Mirfield

When I was an Anglican, I used to make an annual personal retreat of a few days to the House of the Resurrection.  As many will know, this is the mother house of the Anglican monastic Community of the Resurrection.  I would go each year for four or five days surrounding the feast of the Conception of the Mother of God.

For a suburb-dweller from South Manchester, accustomed to 20-hours-a-day public transportation, meals available at all hours of the day or night, and the hustle and bustle of city life, a Yorkshire village in December was an entirely different world.  It was a very easy journey.  I lived near to Manchester Airport at the time so only needed to walk to the airport to get the train to Huddersfield.  From there, it was a short walk to Huddersfield bus station, and this is where there was the first sign that I was about to enter something entirely alien to my experience:

Read more...

Paraliturgies

I love the litugical cycle of the Church's days, weeks, months, and years.  I think that having a fixed liturgical calendar in some way reconciles our life and existence in fallen time to the saving work of Christ, and bring us into the eternal Eighth Day of the New Creation.  Largely for that reason, many of my posts reflect my love for this cycle of prayer and worship.

However, that does not mean that I do not find great value in those prayers and devotions that do not fit into this established pattern of the hallowing of time. There are many of them - some of them beautiful, some not so beautiful - but they all flow from people's hearts and stem from a desire to be drawn closer into communion with God and each other.

Two of my favourite paraliturgical services are Molebens and Cross-Processions.  My absolute favourite is the Processional Moleben, which combines the two, and is highly festive in character.  A Moleben is simply a service of prayer and supplication, and may be offered for any of a number of intentions but my favourite form is the General Moleben, contructed from excerpts from Matins, with propers inserted according to a particular celebration, whether it be the parish's patronal feast, a pilgrimage to a holy site, a visitation of holy relics or an icon, or whatever else.

I think that the primary reason that I love this so is that it that it is fairly simple ceremonially.  That may seem like a strange thing for me to write but I do mean it. It means that I can immerse myself in the prayer without having to think about what comes next, how to communicate that to others who need to know, and so forth.  It also means that, on festive occasions when there are visitors from elsewhere, there is no confusion because some are accustomed to Greek-style, some Russian-style, and others none at all.  It just sort of happens and we get on with the business of praying.  The second reason is that it comes with a very pertinent dose of Scripture, usually highlighting things about whatever is being celebrated.  There is usually at least one psalm, often an Epistle, and almost always a Gospel (which is boldly proclaimed outdoors if there is a procession, in which case there may even be as many as four Gospels).  The third is that, it being a prayer service rather than something strictly liturgical, the clergy stand among the laity rather than ministering in the altar, and the practical participation is much more on the vocal offering, which brings everybody together in a different way from more liturgical offerings, where we each have our distinctive roles that come together into one act of service to God.  In addition to the litany responses, there is the "God is the Lord" responsory, which the people belt out, before going immediately into the troparion of the celebration, which can itself be repeated over and over again if there is a procession.

This is important.  I do not think that there is a western equivalent to the troparion, which is a short, thematic hymn unique to each saint or feast, and which becomes something of a battle hymn of the people during services on that day.  Everybody will know the troparion of his parish's patron saint because it will be sung at nearly every Divine Liturgy in the parish, and the troparia of certain feasts easily roll off the tongue after having been Orthodox for a couple of years.  Stand in the middle of a gathering of Orthodox people and sing the line "O Lord, save thy people" or "When Thou wast baptised in the Jordan, O Lord" to tone 1 and you'll see what I mean.

When the procession is included, and there is a station made at each of the four sides of the church, where the people are blessed with the Cross, the festal icon, and holy water, while imploring God's mercy with joyful hope. 

I love it.

Why choose Google+ over Facebook?

This is one of those occasional posts that have little to do with matters of faith. However, as most of the people I know through church circles do use Facebook, this seems as good a place as any. (Also, Blogger, part of the Google emporium, is hardy about to ban me for suggesting people leave Facebook for Google).

