Holy Transfiguration

On Labor Day, September 3 (2006). the parish gathered at the almost completed foundation and in a solemn service buried a stone at the place where the altar will set. This stone was blessed by our bishop, His Eminence, Metropolitan Nicholas, last year at the dedication of the church property.

On September 9 the slab was poured and completed and on the following day the parish installed the treated sill plate which was later inspected and approved by the local building inspector. So now we are ready to raise the walls.

We took a major step forward on Saturday, September 16 as we began framing the walls of the church.

On Saturday, October 7, we gathered at the cross for the 1st hour of prayer and then began preparations to raise the trusses.

On Tuesday, October 10, the Darons and Millers completed more of the bracing and installed several rows of sheeting on the roof.

Finally, on Sunday August 5 (2007), we celebrated our first Sunday Divine Liturgy. The day was made very special by a visit from Very Reverend Protopresbyter George Havrila and his wife, Pani Anna.

Festal Icons

The holy days of the Russian Orthodox Church are divided into two categories: the major or great feast days that commemorate events in the lives of Christ and the Theotokos; and holy days that commemorate the various events in the lives of the saints.

It is known from the Gospels that the time of the death and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ was during the time of the celebration of the Jewish feast of Passover, which is calculated according to the Old Testament lunar calendar. The Church fathers used the same calculations to produce the Paschal cycle, therefore, all the feasts connected with Pascha are movable. All others are celebrated on a specific date and are called immovable feasts.

The immovable great feasts are: the Nativity of the Theotokos (8/21 Sept.), the Elevation of the Cross (Sept. 14/27), the Presentation of the Theotokos in the Temple (Nov. 21/Dec. 4), the Nativity of Christ (Dec. 25/Jan. 7), Theophany (Jan. 6/19), the Presentation of Christ in the Temple (Feb. 2/15), the Annunciation (March 25/Apr. 7), the Transfiguration of the Lord (Aug. 6/19), and the Dormition of the Theotokos (Aug. 15/28).

The movable great feasts are: Entrance of our Lord into Jerusalem, Ascension of our Lord, Pentecost, and Pascha.

The Church calendar begins with the Nativity of the Theotokos celebrated on Aug. 26/Sept. 8. This holy day corresponds closely to the date of the Jewish New Year, which to the Hebrews signified the beginning of a new era in their lives. Similarly the early Church, which generally followed the Old Testament celebrations of the Hebrews, proclaimed the new Christian era by announcing to the world the birth of the Holy Virgin Mary. She was to be the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, by His birth was to bring a new era into the world - the era of Christianity.

Holy feast days are not just to remember the past. By participating in these feasts each believer draws closer to the experience of the Holy Church, and follows its leadership. Each Christian soul relives the great events of the Gospels and of Church history, and in this way goes through a school of spiritual growth.

(From http://www.orthodoxphotos.com/readings/feasts/; Images almost exclusively from oca.org; other text: various)

Daily Saints

In the Orthodox Church the worship (latreia) given to God is completely different from the honor (tim) of love (agape) and respect, or even veneration (proskynesis), "paid to all those endowed with some dignity" (St. John Chrysostom, Hom. III, 40). The Orthodox honor the saints to express their love and gratitude to God, who has "perfected" the saints. As St. Symeon the New Theologian writes, "God is the teacher of the Prophets, the co-traveller with the Apostles, the power of the Martyrs, the inspiration of the Fathers and Teachers, the perfection of all Saints ... " (Catechesis, I).

Throughout early Christianity, Christians customarily met in the places where the martyrs had died, to build churches in their honor, venerate their relics and memory, and present their example for imitation by others. Interesting information on this subject derives from the Martyrdom of St. Polycarp (ch. 17-18), according to which the early Christians reverently collected the remains of the saints and honored them "more than precious stones." They also met on the day of their death to commemorate "their new birthday, the day they entered into their new life, in Heaven." To this day the Orthodox have maintained the liturgical custom of meeting on the day of the saint's death, of building churches honoring their names, and of paying special respect to their relics and icons. The Seventh Ecumenical Council (787 A.D.), in summarizing this practice of the Church, declares that "we adore and respect God our Lord; and those who have been genuine servants of our common Lord we honor and venerate because they have the power to make us friends with God the King of all."

