I wrote here of how I came to my Work in Progress; how the ideas landed in my head so many years ago. But what's kept me at it? Our creative brains filter intriguing ideas all day long. Most we set aside for 10,000 reasons. Why has this one stuck?
I'm Orthodox, and kind of into music of all sorts, and in the 21 years since I converted, I've sung a lot of different Orthodox music. The Hymn of Kassiani is sung on Wednesday of Holy Week (https://orthodoxwiki.org/Hymn_of_Kassiani), so this year the churches that can will have it sung May 1. I say "who can" because every version I've seen is fairly hard, and people aren't used to it, so many times it just doesn't get sung. I don't know if you've ever visited an Orthodox Church, but the most common Liturgy done is the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. As he died in 407, this would already be used in your time frame. There are some minor things which have been tweaked or changed through the years, but as someone who is Orthodox, there is kind of a wonder involved with knowing that the way we worship has been the same for so long.
Thank you for this insight! It has been a real challenge to piece together
the picture of the church in the time and place of my setting. When I
started I knew a lot more about early Islam than anything of the eastern
churches. Long ago I attended a Syrian Orthodox wedding of a co-worker. That
was years before this story was a twinkle in my eye. Otherwise, I've been
scraping it together. Most resources assume the reader has some point of
reference and I was starting from scratch. What a fascinating journey it has been. I've discovered Kassiani, and Ephrem, and the church calendar with the feasts and fasts... Oh, my. And, yes, that sense of wonder. My husband and
I recently joined the Anglican church--our first regular participation in a liturgical church. My many years of study transform into a quiet emotional
fixation during the Eucharistic celebration-that sense of connection with the wider body all the way back to the beginning. It's hard to put into
Not exactly on point, but I recall some PhDs from UPenn ran a blog called Language Log for years and one of their more interesting posts for me was their reconstructions of ancient languages.
I'm Orthodox, and kind of into music of all sorts, and in the 21 years since I converted, I've sung a lot of different Orthodox music. The Hymn of Kassiani is sung on Wednesday of Holy Week (https://orthodoxwiki.org/Hymn_of_Kassiani), so this year the churches that can will have it sung May 1. I say "who can" because every version I've seen is fairly hard, and people aren't used to it, so many times it just doesn't get sung. I don't know if you've ever visited an Orthodox Church, but the most common Liturgy done is the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. As he died in 407, this would already be used in your time frame. There are some minor things which have been tweaked or changed through the years, but as someone who is Orthodox, there is kind of a wonder involved with knowing that the way we worship has been the same for so long.
Thank you for this insight! It has been a real challenge to piece together
the picture of the church in the time and place of my setting. When I
started I knew a lot more about early Islam than anything of the eastern
churches. Long ago I attended a Syrian Orthodox wedding of a co-worker. That
was years before this story was a twinkle in my eye. Otherwise, I've been
scraping it together. Most resources assume the reader has some point of
reference and I was starting from scratch. What a fascinating journey it has been. I've discovered Kassiani, and Ephrem, and the church calendar with the feasts and fasts... Oh, my. And, yes, that sense of wonder. My husband and
I recently joined the Anglican church--our first regular participation in a liturgical church. My many years of study transform into a quiet emotional
fixation during the Eucharistic celebration-that sense of connection with the wider body all the way back to the beginning. It's hard to put into
words.
Thank you for sharing! You really did a deep dive research into this type of music. I will listen to some of these a little later today.
You're welcome, of course! I hope you enjoy it.
Absolutely! Thank you! Loved it! ✨💜
Not exactly on point, but I recall some PhDs from UPenn ran a blog called Language Log for years and one of their more interesting posts for me was their reconstructions of ancient languages.
https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=61045
Oh, Wow! I love this! Thanks!