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Home , Hosanna, Oblation

Saturday of Lazarus

(April 24, 2021)

On Friday evening, the eve of the celebration of the Resurrection of Lazarus, the "great and saving forty days" of Great are formally brought to an end:

Having accomplished the forty days for the benefit of Our souls, we pray to Thee, O Lover of Man, that we may see the of Thy passion, that in it we may glorify Thy greatness and Thine unspeakable plan of salvation for our sake. ... (Vespers Hymn)

By raising Lazarus from the dead before Thy passion, Thou did confirm the universal resurrection, O Christ God! Like the children with the branches of victory, we cry out to Thee, O Vanquisher of Death: in the highest! Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord! (Troparion).

Christ -- the Joy, the Truth and the Light of All, the Life of the world and its Resurrection -- has appeared in his goodness to those on earth. He has become the Image of our Resurrection, granting divine forgiveness to all. (Kontakion).

Lazarus Saturday is a paschal celebration. It is the only time in the entire Church Year that the resurrectional service of Sunday is celebrated on another day. At the of Lazarus Saturday, the Church glorifies Christ as "the Resurrection and the Life" who, by raising Lazarus, has confirmed the universal resurrection of mankind even before his own suffering and death. At the of Lazarus Saturday the baptismal verse from Galatians: As many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Gal 3:27) replaces the Thrice-holy Hymn thus indicating the resurrectional character of the celebration, and the fact that Lazarus Saturday was once among the few great baptismal days in the Orthodox Church Year.

Except from The Orthodox Faith, Vol. 2 Worship by Fr. Thomas Hopko

Proskomide () on the Solea…

(April 24, 2021)

Since the early Church, the Office of Oblation (Proskomide) has been a service of offering gifts to God in preparation for the Sacrament of Holy or Holy in the Divine Liturgy. The Office of Oblation is thus a prerequisite for the Divine Liturgy.

Today, the conducts the Office of Oblation inaudibly during Matins behind the Iconostasis (Icon Screen). The Table of Oblation (Prothesis or sometimes Proskomide) is located to the left of the Holy Altar table. The Table of Oblation represents the cave or stable of Bethlehem where our Lord and Savior Christ was born. For the Oblation, members of the congregation bring wine and bread as an offering to the Church. During the Divine Liturgy, the wine will be consecrated into the , while the bread will be consecrated into the . The wine is a pure grape sweet wine. It is often the Greek sweet wine Mavrodaphne, Comandarria, or the sweet wines from Samos or Cyprus.

The holy bread (also called prosphora or offering) be made from pure wheat flour, salt and water, and is leavened and well baked. Usually, there are five loaves to represent our Lord’s miracle of feeding of “five thousand men besides women and children” with only five loaves of bread (Matt. 14:17-21). But if it is not possible to make five loaves, at least one is necessary for the offering. In the center of the top of the bread is a round seal. During the Office of Oblation, the priest cuts small portions of the bread to prepare for Holy Communion.

Only one time a year you will have the chance to see how the Holy Oblation (Proskomide Service) takes place. With the approval of His Grace Nicholas, Fr. Vasile will have the Service of Proskomide done on the Solea, on Saturday of Lazarus, April 24, immediately after the Orthros (which on weekdays starts as usually at 9:00am).

Please come and bring your members of family (especially children) to this awesome Service of the church. In the Narthex you will find Forms for commemorating the living and the dead. On this occasion, along with regular names we will comemmorate the names of the living and the dead of those who participate in this Service.