Saturday Divine Liturgy in Hattiesburg: An After-Action Report (AAR)

This past Saturday, August 4, we were fortunate to have 31 people join us for Divine Liturgy.  This group included three new regulars and the return of the Alford family, now five strong after a year in Serbia (there is no evidence to support that each time they visit Serbia they return with more children).

It was the feastday of the Seven Holy Sleeping Youths, who were persecuted under the Roman Emperor Decius and were miraculously preserved alive, but sleeping, in a cave for 200 years, and reemerged during the reign of Theodosius II.  Their emergence from the cave wherein they had been immured alive dealt a great blow to the heretics in the area of Ephesus, who had denied the general bodily resurrection of the dead, which precedes the Great and Final Judgment.  After their appearance and a brief questioning by the local governor and the local bishop, the youths returned to their cave.  Theodosius II, while shortly thereafter passing through Ephesus, spoke with the youths, and then they went to sleep in their cave, awaiting the general resurrection of the dead.

Here Fr. Benedict Crawford begins the vesting prayers.  He is dressed in his cassock.  Fortunately for our worship, the chapel faces East, which is the symbolic orientation of Jerusalem, where Christ was crucified, buried, rose from the dead, and wherefrom he ascended into Heaven.  Orthodox churches are liturgically oriented with the altar at the East of the building.

A visually stunning picture of the small stained-glass window at the front of the church illumined by the mid-morning sun.

Here Fr. Benedict has just completed the public portion of the vesting prayers, after which he would repair behind the iconostasis, or icon screen, which symbolically references the curtain in the Temple, behind which only those priests consecrated to serve in a particular year could go.  Note to self: discuss the nature of the mystical priesthood of the Orthodox Church.  Further note to self: get a better understanding of the mystical nature of priesthood first.

Here Fr. Benedict has finished putting on his white sticharion, which is different than the sticharion worn by the altar servers, subdeacons, and deacons.  The two analogia, or icon stands, have purple covers, indicating that the church is in a fasting period.  In this case, we are in the heart of the Dormition fast, which is the two-week fast immediately preceding the feast day that commemorates the falling asleep of the Virgin Mary.  Catholics refer to this feast day as "Assumption," due to the Roman belief that the Virgin Mary was assumed bodily into heaven instead of passing away.  The Holy Tradition of the Orthodox Church teaches us that the Virgin Mary passed away into sleep while surrounded by the Apostles, and her soul passed directly into Heaven.  Then the Theotokos was resurrected in the body on the third day after her repose.

Here the north end of the altar table is set up for proskomide, which is the service for the preparation of the Host for communion.  The five loaves will be cut and divided while a series of prayers is said.  Each portion of the bread that is cut has a symbolic, commemorative significance.  The knife that is used to cut the prosphora is called the spear, after the spear that pierced Christ's side.  The chalice is the heavy ornate bronze cup from which we commune.  The Orthodox practice a full, closed communion, meaning that the bread and wine are mixed when consecrated, and taken together, and that you have to be an Orthodox Christian in good standing to commune.  The brass raised plate next to the chalice is the paten, which holds the prosphora until the consecration, when the Host is placed in the chalice.  The two cruets hold water and wine, which are commingled in the chalice during proskomide.  The blue altar cloths are placed over the paten and the chalice later.

Here Fr. Benedict begins the prayers of the proskomide.  Blue vestments are customary for the feasts of the Theotokos, and during the Dormition fast.  Fr. Benedict is wearing what is commonly referred to as Athonite or Russian vestments, with a high back that rests on his shoulders.

Here the Host is ready, at the conclusion of the proskomide service.  The large triangle to the left of the Host symbolizes the Virgin Mary; the nine small triangles to the right of the host symbolize, from left top going down the rows, the following: 1) St. John the Baptist, the Forerunner, the Prophet of the New Testament; 2) the Old Testament prophets and all holy prophets; 3) the Holy Apostles; 4) the holy hierarchs of God; 5) the holy martyrs of God; 6) the holy and venerable fathers and mothers (ascetic saints); 7) the holy unmercenaries (healers); 8) the forebears of God Joachim and Anna and the saints Equal-to-the-Apostles; 9)  the saint whose liturgy is celebrated that day (either St. John Chrysostom or St. Basil the Great).  The rows below the Host symbolize the living and the dead, according to the list Fr. Benedict had at the table with him.

