One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.
Psalm 27:4
Every time I pray this prayer at the Divine Liturgy, I think of two wonderful ladies from my parish who absolutely loved the beauty of God’s house. They have both passed away in recent years, but I will always remember them. First of all, they both loved God. And second, they both loved being in the church building.
For most of my years in Tampa, Engie was in charge of the “Altar Angels,” the small group of people who clean and decorate the church. They would be in charge of decorating the Kouvouklion (the tomb of Christ) on Good Friday, decorating the church for the various seasons when we have poinsettias and Easter lilies, and decorating the various icons for feast days. Engie loved those hours spent designing and decorating. I often found Engie in the church alone, vacuum cleaner in hand, or sitting on the floor, despite her advanced years, and taking wax off the carpet with an iron. Many times, she would tell me, “Father, I love this church. I love being in this church. I love being in this church when it is empty, just me, and God, the angels and the saints.” Engie would spend many days of her life in the church building, and she loved every minute of it. Of course, Engie was a faithful worshipper at our divine services as well. Her husband, Demetri, for many years was one of our chanters. And after she passed, her daughter Kalliope, took over the leadership of the altar angels. Engie had an appreciation for beauty and for detail, but most especially, she had a love for our Lord and wanted to make sure that HIS house was beautiful at all times.
Mary was at every Divine Liturgy I celebrated during her life. She had been born in Greece, and her first language was Greek. One day, the only people in church were me, our chanter, and Mary. While we do our services mostly in English, because I saw that only Mary was in church, we celebrated the whole Divine Liturgy in Greek. Afterwards, Mary said “Father, I felt like I was in heaven today, just me and all the angels and the saints.” It never bothered her when only a few people came to church. She sat in the same spot every time. There was many a service when I had this thought, “Mary is slowly but surely working her way to heaven.” Mary also loved the preparation involved in the services. She was good at repairing altar cloths and vestments, and most especially she was faithful at making Prosphora, the bread used in the Divine Liturgy.
I have always loved being in the church building. I enjoy being there to worship. I enjoy being in there to work. Some of my most peaceful moments also come between services, folding up vestments, putting out books, and the things that have to happen in order to be ready to celebrate the next service. Many days, when I’m stressed and just need a break, I go and just sit in the church and enjoy the stillness.
Our churches are meant to be a heaven on earth. They are meticulously adorned to give us a sense of the divine in the midst of our earthly stresses. While we don’t worship icons, the fact that the walls of our churches are covered with them brings a sense of the majesty of God and the beauty of heaven. It also brings us a sense of order and peace.
An important part of being an Orthodox Christian is to love the beauty of God’s house—to most especially enjoy worship, but also to just enjoy being present. To be able to sit quietly in the church and pray, or even more simple, to just be in the presence of Christ. The centerpiece of every Orthodox Church is the tabernacle on the altar table. In it resides the Body and Blood of Christ. Christ Himself is present on the altar, His throne. And just being present near the throne of God, with Christ present on it, should be awesome to us.
Life gets so busy for all of us, and even for me as a priest, who has the privilege of being on the church property every day, that we forget to enjoy the beauty of God’s house when we are in it. When we worship, we should gaze at the images of the saints and dream what it will be like to stand among them. We should look at the holy altar and imagine what it will be like to stand before the throne of God.
In the prayer, we ask God to sanctify, or make holy, those who love the beauty of God’s house—those who enjoy worshipping, those who are laboring, and those who find comfort and respite just being in God’s house. Engie and Mary had struggles and stresses like everyone else, but I will always remember them because they embodied this line of the prayer. They loved the beauty of God’s house. I pray that they, and those like them, will be sanctified and made holy because of it. I pray that for you and me as well.
O Lord, bless those who praise You and sanctify those who put their trust in You. Save Your people and bless Your inheritance. Protect the whole body of Your Church. Sanctify those who love the beauty of Your house. Glorify them in return by Your divine power, and do not forsake us who place our hope in You. Grant peace to Your world, to Your churches, to the clergy, to those in public service, to the armed forces, and to all Your people. For every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from You, the Father of Lights and to You we send up glory, and thanksgiving, and worship, to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Memory eternal Engie Halkias and Mary Nenos! May we come to love the beauty of God’s house as they did.
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