Getting Back into Orthodox Christianity

Orthodoxy has beaten me up royally. I only get one day to sleep in—-Saturday. Sunday I get up earlier than I do on a work day to drive up for Matins. By the time Fathers sermon is about halfway (his sermons are like 20 minutes) I’m looking like I’m ready to pass out.

Light of the East said:

Oh, boy! I feel for you, brother!

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gurneyhalleck1 said:

Orthodoxy has beaten me up royally. I only get one day to sleep in—-Saturday. Sunday I get up earlier than I do on a work day to drive up for Matins. By the time Fathers sermon is about halfway (his sermons are like 20 minutes) I’m looking like I’m ready to pass out.

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Just don't go getting a Tesla and doing what some other crazies have, putting it on autopilot and sleeping on the way there.

I did drive my Challenger Scat Pack 6.4 liter street legal burnt orange beast a couple of times!

prodromos said:

Just don't go getting a Tesla and doing what some other crazies have, putting it on autopilot and sleeping on the way there.

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gurneyhalleck1 said:

I did drive my Challenger Scat Pack 6.4 liter street legal burnt orange beast a couple of times!

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I like the self driving vehicles we used to have. Collision avoidance built in and could drive you home with you passed out at the wheel. Unfortunately they don't allow horse and cart on the motorway.

All kidding aside, I can’t tell you how many trips home from Fresno had me fighting to stay awake and conscious.

prodromos said:

I like the self driving vehicles we used to have. Collision avoidance built in and could drive you home with you passed out at the wheel. Unfortunately they don't allow horse and cart on the motorway.

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Lukaris said:

In the Antiochian Church ( & other jurisdictions I presume) we have the Nocturne Service ( starting at 10:00 PM) immediately preceding the Lord’s resurrection. As that service concludes, we gather literally outside the narthex front door entrance to the church. The priest reads from the Bible and then the priest portrays the Lord knocking at ( & down) the gates of hell while reading from & in exchange with a parishioner from Psalms 24:7-10 ( western #). The stone is rolled away (theologically) & we proceed to worship the risen Lord in the Divine Liturgy at midnight.

This is a very general summary of around 3 hours of worship with a few minor but pivotal details in my description. Most of the Nocturne service is reasonably followable. The only difficulty I personally have is when we receive our vigil candles shortly before we proceed outside to the front steps of the church outside the church as we proceed to the Lord’s resurrection. Thankfully ( for me) I am in the choir and we proceed as a unit. Over 15 years Orthodox & I still get confused at this point.

On Pascha at 11:00 AM, there is an Agape service which I confess to rarely attend & have forgotten most of the content.

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Our Agape Vespers is at 2:30PM. It is a beautiful short service and is a great way to celebrate Pascha day. If it was 11am, that’d be really tough, especially after the Paschal Feast! We typically get home around 4am (give or take a bit). A friend of mine once called it the PPH…post-Pascha high.

Do the Antiochian and Greek parishes have Pascha baskets and a celebration feast after the services?

Slouching East said:

I am a former Catholic and Protestant who has been looking into Eastern Orthodoxy. 10 years ago I started my journey, but left for foolish reasons. I've been away from Jesus and the Church long enough, and I just want to come home.

A priest from the Greek Orthodox church in my town invited me to come to their Pascha service. What do I need to know before attending? It's been a while since I have been in an Orthodox church, so I am just nervous that I am going to do something wrong.

Any help is very much appreciated. Thanks so much!

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After my first Pascha service, I knew I was home. It is an amazing experience. Just let yourself experience it - and you should be good to go.

All4Christ said:

Our Agape Vespers is at 2:30PM. It is a beautiful short service and is a great way to celebrate Pascha day. If it was 11am, that’d be really tough, especially after the Paschal Feast! We typically get home around 4am (give or take a bit). A friend of mine once called it the PPH…post-Pascha high.

Do the Antiochian and Greek parishes have Pascha baskets and a celebration feast after the services?

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Our Antiochian parish has a celebration feast that varies yearly depending on how many people coordinate things. Sometimes it is just an above average ( but still good) coffee fellowship. As far as baskets, are you referring to the baskets of eggs that are blessed & given out ( within the liturgy of course)?

gurneyhalleck1 said:

I did drive my Challenger Scat Pack 6.4 liter street legal burnt orange beast a couple of times!

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oooh yeah, thats my kind of car. Up from 6.2L too...

I envy people like you, who are the norm to be sure. The weird thing is, when I first heard the Divine Liturgy, I thought, "The wording is lovely, love the incense, love the prayers and how trinitarian it all is, the care with which the Holy Mysteries are presented/given, love the vestments," etc. etc. etc. But it felt like it was as long as a Lord of the Rings film, director's cut. I was exhausted. I went home, drove 50 minutes. My wife was home and asked, "So, what did you think?" I said, "Meh, pass. Too long, too draining. Hard to follow. Just too much."

