I truly miss the weather and climate of the area my family lived in Central WA for two years. It was an easy acclimation. But there are other climates as well: socialogically speaking.
Our Gathering is doing just fine. We can fill up with good folks of every color and background–the church has one color: Jesus. and speaks one language: love. But there is a very prevelent people group where God has planted The Mass and its significance is NOT lost on me: Fr. Feydore Obraztsov.
It is on my heart of late that many Russian folks moving into our Most Blessed Country among countries would find something wonderful and familiar and American too in our post-modern Orthodox Church. And so I am going to begin brushing up on my Russian–perhaps adding a song of worship, here and there, cпето в русском
Тихая ночь, дивная ночь!
Дремлет все, лишь не спит
В благоговенье святая чета;
Чудным Младенцем полны их сердца,
Радость в душе их горит.
Радость в душе их горит.
Let alone this standard liturgical hymn:
смерти смертью, и на тех в усыпальницах давая жизнь.
These are the principals and practicum and the most honored written record of God’s revelation to His people.
2. The Liturgy
This is the “common work” of the Gathering (church) when it comes together to ‘be the people of God and to worship God.” Most specifically, it is the labor “work” of praise and worship surrounding The Eucharist and the Lord’s table of Holy Communion.
3. The Councils
Beginning with the council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) many councils have met throughout the centuries. The findings of such gatherings are honored (creeds and canons); “it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us…” This is the language, the preamble to the findings of a Holy-Sprit-filled gathering since the record of the ACTS (of the Holy Ghost).
4. The Saints
We are indeed surrounded by a “great cloud of witnesses (martyros)” and while all believers are “the holy ones of God” (saints), there are special heroes of the Faith whom are recognized for the pattern of following Christ which they set in how they lived their lives. We believe in the communion of the saints as well. This recognizes that while some believers have left this earth in physical form, they remain (and more perfectly so) a part of the Gathering (church). When we partake in the Mass (the Eucharist) for instance, we do so as One Body of Christ–the Church visible and invisible.
5. Church Art
In the minds of some people, art is simply a kind of decoration, a secondary thing. But the Orthodox understanding of the nature of the human being, of how God has made us, how God has revealed Himself to us, is that material creation is very much involved. One could say that the Orthodox Faith, the Orthodox experience is a holistic one. In the The Mass you would witness this primarily through iconography, sacred music, and (when a permanent building is acquired) architecture. But it may also be witnessed through our constant acknowledgement of all who are gathered; both the church visible and the church visible–those in the flesh and those wrapped in glory.
**portions of this text are from a catechism series What We Believe by Fr. David Anderson c.1997 Conciliar Press
A very late night excercise. Don’t try this at home, kids! Hope this is thought provoking and stimulating too. What I am doing here is ambling through a couple of chapters from Daniel B. Clendenin’s book: “Eastern Orthodox Theology–a contemporary reader.” As I read some highlighted thoughts, I try to demonstrated how THE MASS revisits some ancient doctrines and traditions and assimulates them into who we are.
Autumn through January is my personal favorite stretch of the year and I am quite aware that I am the anomaly here. No problem. But I would point out that many theologically rich festivities are embedded throughout this period and well worth our observation. It is, above all, a time for us to draw inward–not to “withdraw from one another, but–to gather in around hearth and fire, more intimately than usual with those you know and love, to worship and meditate more introspectively. If you’re in doubt, then by God’s grace, let me help you along and lead you into an epoch of rich reflection.
fr. Theo
