Transfiguration of our Lord

Hymn: Quicumque Christum
All who seek for Jesus, raise
Your eyes above, and upward gaze:
There may ye see the wondrous sign
Of never ending glory shine.

Behold Him in celestial rays
Who never knoweth end of days;
Exalted, infinite, sublime;
Older than heaven or hell or time.

This is the Gentiles' King and Lord;
The Prince by Judah's race adored,
Promised to Abraham of yore
And to his seed forevermore.

To Him the prophets testify;
And that same witness, from on high,
The Father seals by His decree:
Hear and believe my Son, saith He.

All glory, Lord, to Thee we pay,
Transfigured on the mount today;
All glory as is ever meet,
To Father and to Paraclete. Amen.

Antiphon on Magnificat
Christ Jesus, † the brightness of the Father and the express image of His person, Who upholdeth all things by the word of His power, while He was by Himself purging away our sins, vouchsafed on this day to shew Himself in glory uppon an high mountain.

Collect
O God, who in the glorious Transfiguration of Thine only-begotten Son didst confirm the mysteries of the faith by the testimony of the fathers, and in the voice which came down from the bright cloud didst marvellously foreshew the perfect adoption of sons: vouchsafe in Thy mercy to make us coheirs with this glorious King, and grant that we may be partakers of His glory. Through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, liveth and reigneth God, world without end. Amen

(from the Monastic Diurnal, pg. 581, Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ. Lancelot Andrewes Press)

1812

Molieben on the Borodino Field (Egor Zaitsev, 2000-2002) click to enlarge

As we approach July 4th, we will, as we do every year, be hearing a lot of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. So, with that in mind, here is a quiz for my readers:

What does the 1812 Overture have to do with American independence?

a) It celebrates our victory over the British in the War of 1812
b) It was written to commemorate the death of the last signer of the Declaration of Independence.
c) Absolutely nothing whatsoever...but it has cannons!!!

The correct answer, of course, is "c." The 1812 Overture (also known as Торжественная увертюра 1812-ого года) was written to commemorate Russia's successful defense of Moscow from the invading French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte in September of 1812, which culminated in the Battle of Borodino. This battle, according to Wikipedia, "was the largest and bloodiest single-day action of the French invasion of Russia, involving more than 250,000 troops and resulting in at least 70,000 casualties." The battle ended in a draw, but damaged the resources and morale of the French forces, who were further deflated when they headed to Moscow in search of winter quarters only to find the city burned down by the retreating Russian army. Napoleon and this troops were forced to head home, encountering well-deserved hardship and misery the entire way. By the time they reached Poland, Napoleon's Grande Armée had lost ninety percent of its total force.

Tsar Alexander II commissioned the piece in 1880, and two years later it premiered in the plaza in front of Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow. Then in May 1891, Tchaikovsky conducted the New York Philharmonic in their performance of the piece at the dedication of Carnegie Hall in Manhattan.

Tchaikovsky, an Orthodox Christian, based the intro of the piece on the Troparion of the Cross, which is a hymn that we have sung many, many times in church:

O Lord, save Thy people,
and bless Thine inheritance!
Grant victory to Orthodox Christians
over their adversaries,
and by virtue of Thy Cross,
preserve Thy habitation.

Spasi Gospodi, lyudi tvoya
I blagoslovi dostoyanie tvoye.
Pobedi pravoslavnim khristianom
Na soprotivniya daruya;
I tvoyei sokhranyaya
Krestom tvoim zhitel'stvo.

Here is an abbreviated version of the 1812 Overture with chorus, but without cannons...sorry:

See also:
"How a rousing Russian tune took over our July 4th"
Full score of 1812 Overture

The structure of Vespers

From Notes from Underground:

The core of Vespers goes back to the Old Testament: "When Aaron sets up the lamps in the evening, he shall burn it, a perpetual incense before the Lord from generation to generation" (Exodus 30:8).

So at the heart of Vespers are lights and incense. There is a procession of priests, deacons and other ministers with lighted lamps and incense, which comes from the north door of the sanctuary, and goes to the holy (central) door, and the altar and its lamps are censed by a deacon, while the congregation sings the hymn:

O gladsome light of the holy glory of the immortal Father: heavenly holy blessed Jesus Christ!Now that we have come to the setting of the sun, and beheld the light of evening, we praise the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.For meet it is at all times to praise Thee, Son of God and Giver of LifeTherefore all the world doth glorify Thee.

Then is sung:

The Lord is King! He is robed in majesty
For he has established the world so that it should never be moved!
Holiness befits Thy house, O Lord, for evermore!
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages.
Amen.

Followed by intercessions and led by a deacon, after which it is sung again, interspersed with hymns (Aposticha) on the themes of the day.