I joined Google+ last week and have, since then, found it to be far superior to Facebook. Currently, I run both accounts but I only plan to continue doing so until a reasonable proportion of my regular contacts set up Google+ accounts, at which point, Facebook will be used only for the parish group, and perhaps not even that.

In the meanwhile, here are the reasons why I prefer Google+:

Read more...

Paschal Greetings from Ghana

Inculturation at its finest!

Great and Holy Week

Here are a few photographs and video clips from my parish this Holy Week. We had two servers serving for the first time, along with a choir who did exceptionally well from memory given that the music for various things had been mislaid. This has been the most moving Holy Week that I have ever experienced and it has been in large part due to the dedication of my parish priest and fellow parishioners who, this year, seem to have made a special effort to assist with the various practical preparations for the services. There really has been something of a feel of communal effort and ownership of the liturgies that has been very encouraging.

The Episcopal Liturgy

Too often, the word catholic is made to carry meanings that are not its own, usually by people who are driving a particular cause, but it does not mean "universal" in the sense of being all-encompassing, accepting everything. Rather it means something more akin to "of the whole", internally complete, lacking nothing. The Catholic Church is not anything like "the worldwide church", and is indeed not limited to this world, but rather it is the Church in its wholeness, in the fullness of its sacramental life, with the people of God, adopted children of the Father, baptised into Christ's name, and sealed with the Holy Spirit, believing and living the faith that has come to us from the Apostles, in union with and under the care of their high priest.

The basic unit of Christian life is not the individual. It is not the family or even the parish. No. The most fundamental unit of Christian life is the diocese - the local and full expression of the Catholic Church. Too often we forget this. People become isolated in their parishes, or worse yet, simply "go to church", and then go home again, not even being aware of their fellow parishioners. Yet growing into the likeness of God, which is the entire purpose of our Christian life, involves growing into loving communion with our brothers and sisters, reflecting in some way the communion of the Holy and Undivided Trinity.

Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness...' So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

- from Genesis 1

We forget that the eucharistic celebration with a priest is a mere shadow of the Church's sacramental ideal, and that our repeated commemoration of the bishop in our services is no mere pandering to worldly authority but an attempt to express at least in words what is lacking in physical presence, which is the gathering of the diocese around its bishop to make eucharist to God. In some mystical way, each of the parishes, monasteries, and missions in a diocese, offering the services to God, does so as a single offering with each other under the common bishop who is commemorated.

However, the Episcopal Divine Liturgy is the eucharistic celebration par excellence, for there is the fullest expression of the Catholic Church. There is the bishop, who rightly divides the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15), with his priests as extensions of his sacramental care for his people, and his deacons entrusted with assisting him in serving God in the liturgies, as he leads the gathered people of God in making supplication to their Lord, offering thanks and praise, and being imbued in return with the grace of God which is from on high.

Where the bishop is present, there let the congregation gather, just as where Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.

- St Ignatius the God-bearer

It is our duty as Christians to fervently pray for our bishop, and to take the opportunity to pray with him as he offers prayer and worship to God with us and on our behalf. We should take part in diocesan events, for these are events in the life of our family in God. We should know and love each other, and pray and serve with each other under our bishop, according to our particular order within the Body of Christ. Then we shall see the services of the Church as they are intended to be, without the curtailments and concessions that have to be made in the absence of a bishop but to which we have become accustomed in the parishes and perhaps come to accept as normal. This is itself fascinating and enlightening.



It is not every time that we shall be able to pray with the bishop - distances are long, fares and fuel are expensive, episcopal visitations are perhaps fewer than we would prefer - yet we must make the effort in humility and joyful expectation, for when we do so, properly disposed, we become more fully what we are to be as members of the Church, and we open ourselves just that little bit more to participation in the life-creating energies of God.

Be eager to do everything in God's harmony, with the Bishop presiding in the place of God, and the Presbytery in the place of the council of the Apostles, and the Deacons, most sweet to me, entrusted with the service of Jesus Christ.

Each of you must be part of this chorus so that, being harmonious in unity, receiving God's pitch in unison, you may sing with one voice through Jesus Christ to the Father.

