St. Katherine the Great-Martyr Orthodox Mission

138 Fifth Avenue, Kirkland, Washington
(425) 637-0181 (Info)
www.stkatherine.org
Rev. Fr. Benedict Crawford, Presbyter

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Sunday, September 7, 2003:

On this, the 12th Sunday after Pentecost, we commemorate the Forefeast of the Nativity of the Mother of God, together with St. Sozon of Cilicia (304), the Apostles Evodius (66) and Onesiphorus of the Seventy (67), the Martyr Eupsychius of Caesarea (2nd c.), St. Cloud of Gaul, abbot (560), St. Luke, abbot near Constantinople (975), St. Cassiane the Hymnographer, St. John the Wonderworker of Novgorod (1186), St. Amphilochius of Pingarati Monastery (Romania, 1570), and St. Macarius of Optina (1860).

Through the intercessions of Thy Saints, O Christ God, have mercy on us and save us!

• THE NATIVITY OF THE MOTHER OF GOD is one of the Twelve Great Feasts of our Church. We will celebrate Great Vespers in honor of the feast Sunday evening (today) at 7:00, and Divine Liturgy will be celebrated Monday at 6:00 a.m.
• PARISH POT-LUCK on Sunday, September 21. The Pot-luck will be followed by time to have an informal dis

The Divine Liturgy is a Sacrament in which, under the forms of bread and wine in truth and in reality the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ is given to those who receive Him, Who is Himself present invisibly at the Sacrament.

Job, in his "Officium, says, "The Eucharist [literally, "Thanksgiving"] is the Mystery of tasting the bread and wine which is transformed into the Body and Blood of our Savior Jesus Christ, which represents also the burial and the resurrection of the Lord."

The Mystery (or Sacrament) of the Eucharist is called "Liturgy," because every priest and every celebration of the sacrament is offered as a service to the faithful and is offered in behalf of all those living in Christ and of those who have left this life and rest in God.

This service was first performed by the magnificent and holy Archpriest, our Lord Jesus Christ, Who Himself became the sacrifice to God the Father -- both the one sacrificing and the victim. The Liturgy is also called "Service," "Work," "Giving," "divine responsibility." Also, it is referred to as the "bloodless Sacrifice," "the Offering and reasonable worship," "the precious Gifts" and "holy Communion." The most important reason for the celebration of the Divine Liturgy is to partake of the essence of the bread and the wine which become the Body and Blood of Christ.

The Divine Liturgy is performed:

1. To the glory and praise of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ and in remembrance of His death and resurrection, according to the Scriptures: "Do this in remembrance of Me."
2. For the sanctification of our souls and bodies; for forgiveness of sins; for the communion with the Holy Spirit; for the fullness of the Kingdom of Heaven; for our presence with Christ and for life everlasting.
3. For the eternal rest and salvation of the pious Orthodox Christians who have fallen asleep, as is noted by the blessed Fathers, consistent with the Holy and Righteous Apostles, like Dionysius the Areopagite, Basil the Great and John Chrysostom, the latter of which make mention of this point in their respective Divine Liturgy services.
4. For the living Orthodox Christians, hierarchs and rulers and for all the faithful people everywhere.

In order for the sacrament of the Divine Eucharist to be performed, it is necessary, in accordance with the Apostolic Tradition of the Church, for there to exist four elements at once:

1. An Orthodox Christian priest, properly ordained.
2. An altar with the "antimension" (a divinely appointed icon-shroud, issued by a bishop of the Church
3. Leavened bread (bread made with yeast) and untainted wine, along with water, in accordance with what is written in Scripture, "And one of the soldiers came and with a spear pierced His side, and immediately there came forth blood and water."
4. Unfailing and unhesitating faith of the Church that the bread and the wine, by the descent of the Holy Spirit, in an incomprehensible manner, are transformed into the Body and Blood of the Lord.

We believe, concerning the Holy Eucharist, that:

1. The bread and the wine during the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, become the Body and Blood of the Lord, in truth, in reality and in essence.
2. Those who receive, take within themselves, under the form of bread and wine the true Body and the true Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and this is done in real and bodily manner in that the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord enters the mouths and the digestion of those who partake -- those who are pious and those who are impious; those who are among the first to be saved and those who are among the last to be condemned.
3. If at the one and the same time many are celebrating services of the Divine Liturgy, there are not many bodies of Christ, but one Body of Christ and one Blood of Christ which exists among all the churches of the faithful. This is so, not because the Body of the Lord which is in heaven comes down from heaven upon all the altars, but because the bread of the Proskomidia (the Preparation), which is distributed to all the churches, is offered and, through sanctification, is transformed and changed, becoming one, and this being with the Body of Christ in heaven.
4. We acknowledge that the Holy Eucharist is a true sacrifice, offered for the sins of all faithful living and deceased.