You can find more information on Vespers here:
Orthodox Worship: Vespers
Vespers - Orthodox Wiki
What is Vespers? - a blogger writes for a friend visiting Vespers

Sunday of Orthodoxy

The following is from the Greek Archdiocese:

The Sunday of Orthodoxy is the first Sunday of Great Lent. The dominant theme of this Sunday since 843 has been that of the victory of the icons. In that year the iconoclastic controversy, which had raged on and off since 726, was finally laid to rest, and icons and their veneration were restored on the first Sunday in Lent. Ever since, this Sunday has been commemorated as the "Triumph of Orthodoxy."

Historical Background
The Seventh Ecumenical Council dealt predominantly with the controversy regarding icons and their place in Orthodox worship. It was convened in Nicaea in 787 by Empress Irene at the request of Tarasios, Patriarch of Constantinople. The Council was attended by 367 bishops.

Almost a century before this, the iconoclastic controversy had once more shaken the foundations of both Church and State in the Byzantine empire. Excessive religious respect and the ascribed miracles to icons by some members of society, approached the point of worship (due only to God) and idolatry. This instigated excesses at the other extreme by which icons were completely taken out of the liturgical life of the Church by the Iconoclasts. The Iconophiles, on the other-hand, believed that icons served to preserve the doctrinal teachings of the Church; they considered icons to be man's dynamic way of expressing the divine through art and beauty.

The Council decided on a doctrine by which icons should be venerated but not worshipped. In answering the Empress' invitation to the Council, Pope Hadrian replied with a letter in which he also held the position of extending veneration to icons but not worship, the last befitting only God.

The decree of the Council for restoring icons to churches added an important clause which still stands at the foundation of the rationale for using and venerating icons in the Orthodox Church to this very day: "We define that the holy icons, whether in colour, mosaic, or some other material, should be exhibited in the holy churches of God, on the sacred vessels and liturgical vestments, on the walls, furnishings, and in houses and along the roads, namely the icons of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ, that of our Lady the Theotokos, those of the venerable angels and those of all saintly people. Whenever these representations are contemplated, they will cause those who look at them to commemorate and love their prototype. We define also that they should be kissed and that they are an object of veneration and honour (timitiki proskynisis), but not of real worship (latreia), which is reserved for Him Who is the subject of our faith and is proper for the divine nature. The veneration accorded to an icon is in effect transmitted to the prototype; he who venerates the icon, venerated in it the reality for which it stands" [emphasis added].

An Endemousa (Regional) Synod was called in Constantinople in 843. Under Empress Theodora. The veneration of icons was solemnly proclaimed at the Hagia Sophia Cathedral. The Empress, her son Michael III, Patriarch Methodios, and monks and clergy came in procession and restored the icons in their rightful place. The day was called "Triumph of Orthodoxy." Since that time, this event is commemorated yearly with a special service on the first Sunday of Lent, the "Sunday of Orthodoxy".

Orthodox teaching about icons, as defined at the Seventh Ecumenical Council of 787, is embodied in the texts sung on this Sunday.

From Vespers: “Inspired by your Spirit, Lord, the prophets foretold your birth as a child incarnate of the Virgin. Nothing can contain or hold you; before the morning star you shone forth eternally from the spiritual womb of the Father. Yet you were to become like us and be seen by those on earth. At the prayers of those your prophets in your mercy reckon us fit to see your light, "for we praise your resurrection, holy and beyond speech. Infinite, Lord, as divine, in the last times you willed to become incarnate and so finite; for when you took on flesh you made all its properties your own. So we depict the form of your outward appearance and pay it relative respect, and so are moved to love you; and through it we receive the grace of healing, following the divine traditions of the apostles.”

“The grace of truth has shone out, the things once foreshadowed now are revealed in perfection. See, the Church is decked with the embodied image of Christ, as with beauty not of this world, fulfilling the tent of witness, holding fast the Orthodox faith. For if we cling to the icon of him whom we worship, we shall not go astray. May those who do not so believe be covered with shame. For the image of him who became human is our glory: we venerate it, but do not worship it as God. Kissing it, we who believe cry out: O God, save your people, and bless your heritage.”

“We have moved forward from unbelief to true faith, and have been enlightened by the light of knowledge. Let us then clap our hands like the psalmist, and offer praise and thanksgiving to God. And let us honor and venerate the holy icons of Christ, of his most pure Mother, and of all the saints, depicted on walls, panels and sacred vessels, setting aside the unbelievers' ungodly teaching. For the veneration given to the icon passes over, as Basil says, to its prototype. At the intercession of your spotless Mother, O Christ, and of all the saints, we pray you to grant us your great mercy. We venerate your icon, good Lord, asking forgiveness of our sins, O Christ our God. For you freely willed in the flesh to ascend the cross, to rescue from slavery to the enemy those whom you had formed. So we cry to you with thanksgiving: You have filled all things with joy, our Savior, by coming to save the world.”

