Orthodox Feast of St. Mark the Apostle & Evangelist, May 3

Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America ^

[Kolokotronis]

Apolytikion:

Third Tone

O Holy Apostle and Evangelist Mark, intercede to our merciful God, that He may grant our souls forgiveness of sins.

Kontakion:

Second Tone

When thou hadst received the Spirit's grace from Heaven's heights, thou rentest apart the webs of the philosophers; and on catching all of the nations in thy net, O all-lauded Mark, thou didst offer them to thy Lord, by preaching the Gospel of divine renown.

Synaxarion:

Mark was an idolater from Cyrene of Pentapolis, which is near Libya. Having come to the Faith of Christ through the Apostle Peter, he followed him to Rome. While there, at the prompting of Peter himself and at the request of the Christians living there, he wrote his Gospel in Greek, and it is second in order after Matthew's. Afterwards, travelling to Egypt, he preached the Gospel there and was the first to establish the Church in Alexandria. The idolaters, unable to bear his preaching, seized him, bound him with ropes, and dragged him through the streets until he, cut to pieces on rocks, gave up his soul. It is said that he completed his life in martyrdom about the year 68. He is depicted in holy icons with a lion next to him, one of the living creatures mentioned by Ezekiel (1:10), and a symbol of Christ's royal office, as Saint Irenaeus of Lyons writes.

Reading courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA Apolytikion courtesy of Narthex Press, Northridge, CA Kontakion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA

[Kolokotronis]

Ping

[MarMema]

Christ is Risen!

We went to Bright Monday liturgy this morning and then the girls and I cleaned at church. We used a blowdrier on the wax spots on the wood floor - they wipe right up after a few seconds of hot air. My ten year old vaccummed the entire stairs and choir loft upstairs by herself. She was awesome.

After cleaning we went to my Godmothers house and ate like little piggies, I am sorry to say. :-)
And had the most yummy wine, and met a lot of Russians from the local Rocor church.

I love Bright Monday. It is my second favorite service of the year.

[MarMema]

Oh and I took the woman who was cleaning with us to my Godmothers for lunch and Orthodox companionship.

And they did a really cool thing. My Godmother and her husband, I mean. They put an icon in the corner near the ceiling of the dining room. Before we ate we all stood facing it, and sang together, first "Christ is Risen" three times, and then the Our Father.

Then we sat down and ate, and I kept feeling like I forgotten to pray before eating. I had to keep reminding myself that we had prayed standing up this time.

But I like this idea and I think I will try to do it at our home. It is fun standing and praying together like that.

[MarMema]

My favorite service of all time, btw, in case anyone is wondering, is Exaltation of the Cross.

[katnip]

My favorite service of all time, btw, in case anyone is wondering, is Exaltation of the Cross.

I will not miss that service this year!

"O Lord, save Thy people and bless Thine inheritance. Grant victory unto Orthodox Christians over their adversaries, and by the virtue of Thy Cross, preserve Thy community."

[blinachka]

And they did a really cool thing. My Godmother and her husband, I mean. They put an icon in the corner near the ceiling of the dining room. Before we ate we all stood facing it, and sang together, first "Christ is Risen" three times, and then the Our Father.

Is your Godmother Russian? I ask this because what you describe is typical for the Russian Orthodox. This is the way we "say grace".In my family (and also all of my friends who are also Russian and Orthodox) we always do this. I remember the first time my non-Russian brother-in-law experienced this at our house - he was quite impressed. Now (after 12 years of marriage to my sister) he's very used to it. : )

Xpuctoc Bockpece! (Hristos Voskresie!!)

[Agrarian]

Yes, standing and facing the icon in the dining room and praying before the meal is standard Russian practice. We've done it since our days as catechumens, just using the prayers from the Jordanville prayer book.

And during the Paschal season, singing Christ is risen X 3 either replaces or is added to the usual prayers. Same with the Nativity tropar during the 12 days of Christmas, Theophany tropar in the Theophany season, etc...

There are many traditions, though -- the main thing is to pray!