Illuminator - July 1994

"LIVING OUR FAITH DURING THE SUMMER"
By Phyllis Meshel Onest, Diocesan Religious Education Director

 
Now that we are in the midst of the summer months, and are slowing down our schedules, relaxing more, traveling / vacationing, let's remember that we need to live out our faith in the summer, too. Attending Liturgy regularly with our children, grandchildren, and godchildren is critical if we wish to have our children, grandchildren and godchildren in the Orthodox Church as adults. This is especially true for those attending parishes which insist on conducting Sunday School during the Divine Liturgy, regardless of the 1992 Clergy-Laity Congress resolution stating otherwise, and to which our Diocese's Religious Education Committee wholeheartedly concurs!

If our children do not attend Liturgy weekly during the school year and sporadically during the summer, the hidden message conveyed to them is that "the Church is NOT important." If they attend Liturgy weekly from September to June and slow down during the summer months, the hidden message is "God is important when it is convenient." The Church loses out on both counts.

Based on my experience in religious education for over 25 years, I believe that each one of us lives a "Liturgical Mosaic." Our "Liturgical Mosaic" is likened to a stained glass window, but instead of pieces of various colors and sizes, it is composed of our various worship experiences and the customs and traditions that go along with them:

Liturgy, Feast Days, Fast Days, Vespers, Matins, Memorial Services, Funerals, Weddings, Baptisms & Chrismations, the Prayer of St. Ephraim, Prostrations, Eucharist, Confession, Name Days, Lenten Periods, Incense, Candles, Vestments, Icons, Presanctified Liturgies, Salutations to the Theotokos, Paraclesis Services, Ordinations, Holy Week, Unction, Processions, the Epitaphios, Flowers, Palms, the Cross, koliva, Jordan Almonds, Koulourakia, cracking Red Eggs at Pascha, etc., etc., etc.
 

The more pieces we have in our "Liturgical Mosaic" the better it is to see the whole picture of our relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church; the fuller our lives will be; the closer to God we will feel; the better we will live out our Orthodox Faith! How complete is your "Liturgical Mosaic?" Your Children's "Liturgical Mosaic"?

Make time this summer to enhance your "Liturgical Mosaic." The summer has several feast day celebrations to help us:

Ascension [6/9], Pentecost [6/19], SS. Peter & Paul [6/29], SS. Cosmas & Damian [7/1], St. Markella [7/22], the Transfiguration of Our Lord [8/6], the Dormition of the Theotokos [8/15] and the Beheading of St. John the Baptist [8/29] to name but a few.

There are even two Lenten Periods: [1] SS. Peter & Paul Fast -June 27-29 and [2] the Dormition Fast - August 1-15. The Paraclesis Service to the Theotokos celebrated during the latter period helps us prepare for this celebration and reminds us that even during the lazy summer days that God is always with us, that He blesses all that we do, that He hears our prayers, and that we are to praise and worship Him often.

Let yourself think back to your childhood days, to attending Liturgy and other services, to the customs in your home. Do you see now how these pieces of "Liturgical Memory" come together to fashion who you are and what you believe? What do you want for yourself and your family? What we do today, this summer, this year plays a part in the decisions we will make, in the choices we choose, and in the consequences we receive.