The name of this Sunday reflects the great significance which icons possess for the Orthodox Church. They are not optional devotional extras, but an integral part of Orthodox faith and devotion. They are held to be a necessary consequence of Christian faith in the incarnation of the Word of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, in Jesus Christ [emphasis added]. They have a sacramental character, making present to the believer the person or event depicted on them. So the interior of Orthodox churches is often covered with icons painted on walls and domed roofs, and there is always an icon screen, or iconostasis, separating the sanctuary from the nave, often with several rows of icons. No Orthodox home is complete without an icon corner (iconostasion), where the family prays.

Icons are venerated by burning lamps and candles in front of them, by the use of incense and by kissing. But there is a clear doctrinal distinction between the veneration paid to icons and the worship due to God. The former is not only relative, it is in fact paid to the person represented by the icon. This distinction safeguards the veneration of icons from any charge of idolatry.

The theme of the victory of the icons, by its emphasis on the incarnation, points us to the basic Christian truth that the one whose death and resurrection we celebrate at Easter was none other than the Word of God who became human in Jesus Christ.

Before the Triumph of Orthodoxy came to be celebrated on the first Sunday of Lent, there was on this day a commemoration of Moses, Aaron, Samuel and the prophets. Traces of this more ancient observance can still be seen in the choice of the Epistle reading at the Liturgy and in the Alleluia verse appointed before the Gospel: “Moses and Aaron among His priests, and Samuel among them that call upon His Name.”

Orthodox Christian Commemoration of the Sunday of Orthodoxy
The Sunday of Orthodoxy is commemorated with the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great, which is preceded by the Matins service. A Great Vespers is conducted on Saturday evening. The hymns of the Triodion for this day are added to the usual prayers and hymns of the weekly commemoration of the Resurrection of Christ.

Scripture readings for the Sunday of Orthodoxy are: At the Orthros (Matins): The prescribed weekly Gospel reading. At the Divine Liturgy: Hebrews 11:24-26,32-40; John 1:43-51.

At the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, a service is conducted in commemoration of the affirmations of the Seventh Ecumenical Council in 787 and the restoration of the use of icons in 843. Orthodox faithful carry icons in a procession, while the clergy offer petitions for the people, civil authorities, and those who have reposed in the faith. Following is a reading of excerpts from the Affirmation of Faith of the Seventh Ecumenical Council and the singing of the Great Prokeimenon.

It is becoming a common practice that the Procession of the Icons is conducted as part of a Pan-Orthodox Vespers service on the evening of the Sunday of Orthodoxy. This is a service when Orthodox Christians of the various jurisdictions in America come together for worship and in a united affirmation of the Truth of the Orthodox Faith.

On the Saturday before this Sunday, the third of three Saturdays of the Souls are held. This is a special commemoration when the Church offers a Divine Liturgy and Memorial Service for the departed faithful. This is considered a universal commemoration of the dead. Through the memorial services, the Church is commending to God all who have departed and who are now awaiting the Last Judgment.

This specific Saturday is a special commemoration of the Great Martyr Theodore of Tyre and the miracle of the kolyva. In 361, Julian the Apostate was doing his utmost to restore pagan customs. Knowing that the Christians were accustomed to sanctify the first week of Lent by fasting and prayer, the wily tyrant told the Prefect of Constantinople to have all of the food set out for sale in the markets sprinkled with the blood of animals sacrificed to the gods, so that no one in the city would escape the contagion of idolatry. However, the Lord did not abandon His chosen people, but sent His servant Theodore to outwit the tyrant. Appearing in a vision to Patriarch Eudoxius (360-364), the holy Martyr informed him of what was happening and told him to instruct the Christians not to buy food from the markets but instead to eat kolyva made from grains of boiled wheat. Thus, thanks to the intervention of the holy Martyr Theodore, the Christian people were preserved from the stain of idolatry. The Church has commemorated this miracle ever since on the first Saturday of Great Lent, in order to remind the faithful that fasting and temperance have the power to cleanse all the stains of sin.

Troparion
We venerate Your most pure image, O Good One,
And ask forgiveness of our transgressions, O Christ God.
Of Your own will You were pleased to ascend the Cross in the flesh
To deliver Your creatures from bondage to the enemy.
Therefore with thanksgiving we cry aloud to You:
You have filled all with joy, O our Savior,
By coming to save the world.

For Further reading:
Sunday of Orthodoxy (Schmemann)
The First Sunday of Lent: The Sunday of Orthodoxy
The Sermon of St Tikhon on the Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy
The Seventh Ecumenical Council (CCEL)

When You, O Lord were baptized in the Jordan
The worship of the Trinity was made manifest
For the voice of the Father bore witness to You
And called You His beloved Son.
And the Spirit, in the form of a dove,
Confirmed the truthfulness of His word.
O Christ, our God, You have revealed Yourself
And have enlightened the world, glory to You!
(Theophany Troparion)

Q&A

Q: What is Theophany and why is it important?

