APÒLISI (ἈΠΌΛΙΣΙΣ)

APÒLISI (ἀπόλισις). — In the Byzantine rite it denotes the dismissal of the faithful at the end of the sacred liturgy and other divine services. In its essential form it consists of these words: “May Christ, the true God, have mercy on us and save us.” After an invocation to the glory of God by the priest, the reader recites the small doxology (Glory be to the Father…) and invites the officiant to bless the people. Inserted here are invocations to the Virgin Mary and to more or less numerous groups of saints, followed by a double form of a.: the brief and the prolix.