Parish icons lit during an Evening Vigil.
Christ is Risen!
Greetings on Thomas Sunday!
Nothing elevates the soul, nothing gives it wings as a liturgical hymn does. A holy hymn gives birth to piety of soul, creates a good conscience, and is accepted by God in the treasuries of the heavens. ~ St. John Chrysostom
Bis orat qui cantat. (Means) He who chants prays twice. ~ Ancient Proverb
Psalmody – bringing about choral singing, a bond, as it were, toward unity, and joining people into a harmonious union of one choir – produces also the greatest of blessings: love. ~ St. Basil the Great
When you worship God with hymns, you should be worshipping Him with your entire being: your voice should sing; your heart should also sing; and your life should also sing. Everything should sing! ~ Blessed Augustine
Music is unique among the liturgical arts in that it’s something we have to do every time we come to church. Iconography, architecture, church furnishings, liturgical books, all these are things an artist can produce once and be done with. But music is never finished. As soon as you sing a note it vanishes forever. As soon as the service is over, whatever beauty you achieved during it has to be produced all over again in the next service. ~ Rowan Benedict Sheehan
Truly He is Risen!