My first Divine Liturgy experience.

[heavenlyboy34]

Toady Fr. Chris allowed the youth pastor to deliver the homily because it's a requirement for his studies. Anyways, no new tunes to learn and no rehearsal, but I gave tenor a shot...and apparently did okay because no one complained. I am disappoint with myself for sleeping in too late and missing the first few minutes, though. :/ Epistle-Romans 6:18-23 Gospel-Matthew 8:5-13. During fellowship myself and bunch of other folks had interesting discussion about orthodoxy and comparative religion. Kind of like what goes on here except civil and respectful.

[heavenlyboy34]

Toady-Sunday of the Holy Fathers of Fourth Ecumenical Council. Epistle-Titus 3:8-15, gospel-Matthew 5:14-19. Fr Chris spoke about "authentic Christianity"-that is, bearing witness without pretense-to be the light of the world Christ in us. Lots of hugs, kisses, n' lulz during coffee hour.

[TER]

People as Liturgical Beings – Part 1

We usually characterize people as rational and independent beings. These attributes are correct enough, but don’t convey human nature in its completeness.

Through the liturgical experience, we feel that, more than anything, people are liturgical beings. They were made to serve, to offer themselves and the whole world to God with gratitude, praise and worship, to unite with God, to be sanctified, to live, through this continual offering/sacrifice/service.

Rationality, independence and the other attributes were given to us for this reason, so that we can put ourselves into this liturgical relationship with the Triune God. In this liturgical ascent, people act as being ‘in the image’ and are elevated to being ‘in the likeness’.

Life in Paradise was a Divine Liturgy. Together with the angels, Adam and Eve served the Holy Trinity. With the fall into egocentrism they lost the possibility of offering themselves and the world to God in a Eucharistic manner and thus of taking part in the joint ministry in Paradise.

Self-exiled from the Liturgy in Paradise, they found themselves on earth without the function of the Liturgy. ‘The ‘in the image’ was no longer active. Some remnants and sparks from the prelapsarian function of service remained within them. These moved them to build altars and to carry out sacrifices to God.

At best, this worship was fragmentary, a shadow, a type. It didn’t bring people into perfect communion and union with God. It didn’t give us the Holy Spirit. It didn’t save us from death. It did, however, encourage in us the desire for the true Messianic Liturgy. This desire and vision gave hope to the people who were sitting in darkness and the shadow of death.

The Heavenly Father’s love could not leave us without liturgical service. By His providence, the Word was made flesh. Jesus Christ, the Great High Priest, began the joint ministry of the New Testament.

The Liturgy of the New Testament could only have been instituted by Christ, because Christ alone was able to offer Himself and the whole world completely to the Triune God. There were people who sacrificed in the Old Testament, too. There were no sacrificial victims. Jesus Christ was the perfect sacrifice and at the same time the perfect person to perform the sacrifice. The unblemished sacrifice. The Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world…

People- and the world- without Liturgical function, being un-liturgized fell into the power of the devil and of death. With His death on the Cross and His Resurrection, Christ redeemed us from this enslavement, liberated us and gave us the chance to take part in the joint ministry of the New Testament. That is, to offer ourselves to God, to thank God and to praise Him. In being offered and offering all things with Christ to God, we serve as people. That is ‘in the image of God’. We become real people.

The Liturgy of the New Testament is greatly superior to the Liturgy in Paradise. Now the High Priest is the Son of God Himself. The Mother of God and the Saints concelebrate and together praise the All-Holy Trinity ‘with ceaseless mouths and unflagging praises’.

Every baptized Orthodox Christian who dies in order to live takes part in this joint ministry. In this shared Liturgy people find their true nature and their true repose, their real ‘in the image of God’ self. Outside this shared Liturgy, people may be **** Sapiens or **** Economicus of the Socialist or Capitalist society, but not the rulers of creation, not the tipping point between the created and uncreated world and ‘in the image of God’.

The Divine Liturgy of the New Testament began with the incarnation of the Word and is continued into the far future by the Great High Priest. Every Divine Liturgy celebrated at the altars on earth is a participation in time in this timeless, everlasting Liturgy. ‘We sinners also cry aloud with the Blessed Powers, Master and Lover of Humankind, and say: ‘Holy You are and Most Holy…’.

