
- On Wednesday and Friday of the first six weeks of Lent.
- On Thursday of the fourth week of Lent.
- On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week.
The Sacrificial (or Resurrection) Liturgy is celebrated on all Saturdays and Sundays in Lent, on the Feast of the Annunciation, on whatever day it falls, and on Holy Thursday. (Good Friday is an a liturgical day.)
More information on the Lenten Liturgies can be found at the