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Dear Alex,

We can jump, but we won't. And we usually don't.

We have a saying, "Nje malok hipur ne kal nuk zbret poshte pa koke prere." [A mountain man, once up on a horse, doesn't get down without (someone) cutting off his head.]

We're almost like the popes of Rome, except we're not always right.

In Christ,
Andrew

Glory to Jesus Christ!
Glory to Him Forever!

Dear Alex,

Congratulations on reaching your 10,000 post!

You said,

"We Easterners have a seven-branched menorah on the altar - no other candles are allowed. We venerate the four corners of the altar, we solemnize Saturday and have numerous other traditions taken from the Temple of Jerusalem, some of our Eastern Churches more than others."

How is Saturday solemnized in the Eastern Church? You might have answered this question for me before. Alas, I forgot! Thanks.

A sinner,

Adam

Dear Adam,

Saturday, like Sunday, is not a fasting day in the East - except of course for Holy and Great Saturday.

In addition, Saturday's great commemoration includes the Mother of God and All Saints, including All the faithful departed - in essence, a synopsis of the entire preceding week's commemorations.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church actually celebrates the Lord's Day as two days - where it begins on Friday evening and ends on Sunday evening.

God bless,

Alex

Dear Adam,

Alex is very busy accepting congratulations for being more verbose, I mean prolific, than the rest of us. Please allow me to attempt an answer.

Christ rested in the tomb on Saturday. It is still a kind of Sabbath, for this reason. Remember that Sabbath was not only Saturday, but any holy day of rest and worship.

Canonically, for Christians, Sunday is the holy day of rest each week. We are prohibited from keeping Saturday as our weekly regular day of rest.

Saturday is the day on which to remember the dead. Hence, all of the five soul Saturdays throughout the year when we pray for the dead and visit the cemeteries. Home visits to the families of the departed also usually occurred on Saturdays. The Trisagion or Panikhida was done in Churches on Saturday prior to Vespers. (Vespers, liturgically, marks the beginning of Sunday).

In Christ,
Andrew

Whoops! He beat me to it again!