by Brent Kostyniuk
A youngish man gets woken up by his wife on Sunday morning. “Time to get ready for church.” “No! I’m not going today.” “Give me three good reasons why,” his wife replied. “It’s always the same. The sermons are boring. Besides, I went last week. Give me three good reasons why I should go.” “It’s your duty. The Divine Liturgy is what you make of it. Besides, you are the priest.”
One of the most commonly raised excuses for not attending Divine Liturgy regularly is that it is always the same. The reality is nothing could be further from the truth. While many segments of the Liturgy—the ektenias and consecration—are constant, there is much which varies from week to week, season to season.
It is said that Byzantine Christians worship with all five senses. The Divine Liturgy provides us with an opportunity to do just that. Perhaps most significant are our voices. Indeed, the human voice is the only instrument considered worthy to praise God in church, hence the absence of organs, pianos, or guitars, often found in other churches. Much has been done to encourage our participation in the Liturgy. Notably, the publication of Sing to Our God by the Eparchy of Edmonton provides a wealth of hymns, helping us to praise with our voices. A more comprehensive compendium has been produced by the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies. The Divine Liturgy: An Anthology for Worship includes all the variable troparia and kontakia, along with musical notation set in the eight tones. Also included are the epistles and gospels for the entire year, as well as other changeable parts of the Divine Liturgy such as alternate ambo prayers for particular feasts.
Visually, the icons which surround us in church help us to pray and meditate in ever-changing ways. Festal icons are placed on the tetrapod each week to help us appreciate the feast or saint who is currently being celebrated as we approach to receive the Holy Eucharist. Occasionally, icons depicting events from the Old Testament and various other subjects may also be displayed.
Liturgical vestments also vary with the season or feast. Although only light or dark vestments are specified, in practice a variety of colours are worn. Generally, light or bright colours including white and gold are used for joyful occasions such as Christmas, Pascha, and Sundays. Dark colours, including red, are used for Lenten services, funerals, and observances of a penitential nature. More specifically, certain colours are commonly associated with particular liturgical celebrations. Throughout May and October, blue vestments are worn in honour of the Theotokos who is honoured in these months. Blue may also be worn on Marian feasts.
At Pentecost, many priests wear green vestments symbolizing the new life of the Church brought about when the Holy Spirit came down upon the Apostles. Pentecost is also one of those times when the Ukrainian Catholic Church has theology dance with the natural world, something it does so very well. On that Sunday, the faithful fill the church with freshly cut boughs of poplar trees, their new, bright green leaves fresh from the forest. They remind us of new life through the Holy Spirit, the Giver of Life. From a more temporal viewpoint, I have always felt the tradition brought a freshness to the church interior and, perhaps, made it feel a little friendlier.
Pentecost is not the only opportunity the faithful have to enrich their celebration of the Divine Liturgy with the natural world. On the Feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord (August 6), the first fruits of the season are brought to church to be blessed. Only a few days later, on August 15 when we celebrate the Dormition of the Mother of God, the blessing of flowers and herbs takes place. In past times, these were seen not only as beautiful but capable of bringing about healing.
The meeting of our temporal needs with our spiritual needs reaches a pinnacle at Pascha (Easter) when we bring baskets of food to be blessed on that morning (although, for practical reasons, some large parishes also bless baskets on Holy Saturday afternoon). Paska, ham, sausage, butter, cheese, and other rich foods from which we have abstained during the Great Fast are brought to be sanctified, then taken home to be eaten. In this way, we bring the celebration of Pascha with us and have it continued in our homes throughout the day. This ancient tradition is also an eminently sensible way for the entire family to feast without any members being tasked with the job of preparing the meal. All are able to enjoy the celebration.
At other Divine Liturgies, sacramentals are blessed and offered to the faithful to take home as aids to daily worship. On January 6, the Feast of Jordan, water is sanctified, to be used throughout the coming year. A month later, at the Feast of the Presentation in the Temple, candles are blessed. These may be burned on celebrations such as birthdays, at the prayer corner, or perhaps during times of ill health, or some other great need. On Flowery or Willow Sunday, one week before Pascha, willow branches are blessed with holy water. These remind us of spring and of the new life which comes with Easter. They may be set in a prominent place for the duration of the Paschal season, or perhaps for the whole year. There are ancient beliefs that these blessed branches hold healing powers.
Finally, many parishes are now reviving the old tradition of having the Sacraments of Initiation take place as public celebrations in the context of the Divine Liturgies. They are meant to be public because they not only bring about a new spiritual life in Christ, but they also make the new Catholic a member of the local parish family. We all become responsible for his or her spiritual welfare. By actively participating in the initiation of these children and adults, all of the congregation are reminded of our own baptismal vows and are invited to personally renew them.
Far from being repetitive or static, the Divine Liturgy inspires us to worship through ever-changing prayers, sights, and sounds.
