Welcome!
“We are honored to have you join us in our worship of the
Blessed Trinity. It is our desire that this experience will deepen
your understanding of and love for God. If you’ve never
been to an Orthodox Church before, there are some things we want
to share with you that will you better understand what is going
on.
America’s Best Kept Secret
Do you know that there are some 225 million Orthodox Christians
worldwide and over 6 million right here in the United States?
It’s the second largest body in all of Christendom. Despite
its size, relatively few Americans are aware of the Orthodox Church.
It’s America’s best-kept secret. The truth is, you
need to know about the Orthodox Church. Our Church has deep and
lasting roots in Christian antiquity and is steeped in a rich
biblical tradition. It has been the context of Christian living
for million and millions of Christians for almost twenty centuries.
Though you can learn a lot about Orthodox Christianity by hearing
it described, it really must be seen and experienced firsthand
to be fully understood. And perhaps there is no better place to
see and experience the heart of Orthodoxy than in her worship.
Let’s look at a few characteristics of Orthodox worship
which may be different from your past experience. Knowing about
these practices in advance will help make your experience of worship
with us far more meaningful.
The Work of the People
The main Sunday morning worship service of an Orthodox Church
is called the Divine Liturgy. The term Liturgy means “work
of the people.” Participation is the key word here. As you
will see, the whole congregation is active in worship, even the
children. As such, the Liturgy is the common act of prayer, worship,
teaching , and communion of all those who constitute the Church.
In the Liturgy we participate, by grace, in the life of Christ.
We thereby come to know Christ in us, the hope of glory. What
happened almost 2000 years ago becomes vital and alive and contemporary
to us in the Liturgy.
The Physical Side of Being Spiritual
Since the times of the New Testament, Christians have believed
that when worshipping God, we who are earthbound enter by the
spirit into “heavenly places.” In Orthodox worship,
we can step out of the pandemonium of time into the peace of eternity.
Therefore everything in our worship has heaven as its point of
reference. But this heavenly focus by no means turns worship into
a mental religion. A human being is not merely soul or spirit.
Being human involves the unity of soul and body. Accordingly,
worship calls for the action not only of the mind, the emotions,
and the will, but also of the body with all its sense. So, as
the Scriptures describe, in worship there are things to see, hear,
touch, taste, and smell. Our whole being is to participate actively
in worship.
Windows To Heaven
One of the first things you’ll probably notice as you enter
an Orthodox Church is the icons or pictures-pictures of Christ,
the Virgin Mary with her Child, angels, Saint John the Baptist,
Christ’s Apostles, and other holy and heroic Christians
of the past. An icon (icon is a Bible word which means “image”)
is a dramatic and constant reminder that there is infinitely more
to reality than what we see day by day on this earth. Icons help
impart the presence of heaven to us in our worship. Many churches
display photos of their missionaries so that they may keep them
in mind. The Orthodox Church displays those who faithfully finished
the race, that we might keep them in mind. We don’t worship
the icons, of course: worship is for God alone. But we do honor
them, believing that the honor given to the icon passes on to
the person it images. One of the functions of icons is similar
to that of the pictures of loved ones you probably have in your
wallet-visual images that represent real people and significant
events. But icons are far more than simple visual aids in our
worship, and as such have long been called “windows to heaven.”
What About Incense?
The pattern of heavenly worship described in both the Old Testament
and the Book of Revelation is also reflected by the use of incense
in Orthodox worship. Incense has always been used to honor the
presence of the Divine. Thus the altar is censed because it represents
the Throne of God. The icons are censed because they depict God’s
Son and the saints through whom God worked. The people are censed
because each of them is made in the image of God. Through the
use of incense, even our sense of smell beckons us to worship.
The Sign Of The Cross
From the beginning, the most prominent symbol of Christianity
has been the cross. The cross draws us to remember God’s
supreme expression of love for us; the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Of that reality we can hardly be reminded too often! Christians
commonly display the cross in their churches, on their pulpits,
around their necks, on their Bibles, and in their homes. But many
are unaware that, from the Church’s earliest days, Christians
have freely and frequently made the sign of the cross on themselves.
Using the sign of the cross gives us a personal, physical, and
visible means to fulfill Saint Paul’s scriptural admonition
to “glory in the cross.” The sign of the cross is
a handful of divine truth.
The Peace
St. Paul says to “greet one another with a holy kiss.”
Therefore, in early New Testament times, Christians began exchanging
the “holy kiss” in their worship. This was done just
before Communion as an affirmation between the people that they
were at peace with God and also were truly reconciled to each
other. “The Peace,” as it came to be called, has continued
in Orthodox worship and in many other churches to the present.
A People Of Thanksgiving
Amajor focus of the Liturgy is our thanksgiving to God the Father
for the once and for all atoning sacrifice of God the Son. Orthodox
worship is so steeped in the giving of thanks that it is often
referred to as the “Eucharist” (Eucharist is a Bible
word that means thanksgiving). The Church has always believed
that, in a mystery, God the Holy Spirit transforms our gifts of
bread and wine into the Body and Blood of our Savior Jesus Christ.
The grateful reception of these Holy Gifts provides nourishment
for the union that Orthodox Christians have with the God who made
and redeem them. Non-Orthodox Christians are welcome to observe
this holy sacrament, and to share in the “blessed bread”
offered at the end of the Liturgy. Only baptized Orthodox Christians,
however, may partake of the Eucharistic elements.
A Final Word
We thank you again for being with us. We pray that your participation
will be enriching to you. If we can answer any questions or be
of service to you in some way, please let one of us know, or talk
with our priest after the Liturgy.
Welcome! © Copyright 2003 by Conciliar Press,
Ben Lomond, California. Telephone: 800.967.7377. Used with permission.
