Incessant Litany

After the Gospel, there is another Litany. This one has the congregation singing "Lord have mercy" in sets of 3, overlapping the petitions being offered by the deaon. In other words, the "Lord have mercys" are sung continuously while the petitions are being chanted.

Deacon: Let us all say with our whole soul and our whole mind, let us say,
Response: Lord have mercy.

Deacon: Lord and Master of all, God of our fathers, we pray Thee, hear us and have mercy on us.
Response: Lord have mercy.

Deacon: Have mercy on us, O God, according to Thy great mercy, we pray Thee hear us and have mercy on us.
Response: Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy.

Deacon: We pray also for our most Blessed Father, Pope Benedict, our Metropolitan Lucian, and our Most Reverend Bishop John Michael, and for all our brethren in Christ.
Deacon: We pray also for our country, its president and government, and all who are in authority.
Deacon: We pray also for our brethern, priests, monks, and all our brotherhood in Christ.

Response: Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy.

Deacon: We pray also for mercy, life, peace, health, salvation, visitation, remission and forgiveness of sins of the servans of God, the brethren of this holy Church.
Deacon: We pray also for the blessed and ever-memorable founders of this holy Church, and for all our faithful fathers and brethren, who have fallen asleep before us and who, here and elsewhere, rest in the Lord.

Response: Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy.

Deacon: We pray also for those who bring gifts and do good unto this holy and blessed Church, and for those who labor, for those who sing, and for the people here present awaiting Thy great and abundant mercy.

Priest (quietly): O Lord, our God, accept from thy Servant this suppliant prayer and have mercy on us according to the greatness of Thy mercies; grant Thy blessing to us, and to all Thy people, who await Thy rich mercies.

(aloud) For Thou are a merciful God, lover of mankind, and to Thee do we offer glory, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit(+), now, and awlays and forever and ever.

Response: Amen.

Next comes the Cherubic Hymn. This, again is one of my most favorite parts of the Liturgy. Stay tuned!

**I italicized the already bolded part of this petition that I use for some of my daily prayer. Isn't it lovely!**

(photo by Greg Tarczynski)

Your attention, please

Friday, February 3rd will be a big day here at crazyacres. The new look will be unveiled!! Alexa has been generous in using her talents to give me a remodel over here. So, stay tuned, only 3 days to go

My Soul

You Are a Dreaming Soul

Your vivid emotions and imagination takes you away from this world So much so that you tend to live in your head most of the time You have great dreams and ambitions that could be the envy of all... But for you, following through with your dreams is a bit difficult You are charming, endearing, and people tend to love you. Forgiving and tolerant, you see the world through rose colored glasses. Underneath it all, you have a ton of passion that you hide from others. Always hopeful, you tend to expect positive outcomes in your life. Souls you are most compatible with: Newborn Soul, Prophet Soul, and Traveler Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

(I had to chuckle at the, "following through with your dreams is a bit difficult" part. Yup, that's me -hee hee- I just frustrate the hoohaa out of myself sometimes because of all my big dreams, and inertia.)

Coffee, please?

Well, it was another half sleepless night. For some reason, halfway through the night, I start feeling so restless. Toss and turn, and my legs ache, and every breath from my husband puts me on edge (he is a NOISY sleeper).

We are still waiting on our carpet for 2 of our bedrooms, so 5 kiddos are sleeping in one room, and they are all having trouble sleeping (some snore, some get scared, some are light sleepers).

Last night I got up about 3:00am to watch some thing on the television, hoping I would fall asleep. I got to the den, and my oldest daughter was on the couch; she said the three year old was scared, and slept between her and my 9 year old girl. My oldest girl was getting squeezed out. She offered to move to the living room couch, so I could turn on the tube. Nothing on really, but I usually just turn it on so low I can't really hear it, turn away from it, and it puts me to sleep. Usually. But after a few hours, I got up, had a bowl of cereal, and tried again. The sun was starting to come up =(

So I think I finally got to sleep at 6:30, and then woke at 7:30, realizing dh and the older three kiddos were supposed to leave for Liturgy and class at 7:30. Do you know they make it out of the house by 7:40?? Thank God for the perseverance last night in making them lay our their clothes and pack their backpacks and lunches!

