Repetition, repetition, glorious repetition!
The beauty of a liturgical Church
Today, Sunday, January 5, 2025, we celebrated Denho, the Feast of Epiphany (or Theophany), in our churches. On this day, we remember the baptism of Jesus and the revelation of the Trinity in His baptism when the Father bore witness to Christ, and the Holy Spirit confirmed the truth of His word. You'll be able to read more about this Feast Day here.
I didn’t attend my husband’s Greek Orthodox church with him today since we already participated in a baptismal liturgy yesterday (and gained a new goddaughter - congrats, Ellora, who took the name of St. Christina the Martyr as her patron saint in baptism!). I am very excited that within the past two weeks, my husband’s priest baptized seven young adults and three children and chrismated one additional man. What a goal to strive for in our Syriac Orthodox churches! Let's invite others to meet Jesus!
I was thrilled to spend Denho with my Syriac Orthodox sisters and brothers at my home church, St. Mary’s Syriac Orthodox Church in Glendale, AZ. I don't always get to go every Sunday since my church is over 1 1/2 hours down a mountainous highway from where we live. So a Sunday when I can go is a beautiful day. If you follow me on Facebook, you will probably notice that I spend more time at my husband's church than at my own - that is why! Distance! Having two loving church families to worship with is truly a blessing.
At any rate, all this is set up to provide the reason for my post today: the profound realization I had as I drove home just how beautiful the liturgical year, with its traditions, is within the Orthodox world. Nothing is done without reason. We know how our months are ordered, and our fasts and feast days mark which part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ we commemorate.
I already wrote about my discussion with a Southern Baptist pastor who told me how boring he thought it was to have the same liturgical texts every week…week after week after week:
Three years ago, I would have agreed with him. Now, I get excited when I look at the calendar and know what is ahead. I know which hymns will accompany a particular feast day (although, truth be told, that is still easier for me in the Greek Orthodox world as everything is in English… oh yes, I posted about that before, too.)
Apart from still learning the Syriac and Arabic hymns in my church (pray for me!)., I love that I know exactly where I am in the Holy Qurobo, our Divine Liturgy! After a while, you realize that even not speaking the language isn’t the most significant problem when there is a service book with a translation that helps you understand the prayers. I know when I hear the priest say “Maryam diledthoch” (Mary who bore you), the curtain will open, we all stand, and the Holy Qurobo begins after the morning prayers. I know when we will sing “Qadishat Aloho” (the Syriac Trisagion, or “Thrice Holy”). I know this is followed by “Faulus shliĥo ṯubono shemĉeth domar” (I heard Paul, the blessed Apostle say), the reading from an Epistle, and the Gospel passage of the day. I know when Abouna Abdelmesih begins to say, “I, a weak and sinful servant of God, confess and say: Holy is the Holy Father,” that he asks God to bless the censer and the incense that will sanctify both the altar and the people. I know that shortly after this, we will say the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed together (well, I am the only person who says it in English, except for maybe Michael, our other non-Arabic speaker apart from me). I know that when I hear him say “Abun d'Bashmayo” after a prayer, we will sing the most beautiful Lord's Prayer you will ever hear, and that still moves me to tears whenever I hear and sing it.
I could go on and on, but you are starting to understand. Everything in the Holy Qurobo is intended to draw us into worshiping our great God. It leads me back to the basics of the Gospel message: the great love our wonderful God displays for us in giving us His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Hearing the liturgy week after week and celebrating the feasts of the liturgical year and their set places orders our lives and teaches us to live lives that glorify Christ. There is nothing wrong with repetition, repetition, repetition when one can honestly and proudly add the word “glorious” to it because it lifts our souls. If you feel this is not your experience, I invite you to study the liturgical texts. The Syriac Orthodox Church has over 80 anaphoras (eucharistic prayers), from the first centuries of Christianity (St. James) through the twelfth century (Bar Salibi). You can read more here.
This coming Wednesday, January 8th, will be the two-year anniversary of my being sealed with holy Myron oil and received into the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch. I didn't understand any of what was said and done that day except for the parts Abouna Zmargdos explained to me carefully (thank you!). I can tell you with certainty that my experience keeps getting richer and deeper. Glory to God for all things, but today, especially for the beauty of repetition, repetition, holy and glorious repetition!
When will you come and see the beauty of the Orthodox faith?