Fr. Benedict here has moved the paten and chalice to the side altar table, usually called the proskomide table.  The altar table has on it the Gospel, which rests atop the folded up antimension, or altar cloth, which may be carried and used anywhere for a eucharistic service.  The antimension has sewn into it relics of a saint, and has been consecrated by a bishop and blessed for eucharistic services.  Next to the Gospel and antimension are the communion cloth, upon which sits the spoon and the spear, and above which sit the blessing cross.  Our blessing cross is a travel blessing cross from Russia.  Most Orthodox blessing crosses are quite large.  Ours is small, simply because we are a small mission and don't have our own space.

Here Fr. Benedict preaches a sermon on the miracle of the feeding of the multitudes with the seven loaves and a few fishes.  In the life of the Church and in the Gospels, this is the second such feeding which is read about in the Church.  Fr. Benedict told us that we should be astounded by this, and particularly because the Apostles were astounded by this, and this was the second time in Christ's ministry that he had done this.  The Apostles should have remembered.  And so should we, and we should marvel at it.

The Alfords, back where they should be (with us in the mission).  Note the large vascular surgeon in the background.  Please note that although we are sitting, this is only during the sermon.  We worship on our feet, or on our knees.

These photos were taken by me, on my camera phone.  The quality of the photos are a direct reflection of my quality as a photographer.

OW VEGAN: Appotomax Court House Cornbread

Even in our global age, I'm pleased to see that regional variations on common dishes such as chili, side salad, pizza, and potato salad can still cause conversations to break out into fisticuffs. Although chili seems to have the greatest emotional hold of these, I have more personal experience with cornbread because I married a Damn Yankee. Bless his mother, but I think she raised him on Jiffy mix. He is quite insistent that cornbread... well... is cake, but that's not his word for it.

A little history: Back when the Indians were still very different from the settlers, the country's preference insofar as corn went was divided into three regions. The Mexicali area took to blue corn. Yankees liked yellow corn, and Southerners preferred white corn. I'm not sure about the West, but Northerners sweetened their cornbread with a variety of ingredients such as honey, molasses, and sugar. Southerners preferred to flavor cornbread with drippings, usually bacon, or lard. In addition, I believe, although this is just a woman's intuition, that Southerners used cornmeal and Northerners used cornflour.

It is generally accepted that the Appotomax Court House is the town in which the Civil War was ended. So I offer you, proud-to-be-born-American Southerners and d-- our blessed brethren of the North, Appotomax Court House Cornbread, which I believe to be a marriage of cultures.

DISCLAIMER: I've only been on Earth since sometime in the 20th century, and I made a B in 10th grade World History. History doesn't interest me much. Everything foregoing is entirely 100% made up. Hope you enjoyed it. Don't use any of this information on your history exam.  

• ~2t vegetable shortening (I tared my food scale on an empty 9" cake round and applied liberal shortening with the result of 11g, which is just shy of 2t.)

• 1c. yellow corn meal
• 1/4c whole wheat flour
• 4t sugar substitute (I used sucralose which you may recognize in the brand Splenda.)
• 1/2t salt

• 1/3c. boiling water

• 3/4c. milk substitute (The nutrition is calculated with almond milk.)
• 4t vegetable oil (20g)

Pre-heat your oven to 400F. Grease up your pan. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Pour in the boiling water. I don't know why this is important, but just exercise a little trust. Someone with a science background will explain it soon. In fact, just try to think of an explanation for a few minutes at this point. Do a little dance. Make a little love. Get down tonight! Ok, you've prolly done enough now.

Add the rest of the wet ingredients. Whisk. Pour into pan. Bake about thirty minutes. Cornbread is l-a-z-y.

Serving Size: 1/8 sized slice                                     8 servings per recipe
105cal | 4.4fat | 15.4carb | 1.8protein | 1.6fiber | 265sodium

This is good in a square black iron skillet. My mom ate cornbread cut into a rectangle, then sliced horizontally and covered in mayo. (See future Almond Mayo recipe from Alex.) I plan to make what I know of as "dressin'" from all but a few slices of this and send it to church with cranberry sauce next Sunday. It is actually necessary and desired that cornbread in that recipe be stale.

The cake stand I got from my Magical Loot Dropping Ortho-Lady who is moving.

