The Orthodox - Who are we?

A Gathering of Orthodox Christians in Albany - A Report

On May 6th 2012 evening, the Malankara Orthodox Christians from St. Paul's Orthodox Church in Albany, NY and friends from the local Jacobite Syrian Church got together at St. George Antiochian Church in Albany. The occasion was a meeting of Orthodox Christians in the area in a program called "The Orthodox - Who are we?"

There were representatives from the Armenian Orthodox Church, the Eritrean
Church, the Antiochian Church besides the Malankara Church.

The St. George Antiochian Church is a small but beautiful Church with paintings and icons on the walls and windows. (I noticed that the Byzantine tradition does not use a veil for separation of the Holy of the Holies, like we do, but has doors at the center and sides)

The Orthodox - who are we?

Armenian Church

The priest from the Armenian Church spoke briefly about the history of the

Armenian Church and Lake Van Kurdistan Turkey

Armenian Church, the Armenian genocide of 1915 and how despite always being a persecuted Church, the Armenian Church was growing stronger by the day, and also about the local presence of the Armenian community. Christianity was brought to the kingdom of Armenia by two of Jesus' Apostles, Thaddeus and Bartholomew in
first century A.D. The Armenian Church had long back translated the Liturgy to Armenian and they were the first state to declare itself as a Christian nation, way back in 301 AD.

Liturgical Music Presentation from Armenian Church

The priest along with a deacon later presented some part of their Liturgical Music. It was nice to listen to the ritualistic chants they use in their Liturgy. I was particularly struck by how deep voiced their chants are and how loud they sing. The acoustics of the Church was such that there was no mike system needed.

 

  

 

Eritrean Church

Next a deacon from the Eritrean Church spoke about how we were all one in faith.

Church in Assab, Eritrea in Africa

He spoke in his own language and there was an interpreter. Their liturgical music had drums and dancing and it was a joy to behold them.

 

 

 

Liturgical Music Presentation from Eritrean Church

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Malankara Church

The spokesperson from the Malankara Church gave a nice introduction about the

The HQ of the Indian Orthodox Church, Kerala, India

coming of St. Thomas to India and the different forms of Christianity that exist today in India. During the Liturgical presentation, there was a section of the Liturgy of the Word presented in Malayalam with Trisagion chants and songs
before the Epistle and Gospel readings.

Liturgical Music Presentation by Indian Church

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Antiochian Church

For the Antiochian Church, which was the host Church and which was the only

St.George Antiochian Orthodox Church, Albany, NY

representative of the Byzantine tradition, the priest gave a brief history and then the hosts presented a part of their worship including the way they use the Trisagion.

 

 

 

 

 

Fr. Gregory of the host Church

   Vespers and beyond

Later everyone participated in the Vespers (Evening Prayers) which was inEnglish. It was striking to see how many times they used "Lord have mercy" in their prayers.

After the Vespers, everyone got together for a fellowship of sharing of the different ethnic food items. There were Indian medu vadas and cutlets alongside Armenian, Mediteranean and African dishes and it was a great time to get to know each other. Recipes were exchanged and photos were taken.

There was a collection taken for the "Food for Hungry" program towards which contributions were made. Everyone agreed to make this into an annual event and the Armenian Church agreed to host the event for the coming year. It was a blessed time to be able to see and experience how Orthodox Christianity had found its expressions in different traditions and how the Holy Spirit had kept the flame of the ancient faith alive through the Centuries.

Src: ICON