Clueless Reader

In which are detailed the anxieties and discoveries of a newly ordained Reader in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA.

[cluelessreader]

Children's Homily on the 17th Sunday after Pentecost — The Golden Rule

Children’s Homily on the 17th Sunday after Pentecost — The Golden Rule

Gospel Reading for the 17th Sunday after Pentecost

Do to others as you would have them do to you. For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit [is] that to you?…

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[cluelessreader]

Children's Homily on the 16th Sunday after Pentecost — Jesus Calls His First Disciples

Children’s Homily on the 16th Sunday after Pentecost — Jesus Calls His First Disciples

Gospel Reading for the 16th Sunday after Pentecost

While the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennes′aret.  And he saw two boats by the lake; but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people…

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[cluelessreader]

Children's Homily on the 13th Sunday after Pentecost — The Parable of the Vineyard

Children’s Homily on the 13th Sunday after Pentecost — The Parable of the Vineyard

Gospel Reading for the 13th Sunday after Pentecost

“Hear another parable. There was a householder who planted a vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to tenants, and went into another country. When the season of fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants, to get his fruit; and the tenants took his servants and beat one,…

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[cluelessreader]

Review: Orthodox Worship: A Living Continuity with the Synagogue, the Temple, and the Early Church

Review: Orthodox Worship: A Living Continuity with the Synagogue, the Temple, and the Early Church

As a transplant from Evangelical Protestantism, I grew up in a tradition that chased a vision of the Early Church and was known to somewhat fetishize Jewish practices. Entering the Orthodox Church four years ago, I was impressed with the continuity of worship, and latched on to the oft-repeated meme that “Orthodox worship hasn’t changed.” When I agreed to review this book, I was hoping it…

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[cluelessreader]

Children's Homily on St. Thomas Sunday

Children's Homily on St. Thomas Sunday: St. Thomas and the Unihorn

The Maiden and the Unicorn Domenichino c. 1602 Fresco Palazzo Farnese, Rome photographed by vittorio vida (via Flickr) Gospel Reading for St Thomas Sunday

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”  When he had said this, he showed them his…

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[cluelessreader]

Children's Homily on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son

Children's Homily on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son. Which character are you?

Gospel Reading for the Sunday of the Prodigal Son

And he said, “There was a man who had two sons; and the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that falls to me.’ And he divided his living between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took his journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in loose living.…

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[cluelessreader]

A Customizable Orthodox Christian Planner

A Customizable Orthodox Christian Planner (free download)

Orthodox Christianity adds richness to so many aspects of our lives. The calendar is just one avenue, but it’s an important one that we might often miss. Sure, we probably know when the major feasts and fasting periods are, but there’s so much more: The forefeast and afterfeast periods help us to orient our thoughts and our prayer lives. Feasts of particular saints or events that are important to…

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[cluelessreader]

Children's Homily on the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee

Children’s Homily on the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee

Gospel Reading for the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee

Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank thee that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector,…

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[cluelessreader]

A Timeline Comparison of Feasts having Forefeasts or Afterfeasts

A Timeline Comparison of Orthodox Christian Feasts with Forefeasts or Afterfeasts

The following image shows the feasts of the Orthodox Christian calendar that have forefeasts or afterfeasts. The festal day of each feast is aligned with the others, and the bars to the left and right represent the duration of the forefeast and afterfeast, respectively.

This page may contain affiliate links:I may get a commission for purchases you make at the linked site. This does not affect…

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[orthodoxgladness]

This Sunday, we begin our journey into the Lenten Triodion (the liturgical book used in the services of Great Lent) with the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee. The portion of the Church’s Year covered by the Lenten Triodion falls into three periods:

1. The Pre-Lenten Period: three preparatory Sundays (the Publican and the Pharisee; the Prodigal Son; the Last Judgement), followed by a preliminary week of partial fasting, ending with the Sunday of Forgiveness. 2. The Forty Days of the Great Fast, beginning on Monday in the first week (or, more exactly, at Sunday Vespers on the evening before), and ending with the Ninth Hour on Friday in the sixth week. 3. Holy and Great Week, preceded by the Saturday of Lazarus and Palm Sunday