A: One of the greatest feasts of the Orthodox year [is] the Feast of Theophany, Christ’s Baptism in the Jordan river. Across the world Orthodox Christians will gather after the Liturgy to bless the waters: the ocean, a river, a spring, etc.

Every feast day in Orthodoxy is connected to the Feast of Pascha [i.e. Easter], because Pascha is God’s great act of salvation. However, some feasts show this connection more clearly than others. Three feasts in the year share the same pattern of services: Pascha, Nativity, and Theophany. Each has a Vesperal Liturgy on its Eve and a Vigil the night before (with occasional variances).

The icons of the three feasts are strikingly similar, with Christ descending into a background that is usually rendered with darkness. At Pascha the darkness is the darkness of death and Hell where Christ has gone to raise the dead.

(click images to enlarge)

At Nativity the darkness is the cave in which he is born. This darkness is the darkness of the world that is caught in sin and death – but it is the same darkness as Hell.

At Theophany the icon depicts Christ standing on the waters of the Jordan – but the waters themselves are depicted as dark, or at least highlighted with a dark background. The darkness at this feast is precisely the same darkness as that pictured in the icon of Pascha. For Theophany is the feast of Christ’s baptism – and baptism, St. Paul tells us is a baptism into the death of Christ. His Baptism is a prefigurement of His death.

Thus the waters of the Jordan become symbolic of Hades. Christ’s descent into the waters becomes his descent into Hades where he “leads captivity captive” (Ephesians 4:8) and sets free those who have been held in bondage to death. The vigil of Theophany, like the vigil of Pascha, includes the reading of the book of the prophet Jonah – the reluctant messenger of God who was thrown overboard by his companions and swallowed by a great fish. This book is read because it contains the same image as the icons – the descent into the depths of Hades.

Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly, and said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.

At the Vespers of Theophany we hear this phrase:

Thou hast bowed Thine head before the Forerunner and hast crushed the heads of the dragons. Thou hast descended into the waters and hast given light to all things, that they may glorify Thee, O Savior, the Enlightenment of our souls.

The phrase, “crushed the heads of the dragons,” comes from Psalm 74:

Yet God my King is from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. Thou didst divide the sea by thy might; thou didst break the heads of the dragons on the waters. Thou didst crush the heads of Leviathan, thou didst give him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.

In this Psalm, God is recalled both as Creator, but also as the one who has brought order into the chaos of the world. He not only creates the waters, but crushes the heads of the dragons that dwell there. The “dragons” in the Psalm are an old English translation of the Hebrew word for whales. But the word “dragon” is an apt description of the demonic forces that are defeated in Christ’s death and its prefigurement in Baptism.

In the prayer over the waters, the priest says:

Thou didst sanctify the streams of Jordan, sending down from heaven Thy Holy Spirit, and didst crush the heads of the dragons that lurked therein.

This same prayer is prayed over the waters blessed on the day of Theophany. The service for the blessing of the waters usually takes place by a local body of water.. At the very heart of the blessing a hand cross is thrown out into the water three times and retrieved with the singing of the festal troparion:

When Thou O Christ wast baptized in the Jordan,
the worship ofthe Trinity was made manifest.
For the voice of the Father bear witness to Thee,
and called Thee His beloved Son.
And the Spirit in the form of a dove,
confirmed the truthfulness of His word.
O Christ, our God who hast revealed Thyself,
and hast enlightened the world glory to Thee!

The same troparion is sung throughout the homes of the faithful during the season after Theophany as the priest carries the same blessing into our homes. Theophany is a proclamation to nature itself of Christ’s salvation. Our lives have plenty of “dragons,” in all shapes and sizes. But Christ is victorious over everything that would destroy his creation – particularly the people who are His own.


Courtesy of Orrologion

Happy New Year!

With the depressing appearance of more and more dried-up and discarded Christmas trees on curbs all over town, it's nice to attend a church whose celebration of Christmas is still nearly a week away...

This is a Christmas carol from "the Christians of the Middle East who have been witnessing to faith in the Saviour since His incarnation in their midst."

Troparion to St. Nicholas:

The truth of things revealed thee to thy flock as a rule of faith, a model of meekness, and a teacher of temperance.

Therefore thou hast won the heights by humility, riches by poverty.

Holy Father Nicholas, intercede with Christ our God that our souls may be saved.

Prayer

Prayer is another subject about which rivers of ink have been spilled by many men who know far more than I ever will. Nor could I ever hope to add anything of value to what has already been said or written about prayer.

The following are just a few of my thoughts and observation regarding prayer, particularly the practice of formal, liturgical prayer.

One of my many early objections to liturgical worship was the use of what I considered to be "canned" prayers. Why, I thought, would I want to recite prayers that were written hundreds of years ago by some stranger who doesn't know me or my needs and wants? Doesn't God want prayer to be from the heart? Pre-written prayers seemed dry, dead, uninspired.