Every Priest and Bishop who celebrates at the earthly altars ‘performs the priestly function of Christ in the Church’ (canon of Carthage). He doesn’t have his own priesthood. He takes part in the unique Priesthood of Christ.

Our greatest sin today is that we don’t have a Liturgical function. We don’t offer and aren’t offered to God and to our fellow human beings.

It was once considered an insult to say that somebody was ‘un-liturgized’. Today, however, because of our unbelief and hardness of heart, it’s considered natural, whereas it’s unnatural and weird for people to exercise a Liturgical function.

Even when people today ‘go to church’, it’s hard to know whether they really do exercise a Liturgical function, that is whether they take part in the Universal Mystery of the Eucharist and of the Church, whether they understand the Divine Liturgy not simply as a religious and social duty but as an offering and sacrifice to God, in Christ. It’s possible even for someone to celebrate the Divine Liturgy as a priest and yet in essence to be outside the Liturgy, because he doesn’t offer himself and all things to God.

These Christians outside the Liturgy, clergy and laity, basically don’t live. According to the Revelation, ‘You have a name for being alive, but you are dead’ (3, 1).

Liturgy has many meanings in Greek and Abbot George plays with most of them. It means ‘the Liturgy’, ‘service’, ‘ministry’, and ‘function’ and, while I have tried to find what seems to me to be the best in each instance, it has not been possible to convey the overlapping of meanings that are present in the Greek. For the term ‘αλειτούργητος’, I commend the relevant entry in Lampe, which if, you’ll forgive the pun, is most unenlightening. WJL.

[TER]

People as Liturgical Beings – Part 2

People who offer ‘your own from your own, in all things and for all things’ serve God truly and pleasingly. That is, people who recognize that whatever they have is a gift from God. They believe that they’ve got nothing of their own to offer. Everything’s from God and they take from that and offer it to God, together with themselves, their world and their relations with the world. They keep nothing selfishly for themselves. They offer themselves without reservation. They give everything in order to receive everything. They die in order to live. And they offer everything in Christ and for Christ. In all things (always) and for all things (for all God’s gifts).

So the whole of people’s lives (even after the Divine Liturgy and outside the church) becomes service, offering, relationship, sacrifice, communion and thanksgiving. The whole of life is transformed into a theanthropic life.

The two hour Sunday Liturgy becomes a twenty-four hour, daily Liturgy. As Orthodox, when we speak about a liturgical life, we don’t mean our short liturgical offering in the church, but the whole of our life, which, starting with the liturgical actions in the church, becomes one of liturgy and worship.

Orthodox Christians aren’t schizophrenic. They don’t live a liturgical life inside the church and an unliturgized life outside. They spend as much time as they can in church (Liturgy and services) so that they’ll be able to live outside the church in a manner as close as possible to the spirit, the climate and the ethos of the Divine Liturgy.

Through worship in the church, the theanthropic life becomes ingrained in them and is then capable of transforming all the facets of their everyday lives.So Christians permeated by the Liturgy live in the unity of faith and life, the divine and the human, the created and the uncreated, the living with the departed, the present age with the future, their own person with others.

This unity was also experienced by the Greek, Orthodox people when, and as long as they had an ecclesiastical life. There are still, in Greece, traditional, Orthodox people and communities who live in this unity. The centre of the whole life of traditional Orthodox settlements (villages and neighbourhoods) was the parish church, as the katholiko is in monasteries. In villages on Evia [Euboea], the parish church to this day is called the katholiki. (i.e. katholiki ekklisia).

Birth, death, baptism, marriage, school, work, social relations, joys, and sorrows, all the expressions of social life were linked to the Liturgy and the Church. In the end, they became the Church. So the everyday functions of life found their unity and order of precedence within the Divine Liturgy.

The further the Greek people distance themselves from their Orthodox roots, from their life-giving, theanthropic tradition, the less the various functions of life are organically linked to the Divine Liturgy, which is why they stop working properly, which is to say they fail to unite people or help them to live as images of God.The various functions outside the Divine Liturgy deconstruct the human person. This is clear from the basic function of life, procreation. Within the Divine Liturgy and the Church, this fundamental function is transformed, is blessed with grace, and contributes towards the rounding out of the human person. Outside, it’s the slave of egotism, it undoes personalities and is a torment. People today have bitter experience of this situation.

