The Orthodox and Eastern Churches are celebrating Pentecost this weekend.
(Catholic and Protestant Pentecost was last Sunday.)
Here in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre the Greek Orthodox clergy's red vestments bring to mind the red tongues of fire of the first Pentecost in Jerusalem.
The prostration goes with the liturgy of the day which has three sets of kneeling prayers for Pentecost.
The
first is a prayer of great repentance; the second prayer is a call to
the Holy Spirit to help the faithful follow the right path during their
life; and the third prayer is to remember those who have gone before.
Some selected lines from the liturgy:
DEACON: For those who incline their hearts as well as the knee before the Lord, let us pray to the Lord.
CANTOR: Lord, have mercy.
DEACON: That He will accept our act of kneeling as incense before Him, let us pray to the Lord.
CANTOR: Lord, have mercy. . . .
DEACON: Again, on bended knees, let us pray to the Lord.
CANTOR: Lord, have mercy. Kyrie eleison.
CANTOR: Lord, have mercy. Kyrie eleison.
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My photos are from 2009 but not much changes from year to year.
Wishes for a joyous feast day to all the Orthodox Christians!
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Sister Dr. Vassa Larin, an American sister of the Russian Orthodox Church, has eleven minutes of good insights about Pentecost/Descent of the Holy Spirit in this new video (Episode 50!):
(You can also follow her meditations and world travels on her Facebook page, Vassa Larin.)
UPDATE: Here is the entire text of Great Vespers on the Sunday Evening of Pentecost with the Kneeling Prayers, in English, from the helpful website http://www.antiochian.org/online-liturgical-guide .
UPDATE June 6: Today the Jerusalem Patriarchate put online the videos and photos of the Orthodox celebration of Pentecost.
UPDATE June 6: Today the Jerusalem Patriarchate put online the videos and photos of the Orthodox celebration of Pentecost.
(Linking to inSPIRED Sunday.)
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Tradition!
ReplyDeleteTerrific shots. Pentecost is marked in the Protestant churches, but not with quite the same sense of ritual (at least the ones I'm familiar with).
ReplyDeleteEven here in Southern California, so far removed from your ancient land, we prayed those prayers this morning in church and it was a real blessing to me, who has only recently discovered these ancient traditions!
ReplyDeleteSo fascinating!
ReplyDeleteYesterday, May 31, was the feast of the Holy Trinity for the Catholic Church.
Very interesting post, I am always a bit confused about all these holidays...
ReplyDeleteBirdman, gotta love tradition.
ReplyDeleteWilliam, you make we wonder how Protestants do Pentecost in church if not with ritual. I mean, it's one of the more mysterious holy days.
Come Away with Me, I was thinking of you and was happy for you.
Pietro and Cynthia, yes, Sunday was also Holy Trinity feast day for Catholics. And I learned that the Orthodox Pentecost is also called Trinity Sunday. So in Jerusalem a whole lot of Christians were celebrating yesterday.
VP, I know you always claim to be a bit confused about these holidays. That's why I posted Sr. Vassa's video. I hope you took a look. I find it such a pleasure to learn from Sr. Vassa.
Wonderful photos...Yours:)*
ReplyDeleteNice photos Dina
ReplyDeleteAlice