Eastern Liturgy in the Far East

A friend and reader of the NLM recently sent me links to video recordings on YouTube of a Divine Liturgy celebrated in Singapore on the weekend following the Feast of Ss Peter and Paul. The Liturgy was celebrated by Bishop Sergey, a delegate of the diocese of Vladivostock and it took place in the Armenian church in Singapore, which rather unusually (compared with other Eastern churches) does not possess an iconostasis, so the liturgical action can actually be observed at most points of the Liturgy!

Below is a sample, a clip of the hymn to the Mother of God, sung during the Divine Liturgy:



To view the rest of the clips, visit this page.

In addition, this page has some good FAQs on Orthodoxy and this page has further links on the Divine Liturgy.

Finally, it is hoped that a greater knowledge and love for the liturgy and spirituality of the Eastern Church will help in any reform of the reform in the Latin Church. The liturgist Mgr Klaus Gamber reportedly held that the Missal of Paul VI represented a "turning away from the Christian East". Even as the Latin Church re-discovers the extraordinary form of the Roman rite, it would be salutary to also grow in appreciation of the ancient Byzantine liturgies and for priest and people to re-turn to the East, both in bodily posture and in heart and mind.