So, they leave, the little 3 are still sleeping, and I go back to my bed. Instantly fall asleep, deeply asleep, instant dreams. I got that lovely respite for about 42 minutes, and then the little ones woke up. Ripped out of a wierd dream, I was grateful, but groggy. Still am. More coffee, please!

At the Gospel

(After the reading of the Epistle)

Priest: Peace be to you, reader.

Reader: And with thy spirit.

Alleluia is chanted

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
v. In you, O Lord, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
v. Be a rock of refuge to me, a mighty stronghold to save me.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
(The verses change weekly with the liturgical cycle)

At the Gospel

Priest: Wisdom! Rise! Let us attend to the holy Gospel. Peace be to all.

Response: And with thy spirit.

Priest or Deacon: A reading from the holy Gospel according to (Luke).
Response: Glory to Thee o Lord, Glory to Thee!
Priest: Let us attend!

(The Gospel is chanted)

Response: Glory to Thee, O Lord, Glory to Thee (The priest kisses the Gospel book, makes with it the sign of the cross over the people, and places it on the holy table).

Hymn to the Holy Spirit (after the Gospel, before the sermon)

O heavenly King, Consoler, Spirit of Truth, Who art in all places, and fillest all things, Treasury of Goodness and Giver of Life, come and take up Thine abode among us, and cleanse us of every stain, and save our souls, O Good One.

who threw up???

I had the first confirmation of the wisdom of putting solid surface flooring on the new hallway. The old hallway carpet was trashed, mostly from sick kiddos not making it to the bathroom. Today, when I came out of my new bedroom, there was nice splatter in front of the bathroom door, no kiddo to be seen. Cleaned up in a snap.

BTW, it was the 3 year old, who had never thrown up before, and wasn't sure what to do! What are the odds this was a fluke, and won't be making the rounds? Yea, I thought so.

Meahwhile, back in the jungle...

I use Catholic Exchange as my home page. Yesterday there was a terrific article about homeschooling, and the January panic that sets in every year. I hadn't had a chance to read it yet, but had pulled it up for later. I walked into the kitchen to find my oldest two children reading the article and giggling.
"This is just like you", they said. And sure enough.


“We are so far behind. We will never get caught up. Why did I ever decide to do this? I am such a failure. And what is worse, I am failing these children.”

The messages start bouncing around in the mind of the homeschooling mother like superballs on a tile floor. It is homeschooling panic time."

And then there is this little gem...

"This year was going to be different. This year you were going to be perfectly ORGANIZED. This year every form was going to be turned in on time. This year you were going to plan well ahead for all kinds of wonderful, enriching field trips. This year you would do lesson planning weeks in advance and you would have all your supplies on time. This year you were going have a schedule that ran like a well-oiled machine and you would not spend entire quarters of hours searching for lost sneakers."

and finally...

"We could homeschool the children so much better if they weren’t so messy and energetic to the point of bouncing off the walls. If they weren’t children, you see, it would all be so much easier to homeschool them."

If you homeschool, I guarantee a good laugh. If you know someone who homeschools, this will help you understand them. And if you think homeschooling mothers have it all together, this tells it as it is. Don't stop at these excerpts. Go, and read the entire, wonderful article.

Catching up

I have been checking on all my blog buddies, and have so much I want to say in comments, but just don't have time just now. Alexa, awesome template for Job's Tale. Kate, follow you heart, consider advice, but decide on actions for yourself. Amy, Flylady dropout *head hanging in shame*. Carmen - go for it.

There are more, but can't now. To all, a blessed night, and grace filled tomorrow!

The Thrice Holy Hymn

On to the next part of the Liturgy.

