Many first time visitors have questions about what to expect when attending services at a new church so we have compiled several resources to help answer some of those most commonly asked questions.
Our parish is a member of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America and follows the liturgical practice and canoncial discipline of our Archdiocese and Patriarchate. All our services are in English.
Things I Wish I'd Known Before Attending-A Guide to Your First Venture into an Eastern Orthodox Church "What is a Liturgy? Am I Welcome? Do They Speak English?" This blog post by an Orthodox seminary student covers some of the most commonly asked questions that people have regarding Orthodox services.
First Visit to An Orthodox Church: Twelve Things I Wish I'd Known "Information to make you feel more at home in Orthodox worship. This article is also available in booklet format at our church.
A Guide to Church Etiquette: How to Show Proper Respect and Reverence in Church To help answer etiquette questions the Archdiocese has prepared this easy-to-read booklet to answer many frequently asked questions about church etiquette. The booklet includes topics such as entering and leaving church, lighting candles, venerating icons, crossing oneself, socializing, receiving antidoron, children in church, church attire, photography in the church, and much more. When we come to the church and its services we are entering the Kingdom of God on earth, His habitation, and we choose to honor this sacred place by our attentiveness to what is proper and ordered. We have the opportunity to reflect the image of Christ within us by our actions...This guide is meant for personal reflection..." From the introduction page of the Church Etiquette booklet.
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His Beatitude Patriarch John X |
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His Eminence Metropolitan Saba |
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Archimandrite Jeremy, Archiepiscopal Vicar |
To learn more about His Beatitude Patriarch JOHN X and the Patriarchate of Antioch:
Biography on His Beatitude John X, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East
To learn more about His Eminence Metropolitan SABA and the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America:
Biography of His Eminence Metropolitan Saba
History of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
To learn more about Archimandrite Jeremy, Archiepiscopal Vicar of the Toledo & Midwest Diocese:
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"Sometimes called the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Orthodox Church is the first Christian Church, the Church founded by the Lord Jesus Christ and described in the pages of the New Testament. Her history can be traced in unbroken continuity all the way back to Christ and His Twelve Apostles. For twenty centuries, she has continued in her undiminished and unaltered faith and practice. Today her apostolic doctrine, worship, and structure remain intact. The Orthodox Church maintains that the Church is the living Body of Jesus Christ."
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America.
The first Sunday of Great Lent is called the Sunday of Orthodoxy because it commemorates the restoration of the Holy Icons and the triumph of the Orthodox Faith against the terrible heresy of the Iconoclasts, i.e. those heretics who refused to honor the Holy Icons. For more than a hundred years the…
In the year 313 Saint Constantine the Great issued an edict granting Christians religious freedom, and officially recognizing Christianity as equal with paganism under the law. But his co-ruler Licinius was a pagan, and he decided to stamp out Christianity in his part of the Empire. As Licinius…
The Holy Martyr Urpasianus suffered in the city of Nicomedia. The emperor Maximian Gallerius (305-311) cruelly persecuted Christians serving in his army and at his court. Some of the timid of soul began to waver and worship the pagan gods, but the strong held out until the very end. The dignitary…
Saint Caesarius was the son of Saint Gregory (January 1) and Saint Nonna (August 5), and the brother of Saint Gregory the Theologian (January 25). After studying oratory, philosophy, medicine and other subjects in Alexandria, he went to Constantinople, where he became one of the city's leading…
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The Albazin Icon of the Mother of God “the Word made Flesh” is of great religious significance in the Amur River region. It received its name from the Russian fortress of Albazin (now the village of Albazino) along the Amur river, founded in the year 1650 by the famous Russian frontier…
Saint Vitalius was born in the Sicilian town of Castronovo in the X century to wealthy and pious parents, Sergius and Chrysonίkḗ, who raised him according to God's Word, and saw that he received a good education. From an early age, Vitalius loved Christ and the monastic state, which is why he…
