Akathist to The Theotokos Series This week I am starting a series exploring the Akathist to the Theotokos. The first reason I want to do this is because the Akathist is one of my favourite Byzantine prayers. The second reason is that there is so much theology packed in the Akathist, that I often have …
Nativity of Christ: Byzantine Christmas One of the obvious differences in how the East and West celebrate the Nativity is the Calendar day. The Gregorian calendar, which is also the current calendar used by the secular world, places the date of Christmas on December 25th. And the Annunciation on March 25th, and so on. The …
The icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is one of my favourite icons. So much so that when I picked our wedding icons I chose a set with Our Lady of Perpetual Help for the Marian icon. And that is why this icon is our topic for today! The Icon The Our Lady of …
When I entered a Byzantine Catholic Church for the first time, the iconostas took my breath away. Just wow! A glimpse of the beauty and glory of God. Now during Divine Liturgy, I love to reflect upon the images. Especially during prayers to the Theotokos, when I look at one of the icons of Mary. …
At my first few Divine Liturgies, standing rather than kneeling during consecration came as a particular shock. So this week we will go through various postures of prayer and other prayerful actions during the Divine Liturgy, and why we do them. Standing During Divine Liturgy First of all, what does standing mean for us during …
Although there are many differences between the Eastern and Western Catholic Churches, the Eucharist remains central. However, the Byzantine Churches follow traditions about the Eucharist that are now unfamiliar in the West. Let’s explore these traditions in this week’s article. Receiving Communion in the Eastern Rite When I went to my first Divine Liturgy, what …
It is that time of year again… we are counting down to a new year in the Church! September 1st is the beginning of the new Church year for Byzantine Catholics. You can read about why this is in our previous article about the Church New Year here. In that article I also included some …
Mnohaya lita! Mnohaya lita! Vo zdraviye, vo spasenniye! Na mnohaya lita! Pentecost is one of my favourite feasts of the church year. Even more so now that I’ve been exposed to the Byzantine celebration of Holy and Glorious Pentecost. I love green, so the fact that the liturgical colour in the East for this day …
What makes a home a Byzantine Catholic home? An icon corner. This place of beauty and prayer is a beautiful reminder of who is at the centre of our lives: God. We’ve all heard of having a prayer corner in our homes, but Byzantines take this calling to the next level. In the post …
ByzLife 101: From beginner to extreme, we are going to have fun going through things that make life more Byzantine! At the end, let me know in the comments what would make your list of top five things that make for a ByzLife. Number 1 – ByzLife Icons Life would not be Byzantine without icons. …