Deacon: Bless the time of the trice-holy hymn, Father

Priest: For holy art Thou, our God, and to Thee do we offer glory, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit(+), now, and always...

Deacon: ...and forever and ever.

Congregation: Amen.

(explaination - at each repitition of the Holy God, everyone make a profound bow (metany) and sign of the cross. A metany is bowing at the waist, touching the floor, and making the sign of the cross before standing upright).

Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us(+).
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us(+).
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us(+).

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit(+), now and always, and forever and ever, Amen

Holy and Immortal One, have mercy on us.

Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us(+).

Deacon: Give the order, Father
Priest: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Deacon: Bless this high throne, Father.
Priest: Blessed art Thou on the throne of glory of the kingdom, seated upon the Cherubim, at all times, now and always and forever and ever.


Deacon: Let us attend.
Priest: Peace be to all (+)
Congregation: And with thy spirit.

(next is the Prokimenon, similar to the Responsorial Psalm. This changes throughout the liturgical year).
Congregation: Sing praise to God, sing praise; sing praise to our King, sing praise.
Cantor: All people, clap your hands; cry to God with shouts of joy.
Congregation: Sing praise to God, sing praise; sing praise to our King, sing praise.

Deacon: Wisdom
Reader: A reading from (title of the Epistle).
Deacon: Let us attend.
Reader: The Epistle is chanted.

The Epistle changes day to day, just like in the Western Liturgical cycle.

Tomorrow (or the next day, if current conditions hold around here) will be the Gospel acclimation and the reading of the Gospel.

One thing to keep in mind is that the priest has many, many prayers he is saying while what I am putting up here is being sung by the entire church. They are beautiful prayers, and maybe I'll put them down some other time.

The Divine Liturgy, continued

After the Third Antiphon, there is the Procession at the Entrance of the Word. This is when the priest and deacons process through the iconostas, and the deacon is holding the Gospel book over his head. They processes down the steps and around and back through the Royal doors. (The iconostas is an the icon screen separating the altar area from the area where the congregation sits. There are three doors in it, the Left and Right doors being the deacon doors, and the Center door being the Royal Doors. Only a priest or deacon can go in the Royal Doors).

Elevating the Gospel Book, the deacon sings aloud:

Wisdom, Rise!

The people respond with:

Come, let us worship and bow down before Christ. Save us, O Son of God. Thou who didst arise from the dead, save us who sing to You, alleluia.

Then, the Entrance Hymn, which changes liturgical season to season. Today's is

Hail, thou portal of God, through which the Creator incarnate emerged, preserving thee sealed; Hail, thou light cloud - who didst bear Christ, the divine rain; hail, thou glorious mount, fertile and undefiled.

Then, the Troparion, which also changes season to season, feast to feast

Let the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad, for the Lord has conquered with his arm; He has trampled death with death, he has become the first born of the dead, he has saved us from the abyss of hell and has granted great mercy to the world.

And then, the Theotokion, a hymn in honor of Mary, the God Bearer (Theotokos), again, this is a changable part of the litugy.

We praise thee, the mediatrix of the salvation of our race, O Virgin Mother of God; for in the body He assumed of thee, thy Son and our God accepting the passion on the cross, liberated us from destruction, as a lover of mankind.

Next is another of my most favorite parts of the Liturgy, the Prayer of the Thrice-Holy Hymn. This will be my addition tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Third Antiphon

The Third Antiphon is something I am sure you will all recognize. It is one of my favorite parts of the Liturgy.

Remember us, O Lord, when you come into Your kingdom.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after justice, for they shall be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.

Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when they shall revile you and persecute you, speaking all that is evil against you, untruly for My sake.

Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit(+), now and always, and forever and ever. Amen.

After the Third Antiphon, the people sing an appropriate hymn for the liturgical cycle. I will make tomorrows hymm my entry for tomorrow.

Blessings!

