Church Services
September 14, 2004 - The Feast of the Elevation of the Holy, Precious, and Life-Giving Cross of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. SS. Peter and Paul Church observed the Holy Day with the celebration of the Divine Liturgy. (For a full explanation of the significance of this Holy Day, please refer to the photo report entitled "Elevation Vespers 2004").You may click on the photo above and the two photos immediately below to view enlargements.
In the photo above left, we see the Holy Cross and the icon for the Holy Day on the Tetrapod in the center of the Church at the beginning of the Divine Liturgy. The Holy Cross was processed to the center of the Church for veneration the evening before. The Divine Liturgy proceeds in the normal fashion. In the photo above right and below left, we see Father David during the Little Entrance. At the point in the Liturgy where the Trisagion ("Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal Have Mercy on Us") is normally sung by the choir, instead the hymn "Before Thy Cross..." is sung. Father David comes to the center of the Church at this time and venerates the Holy Cross and icon at the Tetrapod (photo below right).
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Above left, Mrs. Natalka Pavlovsky Weismantel, our assistant choir director, reads the appointed Epistle for the day while, above right, Father David censes the Altar, Sanctuary, Iconostasis, and the assembled parishoners. Below left, Father David reads the Gospel for the Holy Day - a commemoration of the Crucifixion of Christ. In his sermon, below right, Father David explained that we as Orthodox Christians are at war with a world that is inimical to God and to us.You may click on the photo above right to view an enlargement.
Above left, Father David at the Great Entrance which precedes the Consecration of the Holy Gifts. Above right, many of those in attendance partook of Holy Communion. Below right, a quintet of choir members sang the responses to the Liturgy. They included Choir Director Basil Kozak and his wife, Rebecca, Mrs. Weismantel, Mrs. Pearl Berezniak, and Mr. Robert Pisuk. Each individual sang his or her part well and together they sang harmoniously, flawlessly, and in a spiritual manner appropriate to the day.You may click on the two photos immediately above and the one below right to view enlargements.
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Copyright © 2004, Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church, South River, NJ
