Being at home finally makes Holy Week seem more real. I was able to attend Bridegroom Matins this morning. We focus a lot on Judas during this service, noting his betrayal of Christ that will take place later that night. Greed led Judas to betray Christ. He was too concerned with earthly cares and possessions. He became consumed by his obsession with money and, besides turning the Savior of the world over to the lawless ones, he also furthered his own self-destruction. This morning we sang "Love for money led a man to take his own life." In a way, I really feel sorry for Judas. He was one of the people closest to Christ but he really never grasped what Jesus taught. Had he fully understood the teaching of Christ, he would have realized that, even though he did something that was horrible, Christ would have forgiven him because he is a merciful and gracious God.
Thursday night, we celebrated Vespers (an evening prayer service) with the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great. We commemorate Christ instituting the Holy Eucharist. Imagine what it would have been like to be a part of that first Eucharist. Imagine you are Judas and while the consecrated bread is still in your mouth you are making plans to betray your friend, your Savior.
In our Cathedral in Parma, Ohio, our Bishop will wash and kiss the feet of twelve priests. He will also consecrate the Chrism oil used for Confirmation and will bless the antimensions. An antimension is a cloth with the relic of a saint sewn into it. It must always sit atop the Altar of Sacrifice in every Divine Liturgy. This custom began in the early days of the church when the Christians would celebrate the liturgy in the catacombs.
This is a picture of our priest, Fr. Thomas Loya, distributing the Holy Eucharist to an altar server.
Hey Katie,
ReplyDeleteCould you enlighten us about the liturgical object with golden rays on the right side of Fr. Tom? Thanks.
Hey Jack,
ReplyDeleteThe object you are referring to is called a ripidia. It is like a processional fan and it usually bears an image of a seraphim on one side and Christ or the Theotokos on the other side. I know that during the prayer of the Anaphora in the liturgy of St. Basil the priest prays "You are attended by the Seraphim, each with six wings: two wings cover their face, two their feet and with two they fly, and they call one to the other with unceasing and incessant hymns of praise." During the reading of the gospel and the consecration, the rapidion are slanted in a fanning like motion to symbolize the Seraphim fanning the Gospel and the Holy Gifts with their wings.