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10th in Matthew 2006 - Ocala. Vesting and Prothesis After the Great Day of Pentecost, that is 50 days after the Resurrection of our Lord, there is an annual cycle of 17 weekly excerpts from the Gospel of St. Matthew. Today, we heard the reading of the 10th Sunday in Matthew. The same Biblical excerpts are read year after year, and the sermon is usual based on the particular reading. Of course, our subjects sometimes are based on the Epistles of St. Paul. But, I thought that the time has come, when we should become much better acquainted with the central act of our worship, celebrated every Sunday, our Divine Liturgy. By truly having digested the elements of our Liturgy, indelibly inscribed in our heart and mind, the true meaning of all that is seen and unseen every Sunday morning becomes part of our great spiritual treasure. Thus, for the next couple of months, except for special occasions, we shall be concentrating on the Divine Liturgy. Liturgy is a synthetic Greek word. The first three letters "Lit" means "of the people," and the last part of the word "urgy" means "ergon," that is, "work." Therefore, the word "Liturgy" literally means, "work of the people" By the 4th Century the adjective "Divine" was added, so that it is recognized today as the Divine Liturgy. When we say "Divine Liturgy" we truly mean "The Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist", that is the consecrating, or transubstantiation of the visible elements of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of our Lord. The term "Eucharist" of course, is another Greek word, meaning "thanks" or "Efcharistia." From the earliest times, the Christians gathered mostly underground, because of the horrible persecutions. The Priest or Bishop would lead in prayer, and the chanting of hymns. The focal point was always the transubstantiation, or the changing of the visible elements of bread and wine into the very Body and Blood of our Lord. After the Liturgy, the first Christians always sat at tables in common, known as Agapes, or tables of Love, as we also do today. The Divine Liturgy, being their central and supreme act of communal worship, gradually developed, and early in the 4th Century St. Basil the Great gave us the Liturgy as our communal act of worship. St. John the Chrysostom later presented a shorter version, and his Liturgy commenced to be celebrated by the universal Orthodox Church until today. St. Basil's Liturgy is celebrated on January lst, his Feast Day, also on the vigils of Christmas and Epiphany, on Holy Thursday, Holy Saturday and the 5 Sundays in Lent. Our communal worship can be readily understood by the prayers and chants of our Liturgy, which always use the plural, -never the singular.; as for instance: "Let us pray to the Lord." and "Let us ask of the Lord." But, when we offer our prayers, we must "put away all worldly cares and desires," as the Priest prays during the chanting of the Cherubic hymn. The Divine Liturgy is a live and vivid Drama of the Life of our Lord, as we shall learn, but with one basic difference, which is, that there are no spectators. Every Orthodox Christian is a participant, with the Bishop or Priest acting in place of Christ, Who is the true Priest and Celebrant of the mystery of the Holy Eucharist. The Lord Himself is the One, Who offers and is offered, and the One, Who receives and distributes, as prayed during the Cherubic hymn. Of course, it is the faithful, who bake the bread as an offering, from which the central cube of the bread, with the raised letters "IC XC NIKA", meaning "Jesus Christ conquers". It is only this part of the loaf which is later consecrated. Think of it. What a supreme privilege this is! What a blessing it constitutes for those, who take the time to bake the bread of oblation! So very few make this offering, expressing all types of excuses. But, if we bake cakes, we surely can bake a "Prosforon," oblation loaf. We Orthodox, above all, make the sign of the cross repeatedly. Blessing ourselves with the sign of the cross is in itself a prayer, because it is done in the Name of the Holy Trinity. Our basic theology is in the five fingers of our right hand. Clutching the two fingers with the thumb we signify the Holy Trinity, and clutching the two remaining fingers in the palm of our hand we signify the 2 Natures of Christ, the Divine and the Human. We touch our forehead, then our abdomen, followed by touching our right shoulder then the left, and kind of seal this act with our open palm pressing against our chest. I'm sure that in your time you must have noticed people entering Church and instead of making a proper cross they may as well be strumming a banjo, while checking around to see who's in Church. The Cross is our sacred symbol, because through the Lord's Blood, which ran down the Cross we were redeemed, sanctified, and saved. The Divine Liturgy is divided in three parts: 1. The "Proskomide." which is the preparation of the Holy Gifts to be offered. This is done on the 'prothesis" or small table, and is a short Service in itself. 2. The "Liturgy of the "Catechumens" that is the people receiving instruction of the Faith, but not yet baptized. 3. The "Liturgy of the Faithful." (Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.) Before we offer a commentary on the three parts of our Divine Liturgy, I think it is very important to offer a few words about the traditional Byzantine Architecture of the Church Edifice. Even in these sacred Buildings, there was always the faith of incorporating religion into them. From the days when Christianity became the official State Religion of the vast Byzantine Empire in the year 330 A.D., the Churches were built in a rectangular shape to symbolize a ship. This "ship," with the Christians aboard, and with our Lord Jesus at the helm, had only one destination, and that was to head to the port of salvation. The rectangular structure of the original Churches was labeled "Basilica," a Greek word meaning "Royal, or Royalty." After all, who was the Royal King, but our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! The main feature of the Basilica was the long rows of columns on either side supporting porches. The Basilicas always faced eastwardly, because light dawns from the East; also, the Garden of Eden was located in the East, and of course the source of our Christian Faith was rooted in the East.But, it was in the year 532 A.D. that the Byzantine Emperor Justinian the Great brought to light, what was to become the prototype, not only of the Orthodox Sanctuaries, but also for many Churches in Western Europe. In 532 Emperor Justinian embarked to erect a massive structure for the glory of God. The great Cathedral of St. Sophia was completed in 537 A.D. and was named "St. Sophia" meaning the Church dedicated to the "Wisdom of God." Until the erection of St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome, one thousand years later, the Church of the Wisdom of God was the largest in the Christian world, with a capacity of almost 15,000 people. St. Sophia is an architectural wonder. The dome spans 108 feet and seems to be suspended in air. The Architects Anthemios and Isidoros, were the greatest engineers of their time, --- thoroughly trained in mathematics, but also, they were true artists, with an eye to the effects of beauty. Using matched marble for the walls, and colorful marble for the floors, as well as huge monolithic columns with marble column caps, which were as fine as lace material. These, highlighted with the mosaic Icons subdued all humans, who upon entering St. Sophia felt that they had entered Heaven. When the Cathedral was completed within 5 years, in 537 A.D. Emperor Justinian's words echoed throughout the world: "Solomon, I have conquered over you." That is, St. Sophia towered over the huge Temple, which King Solomon built in Jerusalem. Needless to say St. Sophia surpassed it in every way. The true Byzantine Church is built in the form of an equilateral cross with a dome rising at the center of the cross-piece. The Cross as we have mentioned is the Symbol of our Faith, because from the Lord's Blood which ran down from the Cross we were sanctified and saved. As I mentioned, the complete structure of the Church edifice is symbolic with religious connotation. The Dome symbolizes the starry Heavens, from which the Lord or "Pantocrator" looks down upon His followers. "Pantocrator" means "holding everything in His Hands, or Almighty". The Orthodox Sanctuary is divided into three parts: 1. The Narthex or Vestibule, through which we enter the Nave. 2. The Nave, which is the Greek word "Naus" meaning "Ship," 3. The Sanctuary, or the Altar area separated from the Nave with a partition, or screen, to which only the ordained Clergy and the Altar boys enter. We stop at this natural point today, to continue next week, when we shall elaborate on these three parts of the Church Edifice, and subsequently, proceed to explain the preparation that is made, to introduce us into the Divine Liturgy. + Fr. George Papadeas
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