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Topic of the Week – Experiences During the Divine Liturgy

“The Divine Liturgy on earth is a real and live enactment of all that which happens in the Liturgy of Glory of the Jerusalem Above.”

Fr. Stephanos Anagnostopoulos

Experiences During the Divine Liturgy by Protopresbyter Stephanos Anagnostopoulos is a book which explains about the Divine Liturgy and in addition gives many examples of actual experiences of priests and the faithful during the Liturgy.

May these true accounts inspire us in our faith by the way they demonstrate God’s abundant love and mercy for His creation and draw us closer to Him through our own worship experiences.

Adult/Family:

“A certain Christian went to Saint Nicholas Church, which was celebrating, in order to attend Divine Liturgy. There were many people and he went to the very front, the ‘solea’ (elevated area at the eastern-most end of the nave running the length of the iconostasis.) After the sermon, there was Holy Communion.

Following the words “With fear of God…” the Christians started being communed. With all the throng, great upheaval and pushing, the faithful spilled the Holy Communion. The priests stopped communing and somewhat removed the people…

Then this Christian saw… What did he see? He saw on the solea at the spot where they spilled the Holy Communion, a white bouncing flame. “Unlike the flames we know,” he said. “This one was white and wavy!” This is how he saw it.

The priest and deacon entered the Holy Altar and left the holy Cup on the Holy Table. The priest exited once again, knelt, bent down and started sipping the flame!… After he swallowed all of it, it disappeared!

Later the deacon came with a small bottle of alcohol and a match and lit up a fire. However, this flame was different from the previous one.

The Christian was in a state of shock. Day and night, he was being tormented by what his eyes had seen. An earthquake had taken place within him and so he decided to go for confession. He had never seen a Spiritual Father’s stole before. He had not received Holy Communion for forty years!

In fact, there are Christians who refuse to believe in the great Mystery and Miracle of Divine Conversion and then they talk about transmitting diseases, because the Spoon is common to all. In this way, they are estranged to Christ’s true faith, which says: “For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.”

The Body of Christ restores health when God wishes to; it makes tumors disappear, heals cancer; it does not transmit illnesses, as some blaspheme. Actually due to this blasphemy they many times also end up in heresy. This is why the Apostle Paul poses the question: “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?”

Therefore, an outcast and a stranger is not only he who refuses to receive Holy Communion because he feels disgusted, nor he who refuses the Miracle in Divine Worship, but the one who draws near to commune when in fact he is unprepared and unworthy. “Wherefore whoseover shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord”.

 

 

Excerpted from Experiences During the Divine Liturgy, by Protopresbyter Stephanos K. Anagnostopoulos, p479

Preschool:

“The year 433 A.D. when Saint Proclus, Saint John Chrysostom’s pupil, was the Patriarch of Constantinople, the city was constantly trembling from small and large earthquakes.

 

All the Christians, who were Constantinople’s inhabitants, had left the city in order to stay in campsites situated in the outskirts of town, where they were constantly praying so that God would give an end to this tribulation. As soon as the earth started shaking the people would pray with the words “Lord, have mercy, Lord have mercy.”

Once, during an earthquake, and while all the Christians were supplicating with the words “Lord have mercy”, an invisible power grabbed a child from the place where the people had gathered and raised it up to the sky! The child vanished! Everyone became stupefied!

A few minutes later, the child descended, once more, in a miraculous way. It then told the Patriarch that it heard a divine voice that was ordering the child to tell the bishop that during litanies, which are held due to the earthquakes, they should from now on chant the following hymn – and the child started chanting; “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.”

Saint Proclus asked the small child to chant it many times for the faithful Christians to learn. Next, all of them held a litany chanting this hymn and the earthquakes ceased.

With the prayer, “Holy God”, the earthquake or rather numerous earthquakes stopped!

