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 Christu! Slava Na Niky!
Divine Liturgy begins at 4 p.m. Every Sunday
Potluck supper follows Liturgy on the third Sunday of the month
MAY 27, 2007
Our Offerings
PRAYER TO THE HOLY SPIRIT: HEAVENLY KING
O Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth,
You are everywhere present and fill all things. Treasury of Blessings and Giver of Life, come and dwell within us, cleanse us of all stain, and save our souls, O Gracious Lord.
The prayer “Heavenly King” was composed as part of the vespers for the feast of Pentecost. We pray this prayer
often during the day: at awakening, before study or work, before any important undertaking, and before retiring for the night.
The priest recites it before every service and, particularly, before celebrating the Divine Liturgy.
This prayer is the only prayer addressed directly and personally to the Holy Spirit. We call on God and ask Him to be in us as
a personal gift. We call the Holy Spirit “Heavenly King,” because He leads us into the Kingdom of Heaven. We call
Him “Comforter,” because He wipes always all tears and changes all sorrow into joy, so that the love of God may
encompass the world. Invoking the Holy Spirit, we speak to Him, as to a Person, as to One of the Holy Trinity. The Person of
the Holy Spirit is difficult for us to understand and relate to, because He is often hidden behind His gifts.
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. Often
these gifts are manifested in teaching, prophecy and preaching; but most especially in faith, in the sharing of hope, and in
the awe of life and love. In giving these gifts, the Spirit gives Himself. The Holy Spirit is the Person-Gift par excellence
of the Father through the Son. In giving Himself, He identifies with our most intimate self and introduces us into this
communion of the Holy Trinity.
We pray immediately after receiving Holy Communion: “We have seen the true light, we have received the Heavenly Spirit,
we have found the true faith, and we worship the undivided Trinity, for the Trinity has saved us.”
This prayer also is part of the vespers for the feast of Pentecost. We express our thanks to the Holy Trinity, which reveals
itself to us as Pentecost. We repeat the prayer at every Divine Liturgy because Pentecost is constant and continuous. The Holy
Spirit continues to pour out His gifts upon us daily.
REJOICE, THOU WHO ART INCONTESTABLY MORE EXALTED THAN THE CHERUBIN AND SURPASSES THE SERAPHIM !
With the others, Mary awaits the coming of the spirit at Pentecost. Her special position is emphasized by the title
“Mother of Jesus.”
“Then, they returned unto Jerusalem from the Mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, being a symbol of the
life-giving Spirit. Just as nature in springtime is renewed with greens and flowers, so too, Holy Church and her faithful are
renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit. ...And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room, where abode both
Peter and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alpheus, and Simon the
Zealot, and Jude the brother of James. These all persevered with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and
Mary the Mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.” (Acts 1:12-14)
“Suddenly, there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were
sitting, and there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.”
(Acts 2:2-3)
The gifts of the Holy Spirit were also powered out upon the Most Blessed Virgin, and in greater abundance than upon the
Apostles—just as a large vessel can contain more water. The Theotokos was a vessel most rich in the gifts of the Holy
Spirit, for she had been a worthy Temple of Him before this, in which He constantly dwelt. The Mother of God was possessed of
all the virtues in her blessed soul. She is higher than the Apostles, the support of the Martyrs, the certainty of doctors. No
divine gifts can reach either angels or man save through her mediation.
“As one is saved through the lamp...every movement towards God, every impulse towards good coming from Him is most
realizable saved through the mediation of the Virgin.” —St. Gregory Palamas
PASTORAL PONDERINGS
For the next several weeks we will look at some basic beliefs of our Catholic Christian faith. There is no better place to
start than with a review of our sacramental theology. The Latin word sacramentum means “a sign of the sacred”. The
Catechism of the Catholic Church ties together the many meanings of sacraments in the following way. “The sacraments are
efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. The
visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper to each sacrament. They bear
fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions.”
Sacraments are celebrations of Christian tradition, of Christian life and of Christian hope. They share the dimensions of
past, present and future. Sacraments, however, are not ordinary celebrations. They are special occasions for experiencing
God’s saving presence. In other words, sacraments celebrate Christ's life. Tradition tells us that all of the
sacraments were instituted by Christ and each sacrament has a foundation in the life and ministry of Jesus.
For example, Baptism calls to mind the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan and the way Jesus gathered a community around himself.
It also reminds us of the command of the risen Lord to carry the gospel to others and to baptize them. The Eucharist reminds
us of the Last Supper. Those familiar with the Gospels are also reminds of other meals to which Jesus invited even those who
were rejected by others. Reconciliation reminds us of Jesus’ invitation to forgive one another, and of the way he
forgave those who put him to death.
—Father Thomas O’Connell
Last updated: 28-May-2007 |
