I would, as I have done so many times before, exhort you to take a serious look at our traditional Easter Icon. The true Easter icon depicts the Lord’s Descent into Hades and does not represent Him as coming out … Continue reading
Category Archives: Learning About the Practices of Our Religion
During the past several weeks I have shared information about the oldest Liturgy that that Church developed. It is the Clementine Liturgy and is the basis for all subsequent Eastern, Liturgies. The Clementine Liturgy enables us to form a reasonably … Continue reading
I have, in this article, been providing a basic description of the first recorded Liturgy, the Liturgy of Clementine. The core of the Liturgy was a rather lengthy and eccentric thanksgiving for creation. This represents, however, the early church’s understanding … Continue reading
In the previous issue of this article, I began sharing with you the Clementine Liturgy which has been preserved in the Apostolic Constitutions. It is the Liturgy that predates that of Basil the Great and John Chrysostom. The anaphora (the … Continue reading
In the last issue of this article, I began to share with you the Liturgy as it was described in the Apostolic Constitutions. As I shared, after the entrance into the worship space, readings took place. The readings were followed … Continue reading
In the last issue of this article, I began sharing a description of the Liturgy as contained in the Apostolic Constitutions. The first part consisted of the vesting of the Bishop, the readings, the sermons and then the dismissal of … Continue reading
As I shared in the last issue of this article, we have a glimpse of how early Christians worshipped from the eighth book of the Apostolic Constitutions. It contains the earliest complete text of a eucharistic rite and represents the … Continue reading
The liturgical practice of Jerusalem and the theology which it expressed were absorbed into the Eastern tradition, making a prominent contribution to its development. The language of fear with regard to the sacrament appears again in the teaching of St. … Continue reading
As I recounted in the last issue, the new development in the understanding of consecration found expression in the people’s devotional use of the blessed sacrament. In the West, a devotional practice developed about adoring and praying to the communion … Continue reading
As I indicated in the last issue of this article, the definition of the Holy Spirit being the third Person of the Trinity directly influenced the Eastern Church’s understanding of the Eucharist. If the epiclesis (i.e., invocation of the Holy … Continue reading