-St Ignatius the God-Bearer

Kamilavka-tip to my friend, Reader Gregory Soloviev, for the video clip.

Most Ancient of All Mysteries: the Great Omophor

One thing I came to love about Orthodox church life very early on in my journey into it is the way in which elements of liturgical life actually mean something. By this, I mean that they are not simply interesting things we do, whose symbolism is an optional extra for people who like That Sort Of Thing™, and which must be explained to them because it is so far removed from their everyday church life, but rather that they are a normal part of the life of the Church.

This is something that I never really experienced in my Anglo-Catholic upbringing. Yes, we did all of the stuff with all of the bells and whistles, and it was splendid, but it was never anything more than a local conceit. We were always well aware that there were those all around us with whom we were in communion and who saw what we did as something odd, peculiar, and a means by which to define us. Indeed, in many cases it was how we defined ourselves. Rather than the way we worshipped being simply the way we worshipped, it was a badge of distinction that we wore self-consciously. This was no fault of our own, to be sure, but simply the natural result of a situation in which what is right and proper is nothing more than a fringe belief, seen by the majority as something to be gauped at - whether enthusiastically, respectfully or disparagingly, the result is the same.

Read more...

Fans

My parish purchased a pair of fans over the summer, which we only started to use regularly a month or so ago, (when we finally got enough altar servers to be able to do so). I had seen them used before in other places and had myself borne fans while serving at the cathedral. However, they were new to most of our people and, while I was able to explain their use and purpose, it occurred to me that I knew very little of their history and development. So I decided to do a little bit of googling and reading. This, of course, meant that a post about liturgical fans was destined to appear here sooner or later, and I must confess to having really enjoyed doing the background work for this. It has been educational and rather good fun.

First of all, the nomenclature is interesting. There is no doubt about the purpose of these implements: they were most definitely functional fans at one point, and the names by which they are called today simply reflect this. In the west, the liturgical fan goes by the name flabellum, which is simply the Latin word for fan. In the Russian church, it is called the ripidi, from the Greek word ripidion, again meaning fan. However, in the Greek church, the fans are generally no longer known as ripidia but rather hexapteryga, meaning six-winged, reflective of the ancient six-winged seraphim that are often depicted on them. Curiously, it seems that this name is applied even to examples that do not bear the image of the seraphim, (which many do not). Better, I think, to stick with fan. I rather like ours. They are a wooden pair, and form a complete set with our processional Cross and icon, which we keep at the High Place when not in use:

It seems that the use of such implements dates from the time of the ancient Egyptians,

Read more...

A Random Act of Culture

Or so it is called. I think it's really rather amazing.

New Bishop for Old Rite

Well, why should I be the only one who doesn't get to use tabloid-style headlines from time to time?

It seem that His Grace Bishop John of Caracas has been charged with the care of Old Ritualist communities in the Russian Church Abroad, which were placed under his extra-diocesan jurisdiction by a decision of the Synod of Bishops on the 13th (26th) of October. Bishop John was elevated to the holy episcopate at the parish of the Nativity, where he was consecrated according to the rites and ceremonies of the Old Rite. He, of course, replaces Bishop Daniel of Erie, who reposed in the Lord earlier this year. This would seem to indicate an ongoing support for the Old Rite and outreach to those who belong to it but who remain separated from the bosom of the Church. Long may it continue.



I am no expert on the Old Rite but only pick up snippets through reading due to my personal interest. However, I have noticed Bishop John's occasionally unusual attire and have always assumed that this was due to his Old Rite consecration. He does not always wear the klobuk, which is a modern combination of the kamilavka and monastic veil, but often the separate veil apparently worn over some form of headwear with a rounded top. Perhaps somebody with more knowledge can add more on this. Notice, as well, the distinctively less ornate Panagia (pectoral icon) and the Russian lestovka instead of the Greek prayer knots that can be seen in the above photograph, taken after Bishop John's consecration. Here are some videos from that occasion:



The Synod seems to be taking a few decisions lately without actually formalising them with a decree. I'm not sure what this means in terms of fluidity and future plans but I find it curious.

