The Eastern Orthodox Church is a branch of Christianity, it rooted in the early Church and was developed in the Greek-speaking eastern branch of the Roman Empire. The Eastern Orthodoxy’s faith is very close to the faith of Roman Catholic Church. Orthodox Christianity‘s worship is highly liturgical and very iconographic. The Annunciation Greek Orthodox church that located in Houston Texas is the proto-cathedral of the Denver Metropolis. While attending the high Mass in the Annunciation Greek Orthodox catheral, and the Ordinary form of Mass in a Roman Catholic Church, one can tell the similars and differences between two form of the Orthodox church and Roman Catholic church in celebrating liturgy. The Ordinary Form of Mass also call Novus Ordo, which is the form of Mass that allow people to celebrate the Sacred Mystery in vernacular language. The Orthodox high Mass and the Ordinary form of Mass are both similar in the main orders and elements in celebrating Mass. However, each form of Mass has it unique way in celebrating liturgy, such as the different of the readings in the Liturgy of the Word, the Creed, the offertory of the Gift, and the gesture of the communicants in receiving Holy Communion.
Furthermore, one of the main parts of the Mass is the liturgy of the Word, the Word of God that nourishes and help us to live a holy
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life. Even though the high Mass in Annunciation Greek Orthodox cathedral and the Ordinary Form of Mass are both contain the reading passages from the Epistles and the Gospel. Yet, the cycle of the weekly reading is different. For instance, while in the Orthodox Mass, the faithful commemorates Saint Luke the Evangelist on Sunday October 18. Therefore, the Epistle is taken from the letter of Saint Paul to Colossians 4:5-11,14-18 that mentions about the action of the Apostles that including St. Luke. The Gospel reading is also from the Gospel of St. Luke. Whereas, in the Novus Ordo, the readings are taken from the week of twenty-ninth of Ordinary time. In addition, the Orthodox Mass and the Novus Ordo are both recited the Nicene Creed after the homily for the profession of faith in celebrating liturgy. However, in the Roman Catholic’s faith, the Nicene Creed is recited “And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.” The Roman Catholic Church believe the Holy Spirit proceeds from both Father and the Son. Whereas, in the Orthodoxy’s faith, the verse “and the Son” or “Filioque” is omitted in the text. Nevertheless, the beginning of the liturgy of the Eucharist is started with the Offertory, that is when the gifts of bread and wine brought forth to make ready for the Consecration. This Offertory is included in both forms of Orthodox Mass and the Ordinary form of Catholic Mass. Perhaps, the way of offering the gifts are different. In the Orthodox high Mass, the offertory calls the Great Entrance. The priest holding the holy gift of bread and wine and exit the Altar with the Altar boys in a solemn procession and goes to the center of the church. The gifts of the faithful now put on the Altar, the bread and wine have not been consecrated and the priest offer them to God in using the word if the penitent thief “ May the Lord remember all of you in His kingdom, now and forever and to the ages of ages.” In difference, the Novus Ordo simply having the lay people to bring forth the gift of bread and wine to the priest; the priest receives it and offer them to the Almighty God in using the text that is approved by the Church “ Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation. Through your goodness we have this bread to offer, which earth has given and human hands have made. It will become for us the bread of life.” The faithfuls answer “Blessed be God forever” And he does the same way with the wine. Nevertheless, the Holy Communion is the important part of the Mass. With the same faith, the Orthodoxy and the Roman Catholic Church believe the real present of body and blood of Jesus Christ in the image of bread and wine. The faithful partaking in the life of Christ by receiving His body and blood in the celebration of the Mass. However, there are some differences in the way of celebrating Eucharist. In the Annunciation Orthodox cathedral’s high Mass, in using the round loaf that baked by a parishioner and imprint with a seal. In the preparation service of the Liturgy of Eucharist, the priest cut out the seal and set it aside; it is called the “Lamb”, and the rest of the bread is cut up and place in the baskets and blessed by the priest. After the consecration of the bread and the chalice of wine that become His body and blood. The priest places the “Lamb” in the chalice with the blood. When receiving the communion, the communicants come toward the priest and in standing, open their mouths wide, the priest give them a fragment of the wine-soaked bread by using the golden spoon. After that, they walk to the Altar boys, who holding the basket of the blessed breads and take portions for themselves or even for the non-Orthodox that come to visit. It is the sign of fellowship. On the other hands, in the Novus Ordo Mass, the simple unleavened bread in the circles form are being used in the Liturgy of Eucharist. The communicants receiving Eucharist from the priest either by hand or on the tongue. Even though the Orthodox’s Mass is difference compare to the Ordinary form of Mass in the Catholic Church in few aspects but each form of Mass is contain their own beauty in worshipping God and capable to help the faithful to taste the glim of heaven.