I had to get used to it. I'm that 0.0001% of people....

Then, first time we went to Pascha, I was drained. I was sleepy, couldn't focus, felt completely exhausted and just wasn't feeling it. I went home feeling guilty about that. I felt like that for a few years.....

Then something sunk in.....

It's amazing how time and duration affect me. To this day, I still get fatigued during any liturgy. I remind myself that, in heaven we are worshipping the Lord 24/7. I'm currently not cut out for such beauty. My mind wanders, my patience wanes, etc.

That's not to say I don't love the liturgy. I do. I love the prayers so much. It's a masterpiece. But, my feeble patience and sense of time still needs cultivation. I'm envious of people who visit an Orthodox parish and immediately take to it all. I truly envy that. I'm always such a slow learner with things, i swear.

All4Christ said:

After my first Pascha service, I knew I was home. It is an amazing experience. Just let yourself experience it - and you should be good to go.

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All4Christ said:

After my first Pascha service, I knew I was home. It is an amazing experience. Just let yourself experience it - and you should be good to go.

Click to expand...

My first pascha service was an agape vespers. I showed up on Sunday morning like the good little Protestant thinking "let's do this!" only for my priest to tell me that I missed the big show the night before, but there's a short service at 11 that I'm welcomed to join. "The night before?!?!" Yes, at midnight. "At MiDnIgHt?!?!"

Lukaris said:

Our Antiochian parish has a celebration feast that varies yearly depending on how many people coordinate things. Sometimes it is just an above average ( but still good) coffee fellowship. As far as baskets, are you referring to the baskets of eggs that are blessed & given out ( within the liturgy of course)?

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No, not a basket of eggs. Sounds like you are missing out on a fun tradition! Traditionally, there are symbolic meanings to different foods in a Pascha Basket (Bread for bread of life, horseradish or garlic for the bitter suffering, salt for the light of the world, etc.). We tend to put our own twist on it, bringing our favorite foods that we missed, some traditional Pascha basket foods (such as Paska bread and Paska cheese) and plenty to share. I enjoy putting together a Pascha basket with some traditional foods in honor of my husband’s heritage and traditions, but I absolutely bring some favorite foods besides that. I’m thinking about bringing Peanut butter swirl ice cream and of course, deviled eggs. One family always brings KFC and another brings Big Macs. We have a wide variety. So much fun!

This is the traditional basket symbolism:

All4Christ said:

No, not a basket of eggs. Sounds like you are missing out on a fun tradition! Traditionally, there are symbolic meanings to different foods in a Pascha Basket (Bread for bread of life, horseradish or garlic for the bitter suffering, salt for the light of the world, etc.). We tend to put our own twist on it, bringing our favorite foods that we missed, some traditional Pascha basket foods (such as Paska bread and Paska cheese) and plenty to share. I enjoy putting together a Pascha basket with some traditional foods in honor of my husband’s heritage and traditions, but I absolutely bring some favorite foods besides that. I’m thinking about bringing Peanut butter swirl ice cream and of course, deviled eggs. One family always brings KFC and another brings Big Macs. We have a wide variety. So much fun!

This is the traditional basket symbolism:

View attachment 315168

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Actually we do have this at our parish yet I could not recall. I just asked our priest as I was doing janitorial stuff. Some things I just forget I guess. It will be delicious one way or another.

All4Christ said:

Our Agape Vespers is at 2:30PM. It is a beautiful short service and is a great way to celebrate Pascha day. If it was 11am, that’d be really tough, especially after the Paschal Feast! We typically get home around 4am (give or take a bit). A friend of mine once called it the PPH…post-Pascha high.

Do the Antiochian and Greek parishes have Pascha baskets and a celebration feast after the services?

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i go to a Greek parish. Our Agape vespers are usually around noon. Honestly too early since it was past 3:30 am by the time I left Church. We always have fellowship and lamb soup after the Pascha service. There’s a picnic or potluck after the Agape vespers when everyone really eats. I’m missing it right now.

We didn’t have Pascha baskets when I first started coming, and it was almost all Greeks. We’ve had a big influx of other Orthodox though, and last night there were two huge tables with baskets on and around them. Maybe more than half the families had one.

Father passed the microphone around to have people read the Our Father in as many languages as there were. We had Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian, Turk(ish?), Ethiopian, Spanish - I think I’m forgetting some - in addition to Greek and English and a chanter read in Aramaic. But it seemed the baskets were mostly the Russians, Ukrainians, and Romanians? Some of the Greeks are liking the idea and adopting it.