3 Φεβρουαρίου 2017

With great emotion, Symeon the righteous holds the divine infant in his arms. His heart is inundated with joy. His gaze is fixed upon the heavens and his lips move devoutly, in the fervent prayer which has risen to his mouth at that blessed moment: “Lord, now you  are letting your servant depart…”. This thrice-blessed elder then turns to Our Most Holy Lady, to tell her words of great moment. With the air of a prophet illumined by the spirit of God revealing the will of the Most High, he says, “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign gainsaid”. Truly prophetic words, which Our Lady hears, not merely with emotion ...

Through sin, we did not only set aside God’s commandment but also engendered within ourselves a false idea and notion about God. In reality, the false idea and notion about God are actually the very essence of satanic deceit. This is why our fall, became His ‘fall’: in the human conscience, God is no longer Who He really is. The human conscience, wallowing in the tyranny of our desires, can think only in a post-fall manner about any form of authority and control regarding everything within it and around it. Just as we tried to become God by violence, so now our centres of power, even religious ones, demand absolute authority and domination, and there’s no way round this. God can ...

At this point, the curtain of the Royal Doors is usually closed, and preparations are made for the Holy Communion of the priests and the faithful. While this is happening, the Communion Hymn is sung, which is often verses from certain psalms, but may also be other hymns or extracts from the prayers of preparation for Holy Communion. First the priest communes from the ΙΣ portion of the Body, and then the Blood, three times. The priest then gives Communion to the deacon and the other priests, if present, make their Communion in the same way, having first put on their stoles. The priest then places the other portions of the Body in the Holy Chalice and carefully gathers the ‘pearls’ (the ...