THE DIVINE LITURGY OF ST. MARK:
The Divine Liturgy of St. Mark is such a bold attempt at forgery it is jawdropping. It is such an obvious fake to in the Spirit Evangelical born again Christians, it is like telling them you have found the original manuscript of the Book of Revelation, and it has been verified by the world's top typewriter experts as being 100% authentic. It is not as bad as saying "We have discovered the diary of Jesus" but it is not far off as silly. For a start it leads to one inevitable conclusion, if St. Mark used such a liturgy the other Apostles would do the same, right? So the lie begins to go into self destruction by absurd mitosis, or like cancer cells duplicating, like a forest fire "sets on fire the whole course of nature". The existence of a "surviving" Liturgy composed and used by St Mark (I take it supposedly inspired by God himself) to "prove" clockwork, ritualistic liturgical worship was used in the early church, is a heresy in itself. And without wanting to be too controversial about long tedious liturgies, is provoking complete Boredom in people a heresy? Not only that, but the repetition of such long liturgies by priests doing rituals almost seems like they are saying God is obliged to obey. It starts with a lie (that it is St Mark's Liturgy) and ends with a two heresies - the blasphemy and idolatry of metousiosis, and that it contributes to salvation as it "preserves" saints, though it is administered by priests.
criticisms:
1) Anachronism:
words like, Orthodox (used repeatedly), Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, sub-deacons, "with all the orthodox bishops" and "Bless Your faithful and orthodox people" and "The Priest, making the sign of the cross over the disks and chalices" disks being?
(are used repeatedly throughout the liturgy) "The Nicene Creed" is in the St. Mark Liturgy, that was written hundreds of years later, "the martyr and evangelist Mark" so Mark speaks of himself as a martyr before he is one??? "monks".
2) Staggering heresies:
quote:
HERESY 0:
"the holy Catholic and Apostolic Church." Apostolic is claiming connection to the apostles, but doctrinally is "hand-me-down" power supposedly linked back city by city to Apostles and early bishops.
HERESY 1:
That clockwork, scripted, liturgical worship, performance of rites etc, was used in the early church, contrary to a whole host of scriptures.
HERESY 2:
It is a clear forgery.
HERESY 3:
"Purify our lives and cleanse our hearts from all pollution and from all wickedness, that with pure heart and conscience we may offer to You this incense for a sweet-smelling savour, and for the remission of our sins and the sins of all Your people, through the grace, mercy, and love of Your only-begotten Son:"
Incense offerings "for the remission of our sins and the sins of all your people"? Complete heresy! The usual Greek oxymoron is that as God forgives the sins "by his grace" it is a work of God, even though they perform a rite. Grace and works are contrary one to another (Romans 11:6, Ephesians 2:8-9 etc)
Later in Part 3 it says "The Priest offers incense, and says: — As You accepted the sacrifice of our father Abraham, the incense of Zacharias, the alms of Cornelius, and the widow's two mites, accept also the thank-offerings of these, and give them for the things of time the things of eternity, and for the things of earth the things of heaven." These are bad comparisons with the priestcraft of Orthodoxy, a better comparison would be Leviticus 10:1 and the strange fire offered by Nadab and Abihu.
HERESY 4:
bogus ministries: "we pray and beseech You to defend in Your good mercy our most holy and blessed high priest our Father in God Δ, and our most reverend Bishop Δ . Preserve them for us through many years in peace, while they according to Your holy and blessed will fulfil the sacred priesthood committed to their care," Is this a statement they have a human high priest?
HERESY 5:
Bogus sub ministries: A Laity, sub-deacons.
ERROR:
"all-holy, good, and life-giving Spirit" The Spirit is described as the Holy Spirit in scripture. not All Holy Spirit. Doubless indeed the holy spirit is all holy, but it is outside of scripture to add qualifications to the Spirit already perfect.
ERROR:
"who hast chosen the lamp of the twelve apostles with its twelve lights" not sure it does any good to analyse this too much, as they seems to mean the original 12 Apostles, not Paul and Barnabas. It does seem to be a confirmation of a free will doctrine concerning Judas however, not Calvinist style heresy.
