Brookline, Mass. (June 1, 2017) - Two new educational videos were released by the Department of Religious Education of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. The first is called  “We Offer These Gifts: The Proskomide Service” and the second  “Vested in Grace: The Liturgical Dress of Orthodox Clergy.”  Each video is a brief look at two aspects of Greek Orthodox liturgical life that are not usually seen by parishioners. The videos were created to supplement the many printed resources from the Department of Religious Education about the liturgical life of the Church, such as the ‘zines “Heaven on Earth: The Divine Liturgy” and “Of Your Mystical Supper: The Eucharist.” Rev. Dr. Anton Vrame, Director of the Department of Religious Education, said, “These are elements of Orthodox liturgy that are often demonstrated in classes by priests or teachers. This way a teacher can show the videos to a class, stop the presentation and talk about it a little bit more.”

“We Offer These Gifts” demonstrates the Proskomide or Prothesis Service, in which the priest prepares the bread and wine to be used in the Divine Liturgy and be consecrated for Holy Communion. With the camera above, the viewers get a very clear view of each step of the service. “Vested in Grace” shows a deacon, a priest, and a bishop putting on their vestments, showing the prayer that is said with each garment, and the significance of each. As Fr. Vrame said, “By showing a deacon, a priest, and a bishop being vested, the viewer can see how the three orders of the clergy are connected. Also, since most people rarely see their bishop being vested, this is a unique feature of the video.”

Produced with GOTelecom, the video ministry of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, the videos were recorded at St. John the Divine Church in Jacksonville, Florida, with Fr. Nicholas Louh and Dn. Athanasios Kartsonis. His Grace Bishop Demetrios of Xanthos very graciously traveled from St. Augustine, Florida for the portion of the video describing the bishop’s vestments.

The videos are produced with a grant from the Leadership 100 Endowment Fund and intends to produces additional videos.

For the Prothesis -- https://www.goarch.org/-/we-offer-these-gifts-the-proskomide-service

For the Vestments -- https://www.goarch.org/-/vested-in-grace-the-liturgical-dress-of-orthodox-clergy