Festival Hospitality: Pan-Orthodox Vespers is this Sunday, April 10 at 5:30 p.m. with a potluck to follow at about 6:30. Please come and join us!
THIS SUNDAY
This Sunday, St. Elias Church in Dubuque has the pleasure of hosting the Iowa Eastern Orthodox Christian Association’s Pan-Orthodox Vespers.
This will truly been a neat event because Dubuque’s ecumenical dialogue, the Children of Abraham, will be helping us with the potluck. In addition, the entire event will be hosted at Wartburg Seminary since our own building is still under construction.
What a blessing this will be for all involved.
THE HYMNS OF EVENING WORSHIP
The service will be a vespers service. That means it’s the evening worship service of the Orthodox Christian Church.
Here in Dubuque we pray this service every Saturday evening (5 pm, currently at St. John’s Parish House, 1458 Locust St, Dubuque).
But this one will be special.
Not only will we be joined by other Orthodox communities, and supported by members of the Dubuque community, it will also partially follow the Lenten order.
Some of the hymns will come from the Triodion, which is a special hymnal only used during Lent.
The hymns of vespers can be very powerful – and this Sunday is no exception!
CHURCH IS A HOSPITAL
Life can be messy. Often we’re faced with more grey in life than black and white answers. This can be overwhelming, and it can make us feel like we’re caught in a storm.
This hymn recognizes that, but then provides hope by reminding us that the church is a hospital:
Who has been tossed by a storm and hastened
to this calm and quiet harbor whose life has not been saved?
Or who was afflicted with pain and illness
and ran unto this clinic whose health was not restored?
O Creator of all things
and Physician of the ailing,
save me before I utterly perish, O Lord my God.
What an amazing hymn! It reminds me that no matter what, when I turn to Christ, I find healing.
HOPE FOR ALL
Another hymn, which comes later in the service, adds another dimension of hope.
Sometimes we are so run over by life, that we feel we don’t have any strength to turn towards Christ. This hymn reminds us that even in this situation, Christ has great mercy.
The Savior who planted the vineyard and called the laborers is near indeed!
Come, therefore, workers in the fast:
let us receive our hire,
for the Giver is rich and merciful,
even if we have labored little we receive great mercy!
P.S. COME AND SEE
Some of the most beautiful hymns of hope can be found in vespers. So, I invite you, come this Sunday evening.
Pray with us. Find hope in Christ!
(Thank you to the Telegraph Herald for designing our ad!)