I worshipped today at Holy Cross Orthodox Church in Linthecum, Maryland. This is Frederica Mathewes-Green's church. Her husband is the priest. Frederica was travelling this weekend, but I went after a snow storm, driving from Kensington in a borrowed truck, to have the experience of Orthodox worship. It was a rich experience.

I was raised Roman Catholic before Vatican II. I was an altar boy and I still know the mass responses in Latin. I love the smell of liturgical incense. I am not intimidated by icons or their veneration. The overall experience was of holiness and directed worship and the presence of God among us. I was blessed by it. I was fed by it. I felt close to the worshippers and to Christ there.

Holy Cross is a small, old stone church, perhaps 75 years old. The sanctuary is about 25' x 40', with a large icon-covered screen in the front and other icons visible around and above the sanctuary. The overall color of the worship space is gold. The vestments are gold. There is a large gold chandelier in the middle of the sanctuary. The floor is covered with three large oriental carpets where worshippers stand during the liturgy and singing. A choir of twenty composed of reading children, men and women is led by a young man holding a tuning fork, singing from the back of the church. He intones the pitch of the parts before each sung response or hymn, and thought the choir leads, all sing.

I had read Frederica's essay on the ten things she wished she had known before her first service. I remembered most of it, but was a little confused by receipt of the bread of life, not the Eucharist, which was served by the priest to the Orthodox, but that available to visitors. I shouldn't have worried, though. At the appropriate time, a young teenage boy communicant, leaving the holy meal, just walked up to me and handed me a piece. I felt very included and very blessed.

I will write more about this in my next blog. I want to begin a series on my musings about worship and the beauty of traditional liturgy.