This section of the Eucharistic Liturgy is the church's public teaching to all, believers and nonbelievers alike.
Here are the major events:
- We welcome the Lord by reenacting the ancient ceremonies by which the Byzantine court welcomed the Emperor—the highest honor that can be bestowed.
- We experience fellowship and solidarity with the missionary efforts of early Christians.
- We read publicly from the Old and New Testaments and—with special formality—from the Gospels which contain the words of Jesus.
- We continue with the Nicene Creed, an affirmation of faith developed at Nicea in 325 by an assembly of bishops representing the Christian world of the time.