Liturgical Music in America Liturgical music is closely bound up with the people that sing it. Language, history, culture, experience, education, social class, all of these things shape the sound-world of worship. The people that founded Orthodox parishes in America more than a century ago—for the most part, immigrants from Russia, Greece, Eastern Europe, and […]
Editor’s note: This article addresses the Typika Psalms and Beatitudes in the Divine Liturgy, and describes the differences in usage among contemporary North American Orthodox jurisdictions. In particular, the author considers opportunities in which choirs in the Greek and Antiochian Archdioceses might expand their use of these liturgical texts. It is frequently observed that the Psalter is the chief source […]
Recently, iconographer Aidan Hart published the thought-provoking essay “Hand and machine: Making liturgical furnishings”. Mr. Hart’s piece is part of an ongoing exploration by liturgical artists of the question of how technology has changed, and is continuing to change, our relationship to crafts that have up until recently been done by hand. Liturgical designer Andrew Gould has […]
The Sacred Arts Initiative “Rethinking Sacred Arts” A Review Although the task of OAJ has mainly been to work towards the promotion of the revival of traditional Orthodox liturgical arts, along the way we have not hesitated to engage the sphere of secular art. This has not only been relegated to a critique of its […]
Editor’s note: This article is offered to us by Hierodeacon Herman regarding his design for a new liturgical book. This book represents one of the first significant applications of the Orthodox Illustration Project, sponsored by this journal. All the graphic ornaments used in the Hieratikon come from the Illustration Project, being drawn or edited by Scott Patrick O’Rourke, […]
This is post 4 of 4 in the series “Ancient Cosmology Today” (This is the fourth part of a series. Part 1: Most of The Time The Earth Is Flat. Part 2: Where is Heaven? Part 3: Heaven and Earth in The Icon) In my previous posts in this series I have discussed what Heaven […]
This is post 3 of 3 in the series “Hand and Machine” In light of the discussion that has been happening on the OAJ concerning the question of technical means and the production of liturgical arts (starting with fr. Silouan Justiniano’s article, my short post and Andrew Gould’s response), I thought I would attempt something […]
Back in April, I posted about the Saint John of Damascus Society‘s Kickstarter campaign for the first phase of the Psalm 103 project. I’m happy to say that it was more than successful, and we’re just about to deliver on one of the first parts this phase. Before I get to that, let me tell […]
This is post 4 of 6 in the series “Degraded Iconicity” Icon as Symbolic Craftsmanship Although the technique of egg-tempera is ancient and predates the Christian period, it providentially has been adopted and retained by the tradition of icon painting. Encaustic was used but soon abandoned,which further confirms that not all methods have been deemed […]
This is post 2 of 6 in the series “Degraded Iconicity” Uplifting Materiality and Symbol We might grow dull in discriminating between the subtleties of the materials we use to create our living environments, but it is evident that they do affect our quality of life and state of mind. It goes without saying […]