Daily Meditations Archives - Page 265 of 348

The Second Friday of Pascha, Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! Service of the Consecration of a Church (Part IV)

04/24/2015

When the procession reaches the front doors of the Church, the Relics are again placed on the table, and readings from the Bible follow. SCRIPTURAL READINGS DEACON: Let us attend. READER: She shall be brought unto the King; the virgins that follow her shall be brought unto Thee. DEACON: Wisdom. READER: The Reading is from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Hebrews (9:1-7). DEACON: Let us attend. READER: Now even the first covenant had

Second Thursday of Pascha, Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! The Feast Day of Saint George the Holy Great Martyr and Trophy-Bearer

04/23/2015

LIFE OF THE SAINT This great and wonderful athlete of Christ’s was the son of a wealthy and high-ranking Cappadocian family. George having lost his father at the age of ten, his mother Polychronia, who had become a Christian without her husband’s knowledge, returned to Palestine, her homeland, and brought up her son in the evangelical virtues. Handsome, intelligent and refined in manner, George embarked on a military career at the age of eighteen. He pleased

The Second Wednesday of Pascha, Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! Service of the Consecration of a Church (Part III)

04/22/2015

PROCESSIONS AROUND THE CHURCH Following this prayer, the Bishop and Clergy together with all the Faithful prepare for the Three Processions around the Church. The Three Processions represent the setting aside of an area which will be separate and sacred from all other areas. The Bishop raises the covered Paten on which the Holy Relics were placed, and prepares to leave the Church. The procession is led by the Altar Boys, followed by the Choir and

The Second Tuesday of Pascha, Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! Service of the Consecration of a Church (Part II)

04/21/2015

THE SERVICE OF CONSECRATION THE BISHOP: Blessed is our God always, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. CHOIR: Amen READER: Psalm 143 Hear, O Lord, my prayer give ear to my supplication; in Thy faithfulness answer me and in Thy righteousness. And enter not into judgment with Thy servant; for in Thy sight shall no man living be justified. For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down

The Second Monday of Pascha, Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! Service of the Consecration of a Church (Part I)

04/20/2015

What is salvation for an Orthodox Christian? For an Orthodox Christian salvation is union with Christ. This union with Christ is called the “Life in Christ”. The center of this “Life in Christ” is the Holy Altar, as well as the services which are related to it, i.e. the Seven Sacraments. Because the Holy Altar is so important in the life of an Orthodox Christian, the service of Consecration centers around the Holy Altar Table.

Renewal (Bright) Friday, Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen!

04/17/2015

The Feast of the Life Giving Spring The icon of Life Giving Spring has a wonderful and comforting appearance. Depicted is an enormous stone chalice, standing in a wide reservoir, filled with water. Above the chalice, holding in Her arms the Pre-eternal Infant and wearing a crown, hovers the Most Holy Virgin. To the reservoir filled with life-giving water have streamed those who thirst. The unfortunate and life-weary drink of the water and become strong

Renewal (Bright) Thursday, Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen!

04/16/2015

Bright Thursday On Bright Thursday the Gospel reading is John 3:1-15, which mentions the Pharisee Nicodemus who came by night to speak to Christ. The Lord told him that a man could not see the Kingdom of God unless he were born again. Nicodemus, taking Him much too literally, could not understand how such a thing was possible. The Savior then clarified His words, saying that one must be born “of water and the Spirit”

Renewal (Bright) Wednesday, Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen!

04/15/2015

Beloved brothers and sisters in Our Risen Lord Jesus Christ, CHRIST IS RISEN! TRULY HE IS RISEN! ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! ΑΛΗΘΩΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! ΔΙΑΚΑΙΝΗΣΙΜΟΣ ΕΒΔΟΜΑΔΑ OR BRIGHT OR RENEWAL WEEK [The Week following Holy and Great Pascha] We Orthodox Christians greet one another for the next 40 days until Ascension Thursday with the words: “Christ is Risen! and the response to the Paschal greeting is: “Truly He is Risen!” During the Renewal Week, the Holy Doors leading

Renewal (Bright) Tuesday, Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen!

04/14/2015

Bright Tuesday Commemoration of Sts Raphael, Nicholas and Irene of Lesbos (also April 9). Newly-Appeared Martyrs of Lesbos, Sts Raphael, Nicholas and Irene: these saints were martyred by the Turks on Bright Tuesday (April 9, 1463) ten years after the Fall of Constantinople. For nearly 500 years, they were forgotten by the people of Lesbos, but “the righteous Judge… opened the things that were hid” (2 Macc. 12:41). For centuries the people of Lesbos would

Renewal (Bright) Monday, Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen!

04/13/2015

Bright Monday On Bright Monday the Church commemorates the Sweet-Kissing (Glykophilousa) Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos. Like the Iveron Icon (March 31), the Sweet-Kissing Icon was also saved from the iconoclasts by a pious woman in the ninth century. It also traveled miraculously upon the sea, arriving at Mt. Athos, the “Garden of the Theotokos,” where it was honored by the monks. A nobleman named Simeon was an iconoclast who shared the emperor Theophilus’s