and fillest all things. Hierarchical Liturgy When a bishop is serving the divine liturgy, one of the priests and the deacons and lower clergy vest and the Liturgy of Preparation is performed as normal with a few omissions which are later performed by the bishop: the other clergy who are serving are not commemorated, the concluding Prayer of Offering is not said, and the offerings are not censed. When the liturgy neither immediately follows matins nor is in conjunction with vespers, the reading of the hours generally does not commence until after the arrival of the bishop. When it is time, the bishop enters formally into the church and the deacons recite the Entrance Prayers and he is then vested by the subdeacons while the deacons read the Vesting Prayers. Then the Reader begins the Little Hours or vespers commences or matins conclude, as the case may be. During the great litany the bishop himself recites the Prayer of Offering omitted earlier from the usual order of the prothesis. Just before the Great Entrance, the bishop commemorates those whom he wishes, taking out particles from a special prosphoron that has been prepared for him. Then each priest, deacon, and server approaches the bishop and kissing the bishop's right shoulder says his own name, by which the bishop takes out a particle commemorating him. Finally, the bishop censes the offerings. Great Lent During Great Lent it is not permitted to celebrate the Divine Liturgy on weekdays. However, on Wednesdays and Fridays the faithful may receive Holy Communion from the reserved Mysteries (Sacrament) at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. In order to provide for these services, on the Sunday before, the priest must cut out extra Lambs for each Presanctified Liturgy that there will be during that week. Pascha During Bright Week (The week following Easter Sunday) most of the services are quite radically different than during the rest of the year. However, at the Liturgy of Preparation, only the Entrance Prayers change; everything else remains the same. Oriental Orthodox The various Oriental Orthodox Churches also have Liturgies of Preparation before the commencement of the public portion of the Divine Liturgy. `Some of these are very simple, and some are more complex. They all involve the entry of the clergy, vesting and preparing the Gifts of bread and wine, accompanied by appropriate prayers. Notes References External links The Office of Oblation