Author: Fr. Athanasius Iskander

Intercession and Veneration of the Saints

To venerate means to publicly acknowledge someoneÌs virtues or good deeds. The person may be alive at the time, but mostly veneration is done after a person passes away. Veneration of the saints has very strong Biblical roots and is well steeped into Christian tradition.

Understanding the Liturgy: Preparation for Communion

To be ready for receiving the body and the blood of the Lord, one has to be clean, both in body and soul. To be clean in body, we wash and put on clean clothes. To be clean in spirit, one has to wash away his sins through the Sacra­ment of Repentance, and put on …

Understanding the Liturgy: Communion

In the early Church, communion was approached in the following way, Coming up to receive, then, do not have your wrists extended or your fingers spread, but making your left hand a throne for the right, for it is about to receive a King, and cupping your palm, receive the body of Christ, and answer …

Understanding the Liturgy: The Intercessions

Intercessions are prayers on behalf of others. St. Paul tells his disciple Timothy, “I exhort therefore, that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men” (1Tim 2:1). Intercessions have always been a part of the Liturgy as at­tested by St. Cyril of Jerusalem. When the spiritual sacrifice, the …

Understanding the Liturgy: The Blessing of the Elements

Introduction: The prayers of the blessing of the elements begin with the Institution Narrative, the story of the first Eucharist and how the Lord instituted it. The tradition underlying this is certainly older than the Gospels for many reasons. First, a fully developed Institution Narrative ex­ists in the liturgy of Saint Mark. It is a …