The advent among men of the redeeming Word of God (i.e., Jesus Christ) required the development of a new liturgy – a new form of God-worship – a liturgy no longer intended solely to recall and maintain the natural relations … Continue reading
Category Archives: Learning About the Practices of Our Religion
Gestures ritualized by the liturgy take their value less from what they are than from what they evoke in us. For example, do you, during the Little Entrance, think about God’s Gospel coming into the world in order to lead … Continue reading
The Divine Liturgy is meant to facilitate our encounter with God. While we are led to do this by remembering what Jesus did while He was here on earth, the reason we do this is so that we might have … Continue reading
In the last installment of this article, I began sharing thoughts about what Liturgy is. The word liturgy means the work of the people and was borrowed from the political language of Greek cities. It originally had no special religious … Continue reading
After sharing with you that Thanksgiving (Eucharistia) and Commemoration (Anamnesis) are an essential part of the Liturgy, it dawned on me that, perhaps, I should answer this fundamental question: What is the Liturgy? While the question is easy enough to … Continue reading
Many have been the influences on the structure of the Liturgy. The Fathers of the Church, in writing about the Liturgy, also helped shape it into the experience of worship of God that we have today. From the earliest times, … Continue reading
In the last issue of the article, I suggested that there was a great interplay between Byzantine church architecture and the Liturgy. For example, two parts of the Liturgy directly impacted the structure of the church building, namely the Little … Continue reading
Under Justinian a policy designed to reconcile the monophysites (those who believed Christ had only one nature) to Chalcedonian orthodoxy was pursued – the Council of Chalcedon definitely defined that Christ has two natures – He is God and Man, … Continue reading
It is during the 6th and 7th centuries that we see additional development of the Divine Liturgy. These developments took place against a background of continuing doctrinal controversy, which was not without its effect on the Liturgy in the capital, … Continue reading
While I have been sharing some of the history of the development of our Divine Liturgy, I have also attempted to stress the importance of making the Divine Liturgy our personal act of worship. This can only be accomplished IF … Continue reading