The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts of St. Gregory the Great: Orthodox Service Books - Number 3

The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is a Byzantine Rite liturgical service which is performed during Great Lent wherein communion is received from Gifts (the Body and Blood of Christ) that are sanctified (consecrated) in advance, hence its name. Great Lent is a season of repentance, fasting, and intensified prayer when the more frequent reception of communion is desirable; yet the joyful character of the full Divine Liturgy is not in keeping with this somberness, so the Presanctified is substituted. It is normally celebrated on Wednesdays, Fridays, and some feast days, the 5th Thursday of Lent, and on the first three days of Holy Week. It was first documented by Pope St. Gregory I (540–604), who had been the Papal Legate to Constantinople. At one time it was supposed that he had composed the Liturgy himself, but now it is generally thought that he simply recorded what was otherwise being practiced at Constantinople. In the Presanctified Liturgy itself, he is still commemorated as its traditional author.