the domestic zoo

As the Prophets beheld,
As the Apostles taught,
As the Church received,
As the Teachers dogmatized,
As the Universe agreed,
As Grace illumined,
As the Truth revealed,
As falsehood passed away,
As Wisdom presented,
As Christ awarded,

Thus we declare,
Thus we assert,
Thus we proclaim Christ our true God
and honor His saints,

In words,
In writings,
In thoughts,
In sacrifices,
In churches,
In holy icons.

On the one hand, worshiping and reverencing Christ as God and Lord.
And on the other hand, honoring and venerating His Saints as true servants of the same Lord.

This is the Faith of the Apostles.
This is the Faith of the Fathers.
This is the Faith of the Orthodox.
This is the Faith which has established the Universe.

Great Lent should be regarded as an invaluable divine gift. It is a sacred time of divine grace, which seeks to detach us from things material, lowly and corrupt in order to attract us toward things superior, wholesome and spiritual. It is a unique opportunity to remove from the soul every passion, to rid the body of everything superfluous, harmful and mortal. Accordingly, then, it is a time of immense rejoicing and gladness. A genuine feast and exhilaration!

- Catechetical Homily On the Commencement of Holy and Great Lent

“We are always between morning and evening,   between Sunday and Sunday, between Easter and Easter, between the two comings of Christ. The experience of time as end gives an absolute importance to whatever we do now, makes it final, decisive. The experience of time as beginning fills all our time with joy…”

chapter 3, ‘The Time of Mission’

Five Years Ago.

I walked into an Orthodox Church. I experienced that truly otherworldly worship.

And I knew.

The turmoil had stopped. My wandering had ceased.

A great weight had been lifted. It wasn’t up to me anymore. This wasn’t what I had come from. This was so much more than that. I had found something deeper, truer and more wonderful than anything I had known. Because I had found it – the pearl of great price. The Fullness of the Faith.

I felt something in my soul that I’ve never felt before. Like breathing deeply for the first time.

Glory to You, O Lord. Glory to You.

Bright Week (or Renewal Week; in Greek, Diakaimsimos) is the first week following the Resurrection. It ends the following Sunday. For Orthodox Christians Bright Week begins a period of celebration that continues for fifty days until Pentecost.

This celebration includes the practice of the faithful joyously greeting each other with the salutation of Christ is risen, followed by the response indeed He is risen or truly He is risen, as the whole of creation is renewed by Our Lord and Savior. The services of Bright Week are done with the Royal Doors fully open. This unblocked view of the altar symbolizes the open door of Christ’s empty tomb as well as the rent veil of the Jewish Temple, which was torn apart at the moment Christ died. Also, fasting is completely prohibited to all Orthodox during Bright Week so that the faithful may recover their strength after the eight weeks of Great Lent and Holy Week.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And now, full of food and exhausted from a marathon week of services…I am going to take a nap. Happy Bright Monday!