Ekphonesis

JOHN A. MCGUCKIN

From the Greek word for “sounding out” or “speaking out.” It signifies those parts of the prayers of the divine liturgy and other Orthodox services where the bishop or priest, having said much of the prayer quietly (mystikos, or sotto voce – often while the deacon or choir recites other prayers simul­taneously) concludes with the doxology sung out loud so that all the congregation can hear and assent with an “Amen.” In many liturgical books the “mystical” sec­tions of the prayer that are said inaudibly are printed in italic, and the final section, or the doxology, is the Ekphonesis.