The Liturgy (Trinity, Salvation, Bible, Prayers)
 When I meet in the liturgy I meet with the following;
1. The Trinity
2. The Story of Salvation
3. The Bible
4. Different types of Prayers
The liturgy is a tool by itself. It gives us a lot of experiences and motivations.
1. Trinity:
From the prayer of 'Reconciliation' we speak about the Father, when we say "O great and eternal God who formed man into in corruption, and death etc." Furthermore, in the mass we begin a passage by saying "right and worthy" in which we continue to speak about God the Father, God as the Creator and God as the Saviour.
The mass tells us that the Father who created us is dwelling in heaven and worshipped by the angels in heaven. It speaks of our creation, that the Father created us in the image of Jesus Christ, the Son, through the Holy Spirit. It is here we learn that the hypostases are working, but the Father is the Creator.
The mass speaks about the Son many times, when we say: "When we disobeyed your commandment by the guile…", "was incarnate and became man", "He rose from the dead." and "He ascended to the heavens and sat at your right hand…."
Through the Liturgy we are taught that Jesus Christ granted us the
salvation. The Liturgy speaks of the Only Begotten Son, the Incarnation, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. The Liturgy brings together the Trinity through the Father, by the grace of the Holy Spirit. We are speaking of the son being incarnate on our behalf throughout the Liturgy. We say things like, "he tasted is and gave it…" "For every time you shall eat of this bread.", "therefore as we also commemorate the holy passion, his resurrection from the dead", "He instituted for us this great mystery of godliness…."
We begin to see the Holy Spirit in the mass when the priest says inaudibly, "and we ask you O lord our God…." This is where the priest calls upon the Holy Spirit Where the Son redeemed us through the will of the Father and the work of the Holy Spirit.
Through the Liturgy we learn:
• The son is the redeemer.
• The Holy Spirit is the sanctifier.
• God is the Father
At this moment the Holy Spirit changes the bread to be the body and the wine to be blood. We say, "I believe…for the remission of sins." we all then say "Lord has mercy". In this instant, the bread and wine is transferred into the body and blood of Jesus Christ. This is the exact moment when we have Jesus Christ is among us. This is why the next parts of the mass ask God of things and we pray for the church and other matters.
2. Salvation:
Secondly, the liturgy tells us the story of the salvation from the birth of Jesus Christ until the resurrection. When we have communion at the end of the mass we are saved because we have Jesus Christ dwelling within us.
3. The Bible:
Throughout the liturgy we read the evening incense, psalms, Gospel, Acts, Catholic and the Pauline Epistles. In total we read nine chapters each mass.
In Jonah's fast and the great lent we read chapters from the Old Testament. On Good Friday we read revelations because Jesus Christ opened the heavens and we contemplate on paradise. In the past they used to read the Old and New testaments during Passion Week.
Our church is very biblical. We read a lot in the liturgy. We stand in the fear of God to read the liturgy. The iconostasis lights up because the Gospel is the light of the world.
Deacon chants in the Liturgy "pray for the Holy Gospel" When the bible is being read by the deacon, the bishop or pope takes the crown of his head because Jesus Christ is the only crowned one.
We venerate the gospel in our church. All our doctrines, rituals and prayers are derived from the bible. In each phrase from the liturgy can be traced back to verses in the bible.
The bible is obeyed like a commandment. St Anthony heard a verse from the bible "if you want to perfect sell everything and come to me." It made him a saint. St. Dedimus was blind but he recited the gospel. Recite the gospel and the gospel will preserve you.
4. Different types of Prayers:
We can find a lot of types of prayers in the mass.
- Thanks giving prayer.
- To thank God for what He gives.
- To ask for mercy from God because we are sinners: "evnoti" We say have mercy upon us. The priest stands with his arms outstretched like the cross. We are sinners.
- Request Prayers
- We ask the Lord for the peace of the world, the pope and bishops, the travelers, sick, departed, strangers, orphans, oblations, widows, guests, presidents and dignitaries of the state. We request for all for we have many needs.
- Praises
- We sing, "praise the Lord…with the sound of trumpets…etc" praising God and glorying Him.
- Arrow prayers
-Where we repeat the name of the lord Jesus Christ, to take the blessing of his name. "Christ my good saviour…" it pierces heaven and gets to the Lord.
The liturgy is the school through which I meet these things.
Question Time:
1. Do we believe in jinx and evil eye?
If we look towards others with envy, this is done by the devil. This may send the devil to attack him if he is liable to that but if he as a believer protected by God then he is protected from this evil. St Jostina, a magitian called Caprianous, to tried to make her fall for a man by sending the devil to play on her emotions but the devils could not complete their task and Caprianious was puzzled that the devils always came back. He threatened the devils saying that he would become Christian if they didn't tempt her and then the devils disappeared. Caprianious then became a normal man, always doing the sign of the cross forgetting about these things.
2. If a man prays his head should be uncovered, so why does a priest cover his head?
The priest should remove his covering at the start. We believe that the altar is the place that becomes heaven and in heaven all angels are covered.
3. In the commemoration of the saints, we read about the cross bearers. Who are they and why are they significant?
It was in the days of Islam we were asked to carry crosses made of iron. Their necks became blue from the bruising. They call us the 'blue necks' all those who have given their lives to Christ can be cross bearers.
4. When we read from the bible at home should we stand up?
Practically we do not do it. Ideally we should. The church wants us to be obedient to the bible and the spirit full of humility. As long as we are doing that, it's okay.
5. How does God chose saints/ worthy people?
It is a joint process. God watches us from the inside. If we are obedient and are learning with a conscience and listen in truth He will give each one according to their honesty.
6. God knows His plan for us, so do we have the freedom?
An example is a teacher in school who teaches everyone. Some will learn, some will not but the teacher can predict who will succeed and who will not. God knows what will happen but will not impose. He knew that Judas will deliver and betray him but he did not ask him too.
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