The Church is without beginning, without end and eternal, just as the Triune God, her Founder, is without beginning, without end and eternal. She is uncreated just as God is Uncreated. She existed before the ages, before the Angels, before the creation of the world--"before the foundation of the world" as the Holy Apostle Paul says. (Ephesians 1:4). She is an expression of the richly varied Wisdom of God. She is the mystery of mysteries. She was concealed and was revealed "in the last of times" (Col. 2:9). The Church remains unshaken because she is rooted in the love and wise Providence of God.

The "Akathist Hymn" is a profound, devotional poem, which sings the praises of the Holy Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary. While it is a composite work by more than one of our Ecclesiastical Hymnographers as we know it today, it was formally recited, or rather prayed in the year 626 A.D., in the church of the Theotokos of Vlachernae in Constantinople, on the occasion of the deliverance of the "Queen City" from the siege by the Barbarians.

The Greek word for "Compline" is "Apodeipnon" which literally means "after dinner." There are many prescribed intervals of prayer during the day, and one of them is prayer before sleeping. There is a 'service' of the "Small Compline" which can be read by anyone. It does not require a priest and it does not need to be read in a church. There are many pious Orthodox Christians who pray the "Small Compline" throughout the year.

The Holy Eucharist is the Mystery (Sacrament) in which the bread and wine of offering are changed by the Holy Spirit into the true Body and true Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and then the believers receive Communion of them for a most intimate union with Christ and eternal life. This Sacrament is composed, thus, of two separate moments: (1) the changing or transformation of the bread and wine into the Holy Body and Precious Blood of the Lord, and (2) the Communion of these Holy Gifts. It is called "the Eucharist," "the Lord's Supper," "the Mystery of the Body and Blood of Christ." The Body and Blood of Christ in this Mystery are called the "Bread of heaven and the Cu of life" or the "Cup of salvation"; they are called the "Holy Mysteries," "the Bloodless Sacrifice." The Holy Eucharist is the greatest Christian Mystery (Sacrament).

Great and Holy Lent is the Church's 40-day period of preparation for its greatest feast--the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is the annual period that calls us back to God--a time of reflection and repentance. While no two families ready themselves during Great and Holy Lent exactly alike, there are time-tested spiritual disciplines the Church prescribes in order to direct our senses to God's presence.