Worship

by Thomas Hopko, Andrew Tregubov (Illustrator)

THE ORTHODOX FAITH series is intended to provide basic, comprehensive information on the faith and life of the Orthodox Church. It consists of four volumes.
This volume contains five sections, highlighting different aspects related to worship in the Orthodox Church: the church building; vestments and symbols; the sacraments; the daily cycles of worship; the church year with its fasts and feasts; and the Divine Liturgy.

Genres: Christianity, Theology, Religion, Christian

181 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Thomas Hopko is an Orthodox Christian priest and theologian. He was the Dean of Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary from September 1992 until July 1, 2002 and taught dogmatic theology there from 1968 until 2002. Now retired, he carries the honorary title of Dean Emeritus. Father Hopko is a prominent Orthodox Christian lecturer and speaker, well-known both in Orthodox and ecumenical circles. He has several podcasts on the internet radio station for Orthodox Christians called Ancient Faith Radio

Reviews

[Patrick]

Lots of information.

[Steve Irby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quarantine-Book #58:

I just finished "The Orthodox Faith: Volume 2; Worship," by Thomas Hopko.

(If you can stomach reading electronic The Orthodox Church of America has made this quite easy reading set avaliable for free:
https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-ort... )

Maybe I notice this because I have read the book of the same name by Alexander Schmemann, but the EO have a thing with "For the life of the world." Hopko uses the phrase maybe 12 times in the text.

This is quite eye opening for me coming from about as low a church background as possible and viewing possibly the highest churches worship.

The opening deals with the architecture: building, altar, table and icons with their meanings and use. Interwoven is a bit of theology like Theotokos references (new understanding). Then on to vestments. I still see this as quite the separation from and elevation over the congregation. I believe that--under sacraments-- "Chrismation" is the formal, Orthodox, word for what is modern day Azusa: Baptism is separated from the seal/gift of the Spirit (Chrismation).

I find that the historical description of Penance and my traditions walk of shame corresponds quite well.

Church calendar: Holy smokes. These guys dive into each year head first and play for keeps. Every single Sunday (minimum) is a day for or to something/-one. This was half the book or more. I understand much better now, especially after reading "liturgy." I think that this shows that many are not comfortable with mystery.

#EasternOrthodox #ThomasHopko #Hopko #Worship #TheOrthodoxFaith #StVladimirsSeminaryPress #StVladimirsSeminary

[Justinian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much drier than Volume I, but still easily read and enjoyed. The only "wall" of the book is the section on the Liturgical Year, which I think is most of the book. It can be very difficult to get through and will certainly require another read from myself.

[Jordan · Rating 2 out of 5]

As an introductory text to be read straight through, the greatest value in this volume of The Orthodox Faith is in the sections on the church building and sacred objects, the daily cycle of prayers, and the experience of the Divine Liturgy.

The largest section of this volume is devoted to the church year and its many feasts, ultimately leading to & then flowing out from the "feast of feasts," Pascha, the Resurrection of Christ (celebrated today in 2023). Although there is a wealth of information here, its format & details are perhaps better served as reference material to frequently return to throughout the year, rather than reading straight through.

Happily, this volume is mostly free of the copy-editing errors of the first volume in this series.

[Zak · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is as helpful as the first, but in a different way. While the first book gives the Protestant peace of mind that the strange rituals of the Orthodox Church is grounded in substance, this second book de-mystifies the rituals just enough that we can appreciate the whys of what's going on in service. I'm not sure that I could keep going to service at an Orthodox Church if the questions that are addressed in this book were left unanswered. This was, for me, a what-you-need-to-know handbook.

[Garrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fr. Hopko of blessed memory packs quite a bit of knowledge into this slim volume. I found both the descriptions of the various feasts as well as his insight into the various parts of the divine liturgy to be very easy to understand, but nevertheless quite illuminating.

I look forward to dipping back into this book when a major fast or feast approaches as it offers a short overview of each and elaborates on the theology behind them.

I wholly recommend this to any Orthodox Christian who wants to more fully understand the faith.

[Ted · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good source for basic information about the received worship tradition of the Orthodox. If you are already very familiar with Orthodoxy, you won't learn much new as it basically is a descriptive text of practices as we are doing them.

[David Galloway · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent introduction series for newcomers to Eastern Orthodoxy. My parish uses these to train catechumans.

[Billy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful for me as a catechumen. Now I understand the whole deal after reading this. This is good for those who want to understand after they have visited the Church.