My first Divine Liturgy experience.

[TER]

 

[Terry1]

What a beautiful image TER. I had to smile as I looked at it.

 

[TER]

What a beautiful image TER. I had to smile as I looked at it.

I am happy you liked it. Below is a picture of my eldest daughter coming out of the water during her baptism.

The reflection of the candle in her eyes makes it an especially good shot. I like to think she saw her guardian angel at that moment.

 

[Terry1]

I am happy you liked it. Below is a picture of my eldest daughter coming out of the water during her baptism.

The reflection of the candle in her eyes makes it an especially good shot. I like to think she saw her guardian angel at that moment.

How precious and adorable she is! I don't know how anyone can look at those pictures without smiling at the beautiful face on those babies.

You know, you mention her guardian angel and it makes me remember a wonderful charismatic lady who testified to have been lifted in into heaven many times. Her stories are so amazing and she's even been proven true when she was led to family and friends of people she'd never known before, but she said that what she'd been shown is that everyone has a guardian angel assigned to them not just at birth, but at the very point of conception.

I don't know if you've ever heard the testimony of little Colton Burpo, whose father was a pastor. He testified seeing his sister in heaven that had died in his mother's womb. The miraculous thing about Colton's testimony is that his mother had never mentioned this to this four year old boy of hers before. He testified seeing her in heaven and described her.

He was four years old when he had this experience back a few years ago and has been on many Christian shows giving his testimony.

 

[Terry1]

Here's the story of Coulton Burpo. There's other video's too.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

Nice liturgy this morning. We were again joined by the Bishop. There were a few verses of Greek in the choral literature this week, which TER would've appreciated. Fr. Chris said he'll let me know if he meets any music students who need a tutor in theory/composition so I can teach for some badly needed FRNs. I got a blessing during communion as usual, which I'm sure would've sent S_F into fits.
ETA: Forgot to mention-when I was in line waiting for a blessing and a piece of bread, the usher recognized me as a member of the choir and let me go to the front of the line. Cool perk!

 

[heavenlyboy34]

It was an especially nice liturgy today,as we welcomed archbishop Joseph. Lots of extra music to rehearse beforehand, though...and some of it still sounded like a trainwreck in liturgy (at least, IMO). :/ As my orthodox brothers and sisters probably know, it is customary to welcome archbishops and other high clergy individually. In my parish, we kiss the archbishop's hand and recieve his blessing.

Anyway, at communion, the usher told the other people in line that I get priority because I'm in the choir...but some had the nerve to cut in front of me anyway! Well, I did finally get to the table and got a blessing from Fr Chris and a piece of blessed bread.

I reckon that between the visiting clergy and the special kids' events going on outside, it made the parishoners unusually silly.

The kids who hang out in the choir loft were a bit more rowdy than usual too, IMO...but they amuse me.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

New update: I met with Fr. Chris today. He gave me a reading list and a few videos. We set our goal for Chrismation as Pascha at the earliest, but more likely Christmas.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

Very nice liturgy this morning. In addition to commonly sung tunes, we sang a trisagion in remembrance of recently deceased parishioners. Had some extra time toady, so I hugged a bunch of friends.

When I went to get a blessing from Fr Mansour during communion, he forgot that I haven't been Chrismated yet. He was about to get out the wine for me, and before I could stop him, the lady next to him stopped him. Awkward and funny moment. lolz

 

[TER]

Very nice liturgy this morning. In addition to commonly sung tunes, we sang a trisagion in remembrance of recently deceased parishioners. Had some extra time toady, so I hugged a bunch of friends.

When I went to get a blessing from Fr Mansour during communion, he forgot that I haven't been Chrismated yet. He was about to get out the wine for me, and before I could stop him, the lady next to him stopped him. Awkward and funny moment. lolz

Soon enough my brother and you too will commune of the Holy Gifts, the heavenly manna for eternal life!

The next upcoming weeks of Great and Holy Lent leading to the Paschal celebration of our Lord's resurrection have the most beautiful and solemn services of the year. I pray The Lord continues to bless and fill you with the Holy Spirit in the following weeks until the day we worship and glorify God together and sing 'Christ is Risen from the dead, trampling down death by His death, and to those in the tombs, bestowing life!'

 

[heavenlyboy34]

Soon enough my brother and you too will commune of the Holy Gifts, the heavenly manna for eternal life!

The next upcoming weeks of Great and Holy Lent leading to the Paschal celebration of our Lord's resurrection have the most beautiful and solemn services of the year. I pray The Lord continues to bless and fill you with the Holy Spirit in the following weeks until the day we worship and glorify God together and sing 'Christ is Risen from the dead, trampling down death by His death, and to those in the tombs, bestowing life!'

Thanks!~hugs~

'Christ is Risen from the dead, trampling down death by His death, and to those in the tombs, bestowing life!'

There's a choral tune that's part of the repertoire almost every week that contains this text! I believe it's a troparion. IDR the name right now.. :/

 

[TER]

HB, just came across this article and thought you might like it.

