My First Liturgy!!!

St. Philothea Greek Orthodox Church in Athens, GA

So the moment I've been eagerly anticipating has finally arrived. I visited my first liturgy today, and I'd like to describe in detail what I experienced, however, I believe one sentence may suffice for the "too long, didn't read" viewers out there.

It felt like I was worshipping with the angels.

As many of you probably know, I was very nervous for my first Divine Liturgy. As a Southern Baptist, I expected this to be quite a culture shock. I wasn't disappointed, yet I walked into St. Philothea knowing that the prayers of my fellow believers (including an igumen and an hieromonk!) were encouraging me and giving me strength.

And God deemed fit, it seems, to provide me with a friend upon entering. A fine gentleman, Mike, though not greeting, sensed my nervousness and walked up to me. He mentioned that he chrismated into the church three months ago, and he used to be a Baptist deacon! He took me around the church and explained a few things to me, then offered to let me sit with him and his wife during the Divine Liturgy. His wife had such a wonderful voice, and she frequently explained a few things to me during the liturgy. I must admit, I felt somewhat sad, as I was interrupting her worship of our amazing God to have my questions answered, yet she didn't seem to mind at all. 

Thank you, God, for placing these two kind believers in my path today. I truly felt great knowing how much they cared. In fact, Mike's lovely wife brought me some of the blessed bread after the serving of Holy Communion, and Mike explained to me all the different aspects of the sanctuary. I'm sorry for interrupting their worship, but they really seemed to care about making me feel welcome. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but this beautiful couple made it better.

So anyway, I digress. The service was "somewhat" what I expected. I knew much of it would be sung, and it was. I kind of got lost in the service and wasn't able to follow along in the liturgy book. But, I knew some of the things (the Creed and the Our Father. Don't worry, Orthodox readers, I didn't throw in the Filioque!). They spoke in Greek at certain parts, some of which seemed confusing, but most of which seemed to involve the Greek version of "Lord, have mercy."

My favorite part of the service, however, was the serving of the Eucharist. In a typical Baptist setting, the pastor and the deacons serve the Lord's Supper around the sanctuary. They usually read from the Bible related verses and then remind us that Christ has commanded us to do this in remembrance of him. They might say a prayer before. However, the Orthodox spend much of the service preparing the bread and wine for the parishioners. It is paraded around the sanctuary, and the people bow as it passes. The Orthodox also believe that the bread and the wine become the body and blood of Christ mystically. Hence, Christ's "This is my body. This is my blood." They don't follow the Catholic need to argue for "transubstantiation." Instead, they simply believe on faith. We all got on our knees and bowed as the Eucharist was brought up to the altar. Then, those able to receive Holy Communion partook. As I said, it was beautiful, and something I will remember for life.

You know, I was warned about one thing the Orthodox Church does... Which is eat! And they happened to be having gyros, salad, and potatoes after the service. Andddddd, it was free for college students! Mike and his lovely wife took me to the fellowship hall, and I ate with some college students, all of whom were great people. I'm looking forward to spending more time in the future.

So, overall, my first Divine Liturgy was an experience. I enjoyed it. I felt like I was in the presence of some truly God-fearing people. While I can't claim to have understood it all, I will say that I loved every minute. Father Anthony, the priest, gave a great homily, and I'm looking forward to chatting with him more when able. He said after the service that he recalled my face somewhere. 

Thank you for your prayers, dear readers, and continue to pray for me as I continue my great adventure.

Yours,

Christian