Perhaps a few of them who have studied and are thus boasting about their knowledge in their field of specialty and about many other things, might laugh when they hear this incident and say: “But what is it you are telling us now, father? Earthquakes are natural phenomena. It is the shifting of plates at the bottom of the earth. It is natural phenomena which occur in the world. They are not related to God whatsoever!!” However, the word of God certifies that not only earthquakes but also all other natural phenomena happen in this world for they depend on Him. “Who looketh on the earth and maketh it tremble, Who toucheth the mountains and they smoke.” [Psalm 103:32]

Most of the time earthquakes are caused by God’s distress for our transgressions, which are constantly committed by young and old, clergy and laity, rich and poor, young males and females. Transgression gives birth to evil.”

Excerpted from Experiences During the Divine Liturgy, by Protopresbyter Stephanos K. Anagnostopoulos, p135

 

 

 

Purchase this book about this miracle here:The Trisagion Hymn – Potamitis Publishing

Elementary School:

“Therefore, one Sunday when the Divine Liturgy had ended, some people “had gone overboard” with all the loud voice and laughter they were causing.

At that moment, I was distributing Antidoron and my concelebrant was consuming the remaining Holy Gifts. In the Church there were about ten people more or less still waiting to receive the Antidoron.

As one of them was laughing loudly, he suddenly turned his head towards the Holy Altar. He saw me of course distributing the Antidoron, however, the Iconostasis in front of him had disappeared. First, his eyes fell on Father P., whom he saw elevating the holy Cup, in order to complete consuming the remaining Holy Gifts, while at the same time he saw the whole Holy Altar filled with Angels, who were standing with reverence, with their hands crossed and their heads bowed, somber as all of them were turned towards the place where the priest was consuming the remaining Holy Gifts. For during that moment the Living God, our Lord’s Body and Blood are still in the holy Cup. Two of the Angels turned towards him looking at him with a serious and very austere look. He almost fainted.

He stood out-of-the-doors, threw some water on his face so that he could come round, drank one or two glasses of water and left. A week, then 10 days later he came for Confession. He told me to refer to this incident without revealing his identity for he felt enormously ashamed and guilty.

The following Sunday after telling the congregation the incident, when I was distributing the Antidoron, it was as if the Church was empty! There was extreme silence!

And Father P. asks me ‘What happened, aren’t there any people in the the Church? What miracle has imposed this holy silence?’ “

Excerpted from Experiences During the Divine Liturgy, by Protopresbyter Stephanos K. Anagnostopoulos, pp506-507

 

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What is our demeanor after Liturgy is finished and we are still in church waiting to get antidoron from the priest? After reading this account, how might we behave in the future?

Middle School:

“Many years ago, a priest was telling me that one Saturday he did not wish to serve the liturgy due to heavy winter. The temperature was 10 degrees below zero. He and the chanter would only be present.

He had no idea about our Church’s teachings on the presence neither of the Triumphant Church nor about how the Divine Liturgy benefits the living and the departed enormously.

With difficulty, he forced himself to go to Church, wishing that the chanter would not come so that he could avoid serving the liturgy… The chanter came however.

He did the Prothesis in a hurry and started the Divine Liturgy. Shortly after, Bishops, Priests, Monks and Nuns as well as other faithful turned up. Most of them sat on the right and on the left side of the Chanter’s stands and commenced chanting so beautifully, heavenly that he forgot how cold, and lonely he was… His whole being was heated up… His whole existence was all aflame…

He did the Small Entrance and saw that the Church was full of people. Most of them seemed familiar… He did not pay attention but went on with the Divine Liturgy.

It was time for the Consecration of the Holy Gifts. He then saw three Archpriests, brightly clothed and radiant entering the Holy Altar. They knelt with him and prayed… He got up very carefully and in fear, took the censer and in a loud voice said: “Especially our All holy (Panagia), Immaculate, Most Blessed and Glorious Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary…” The soul of the Priest who was amazed, filled with divine joy. Peace and heavenly stillness hesychia dominated his inner self.

