Tasbeha.org Community

Mike,

I am in your same position. I understand what you are going through very well. I was once told a story by a very knowledgeable priest regarding a Greek priest that served in a monastery. This Greek priest was addicted to alcohol and would drink everyday. All the other monks were very angry and felt that he gave the monastery a bad name and tried to convince the abbot to get rid of him. However, the abbot respectfully declined their request and when asked why, he told them the history behind this priest. He told them that when he was young, he was an alcoholic and often drank several bottles on a daily basis. He said that, since the time he wanted to accept Christ, he was able to minimize his drinking to just two cups a day and as his relationship with Christ grew, he was able to cut off a significant amount.

The point of the story is that, we are sinners and we ourselves cannot overcome sin. The only remedy is Christ and trying to establish a daily relationship with him. We cannot get rid of our problems by trying to get rid of sins but we can try harder to involve Christ into our lives--which will eventually lead us to a more spiritual life (and less sin). I, personally, have been struggling a lot with sin during this week, but I realize now that both of us need to sit with ourselves quietly and speak with God and ask for His forgiveness and compassion. We need to retreat and "come to ourselves" as the prodigal son did when he decided that he could not live in poverty anymore. This is one of the joys of resurrection--the fact that we can arise from our spiritual death and run to our Savior who waits for us, falls on our necks, kisses us, and allows us to partake of the communion!

Let us encourage each other to repent of our ways and involve God more in our lives through reading His word, talking to Him as a friend, spending quiet time, and partaking of His holy mysteries. I am need it as badly as anyone else, so I ask you to pray for me so that I can reunite with my heavenly Father once again in order for Him to change my sinful life and count me as a worthy member in His heavenly kingdom.

your struggling brother
Tony

So for annual days, the madeyah are said during watos days? The tune of the madeyah is not adam in this case. This is not making any sense. "Blessed are those..." is also not a "watos" tune either since it could be chanted on Sundays. I am going to respectfully disagree with regards to this sort of reasoning.

Ophadece and Mina,

What authoritative source(s) agrees that Pi-Oik is an Adam hymn? Based on what I read this is all personal speculation that is not backed up by any sources whatsoever. For all you know, that book you have could have had a typo...

FYI: Adam and Watos do not stictly refer to tune.

The book says that, Palm Sunday fell near the time of the Feast of Tabernacles, on which the Jews would circle the altar seven times with psalms singing "hosanna." The church continued this tradition where we circle the altar six times (three during vespers and three in matins), while the seventh circuit is performed around the entire church, and is completed in the altar. Each circuit begins in the altar, indicating that the procession of the redeemed believers starts by God's plan of Christ's self oblation.

The reason why the seventh is done around the entire church is related to the procession of the early Christians in Jerusalem which began at the Mount of Olives and ended in the Church of Golgotha. Although this procession was conducted in the afternoon, in later centuries, virtually every group of Christians began to circuit the church during the liturgy.

Also, it is interesting to note that in Joshua 6, God orders the Israelites to march around the walls of Jericho for six days, while on the seventh day the had marched seven times and with a great shout the walls of Jericho fell. No doubt this ancient tradition had something to do with Jewish customs in certain feasts but I remember reading a contemplation from Fr. Athanasius Iskander's book (Understanding the Liturgy) in which he refers to this wall as a wall of sin/death that had dominion over the followers of God, and by re-enacting this in our services, we are asking that God tear down the walls sin/death in our lives in order to unite with Him.

If you wish to know more...I highly recommend buying this book at the link below:
http://www.stpaulbrotherhood.org/index.php?option=com_rokquickcart&view=rokquickcart&Itemid=796

It is the pascha version
God bless

In the heritage site, it says that we pray the 3rd and 6th hours of agpeya on this feast. Is this correct? If so, why is it only this major feast?

At 1 hour and 22 min (after Aretenthonti) I notice that they say the rest of the theotokia similar to the moakab and romi like in kiahk......this is strange. Why do they do this?

is there a source for this?

the southern doicese did a production on the hymns of lent and there was a recording of ounishty but this girl was talking the whole time in the recording. Does anyone have this recording without all the talking?

Its found this this link at 2:06 :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX5wwcdmzTc

It would be awesome to have "our Father" or je peniot also without the talking!