Met. Ephrem (Kyriakos) on the Divine Liturgy

The Divine Liturgy: The Sacrament of Thanksgiving

The most important prayer that we give to God is prayer of thanksgiving. The Divine Liturgy is the prayer of thanksgiving par excellence. Why? Because the best thing we can thank God for is His divine sacrifice on the cross for the salvation of our souls. "It is meet and right to praise Thee, to bless Thee and to worship Thee in every place of Thy dominion... Thou brought us out of nothing into being... For all of these things we give thanks to Thee... for all things of which we know and of which we know not, whether manifest or unseen..."

We do not give thanks to God only for money. We do not thank Him only for health. Health is not always useful and it does not always bring us closer to God. We also say in Liturgy, "We thank Thee for this divine sacrifice which Thou hast found worthy to accept at our hands..." The most important thing that happened in history was the divine sacrifice on the cross.

The divine liturgy is a wedding, wherein we are united to Christ by means of the Gospel and of partaking. It is a spiritual wedding where we pray that we may feel that we are poor before God. This is the most important grace that God gives us.

In Greek we call it the Eucharist, that is the giver of every grace.

The reason for coming to the liturgy is faith, thanksgiving, and giving praise and glory. We might not understand everything that is said and everything that happens at the liturgy. The encounter with the Lord amidst the assembly of the faithful, this is what is most important. There we share in the Lord's table.

We do not remain isolated in our homes. In Greek we also call partaking "koinonia", which means "society" or "communion". There is no private liturgy for a particular family. We are always together.

When someone says that "the liturgy is private", this does not mean anything in the Church's understanding. The sacrament of baptism, the sacrament of marriage, all the sacraments were performed with the community at the divine liturgy, as was priestly ordination. The priest does not perform the divine sacrifice alone. The priest stands as a representative in the presence of God, bearing with him the community and the world because the liturgy is the lifting up of the entire universe. Here is the entrance into the eternal kingdom of the Trinity.

"Blessed is the kingdom of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages, amen...." This is how we would like our days to be, filled with God's presence. The believer is always reaching upwards, from earth to heaven, from bodily things to spiritual things. This is his ongoing struggle. It is the constant motion as long as we are in the body, estranged from God, until God reigns over our hearts in the kingdom of His love. When the believers taste the Gospel and the body of the Lord, they place themselves between the first coming and the second coming.

In sum, beloved, let all come to the divine liturgy and taste how good the Lord is!

 

[heavenlyboy34]

HB, just came across this article and thought you might like it.

Met. Ephrem (Kyriakos) on the Divine Liturgy

The Divine Liturgy: The Sacrament of Thanksgiving

The most important prayer that we give to God is prayer of thanksgiving. The Divine Liturgy is the prayer of thanksgiving par excellence. Why? Because the best thing we can thank God for is His divine sacrifice on the cross for the salvation of our souls. "It is meet and right to praise Thee, to bless Thee and to worship Thee in every place of Thy dominion... Thou brought us out of nothing into being... For all of these things we give thanks to Thee... for all things of which we know and of which we know not, whether manifest or unseen..."

We do not give thanks to God only for money. We do not thank Him only for health. Health is not always useful and it does not always bring us closer to God. We also say in Liturgy, "We thank Thee for this divine sacrifice which Thou hast found worthy to accept at our hands..." The most important thing that happened in history was the divine sacrifice on the cross.

The divine liturgy is a wedding, wherein we are united to Christ by means of the Gospel and of partaking. It is a spiritual wedding where we pray that we may feel that we are poor before God. This is the most important grace that God gives us.

In Greek we call it the Eucharist, that is the giver of every grace.

The reason for coming to the liturgy is faith, thanksgiving, and giving praise and glory. We might not understand everything that is said and everything that happens at the liturgy. The encounter with the Lord amidst the assembly of the faithful, this is what is most important. There we share in the Lord's table.

We do not remain isolated in our homes. In Greek we also call partaking "koinonia", which means "society" or "communion". There is no private liturgy for a particular family. We are always together.

When someone says that "the liturgy is private", this does not mean anything in the Church's understanding. The sacrament of baptism, the sacrament of marriage, all the sacraments were performed with the community at the divine liturgy, as was priestly ordination. The priest does not perform the divine sacrifice alone. The priest stands as a representative in the presence of God, bearing with him the community and the world because the liturgy is the lifting up of the entire universe. Here is the entrance into the eternal kingdom of the Trinity.

"Blessed is the kingdom of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages, amen...." This is how we would like our days to be, filled with God's presence. The believer is always reaching upwards, from earth to heaven, from bodily things to spiritual things. This is his ongoing struggle. It is the constant motion as long as we are in the body, estranged from God, until God reigns over our hearts in the kingdom of His love. When the believers taste the Gospel and the body of the Lord, they place themselves between the first coming and the second coming.

In sum, beloved, let all come to the divine liturgy and taste how good the Lord is!

