31.
Children receive the Eucharist from the time of their baptism. As it was explained to me, we feed our children before they can understand nutrition so in the same way we nourish our children body and soul with the Eucharist before they can understand it.
32.
Melkite Patriarchate is Petrine. Patriarch of the Melkites is the Patriarch of Antioch and the first Bishop of Antioch was St Peter before he went on to Rome.
33.
A mercy of peace, a sacrifice of praise. I'm not sure exactly what this means, but I really like hearing it every Sunday.
34.
Magnificat. Mary's canticle after the Annunciation is sung every Sunday during Orthros right before the Divine Liturgy. The cantor sings two or three lines of it at a time and the people sing the refrain in between: "More honorable than the Cherubim and more glorious beyond compare than the Seraphim, you, who without stain, did bear God the Word. You are truly Theotokos. We magnify you." I like that last sentence since the beginning of the Magnificat is Mary declaring that her soul magnifies the Lord. We magnify her who in turn magnifies the Lord.
35.
Womb more spacious than the heavens. Mary's womb is sung as more spacious than the heavens because unlike the heavens it contained God within. I forget exactly when we sang this hymn but it is so amazing how much there is to reflect upon in its words (As compared to songs in Latin Rite churches like King of Glory, et al.). The emphasis is mine.
All of Creation rejoices in thee, O full of grace:
the angels in heaven and the race of men,
O sanctified temple and noetic paradise,
the glory of virgins, of whom God was incarnate
and became a child, our God before the ages.
He made thy body into a throne,
and thy womb more spacious than the heavens.
All of creation rejoices in thee, O full of grace:
Glory be to thee.
36.
No holding hands during the Lord's Prayer. I'm not really sure why I don't like the holding of hands during this prayer, I just know that I don't like it and I much prefer that we hold our hands in the orans position.
37.
Celebrating the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple. I love this celebration of Mary going to the Temple. From the kontakion:
The most pure Temple of our holy Savior, and the most precious and bright bridal chamber, the Virgin, sacred treasury of the glory of God, openly appears today in the Temple of the Lord, bringing with her the grace of the Most Holy Spirit. Wherefore, the angels are singing: This is the heavenly Tabernacle!
38.
Advent is a time of fasting. I've been told that Advent used to be a time of fasting in the Latin Church. I wonder why it still isn't? All the other major feast days have fasts leading up to them.
39.
Troparions and Kontakions. We sing these songs which are specific to the feast, commemoration, and/or liturgical season instead of the same 10-15 songs that the choir chooses to sing from. It adds so much to the comtemplative nature of the Divine Liturgy and the catechesis of the people when the songs are all about the same thing as the readings, instead of just the same songs that the choir likes to sing from.
40.
John the Forerunner. John, commonly referred to as John the Baptist, is called John the Forerunner. I like this change of perspective.
May God bless all who read my ramblings,
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