I
The Divine Liturgy
The Divine Liturgy is the heart of Orthodox life. Through the Holy Spirit, we meet our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ – Crucified and Risen – face to face in an eternal, loving state of self-giving. In the Divine Liturgy, Jesus is present offering Himself with us to His Father who loves us and desires our reconciliation with Him and one another. We begin each week on Sunday, the “Lord’s Day”, participating in this work by giving our life – time, finances, work, talents, thoughts, words, and deeds – to one another and together to Christ our God. In giving ourselves to Jesus Christ, He gives us Himself to overcome our selfishness and begin to live in total, loving surrender to each other and God.
II
Orthodox Worship
Orthodox Worship is communal participation in the life of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. We prepare ourselves to travel the birth, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ through giving, fasting, prayer, and confession. Every year that we participate in a particular moment of Jesus’s life, our love and knowledge for Him is deepened and our joy is increased. The year is divided into four major fasts and feasts. In addition to participating in the life of Christ, we also celebrate those who have made His life their own – Mary, the Mother of God, and the Saints, ancient and modern.
III
Orthodox Spirituality
Orthodox Spirituality is life aimed at union in Jesus Christ, communion with our neighbor, and the stewardship of nature. The spiritual life consists of overcoming our selfishness and acquiring the virtues. Our union with Jesus begins with faithfulness to His commandments – living the way that He lives – and loving our neighbor. It is simultaneously personal and communal because it is most often that we come to know Jesus through the gifts He has given to us and to our neighbor to share with one another. From these gifts and our neighbor, we come to know our Lord more “relationally” and less “informationally”. We begin to not just “know about” Him, but see, hear, think, feel, speak, and do as He does. Mary, the Mother of God, and the Saints are our examples in how close we can become united to Jesus.
IV
The Holy Mysteries
The Holy Mysteries reveal the continued presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit working through nature. Jesus restores, hallows, and shows us how to be good stewards of nature through prayer, blessing, and sharing His creation with us. Throughout the services of the Church, Bread, Water, Wine, and Oil are made holy through the Holy Spirit working with the Priest and the prayers of the faithful. They are for the healing, strengthening, and beautifying of the whole Person – body and soul. The Holy Mysteries show us the goodness of our body and nature. We celebrate the mysteries of Baptism, Chrismation, Eucharist, Confession, Marriage, Ordination, and Unction (anointing the sick).
V
The Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church is the “meeting place” between God and Man in the undivided Body of Christ and Communion of the faithful established at Pentecost through the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is the full and continuous realization of the reconciling work of Jesus Christ prophesied by the Patriarchs and Prophets, proclaimed by the Apostles, and continuously lived in the Holy Spirit by the faithful of each generation. The Orthodox Church is One – united in Christ across jurisdictions, Holy – set apart to reconcile all to Christ, Catholic – the fullness of all that we need to live a faithful life to Christ, and Apostolic – lives and proclaims the same faith delivered to the Apostles by Christ and handed down to us.
VI
Holy Tradition
Holy Tradition is the living story of the Holy Spirit working in the Orthodox Church throughout the centuries. Evangelists, martyrs, monastics, missionaries, councils, and the faithful witness to a common way of life rooted and handed down from the Apostles. While expressions of Holy Tradition such as speech, art, music, and architecture can change, God’s words to us along with the hierarchy, worship, and way of life of the Church does not. Holy Tradition reveals to every generation the presence, relatability, and invitation of Jesus Christ into True Life with Him.
VII
Prayer
Prayer begins as the loving words of God addressed to us. It means that God has created us and continues to form us to be a conversation partner. Prayer is the foremost way we come to love and know God, as well as each other. It expresses our trust and vulnerability, strengths and weaknesses, wants and needs, sorrows and joys, wonder and thanksgiving, and responsibilities we have for our friends and enemies. In the Divine Liturgy, all of creation is embraced in prayer. We pray for the Orthodox Church, our hierarchs, Christian brethren, our nation, leaders, and town, living and departed friends, family, and enemies, our home, health, and work. At home, our days are structured by prayer in the morning, before meals, and before bed. Prayer is how we live life embraced in the presence of our Lord.
