The Liturgical Life: The Veiled Christ

1. The Liturgical Life:The Veiled Christ

2. Christ: The Head “…Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.” (Eph 5:23) The Church can not exist without Christ; He is: Head Significance History “His-story” Rites Dogma Service All in all We can not experience the Church without finding Christ

3. Christ: Always Present “Immanuel our God is now in our midst, with the glory of His Father and the Holy Spirit.” (Pouro - Hymn of Joy) “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matt 28:20) “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” (Matt 18:2) He is always present in the Church, and He has:“made us unto Himself an assembled people”

4. Christ: Always Present To gather His flock “Behold, the Lord GOD shall come with a strong hand, And His arm shall rule for Him; Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work before Him. He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young.” (Isa 40:10-11) To support our weak struggles with His grace “There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.” (Psa 46:4-5)

5. Christ: Always Present To grant us Life through His Body and Blood “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” (Jn 6:51) To give us a significance “…without Me you can do nothing.” (Jn 15:5)

6. Christ’s Presence in the Church We See Christ in the Church in four manifestations: Christ, the Veiled “Truly You are God, who hide Yourself,       O God of Israel, the Savior!” (Isa 45:15) Christ, the Teacher “You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am.” (Jn 13:13) Christ, the Sacrifice “…but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” (Heb 9:26) Christ, the Shepherd “For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters” (Rev 7:17)

7. Christ, the Veiled The priest opens the veil of the sanctuary He declares that: the gate of heaven is open to the faithful: “Whenever we stand in Your Holy Sanctuary, we are considered standing in Heaven” (Agpia prayers) The gate is open only through God’s mercy: He prays:

8. Christ, the Veiled He open with faith that he is to face the Dweller of this Holy place: Gen 28: “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”

9. Christ, the Veiled The priest prostrates himself before the sanctuary door, saying:

10. Christ, the Veiled The priest leads the congregation in giving thanks to God whose presence “has covered us, helped us, guarded us, accepted us to Himself, spared us, supported us, and has brought us to this hour”

11. Christ, the Veiled The priest goes up to the altar to raise incense, proclaiming the presence of the Christ, Who is veiled in clouds, darkness (incense):

12. Christ, the Veiled So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was. (Exo 20:21) “He bowed the heavens also, and came down With darkness under His feet.” (Psa 18) “The LORD said He would dwell in the dark cloud.” (1Ki 8:12) “Clouds and darkness surround Him” (Psa 97:2)

13. Christ, the Veiled As the incense spreads, and the priest “disappears” in the incense, the Church realizes the presence of the veiled Christ, and chants (verses of the cymbals):

14. Christ, the Veiled Incense symbolizes the cloud of saints and their prayers: “…we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses” (Heb 12:1) Christ’s advent is always accompanied by saints and angles “Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then He will send His angels…” (Mk 13:26) “…when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” (Mk 8:38)

15. Christ, the Veiled As the cloud of incense fills the church, the congregation begins to greet the saints who are accompanying Christ:

16. Christ, the Veiled The Verses of Cymbals:

17. A “Transfiguration” A wonderful “transfiguration” of the Church by the presence of her Christ Becoming: members of the household of God “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Eph 2:19) “They were all baptized into Moses in the cloudand in the sea.” (1Cor 10:2))

18. “Transfiguration” Through His Sacrifice While going around the Church, the priest recites the five Contemplatory Verses: "Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever. He, being one Hypostasis, we worship and glorify Him." "This is He Who raised Himself as an acceptable sacrifice on the cross for our salvation". "So His Good Father smelled it on Golgotha at the timeof evening.“ "He opened to us the gates of Paradise and returned Adam to his rightful place." "Because of His cross and Holy Resurrection, He returned man once more to Paradise". All five of these verses are a glorification for Christ, Who was crucified for our sake, and gave us salvation.

19. Invocation of “Absent” Members The Priest begins to call upon, and pray for, the absent members of the Body of the Church: (Litany of the Departed – Vespers) Those who Departed Praying for their repose and forgiveness of their sins That they may join us on last day: “Raise up their bodies also on the Day which You have appointed, according to Your true promises which are without lie.”

20. Invocation of “Absent” Members (Litany of the Sick – Matins) Praying for their healing of all illnesses: “All souls that are distressed or bound, grant them mercy, O Lord; grant them rest, grant them refreshment, grant them grace, grant them help, grant them salvation, grant them the forgiveness of their sins and their iniquities.” (Litany of the Travelers – Matins) Praying for their return: “Graciously accompany them in their departure and be their companion intheir travel. Bring them back to their own, rejoicing with joy and safe in security.”

21. Invocation of “Absent” Members The night reminds us with the end (of life) As for us all, grant us our Christian perfection that would be pleasing to You, and give them and us a share and an inheritance with all Your saints. The morning reminds us of a new beginning A chance for healing As for us too, O Lord, the sicknesses of our souls,heal; and also those of our bodies, cure. A chance for achievement As for us too, O Lord, keep our sojourn in this lifewithout harm, without storm, and undisturbed to the end.

22. Praises of the Entire Church With the presence of Christ, and the gathering of the entire church (those who are present and those absent), the entire church begins to praise God (in all His saints): The Doxologies

23. The Liturgical Life… Only through seeing Christ in the Liturgy, can we enjoy this life: “…and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ;” (Eph 3:9)