Audio Text
201 Beginning The priest is dressed in a dark epitrachelion and phelonenion. The deacon also dresses in dark vestments. The church is dark or dimly lit. The curtain is opened and together they proceed through the north door to the vestibule where they meet the baptismal party. The deacon stands to the right of the priest.
202 Exorcism 202.1 The Exorcism begins with the deacon intoning, “Let us pray to the Lord”. The choir, “Lord have mercy”. This pattern continues for the remainder of the Exorcism. After the priest concludes his group of prayers, and after the ending exclamation, the choir sings, “Amen”. The deacon continues with, “Lord have mercy”, etc. Of note, the deacon may be needed to share or hold a book when the Godparents recite the Creed. At the conclusion of the Exorcism, the priest and deacon proceed through the nave to the Holy Table and bow. The priest and deacon change into bright vestments, the server lights all the candles and the church lights are turned up.
202.3 Incensation The server places incense in the censer and hands it to the deacon. After presenting the censer to the priest, and saying, “Master bless the incense”, he proceeds to incense with three strokes, the four sides of the Holy Table beginning at the front, the apsidal icon, both sides of the sanctuary, the iconostasis, the tetrapod, and the baptismal font with three stokes also. He then proceeds to the vestibule and incenses the baptismal party. Returning to the Ambon, he incenses the people in the usual manner. Entering the soleas by the south door, he incenses the priest and returns the censer to the server. The Royal Doors are now opened and the priest, deacon and servers proceed to the vestibule, from which the priest leads the Godparents and candidate into church to the baptismal font.
Notes
Note. Local customs may begin the Exorcism with only the priest in dark vestments. If the deacon will be doing the incensation while the priest changes vestments from dark to light, the deacon may begin wearing bright vesstments to save time later. Additionally, after changing vestments, the priest may choose to do the incensations himself. Deacons should ascertain the priest’s expectations prior to the initial vesting.