In his focus on the Liturgy as the basic and most important principle of a Christian life, Father Alexander Schmemann may have been expressing his deeply personal experience. In his foundational work titled The Eucharist: Sacrament of the Kingdom (SVSP, 2003), Schmemann wrote:
For more than thirty years I have served the Church as a priest and a theologian, as a pastor and a teacher. Never in those thirty years have I ceased to feel called to think about the eucharist and its place in the life of the Church. Thoughts and questions on this subject, which go back to early adolescence, have filled my whole life with joy… (9)
And this was not a careless comment which can be overlooked. In his 1982 lecture on Liturgy and Eschatology delivered at Oxford, Schmemann places the question of joy at the very center of the task of theology:
The joy of the Kingdom: it always
worries me that, in the multi-volume systems of dogmatic theology that we have inherited, almost every term is explained and discussed except the one word with which the Christian Gospel opens and closes. “For behold, I bring you tidings of great joy” (Luke 2:10) – so the Gospel begins, with the message of the angels. “And they worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy”(Luke 24:52) – so the Gospel ends. There is in fact no theological definition of joy. For we cannot define that sense of joy which no one can take away from us, and at this point all definitions are silent. Yet only if this experience of the joy of the Kingdom in all its fullness is again placed at the centre of theology, does it become possible for theology to deal once more with creation in its true cosmic dimensions, with the historic reality of the fight between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of the prince of this world, and finally with redemption as the plenitude, the victory and the
N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 5
JOY OF COMMUNION
presence of God, who becomes all in all things.
Thus, for Schmemann, joy is the fruit of the personal experience of the Kingdom of God, of the immediate presence of God. Love, unity and the resulting joy, according to Schmemann, are to be found in the Liturgy of the Church:
The bread on the paten and the wine in the chalice are to remind us of the incarnation of the Son of God, of the cross and death. And thus it is the very joy of the Kingdom that makes us remember the world and pray for it. It is the very communion with the Holy Spirit that enables us to love the world with the love of Christ. The Eucharist is the sacrament of unity and the moment of truth: here we see the world in Christ, as it really is, and not from our particular and therefore limited and partial points of view. (For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy)
Joy, according to Schmemann, is the very nature of the Eucharistic Liturgy:
Once more, the joyful character of the eucharistic gathering must be stressed. … The liturgy is, before everything else, the joyous gathering of those who are to meet the risen Lord and to enter with him into the bridal chamber. And it is this joy of expectation and this expectation of joy that are expressed in singing and ritual, in vestments and in censing, in that whole ‘beauty’ of the liturgy which has so often been denounced as unnecessary and even sinful. (For the Life of the World)
The reality of the situation in our parishes,
however, seems to be somewhat different.
Sure, we talk about joy, and some people can
be seen acting in what appears to be a joyful
manner, especially on Pascha. But day to day,
our concerns with the ritual of the service
seems to overwhelm the joy of meeting the
risen Lord. At best, we feel the emotional joy
sparked by the beauty of the singing or by
being a part of an excited crowd of people.
But the joy of an intimate communion with
Christ is not so much what happens when the
Church choir takes a fortissimo approach to
“Christ is risen,” but what happens in
the pianissimo moments. Saint Seraphim of
Sarov partook of holy communion in church,
but maintained the joy of that communion
both on the road back to his hermitage and
when greeting pilgrims who came to him on
any day of the week and the year. Saint John
of Kronstadt wrote of the joy of the liturgical
experience which he felt quite outside of the
ritual of the Liturgy in his diaries. There was
a time in the early history of the Church when
Christians received a portion of the Holy
Gifts and carried them to their homes. We no
longer do this. Perhaps this tradition should
be resurrected and transformed into
receiving the joy of the Lord into our hearts
and carrying it back to our homes and the
rest of our lives.
ARCHPRIEST YURI A. MAEV, RECTOR + EMAIL: [email protected] + PH: 206.624.5341
This bulletin is sponsored by Kim King in loving memory of her mother-in-law Gallina King.
BULLETIN DEADLINE: The December bulletin deadline is Thursday, November 19, 10:00am. BIBLE STUDY: Father Yuri will be starting Bible study classes on Wednesdays in November, 6:00pm in the annex, with the exception of the holiday on November 11th. Everyone is welcome. Subject: ?