Nice! It's very difficult to capture the spirit and beauty of liturgy, but that ^^ is getting pretty close.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

Today was the Sunday of Forgiveness and Cheese Fare. What was most interesting was that we formed opposing lines around the parish. Then as each person passes by, we kiss them on the cheek and say "God forgives you". A lot of people only kiss one cheek, but quite a few, I noticed, get carried away and kiss both cheeks. It was as good, if not better, than several dozen ~hugs~. Afterward in fellowship hour there was plenty of free mideastern food, which was yummy. TER, danke, and eduardo would've enjoyed it for sure. A lot of others would as well.

ETA: The kids were very funny and cute about it. Some were really into it, and others don't want to wait for tall adults like myself and several other guys to kneel down to their level, so they just run past.

 

[eduardo89]

Today was the Sunday of Forgiveness and Cheese Fare. What was most interesting was that we formed opposing lines around the parish. Then as each person passes by, we kiss them on the cheek and say "God forgives you". A lot of people only kiss one cheek, but quite a few, I noticed, get carried away and kiss both cheeks. It was as good, if not better, than several dozen ~hugs~. Afterward in fellowship hour there was plenty of free mideastern food, which was yummy. TER, danke, and eduardo would've enjoyed it for sure. A lot of others would as well.

Sounds fantastic!

 

[heavenlyboy34]

Sounds fantastic!

Да! I doubt even danke could be grumpy after Sunday Of Forgiveness liturgy.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

btw, a blessed Lenten season to my brothers and sisters in Christ, and have a Forgiveness Sunday kiss from me. ~kiss~ Бог прощает тебе! (God forgives you!)

 

[TER]

btw, a blessed Lenten season to my brothers and sisters in Christ, and have a Forgiveness Sunday kiss from me. ~kiss~ Бог прощает тебе!

A blessed Holy and Great Lent to my brothers and sisters in Christ! Forgive me my friends! Glory to our the risen Christ!

from Matins on Clean Monday

HAVING ENGAGED IN EVERY SIN,
HAVING SURPASSED ALL MEN IN IMMORALITY,
ALTHOUGH I WISH TO REPENT I DO NOT HAVE A FLOW OF TEARS.
SINCE NOW I LIVE IN LAZINESS
I AM CONDEMNED TO TORTURES
BUT GRANT ME REPENTANCE, O GOOD ONE//
AND HAVE MERCY ON ME.

ON THE BEAUTIFUL DAY OF THE FAST
GRANT ME CLOUDS OF TEARS, O CHRIST
THAT I MAY WEEP AND WASH AWAY THE FILTH OF MY DESIRE FOR SWEET THINGS
AND APPEAR BEFORE YOU AS ONE WHO IS CLEAN
WHEN YOU, LORD, WILL DESCEND FROM THE HEAVENS TO JUDGE ALL MEN//
AS THE ONLY RIGHTEOUS JUDGE!

...

COME, O FAITHFUL!
WITH GREAT FERVOR; HAVING THE MIGHTY WEAPON OF THE FAST AS A SHIELD,
LET US TURN AWAY ALL CHARMS OF THE ENEMY.
LET US NOT BE SCORCHED BY THE SWEETNESS OF OUR PASSIONS,
NOR FEAR THE FIRES OF TEMPTATIONS,
FOR CHRIST THE LOVER OF MANKIND WILL CROWN US WITH HONOR FOR PATIENCE.
LET US FALL DOWN, PRAYING WITH BOLDNESS, AND CRYING OUT://
ASKING PEACE FOR OUR SOULS AND GREAT MERCY.

LET US PRESENT A GOOD FAST, WELL-PLEASING TO THE LORD!
A TRUE FAST IS ALIENATION FROM THE EVIL ONE;
THE HOLDING OF ONE'S TONGUE, THE LAYING ASIDE OF ALL ANGER,
THE REMOVAL OF ALL SENSUALITY,
OF ACCUSATION, FALSEHOOD AND SINS OF SWEARING.//
THE WEAKENING OF THESE WILL MAKE THE FAST TRUE AND WELL-PLEASING.
...


GREAT IS THE MIGHT OF YOUR MARTYRS, O CHRIST,
FOR THOUGH THEY LIE IN THEIR TOMBS THEY DRIVE AWAY DEMONS
AND DEFEAT THE POWER OF THE ENEMY.
THEY HAVE LIVED THEIR LIVES IN BATTLE FOR PIETY//
BY FAITH IN THE TRINITY.

GLORY TO THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT NOW AND EVER AND UNTO THE AGES OF AGES!

THEOTOKOS, PROTECTION OF ALL WHO PRAY TO YOU,
WE HAVE BOLDNESS, AND EXULT IN YOU!
WE PUT ALL OUR HOPE IN YOU; //
PRAY FOR YOUR CORRUPT SERVANTS, TO THE ONE WHOM YOU BORE.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

After some thought, I've decided that my fast will simply be abstaining from desserts and such sugary things throughout Lent.

 

[RJB]

After some thought, I've decided that my fast will simply be abstaining from desserts and such sugary things throughout Lent.

I love your updates, HB.

I'm giving up the internet except for an hour on Sundays so I'll be a bit scarce for a while. I will keep all my brothers and sisters in my prayers on our Lenten Journeys! Good night my friends