It occurred to me that I ought to explain the title of this blog: For the Life of the World and Its Salvation. The phrase comes from a special service of the Church called the Proskomedia, translated as the Service of Preparation. The Proskomedia is a service done by the priest, and deacon prior to the beginning of the Divine Liturgy (The Orthodox equivalent of the Catholic Mass). In this service the celebrant (priest) prepares the bread and wine that are to be used in the Divine Liturgy.
The priest with a tiny spear cuts out pieces from the Prosphora (the name for the bread that is consumed by those partaking of Holy Communion, it literally means offering) to commemorate: 1) Mary the Mother of God, 2) All the nine ranks of angles, 3) the living, 4) the dead.. The Prosphora is baked according the very strict guidelines. It is really two loaves pressed together and stamped with a wooden seal. The two halves represent the two natures of Christ. The seal imprints a cross that has the initials IC XC NI KA. These Greek letters stands for, Jesus Christ Victor. Then the priest stabs the side of the bread with the spear and then proceeds to pour forth into the chalice water and wine. This is to represent the piercing of Christ's side which poured forth water and blood.
During the service the words “For the life of the world and its salvation” is prayed which refers to the offering that Christ made on the cross. He is the sacrifice for the life of the world and its salvation.
This same prayer is also the motto of St. Tikhon's Seminary, for likewise the priest both offers Christ who is and in obeying Christ's command to imitate him is himself also a sacrifice “For the Life of the World and Its Salvation.”
"We pray for the life of the world." - words that my priest, Fr. Brendan Pelphry, spoke as a reminder to me once. Tonight during prayer the words came into my mind again and I couldn't remember if I had heard them also during a particular service so I googled the words and found your blog.
ReplyDeleteAs public as things are on the internet, I still would hope you don't mind me reading along too. I'm interested in your experience at seminary. I was only Chrismated in the Church in May but in my consideration of graduate schools seminary has also been on my mind.
My name is Tyler Davis. I know this may come as an unexpected request especially from a perfect stranger but I was wondering if you might be open to correspondence with me so I might ask you some questions some time. I'll just leave my email address here and if you like you are welcome to send me an email to connect. Thanks!
twilliamdavis@gmail.com