i have a question about the liturgy

youstina04

can anyone help me? :'(
there is something that bother me when i go to church
especially if i go to the church early and attent from the beginning
1.sometimes i can't concentrate, my thought goes everywhere and that drive me crazy.
i really want to taste the spirituality of the liturgy
2. sometimes i feel so bord and i will be happy when the liturgy finish
3. sometimes i feel so sleepy and after the liturgy i feel so a wake.
4. how can i benefit from the liturgy?
5. i read a book about how to benefit from the holy liturgy but really didn't help me at all. it's great book i just i don't know how to follow the steps in the church.
and even if i follow the steps doesn't help me and i really don't taste the sweatness of the liturgy.

erepsaltis

I think we've all had that problem at one point or another...
I'm going to give you some generic answers first (but believe it or not these solutions do have an effect), then some more specific ones,

1. First you must pray that the Lord allows you to feel the blessing and benefit of the Divine Liturgy, especially because you are attending to be closer to Him (we must struggle with the Lord for our blessings, as Jacob)

2. Ask your father of confession, any priest, or any servant, for that matter, for advice (sometimes we really underestimate the knowledge these people have)

3. Follow along in the liturgy book, during Liturgy (sometimes we don't realize the beauty of prayer, or the significance of what we pray for)

4. Learn the tradition of the Liturgy, this way you learn the symbolism behind what Abouna or the deacons do during the prayers

5. You must be an active participant, and learn the hymns of the Liturgy. The Liturgy is not a spectator event where the congregation watches Abouna and the deacons, but the congregation is involved.

Finally, regardless of how sleepy you get while attending, etc. you must keep going...just because you do not see the value in something does not mean it is nonexistent

Sorry for taking so much of your time.

Please pray for me always,
David

PrincessMary

i definetly cant help u cause i kind of have the same problem sometimes too :-[

the times (or few times :-[) :-[ when im actually concentrating though, are great :), i mean really it feels like u r in heaven. Look at what aboonas doing while following in the liturgy book..that really helps and understand the hidden meanings behind all what he does....i started liking the liturgy more when i started to read more and understand....the symbolic meanings of what aboona does

I like it a lot when aboona says the "anaphora" from the Gregorian liturgy ( why doesnt he do that a lot it has really beautiful words..the 1 in St. Basil's liturgy is different)...so also i tend to concentrate more on some parts in the liturgy more than others....

"You, O my Master have turned for me the punishment into salvation
As a good shepherd you have sought the stray
As a true father, You laboured with me, who had fallen.
You bandaged me with all the remedies, which lead to life."

"You gave Your back to scourging.
You surrendered Your cheeks to slapping.
For my sake, O my Master, You did not turn Your face from the shame of spitting"...etc

(this is me not answering your question and going a little off topic..sorry youstina :-[)

Coptic_Avenger

Hey I have the same problem. First I would be thinking about something in the alter then about something on TV then about something else. When I realize it, around 20 min have passed while I'm just standing there doing nothing. It might sound crazy but here's what I do: (1) yell at satan (2)tell him to shut up, and then (3) look at the alter, ask GOD to help you, then start chanting. ;)

PrincessMary

haha thats funny.."you better shut up satan"! ;D

ya i also dont know what to do too...
not just in liturgy

i feel so bored during the servants meeting! :(

(everytime they sit there and have a big debate on which language the speaker should give the lesson in; arabic or english, the whole time) (this takes about 30 min everytime or more! believe me)
then it turns into a big fight

(this sounds funny but its not... >:( )

and im sitting doing homework/studying ::) or me and the other teachers with me are preparing lessons for the whole month...or planning stuff for the kids....while the rest r sitting there arguing :-\

mmatt95

lol, this stuff happens to everybody, sometimes i would be thinking about something so deeply while serving at the altar that i'd forgot to light the candles or get the shorya for abouna :-[ , i guess the devil is really good in distracting people, i mean, don't u guys ever feel u haven't benefitted anything from a certain mass, when u come out of church ::).

an other problem that might sound familiair for deacons, is that u sometimes worry about the things to be chanted, and if things won't go wrong and leading the little kids inside the heikal; u totally forget that ur standing there to pray, and instead it becomes as if ur running a show lol, any experiences or tips here? :)

Unknown

i used to have that problem. someone told me it's the devil playing with your thoughts trying to take u away from God during the liturgy. try bringing a litugy book with you and following along. even try sitting in the front and sing with the congregation.

Coptic_Avenger

sometimes i would be thinking about something so deeply while serving at the altar that i'd forgot to light the candles or get the shorya for abouna ,

Don't u just hate it when that happens? >:(

The thing that makes it even harder is that i'm usually always the senior deacon in the alter. Even when I was epsaltos, I would usually be the only deacon that knows what to do.

mmatt95

yeah same here, now the "older" deacons at our church, which is the group of 15-20, serves alone with the little kids to learn how to order the service inside the heikal, so ur standing there all alone, thinking about a million things, there's just no time for prayer anymore :( . Not only is there the temptations from the devil, but also the arranging and explaining to the kids a million times when they should say epi pros evshi sta cete lol

Coptic_Avenger

No, thats not the case in our church. I'm 14, and most of the other elder deacons almost always come after they choose the deacons, because we have an English mass. Only around 2 to 5 adults come. There would be 6 little kids in the altar, and there would be 2 or usually the most 3 elder deacons(14 and up) in the altar. Now notice the chaos and distractions in the altar then. Only once every few months do we get an adult in the altar. :-\ ::)