Encountering the Divine Liturgy Part 23: The Great Entrance: The King of All Comes Forth

I. Liturgical Context

Following the solemn chanting of the Cherubic Hymn, the clergy emerge from the sanctuary, led by deacons with censers and acolytes with candles, bearing the sacred gifts—the bread and wine that will become the Body and Blood of Christ. This moment is not merely a liturgical procession; it is a mystical reenactment of the entrance of Christ into His Passion, into His Kingdom, and into the hearts of the faithful.

The Church teaches that through this Entrance, the faithful mystically behold Christ Himself, “the King of All,” being “upborne invisibly by the angelic hosts,” as declared in the Cherubic Hymn. The procession is not for show—it is the mystical movement of heaven entering earth.

II. Historical Origins and Development

Historically, in the early centuries of the Church, the sacred gifts were brought from a side room called the skevophylakion into the altar at the time of the Eucharistic offering. Over time, this action developed into a solemn and symbolic procession, which by the time of St. John Chrysostom (4th century) had taken on the shape we know today. The symbolism of the Entrance deepened, becoming not merely practical but iconographic and mystical.

III. Symbolic and Theological Layers

1. Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem and His Passion

The Great Entrance is an image of Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem before His Passion (cf. Matthew 21:1–11). The faithful sing as Christ enters His temple, but this time, the King enters to be offered, to suffer, and to give Himself for the life of the world.

“This procession is not merely the carrying of bread and wine. It is Christ, entering voluntarily into death for our salvation.”
— St. Nicholas Cabasilas, On the Divine Liturgy, Ch. 21

Thus, the Entrance has a Holy Week character—a Palm Sunday joy overshadowed by the knowledge of the Cross.

2. The Mystical Ascent into the Kingdom

The faithful are lifted from the earthly realm into the heavenly temple, as described in the Letter to the Hebrews:

“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering.”
— Hebrews 12:22

This is not a symbolic idea, but a real participation in the Kingdom—already, though not yet fully revealed.

3. The Angelic Procession

In the visible form of the altar servers, candles, and clergy, the Church proclaims an invisible reality: the heavenly hosts bearing the King of Glory into the Holy of Holies. The earthly liturgy, according to St. Germanus of Constantinople, is an icon of heavenly worship, and the Great Entrance is where heaven and earth visibly converge.

“The Church is an image of heaven... and the procession of the gifts is an image of the coming of the Lord, borne aloft by angels.”
— St. Germanus of Constantinople, On the Divine Liturgy

IV. The Commemoration of the Living and the Departed

During the Great Entrance, the celebrant prays for all: the hierarchy, the civil authorities, the living, and the departed. This reflects the Church's understanding that the Eucharistic offering is on behalf of all and for all.

This part of the Entrance underscores the unity of the entire Church—the militant and the triumphant, the visible and the invisible—gathered in one offering.

V. Liturgical Posture and Reverence

The faithful typically bow or make the sign of the cross as the gifts pass by, recognizing in them the Lord Himself being carried to the altar of sacrifice. In some traditions, the royal doors are kept open throughout, symbolizing the unveiled access to the Holy of Holies, a privilege won by Christ’s self-offering (cf. Hebrews 10:19–20).

VI. Conclusion: The King Enters His Sacrifice

The Great Entrance is the threshold between offering and consecration, between preparation and fulfillment. It encapsulates the paradox of the King of Glory entering in humility, of the heavenly procession entering into time, and of the Church on earth uniting with the angels in heaven.

As the gifts are solemnly placed on the holy altar, the faithful prepare their hearts: for what follows next is not merely memory, but mystery—Christ's saving Passion made present, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, offered and received for the life of all.