Orthodox coenobitic monasteries are models of how people and their communities should function. The centre is the main church (katholiko). Buildings and obediences are all organized around the main church. The starting-point of the common life is the daily celebration of the Divine Liturgy. The purpose is the worship of God and the offering of the whole of life to Christ. This is how life can be common, faith and love universal, death can be vanquished and everything made new and given a different role in a strange and most fitting adjustment.

When the liturgical spirit of the coenobium- which is the liturgical spirit of Orthodoxy- becomes ingrained in the Orthodox, they’re preserved from the powerful and vitiating trend towards secularism. In essence, secularism is an attempt to organize life outside the Liturgy and the Church.Orthodox Christians can’t be Orthodox unless they live liturgically. Unless the Divine Liturgy and worship are not merely ‘opportunities’ or part of their timetable, but are, instead, the life-giving shoot grafted on to their lives and transforming them, the centre, the basis, the beginning and the end. It’s only through the ‘your own from your own’ in the Divine Liturgy that people truly become themselves, that is images of God.

Source: The late, former Abbot Yeoryios (George) of the Holy Monastery of Blessed Gregoriou, from the periodical «Ο Όσιος Γρηγόριος», § Οάνθρωποςονλειτουργικό, περίοδος β΄, vol. 4, pp. 31-5, published by the Holy Monastery of Blessed Grigoriou, the Holy Mountain, 1979.

[heavenlyboy34]

Toady's bulletin: http://www.stgeorgeaz.org/wp-content...in20140720.pdf

Pretty slow day. No choir, as our director is in CA this week. Fr. Mansour delivered the homily. He has a charming but sometimes unintelligible accent. Not sure why Fr. Chris wanted a break. :/ Got some hugz n' kissez.

[heavenlyboy34]

A pretty ordinary Sunday. The seventh Sunday of Matthew. Fr. Chris is at St. Nicholas camp this week, so Fr. Mansour delivered the homily. A number of flubs and oops moments that were lolzy. Rather low attendance toady, so I felt somewhat lonely. :'( I was fortunate to spend a good amount of time with Phil and Ludmilla during coffee hour.

[TER]

HB, an inquirer to the Church just posted this on another forum after his first experience of the Divine Liturgy today. I thought you might like it.

My thoughts during the service.
Divine Liturgy begins at ten.
immediate thoughts: wow this cathedral is freakin beautiful. Small congregation, that's cool I guess.
Hey, a few more people came in, I guess it's not such a small congregation.
Woah where are all these people coming from? I guess there is no "church starts strictly at 10" rule. This is a huge congregation.
You know a church is legit when the depictions of Jesus aren't a European white guy.
Are they burning incense or something? It smells good in here.
Holy crap this place is beautiful. Idk if I should just look at the art on the ceiling or watch the service.
I wonder if tom hanks has ever been here...?
What are those priest guys doing? Hey buddy we are behind you, your facing the wrong direction.
Wow. A lot of standing. I want to sit down but if I sit down they'll know I'm not one of them. Oh jeez they are doing that cross motion with their hands again. Come on sluttygrizzlybear, act natural.
Not sure if just bread.... Or sacrament... I guess I won't eat any.
I need to use the restroom but they closed the door with a rope thing. Oh oh they opened it ok, I'll go now.
I return MORE PEOPLE ARE COMING IN?! SERVICE STARTED AT 10 FOLKS.
I love the chanting. It helps me focus.
The priest(?) is addressing the congregation. Talking about Christ. Great sermon. Thumbs up.
Service ends
Well that was weird, beautiful, mysterious, and uplifting. I think I just might be back next week...

[heavenlyboy34]

HB, an inquirer to the Church just posted this on another forum after his first experience of the Divine Liturgy today. I thought you might like it.

