Celebration
The Liturgy consists of vespers combined with additional prayers and communion. Vespers is followed as normal through the Little Entrance, after which certain hymns and litanies are chanted, and silent prayers are said by the priest, some of which are unique to the Presanctified Liturgy, and some of which parallel those of the normal Divine Liturgy.
On the previous Sunday, additional Lambs (Hosts) are prepared and consecrated, enough for all of the Presanctified Liturgies that will be celebrated in the coming week. The exact same ceremonies and actions accompany the preparation and consecration of the extra lambs, as the one which will be used that day at the Divine Liturgy. After the consecration, just before the communion of the clergy, the rubric calls for the consecrated Lamb to be intincted with the consecrated Blood of Christ; however, depending on local practice, this is sometimes not done. In either case, the consecrated Lambs are reserved, often in a special pyx used only for this purpose.
Then, on the day of the Presanctified Liturgy, during the Kathisma (reading from the Psalter), one of the consecrated Lambs is placed on the diskos (paten) and unconsecrated wine is poured into the chalice. These are then censed and covered with veils. The Great Entrance takes place in a manner similar to that of the Divine Liturgy, except that the priest rather than the deacon carries the diskos, he holds it higher than the chalice, and the entrance is made in absolute silence, while everyone makes a full prostration.
When it comes time for Holy Communion, the clergy make their communion as normal, except that no words accompany their drinking from the chalice. Those portions of the reserved Lamb which will be used to give communion to the faithful are placed in unconsecrated wine in the chalice. Local practice varies as to whether or not this unconsecrated wine must be thought of as the Blood of Christ (even if the bread was intincted). The only practical effect of this variety is that the celebrant (priest or deacon) who must consume all the undistrubuted communion at the end of the service might or might not partake of the chalice when he communes himself: if the wine that was poured into the chalice is not the Blood of Christ, he would need to consume all of the consecrated elements before drinking any of the wine because drinking unconsecrated wine breaks the Eucharistic fast.
Read more about this topic: Liturgy Of The Presanctified Gifts
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