 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Orthodox churches celebrate Easter
By GAIL HOLLENBECK INVERNESS -- While most Christian churches celebrated Easter last month, two congregations in the county began their Holy Week services last Sunday. This Sunday they will celebrate Easter. St. Michael the Archangel Greek Orthodox Church and St. Raphael Orthodox Mission follow the Julian calendar and adhere to the rules set up by the First Ecumenical Council. This year that meant a six-week difference between Eastern and Western celebrations of Pascha (Easter). "The council ruled that the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ must follow the Jewish Passover," explained the Very Rev. George Breyan, who leads the mission church. Both churches consider this to be the holiest week of the year for their congregations, and like any Easter services, they expect increased attendance. "It's the culmination and fulfillment of our entire Christian faith," said the Rev. Nicholas Samaras, priest of St. Michael's. "The whole Christian faith is based upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of the Messiah, so in celebrating that event and that reality, it is the absolute pinnacle of our entire belief system." After beginning with Palm Sunday last week, Samaras led his church in a Holy Monday Bridegroom Service; the Hymn of Kassiani on Tuesday; a Holy Unction Service Wednesday, where the people were anointed with holy oil; and a divine liturgy and reading of the Gospels depicting the passion of the Lord on Thursday. On Friday the congregation participated in a procession that symbolized the placing of the Lord's body in the tomb. "It's extremely helpful to take everything in context," Samaras said. "That means coming for the services earlier in the week and the Friday services of the lamentations over the death of Jesus Christ. Then if we do that, we have a clear understanding and a clear picture of the greatest significance of the Resurrection." At the Easter service the congregation will re-enact going from darkness to light, Samaras said. "The church starts at approximately 11:30 p.m. We have hymns and then the whole church is darkened. The priest takes the single flame from the holy altar and lights a candle with it, and then takes it out to all the people who are in complete darkness. They all have candles and one by one from the flame of the holy altar we light everybody's candles. The hymn is Come Receive the Light of Christ. It's a very humbling effect when everybody has their candles lit." After the lighting the congregation will move to the entrance and sing hymns. "We try to time it so it's exactly midnight," Samaras said. "We get to the point of reading the holy Gospel, which is a depiction of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And everybody is outside in the courtyard with our candles lit and then we proclaim Christ has risen." For the first part of the service, Samaras will wear dark robes that signify mourning. Once back inside, he will change into gold vestments. "Gold is a color symbolic with illumination," he said. "From that point we proclaim Christ's resurrection and then all the lights are lit in the church. We proceed with the divine liturgy of Jesus Christ, culminating in the receiving of holy communion." While both churches welcome and encourage visitors, only Orthodox Christians may receive holy communion. St. Raphael's also celebrated the week with a holy unction healing service Wednesday and a great vespers service on Friday. "At the Friday service we bring out and depict the body of Christ," Breyan said. "We have what we call a Winding Sheet of our Lord. We bring it out from the altar and put it in the center, where everybody venerates Christ. That's when he was taken down from the cross, and it's a very moving ceremony." At the 10 a.m. Pascha service Sunday, the liturgy will be in English. Then they will have the blessing of Paschal food. "The Slavonic people have this type of tradition where they bring baskets and color eggs. We're going to be blessing foods. They bring their hams and other foods. They put it down in the next room and during the Agape everybody partakes. If you don't have a basket, we'll give you some from ours." Both pastors are hoping that people in the community will want to come to the services to learn about the Orthodox faith. "We're looking for more people and we want to let everyone know that we are here in Inverness and we invite them to come every Sunday," Breyan said. "We welcome everyone to come and see what the Orthodox Catholics do." Samaras said he has high hopes for the Easter services. "My hopes are for absolute spiritual enlightenment, a feeling of the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ," he said. "An illumination of not just the miracle of resurrection, but as much as humanly possible to be united with Jesus Christ in our faith and in holy communion." If you goThe service at St. Michael the Archangel Greek Orthodox Church begins at 11:30 p.m. today. The church is at 4705 W Gulf-to-Lake Highway, Lecanto. For information, call 527-0766 or visit www.stmichaelgoc.org. The Pascha service for St. Raphael Orthodox Mission is at 10 a.m. Sunday. The church is at 218 N Apopka Ave., Inverness. For information, call 527-8170.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
Citrus Times |
