On Sunday, November 28, the parish of Saint Andrew’s Church in Dix Hills was privileged to host the well-known liturgical scholar, author, and podcaster Sister Vassa (Larin) as she helped facilitate a ‘teaching Liturgy,’ followed by a reception and lecture.
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Liturgy with Sister Vassa!
We are very excited to host Sister Vassa (Larin) of “Coffee with Sister Vassa” fame here at St. Andrew’s! On Sunday, November 28 (the Sunday after Thanksgiving) we will welcoming Sister Vassa for a ‘Teaching Liturgy’ at which she will preach, as well as insert brief explanations of the Liturgy’s main parts, as it is celebrated.
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The Blessing of Honey
IN THE SUMMER in the city of Constantinople, sickness abounded, and the bishops would take the True Cross of Christ in a procession to pray for healing. We continue this practice in our present day, on the feast of the Procession of the Cross (Aug. 1) by taking up the cross in a procession and blessing our own means of spiritual (and, if God wills, physical) healing: Holy Water, and the season’s new honey.
At the conclusion of Liturgy on Sunday, Father John led us in the blessing of water and honey, and we made a procession around the church to bless our hives, and the faithful who assembled, with the Holy Water. Honey from the hives was distributed to all, and we enjoyed some melomakarona, spiced Greek honey cookies. Some photos are below:
Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!
We greet you warmly in the joy of the Resurrection! Thank you to all who participated in the celebration of Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and Pascha. Your prayers, concelebration, and the multitude of ways in which you helped to prepare for the feast made this year a truly beautiful and truly blessed event, a life-giving participation in Our Lord’s Pascha.
A brief selection of photos from this year’s celebration can be found on our parish Facebook and Instagram.
Palm Sunday 2021
Celebrating the Entrance of our Lord into Jerusalem on the way to His Passion 🌿 “Liturgical celebration is a re-entrance of the Church into the event, and this means not merely its “idea,” but its joy or sadness, its living and concrete reality. It is one thing to know that by crying, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me,” the crucified Christ was manifesting His “kenosis” and His humility. It is quite a different thing to celebrate it every year on that unique Friday on which – without rationalizing it – we know with total certitude that these words, having proffered once, remain eternally real… so that no victory, no glory, no “synthesis” can ever erase them… From the Gospel, we know about it. But it is in the Church’s celebration today that an historical fact becomes an event for us… for me… a power in my life, a memory, a joy.”
–Fr. Alexander Schmemann, Great Lent
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