Holy Week Again a Success

Wednesday, 07 April 2010 10:06

For the second time since our foundation, we have successfully celebrated Holy Week here at Nativity of the Holy Theotokos Greek Orthodox Church in Greenville, NC!

Father Anastasios, who lives in Raleigh and serves a mission there as well as here in Greenville, came on Thursday night for the Passion Gospels Service, Friday night for the Epitaphios Service, and Saturday night for the Paschal (Easter) Service. The Passion Gospels commemorate the Gospel narratives of Our Lord's betrayal and Crucifixion, broken down in to twelve readings. Between each reading are several hymns. The high point of the service is the procession with the Cross of Christ, which is brought out from the altar by the priest and carried around the interior of the Church, while singing the famous hymn: "Today He who hung the earth upon the waters..."

On Friday evening, we served the Matins of Holy Saturday (Holy Week services are served "by anticipation," a few hours before they normally would be during normal time), which commemorate the burial of Christ. It is, in essence, a burial service, with hymns commemorating the mystery of how the God of the Universe, who took flesh, is now lying dead in the tomb; yet His Divinity is at the right hand of the Father, as well as everywhere, and His Life-giving soul is in Hades, the realm of the Old Testament dead, preaching the Gospel to all and preparing for the Resurrection. His body is thus engaging in a Sabbath rest, while His divinely-covered soul is in Hades working the great miracle, the release of Adam and Eve from the ancient curse of death. What a mystery! We then take the Epitaphios, or burial shroud, which is housed in a structure called a kouvouklion, or bier, and process around the Church outside.

Pascha, Easter, the Resurrection came on Saturday night. We began by reading the Canon (hymn) of Holy Saturday, followed by the Resurrection Matins, which begin with the Resurrection Gospel being chanted outside and the singing of "Christ is Risen," a traditional song for Pascha. Processing in, we sang the Canon of Resurrection Matins, and completed the service with the Divine Liturgy, at which those prepared received Holy Communion, the True Body and Blood of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ.

A festive meal followed, and at 2:30 am, the assembled worshippers, tired but content with the joy of the day, returned to their homes to rest.

Conducting the series of Holy Week services is tough, and requires a lot of preparation, but the spiritual payoff is a great blessing. We missed seeing some of you there, but the good news is that every Sunday is a "little Resurrection." Our next liturgy will be Sunday, April 18, and we look forward to seeing you then!

Christ is Risen! Χριστός ανέστη!

Fr. Anastasios

Holy Friday and Pascha 2010

The Prayer of Saint Ephraim

Friday, 05 March 2010 17:11

Dear Friends in Christ,

As I write this message, we’ve already celebrated two Sundays of Lent, and the Sunday of the Holy Cross is approaching. Lent is thus almost halfway over. Lent is truly a time of joyful mourning, where we are reminded through fasting and penance of our sinful nature, while at the same time anticipating the joy of Pascha, where all things are renewed, and we experience a foretaste of the Resurrection that we all shall experience at the end of time.

During Lent, we add a special prayer to the end of our morning and evening prayers, called the Prayer of Saint Ephraim. This prayer is a succinct summary of the goal of our Lenten struggles. I’d like to quote it in its three sections, with some humble observations.

Read more: The Prayer of Saint Ephraim

The Prodigal Son

Wednesday, 03 February 2010 17:37

Dear Friends in Christ,

We’re in the midst of the Triodion now, the service book which provides us with hymns for the four preparatory weeks before Lent, and the weeks of Lent itself, ending with Pascha, the feast of the Resurrection of Christ. Two weeks ago, we celebrated the feast of the Publican and the Pharisee (Luke 18:10-14), where we learned to ask forgiveness of our sins in humility, and not boast of any good works we may have done. Last week, we celebrated the feast of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32), where we heard the Lord’s parable of a man who took off with his share of the inheritance, wasted it on bad living, and then came back humbled, only to be completely forgiven and restored. Sunday we recall the Last Judgment, and finally, the following Sunday, the expulsion of Adam and Even from Paradise, at which point Lent begins.

Read more: The Prodigal Son

The New Testament Church

Wednesday, 03 February 2010 17:34

When you sit down to think about it, there sure are a lot of Christian denominations: Baptists, Lutherans, Methodists, and Episcopalians, to name a few. Is this what Jesus wanted? The Bible says that Jesus is the head of the Church (Ephesians 5:23). Can a head be a head to more than one body? Some have come up with a theory that the Church must refer to all the saved Christians on the earth at one time. Yet the Bible also says that the Church is the “pillar and foundation of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). If the Church is an invisible group of all the saved Christians, then where is there a pillar or a foundation that we can look at for guidance? This would lead to a lot of confusion, for sure. We'd have to go and ask each minister we knew, and they might give different answers. In the end, we’d have to rely on our judgment: but what if we are wrong?

Read more: The New Testament Church