My thoughts during the service.
Divine Liturgy begins at ten.
immediate thoughts: wow this cathedral is freakin beautiful. Small congregation, that's cool I guess.
Hey, a few more people came in, I guess it's not such a small congregation.
Woah where are all these people coming from? I guess there is no "church starts strictly at 10" rule. This is a huge congregation.
You know a church is legit when the depictions of Jesus aren't a European white guy.
Are they burning incense or something? It smells good in here.
Holy crap this place is beautiful. Idk if I should just look at the art on the ceiling or watch the service.
I wonder if tom hanks has ever been here...?
What are those priest guys doing? Hey buddy we are behind you, your facing the wrong direction.
Wow. A lot of standing. I want to sit down but if I sit down they'll know I'm not one of them. Oh jeez they are doing that cross motion with their hands again. Come on sluttygrizzlybear, act natural.
Not sure if just bread.... Or sacrament... I guess I won't eat any.
I need to use the restroom but they closed the door with a rope thing. Oh oh they opened it ok, I'll go now.
I return MORE PEOPLE ARE COMING IN?! SERVICE STARTED AT 10 FOLKS.
I love the chanting. It helps me focus.
The priest(?) is addressing the congregation. Talking about Christ. Great sermon. Thumbs up.
Service ends
Well that was weird, beautiful, mysterious, and uplifting. I think I just might be back next week...

Did this happen at your parish, by chance? I am amused. People come in really late at St George, too. I've heard that it's common for Orthodox to not be all that punctual.

[heavenlyboy34]

Eighth Sunday after Pentacost and Eighth Sunday of Matthew. Epistle I Corintihians 1:10-17, Gospel Matthew 14:14-22. Pretty ordinary Sunday.

In Fr Chris' Homily he touched on Genesis a bit-how it is about who God is, and the rest are supporting details. The first part was written during the Babylonian exile, and God shows himself to be the true God, rather then the Babylonian Gods. The word for "create" is tied to the word for "heal" in Hebrew, so God's creation is a type of healing, except ex nihlio creation.

Had a bunch of watermelon and lemonade afterward. And some lolz with friends.

[heavenlyboy34]

Another busy, busy day. 9th Sunday after Pentacost and 9th Sunday of Matthew. Epistle-Corinthians 3:9-17. Gospel-Matthew 14:22-34. Fr. Chris touched on some things that have been controversial around here. i.e., God is not the author of evil and goodness in transcendant. I heretofore did not know that Adama means "all things" as well as "earth/ground". I thought that was interesting because it provides a new understanding of ex nihlio creation.

[heavenlyboy34]

Toady:
Dormition of the Theotokos. Tenth Sunday after Pentacost and Tenth Sunday of Matthew. Gospel: Matthew 17:14-23. Epistle: Corinthians 4:9-16. No new music to rehearse toady.

Fr. Chris did a good homily. He talked about how "Walk" in Hebrew is to "live the fullness of one's life". It is in this sense that Noah "walked" with God. To us as Orthodox, it means that our Church life is part of how we walk with God-a lifetime journey.

[Suzanimal]

Have you been Confirmed yet? Just curious.

[heavenlyboy34]

Have you been Confirmed yet? Just curious.

Chrismation will happen at Christmas. We haven't set an exact date yet. This year, the Catechumenate was divided into Pascha(Easter) and Christmas groups. I'm in the X-mas bunch.

[TER]

God’s Bread

link HERE

Our contemporary life is often deeply removed from reality. We eat like royalty, travel like magicians, taking everything for granted. In 1991, I was serving in a parish (Anglican) that sponsored a Russian family for immigration. The Soviet Union had fallen, but little had changed in their homeland. I recall taking them to their first visit to an American grocery store with their translator. It was like a dream to them. Their first question startled me, “Is all of this for sale?” They had an idea that it might just be “for show.” I was humbled as I realized how much I took for granted.


This distance between us and the simple reality of our lives makes it difficult for us to understand the gospel. When the Scriptures speak of bread, we have no feeling for the word. Bread is just something we eat (or avoid). Today it is something we debate and fear (gluten). But it means very little to us.

The context of the Scriptures is not necessarily a context of scarcity, but it is certainly a context where drought produces famine and seasons determine what is eaten. According to paleontologists, human civilization begins with the cultivation of grain. Hunters and gatherers cannot sustain life on the level of a town. Grain was as essential as fire in the history of humanity.

This distance, it seems to me, also interferes with our comprehension of the sacraments. In my Anglican years I recall a common clergy joke about the wafers used in the liturgy. It was said that there were two acts of faith: to believe that the bread became the Body of Christ, and also to believe that the wafer was actually bread. I would extend this even to contemporary Orthodoxy. The bread is obviously bread (it is baked in the parish and is leavened). But our hearts are deeply removed from even its “breadly” reality.

