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LIVING AS A MELKITE
FEAST DAYS
The Melkite Catholic Church, like all Byzantine Churches, celebrates Pascha (Easter) as the Feast of Feasts―the most important of all feast days. Next in importance are the 12 Great Feasts presented here in the order of their celebration throughout the liturgical year, which begins on 1 September.
HOLY MYSTERIES
The word, Mystery, is used in the Melkite Catholic Church and the Eastern Christian Churches, such as the Orthodox Church, to express what is called in Western Christian Churches a Sacrament.
The Holy Mysteries express how God restores us to a loving, trusting relationship with Him through the Church. They communicate His peace, love, and grace.
From the earliest days, the Church considered that there was one Holy Mystery—the Church itself.
“Where the Church is, there is the Spirit of God and where the Spirit of God is, there is the Church, and every kind of grace.”
- St Irenaeus
So, the Church and its rites, liturgies and prayers, the scriptures, its vigils, and practices―all constitute the Holy Mystery that reveals the Grace of God. The Holy Mysteries convey divine grace to those who receive them in faith.
Let’s explore the seven Holy Mysteries
SAINTS
The Feast of All Saints in the Byzantine Rite is on the Sunday after Pentecost Sunday. On this day all the saints are celebrated.
Reverence for the saints is held in the same esteem as our veneration of icons. Icons of saints are not only in our Church, but many of us place them in our homes, cars, and workplaces. The presence of saints is a link between the living members of the Church and those who have gone before.
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