I have since realized that, for my entire Christian life, I have used pre-written prayers. The Psalms, hymns, even "praise songs" are all forms of pre-written prayer, and never have I had any reason to object to them. Prayer doesn't need to be off-the-cuff in order to be powerful and effective and sincere and worshipful. In fact, I can see now that there are times when formal, liturgical, pre-written prayers are actually preferred:

Pre-written prayers allow the worship community to pray together with one voice.
Imagine if, one Sunday morning at church, instead of singing the hymns together, everyone in the congregation stood up and started singing whatever was on their hearts at that moment.
That's not worship, it's chaos. And that's not a worship community, it's a crowd of individuals clamoring for their personal wants and needs to be heard. The truth is, short of miraculous intervention, there simply is no way to have corporate prayer that isn't pre-written.

I've mentioned before how important the sense of community is to Orthodox Christians. Combine that with their strong connection to the past, and you start to realize that, when you're standing in a Vespers service praying the ancient prayers, you're singing with one accord, not only with the others in the room and with the millions of Orthodox Christians elsewhere in the world, but also with twenty centuries worth of saints and martyrs who prayed—and still pray—those very same prayers. It's an awesome thing to consider.

Formal prayer removes the "me" from worship.
When I offer to God the prayers of the Church, I set my own worries and cares and preferences aside. Only then can I really worship, because "it is no longer I who live, but Christ [who] lives in me" (Gal 2.20). True worship cannot be about me; it cannot be personally fulfilling, pleasing or satisfying to me in any way and still be worship. Real worship must be a purely objective act. The prayers in my Prayer Book belong to the whole Church, not to me personally; they are the offerings of an entire community of believers, spanning thousands of years of Church history, rather than my own personal desires and impulses.

Now, that certainly doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with presenting to God our needs and concerns. On the contrary, we are instructed to do precisely that (Php 4.6). However, when we worship, it should be selfless and devoid of "me." Does that mean that my worship will never include an element of subjectivity? Of course not, I'm still human. But formal prayer gets me closer than I would get otherwise.

The Jews prayed liturgically and so did the first Christians.
According to the notes in the Orthodox Study Bible, "the Jews had practiced liturgical prayer for centuries," and the early Christians, being Jews, continued this practice, which has been maintained without interruption since that time. When Acts 2.42 says that the apostles continued in "fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers," the word prayers is "literally 'the prayers' in Greek, referring to specific liturgical prayers" (OSB, p.1473).

Furthermore, the prayer in Acts 4:23-30 "follows a traditional liturgical formula of praise, remembrance of God's works, and petition" (OSB, p.1476). And, according to the Book of Acts, the Apostles observed the "hours" of prayer which were observed by pious Jews and are followed in monastic communities to this day (Acts 3.1, 10.9).

For thousands of years—since long before King David—God has inspired men to compose beautiful, stirring hymns and prayers to His honor. I will, from time to time, be posting some of these "canned" prayers that are used by Orthodox Christians. This first one was composed by God Himself and is probably the one offered most frequently in the Orthodox Church:

Our Father which art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Amen. (The Lord's Prayer, Mt 6.9-13)

For more Information:

Prayer
Liturgical Prayer
Liturgical Prayer (OCA)

An Aid to Prayer

"Cold Macaroni"?

Someone asked me last week whether the Gospel comes through in the liturgy of the Orthodox Church, or if it kind of drifts into the background like it seems to do in so many other churches.

My father has a special name for churches like that; churches whose teachings either communicate a timid, lukewarm, non-committal version of the Gospel, or avoid it altogether: "cold macaroni." These are the churches that don't want to discomfort or offend their audience with all that Death-and-Resurrection talk; or risk upsetting them by asking them to, y'know, be holy and stuff. These are the churches that look nice and allow people to sit comfortably in their pews and feel good about checking the "go to church" box on their To-do list every week; the ones that Frederica Mathewes-Green described as being a "social worker club with excellent aesthetics."

I can't say whether any particular Christian denomination tends more than the others toward the "cold macaroni" approach, but I can tell you that, if I saw this nonsense coming out of an Orthodox church, I'd be out the door.

So, in response to the above inquiry, I submit for your perusal some excerpts from the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, which is the standard liturgy for most Orthodox churches. Keep in mind as you read it that it is not intended to be sliced up like I have it here, but should be offered as a single complete prayer by the whole body of believers. You can read the rest of it here.

Be on the lookout as you read it for any sign of "cold macaroni"; any timidity or hesitation. I think you'll find none.

(Some of the Liturgy is spoken by the priest, some by the deacon, some by the congregation, and some by everyone together. I have not specified below which is which)

The Introduction:

Blessed is the kingdom of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages.

