As I was driving to liturgy in the pre-dawn hours yesterday, I was struck by the link between liturgy and beauty. The photo to the left is St. Nicholas of Myra by day. (The tree in the photo is gone, having been removed to make room for Artim Hall.) And right now, it’s covered in snow save for the dome.
You see, sunrise was about 10:20am yesterday. Liturgy was at 10. We left the house at 9, to be there for divine praises at 9:30. And as we turn down arctic, we spot the dome, lit from within, glowing. The photo to the right shows it (but not well):
This “old” parish, just 50 years old, is a joyous failure and wonderful success. It is a home for beauty. After all, a quick look at the iconostas will show that it is beautiful. Here are the Royal Doors: Yes, very Ruthenian – you can see through them. But beautiful none the less.
The beauty inside is telling about the parish. Parishioners built it. To be a house of beauty which houses a beautiful liturgy. Our dome, the only one I’ve ever heard of being lit from within yet still made of metal, is a tribute to our love of beauty in the name of the Lord.
So, as I drive through the dark of night to Liturgy, that glowing dome has many meanings. I’ll list them:
- Here is the Church. We are a beacon on a hillside!
- The Light of Christ is here.
- There is beauty here for all to see, come and see!
- We have seen the True Light! And we reflect it from within, as the dome does its light.
- Yes, Liturgy is going to happen today!
- You made it down the hill alive again.
You see, St. Nick’s sits in a shallow and narrow valley. It’s near downtown. It’s in an area called mid-town, an area that was wilderness at the edge of the city when the parish was built from an old army mess hall. A parish built with a mission: to convert the Orthodox. It failed. Abject failure at the apostolic mission given by Bishop Nicholas + Elko. Rev. Fr. Artim was sent to shut it down. But that young vostochnik (”Eastern”, a reference to being very much like the Orthodox) refused to give up. He worked as a pharmacist, and built a parish that is still going many years later, and 5 years after God called him home. The Roman Bishop recommended him for, and he received the title Monsignor. He long wanted a mission in the Mat-Su valley, since his parish covers ALL of Alaska. Well, the mission is a reality. The bills are being paid on-time, and without Rev. Fr. Hornig working a civil job.
And that dome, the pride of the parish, is emblematic of all of this. Success from failure. Growth when ordered to die. And tomorrow, for the feast of the Circumcision of the Lord, and of St. Basil the Great, I will load the family up, and drive through the darkness to a Divine liturgy starting before sunrise again. And experience beauty in Liturgy, in a beautiful church, with beautiful people, in the beauty of the night. On a Tuesday morning. Starting with the sight of the dome.
David Bennett
Jennifer
asimplesinner
Fr. J.
Chad Toney
Jorge Flores
Jonathan B
carmelbennett
nicenehobbit
Jason S
jaybird68
papaz
December 31, 2007 at 9:17 pm
I am in Fairbanks and I was wondering where this parish is in the Mat Su Valley?
December 31, 2007 at 11:51 pm
Very interesting. I used to attend St. Nicholas’. It was St Nick that piqued my interest in Byzantine Catholicism but I had a really difficult time with the Byzantine community in Alaska. Most of them were angry Roman Riters and completely forcing their Roman ways on the Eastern customs. Head coverings? Kneeling? No. And then many of them also were attending the schismatic Lefeb group. Very disturbing. It is THE reason my spouse refused to continue attending there because he worried the people would influence our daughter over time. The Byzantine community in the South was FABULOUS. They were the real deal Eastern Riters and practiced their faith without Roman influence. I felt it was a much more authentic Eastern Community.
ON the positive side, it was St. Nick’s that taught me about polyphonic chant that is absolutely beautiful and fully participatory. And the Eastern Catholic’s love of beauty is something the West has LONG forgotten and in desperate need.
January 1, 2008 at 2:12 am
RCM,
I am glad that our Prostopinije got you interested in polyphony… you realize, I hope, that Prostopinije is NOT polyphony, right?
These days I am told the situation is different… But headcovering is still common enough. And that is NOT a sign of ex-Latins. Go to traditional Orthodox parishes, you will find the same.
January 1, 2008 at 5:56 am
It’s not in Mat-Su, it’s in Anchorage.
Our mission is in Mat-Su.
In Anchorage, it’s on Arctic at 22nd street.
In Mat-Su, the mission is at the old building of the Roman parish of Sacred Heart in Wasilla.
RCM: most of the Lefebrve-fans have either left or easternized. I’m still more vostochnik than most, but our most veil-conscious parishioner is a little ukrainian baba, whom never removes her coat nor scarf. But she makes woderful pirogi.
Some wear veils (Mrs. Thompson), some wear scarves, some wear hats (Mrs. Heller still wears a hat every week), and many, still don’t. Nobody who matters minds: specifically: The pastor, the Eparch, the Metropolitan, and the Pope.
And polyphonic chant is a Ukraininan thing, not proper in the Ruthenian Catholic Church. See the Metropolitan Cantor Institute for more on that.
The parish is becoming more and more eastern again. I’ve been a parishioner for most for the last 20 years.
Kneeling was part fo the Ruthenian Liturgy. It was in the pew books, not because angry romans put it there, but because the Ruthenian Hierarchs had put it in. Now, they have taken it out.
January 2, 2008 at 4:06 am
A Simple Sinner: LOL! My mistake.
Aramis: After I commented on the head covering, I realized that even Easterners do it. I guess my overall concern was the overall Romanization of the Liturgy compared to what I experienced in the South where 98% of the people were born into the Rite as opposed to defecting to it. As much as I love the Liturgy, it is not my tradition. It is good to experience it, for most Roman Riters are completely ignorant there ARE other Liturgies to be celebrated within the whole Church.
I am glad to hear that the people have chosen to respect the Bishop of Rome finally, for as yo