Father Bill's Blog
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A Smorgasbord: Saints' Stories, Seasons, Society, Seven Sins, plus Travels mostly to Greece and who knows what next? by Father Bill Olnhausen.
Father Bill's Blog
3h ago
x Christ is risen! Truly He is risen! 1) The Holy Fire 2024 The video below is from yesterday, Saturday May 4, 2024. For reasons I described yesterday, the crowd is less Palestinian, though some apparently got it. The Holy Fire arrives not long after 1 hour 50 minutes. What follows after that is just ..read more
Father Bill's Blog
3h ago
GREAT AND HOLY PASCHA! Christ is risen! Truly he is risen! Father Alexander Schmemann called our Orthodox Paschal celebration “an explosion of joy”. Words are inadequate to describe the services. They speak for themselves. (Every time I preached on Pascha I wished I hadn’t. This year my Pascha sermon will consist of: “Christ is ..read more
Father Bill's Blog
3h ago
Brothers and sisters, there is a whole lot going on this morning, so pay attention. This Liturgy begins as a celebration of Christ’s victory over Satan and death “down below”, and by the middle we’re celebrating the Resurrection here on earth, even though it hasn’t happened yet, although of course it has. In the two ..read more
Father Bill's Blog
3h ago
The Vespers of “Taking Down from the Cross” At last! a Holy Week service (and the only one) that is “in sync” with the time of day. We’re going to cover: 1 The ceremonies, 2 The Scripture readings. Beginning with last night’s Procession of the Cross of Christ and continuing through Pascha, the ceremonies are intended to draw us ..read more
Father Bill's Blog
3h ago
Please get to church tonight. If you cannot, please try to find yourself a way to worship live-stream. This is much too beautiful to miss – my favorite service of the year. Is this a funeral service? Is this a resurrection service? The answers are: Yes! We stand before the bier on which Christ is ..read more
Father Bill's Blog
3d ago
We all know that in the Orthodox Church the Divine Liturgy is always a celebration, not allowed during the penitential weekdays of the Great Lenten Fast. We also know that Holy Week is our most penitential period. Furthermore, running with our peculiar Holy Week schedule (which I’ll not go into again here), this actually turns ..read more
Father Bill's Blog
4d ago
Note that we’re still on our Holy Week “topsy-turvy” schedule, always “anticipating” the next appointed service. As I said, I don’t really understand why we do this. However somehow it feels just right for this Week when the whole world and all of history got turned upside down – even though the world didn’t know ..read more
Father Bill's Blog
5d ago
Troparion of Bridegroom Matins: Kievan chant, sung by “Archangel Voices” Behold, the Bridegroom comes at midnight, and blessed is that servant whom He shall find awake, but unworthy is the servant whom He shall find heedless. Beware, therefore, O my soul, do not be weighed down with sleep, lest you be given up to death ..read more
Father Bill's Blog
5d ago
Troparion (Apolytikion) at Bridegroom Matins, sung on the first three nights of Holy Week: “Thy bridal chamber I see adorned, O my Savior, but I have no wedding garment that I may enter. O Giver of Light, enlighten the vesture of my soul, and save me.” from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgK0Fc8QUOs Pat Tsalgakis at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFrdWVEVKYE Chanted in ..read more
Father Bill's Blog
5d ago
The Divine Liturgy is always a festival event. Therefore on the penitential weekdays of Lent and also on the ordinary weekdays of Holy Week, there is no celebration of the full Divine Liturgy. The Anaphora (the consecration of the Holy Gifts) is omitted, and Holy Communion is received from that which was previously consecrated ..read more