During the Great Litany:

Lord, our God, whose power is beyond compare, and glory is beyond understanding; whose mercy is boundless, and love for us is ineffable: look upon us and upon this holy house in Your compassion. Grant to us and to those who pray with us Your abundant mercy.

For to You belong all glory, honor, and worship to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

During the First Antiphon:

Lord our God, save Your people and bless Your inheritance; protect the whole body of Your Church; sanctify those who love the beauty of Your house; glorify them in return by Your divine power; and do not forsake us who hope in You.

For Yours is the dominion, the kingdom, the power, and the glory of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen

During the Second Antiphon:

Only begotten Son and Word of God, although immortal You humbled Yourself for our salvation, taking flesh from the holy Theotokos and ever virgin Mary and, without change, becoming man. Christ, our God, You were crucified but conquered death by death. You are one of the Holy Trinity, glorified with the Father and the Holy Spirit-save us.

Lord, You have given us grace to offer these common prayers with one heart. You have promised to grant the requests of two or three gathered in Your name. Fulfill now the petitions of Your servants for our benefit, giving us the knowledge of Your truth in this world, and granting us eternal life in the world to come.

During the Small Entrance:

Master and Lord our God, You have established in heaven the orders and hosts of angels and archangels to minister to Your glory. Grant that the holy angels may enter with us that together we may serve and glorify Your goodness. For to You belong all glory, honor, and worship to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

During the Trisagion Hymn:

Holy God, You dwell among Your saints. You are praised by the Seraphim with the thrice holy hymn and glorified by the Cherubim and worshiped by all the heavenly powers. You have brought all things out of nothing into being. You have created man and woman in Your image and likeness and adorned them with all the gifts of Your grace. You give wisdom and understanding to the supplicant and do not overlook the sinner but have established repentance as the way of salvation. You have enabled us, Your lowly and unworthy servants, to stand at this hour before the glory of Your holy altar and to offer to You due worship and praise. Master, accept the thrice holy hymn also from the lips of us sinners and visit us in Your goodness. Forgive our voluntary and involuntary transgressions, sanctify our souls and bodies, and grant that we may worship and serve You in holiness all the days of our lives, by the intercessions of the holy Theotokos and of all the saints who have pleased You throughout the ages.

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed are You on the throne of glory of Your kingdom, seated upon the Cherubim always, now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.

During the Great Entrance:

No one bound by worldly desires and pleasures is worthy to approach, draw near or minister to You, the King of glory. To serve You is great and awesome even for the heavenly powers. But because of Your ineffable and immeasurable love for us, You became man without alteration or change.

The Creed:

I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages. Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten, not created, of one essence with the Father, through whom all things were made.
For us and for our salvation, He came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man.
He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and He suffered and was buried.
On the third day He rose according to the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. His kingdom will have no end.
And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father, who together with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who spoke through the prophets.
In one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.
I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
I expect the resurrection of the dead.
And the life of the age to come. Amen.

The Holy Anaphora:

It is proper and right to sing to You, bless You, praise You, thank You and worship You in all places of Your dominion; for You are God ineffable, beyond comprehension, invisible, beyond understanding, existing forever and always the same; You and Your only begotten Son and Your Holy Spirit. You brought us into being out of nothing, and when we fell, You raised us up again. You did not cease doing everything until You led us to heaven and granted us Your kingdom to come. For all these things we thank You and Your only begotten Son and Your Holy Spirit; for all things that we know and do not know, for blessings seen and unseen that have been bestowed upon us. We also thank You for this liturgy which You are pleased to accept from our hands, even though You are surrounded by thousands of Archangels and tens of thousands of Angels, by the Cherubim and Seraphim, six-winged, many-eyed, soaring with their wings,

Singing the victory hymn, proclaiming, crying out, and saying: Holy, holy, holy, Lord Sabaoth, heaven and earth are filled with Your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna to God in the highest.

Together with these blessed powers, merciful Master, we also proclaim and say: You are holy and most holy, You and Your only-begotten Son and Your Holy Spirit. You are holy and most holy, and sublime is Your glory. You so loved Your world that You gave Your only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. He came and fulfilled the divine plan for us. On the night when He was betrayed, or rather when He gave Himself up for the life of the world, He took bread in His holy, pure, and blameless hands, gave thanks, blessed, sanctified, broke, and gave it to His holy disciples and apostles saying:

Take, eat, this is my Body which is broken for you for the forgiveness of sins.

Amen.

Likewise, after supper, He took the cup, saying:

Drink of it all of you; this is my Blood of the new Covenant which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Amen.

Remembering, therefore, this command of the Savior, and all that came to pass for our sake, the cross, the tomb, the resurrection on the third day, the ascension into heaven, the enthronement at the right hand of the Father, and the second, glorious coming.

