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Holy Resurrection Byzantine Catholic Mission |
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O ye incorporeal angels who stand before the throne of God, luminous with the brilliance thereof and everlastingly shining with radiance. As secondary luminaries, entreat Christ, that He grant unto our souls peace and great mercy. O immortal messengers of the truly incorruptible Life, ye most blessed ones who received life from the first Life, ye have become holy beholders of the eternal Wisdom, full of light, and reflecting lamps shown forth as is meet. O ye archangels and angels, principalities, thrones, dominions, six-winged seraphim, and divine, many-eyed cherubim, instruments of wisdom, virtues and powers most divine. Pray ye to Christ, that He grant our souls peace and great mercy. Archives:
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HOLY RESURRECTION BYZANTINE CATHOLIC MISSION
GLORY TO JESUS CHRIST! GLORY FOREVER!
JUNE 8, 2003 - PENTECOST SUNDAY - DESCENT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
DIVINE LITURGY INTENTION - Charles Stransky
We welcome all visitors among us always! We hope you find our worship true and reverent and our people here friendly and cordial. If you are seeking a spiritual home, we would be honored by your presence in our family. We are glad you chose to worship with us. READERS SERVICE - VESPERS June 8, 2003 - Pentecost Sunday - at 7 PM Pentecost Vespers (known as Kneeling Vespers). At this service we kneel for the first time following Pascha. There are lengthy prayers offered during our kneeling, for the whole world, but especially for the departed from all ages. Vespers - every Saturday evening at 6:30 PM at Holy Family except when we have Divine Liturgy that weekend. Everyone is welcome to attend.
NEXT DIVINE LITURGY
JUNE 15, 2003 - 3:00 PM - SUNDAY OF ALL SAINTS AND FATHER'S DAY. THERE WILL BE A POTLUCK AFTERWARDS.
Offering for May 18 - $602.00
Candle Money - $12.00
Food Sunday - every third Sunday please bring non-perishable food for the needy. SAYINGS OF THE CHURCH FATHERS
What infinite nothingness our food and drink represent on the one side, and what infinite grandeur the man himself who is fed by them
represents on the other side! Is it not the greatest insanity for man, for this image of God, for this partaker of the divine
nature, for whom ...."God may be in all" (1 Cor. 15:28) ...to grudge food, drink, clothing, dwelling, and anything else earthly,
corruptible and transitory! Therefore, do not let us be sparing of anything for our neighbor! O, what a great honor it is to feed, to
clothe, to give rest to the image of God! Most gracious and most bountiful God fill our hearts with mercy and bountifulness!
St. John of Kronstadt
My Life in Christ, Part One Holy Trinity Monastery - pg 182 PENTECOST
Pentecost commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles. This happened fifty days after the resurrection, on an
ancient Jewish festival called, in the Pentateuch, the Feast of Weeks (2 Mc. 12:32) since, it was celebrated exactly seven
weeks after the Passover. As it came approximately fifty days after the Passover, it was alos called, even in pre-Christian times,
"Pentecost," from the Greek word for fiftieth. The Feast of Weeks was to the Jews only the conclusion of the harvest, in thanksgiving
for which bread made from the newly gathered wheat was presented to God as a sacrifice. It was also the annual memorial of the
promulgation of the Law of Mt. Sinai. The Mosaic Church dated its beginning from the same day.
Pentecost can be considered as Easter's twin. It brings the Easter season to a second climax. Christ's wonderful work of redemption
reached true completion with the descent of the Holy Spirit.
Pentecost also marks the beginning of the work and activity of the Holy Spirit. Before His departure, Jesus promised that He would
not leave us orphans. He would send the Paraclete, the Comforter, who would teach us all things. Thus, Pentecost is, in a certain
way, the feast of the the Holy Spirit. In the Eastern Church, Pentecost is regarded as the final revelation of the dogma of the Holy
Trinity, most of the hymns of the liturgy glorify this mystery. At vespers we sing, "Let us praise the consubstantial Trinity, the
Father and the Son with the Holy Spirit, for thus did all the Prophets preach, and the apostles and martyrs also." Another stichera
of Vespers reads: "Come, O nations, let us worship the three-personed God-head, which we all worship..."
Without doubt, this feast has been observed in the Church since apostolic times (Acts 2:1). From the writings of Tertullian it
is evident that Pentecost, together with Easter, was already so well established that it must have been in existence for some time.
The "Apostolic Constitutions" state that Pentecost is to be regarded as a high festival because of it the Lord Jesus sent down the
Holy Spirit.
At the beginning of the Divine Liturgy on Pentecost Sunday the hymn "O Heavenly King" is sung in honor of the Holy Spirit. After The
Divine Liturgy, a special Vespers is sung in honor of the Blessed Trinity, together with three rather lengthy prayers composed by
St. Basil to invoke the help of the Holy Spirit.
On this day, churches and private homes are decked with green branches and green flowers; this is why Pentecost is also called the
"Green Holy Day." Other names for Pentecost are "Whitsunday," "Holy Sunday,", or "Rusalia."
Pentecost is the feast when the Holy Spirit goes forth to conquer, to shape, and to create, especially in the form of three great
graces: love, zeal, and the spirit of prayer. The first grace, love, is the essence of the day, for the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of
Love; Pentecost is the most sublime revelation of love. Love is born at Christmas, grown through suffering on Golgotha and becomes
glowing, conquering and victorious at Pentecost. The second grace, zeal, is what St. John the Baptist called the "baptism of fire."
Jesus Himself said that He came to "cast fire on the earth" and wished it to burn. This is the fire that still burns in the veins of
the Church, praying for and longing for sanctity. The third grace of Pentecost, the spirit of prayer, is the very breath of the Holy
Spirt. We have to beg for this spirit of prayer and guard it zealously. When we have won it, we must give thanks for it. If we lack
it, we must seek it. Grace and prayer go together.
THE WEEK FOLLOWING PENTECOST IS FREE FROM FAST AND ABSTINENCE. THE PRAYER "O HEAVENLY KING" IS PRAYED KNEELING DURING THE WEEK OF PENTECOST. THE MONDAY FOLLOWING PENTECOST IS THE FEAST OF THE HOLY TRINITY. Last updated: 9-Jun-2003 |