"The Way" now available as a DVD box set

Many of you will probably know about The Way, which is an Orthodox catechetical course, presenting the basics of the Faith in an Alpha-style format but with actual substance. I know that my local Antiochian parish ran it a couple of years ago and it seemed to have worked well. Well, it seems that, earlier this month, the course materials were made available as a DVD set with instructional material for organisers. It may be purchased from Amazon or Gazelle Books.

I must say that I am disappointed by the region encoding. From my past experience of working in a Christian bookstore, I know that the majority of Christian DVDs, whether they depict worship, lectures, documentaries, films, concerts, or just about anything, are not region encoded, precisely because the motives of controlling distribution and making a substantial profit are usually not the primary concerns of the publishers. Yet, if the Amazon listing is correct, the DVDs for The Way are encoded for region 2, essentially placing a restriction on how widely they can be used. I do not understand why they would do this.

That said, I do like the approach of the publicity video. There is no false glitz or hype. It doesn't try to grab people's attention through empty gimmicks but simply presents the content in an adult fashion for adults. I, for one, appreciate not being patronised in the way that Christian outreach efforts often do in tryng to re-package the Faith but which almost always seems like desperation. If we truly believe that what we have to share with the world is what it is, then we shouldn't need to fall back on such things, and this seems to me to show great faith and confidence that the "product" needs no embellishment.

Here it is:

Consecration of St Nicholas' Church, Oxford - Part 2

A photo-collage has now been posted to Youtube with some photographs not included in the set previously linked. I hope you enjoy it as much as I just have.

The Cherubic Hymn meets Karl Jenkins

I'll let you make of that what you will. I rather like it musically (for all of the same reasons that I enjoy the music of Karl Jenkins, who could easily have composed this) but can't see it possibly working as a Cherubic Hymn during the Liturgy. For those requiring an antidote, here is a setting of the Trisagion by the same composer:



I must also confess a fondness for this Trisagion by Serbian American composer Lisa Milena Simikic. I rather like modern music done well.

The New "WaterAid" Advert

I don't like to push causes onto people and generally tend not to use my blog for such things. However, I would like to draw people's attention to this advert.



I think it's incredibly powerful and shows how, with a little bit of imagination, such appeals can be done in a way the truly engages the viewer without resorting to the sort of imagery that I am sure others find as disturbing as I do. That isn't to say that the reality ought to be hidden from us but I'm sure I'm not the only one who simply can't bear to watch at times and has been tempted to turn over for thirty seconds when images of starving and dying children suddenly appear on our screens without warning. With this advert, I actually watched from beginning to end and want to do something so I thought I would share it.

You can donate to WaterAid here.

August Church Tour: part 1

I promised here that I would try to remember to take my camera on my visits to different churches over these three weekends. Well, I managed to remember it today for my visit to this parish. It was my first ever visit to a Serbian parish and I must say that I am thoroughly looking forward to repeating the experience. While I have always been welcomed wherever I have gone, never before today had I felt more immediately at home on a visit to any parish.

I planned my journey last night and was surprised to learn that it would take me considerably less time to travel to St John's than it does my own parish. It involved getting a bus to Rochdale then a train to Halifax. I managed to make use of the wonderful feature on Google Maps that allows one to view street level for many built-up areas in order to work out exactly where the bus stop was and what buildings to look out for immediately before I reached it, (never having been to Rochdale before). I got to Rochdale station, bought my ticket, and made my way to the platform, where I was greeted by a curious site. I took a photograph.

It is St John's Catholic church. I asked about it when I got to Halifax and learnt that, despite its appearance, it was built as a Latin Rite church and was never Byzantine, which came as a surprise given its appearance as Rochdale's own Agia Sofia.

Read more...

St Moses the Black: the Motion Picture

I would like, if I may, to draw readers' attention to Nathan's blog, where he has recently revealed his other talents as a film producer and screenwriter, and announced plans to produce a film about the life of St Moses the Black. It sounds a truly exciting project and one that will, no doubt, be greatly beneficial to many people. We could all learn from the life of St Moses, abandoning those things that separate us from God and neighbour, rejecting our shame at confessing them, and seeking as best we can to follow the way of Christ.