During Holy Communion:

I believe and confess, Lord, that You are truly the Christ, the Son of the living God, who came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the first... Loving Master, Lord Jesus Christ, my God, let not these holy Gifts be to my condemnation because of my unworthiness, but for the cleansing and sanctification of soul and body and the pledge of the future life and kingdom. It is good for me to cling to God and to place in Him the hope of my salvation.

Having beheld the resurrection of Christ, let us worship the holy Lord Jesus, the only Sinless One. We venerate Your cross, O Christ, and we praise and glorify Your holy resurrection. You are our God. We know no other than You, and we call upon Your name. Come, all faithful, let us venerate the holy resurrection of Christ. For behold, through the cross joy has come to all the world. Blessing the Lord always, let us praise His resurrection. For enduring the cross for us, He destroyed death by death.

The Dismissal:

Lord, bless those who praise You and sanctify those who trust in You. Save Your people and bless Your inheritance... For every good and perfect gift is from above, coming from You, the Father of lights. To You we give glory, thanksgiving, and worship, to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages.

Christ our God, You are the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. You have fulfilled all the dispensation of the Father. Fill our hearts with joy and gladness always, now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

May Christ our true God who rose from the dead, as a good, loving, and merciful God, have mercy upon us and save us, through the intercessions of His most pure and holy Mother; the power of the precious and life giving Cross; the protection of the honorable, bodiless powers of heaven, the supplications of the honorable, glorious prophet and forerunner John the Baptist; the holy, glorious and praiseworthy apostles; the holy, glorious and triumphant martyrs; our holy and God-bearing Fathers; the holy and righteous ancestors Joachim and Anna; Saint (of the day) whose memory we commemorate today, and all the saints.

The Resurrection Apolytikia:

Though the tomb was sealed by a stone and soldiers guarded Your pure body, You arose, O Savior, on the third day, giving life to the world. Therefore, O Giver of life, the heavenly powers praise You: Glory to Your resurrection, O Christ, glory to Your kingdom, glory to Your plan of redemption, O only loving God.

When you descended unto death, O life immortal, You destroyed Hades with the splendor of Your divinity. And when You raised the dead from the depths of darkness, all the heavenly powers shouted: O Giver of life, Christ our God, glory to You.

Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad, for the Lord has shown the power of His reign: He has conquered death by death, and become the first born of the dead. He has delivered us from the depths of Hades; and has granted to the world great mercy.

The joyful news of Your resurrection was told to the women disciples of the Lord by the angel. Having thrown off the ancestral curse, and boasting, they told the Apostles: death has been vanquished, Christ our God is risen, granting to the world great mercy.

To the Word, coeternal with the Father and the Spirit, born of the Virgin for our salvation, let us, the faithful, give praise and worship. Of His own will He mounted the cross in the flesh, He suffered death, and raised the dead by His glorious resurrection.

The heavenly powers appeared at Your tomb, and those guarding it became like dead. Mary stood at Your grave seeking Your pure body. You stripped the power of hades, not touched by its corruption. You met the virgin woman, as one who grants life. O Lord, who rose from the dead, glory to You.

By Your cross You destroyed death, and to the thief You opened paradise. You transformed the sorrow of the Myrrhbearers, and commanded the Apostles to proclaim that You have risen from the dead, Christ our God, granting to the world great mercy.

From on high You descended, O merciful Lord, and accepted the three-day burial to free us from our passions. Glory to You, O Lord, our life and our resurrection.

What To Expect

I make no secret of the fact that part of the purpose of this blog is to encourage my friends and family to look into Orthodox Christianity. I’ve said before that I truly believe a sincere inquiry into Orthodoxy will ultimately result in the inquirer becoming Orthodox. However, to someone raised in the Protestant faith, there remains a large obstacle to conversion: becoming comfortable with attending Orthodox worship.

I’m not going to lie to you: it is a big shock to the system the first time you witness an Orthodox Divine Liturgy. When I tell you that Orthodox worship could not possibly be more different from Protestant worship, you'll think I'm exaggerating...until you attend Orthodox Liturgy.

But please don’t let that scare you. If I, a Baptist since childhood, can do it, so can you. Here are some suggestions to prepare you for what you can expect to encounter at an Orthodox church:

Be ready to do a lot of standing. Orthodox houses of worship have historically not included pews. In fact, I learned recently that until the Reformation, it was unusual for any church, eastern or western, to have pews or chairs of any kind that weren’t specifically reserved for the elderly or handicapped. Most (but not all) Orthodox churches in the United States do in fact have pews, but even so, worshippers stand for nearly the entire duration of the Liturgy. Don't worry, you won't raise any eyebrows by sitting for a while.

Expect to see a lot of candles.

And icons.*

Orthodox Christians cross themselves…a lot. If you’ve ever been to a Roman Catholic Mass, you’ve seen people making the Sign of the Cross once or twice during the service. Occasionally you’ll see Lutherans and other high-church Protestants doing this as well. During an Orthodox Liturgy, it is not unusual for worshippers to make the sign of the Cross somewhere in the neighborhood of a hundred times or more! No kidding. They do it after every “Lord Have Mercy,” and at every mention of the Trinity, and then some.