HERESY 6:
"and hast breathed upon their faces and said unto them, Receive the Holy Spirit the Comforter: whosesoever sins you remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins you retain, they are retained:" I think this is a warped veiled reference to their belief in forgiveness through the priest, as if the bible reference is such an empowerment.
HERESY 7:
"Pray for the papas and the bishop." and later "Preserve for us through many years our most holy and blessed Papas Δ" apparently "papas" here is plural is it stands for the patriarchs of each of the historic Orthodox churches that hold apostolic succession and try to trace their church to a specific apostle of the Bible. So St Mark supposedly believed in breaking "call no man father". If the Orthodox called the bishops PaPa (call no man Father heresy) This Creed is saying the bishop of Rome was called by a similar name as "a Pope".
pope 1 |pəʊp|noun
ORIGIN (etymology) Old English, via ecclesiastical Latin from ecclesiastical Greek papas ‘bishop, patriarch’, variant of Greek pappas ‘father’.
HERESY 8:
"The Priest says the prayer of the Trisagion............. for the salvation of our race; who hast sent forth Your holy disciples and apostles to proclaim and teach the Gospel of Your kingdom," unquote. 3 things here:
a) Firstly St Mark is supposedly familiar with a repeat prayer called The Prayer of the Trisagion ("Thrice Holy") and later the repeat Anaphoral prayer. and then the prayer of thanksgiving
b) If "our race" is really a good translation, does it mean the human race? Or is it racist?
c) St Mark here is preaching quote "the Gospel", but it is supposedly the Gospel according to Orthodoxy, that of works and sacerdotalism, as well a Jesus.
ERROR:
"the Priest makes the sign of the cross over the people" . Outside of scripture. To what purpose?
HERESY 9:
"Accept at Your holy, heavenly, and reasonable altar, O Lord, the incense we offer in presence of Your sacred glory. Send down upon us in return the grace of Your Holy Spirit, for You are blessed, and let Your glory encircle us." A work to obtain grace? "in return"? Offering incense is not in new covenant law. It says later quote "The incense is offered to Your name. Let it ascend, we implore You, from the hands of Your poor and sinful servants to Your heavenly altar for a sweet-smelling savour, and the propitiation of all Your people." First they get grace by a work, then favour "or propitiation".
HERESY 10:
"VIII. The Deacon reads the Gospel, and the Priest says the prayer of the Collect."
a) The Prayer of the collect- yet another repeated Prayer St Mark supposedly know and uses.
b) The Gospel - this if found in 1 Cor 15:1-4, and Luke 24:44-48, salvation through Christ alone, crucified and resurrected. In the text that follows there is no salvation gospel. It is possible to argue from the text that follows this that the word "gospel here" is used in a broader sense, of general good news. I accept that is possible, many things can be counted as good news about God's goodness, but the specific theology of "the gospel by which we are saved" is more specific and more important.
HERESY 11:
"preserve the kingdom of Your servant, whom You have deemed worthy to reign over this land." Romans 13 is not about rulers being "worthy" the Romans for instance at the time of Paul were far from that, it is about a greater good coming out of government in general when we compare the two states of human society in Genesis 6:11 and Romans 13: verses 3 & 13. Later however it says in Part 3 "O King of kings and Lord of lords, defend the kingdom of Your servant, our orthodox and Christ-loving sovereign," So what does this mean? Only do the liturgy in a country where that is so? Was that true of Mark where he lived "when he wrote it"? Was the ruler then a Christian? And worse "an Orthodox Christian"??? All inbuilt contradictions.
