Orthodox Worship

Matins begins in a darkened church. In it we celebrate Christ who takes us from the darkness of the fallen world into the light of the presence of God in His Kingdom. It is a celebration of the Pascal Mystery through which we are filled with the light of the presence of God in Christ by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. In Christ not only are we taken from darkness to light, but we become what we celebrate. We become transformed by entering into the Pascal mystery of our redemption in Christ. In Christ we are transfigured. We become new creatures. Matins is our call to be conformed to Christ, to bear the image of Christ the new man, and to be bearers of this new light and life to the world.

In the Orthodox Church Sunday, is the Day of Resurrection and therefore the Day of the Eucharist. It is the Day of all Days and nothing can replace Sunday in the life of an Orthodox Christian.

 

The Sacramental life of the Church revolves around Sunday. It is the Day of Baptisms because baptism, our participation in the death and resurrection of Christ, is fulfilled in the Eucharist. It is the day for marriages. A man and a woman are joined together in Christ at the messianic table in His Kingdom first and then joined by Christ sacramentally in marriage. The Eucharist always comes first because it is the firm rock or foundation on which a man and a woman build their marriage and grow in love. The life of the crucified and risen Lord communicated in the Eucharist must be lived in the life of the newly married couple for each other and for the other.

The first part of the Orthodox Sunday Liturgy is called the All-Night Vigil. The celebration begins with Vespers and ends with Matins and the First Hour. In many Orthodox monasteries it is an all-night vigil, beginning at sunset, continuing through the night, and ending with Matins and the First Hour followed by the divine Liturgy.