This Divine Mystery was predicted through the prophesies of the Old Testament:

1. The lamb consumed in connection with the true Passover (Exodus 2; Leviticus 3; Numbers 8; Deuteronomy 6:2).
2. The manna from heaven (Exodus 6, Numbers 1, Deuteronomy 8).
3. The angel which Isaiah saw upon the altar in the temple, which took a spoon and touched his lips saying, "This has touched your lips and it takes away your sins and washes away your offenses" (Isaiah 6). These same words are spoken by the priest even to this day on behalf of those who receive the sacrament.

   The altar in the temple is a prophetical image of the altar in the church from which one would consume that which is needed for the forgiveness of sins. The angel is a prophetic image of the Body of Christ. The order of the angelic Seraphim is a pre-image of the priesthood (I John 1:7).

4. The sacrifice of Melchizedek (Genesis 16) which is a prophetic image of the mystical sacrifice.
5. The references to the spiritual sacrifices of the Prophets (Malachi 11).

Of course there is an interpretation of the Lord's Prayer, in which, essentially, we pray, "give us this day our daily bread." It is possible to understand this both in the spiritual sense as well as in the more practical sense, because Christ is the Bread of life . . . We say "our Father," since He is our Father for those of us who truly believe. Likewise, we refer to Christ as our bread ("our daily bread"), since Christ is the Bread for those who hunger to partake of Him.

(Translated from Greek by Fr. Ted Pantels)

FROM THE FATHERS . . . .
From the Writings of St. John of Kronstadt (+1908)

When praying, we must absolutely subject our heart to our will, and turn it towards God. It must be neither cold, crafty, untruthful, nor double-minded, otherwise what will be the use of our prayers, of our preparation for the Sacrament? It is good for us to hear God's voice of anger : "This people draws nigh unto me with their mouth, and honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me" (Matthew 15:8). So do not let us stand in church in a state of spiritual prostration, but let the spirit of each one of us on such occasions burn in its working towards God. Even men do not much value the services which we render to them coldly, out of habit. And God requires our hearts. "My son, give Me your heart" (Proverbs 23:26), because the heart is the principal part of the man -- his life. And even more than this: the heart is the man himself. Thus he who does not pray or does not serve God with his heart, does not pray at all, because in that case his body only prays, and the body without the mind is nothing more than earth. Remember that when standing in prayer, you stand before God Himself, Who has the wisdom of all. Therefore, your prayer ought to be, so to speak, all spirit, all understanding. . . .

The saints of God live even after their death. Thus, I often hear in church the Mother of God singing her wonderful, heart-penetrating song which she said in the house of her cousin Elizabeth, after the Annunciation of the Archangel. At times, I hear the song of Moses , the song of Zachariah -- the father of the Forerunner; that of Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel; that of the three children; and that of Miriam. And how many holy singers of the New Testament delight until now the ear of the whole Church of God ! And the Divine service itself ? the sacraments, the rites? Whose spirit is there, moving and touching our hearts? That of God and of His saints. Here is a proof for you of the immortality of men's souls. How is it that all these men have died, and yet are governing our lives after their death -- they are dead and they still speak, instruct and touch us?

Have you learned to see God and represent Him to yourself -- as the omnipresent Wisdom, as the living, acting Word, as the vivifying Holy Spirit? The Holy Scripture is the domain of Wisdom, Word and Spirit of God in the Trinity: in it He clearly manifests Himself: "The Words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" (John 6:63), said the Lord. The writings of the Holy Fathers are again the expression of the Mind, Word and Spirit of the Holy Trinity, in which the spirit of the higher class (spiritually speaking) of mankind has largely participated; the writings of ordinary worldly men are the expression of the fallen spirit of men, with all their sinful attachments, habits and passions. In the Holy Scriptures we see God face to face, and ourselves as we are. O man, know your self through them, and walk always as in the presence of God. . . .