HERESY 12:
"Wherefore we pray and beseech You to defend in Your good mercy this city, for the sake of the martyr and evangelist Mark, who has shown us the way of salvation through the grace, mercy, and love of Your only-begotten Son."
a) quote "The martyr and evangelist Mark"....... this is either a quite fantastically ridiculous anachronism (the action of attributing something to a period to which it does not belong) by saying it was indeed part of the so called Liturgy of St Mark but was a prophecy (that would be similar to the contradiction of the Book of Deuteronomy being next to the ark of the covenant, yet containing Deut 31:23-26). Or they are saying the rest of the Liturgy id by St Mark but not this. Suddenly every verse of it comes under scrutiny, as if you tell lies that's what happens. As to which answer is "correct" the mindless faithful would wait to be told. Another mega anachronism appears later in the so called Liturgy of St. Mark when it says "The Priest, making the sign of the cross over the disks and chalices, says in a loud voice (the Nicene Creed):--" the Nicene Creed spoken by St Mark who died hundreds of years before it was written???
b) "defend in your good mercy this city". The theology of Orthodoxy would heretically imply "fight with our Orthodox soldiers"
c) "salvation through the grace" by which they mean grace means "grace and our works" as grace and works are a total contradiction, in other words they want to quote the bible theme of salvation by grace, as it has authority, but their entire underpinning theology contradicts it. In a similar way it says later in the Liturgy "the bread that came down from heaven, and saved our souls from ruin" well if he saved us alone then Orthodox theology is bogus, but they must try to sound biblical. In other words they deny the Evangelical Gospel is true, but try to gain an impression of authority by referring to it as if they believe it, when they dont. They really say "That you for the grace of letting us be saved partly through work and priestcraft".
HERESY 13:
"peacefully fulfil the holy priesthood committed to their care" this is not the priesthood of all believers offering up spiritual sacrifices of prayer, but an old covenant style priesthood reinvented into the new covenant, through rites performed by their "clergy". One big difference being the obeying of the draconian Law of Moses was a true outward sign of faith, but the Orthodox priesthood is bogus from start to finish, and claims to by a "synergy of salvation" between God, priest and man.
HERESY 14:
"Take care that none of the catechumens —"
Orthodox heretical theology quote: "Catechumen," in the early Church, was the name applied to one who had not yet been initiated into the sacred mysteries, but was undergoing a course of preparation for that purpose. The word occurs in Galatians 6:6: "Let him that is instructed in the word, [ho katechoumenos, is qui catechizatur] communicate to him that instructeth him [to katechounti, ei qui catechizat] in all good things." Other parts of the verb katicksein occur in 1 Corinthians 14:19; Luke 1:4; Acts 18:24."
In Evangelicalism you are born again into the body of Christ, in Orthodoxy you are only officially admitted into the church after an indoctrination period where you must submit to many heresies, including being forced into taking one side or the other on the filioque (a doctrine entirely unnecessary to profess).
HERESY 15:
"The Priest says the prayer of the Oblation."
heretical theology quotation: "Liturgically speaking, there are two oblations: the lesser oblation, sometimes known as the offertory, in which the bread and wine, as yet unconsecrated, are presented and offered to God, and the greater oblation, the oblation proper, in which the Body and Blood of Christ are offered to God." So this is saying St Mark believer in transubstantiation or metousiosis. A later quote from the Liturgy is "Your holy priests stand round and minister for Your glory and the renewing of our souls, through the grace," speaking of the eucharist. And again later "restore and renew him by this awful, life-giving, and heavenly mystery." and "We offer this reasonable and bloodless sacrifice, which all nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun, from the north and the south, present to You, O Lord; for great is Your name among all peoples, and in all places are incense, sacrifice, and oblation offered to Your holy name." This seems to be a oxymoronic reference to a sacrifice containing blood but where they themselves did no slaying??? later it says "The Priest makes the sign of the cross over the sacred mysteries.............Fill, O God, this sacrifice with Your blessing........For this is my body, which is broken for you, and divided for the remission of sins."
HERESY 16:
BIG QUOTE HERE
"O King of kings and Lord of lords, defend the kingdom of Your servant, our orthodox and Christ-loving sovereign, whom You have deemed worthy to reign over this land in peace, courage, and justice.Subdue under him, O Lord, every enemy and adversary, whether at home or abroad. Gird on Your shield and armour, and rise to his aid. Draw Your sword, and help him to fight against them that persecute him. Shield him in the day of battle, and grant that the fruit of his loins may sit upon his throne." Would you agree with me (especially given the history of Catholicism and Orthodoxy) this seems to be pretty clearly saying St, Mark believed in killing in wars? HERESY. Jesus taught a higher way of Peace and Love, as was evident in the death of Stephen. Mark would be disgusted his name is used in this way to promote war, sacerdotalism, the blasphemy and idolatry of metousiosis, and religion by rote.