  Here's a straight on photo of the artwork. Her grandmother was a painter, just like my grandparents painted (mother's side) ceramics and (father's side) woodwork, and Alex's family has a landscape and portait painter in the grandmotherly direction, although you might need to insert a grand or two.

Then here, you can see the inscription, "Painted by Leila C. Greer 7-21-1984 To Berta love Mother." In case a certain Dr. by the name of Lares is out there, "Yes, she put a period after 'Mother'".

Who's who in the Orthodox Church; a preamble

Inspired by Official Wife Tina's question about the difference between a priest, an abbot, and a bishop, we enclose within the confines of this post some definitions of the categories of persons within the Orthodox Church.  Please note: some of these designations are official, while others are apocryphal or otherwise deuterocanonical.  Also: there are no female clergy in the Orthodox Church.  If this offends you, you should probably stop reading now.

Visitor: I have been told that megachurches no longer call visitors 'visitors.'  Someone who has been to an Orthodox church once; alternatively, a wandering Orthodox Christian on vacation who found your church in the phone book.

Inquirer: Someone, non-Orthodox, who has been to the same Orthodox church twice and has said, "Now this is interesting."

Catechumen: An inquirer who is officially interested in becoming part of the Orthodox Church and has begun the process of entry into the fullness of the faith.

Cradle: Born into an Orthodox family and baptized shortly after forty days of age.

Convert: An envelope.  Alternatively, a visitor who became an inquirer, then a catechumen, and was received into the Church.

Hyperdox: He's more Orthodox than you.

Parishoner: An Orthodox Christian who lives within an hour's drive of the church and can be relied upon to make his way to church four times a year.

Member: An Orthodox Christian who lives within an hour's drive of the church and comes to church enough times each year to feel guilty enough to tithe and thus is entitled to vote for the parish council, but is smart enough to stay off the council.

Parish Council Member:  A member who got voted onto the Parish Council.  Also, a sucker.

Altar server: Men who assist the priest and deacon in the altar.  They wear a robe called the sticharion.

Monk: A celibate Orthodox Christian who serves the church in a life of prayer and seclusion from the world, whether alone (heremetical) or in a monastery (coenobitical).  Female monks are called nuns.

Reader: The guy who chants in the church.  Technically, a reader should be tonsured by the bishop.  If your church belongs to a diocese that has a bishop and you are a male church member, you will have to work very hard to avoid being tonsured.  If your reader is hyperdox, he will wear his cassock to and from church even when he is visiting a parish.

Subdeacon: The lowest of the minor orders of the clergy.  Subdeacons serve in the altar, and can be distinguished from altar servers by the stole worn crossed over their shoulders, worn over the sticharion.

Deacons: Following Pentecost, the Apostles designated assistants to minister to the needs of the people.  The first deacon was the first martyr, St. Stephen.  In liturgical services, the deacon helps the priest lead the parish in the public prayers, and also censes the church while the priest recites the private and mystical eucharistic prayers.  Deacons wear the sticharion, the stole, and epimaniki (cuffs).

Protodeacon: The deacon who travels with the bishop.  Usually, the bishop travels with a Protodeacon and at least one subdeacon; the protodeacon knows the hierarchical liturgy and its prayers backwards and forwards, and he advises the parish priest on the liturgical practices of the bishop.  He has a booming voice and imperious manner.

Priest: The priest is the member of the clergy most Orthodox Christians can recognize immediately.  He's the guy wearing the long black dress outside of church with a pectoral cross, and the one dressed like a priest in the church.  He is overworked, underpaid, and if he's married and in the OCA, he's required to have five children.  If your priest is a monk, he is called a hieromonk.

Archpriest: The archpriest is a priest who has done enough time (I mean, who has performed sufficient faithful service) to get a fancy hat he can wear in church.  George Constanza wanted to become Orthodox because of the hats.  If your archpriest is a monk, he is called an archimandrite.

Bishop:  If a monk is unfortunate enough to be highly respected by his peers, to show competence in administration, leadership, and dealing with people outside of the monastery, he will eventually become a bishop.  Some monks really want to be bishops.  This may be the singular disqualification for being a bishop: if you want the job, you're probably the wrong man for it.

Archbishop: A bishop who has done enough time to be assigned to a troublesome administrative post in the Church.

