Sunday morning at church

The Doxology is sung as the end of Matins, or as the Greeks call it: "Orthros" in an Orthodox church, and on Feast Days. It is also spoken during Compline services throughout the Lenten season. The word "Doxa" is Greek for "glory". There are certain holy days when the Doxology is not chanted, or sung, and I cannot recall what they are off the top of my head anymore.

I remember the first time I walked into an Orthodox church, and was daunted by the candles, the incense, the ikons. I was warned ahead of time that this would be the case for most people not familiar with Orthodoxy. A friend helped me the first day with following the Divine Liturgy book, and I could not make heads or tails of it. It was in Greek as well as in English, and if the priest and chanters recited most of it in Greek, there was reason to feel lost.

The day would come when I would no longer need the book. I could sing the responses like "Kyrie Eleison" (Lord have mercy), or "Parasku Kyrie" (Grant this O Lord) Being a reader next to the chanters helped, as well as being in the Choir. The only things I could not recite in Greek were the Lord's Prayer (which I said to myself in Urdu) and the Nicene Creed.

That all seems like such a long time ago now. I have not been to church in over two years, and have all but "excommunicated" myself at least. It is not the church alone that excommunicates you. By not receiving communion somewhat regularly, one excommunicates oneself, in a sense.

I do not think I am confused about where I am with the church. The term "cultural Christian" does not apply to me. Nor does being an atheist or an agnostic. I think I have lapsed due to my own choices. It is said that Pride is one of the deadly sins. False pride falls in that category. And as I have been told before by my Father Confessor, my not wanting to be part of worship or receive the sacraments has nothing to do with honoring those by not being a hypocrite. It has to do with false pride.

Ma and I were talking about churches the other day, and the differences and schisms, salvation by faith alone (the Lutherans come to mind) vs. faith and good works. And while it is true that you can go to any church to pray to God, some want to go to one that represents what they believe. I could walk to the Lutheran church a few blocks away, and pray and worship there every Sunday, but I would have to put aside Lutheran "theology" for lack of the appropriate term, which I find problematic. As well as the other reasons.

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I have yet to go to an Antiochian Orthodox church in America where even a fourth of the liturgy is recited in Arabic. I am certain it happens though, especially in cities which have larger pockets of Arab-American communities, like Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese. There was an Arabic chanter in the church I went to a few times, and it was simply beautiful listening to him.

But even in the Greek Orthodox Church, which has more and more converts, in some churches, the usage of Greek in liturgy has lessened. This angers or frustrates some of the older generation of Greek-Americans, and insults some even further when gently reminded that Christianity is not Greek, or Orthodoxy is not the dominion of Greeks.

I think one of my problems with certain Orthodox churches is the tendency towards hyper-ethnocentrism coming in the way of worship. Though I do see the point about losing much of the language that has been part of these churches since their inception.

There are similarities in how the liturgy is chanted in both the Greek and Antiochian churches. This tone in which the chant is done here is how some of the Greek chanters perform it as well. What you hear in the background, I believe, is the censing of the altar, the ikons, the sanctuary and the people, the narthex where the votive candles are, and the exo-narthex, which is where you first enter as part of the Orthodox experience. Although how this is set up might vary in churches. I do not know if this is being chanted in a Greek Orthodox church, or an Antiochian or Syriac church. I do not think that matters.

Here is the English translation from Wikipedia

"Glo ry to God in the highest,/ and on earth peace, good will among men./ We praise Thee, we bless Thee,/ we worship Thee, we glorify Thee,/ we give thanks to Thee for Thy great glory./ O Lord, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty;/ O Lord, the Only-Begotten Son, Jesus Christ; and O Holy Spirit./ O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,/ that takest away the sin of the world, have mercy on us;/ Thou that takest away the sins of the world, receive our prayer;/ Thou that sittest at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us./ For Thou only art holy,/ Thou only art the Lord, O Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father. Amen./ Every day will I bless Thee and I will praise Thy name forever, yea forever and ever./ Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin./ Blessed art Thou, O Lord, the God of our fathers,/ and praised and glorified is Thy name unto the ages. Amen./ Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us according as we have hoped in Thee./ Blessed art Thou, O Lord, teach me Thy statutes./ Blessed art Thou, O Lord, teach me Thy statutes./ Blessed art Thou, O Lord, teach me Thy statutes./ Lord, Thou hast been our refuge in generation and generation./ I said: O Lord, have mercy on me, heal my soul, for I have sinned against Thee./ O Lord, unto Thee have I fled for refuge, teach me to do Thy will, for Thou art my God;/ For in Thee is the fountain of life, in Thy light shall we see light./ O continue Thy mercy unto them that know Thee. Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us./ Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us./ Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us./ Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen./ Holy Immortal, have mercy on us./ Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us."

When the chanter slows down at the end, what he is chanting is "Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal have mercy on us." It is how it is chanted in English, Greek, Slavonic, and Arabic, and even if one does not understand the language, if one knows the liturgy, there is that recognition.



Addendum: When Ma first heard this earlier this morning, she first thought it was the azaan. I told her it was Byzantine chant, and she was surprised. When the priest or deacon reads the Gospel, or a chanter reads the Epistle prior to the reading of the Gospel, it is always chanted this way. And this practice existed before Islam arrived, just in case there are those who suggest a Muslim or QurAnic influence. This is beautiful.