Apolysis (Ἀπόλοισις)

APOLISI (ἀπόλοις). – In the Byzantine rite, this denotes the dismissal of the faithful at the end of the sacred liturgy and of the other divine services. In its essential form, it is reduced to these words: “Christ, true God, have mercy on us and save us.” After an invocation to the glory of God by the priest, the reader recites the little doxology (Gloria Patri...) and invites the officiant to bless the people. Invocations to the Madonna and to groups of saints, more or less numerous, are inserted; hence a double form of the a.: the brief and the elaborate.