Bread has been called the “staff of life.” In ancient Greece and Rome the bread ovens were often public, maintained at city expense. The baking of bread was thus something of a community event (a custom that probably stretched deep into time). It was the essential food of the ancient diet, the primary form of charity. In the early Church, members brought loaves of bread as an offering. The deacons chose the best loaves for the liturgy. The rest were shared afterwards or distributed to the poor.

In Orthodox Churches of the Russian tradition, small loaves (prosphora) are baked and given to the priest with a list of names to be remembered.

The priest removes particles from the loaves and places them on the diskos along with the Eucharistic offering. The names and loaves are returned to the faithful who take them home and consume them – often as part of their morning prayers. It is a Eucharistic connection that continues throughout the week.

Few would desire to return to the dangers of famine. Nevertheless, we would do well to return to a proper attitude towards our food. We should eat slowly and thankfully, with a mind towards the goodness of God and the labor that has produced our bounty.

In my recent trip to England I was struck by the amount of farmland. Everywhere outside of villages, the land was given to farming. The wheat fields in particular were “white for the harvest.” America has seen the shrinking of its farmland over the entire course of its history. Recent decades have been especially hard. It is possible for children to grow up with no awareness of farms or where the food they eat comes from. There is clearly a diminishment of our humanity in all of this.

Eucharistic living is marked by the giving of thanks. It is also marked by the presence of bread. Bread is as essential to the Eucharist as is Christ Himself. In His great condescension, the Lord of the Harvest has united Himself with the harvest itself.

“Lord, give us this bread always.”

O God, our God, Who didst send the Heavenly Bread, the food of the whole world, our Lord and God Jesus Christ, to be our Savior, Redeemer, and Benefactor, blessing and sanctifying us: Bless this Offering, and accept it upon Thy heavenly altar. Remember those who offered it and those for whom it was offered, for Thou art good and lovest mankind. Preserve us blameless in the celebration of Thy divine mysteries. For sanctified and glorified is Thy most honorable and majestic name: of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

From the Service of Preparation

[heavenlyboy34]

Slower than usual toady. Fr. Chris talked about Abraham, the Trinity, and the meal they shared. With hospitality and love, there is only good. Epistle-Corinthians 9:2-12. Gospel-Matthew 18:23-35.

11th Sunday after Pentacost & eleventh Sunday of Matthew. Martyr Eutyches, Disciple of John the Theologian; New Hieromartyr Cosmas Aitolos, equal-to-the-Apostles and Evangelizer of southern Albania; recovery of the relics of Dinysios, Bishop of Zakinthos and of Peter, Metropolitan of Moscow.

[heavenlyboy34]

Lonnnng and very busy service toady. As before mentioned, the myrrh-streaming icon was present toady. I was blessed to have the opportunity to venerate her. I opted not to take any of the myrrh, as I'm sure there are people more in need of the blessing than I. Aside from the standard hymns like the anaphora, we had a whole bunch of Theotokos tunes. One or two I didn't know, but was able to sight read them fine.

gtg for a bit, but I'll finish this entry later.

[heavenlyboy34]

toady-Busy but not as stressful as a special liturgy. Gospel-John3:13-17, Epistle-Galatians 6:11-18. Fr. Chris dealt with Sodom and Gemorrah in his homily. It is a metaphor for us-that we need to be purified on occasion through the sacrements. It is also important to be saturated in Church life, to avoid low culture, and to read scripture.

[heavenlyboy34]

Mildly busy day toady. Bulletin is here. Sunday before Elevation of the Holy Cross & Transfer of the Feast of Nativity of The Theotokos. I can't find my notes on the sermon right now. :/ Moar on that when I get it. The music was mostly stuff I know pretty well, so no major issues there. After church was fellowship hour, per usual. Some interesting mideastern cuisine I've not tried before along with usual fruits and veggies and snacky things. Had an interesting conversation with Nathan about the irrationality of the hatred many heterodox have toward the orthodox Church and its people. We chatted a lot about the kind of debates and petty name calling that goes on when certain denominations of people (like the militant anti-Church contingent on RPFs) and how silly/tragic it is.

