Let Us Attend: A Journey through the Orthodox Divine Liturgy
Digital Logos Edition
Overview
Let Us Attend is a guide to understanding the Divine Liturgy and a vibrant reminder of the centrality of the Eucharist in living the Christian life. Father Lawrence leads everyday believers in a devotional and historical walk through the Orthodox liturgy. Examining the liturgy section by section, he provides historical explanations of how the liturgy evolved and devotional insights aimed at helping believers pray the liturgy in the way the fathers intended. In better understanding the depth of the liturgy’s meaning and purpose, people can pray it properly. If you would like a deeper understanding of Sunday morning experience so that you can draw closer to God, this book is for you.
- Discusses the importance of the Divine Liturgy and the Eucharist
- Provides a historical and theological look at Orthodox liturgy and tradition
- Offers help in furthering the Sunday experience
- The Importance of the Eucharist
- Beginning the Journey
- “Blessed Is the Kingdom!”
- The Great Litany
- The Antiphons
- The Entrance and the Trisagion
- The First Blessing
- The Readings, Gospel, and Homily
- The Intercessions
- The Great Entrance and Prayer of Access
- The Peace
- The Closing of the Doors
- The Creed
- The Anaphora
- The Precommunion Prayers
- The Reception of Holy Communion
- The Final Rites
- Living as the Light of the World
Top Highlights
“For the heart of the matter has to do with the heart, that interior spring of motivation and longing. We must ask ourselves: Do we really want to meet God? Do we really want to be transformed—even if this is painful and involves change and inconvenience and loss? How badly do we long to meet Christ and be changed into His glorious image?” (Pages 11–12)
“I believe that participation in the eucharistic Divine Liturgy is the most important thing one can ever do. It characterizes, defines, and constitutes the true Christian, for the Christian Church has always determined and recognized her members, not so much by the private beliefs they hold about Jesus, but rather by the corporate and liturgical expression of those beliefs in the Eucharist. In the dark days of persecution when the Roman state waged war against the holy Church, the state did not forbid Christian belief—it forbade attendance at the Christian Eucharist, for in the Eucharist the Church recognized her own members. The Eucharist was everything.” (Page 7)
“Rather, it begins the moment we arise from sleep that morning, before we leave our beds, wash ourselves, dress in our Sunday best, and drive to church. We must rise from bed anticipating our encounter with Christ, resolving to stand before the chalice with all our spiritual powers focused upon Him.” (Page 11)
“Through our eucharistic inclusion and participation in Christ, we belong to this age no longer. Now we belong to Christ and to His Kingdom, to the age to come. The Eucharist makes us eschatological beings, men and women who have transcended this age, who have overcome the world (see John 16:33).” (Page 8)
Archpriest Lawrence Farley currently pastors St. Herman of Alaska Orthodox Church (OCA) in Langley, Canada. He received his BA from Trinity College, Toronto, and his MDiv from Wycliffe College, Toronto. A former Anglican priest, he converted to Orthodoxy in 1985 and studied for two years at St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Seminary in Pennsylvania. He has also published the Orthodox Bible Study Companion Series and A Daily Calendar of Saints, and gives a regular podcast called Coffee Cup Commentaries.