My first Divine Liturgy experience.

[TER]

Here is the hymn of the Feast in various languages:

"As many as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ" (Gal 3:27).

 

[TER]

found 2 videos which chant it in both English and Greek...

 

[heavenlyboy34]

It has the taste of basil due to the priest dunking the basil leaves to bless the congregation. The Holy Water is truly blessed and powerful. Keep it safe for times of an emergency.

I was only allowed a rather small serving. :/

 

[TER]

I was only allowed a rather small serving. :/

That's because we had different services! The Blessing of the Waters traditionally takes place today on Jan. 6th while your Eminence's economia allowed it to be celebrated yesterday. This Holy Water is to be consumed immediately after the prayers by the faithful. The liturgy which I was in yesterday (which is a different service) has in it Holy Water which can be taken home to be used or stored. And it stores for years without ever going bad and God has worked innumerable miracles and healings through this blessed and sanctified water. I'm sure your Priest has some around. You should ask him for some. Better yet, you should ask him to come pray at your house and bless it with Holy Water. Nothing else brings greater peace to a home, not in my little experience and (more importantly) in the experience of countless others throughout the history of the Church.

 

[TER]

If the poison of pride is swelling up in you, turn to the Eucharist; and that Bread, Which is your God humbling and disguising Himself, will teach you humility. If the fever of selfish greed rages in you, feed on this Bread; and you will learn generosity. If the cold wind of coveting withers you, hasten to the Bread of Angels; and charity will come to blossom in your heart. If you feel the itch of intemperance, nourish yourself with the Flesh and Blood of Christ, Who practiced heroic self-control during His earthly life; and you will become temperate. If you are lazy and sluggish about spiritual things, strengthen yourself with this heavenly Food; and you will grow fervent. Lastly, if you feel scorched by the fever of impurity, go to the banquet of the Angels; and the spotless Flesh of Christ will make you pure and chaste.

- St. Cyril of Alexandria

 

[heavenlyboy34]

Here is the hymn of the Feast in various languages:

"As many as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ" (Gal 3:27).

That quote from Gallatians is the opening line of one of the Christmas Troparians in the antiochian church.

 

[Sola_Fide]

It was a really amazing experience and I’m still kind of taking it all in. I’ll fill in anything I forget later.
So, I arrived and a nice fellow helped me find a place to stand. In this church, there are pews, so I stood there, just following everyone’s lead. During prayer, we kneeled while the priest led the service. There are little speakers on the floor so he can be heard from every part of the church. The choir sang intermittently in gorgeous 4 part harmony that was better in tune than any church choir I’ve heard in person. (except perhaps the Phoenix Symphony’s choir)
Later on, everyone sat in the pews. I noticed priests carrying incense down the aisles. It was really beautiful, and didn’t bother my allergies at all.
Then there was the eucharist. Not being formally Orthodox yet, I didn’t take that, but I was given a piece of blessed bread.
Afterward was fellowship, and I met the priest and several of the deacons. We discussed my interest in the Orthodox faith, how I came to it, etc. I was then invited to the introduction to orthodoxy class (which I plan to attend). I was rather clumsy in speaking at that time though, as the new experience of liturgy was very vivid and fresh in my mind.
After that, I went for fellowship. I met a fellow named Phil at a table with his friends and his mother. During our get to know you chat, I mentioned my interest in Russian language and culture, and Phil told me he is Russian. Then his mother Ludmilla speaks up to introduce herself in a very thick, distinct Russian accent. We had a brief exchange in Russian, and Ludmilla left. I was left at the table with Phil and his friends. They’re very nice, but mostly talk about silly movies and such. lolz Phil was interested in my work, so I gave him my url. It’s nice to know some native speakers to practice with.

Special thanks to TER, eduardo, and others who have helped me along this path. ~hugs~

This is very sad to hear.

If you would have talked about how the Spirit had opened your eyes to the depths of your sin, how God had showed you your absolute spiritual deadness, and how He opened your eyes to the truth of the gospel...that Jesus' perfect life has been imputed to you and how He has fulfilled the law on your behalf so that you now can stand before the Father without blemish, if you would have talked about the wonder and awe that God chose you purely by grace and that not only do you not deserve heaven, but rather you deserve Hell for your sin...

If you would have talked about any of this, then what a wonderful day of rejoicing it would be. But instead you talked about how the people at church were nice and the choir sang well. That's all garbage compared to knowing the riches of grace. I pray the Lord will put a heart of flesh in you and wake you from your spiritual deadness! Only He can do it!

 

[TER]

If you would have talked about how the Spirit had opened your eyes to the depths of your sin, how God had showed you your absolute spiritual deadness, and how He opened your eyes to the truth of the gospel...that Jesus' perfect life has been imputed to you and how He has fulfilled the law on your behalf so that you now can stand before the Father without blemish

It is the Spirit which has opened his eyes to the depths of his sin and the knowledge of his spiritual deadness, and it is God who has opened his eyes to the truth of the gospel and how much he needs Him, and it is God which has led him to the Church.

He does not consider himself to stand before the Father without blemish. Some do, even though with empty words they speak a lot about total depravity.

