Liturgy – Page 3 – Royal Doors

Apr

03

2015

Singing in the Midst of the Flames

LiturgyDivine Liturgy, Holy Week, Liturgical Year, Old Testament, Scipture

Source: Eparchy of Newton One of the last books in the Old Testament – and perhaps the most intriguing – is the Book of Daniel. Written in the second century bc, it tells the adventures of the godly Jewish nobles Daniel and his companions Ananiah, Azariah and Mishael who were taken captive by the Babylonians four hundred years before. Given new names – Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego – and trained for service in the Babylonian court, they were imprisoned for not worshipping the gods of their pagan masters but vindicated by the power of the true God, the God…

Mar

31

2015

By Fr. Roman Planchak

The Seal on Our Repentance

LiturgyMystery of Holy Unction

Source: Eparchy of Newton During the forty days of the Great Fast the Church urges us to ascetic effort as a preparation for the observances of Holy Week and Pascha. We know that, by His death and resurrection, Christ has achieved the restoration of our human nature in Himself and has enabled us to share in His victory over sin and death by baptism. Like Adam in the resurrection icon, Christ has taken us by the hand to draw us from the pit of spiritual death. But we know that, like Adam, our feet are still in the grave. It…

Mar

21

2015

By Fr. Roman Planchak

Hail, O Star Manifesting the Sun!

LiturgyAkathist, Theotokos

Source: Eparchy of Newton – When is a Lenten service not a Lenten service? A – When it is the Akathist to the Theotokos. In Byzantine Churches of the Greek or “Southern” tradition it is customary to serve Compline with the Akathist to the Theotokos on the Friday evenings during the Great Fast. Due to the pressures of the work and school week this is often the only Lenten weekday service many parishioners attend. In fact this is not an actual Lenten service, such as Great Compline or the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. Rather it is a weekend service,…

Mar

07

2015

By Fr. Michael Winn

Lent is Time of ‘Joy’ for Eastern Catholics

Christian Life, LiturgyLent

by Laura Ieraci The Catholic Telegraph, March 6, 2015 “Joy” is not a word people usually associate with strict fasting and penance — unless they are Eastern-rite Catholics. In the Eastern church, the penitential period that prepares believers to celebrate Easter, is called “Great Lent,” and its prayers invite the faithful to recognize their “need for forgiveness” and to “delight in the joy” of the fast. Mother Theodora, the “hegumena” or abbess of the Byzantine Catholic Christ the Bridegroom Monastery in Burton, Ohio, describes the Lenten disposition as “bright sadness.” “We recognize our weakness and sinfulness, but rejoice in the…

Mar

04

2015

By Fr. Michael Winn

All Souls Saturdays

LiturgyBurial, Death, Funeral, Lent

ALL SOULS SATURDAY The Holy Fathers were convinced that the commemoration of the departed by alms and sacrifices [Divine Liturgies] brings great comfort and benefit to them. (Synaxarion for Meat-fare Saturday) One of the most venerable traditions in the Church, equally observed in the West as in the East, is the commemoration of the departed in our liturgical prayers. It is the constant teaching of the Church since Apostolic times (cf. Synaxarion) that the departed can be helped by our prayers, offerings and good deeds. St. John Chrysostom (+407) in speaking of the faithful departed reminded his people; Let us…

Mar

04

2015

By Fr. Michael Winn

The Great Fast – The Journey to Paradise

LiturgyLent

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReA7m_7E2Go&t=13 Produced by the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Parma

Feb

12

2015

By Iryna Galadza

Children and the Great Fast

Christian Life, Liturgychildren, Lent

This year, Great Lent approaches on the heels of the Nativity Season. Kolyada in church continues, but the soft and somber sound of The Rivers of Babylon hint at the approaching season of repentance. The familiar Sundays of the Publican and the Pharisee, The Prodigal Son, and the Last Judgement prepare us adults for the spiritual journey of the Great Fast, a journey facilitated by liturgical services, spiritual reading, Lenten missions, fasting and prayer. This season of great challenges is hopefully followed by great rewards. What about our children? How do they fit into the demanding spiritual disciplines of this…

Feb

11

2015

By Fr. Roman Planchak

Living with Christ Great Lent at Home

Christian Life, Liturgy

From the Eparchy of Newton. Resource for Great Lent at Home: Great-Lent-at-Home-Complete-w-Cover. PDF, 556KB, 28 pages)

Dec

22

2014

By Fr. Michael Winn

Origin of the Twelve Days of Christmas

LiturgyChristmas, domestic church, Nativity of our Lord

by Fr Hal Stockert You’re all familiar with the Christmas song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas” I think. To most it’s a delightful nonsense rhyme set to music. But it had a quite serious purpose when it was written. It is a good deal more than just a repetitious melody with pretty phrases and a list of strange gifts. Catholics in England during the period 1558 to 1829, when Parliament finally emancipated Catholics in England, were prohibited from any practice of their faith by law—private or public. It was a crime to be a Catholic. “The Twelve Days of Christmas”…

Aug

10

2014

By Fr. Roman Planchak

Honoring Her who Shows the Way

Liturgy

Summer, in our world at least, is a time for sun and fun: cookouts, the beach, pool parties and the like. Yet in the midst of summer – in the week which has been compared to the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning –we are called to fast. The first two week of August are observed in the Byzantine Churches as the Fast of the Theotokos, in preparation for the Feast of her Dormition on August 15. In the early Church the Dormition Fast was generally observed in both East and West. Pope St.…