While attending the Annunciation Orthodox cathedral’s high Mass, I think the church is beautiful, the architectures of the Church is fill with icons. The celebration is proper and formal. The singing and chanting are nonstop throughout the entire Mass including the constantly present of incense. The solemn procession that invited the faithful to participate in the celebration more
actively.
The offerings of bread , wine and other gifts are brought to the altar. The next section is the Eucharistic Prayer. The Communion is the fifth and probably the most important part of the Mass. It starts with the Lord's Prayer ( Paternoster ) and ends with the Communion for the Clergy and Congregation. Communion is where the gifts of bread and wine are blessed and then received.
I had the great privilege of visiting the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church. I visited this Church to witness the Salutation to the Theotokos, an annual service held to honor the annunciation of the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus. In this paper, I will discuss the history of the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church along with a detailed description of the architecture and interior of the church. I will also explain the service I attended, Salutations to the Theotokos, and my perspective of the service. But in order to fully understand all that I must first explain, leadership within the Church and iconography.
The Hagia Sophia is a stunning, spherical-shaped building made of marble and gold (Doc. 4). Justinian built the Hagia Sophia, which means “Holy Wisdom” in Greek, after a church of the same name was destroyed in riots in Constantinople (outside information). Procopius, Justinian’s court historian, described the church as “suspended from heaven by the fabled golden chain” (Doc. 4). Undoubtedly, visitors to the Hagia Sophia are left breathless by its beauty (outside information). Other churches that Justinian built include the Church of St. Salvator in Chora and the Church of the Apostles (Doc. 5). Justinian’s churches were beautiful; however, they were created to be more than just a display. The churches caused people to feel a connection with God, which helped unify the empire under a single faith. The bonding of the Romans under one faith helped strengthen the entire empire. Moreover, the abundance of churches in Constantinople helped make the city the center of religious power (Doc. 5). Evidence of Justinian’s legacy can be found when one realizes that the Byzantine Empire’s revived culture influenced Orthodox Christianity, a major branch of modern
highlights the importance of the sacraments and the clergy, can be seen as a response on
Every year, on the day before Easter, one of the biggest and most important masses of the year happens on that night. The mass is called the Easter Vigil. The Vigil brings out the true and full nature of the Catholic Church and all of its people. It celebrates Jesus Christ, as he rises from the dead and ascends into heaven. Since this mass is so large, it is split into four parts. The first, the Service of Light, and is the most solemn part of the mass the Church celebrates. The second part is the Liturgy of the Word, in which you listen to a reader who reads from the books of the Bible such as Genesis and Exodus. The third part of the celebration is known as the Celebration of the Rites of Initiation. At this point people become part of the Church and receive such sacraments as Baptism, Communion, and Confirmation. The fourth part of the vigil is the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The Liturgy of the Eucharist is the climax of the Easter Vigil. The Easter Vigil is the biggest mass in the Church and it requires four parts in the Service of Light, The Liturgy of the Word, the Celebration of the Rights of Initiation, and the Liturgy of the Eucharist, but also requires much more faith and concentration to fully appreciate it.
Although the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church ultimately had more differences which ended up causing their split, they once had quite a few a similarities. The churches shared “many of the same prayers and liturgies” (“Eastern Orthodox”, 2001 para.1). Both the Eastern and Western churches had a difference in opinion in defining and numbering sacraments but they did agree on what the seven major sacraments for their churches should be. They also agreed upon that the male clergy should consist of bishops, priests, and deacons.
