Sanctuary of Sanctity and Sanity in So. Flo.

ABS loves to escape to the soulful sanity of the wonderful St.Nicholas Melkite Catholic Church

http://www.stnicholasmelkite.org

and have his soul lifted-up by the Divine Liturgy  of St. John Chrysostom










Every single thing in this Holy Place has been established so as to help lift one's soul and mind to the worship of Our Lord and Saviour and Our Triune God; from the Icons to the vestments, to the heavy-handed use of the belled censor from which wafted incense, to the hymns, to the actions of the Priest and Deacon, to the two processions within the Divine Liturgy, to the elevated and ineffable language of the Divine Liturgy itself.

Just look at this:


THE ANAPHORA
Deacon: Let us stand well, let us stand in awe, let us be attentive to offer the holy oblation in peace.
All: A mercy of peace, a sacrifice of praise.
The Deacon bows, enters the Holy Place through the South Door and stands

on the right side of the Priest.
Priest: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father and the communion of the Holy Spiritbe with you all.
If the celebrant is a Bishop he blesses the people with the Trikirion.
All: And with your spirit.
The Priest raises his hands and proclaims: Priest: Let us lift up our hearts.

All: We lift them up to the Lord. 

Turning to the East, the Priest bows his head and crosses his hands
Priest: Let us give thanks to the Lord.
All: It is fitting and right.
The Priest recites the following prayer aloud, while the Deacon fans the gifts.
Priest: It is fitting and right to sing to You, to bless You, to praise You, to give thanks to You, to worship You in every place of Your dominion; for You are God, beyond description, beyond understanding, invisible, incomprehensible, always existing, always the same, You and Your Only Begotten Son and Your Holy Spirit. Out of nothing, You brought us into being, and when we had fallen, raised us up again; and You have left nothing undone until You brought us to Heaven and graciously gave us Your future Kingdom. For all these things, we thank You and Your Only Begotten Son and Your Holy Spirit: for all these blessings, known and unknown, manifest and hidden, that were lavished upon us. We thank You also for this Liturgy which You are pleased to accept from our hands, though there stand before You thousands of archangels and myriads of angels, Cherubim and Seraphim, six winged, many eyed, soaring on their pinions,
The Priest proclaims with a mighty voice.
Priest: Singing, proclaiming, shouting the hymn of victory and saying:
The Deacon raises the Asterisk, forms with it the sign of the cross over the Diskos, kisses it and puts it aside.
All: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of Sabaoth, Heaven and earth are filled with Your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
The Priest continues aloud:
Priest: With these blessed powers, O Master who love mankind, we too cry out and say: Holy are You and all holy, You and Your Only Begotten Son and Your Holy Spirit. Holy are You and all holy and magnificent is Your glory: who so loved Your world as to give Your Only Begotten Son, that every one who believes in Him shall not perish but may have eternal life. When He had come and fulfilled all that was appointed Him to do for our sake, on the night on which He was delivered up, or rather delivered Himself up for the life of the world, taking bread in His holy, spotless and blameless hands, giving thanks and blessing, sanctifying and breaking it, gave it to His holy Disciples and Apostles and said:
Here, the Priest bows his head, reverently points to the Diskos and proclaims with a devout voice, while the Deacon also points with the edge of his orarion to the Diskos:
Priest: Take, eat, this is My Body, which is broken for you for the remission of sins.
All: Amen....


ABS has nearly reached the point where he is willing to confess this Divine Liturgy is superior to the Real Mass he grew-up with....