My apologies

I missed yesterday's installment on the Liturgy. I do have a good excuse, though. We were busy all day moving beds and dressers around, and last night my dear husband and I went to see these people. Wow, what an experience. It is difficult to describe the show, but it was unlike anything I had ever seen before, and definately worth my time. If you are interested, take a peek at some of the videos on the web site. "I Feel Love" has some of the same elements as the show. Anyway, we certainly enjoyed ourselves!

Second Antiphon

I have already changed my mind, and decided to just put the Liturgy in order, but I will put a (+) after each reference to the Holy Trinity, as that is when we make the sign of the cross. Keep in mind that the entire Liturgy is sung, with no instruments. Just voices, and often in spontaneous harmonies.

Before the second Antiphon there is a short Litany of petitions, repeating part of the previous petition.

(priest or deacon)Again and again, in peace let us pray to the Lord.

(congregation)Lord have mercy.


(p)Preserve, help, save, and have mercy on us, O God, by Thy grace.

(c)Lord have mercy.


(p)Commemorating our most holy, pure, blessed and Glorious Lady, the Mother of God and ever Virgin Mary, together with all the Saints, let us commend ourselves and each other, and our entire lives, to Christ our God.

(c)To Thee, O Lord.


(p)(Quietly)O Lord our God, save Thy people and bless Thine inheritance; protect in peace the fullness of the church; sanctify those who love the beauty of Thy house; glorify them by Thy divine power, and forsake not us who place our trust in Thee.

(aloud) For Thine is the majesty, and Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,(+) now, and always, and forever and ever.

(c)Amen.

Then comes the Second Antiphon, also called the Hymn of the Incarnation by Emperor Justinian.

Now, and always, and forever and ever. Amen.
O only begotten Son and Word of God, Thou Who are immortal, yet didst condescend for the sake of our salvation to become incarnate of the holy Mother of God and ever Virgin Mary, without change becoming man, and being crucified O Christ our God, with death didst Thou conquesr death, Thou who art one of the Holy Trinity, glorified together with the Father and the Holy Spirit(+), save us.

This is followed by another short petition

(priest or deacon)Again and again, in peace let us pray to the Lord.

(congregation)Lord have mercy.


(p)Preserve, help, save, and have mercy on us, O God, by Thy grace.

(c)Lord have mercy.


(p)Commemorating our most holy, pure, blessed and Glorious Lady, the Mother of God and ever Virgin Mary, together with all the Saints, let us commend ourselves and each other, and our entire lives, to Christ our God.

(c)To Thee, O Lord.


(p)(Quietly)O Lord our God, save Thy people and bless Thine inheritance; protect in peace the fullness of the church; sanctify those who love the beauty of Thy house; glorify them by Thy divine power, and forsake not us who place our trust in Thee.

(aloud) For Thine is the majesty, and Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,(+) now, and always, and forever and ever.

(c)Amen.

Interesting...

I googled my name to see what, if any, our American Girl media involvement had on my frequency. It used to be I only showed up in an article about my husband. Now, I am there, with the transcripts of CNN as well as the CBS interview. Charles Osgood picked up the story. And then there were certain blogs that commented about it. It seems this whole issue really ticked off supporters of the homosexual political adgenda. I didn't did too deep, as I don't really care what they think of me, but I find it interesting that the only sites commenting on our T.V. appearances were gay sites, when I said absolutely nothing about homosexuality, and actually refused to pose my opinion on that issue. I only spoke about abortion being promoted a good option for girls being a lie, and that death never is the solution to a problem. So why do gay websites assume that means I am hateful toward homosexuals, or that I see them as a group of sinners, rather that individual people struggling to live their lives just like everyone else? They know nothing of my view on homosexuality, and yet because I think abortion is a bad idea, especially offered to young girls that are targeted by Americal Girl, I am a homophobe. I don't get it!

(illustration from http://www.reincarnate.co.uk/WChapter18.html)

First Antiphon

This is the next part of the Divine Liturgy, taking up where we left off yesterday.

