#Divine Liturgy

[orthodoxadventure]

Divine Liturgy being celebrated in Gaza

[discoveringorthodoxy]

Hymns of the Orthodox Church

If you've ever read an Orthodox service, you may have noticed the different types of hymns that are often used. There's antiphons, troparions, kontakions, etc. But what do these all mean?

An antiphon is a collection of Scripture verses (usually from the Psalms) that alternate. You can see these, for example, in the Three Antiphons during Divine Liturgy. They are called Antiphons because traditionally, they are sung by two choirs, with each responding antiphonally (alternating) to the other. Below is an example from the Divine Liturgy:

Antiphon 1. Mode 2.

"Verse 1: O Lord, the light of Your face was stamped upon us.

Through the intercessions of the Theotokos, Savior, save us."

A troparion is a brief hymn expressing the main focus of that day's celebration. These are usually one or multiple stanzas. There are several different types of troparions that you might recognize. These include apolytikions, evlogitarias, and theotokions.

An apolytikion ("dismissal hymn") is a troparion that typically honors a saint, Christ, or the Virgin Mary. It is also usually sung at the end of the Vespers Service. Below is an example of an apolytikion from the Sunday of the Veneration of the Holy Cross:

Apolytikion of the Feast. Mode 1.

"Save, O Lord, Your people and bless Your inheritance, granting victory to the faithful over the enemy, and by Your Cross protecting Your commonwealth."

An evlogetaria is just a troparia that is sung after the reading from the Psalter. The evlogetaria consists of the refrain "Blessed art Thou, O Lord, teach me Thy statues. (Psalm 118:12)" The two forms of the Evlogetaria is the Evlogetaria of the Ressurrection (which is sung at Sunday Matins after the Kathismata) and the Funeral Evlogetaria (which is sung at Matins for the Dead after Psalm 118 and at funerals). Below is an excerpt from the Evlogetaria of the Ressurrection:

Ressurrectional Evlogetaria. Mode pl.1.

"Blessed are You, O Lord, teach me Your statutes.

When the hosts of the Angels saw how You were accounted among the dead, they all marveled. You, O Savior, are the One who destroyed the might of death; and when You arose You raised Adam with yourself and from Hades liberated everyone."

A theotokion is a hymn that refers to or praises the Theotokos and it usually concludes a cycle of stichera or troparia. There are several categories of the Theotokia, including the resurrectional theotokia (which is sung after we sing Glory...), the theotokia dogmatica (sung after Both now...), and dismissal theotokia (sung after the dismissal troparia). Below is an example of a theotokia dogmatica:

Both now. Theotokion.

"O Virgin Theotokos, beseech Your Son, Christ our God, who voluntarily was nailed to the Cross and resurrected from the dead, entreating Him to save our souls."

A kontakion is similar to a troparion, however, it mostly expresses the history of the celebration. It used to be so long (18-24 stanzas) that it would have to be rolled up on a pole. However, only short preliminary stanzas remain today. Below is an example of a kontakion from the Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee:

Mode 3. On this day.

"Sinners, let us fall before* the Lord and Master in prayer,* and as once the Publican* let us present Him our sighing.* He desires that all humanity gain salvation.* And to all who are repentant He grants forgiveness.* He became a man for our sake,* though with the Father without beginning as God."

Following the kontakion is the oikos. This is a stanza that develops the ideas that are in the kontakion and usually conclude with the same words as the kontakion. Below is the oikos that follows the kontakion from above:

"Bretheren, let us all garb ourselves in lowliness, and with laments and sighs strike at our conscience, that at the judgment then, which is in perpetuity, we shall be viewed guiltless, attaining our impunity. For there we have true mitigation; to see it, let us make supplication. For there is pain and sorrow's unseating, gone the deep sighs, there in wondrous Eden, of which Christ was fashioner, He being with the Father without beginning as God."

The Biblical Ode's (also known as odes) are hymns that are taken directly from Scripture. These odes are chanted during the Matins service. There are nine odes, however, today only the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) is read. During Great Lent, however, the original Biblical Canticles are read. Below is an excerpt from the Magnificat:

Ode ix. The Magnificat. Mode 3.

Verse: My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.

"Greater in honor than the Cherubim, and in glory greater beyond compare than the Seraphim; you without corruption gave birth to God the Word, and are truly Theotokos. You do we magnify."

Finally, a prokimenon is a passage of Scripture that introduces the theme of the Epistle reading to follow. It is usually a verse and a refrain that is read and sung before the Epistle reading. Below is an example of a prokimenon from the Sunday of the Veneration of the Cross:

Prokeimenon. Mode pl.2. Psalm 27.

"O Lord, save Your people, and bless Your inheritance."

Verse: To You, O Lord, I cry; O my God, may You not pass over me in silence."

This prokeimenon preludes Hebrews 4:14-16; 5-:1-6, which talks about how Jesus is our high priest in Heaven who sacrificed himself for us.

The Orthodox has several types of hymns within its services. Hopefully this has cleared it up some more for you all! It definitely has for me.

[apilgrimpassingby]

It is often claimed that the symbols and objects used in traditional Christian worship and the style of beauty which it displays have become outdated and irrelevant in the contemporary world. These symbols, it is argued, are drawn from an agricultural way of life, and are in many instances no longer appropriate to an urban and industrial environment. Why should we worship God with a candle or a censer in our hand, and not with a stethoscope or pneumatic drill? Are we not restricting our worship to one particular type of person and excluding the rest? To this the Orthodox would reply that the acts and symbols which we employ in worship possess a universal significance ... The Orthodox Church in her prayer makes use of the primary realities of human existence, such as bread and water, light and fire. If people in an urban and technological environment no longer find these primary realities meaningful, then is this not a disturbing indictment of the artificiality and unreality of contemporary civilisation? - Kallistos Ware, The Inner Kingdom

[angeltreasure]

Bringing Mom to Divine Liturgy later today for the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Afterwards, we celebrate with the church for brunch homemade by one of the ministries! How beautiful it will be to celebrate with my brothers and sisters! Thank You, God! 😊🙏🏻🩵

[jameslmartello]

The First Antiphon - Psalm 102

[rejoiceunweddedbride]

May the Lord God remember you all in His kingdom, now and forever and to the ages of ages.

Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.

[apilgrimpassingby]

Last year, I was in church for about two hours prior to midnight.

I think the person inside fluctuates from year to year, and I think any Orthodox person can do it*.

There are some minor variations, but the way I do it is I cross myself twice, kiss the icon on the hand, foot, cross, or Gospel (the hand is preferred for saints, the foot for Christ, but anywhere can be used except the face, because that's overly familiar), and cross myself again. It's funny, I've been doing this so long that I assume everyone knows how it works.

The Divine Liturgy is beautiful. The essence of it, in my opinion, is the otherworldliness and holiness of God. I'll quote from the Liturgy to sum it up:

"No one bound by carnal desires and pleasures is worthy to approach, draw near, or minister to You, the King of Glory. For to serve You is great and awesome even for the heavenly powers. Yet, because of Your ineffable and immeasurable love for mankind, You impassibly and immutably became man. You, as the Master of all, became our high priest and delivered unto us the sacred service of this liturgical sacrifice without the shedding of blood. Indeed, Lord our God, You alone reign over the celestial and the terrestrial; borne aloft on the cherubic throne, Lord of the Seraphim and King of Israel, the only holy and resting among the holy ones."

*Fun fact, I first learnt about this ritual from an episode of The Lord of Spirits. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick recounted a time when one of his friends had the role and mispronounced it as "this cling of gory"; Fr. Andrew has been teasing him about it ever since.

Coming into your inbox to tell you about something I think is cool: how Christus Victor is built into the Orthodox liturgical tradition. Also I just think the practice I'm about to describe is awesome.

We stay up till midnight on Holy Saturday, waiting in church with unlit candles. All the lights are turned off and all the lamps and candles snuffed out inside, the icons are covered with black veils and it's midnight. Then when Easter Sunday starts, the priest comes out with his lit trikirion, lights the candle of the person nearest him, who lights the candle of the nearest person, who lights the candle of the nearest person, until everyone's candles are lit. Everyone processes outside, led by the priest, save for one person (we'll get to that later) holding an icon of Christ.

The congregation stands outside, the priest bangs on the door with his crucifix three times, and cries out "lift up your heads, o gates, and be lifted up, o ancient doors, that the King of Glory may come in!". The person inside says "who is this King of Glory?"; the priest replies with "the Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle!" The priest repeats "lift up your heads...", the person inside repeats his question, and the priest says "the Lord of Hosts - He is the King of glory!" (You'll probably recognise that this whole bit is lifted from Psalm 24). The doors are opened, everyone proceeds inside and venerates the icon of Christ, and the Divine Liturgy is celebrated.

Okay, everything about this is incredibly cool and an awesome reminder of why I need to find a church that does stuff like this. Such a visceral reminder about the Light and Glory of our King and Savior. And also it seems very fun hehehe.

Questions:

What time do yall enter the church/how long are yall waiting till midnight?

How does the person who gets to hold the icon of Christ get chosen??

What does icon veneration look like in the Eastern Orthodox tradition?

And what is the Divine Liturgy like to experience??

[tpanan]

May God’s mercy and peace be upon us. Amen 🙏

[religious-extremist]

The Orthodox Church has Liturgy every day! There’s only one day in the entire liturgical calendar of the Orthodox Church that the Divine Liturgy is not celebrated and that is Holy Saturday, the day before Pascha (called Easter in the West).

The festal nature of the Divine Liturgy is not considered appropriate for Great Lent weekdays so instead of the Divine Liturgy, the faithful commune without the service of the consecration performed, through the Liturgy of Pre-Sanctified Gifts. It is not shorter than the regular Divine Liturgy, but different prayers are read and we commune of the mysteries which have been consecrated during the previous Sabbath and/or Lord’s Day.

[orthodoxadventure]

Divine Liturgy at Saint Porphyrius Church in Gaza

[intrinsicallydisordered]

Reading, Morning Prayer, Wednesday of the 15th Week in Ordinary Time (Week III)

Been reflecting on this all day

[mindsoccupiedwithheaven]

Protect us, Lord, as we stay awake, watch over us as we sleep; that awake, we may keep watch with Christ, and asleep, rest in His peace.

[barncultus]

Are you still casting daemons? I'm curious what you would see for me <3

A poetic soul, a prayer smith! Ruby, my beloved New Orleans queen, I have to give you something befitting of your many epithets!

I see you as a mourning dove

[advoir]

What role does gender play in your spirituality? Religious art and liturgy are replete with gendered images and descriptions, but I always treated them as metaphors, at most, and unimportant. God has always been functionally agender to me.

Most Christians (and some others) I've heard on the topic insist that gender is an essential element of one’s spirituality, claiming it speaks to the purpose and meaning of one's life. Jung theorized that the development of Marian devotion within the Church arose organically out of a need to enshrine the feminine along with the masculine. But what if I don’t pray to Mary to experience femininity? Maybe it’s because Mary gets shit done.

I can’t have a gendered spirituality because, as far as I can tell, gender is an arbitrary categorization of human of behavior and not a thing that exists in itself. I can understand the inclusion of various personas and emphases, but I can’t fathom a Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine because to my understanding these are empty distinctions without meaning.

[angeltreasure]

I made new friends again at Divine Liturgy! 🥹🩵🙏🏻