[heavenlyboy34]

WRT last week-pics of the blessings of teen SOYO leaders:

[heavenlyboy34]

Icon for toady:

[heavenlyboy34]

Pretty busy day, but not too stressful. Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost & First Sunday of Luke Gospel-Luke 5:1-11 Epistle-Corinthians 6:1-10 Had pleasant chats with friends afterward, with big hugz n' kissez on the side.

[RJB]

Pretty busy day, but not too stressful. Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost & First Sunday of Luke Gospel-Luke 5:1-11 Epistle-Corinthians 6:1-10 Had pleasant chats with friends afterward, with big hugz n' kissez on the side.

My youngest boy was raising Heck. I took him outside during the epistle reading and a few other times. His favorite thing to do is escape and run straight for the altar. I jokingly told my wife that the kid has her Baptist DNA because he looks like he's constantly attempting an Altar Call.

12 October is my big day! No it's not because the Walking Dead premiers, but I am looking forward to that too.

God bless you my brother!!!

[heavenlyboy34]

My youngest boy was raising Heck. I took him outside during the epistle reading and a few other times. His favorite thing to do is escape and run straight for the altar. I jokingly told my wife that the kid has her Baptist DNA because he looks like he's constantly attempting an Altar Call.

12 October is my big day! No it's not because the Walking Dead premiers, but I am looking forward to that too.

God bless you my brother!!!

God bless you too, comrade! ~hugs~ Wish my day was as close as yours. :/ Next week is the Feast Of The Middle East at my parish. Looking forward to nummy food, entertainment, fellowship, and all that good stuff. If her schedule is clear, I'll be bringing my lady friend as well.

[Terry1]

Hey guess what I just found out today. I had my monthly meeting with my agency as I do every single month. It's the same people that come every month. So today I was speaking with the new male administrative nurse who's going to be coming to my home every month now and guess what--he's a Russian Orthodox!

He saw the books I was reading on Orthodoxy sitting on the dining room table and then asked me if I was also EO. From that point on--our discussion was all about the church-- Well--I'm going to be looking forward to my monthly meetings from now on since Anthony will be visiting me on a regular basis. In fact he told me that he was going to request that my case remain under his care from this point on--it was such good news!.

[heavenlyboy34]

Hey guess what I just found out today. I had my monthly meeting with my agency as I do every single month. It's the same people that come every month. So today I was speaking with the new male administrative nurse who's going to be coming to my home every month now and guess what--he's a Russian Orthodox!

He saw the books I was reading on Orthodoxy sitting on the dining room table and then asked me if I was also EO. From that point on--our discussion was all about the church-- Well--I'm going to be looking forward to my monthly meetings from now on since Anthony will be visiting me on a regular basis. In fact he told me that he was going to request that my case remain under his care from this point on--it was such good news!.

w00t! The Lord works in mysterious ways.

[heavenlyboy34]

hustly-bustley day! Final day of the mideast festival. Had some yummy food and enjoyed the music and chat with amigos. Fr. Chris wants me to email him later this week to set up a time for my Chrismation.

[RJB]

hustly-bustley day! Final day of the mideast festival. Had some yummy food and enjoyed the music and chat with amigos. Fr. Chris wants me to email him later this week to set up a time for my Chrismation.

Awesome. Keep us informed.

This week, in preparation of my Chrismation, I'm thinking of taking an internet fast and spending the time reading the bible and the 10 or so different books my friends in my parish have loaned me, lol.

God Bless! I'm excited for you, and Terry and my family!

[heavenlyboy34]

Awesome. Keep us informed.

This week, in preparation of my Chrismation, I'm thinking of taking an internet fast and spending the time reading the bible and the 10 or so different books my friends in my parish have loaned me, lol.

God Bless! I'm excited for you, and Terry and my family!

Thanks! ~hugs~ xoxoxoxo!!

[Deborah K]

May the Lord bless and keep you all! <3

[Terry1]

Awesome. Keep us informed.

This week, in preparation of my Chrismation, I'm thinking of taking an internet fast and spending the time reading the bible and the 10 or so different books my friends in my parish have loaned me, lol.

God Bless! I'm excited for you, and Terry and my family!

Me too--yeah--keep us informed HB.