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Philoptochos Spiritual Enrichment Series |
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The Liturgy |
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| Prayer Come let us worship God our King, and bow down before him. Come, let us worship Christ, our King and God, and bow down before Him. Come let us worship Christ, truly our King and God and bow down before Him. |
Vitamin
Verse Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. (Hebrews 12:28) |
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| Inspiration The word liturgy means common work or common action. The Divine Liturgy is the work of the Orthodox Church. It is the official action of the Church formally gathered together as the chosen People of God. The word church as we remember means a gathering of people specifically chosen and called apart to perform a particular task: to worship, to pray, to sing, to hear God's Word, to be instructed in God's commandments, to offer itself with thanksgiving, and to have the living experience of God's eternal kingdom through communion with Christ through the Holy Spirit. The Divine Liturgy is called the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. It is a shorter liturgy than the so-called Liturgy of St. Basil the Great that is used only ten times during the Church Year. These two liturgies probably received their present form after the ninth century, however, the eucharistic prayers of each were formulated as early as the fourth and fifth centuries when these saints lived and worked in the Church. The Divine Liturgy has two main parts. The first part is the gathering or synaxis and has its origin in the synagogue gatherings of the Old Testament. This first part came to be called the Liturgy of the Catechumens, for those who were receiving instruction in the Christian faith in preparation for baptism and chrismation. This part includes the readings of the Epistle and Gospel. The second part of the liturgy is the eucharistic sacrifice and begins with the confession of faith through the Nicene Creed. This part came to be called the Liturgy of the Faithful and in the early practices of the Church only baptized Christians were permitted to remain. All non-baptized persons were to depart at the proclamation of "The doors, the doors!" The Divine Liturgy is to be celebrated every Sunday, the "day after Sabbath", which is symbolic of the first day of creation and the last day--or as it is called in Holy Tradition, the eighth day--of the Kingdom of God. This is the day of Christ's Resurrection from the dead which inaugurates the power of the "kingdom to come" already now within the life of this present world. Thus we chant the resurrectional hymns because each Sunday is Pascha. Fr. Alexander Schmemann reminds us that "the Orthodox liturgy begins with the solemn doxology: 'Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages.'" From the beginning the destination is announced: the journey is to the Kingdom. This is where we are going -and not symbolically, but really. The Church thus is the assembly, the gathering of those to whom the ultimate destination of all life has been revealed and who have accepted it. This acceptance is expressed in the solemn answer to the doxology: Amen. It is indeed one of the most important words in the world, for it expresses the agreement of the Church to follow Christ in His ascension to His Father, to make this ascension the destiny of man. It is Christ's gift to us for only in Him can we say Amen to God, or rather He himself is our Amen to God and the Church is an Amen to Christ. Upon this Amen the fate of the human race is decided. It reveals that the movement toward God has begun. |
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