SPIRITUS

Praise the Lord!
Just yesterday my SPIRTUS bros and....gal friends had a really inspiring day of prayer and formation yesterday! Being able to go down to the Holy Resurrection Monastery of St. Nazian's and spend some time with our brothers of the Eastern Catholic Rite was a blessing. Bing able to join in the Byzantine form of the mass called Divine Liturgy was a powerful experience that of course reached its climax in the reception of the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. 

One thing about the Divine Liturgy that really struck me was that between the altar where the sacrifice of the mass was taking place and the place where we were there was a wall with three doors. The door on the left had a picture of the Blessed Virgin Mary or as our brothers at Holy Resurrection Monastery would call her the Theotokos meaning: one who gives birth to God. The door on the right had a picture of the Christ displayed in both justice and mercy. The door in the middle was open but it had a curtain or a veil that was able to be slid so as to cover the door. I was told by a brother there named Brother Ambrose that this seeming separation between the priest and the people was far from that. The three doors and icons formed what is called an Iconostasis and its purpose was to help us remember that not only are the priest and the faithful participating in this Divine Feast but all of heaven the thrones, the choirs of angels, the cherubim, the great six-winged seraphs, the great elders, patriarchs and prophets, the martyrs, and all the saints have come to worship the Ancient One, God Almighty through the Body and Blood of His Son, Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit in this tiny little chapel where we stood. It is amazing that we were not overcome with the weight of such glory! And we knew heaven was there, not just because of the Iconostasis which by the way was pretty sweet, but because when we went up to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ we had faith. "Blessed are they who have not seen me and yet believe." Brothers and sisters Christ had called us to believe, to believe in His divinity, His mission, His death and resurrection, His ascension and glorification, His second coming, and in the everlasting love that we got to get a little taste of during the Divine Liturgy at Holy Resurrection Monastery in St. Nazian's Wisconsin.