GENERAL PANIKHIDA: Don’t forget the monthly general Panikhida on the second Saturday of each month at 6:00pm. Please submit names directly to Father Yuri. LOOKING AHEAD: As the holidays draw near and your calendar gets fuller and fuller, keep in mind the many activities coming up at Church in December. We have the holiday bazaar, Bishop Benjamin’s visit on December 11 and 12 for Saint Spiridon’s Feast day and the Sunday school Nativity presentation on December 20 th. Whew! RUSSIAN COMMUNITY CENTER BAZAAR: The annual bazaar at the Russian Community Center will be Saturday and Sunday, November 14 and 15, noon to 5:00pm each day. Please support their endeavors. There will be no coffee hour on Sunday, November 15th. SCRIP: Get your lists to me early so I have what you want in time for the winter holidays. Scrip can be used to purchase your toy donations, family gifts, and groceries. Gift cards are wonderful for those hard to shop for folks on your Christmas list. SINGERS NEEDED: JJ Kotalik, who has just graduated from St. Tikhon’s, is trying to organize a Christmas concert for the benefit of the Christmas dinner which Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission puts on for the homeless. He is thinking of having it on a Sunday evening in December and it would be a collection of English and Slavonic/Russian carols and liturgical music. Please contact him ASAP if you are interested in participating: 425-503-2891 or [email protected]. Singers from other parishes are being invited as well. If a choir can be organized, someone willing to design promotional flyers would be appreciated.
TRAFFICE ALERT: The annual Seattle Marathon is Sunday, November 29 th starting at 7:15am. Remember this does affect parts of Dexter, Mercer and Republican streets. So give yourself a little extra time to get the church if you use any of these streets coming in from the north end.
BAZAAR
Glory to God for a good bazaar! Thank you to each of you for your involvement, from donations of ingredients for the menu; Baba’s Attic items, Arts & Crafts, and Herbsky items; and prizes for the Lottery; to volunteering your time during the summer for pelmeni, varenniki, and Napoleon sessions; shopping for paper goods, tending to fix-it tasks, etc.; and helping to setup and tear down the bazaar. More thanks, too, to those who chaired booths and those who worked in stations for the duration of the day – each day! Thanks to all, young and old,
who took a turn at volunteering in an area. It takes all of us to host St. Spiridon’s in the community, and thanks be to God for your participation in sharing the beauty of our parish and the Church, itself, with others! Your pal and bazaar chair, Susan.
The Guild of the Lord’s Friends
The annual meeting of The Guild of the Lord’s Friends will be on Sunday, November 8th immediately after Divine Liturgy during coffee hour. We need everyone’s ideas and input for the upcoming year. Be a part of what’s going on all year. We look forward to
your attendance. Everyone is a member of The Guild!
CHARITY NEWS: The October collection for Saint Barbara Monastery was $1055.00. Thank you so much. Our November 8th collection will benefit the Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry. Our gift will help bring the hope and healing of God’s presence to people in prison and their families. COFFEE HOUR: Please remember that the Nativity fast begins on November 15. November 1: Potluck
November 8: Agape Team will host coffee hour. Members of this group are: Jeff Beauvoir, Judy Greene, Matushka Elaine, Dima Pogrebniak, Susan Priebe, Steve Stachowiak and Matushka Helen
November 15: No coffee hour. Please support the Russian Community Center bazaar. November 22: Potluck
November 29: Potluck
COUPONS: The bin is back out for all your manufacturer coupons. Coupons will be delivered weekly until mid-April. So bring in those Sunday inserts and the mid-week ones you get with your mail. Military families overseas can use them up to six months after the expiration date. It’s a quick, easy and a free way to help show our support for the troops and their families. TOY & GIFT DRIVE: The bins will be out on Sunday, November 15th to start collecting your new, unwrapped toys and gifts. The last day to bring in donations will be Sunday, December 13th. All the items will be delivered to the Shoreline Hopelink Center. A large gift room is set up like a store for parents and guardians to come in and select toys for their children. Once all of the families have been served, the room is opened up for seniors on limited incomes to come in and “shop” for their grandchildren. Hopelink estimates it will serve over 6,000 children this year. So once again, I ask for your generosity as you do your holiday shopping. Don’t want to shop – talk to me and I will be happy to shop for you. Always needed – batteries for games and toys, C and D. Need ideas for the teens: sweatpants, shirts for guys, hair products, blow dryers, curling irons, Starbucks gift cards, make-up, Sounders scarves, Seahawk beanie caps, gloves and flannel lounging bottoms. Kim King
ANOTHER WAY TO SUPPORT HOPELINK & STAY FIT: The 15th annual Turkey Trot is back at Marina Park in Kirkland for all of you who want to precondition yourselves for Thanksgiving. Last year almost 1,500 runners and walkers got together
to have fun and raise money to help low-income families, seniors and children in our communities. Visit hope-link.org/turkeytrot for more information and registration.
Baby Shower for the Lebo’s
Kim and Harold are expecting a baby girl in late December, a sister for the irrepressible, helpful, sparkly Anna. Everyone is invited – men, women and children – to celebrate this joyous
occasion and shower them with necessities and niceties!
When: Sunday, November 1 2:00- 3:30pm
Where: Nonna C’s 5317 – 30th Ave. NE - near the “U” Village
Registry: Target See Dorothy, she has SCRIP
Judy Greene at [email protected]
