HOLY SCRIPTURE IN THE CHURCH

The Chanting of Psalms Before the Liturgy of St. James 

By Bp. Joseph (Ancient Church of the West) 

In the Ancient Church of the West, Holy Scripture is the very lifeblood of our worship and faith. Before the Divine Liturgy of St. James begins, our voices rise in the chanting of three to five Psalms, shaping our hearts in prayer before the priest proclaims, “Blessed is the Kingdom.” From the outset, the Word of God forms and frames our offering, weaving us into the same rhythms of praise and lament sung by Israel and the Apostles. In these Psalms, we find the voice of Christ, the voice of His Church, and the cry of every human heart answered by God.

Our lectionary is ordered not by human convenience, but by ancient wisdom. We read deeply from the Old Testament according to the original Septuagint Canon, completing the entire Old Covenant every five years. At the same time, we read through the New Testament in a two-year cycle, so that within a decade, both Testaments have been proclaimed fully and repeatedly in overlapping cycles. The annual Western lectionary, preserved in our tradition, ensures that the Epistles and Gospels are proclaimed in their timeless sequence. Thus, Scripture is not an occasional visitor in our worship, but a constant companion: heard, sung, prayed, and lived line by line, precept upon precept.

Because of this, the Gospel Book is not kept hidden, but brought forth in procession, kissed by the faithful, and venerated as the living presence of Christ’s Word among us. In contrast to those who style themselves “Bible Churches,” yet spend more time listening to the musings of a man than to the Word of God, we take our stand on what is revealed. We listen attentively, not to opinions, but to the ancient interpretation of the Church, to the Fathers, and to the Spirit who inspired the Scriptures. Our teachers dare not innovate, but seek the depths of the literal, historical, allegorical, and mystical meanings passed down by the saints.

For us, Scripture is not merely a book but the very song of the Church, the fountain of the Sacraments, and the ladder by which we ascend to Christ. It is revealed by God, preserved by His Church, and made present to us in every liturgy, every feast, every fast, every prayer. In loving and venerating the Scriptures, we confess that our life, our worship, and our salvation are inseparably bound to the Word of God, living and active, sharper than a two-edged sword, and sweeter than honey to the soul.

COLLECT

O Lord God of Truth, who by Thy Holy Spirit didst inspire the Prophets, fulfill the Law in Thine Only-Begotten Son, and seal the witness of the Apostles, grant unto us so to love, venerate, and obey Thy Holy Word, that in chanting the Psalms, in hearing the Law and the Prophets, in reading the Epistles, and in receiving the Gospel of Christ, our hearts and lives may be conformed unto Thy will. Dedicate, we beseech Thee, our minds, souls, and churches unto the keeping of Thy Scriptures: that line upon line, precept upon precept, rightly dividing the word of truth, we may ascend by Thy Word as by a ladder unto Thee, and be nourished in the holy Sacraments unto everlasting life; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

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