(congregation sings)Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.(+) Bless the Lord, O my soul, and let all that is within me bless His Holy Name. Ever blessed are Thou O Lord!

This is followed by:

(priest or deacon)Again and again, in peace let us pray to the Lord.

(congregation)Lord have mercy.


(p)Preserve, help, save, and have mercy on us, O God, by Thy grace.

(c)Lord have mercy.


(p)Commemorating our most holy, pure, blessed and Glorious Lady, the Mother of God and ever Virgin Mary, together with all the Saints, let us commend ourselves and each other, and our entire lives, to Christ our God.

(c)To Thee, O Lord.


(p)(Quietly)O Lord our God, save Thy people and bless Thine inheritance; protect in peace the fullness of the church; sanctify those who love the beauty of Thy house; glorify them by Thy divine power, and forsake not us who place our trust in Thee.

(aloud) For Thine is the majesty, and Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the golry, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,(+) now, and always, and forever and ever.

(c)Amen.

Opening Prayer of the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom

Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now, and always and forever and ever. Amen.

Now, you have to be there to FEEL it. The priest sings, blesses, there are candles, incense, and the entire congregation responds with a sung Amen. It's big, and the senses are engaged!

Immediately following this opening is this petition.
Notice the last prayer in the petition :

For to Thee is due all glory, honor, and adoration, to the Father and the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and always, and forever and ever. Amen.

One thing to note. Every time the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are mentioned during Liturgy, the congregation makes a reverant sign of the cross. Every time. It becomes almost like breathing after a while. Lovely.

(photo found at this site)

The Trinity, One and Undivided

Over at Your Pastoral Coach, Hector asked the question, "Who do you pray to?" meaning to the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit. Being an Eastern Rite Catholic, during the Divine Liturgy, we pray to the Trinity frequently. I have been wanting to share parts of the Liturgy with you all, and this inspired me to begin my sharing with our prayers to the Trinity. I'll start today, and then add one a day for a while. Then I will move on to prayers to Only Begotten Word and Son of God, the Theotokos, and other petitions and prayers. I hope you will all find this enlightening, enriching, and just plain beautiful.

(Icon from an Antiochian Orthodox Church in Beruit)

Housekeeping Details

***I changed my reflection on the sidebar. This was the Epistle at Divine Liturgy today, and it screamed out to me. So I will keep it before my face as many times as I look at this blog.

***I took off word verification on the comments. They were driving me nutty, and making me hesitant to comment on my own blog. So, in an effort to be more hospitable to you, my dear guests, the mumbo-jumbo is gone. (I reserve the right to put them back on should the need arise).

***I put up some new links on my sidebar. Go visit if you haven't yet. Both worth my time, anyway.

***Alexa has been working on a new template for me. I am a risk averse, change- hating nervous Nellie, and major creature of habit. However, she has been patient, kind and ooooh sooooo understanding. So things may look different around here as I experiment. Or I may chicken out, but either way, Alexa is a saint.

Ramblings of a tired mom

Let's see, thought I would toss a few things out before the furor of the school week begins once again.

Oops, gotta go change a dipey. Be back in a sec.

Okay. Now, this week went well school wise. I didn't

Oops, gotta mediate a dispute

Okay, where was I. I didn't do as much with the little two, but did plan to begin them full force this coming week. The kids actually seemed relieved to be back doing school work.

I spent the weekend so far varnishing woodwork, painting drywall, and moving stuff from our old digs into our new space. I still need to take down the Christmas

Oops, just got asked a question.

Okay, where was I? Oh yeah, still need to take down the Christmas tree and pack it all up. Our tree is a pre-lit fake, and I just noticed a section of it is dark. SO, do I save it and use it again next year, and try to fill in the space, or go get a deeply discounted new one? Isn't it awful that now fake Christmas trees are disposable? I will keep it, and make it work, don't worry. I could keep the thing up til Feb. 2 and still claim Liturgical observance, right? Any later, and I am just lazy.

