The answer
Every part of the Divine Liturgy is significant. You cannot take one part with out the other—the part before and the part after are intertwined with the life of Christ. The Divine Liturgy begins with the reminder of Abraham's love and faith to sacrifice his only son. Then the Infant Child Jesus is wrapped in a cloth—symbolic of the swaddling clothes. The Bread is washed as though he is baptized. We are then given instructions from the readings, the examples of the saints of the day, and the Holy Gospel. The Bread and Wine become the Holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. We then raise our supplications before Him—the True Sacrifice asking for the forgiveness of our sins. We eat His Body and drink His Blood as He told us to do so that He may abide in us and we in Him. The Divine Liturgy is lived and is not merely symbolic.Answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab)