St Sophrony and the Divine Liturgy, John of the Ladder, Ep 4, Prof. C. Veniamin

Mystical Theology: Introducing the Theology and Spiritual Life of the Orthodox Church

St Sophrony and the Divine Liturgy, John of the Ladder, Ep 4, Prof. C. Veniamin
Unit 15: “John of the Ladder: Principles of the Christian Life”, by Prof. Christopher Veniamin
Series: “Mystical Theology"
In Episode 4 in the series, "John of the Ladder, Prof. Christopher Veniamin takes the opportunity to describe something of what it was like to experience the Divine Liturgy when St. Sophrony was serving. Serving in the Holy Altar for a number of years in his youth, watching his spiritual father (and the other holy fathers, genuine deciples of of the Saint) celebrate the Divine Liturgy with humble reverence and prayerful attentiveness, an indelible mark was imprinted "in his mind and in his heart".
Themes covered in this episode include the Liturgy of Basil the Great, the significance of the "Epiklesis", the Liturgy teaches us how to worship God: Abba Dorotheus, the educational role of the Church, What we do in church reveals our spiritual state, and others, which are listed in the Timestamps below.
Q&As available in The Professor’s Blog: https://mountthabor.com/blogs/the-professors-blog
Recommended background reading: The Ladder of Divine Ascent (Holy Transfiguration Monastery); Saint Silouan the Athonite, by St. Sophrony the Athonite; and The Enlargement of the Heart, by Archimandrite Zacharias
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: I wish to express my indebtedness to the spoken and written traditions of Sts Silouan and Sophrony the Athonites, Fr. Zacharias Zacharou, Fr. Kyrill Akon, Fr. Raphael Noica, Fr. Symeon Brüschweiler; Fr. John Romanides, Fr. Pavlos Englezakis, Fr. Georges Florovsky, Prof. Constantine Scouteris, Prof. George Mantzarides, Prof. John Fountoulis, Mtp Hierotheos Vlachos, Mtp Kallistos Ware, and Prof. Panayiotes Chrestou. My presentations have been enriched by all of the above sources. Responsibility however for the content of my presentations is of course mine alone. ©Christopher Veniamin 2024

Support the show

Dr. Christopher Veniamin
Support The Mount Thabor Academy
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2232462/support

The Professor's Blog
Further bibliography may be found in our Scholar's Corner.
THE MOUNT THABOR ACADEMY
Print Books by MOUNT THABOR PUBLISHING

eBooks
Amazon
Google
Apple
Kobo
B&N
Memberships
Join our Academy on Patreon: Membership Tiers
YouTube Membership Levels
Contact us: ...

Chapters

1. St Sophrony, learning Greek, and the Liturgy of Basil the Great (00:00:00)

2. St Sophrony’s emphasis on the "Epiklesis" (00:07:40)

3. Ladder of Divine Ascent expression of a liturgical life (00:08:34)

4. Be careful who you talk to about the mysteries of the Church (00:08:48)

5. Liturgy teaches us how to worship God: Abba Dorotheus (00:09:37)

6. Publication of "The Orthodox Liturgy" (00:11:27)

7. The place of the King James Bible in the history of the English-speaking peoples (00:13:20)

8. Educational role of the Church: the liturgical approach (00:15:02)

9. "The Orthodox Liturgy" (00:16:34)

10. What we do in church reveals our spiritual state (00:17:47)

11. Ascetic context of liturgical worship (00:18:02)

12. “Let us depart in peace” (Fr Kyrill) (00:19:57)

13. Appeal (00:20:55)