Don’t be too shocked to see people kissing icons.* Orthodox Christians kiss a lot of things: icons, the Bible, the cross, the chalice, the priest, each other. (But don’t panic, they won’t try to kiss you…at first) Calm down, it’s not idolatry. It’s how they show respect and reverence. It comes from the culture of the Middle East, which, in case you didn’t know, is where Christianity originated. Westerners are squeamish about such things, so it takes some getting used to.

You may even see people prostrate themselves. This is not terribly unusual during Orthodox Liturgy, especially in churches without pews (although people still find a way even in churches with pews). Orthodox Christians prostrate by kneeling, placing their hands palm-down on the floor in front of them, and then touching their forehead to the floor between their hands. (The prostration method you see in the movies where people lie flat, face-down on the floor is the western style, not used in Orthodox worship.)

You’re going to hear a lot of Scripture. Nearly every word you hear during the Liturgy is straight out of the Bible. Much of it is from the Psalms.

Don’t be shocked to see Mary honored. She is certainly not worshipped in the Orthodox Church (that is only for God). But, unlike what you’re accustomed to, she is praised and venerated. Just bear with it. She is most often referred to as Theotokos (this is Greek for “God bearer,” which of course is not so much a statement about her as it is about the Incarnation of Christ).*

The entire Liturgy is sung.

But there won’t be any instrumental accompaniment. Very seldom will you find an Orthodox church that uses instruments. Not sure why. Tradition I guess.

And don’t be too surprised if at least part of the Liturgy is in another language. Even at churches that conduct the Liturgy in English (and most do), they’ll still slip in a “Kyrie Eleison” here and there. But don’t worry if you don’t understand it: God does.

The Orthodox use incense. And it smells really nice. But it has actual liturgical significance as well: it is how God Himself has chosen to be worshipped.

Everything is a big deal in Orthodox worship. At no point should you expect to see anyone casually open their Bible and flip to such-and-such chapter and verse. Everything—and I mean everything—is preceded by prayers and hymns and bowing and kneeling and more prayers and processions and more hymns and incense and more prayers and more bowing. And rightly so; the whole purpose of the Liturgy is to worship Almighty God. Nothing should be done casually.

There are no nurseries or “cry rooms.” Children who are baptized* into the Orthodox Church are full members of the Church and are not excluded from participation in worship.

And, yes that includes Communion. The Orthodox Church does not exclude any of its members—from infants on up—from receiving Communion.* But if you have not been received into the Orthodox Church don’t expect to partake; the Orthodox do exclude non-Orthodox from Communion. Don’t take offense to this, it’s not out of disdain for the non-Orthodox; it’s to preserve the integrity of the Sacrament. In fact, so great is the Orthodox respect for the Body and Blood that not even all Orthodox will receive Communion every Sunday, but only those who have properly prepared for it (i.e. with fasting, confession, etc.).

When you attend Orthodox Liturgy, do so with an open mind. In fact, go ahead and forget everything you ever thought you knew about Christian worship. Stand somewhere in the back, and don’t try to follow along, just watch, and realize that what you're witnessing is an imitation of heavenly worship (Heb 8.5, 12.22-24). What you see will be beautiful and reverential and moving...and you won’t understand any of it the first time. But give it a chance. And when you see something that shocks you (and you will. Believe me), consider the possibility that what you’re seeing isn’t wrong, only different from what you’re used to. It is, after all, the way the Church has done things for two thousand years.

My challenge to all my readers is this: attend Orthodox Liturgy for four Sundays in a row. If after that time you can return to your regular church and not feel that there is something missing—that it lacks reverence or dignity or a sense of sacredness or true God-centered worship—then maybe you should start a blog yourself!

*These items will be addressed more fully in later blog entries.

For further reading:
First Visit to an Orthodox Church: Twelve Things I Wish I'd Known
For Seekers: What To Expect When You Visit

"God is with us" (Zinoviev)

God is with us
Understand ye nations and submit yourselves
For God is with us
Hear ye, to the uttermost ends of the earth
For God is with us
Submit yourselves, ye mighty ones
For God is with us
For even if ye rise again,
Again shall ye be overthrown
And every counsel ye shall deliberate
The Lord shall destroy
For we fear not your terror
Neither are we troubled
But the Lord our God will we sanctify
And he shall be our fear
And if I put my trust in Him
He shall be my sanctification
I will set my hope on Him
And through Him shall I be saved
For unto us a Child is born
Unto us a Son is given
And the government
Shall be upon His shoulder
And of His peace there shall be no end
And His name shall be called
The Angel of the Great Council
Wonderful Counselor, mighty God
The Governor, the Prince of peace
The Father of the world to come
For God is with us