Metropolitan:  In the ancient church, the Metropolitan was a bishop assigned to important cities to administer the local churches, and to inform the local faithful of the decisions of the Church on doctrine and administration.  In the OCA and ROCOR, the Metropolitan is the head of the church.

Patriarch: The branches of the Orthodox Church are headed by a Patriarch.  Patriarchs are bishops who are put in charge by other bishops who don't want to be in charge.

Synod: All of the bishops in your branch of the Orthodox Church.  Questions of doctrine, church direction, and anything that no single bishop wants to be responsible for is the responsibility of the synod.  May be Holy or unholy, depending on your opinion.

Documenting religious minorities in Turkey

At long last we will hear the fruits of On Being's trip to Turkey.  A conversation with a Dominican friar and the Metropolitan of Bursa highlight the problems faced by Turkey's Christian minorities.  The future of the Ecumenical Patriarch in the Phanar is always in jeopardy.

60 Minutes had an excellent overview of the strange Babylonian captivity of the EP: Patriarch Bartholomew describes his life in the Phanar.  I would recommend that those of you who have not had the opportunity to view this, to do so.

60 Minutes also did an excellent piece on the Holy Mountain: Mt. Athos part 1 and Mt. Athos part 2.  Of particular interest is the monk describing the Jesus prayer and its use and purpose in the monastic life.  There's certainly a great contrast between the position of the monks on Mt. Athos and the Phanar.

OFFICIAL WIFE: The Ortho Diet

In the beginning, one of the day-to-day struggles of being married to an Orthodox Christian was the diet. You see, they're kinda vegan-- but only on certain days, and on those days, they're not "really" vegan. Even the shade of the shade of vegan changes. In fact, it is so freakin' complicated, the Orthodox church has to publish a color-coded calendar with specific notes just so people know what's okay to eat or not okay to eat. Fine. You don't buy it? I have proof:

I did the math. Orthos require some kind of special diet over 51% of the year. Why not just make 2012 100% vegan and 2013 an American free for all? We could switch off years! But, no. That would kill the revenue stream the calendars create. (Yeah, I'm onto you... Can't pull one over on me, babe.)

But even that's not hard enough. Even if the loving and supportive cook knows her audience and consults said special magical color-coded calendar, she may find that her husband would like cheddar flavored air-popped popcorn in his snacks bag even if it's a no-cheese day. The argument goes, "Orthodox Christians don't have to abide by calendar rules if they're traveling. We'll be in the car when I eat it, so we're traveling." You can bet that didn't pass the smell test so I pressed. He further explained that it wasn't just that we were IN a car or even IN a car that was MOVING, but we were going to stay at his parents... so we were "traveling."

This man has wreaked havoc on my life as a home chef. If we're gonna do this thing, we're gonna do it right-- even if I have to make you. This kept coming up so I did what I am sure women the world over do. I made sure it came up when a priest was around. mwahahahah! Surely God didn't show me a network of educated rational peaceful bearded dudes that my husband will listen to and not expect me to take advantage of it. It's a gift. :)

I'm proud to say we did discover the true intentions of "The Traveling Rule" are to allow Orthos to be good guests of and friends with non-Orthos. If you are around non-Ortho people, and say, your hostess puts scalloped potatoes, green bean casserole, and hamburger steaks with gravy on the table, by-golley you eat it with a smile and thank you ma'am-- no matter what the special magical color-coded calendar says.

Conversely, if you're around other Orthodox Christians, some of whom do not follow the magical special color-coded calendar or have an even more crazy partial calendar lifestyle, or you're with friends who know about the magical special color-coded calendar, you follow the calendar. For example, if Alex goes to a cookout at his best friend's house, he should bring a box of Boca. I say a box only because it's nice to share, and I like to think we influence the world to be healthier. Actually, his best friend would probably have Boca for Alex, just 'cause that's how they roll, yo. They love each other.

Did I mention that there's also a specified group of people who are excepted from following the calendar, and it's very similar to the group who can sit at church? --pregnant, nursing, old, and sick

Another exception is Thanksgiving which is smack dab in the second-longest fast of the year, the [Nativity or Advent fast](Alex's edit. I got it wrong. "baby Lent"). Even though everyone in his family is Ortho, or at least knows most everyone else is Ortho, we eat "American-style." The explanation for this is that he's part of the Orthodox Church of America, and y'know, Thanksgiving is right up there with the Fourth of July for us Americans. My immediate response to this was, "Why are Fridays EVER non-drinking days? Drinking on Friday is an American tradition!" Alex just laughed, but if anyone out there wants to weigh in, I'd be glad to hear your thoughts.