I have been having some disturbing emotional surges lately. I find as I go through stuff from our bedrooms, I am coming across many "momentos". I am a sentimental person, and have a bad memory, so the combination means I save many little "things" to help me remember little fleeting moments. This has made me terribly sad this week. How quickly my childrens' time with me is passing. How things I meant to do someday are still undone, and my life is accelerating at such a pace, will I ever get to them? Why do I spend so much time in the past and future, I keep missing the presesnt? And yet when I make conscious efforts to "sieze the moment", let it burn into me, it still passes in a blink, and melds into the fuzzy past of memory. Reality is so fleeting, the rest is memory or hope. For some reason this has really been bothering me, and made it painful to look at pictures of the kiddos, even from just this past summer.

oops, guests have arrived to help varnish, so this interruption will be fatal to this post. Will try to get back to it tonight.

Blessings

(No time to proof, sorry)

We're hitting the books once again

I have been itching to get on here and put down something profound, but have to get back in the school groove first. We are on track to finish the semester in two weeks, which is a suprise. We all thought we were behind.

We are also slowly moving into our new rooms, and painting our old ones, and sorting through lots of junk that I don't want to move to the new rooms, and generally being very busy.

I hope to get a post in at least by tomorrow, but until then, I wish you all a glorious day!

Words to Begin the New Year

As we begin 2006, let us focus....

not on our fears,
but on the Father;
not on our failures,
but on the Forgiver;
not on our anxieties,
but on the Answer;
not on our worries,
but on the Way;
not on our troubles,
but on the Truth;
not on our liabilities,
but on the Light;
not on our scarcities,
but on the Supply;
not on our insufficiencies,
but on the Inexhaustible;
not on our obstacles,
but on the Omnipotent;
not on our loneliness,
but on Love

Tag, I'm it

Rules: “The first player of this game starts with the topic “five weird habits of yourself,” and people who get tagged need to write an entry about their five weird habits as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next five people to be tagged and link to their web journals. Don’t forget to leave a comment in their blog or journal that says “You are tagged” (assuming they take comments) and tell them to read yours.”

Yes, I've been tagged. This ought to be fun, and probably wayyy toooo easy. Here goes:

1. I can not find papers if I put them in a filing cabinet. Might as well throw them away for as much good as they do me. I use upright, cascading file holders so I can see all the files at the same time. Or I just stack them on my desk, until they fall over. Out of sight, truly out of mind.

2. I have many different coffee cups, and choose the one for the morning to suit my mood. ( Maybe I'll post photos of my different mugs and the mood they represent). You would think this would be useful information to my family, but they just aren't catching on.

3. I can.not.stand rough skin around my fingernails. So I pick at them to get the rough edges off, causing actual bleeding. Lovely.

4. I will pay a babysitter $12 an hour to watch the seven kiddos, then go to a thrift store to buy clothes and bag-it-yourself grocery stores to buy food. I will spend needless minutes agonizing over a .10 difference in price, and pay the sitter .20 a minute. Silly.

5. I haven't worn panythose since my wedding day, and never will again if I can help it. I haven't worn heels since my wedding day, and never will again if I can help it.

6. One more for good measure - I hide money in odd places around the house like in books, bandaid containers, CD cases, a variety of deorative vases, in picture frames, etc. Just in case. I told my husband that if I die, don't get rid of anything until you check it for some stashed cash.

There you go. I tag Kate, Ginger, Ayekah, Possum Pearl and Veronica

The Saint that Chose Me!

Prayer in Honor of St. Felix of Valois

O God, You inspired blessed Felix, Your confessor, to leave his hermitage to devote himself to the work of ransoming prisoners; grant we pray You that, by his intercession, through Your grace we may be freed from the bondage of sin and may be safely led to our heavenly home. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who being God, lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen


Later I will add some details of his life, and why they are relevant to me. Thank you to Moneybags at A Catholic Life.