**The Prayer of St. Ephraim This is said at all the weekday offices in Lent.(It is good to memorize this prayer too). The Prayer is recited either twice or once only, as follows:

I) Twice, with four prostrations and twelve bows: O Lord and Master of my life, give me not a spirit of sloth, vain curiosity, lust for power, and idle talk (prostration). But give to me Thy servant a spirit of soberness, humility, patience, and love (prostration). O Lord and King, grant me to see my own faults and not to condemn my brother: for blessed art Thou to the ages of ages. Amen. (prostration). O God, cleanse me a sinner (twelve times, with a bow after each). Then the prayer once more in full, with one prostration at the end. 2) Once only, with three prostrations (without O God, cleanse me a sinner and the twelve bows.)

The chief moments at which the Prayer occurs are these: a) At the Midnight Office, the Hours and Compline, it is said after the Prayer of the Hours and the words of the priest, God be merciful to us and bless us… (or At the prayers of our holy fathers…). b) At Matins and Vespers, it is said shortly before the dismissal, and follows the prayer O heavenly King, uphold out rulers…

(Lenten Triodion)

[cluelessreader]

Nice to have someone document the rules. This always takes me by surprise when Great Lent rolls around.

[cluelessreader]

Hello, I am 20 and I was raised in the Catholic Church and recently I have become interested in Orthodox Christianity, which I learned about through coworkers. I really feel pulled to it but I don't know where to go from here. There is an English speaking Orthodox Church in my town, would it be appropriate for me to attend a liturgy ? Is there somewhere that I can gain more information ? Thank you very much for your time

Hi. I don't know when you sent this, but I just saw it. Absolutely, attend liturgy. You can just stand in the back and take it in if you want.

[cluelessreader]

Children's Homily on Zacchæus Sunday

As we approach Great Lent, our focus should be on true repentance. Zacchaeus is one of the best examples of repentance in the Gospels.

Jesus calls Zacchaeus down from his height in the tree. Gospel Reading for Zacchæus Sunday

He entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man named Zacchae′us; he was a chief tax collector, and rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not, on account of the crowd, because he was small of stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for…

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[cluelessreader]

Book Review: Tending the Garden of Our Hearts

Book Review: Tending the Garden of Our Hearts

This page may contain affiliate links: I may get a commission for purchases you make at the linked site. This does not affect your price or reveal your identity. This site is a labor of love, but it’s not free to maintain: Domain registration (1 year): -$13.17 WordPress hosting (1 year): -$60.00 Income so far: + $0.54 Total debt: $72.63 Please help by following this link to purchase items you want…

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[cluelessreader]

An Algorithm for Determining which Troparia and Kontakia to Read During the Hours on a Sunday

An Algorithm for Determining which Troparia and Kontakia to Read During the Hours on a Sunday

As an IT professional, I tend to understand liturgics best when I can envision them as pseudo computer code. For example, the rubrics for determining which troparia and kontakia to read during the Prayers of the Hours on Sundays is complex, but there are only ten defined patterns.

The following algorithm gets you the right pattern in the least amount of steps (I think).

This page may contain

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[cluelessreader]

Children's Homily on the 36ᵗʰ Sunday after Pentecost (Healing of a Blind Man)

People who go to church are silly. So are football fans, if you can't see the game.

Gospel Reading for the 36ᵗʰ Sunday

As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging; and hearing a multitude going by, he inquired what this meant. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” And he cried, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David,…

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[cluelessreader]

When there are Two Epistle Readings in the Divine Liturgy

What to do when there are two Epistle readings in the Divine Liturgy

This page may contain affiliate links, which means I may get a small commission for purchases you make at the linked site. This does not affect your price at the site or give me any data about you or your purchases. This site is a labor of love, but it’s not free to maintain: Domain registration (1 year): -$13.17 WordPress hosting (1 year): -$60.00 Income so far: + $0.00 Total debt: $73.17 Please…

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[wisdomoftheholyfathers]