Although the Eastern orthodox church shares roots with the Roman Catholic church, they have many contrasting beliefs.
From the Catholic observation point, the Church presents two parts: One representing its divine nature as the untarnished body of Christ, and one direc...
Having expectations for others is a normal thing, however, when these expectations reach an unrealistic level, it becomes harmful to the person on the receiving end. In the story "I Just Wanna be Average," unrealistic high or low level of expectations are shown to have negative effects on students. These expectations when low can drive the students to have low self-esteem and suck away their motivation to succeed. If anything the students acts out on how they're expected to. When they are bullied on how stupid they are, these students start behaving that way because that’s the only thing they’re told that they’re good for. This is shown on page 318 when Rose says "you'll have to shut down...and have to cultivate stupidity." It’s the same result when these expectations are set high, they harm the students because sometimes high expectations causes a lot of stress as they can be hard to reach. These students end up wanting to be like "the average student" or "the
I am part of the Coptic Orthodox Church, which has a rich history and tradition, the foundation roots are based in Egypt. The Coptic Church was established by Saint Mark in the middle of the 1st century, which is now more than nineteen centuries old, was the subject of many prophecies in the Old Testament. Isaiah the prophet, in Chapter 19, Verse 19 says "In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD at its border." I go to St. Abanoub Coptic Orthodox Church in Euless, TX. I have successfully joined St. Mark festival which was a summer organization at church where we learn about the Holy Bible, explore more about the church tradition, take hymns (church
The church external appearance was quite different than other churches that I have seen. It was basically a big white stucco block with a gold dome on top and four decorated spikes on each corner of the building that surrounded the dome. The people of course were all Greek and were very well dressed. Most of the men and boys all wore suits, and If not they had some kind of vest on. I don’t know if this was some kind of rule or tradition, but it mostly seemed as a respect to God. The women all wore the basic dresses, and all the skirts fell down below the knee. Everybody was proper and ordered. As I walked in the church I entered a lobby of some kind. What I saw hear was something like social hour. Everybody was in there. They were all speaking Greek, and I felt as if I was in a family reunion party. The children were all together; the adults talked together and the young adults all were together. The way they all socialize is when someone comes up to say hello, they give each other a kiss on the cheek and a hug. These people are all very close to each other. It seems as if the church is the center of their lives. I admire that trait as well. To enter the auditorium you must enter this little room, which has a piece of garment from St. Constantine and St. Helen. Also there were candles lit. As they walked through this little room they lit a candle and knelt down for a moment to pray, and then touched each garment and made a cross over their chest.
At the time, in the Christian church, Mass was considered the most solemn service; it was a commemoration of Christ’s Last Supper, and it was celebrated in Latin until 1962. In this service, there are two differing components: Ordinary and Proper. In Ordinary, the texts do not change: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei. In Proper, however, the texts vary: Introit, Gradual, Alleluia/Tract, Offertory, and
The architecture of cathedrals, basilicas and abbey churches is more than a structure at a particular address but actually serves as one transmitter of the Roman Catholic faith. The buildings are characterized by their large scale and follow several traditions, functions and styles that were all established in the Constantinian period. Within the Roman Catholic church, the concepts of place and time have significant roles in the construction and architecture of any catholic church. The buildings, the space, decoration and everything inside and outside a building has meaning; everything is intentionally set up. How and when things get done is determined by time which is composed by a set of calendars and specific hours.
As I was attending mass, I noticed, it was very organized. There was a lot of sitting and standing, where I found myself struggling to understand. I noticed that they read some passages from the bible and sang a lot of psalms and hymns. The only thing that was familiar to me was the Eucharist.
The Mass is celebrated in order for us, his followers, to receive God’s grace within a place of worship. The Mass serves as a form of intimate unification between God and all of his worshippers and disciples that make up the Mystical Body of Christ. This is only possible