(From http://www.goarch.org/en/ourfaith/articles/article8044.asp; Images: Pravoslavie.ru and Oca.org; Textual information: Menologion for Windows Version 3.0. Copyright 1997-2007 Thomas G. (Michael) Purcell)

The Theotokos

Theotokos specifically excludes the understanding of Mary as Mother of God in the eternal sense. Christians believe that God is the cause of all, with neither origin nor source, and is therefore "without a mother." This stands in contrast to classical Greco-Roman religion in particular, where a number of divine female figures appear as "mothers" of other divinities, demi-gods, or heroes. For example, Juno was revered as the mother of Vulcan; Aphrodite, as the mother of Aeneas.

On the other hand, Christians believe God the Son is begotten of God the Father "from all eternity" (see Trinity and Nicene Creed), but is born "in time" of Mary. Theotokos thus refers to the Incarnation, when the Second Person of the Holy Trinity took on human nature in addition to his pre-existing divine nature, this being made possible through the cooperation of Mary.

Since mainstream Christians understand Jesus Christ as both fully God and fully human, they call Mary Theotokos to affirm the fullness of God's incarnation. The Council of Ephesus decreed, in opposition to those who denied Mary the title Theotokos ("the one who gives birth to God") but called her Christotokos ("the one who gives birth to Christ"), that Mary is Theotokos because her son Jesus is one person who is both God and man, divine and human. As Cyril of Alexandria wrote, "I am amazed that there are some who are entirely in doubt as to whether the holy Virgin should be called Theotokos or not. For if our Lord Jesus Christ is God, how is the holy Virgin who gave [Him] birth, not [Theotokos]?" (Epistle 1, to the monks of Egypt; PG 77:13B). Thus the significance of Theotokos lies more in what it says about Jesus than any declaration about Mary.

Within the Orthodox doctrinal teaching on the economy of salvation, Mary's identity, role, and status as Theotokos is acknowledged to be indispensable, and it is for that reason formally defined as official dogma. (The only other Mariological teaching so defined is that of her perpetual virginity). Apart from within Roman Catholicism, other Marian beliefs (for example, her sinlessness, the circumstances surrounding her conception and birth, her Presentation in the Temple, and her death) are expressed in the Church's liturgy but are not formally defined, and belief in them is not a condition for baptism. The Roman Catholic Church has formally defined as dogma two Marian teachings: her sinlessness (the Immaculate Conception) by Pope Pius IX in 1854, and her bodily Assumption into Heaven after her death by Pope Pius XII in 1950.

(From WikiPedia; Images from pravoslavie.ru)

Orthodox Churches

While sharing many traditions, East and West in Christianity began to diverge from each other from an early date. Whereas the basilica, a long aisled hall with an apse at one end, was the most common form in the West, a more compact centralised style became predominant in the East. These churches were in origin 'martyria' focused on the tombs of the saints who had died during the persecutions which only fully ended with the conversion of the Emperor Constantine. They copied pagan tombs and were roofed over by a dome which symbolised heaven. The central dome was then often surrounded by structures at the four points of the compass producing a cruciform shape - these were themselves often topped by towers or domes. The centralised and basilica structures were sometimes combined as in the church of Hagia Sophia in Contantinople (now Istanbul). The basilican east end then allowed for the erection of an iconostasis, a screen on which icons are hung and which conceals the altar from the worshippers except at those points in the liturgy when its doors are opened.

The centralised form was to influence Islamic architecture, as for example the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem and the Umayyad Great Mosque mosque in Damascus.

A variant form of the centralised church was developed in Russia and came to prominence in the 16th century. Here the dome was replaced by a much thinner and taller hipped or conical roof which, it is said, originated from the need to prevent snow from remaining on roofs. One of the finest examples of these tented churches is St. Basil's in Red Square in Moscow....

Unlike the Catholic Church architecture with its tendencies of modernity (see, e.g., Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral or Notre Dame du Haut), the Orthodox style remains largely conservative and traditional. One notable and architecturally important exception is Frank Lloyd Wright's design of Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, in the United States.

(From WikiPedia: Images from pravoslavie.ru)

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