Annunciation - Epiclesis - Pentecost and The Hour

Blessings in the Feast of the Annunciation

St. Ephrem on the Annunciation
of the Word Incarnate in the womb of the Virgin:

excerpt:
It was fitting that the Architect of the works of creation should come and raise up the house that had fallen and that the hovering Spirit should sanctify the buildings that were unclean.

Thus, if the Progenitor entrusted the judgment that is to come to his Son, it is clear that he accomplished the creation of humanity and its restoration through him as well.
He was the live coal, which had come to kindle the briars and thorns.
He dwelt in the womb and cleansed it and sanctified the place of the birth pangs and the curses.

The flame, which Moses saw, was moistening the bush and distilling the fat lest it be inflamed. The likeness of refined gold could be seen in the bush, entering into the fire but without being consumed.

This happened so that it might make known that living fire which was to come at the end, watering and moistening the womb of the Virgin and clothing it like the fire that enveloped the bush.
Ephrem's Commentary on Tatian’s Diatessaron I.25
cf. Macrina, A Vow of Conversation

Luke 1.35-38
And the angel answered her,
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;
therefore the child to be born will be called holy —
the Son of God


St. Gabriel of Sinai
written by Heather Durka

And Mary replied to the Angel Gabriel,
"Behold, I am the servant of the Lord;
let it be to me according to your word."

Maranatha!
O Come Emmanuel
and
the Mysteries of Mary's Fiat

Lk's Magnificat: Seven Mariological Antiphons fulfill OT typology

O Come Emmanuel

excerpt:
The stanzas of this favorite Advent hymn are based on seven ancient antiphons (refrains) for the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55). ...Each is based on Scripture and all were composed to remind the Church that this Creation will end and Jesus will come back to rescue His people and bring them to eternal life.

Theotokos of Tender Mercy
written by the hand of Kh. Heather Durka

Ecclesia Orans:

Our Lenten Journey to Easter
-- and to the Eschaton and into the New Aeon --
is carried within
Mary's fiat
at the Annuciation

as

Heavenly Liturgy:

every liturgy of the Church an Anamnesis of
Mary's Fiat and
the overshadowing of the Spirit

Vigils of the the Syriac Qurbono, Mawrbo:
every Sunday Divine Liturgy begins in the Vigil Hours of Prayer, where the Church stands before the Gates of Paradise as the priest, deacons, and choirs pray before the Great Veil of the Altar ~
The Magnificat at Night
Standing before the central door to the sanctuary,
the priest makes the sign of the Cross
and with upraised hands
says the following prayers before chanting the Angelic Hymn
Glory to God in the highest

Sanctify us by Your holiness, O Lord, Who are all holy.
You have willed to be born of the holy Virgin Mary
in order that with purity we may commemorate her
and be protected by her prayers.
We raise to You praise in this her feast
now, always and forever.
Amen.

And in the same Syriac Divine Liturgy,

• in the in-gathering, the Assembling of the Faithful,
• in the Assembly itself as the Bride of Christ
• in the Preparation of the Gifts,
• in the Proclamation of the Gospel,
• in the Blessing of the Censer and Great Incensations
• in the Great Dyptichs of Heavenly Intercession and Communion,
• in the Elevation of the Gifts: + Holy for the Holy +
• in the Kukilions, mariological hymns for the Bride of Christ
• in the pre-communion Procession of the Mysteries
• in the Communion of the Faithful,
• in the Seraphic Hymns of Holy Communion
• in the Thanksgiving and Dismissal Prayers
• in the radix of this whole and entire, singular Mystery of the Overshadowing of the Spirit in the Anaphora of St. James of Jerusalem,

The Mysteries of the Qurban of Christ in the Church:                                                The Deacon:

Barekhmor,
how awesome is this hour
and how dreadful is this moment,
O my beloved,
wherein the Holy Spirit from the topmost heights
takes wing and descends and hovers and rests
upon this Eucharist here present
and sanctifies it for our salvation.
Be in calm and awe,
while standing and praying.

cf.litugy text, SOR.CUA

On the Origins of Worship on Sunday
and
The Mystery of the Eighth Day

A Mariological Ecclesiology:
Mary the New Eve
Mother of the Body of Christ
Mother of the Members of the Body
and
Mother Church

cf.
Alexander Schmemann's "Introduction to Liturgical Theology":
ch.2 excerpt:
The Church is praying ‘in order to surround God with common prayers as with an army, gathered together in a single place....’ This idea of the praying Church, ecclesia orans
clearly corresponds to the whole spirit of early Christian ecclesiology, to the liturgical piety of the pre-Nicene Church. . . . There is good reason to regard the principle of the Ordo i.e., of that co-relation and conjunction of the Eucharist with the liturgy of time in which we recognize the fundamental structure of the Church’s prayer, as having existed from the very beginning in her ‘rule of prayer,’as the real principle of this rule.

Schmemann: Ecclesia Orans, Ordo and Eschatological Mystery (pdf)

Schmemann: Intro To Liturgical Theology. Click on google 'Table of Contents' chapter links

Fagerberg on Schmemann: Theologia Prima, esp see p 77-78

see 'Table of Contents' to review scope of Ecclesia Orans and lex orandi lex credendi

See also:

S.H. Griffith on
"fides adorans mysterium"
in the thought of St. Ephrem

Annunciation - Pentecost - Church: Ephrem on Qurbana

Regarding the Ecclesia Orans in "the fiat of eucharistic liturgy":
Qurbana as an anamnesis of "the Word made flesh" at the Annuciation

Ecclesia Orans

Pentecost 2007
with thanks to
St. Paul's Greek Orthodox Church of Irvine, CA

The Blessing of Holy Muron in the Armenian Church:
an expression of the Spirit:
in the Oils of Anointing and
the Assembling of the Anointed Ones,
Ecclesia Orans

Photos of the Armenian Orthodox Church for the Blessing of the Holy Muron held in the Mother See of the Holy Etchemiadsin of the Armenian Orthodox Church

In the Annuciation
and the Church's ongoing Pentecost,
                   the Great Archangel Gabriel names to us anew
                                                        the Qurban of Christ:

Barekhmor!

How awesome is this hour
and how dreadful is this moment,
O my beloved,
wherein the Holy Spirit from the utmost heights
takes wing and descends and hovers and rests
upon this Eucharist here present
- this Ecclesia Orans -
and sanctifies It for our salvation!
Be in calm and awe,
while standing and praying.
Stomen Kalos!