Worship

Orthodoxy simply and literally means "true worship." In a real sense, worship is the central activity of the Christian life. Unlike many religions, Orthodoxy is a total way of life, involving everything we do as human beings, encompassing not only our minds but our bodies as well. Everything else we do is centered upon our adoration and glorification of the Holy Trinity, our worship.

When done truly—with due solemnity and within the holy traditions of the Church—Orthodox worship is the experience of the kingdom of heaven on earth. It is the uniting of earth to heaven.

This is why Orthodox Christians show such reverence to the place of worship—the temple—and one's decorum and bearing within it. We bow. We venerate icons. We cross ourselves frequently. And at the divine services we stand in the presence of God, though visitors and those with a need to do so are welcome to sit when they desire. At the same time, Orthodox worship is dynamic and active; children tend to do remarkably well with it.

In Orthodox worship the presence of God is experienced immediately. This is why when asking an Orthodox Christian what worship is like the answer will often simply be, "Come and see" (John 1:45-46). At the Divine Liturgy we behold the presence of God through Jesus Christ—whose Gospel is proclaimed and whose body and blood is consumed. And we do so through the Holy Spirit—whose descent from heaven on the assembly of faithful represents the high point of the Liturgy, recreating the experience of Pentecost itself.

The Orthodox Church maintains some of the earliest forms of Christian worship, organized, as the scriptures reveal they should be, around daily, weekly, and annual calendars.

At Saint Elizabeth we participate in this liturgical tradition every week with the traditional services of Sunday. These consist of the Resurrectional Vigil after sunset on Saturday evening, and the Divine Liturgy on Sunday morning.

In addition, we offer Daily Vespers on Wednesday evenings, to give parishioners and visitors an opportunity to find comfort and strength in God at the midpoint of the workweek.

We also celebrate all of the traditional Christian annual holidays such as Christmas, Theophany, and Pascha—the “feast of feasts” celebrating our Lord, God and Savior’s triumphal resurrection from the dead and His defeat of death itself. For most of these holidays, we serve the Divine Liturgy on the morning of the holiday and a Festal Vigil the evening before. For Pascha, we literally celebrate all night!

Our regular schedule of services is posted below. However, this schedule does change during certain times of the year. You can check our current monthly calendar on our home page .

Regular Service Schedule

Divine Liturgy on Sundays at 10:00 a.m.
Daily Vespers on Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m.
Resurrectional Vigil on Saturdays at 6:00 p.m.