VIII
Fasting
Fasting has always been a spiritual practice of the Church. It is for mourning and overcoming our selfishness and for our reorientation to the good gifts God has given us so that we do not lose sight of the Giver for the gift. When we fast, we come to experience our weaknesses before God and each other, as well as the strength that comes from the grace of God. Throughout the year we fast on Wednesdays (for the Betrayal of Christ), Fridays (for the Crucifixion of Christ), and before receiving Holy Communion. We also fast leading up to the great feasts of our Lord – Nativity (Christmas) and Pascha (Passover/Easter). Fasting frees us to give and pray more since we do not spend as much money and preparation on food.
IX
Giving
Giving of our money, talents, and time is practiced in thankfulness for all that Jesus Christ has given us. Jesus gave His life to us so that His life might become our own. Our giving is to build up our Church, neighbor, and our own spiritual life. The most profound offering we can give is the Bread and Wine that become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ in the Divine Liturgy. Every household has the great privilege and honor to prayerfully prepare and offer the Holy Bread so that we can gather around the Lord’s Table and receive Him throughout the year. Christian giving has many practical benefits for those receiving, but the main purpose is to transform the one giving into becoming more selfless like our God who first gave to us.
X
The Saints, Icons, and Relics
The Saints, Icons, and Relics witness to the incarnation, resurrection, and continual presence of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ in His Church…
The Saints
The Saints show us a life fully transparent, open, and faithful to God, neighbor, and nature. While we are inspired by their lives, we also live with the experience of their presence through their prayers and guidance to God in all of life’s circumstances. They are entrusted with this stewardship because they entrusted their earthly life unto God. Their presence reveals the love of God that overcomes death through Resurrection and the life of Christ that is given to all who love Him. Throughout the Church year we come together to celebrate the Saints somewhat like celebrating the birthday of our loved ones. The Saints are among God’s most precious gifts to us and we rejoice in seeing God through them.
The Relics
The Relics of the Saints have been cherished, shared, and venerated from the earliest days of the Church much in the same way families share and pass down precious heirlooms. Relics, like heirlooms, often tell the stories of the Saints and their interactions with people. Even more, relics convey the holiness of God working through them for the healing of our soul and body. Relics range from the Saint’s handicrafts to clothes, Church items to even their bones and incorrupt bodies. By God working through relics, our bodies and the works of our hands are shown to be of eternal worth and meaning.
The Icons
The Icons of Jesus and His life, Mary, and the Saints adorn the Church and our homes. They witness to God making our body and face His own. Venerating Icons is similar to the experience of holding pictures of our loved ones and dearest life events. In those moments, they are made present in our heart and mind. We venerate the Holy Icons upon entering and exiting the Church and beginning and ending our prayers at home. Overtime, this changes how we see and interact with one another. Ultimately, the Holy Icons reveal that all our actions directed toward our neighbor are directed toward God whose image we are made in.
XI
The Scriptures
The Scriptures are the story of Jesus Christ – the Son and Word of God – coming to dwell and live among us. From the Law, Prophets, and Writings to the Gospels and Epistles, the Scriptures are the work of the Holy Spirit and Men witnessing to the Word of God interacting with and preparing all to receive Him. For this reason, the Scriptures have always been written, proclaimed, interpreted, and applied in the context of the Church. They are for our instruction in preparing us to meet and live with our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ. During the Divine Liturgy the Gospel Book is brought out amongst the faithful, proclaimed, and then rests on the Altar next to the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. This shows us that the Scriptures are not just to be heard, but to be lived. We begin to live what we hear when Jesus makes His dwelling in us through His Body and Blood.
XII
Doctrine
Doctrine, or the teaching of the Church, aims at guiding the faithful to answer the most important question Jesus asked His disciples: “Who do men say that I am?”. How we answer this question will affect how we live. When challenged and presented with false images of who Jesus Christ is, the Church Fathers articulated answers based on their direct experience of the Crucified and Risen Christ through a life of prayer, service, and worship in the Divine Liturgy. Their answers are enshrined in our Creedal Statements and Hymns showing that what we say about God comes from our worship of God. Doctrine is not an intellectual exercise or exhaustive definition, rather it is for the protection and guidance of those who seek to live a life united to Jesus Christ.
Questions? Ask Father Christopher. Inquirers · Service times.