A visit to Annunciation Byzantine Catholic Parish
The divine liturgy for Sunday December 15th, 2002 was one filled with experience and amazement. As I drove up the church looked like another ordinary church which I had attended many. As I approached the church I walked through the main doors and there was a small lobby where a few people waited for services to begin.I went into a small office to the left of the main door and spoke with a lady about service to make sure there wasn’t anything significant during Liturgy that I needed to know about. After being told no and a brief explanation on how it was similar to most catholic masses, I went and took a seat in a pew in the main part of the church. I was . . .
So I immediately expected this to be some formal mass like I hear and read about. Behind the alters, was the main alter behind swinging doors, that were opened during liturgy for everyone to see. I also enjoyed the topic of the divine liturgy. This was an experience that I will not soon forget. Comparative Religion – Mondays D. thoroughly shocked! The main part was a lot smaller than it looked from the outside. Another thing I liked compared to most Catholic liturgy that I attend was that when the priest speaks and makes a reference to praying to god. Above the swinging doors and incorporated into the wall were boards of icons of all or most of the Saints. The norm is for the congregation/parish to reply in unison “God let us pray”, but during this liturgy the church’s choir sings everything out, for what is normally spoken. The Icon of the prophet Daniel and the three youths was the primary subject, but also incorporated the 3 forefathers of Christianity. People were going up to them praying and then lighting a candle, although I am not sure what for. Lauffer / Extra credit assignment of church’s mass . This I found completely awesome, especially since I just to Ancient Medieval Arts this semester also, and saw a lot of slides like the murals I got to see in person today.
Common topics in this essay:
, Medieval Arts, Mondays Lauffer, Comparative Religion, swinging doors, divine liturgy, |