The Gospel reading is a passage from Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John proclaimed aloud during the Divine Liturgy. It happens after the Epistle reading, right when the deacon (or priest, if there’s no deacon) carries the Gospel book to the center of the church and reads Christ’s own words to the congregation.
If you’re visiting for the first time, you’ll notice something different from most Protestant services. We don’t just read Scripture sitting down with a Bible in hand. The Gospel reading is an event.
Here’s what happens. During the Third Antiphon, the priest and deacon bow before the altar. The deacon receives the Gospel book, kissing the priest’s hand as he takes it. They process out from the altar with candles, moving through the church in what’s called the Small Entrance. This procession symbolizes Christ entering the world. The priest censes the Gospel book. Everyone stands.
The deacon announces: “The reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew” (or Mark, Luke, or John). The priest says, “Let us be attentive.” And we respond, “Glory to You, O Lord, glory to You.”
Then the Gospel is read.
Afterward, we say it again: “Glory to You, O Lord, glory to You.” The Gospel book is kissed, carried back, and placed on the altar. It stays there between services, the most revered text we have.
Why all the ceremony?
Because we believe the Gospel reading is Christ Himself speaking. Not just words about Him. His actual words, His presence among us. The Liturgy is about three-quarters Scripture, but the Gospel holds the highest place. The Epistle comes from the apostles. The Gospel comes from Christ.
That’s why we stand. That’s why we process with candles and incense. That’s why the book itself is treated like an icon, because it contains the living Word.
Coming from a Baptist or non-denominational background, you might be used to the pastor choosing a text for his sermon series. We don’t do that. The Gospel readings follow a fixed lectionary set by the Church centuries ago. The same reading is used worldwide on the same day. This Sunday, every Antiochian parish from Beaumont to Boston to Beirut hears the same Gospel. It’s one way we maintain unity across the whole Church.
You can find the daily readings on antiochian.org or oca.org if you want to read ahead. Some people do. Others prefer to hear it fresh. Either way works.
What about the Epistle?
Good question. There’s always an Epistle reading before the Gospel, usually from Paul’s letters or Acts or the Catholic Epistles. It’s read by a reader (not the priest or deacon), often from the side of the church rather than the center. Less ceremony, but still reverent. The Gospel gets the full procession because it’s Christ’s own voice.
If you grew up hearing “the Bible says” as one undifferentiated thing, this hierarchy might feel strange. We love all of Scripture. But the words of Jesus hold a particular weight. The Liturgy reflects that.
What happens after the reading?
The homily comes next, usually based on the day’s Gospel. Then we move into the Liturgy of the Faithful, where the Eucharist is consecrated. But the Gospel reading marks a high point in the first half of the service. It’s the climax of the Liturgy of the Word before we move toward the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
Fr. Alexander Schmemann wrote that the Liturgy ascends toward God, and you can feel that movement. We start with psalms, move through the Epistle, reach the Gospel, then continue upward to the altar where heaven and earth meet in the Eucharist.
When you’re standing there at St. Michael on a Sunday morning, maybe your first time or your fiftieth, and the deacon processes out with that ornate Gospel book and the candles are lit and everyone’s standing at attention, you’re not just hearing a Bible verse. You’re hearing Christ speak to His Church, the same way He spoke to the disciples on a Galilean hillside. That’s what we believe is happening. And that’s why we treat it the way we do.