The special magical color-coded calendar helps us be organized and in compliance. It's a tool. Daily reliance on this, helped along by a pestering wife who doesn't know what she's talking about, can lead to a bit too strict a take on The Ortho Diet, however. Another brief diet-related incident comes to mind where a priest lept to my rescue robes-a-flying. Alex and the priest were at the table, and I was preparing food in the kitchen. I had cut something non-calendar-safe (don't remember what) and was about to cut something calendar-safe for Alex.

Alex leapt out of his chair and said, "You can't do that! Tina, you just used that knife for," insert whatever the food was. It was like the fourth time during that priest's visit that Alex had.. corrected would be a nice way of phrasing it, corrected me, and I kinda cringed. I was somewhere between crying and yelling, leaning towards crying. From where he sat the priest said, "Hey! We're not Jews. We're Orthodox Christians." *automatic smile flash* Hey, I'm only human. So is Alex. So is the priest.

If you think this post has nothing to do with fasting as a tool in your spiritual development, you are correct. I'm not a rube. I am a Christian. The topic is deliberately omitted. I'm sure you'll get enough of that talk from Alex, anyway. This is about husbands and wives adapting their expectations, lives, behaviors, and dinners to support each other and grow as a couple. Ladies, if you think you've got it worse, just remember that I don't post things I can't laugh about, yet. I do plan on posting lotsa recipes so that the next poor girl who falls in love with an Orthodox man will have it a little easier. Who knows, I might start a support group: My Husband is Ortho... But I'm Not (Anonymous). I'm sure I could make millions off a twelve step program... *tilt head right*

If you would like your very own special magical color-coded calendar... (Remember the revenue stream I mentioned earlier? Proceeds go to a school to train Ortho-priests.) There's more than just dietary guidelines to it, too. Feast, fast, and saint days are all listed with a brief blurb in the free space, and the back of each page has a full color icon.

[EDIT 8/16/12 Beginning 7:57 PM CST I totally forgot to explain the "kinda vegan" aspect. Orthos can eat meat. They can eat invertebrates-- mostly seafood (e.g. shrimp, crab,  scallops, crawfish, slugs). This seems to unfairly favor the rich and those who live on the coast. I've never heard a good explanation.]

The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom

We had a truly inspiring turnout this morning at the Mission.  We actually filled the chapel.

Fr. Benedict was kind enough to allow me to photograph the paten and the prosphora at several different stages of the Proskomide.  I will be posting those photographs tomorrow, with a partial explanation.

It was quite gratifying to have so many people helping the choir.  The sound filled the room, and even overpowered what my grandmother would have referred to as "the whole zoo."  That's actually a Russian idiom.  Out of thirty-one people, we had eleven children.

No comment, other than to say that the child I think of as Chewbacca (because of his enormous lung capacity and voice) actually told another kid to be quiet during the reading of the Gospel.  It was really quite amazing and touching.

I am the Choir

Being part of a mission church can be very wearing when you feel like the only person who knows what's going on.  This is the hardest part of Holy Cross: the unjust resentment that I feel from time to time regarding the responsibilities of the mission.  In truth, we have a small, dedicated team who each do their part, the most important of which is showing up for divine services.  The primary mission of Holy Cross Orthodox Mission Church is to help each of us reach theosis.

Theosis is the ultimate goal of the Christian life.  Oneness with God is the ultimate goal of the salvific process, but the process of salvation is not an individual process.  It is one that we engage in as a community.  St. Paul St. Augustine says, "What I am for you frightens me, but what I am with you comforts me.  For you I am a bishop, but with you I am a Christian."  St. Augustine, Sermon 340 (On the anniversary of his ordination).  This is the true feeling that taking even a small leadership role in the church engenders.

Those of us who are called to these roles are called to confront our fears to aid in the process of salvation, rather than to become stumbling blocks for our fellow Christians.  This is why St. Paul tells us that we must serve in accordance with our gifts, for if we do not, then we get in the way of each other.  Resentment, regret, and frustration are all symptoms of the spiritual disease of despair.  We must have hope, and worship together in hope, and together buoy each other with our hope, that we may achieve salvation.