The Great Entrance

The gifts are carried from the table of preparation, out of the north door, through the nave and in again through the royal doors, while the Cherubic Hymn is sung and the choir holds the melody open in the middle of a sentence for the procession to pass. The hymn says what is happening: those who mystically represent the cherubim now lay aside every care of this life, for they are to receive the King of all. It is not yet the Body and Blood, which is why the older commentators are careful about the honour shown to it, and it is already a burial procession, which is why the cloths that cover the gifts are called the winding sheet and the air.