QUOTE:
So this is a pain affirmation the Liturgy of S Mark, written by St Mark, was not really written by him at all.
"Especially remember those whose memory we this day celebrate, and our holy father Mark, the apostle and evangelist, who has shown us the way of salvation." Or is this supposed to be tacked onto the end of "Mark's Liturgy"???
QUOTE:
"The Deacon reads the record of the dead." I am not sure yet to what this refers.
HERESY 17:
"Remember the orthodox bishops everywhere, the elders, deacons, sub-deacons, readers, singers, monks, virgins, widows, and laity." So there were monks at the time of St Mark?
HERESY 18:
"Remember, O Lord, the holy city of our God, Jesus Christ; and the imperial city; and this city of ours, and all cities and all lands, and the peace and safety of those who dwell therein in the orthodox faith of Christ." Is imperial a reference to Rome?
HERESY 19:
"Utterly uproot idolatry from the world." They who spread it pray it ceases. Any icon of God or a god is the centre idolatry for a start.
HERESY 20:
"After the same manner also, when He had supped, He took the cup of wine mingled with water" it does not say the wine was mingled with water in the holy bible. Orthodoxy say that because they want to feed communion to babes.
QUOTE:
"This do in remembrance of me; for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show forth my death and acknowledge my resurrection and ascension until I come." so that is a proof their entire doctrine on metousiosis is wrong.
HERESY 21:
"XVII. O Lord our God, we have placed before You what is Yours from Your own mercies. We pray and beseech You, O good and merciful God, to send down from Your holy heaven, from the mansion You have prepared, and from Your infinite bosom, the Paraclete Himself, holy, powerful, and life-giving, the Spirit of truth, who spoke in the law, the apostles, and prophets; who is everywhere present, and fills all things, freely working sanctification in whom He will with Your good pleasure; one in His nature; manifold in His working; the fountain of divine blessing; of like substance with You, and proceeding from You; sitting with You on the throne of Your kingdom, and with Your only-begotten Son, our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ. Send down upon us also and upon this bread and upon these chalices Your Holy Spirit, that by His all-powerful and divine influence He may sanctify and consecrate them, and make this bread the body."
Evangelical Christians would shudder at this. Involving the name of the Holy Spirit, or Paraclete. in the blasphemy of the mass or Orthodox perception of the eucharist. "Send him down!". So that? The Orthodox may eat and digest the body of Jesus, and worshipfully look upon it as God in the flesh, when it is not? Idolatry!!! It really is the fulfilment of the Cup of the Whore of Babylon and her daughters (The Mother of Harlots) in Revelation 17. They do not even fear to involve the Holy Spirit in their false religious rites.
The Priest divides it among those present, and says:--
The Lord will bless and help you through His great mercy.
The Priest says:--
Command.
The Clergy say:--
The Holy Spirit commands and sanctifies.
The Priest.
Lo, they are sanctified and consecrated.
HERESY 22:
"That to all of us who partake thereof they may tend unto faith, sobriety, healing, temperance, sanctification, the renewal of soul, body, and spirit, participation in the blessedness of eternal life and immortality, the glory of Your most holy name, and the remission of sins, that Your most holy, precious, and glorious name may be praised and glorified in this as in all things." So the blasphemy of the mass brings about these qualities in those taking part in it.
HERESY 23:
"And grant, O Sovereign Lord, in Your mercy, that we with freedom of speech," They speak of freedom of speech but suppress it.
HERESY 24:
It began with a lie:
"The Divine Liturgy of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Mark, The Disciple of the Holy Peter."
and it ends with blasphemy:
"May God bless, who blesses and sanctifies, who defends and preserves us all through the partaking of His holy mysteries; and who is blessed for ever. Amen."
LINK:
to the Liturgy of St Mark
under construction