It is precisely because HB loves God that he seeks Him, to join His Body, the Body of Christ in the world which He sanctified by the Helper Who is the Holy Spirit of God. It is in humility and not vainglory which he kneels before God in personal and communal worship of Him. It is his real (and not make-believe) sense of dependance upon God whereby he desires to meet Him and grow in Him in body and spirit. And this will not be taken away.

It is not surprising that you are back. I have prayed for you often. I hope you have come back in a spirit of peace. Lately, I have been a bit easily bothered and have several times posted fool-headed things. I have not acting as I should and have said inflammatory things to good people which I should not have said. I have sinned before the Lord. To add fuel to it, I have tempted the devil and have dared him to attack. A risky invitation to say the least.

And now, you have returned.

I sincerely pray that our merciful and loving God enters and softens your heart, that He vanquishes any pride and vainglory which is in it, and He opens your eyes and your soul to His gospel of peace and love, especially since the days are passing quickly.

 

[Sola_Fide]

He does not consider himself to stand before the Father without blemish. Some do, even though with empty words they speak a lot about total depravity.

TER,
With all the love in my heart I proclaim to you that you MUST be without sin to stand in the presence of the Father.

If you think that your good works, even your grace-inspired good works, are enough to make you stand before the Father, I proclaim to you that you will die in your sins and spend eternity in Hell.

God's law MUST be fulfilled, or else God wouldn't be holy or just. God's law must be PERFECTLY followed to be in His presence. God will not allow sin in His presence because He is holy.

There is one Man who lived a sinless life. If you want to stand before the Father, you must have faith in this Man's perfect life ALONE. You must have a PERFECT righteousness to stand before God, and if you have faith in this perfect Man's life ALONE, then His righteousness will become your righteousness.

What I've just declared to you is the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can read about this good news in the books of Romans.

 

[TER]

Diet Christianity. 'Great taste, but less filling!' Unfortunately, not only is it less filling, the taste is actually not that great.

The Holy Eucharist tastes much better and it is my desire to be filled, knowing that it is through Christ that I am saved.

 

[Matthew5]

How was the vacation, SF? FF did a fine job filling the void in your absence. Almost so well, I'd venture to guess y'all were the same person.

 

[TER]

 

[heavenlyboy34]

Sheesh, S_F tried to ruin my thread with his innovative, un-Christian/anti-Christian nonsense too? FFS. ~SMH~

Anyway, another beautiful liturgy today. We included more arabic tunes this week, which I liked a lot. (it's just difficult to pronounce some words) Fr. Chris spoke at length about Zaccheus, per this week's gospel text (Luke 19:1-10). The Epistle reading was Timothy 4:9-15. There are always a few little ones about in rehearsal and in the choir stand nowadays. They're terribly amusing and cute.

After liturgy, a parishoner complimented my singing and thanked me, which I thought very nice. There was the annual parish general assembly meeting after liturgy. I didn't attend though, as I had to leave. :/ Probably next year. No ~hugs~ this week, as everyone was busy after liturgy. :/

I prayed for all of you people again-even those of you who harbor hate in your hearts, for me or in general. ~hugs~

ETA: Sorry I haven't kept this updated as well as I would like to. :/
ETA2: the Bishop attended liturgy with us this week, a nice blessing for us.

ETA3: These are the tunes the Bishop performed with us for those interested in Eastern Christian music:
http://www.antiochian.org/sites/default/files/11b-trisagion_for_hierarchical-english-total.pdf
http://www.antiochian.org/sites/default/files/01a_the_great_litany-smolensky.pdf

 

[heavenlyboy34]

Diet Christianity. 'Great taste, but less filling!' Unfortunately, not only is it less filling, the taste is actually not that great.

The Holy Eucharist tastes much better and it is my desire to be filled, knowing that it is through Christ that I am saved.

I am eagerly anticipating my Chrismation so I can take part in Eucharist. I still take blessed bread for now.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

That sounds a lot like St George's music! There's just more mideastern influence in the melody of Antiochian music, as well as more complicated polyphony.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

Update: I have been in touch with Fr. Chris lately. We have to iron out the details, but ATM we will be aiming for a November Chrismation. This week I will begin accepting blessing during Eucharist.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

This morning the Bishop Metropolitian Phillip joined us. A bit of the liturgical music was unique for this occasion. I got a blessing during communion from Fr. Abrahms. The focus of Fr Chris' sermon was children and raising them as Christians in the church. Fr. Chris said he wants to meet this week WRT my Chrismation. Hoping to find a spot in my schedule that works for him. More of the choral music was in arabic than usual, btw. Every week parishioners compliment me on my singing and thank me. Nice to be of service to people.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

Here's a recording made by some of the chanters at St George:

 

[Terry1]

I have to say that I have learned so much from some very spiritual charismatic Catholics. Although I'm not a Catholic, I am open to learning from every kindred spirit. It was a great Catholic teacher who taught on grace. I never saw Gods grace in that light until he revealed it as being the "power of God". I searched that out in the word and found that he was spot on. Also another great that we have learned so much from about the spiritual realm was Malachi Martin.

Gods children are indeed scattered about in different denominations, I have met so many of them and learned so much by so many.

 

[RJB]

TER,
With all the love in my heart I proclaim to you that you MUST be without sin to stand in the presence of the Father.

Repent of your sins. Pretending to be a Christian and causing mischief may amuse you, but your soul is in danger.