I now have the DVDs of the lives of St Elisabeth the New Martyr and St John of Shanghai and San Francisco, and I think that such presentations of the Saints are splendid, both for their edification of Christians and for their potential use in missionary activity.

This project needs monetary support. Please contact Nathan through his website if you think you might be able to help.

Otche Nash

This is really quite lovely, especially the end. Young children praying in harmony always make me cry.

Forward in Orthodox Faith

An American-based friend recently sent me a message, asking about efforts on the part of Orthodox churches in Britain to reach out to Forward in Faith. I very rudely failed to reply in a timely fashion so have decided to make a blog post out of it in the hope that this will go some way towards appeasing the wrath of my acquaintance. I just hope that I don't offend too many people by responding publicly.

The answer is that I know of very little that has been organised on any sort of large scale. There is the quiet evangelism among individuals, for which Orthodoxy is known, but there's nothing such as the OCA's outreach to ACNA. While Metropolitan Jonah's address to their conference was outstanding and inspiring, and no doubt ideal for that context, it was tailored for a situation that is so far removed from the reality of church life in Britain as to be largely an irrelevance to us.

The impression I have got over the years, both as an Anglo-Catholic and now as Orthodox who hears the views of Anglo-Catholics about Orthodoxy, is that English (the factors facing those in Scotland and elsewhere may be different) and North American Anglo-Catholics simply do not understand each other.

Read more...

The Curtain Falls

I sent my parish priest an e-mail a few weeks back, asking whether we could either have the veil at the Royal Doors put on a drawstring or I could be given £1,000,000. I made it quite clear that I was quite happy to settle for whichever was easier. Anyway, to my disappointment, he appeared at church one Saturday shortly afterwards with a corded curtain rail which, he explained with great delight, he had procured from B&Q for some ridiculously tiny sum of money - think single figures.

Having reconciled myself over the course of the afternoon to not having just become a millionaire, I found some pleasure in the new rail, until it became apparent that the hooks didn't move properly along the track because the tension in the cord of this costly masterwork of engineering wasn't quite right. Not only that, but the whole apparatus came crashing down in the middle of Vespers, causing the aposticha to come grinding to a halt while the two of us on the kliros looked up in bemusement. It is my parish priest's frugality that has seen our parish survive difficult times so we have much for which to be grateful. However, on this occasion, I was very pleased today to stay in awaiting the arrival of a rather smart corded curtain rail from John Lewis. Having removed the unnecessary parts, (the designers assume that one will be suspending two curtains that meet in the middle, which is, of course, not my intention), and having worked out how it all fits together, I shall make my first attempt at ecclesiastical DIY during the course of this coming week.

Watch this space.

In the meanwhile, I leave you with this song, the opening lines of which seem particularly pertinent:

Liturgical Oddities

I stumbled upon this website yesterday and was delighted to find an Orthodox parish broadcasting its services. I began watching the most recent broadcast yesterday, as I very much enjoy looking at these things. Only, I could only watch so far before I just had to shut the computer down. I watched the rest today. Imagine my surprise at some of the things that I saw:

A subdeacon giving a litany, a deacon reading half of the Anaphora instead of the priest, a lay server placing items on the Holy Table, the priest not dividing the Lamb with the spear as usual but grabbing it and carelessly ripping It apart with his bare hands with seemingly little care for prevention of dropping crumbs. The Royal Doors were wide open throughout the Liturgy, even at the point where they would be closed if a bishop were to serve. Very peculiar was the complete omission of the Litany of Fervent Supplication, the Litany for the Catechumens, both Litanies of the Faithful, and the Litany before the Lord's Prayer, not to mention other minor things, which, while not major causes of alarm, were unusual, such as kneeling for part of the Anaphora (on a Sunday), the deacons splitting the litanies between them, and so forth. I found watching it more of a distraction than a spiritually beneficial experience.

Is this sort of thing common in North American parishes under Antioch?

Read more...