The liturgy after the Liturgy

Pastor's Message
Fr. Hector Firoglanis

One of the great modern missionaries of the Orthodox Church is Archbishop Anastasios of Albania. Years ago, he coined a phrase that connects the Liturgy with our everyday lives. He called it the “liturgy after the Liturgy.”

The Liturgy does not end when the priest says, “Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us, Amen.” There is the “liturgy after the Liturgy,” in which we live our life with a sense of focus, purpose, and commitment to God’s commandments in everything we do in life.

There is a story in the life of Archbishop Anastasios which encourages us to live the liturgy after the Liturgy. Generations of Communism wiped out most traces of religion in the small country of Albania, which is just north of Greece. Churches were destroyed, priests were imprisoned and died, icons, crosses, and bibles were confiscated, and people were brainwashed to believe there was no God. Eventually, this atheistic communist government in Albania collapsed, and the Church was free to rebuild. The man tasked with this rebuilding project was a missionary from Greece who was serving as a bishop in Eastern Africa. His name was Archbishop Anastasios Yannoulatos. Although he was a man with a big heart and had much love for all people, the government officials in Albania did not trust him because he was from Greece and they made it clear they did not want him in their country.

When the Archbishop disembarked from the airplane and stepped onto Albanian soil for the first time, a group of Albanian government officials were the first to greet him. Because they did not want him there, the first words they spoke to the Archbishop were: “You know, you are only here temporarily!” To which the loving Archbishop smiled and replied: “My children, we are all here temporarily.”

These are wise words to keep close to our hearts during the summer months. It’s easy to grow spiritually complacent during the summer months and even take an extended “vacation” from church. But if we remember that we are all here temporarily, we are reminded that the most valuable hours we spend each week are the ones spent in church worshipping our God who loves us, who gives us life, and who blesses us with everything we have.

And by coming to Liturgy weekly, we are reminded to constantly live the “liturgy” after the Liturgy — doing God’s work, staying focused on our priorities, loving and serving our neighbor, and living with a clear sense of purpose and motivation.

Time is our most precious commodity. Let us make the most of it this summer by attending the Divine Liturgy every week and constantly living the liturgy after the Liturgy.