Embolism (liturgy)

The embolism in Christian liturgy (from Greek ἐμβολισμός (embolismos) 'an interpolation') is a short prayer said or sung after the Lord's Prayer. It functions "like a marginal gloss" upon the final petition of the Lord's Prayer (". . . deliver us from evil"), amplifying and elaborating on "the many implications" of that prayer.[1] According to the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia, "[t]he embolism may date back to the first centuries, since, under various forms, it is found in all the Occidental and in a great many Oriental, particularly Syrian, Liturgies."[2]

  1. ^ Ayo, Nicholas (1992). The Lord's Prayer: A Survey Theological and Literary. Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003. p. 196. ISBN 978-0-7425-1453-9. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
  2. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia: Embolism