Then, the moment of the Elevation and the Dividing of the Lamb of God had come. Sweetest melodies filled the whole Church… The hole multitude of people who were present, along with the Monks, Priests and Bishops chanted not only once, but many times “One is Holy, One is lord; Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father. Amen.” Next, they chanted the Koinonikon: “Taste and see that the Lord is good. Alleluia.”

The priest was wondering what to do. Should he be the first one to commune or step aside for the three Archpriests who were present? One of them nodded to him to receive Holy Communion and then gave him a sign to Unify and Place the remaining portions of the Lamb into the Cup, as well as other portions in memory of the Holy Theotokos and the Saints.

Finally, he opened the Beautiful Gate… and saw no one… he looked inside the Holy Altar to the right and left… the Archpriests had disappeared… He remained fixed and amazed for a few minutes.

“With fear of God and faith and love, draw near…” he said and the chanter drew near.

He is still amazed! He is still wondering! The whole triumphant Church was present. His departed brother Archpriests, Priests, monks, men, women and children were those whom he commemorated from time to time, this is why some of them seemed familiar. The Archpriests in the Holy Altar were the three hierarchs: Saint Chrysostom, Saint Basil the Great and Saint Gregory the Theologian.

His lengthy university studies, his research and all the sleepless nights he spent studying, were not able to give him not even one drop of sweetness and divine knowledge, something that a one and only Divine Liturgy succeeded in doing…”

High School:

“In a convent situated in Macedonia, they were having “Trapeza” (meal in the refectory of a monastic or parish community)at midday. After “Trapeza” the trapezarissa (head of Trapeza) who was also an assistant, started putting away the plates and through the hallway took them to the kitchen. At some point in the space in between there was a loud noise, a tray had fallen down and all the plates broke into pieces on the marble floor.

The Abbess, who had not lef the Trapeza, inmediately went to see what was going on. She saw a nun by herself bent, picking up the broken pieces. In a marked, austere tone, she told her:

-Did you do this?
-Bless [forgive in Monastic language] the nun replied.

The Gerondissa continued in the same tone:

-Tomorrow, Sunday, you are not to receive Holy Communion and you shall have five hundred prostrations to do.

–May it be blessed, answered the nun and continued picking up the pieces and cleaning up the place.

The following day, Sunday, the nun remained on her knees while tears were running down her cheeks, from the start “Blessed is the Kingdom” until the end of Divine Liturgy.

When Holy Communion had begun, the nun put her head on the ground, watering it with her tears. She remained in this position until the end of the Divine Liturgy. As the Abbess was the last one to leave the Church, she noticed the nun who was in this position, came near her and asked her what was going on.

The nun remained silent and as the Abbess was being extremely persistent, very hesitantly and timidly she replied that during the time when the nuns were partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ, suddenly she lifted up her head and one portion slipped out of the holy spoon and entered her mouth.

The Abbess then asked her:

-Which nun was next in line when this happened?

-She bowed her head, very gently and very hesitantly said the nun’s name.

-Now, considering this miracle and in the Name of our Holy God, you shall tell me what happened yesterday, said the Abbess. You shall tell me the whole truth.

-When I left the Trapeza with the tray full of plates and as I was passing from the space in between, this particular nun came and pushed me with her two hands, so I fell down causing this damage.

(God restored the truth in a supernatural way, rewarding the nun’s holy humility and depriving the other of the Grace.)

 

Afterwards the Abbess called the other nun and asked her:

-Please tell me, what did you partake of today?

And she replied

-Nothing, for the holy spoon was empty!!…

Saint Nicholas Casabilas writes “…Holy Communion sanctifies… for one soul mingles with the other soul – one body with the other body, one blood with the other blood.. God’s judgment is an abyss, His Mysteries are magnificent…. Indeed, Holy Communion makes worthy those of us who are laudable of receiving It, who are similar with HIM by Grace and communion, Who Alone is the only One Who is Holy, the only One who is Good, the only One Who is True!”

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