The Great Entrance

“God created us for himself, and our hearts will not rest until they rest in him.”
St. Augustine, Confessions 1:1

Let us, who mystically portray the cherubim and sing the thrice-holy hymn to the life-creating Trinity, lay aside every earthly care.

At one time this very practical aspect of the Liturgy was not an especially dramatic event: a deacon simply brought the bread and wine which had been placed in a side room prior to the Liturgy up to the altar. This liturgical movement has been richly elaborated over time and our understanding of it has grown significantly. If the bread and wine truly become the body and blood of Christ on the altar, then it is perfectly natural to see the carrying of the gifts to the altar as a reenactment of the passion of Christ. The deacons therefore can be understood as representing the angels who accompanied Christ on His way to the crucifixion. The placing of the gifts on the altar is Christ being placed in the tomb. The aer covering the gifts represents the shroud, and so on. By the 6th century with the introduction of the Cherubic Hymn, the entire congregation is seen as representing, literally being icons of, the angels.