Byzantine Catholic Mission
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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
Slava Isusu Chrisu! Slava Na Viky!
Divine Liturgy begins at 4 p.m. every Sunday
Every Third Sunday of the Month is Food Sunday
Sunday of the Fathers of the First Nicene Council
Divine Liturgy Intention:
Our Offerings
Byzantine Catechism
Q: What did the Council of Nicea proclaim?
A: The council proclaimed that Jesus is true God and consubstantial with the Father. It defined the true Catholic
teaching in a formula that was later expanded into the Nicene Creed.
Q: Who are the Holy Fathers of the Church?
A: The Holy Fathers of the Church are the eminent preachers, writers, and defenders of the Faith. They are
distinguished by three characteristics: personal sanctity, solidity of teaching in all their writings and sermons, and
antiquity.
Have you seen the latest mission pics on www.hrbcc.org?
The Council of Nicea
In 325 AD a universal council assembled at Nicea to pass judgment on the false teaching of Arius, a priest of the
Church of Alexandria in Egypt. Three hundred and eighteen bishops and fathers of the Church were present. Acting as one, they
condemned Arius, and his teaching that Christ was a creature and not divine. The council proclaimed Christ to be
“consubstantial” — one in substance with — the Father. St. Athanasius and other Church
dignitaries defended this true Church teaching in the presence of St. Constantine the Great Emperor, son of
St. Helena. To be at Nicea was like being with the Apostles in Jerusalem: the Fathers, mantled by God, were taught by the
Holy Spirit to lay the foundation for all the subsequent teachings of the Church. To change a single iota of the Nicene Creed
is to diminish the grandeur and generosity of God’s gift and to alter radically the essence of Christianity.
Tradition’s Starring Role
There are two sources of church doctrine: Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition. Much of church doctrine comes from Tradition
because the Church established by our Lord existed before the books of the New Testament were written.
The first generations of the Church communicated their beliefs in the method used in rabbinical schools: oral transmission of
material from teacher to disciple. The importance of Tradition is made even clearer if we consider that it wasn’t until
the fifth century that the Church officially established which books are truly inspired by God’s revelation. It was in
this way that the Church herself determined which texts would be included in the Bible.
In making this judgment, the Church relied a great deal on oral Tradition, which was and remains unbroken from the days of the
Apostles. Therefore, it is to the Church we must turn for the true interpretation of the Bible. Without such a criterion the
authority of the Bible would rest upon the subjective opinion of each individual trying to interpret it. It is for this reason
that we believe the Bible by itself, without Tradition, is insufficient as a source of Truth.
To see this in practice, the Apostles met in Jerusalem as a body to discuss matters of importance to the new Church. The 15th
chapter of the Acts of the Apostles gives some details of this meeting. Afterwards, similar gatherings of the successors to
the Apostles, the bishops, took place from time to time. At these meetings articles of faith were formulated and decisions
were made on contemporary problems that arose in the life of the Church. We live and believe in these articles of faith,
collected under the name Tradition, just as if they were found in the Bible. The first of these meetings — Ecumenical Councils — was held in 325 at Nicea in present-day Turkey.
Pastoral Ponderings: Comfort during Times of Transition
Times of transition bring happiness as well as anxiety. We celebrate the past, and we look to the future. In the middle we
stand at a threshold, not knowing what the future will bring and hoping the past has prepared us well.
On Ascension Thursday the church stood at a time of transition. We remember the nine days the disciples marked between
Christ’s departure and the coming of the Holy Spirit. Surely they felt blessed to have shared the greatest adventure in
the history of humanity. But they certainly felt anxious about what lay ahead.
Stephen the deacon had preached the gospel faithfully, so his enemies threw rocks at him. Dying, passing from life to death
(and back to life again), filled with the Holy Spirit, Stephen looked up to heaven and saw the Son of Man standing at the right
hand of God. This vision is the reason we hear about Stephen’s death to this day. We have just celebrated the Ascension
of Jesus to the Right Hand of God. Now we hear that Stephen the dying martyr sees Jesus in heaven, as he had promised.
We transition from one job to another, from school to summer, from work to vacation, and from doubt to faith. Whenever we do,
we leave something behind and grasp something new. Today let us see a vision of hope. Whatever our future brings, let us
always remember that Christ will be there.
— Father O’Connell
Last updated: 26-May-2004 |
