The Holy Orthodox Church
Ritual, Services, and Sacraments of the Eastern Apostolic (Greek-Russian) Church
Saint Sava Serbian Orthodox Church in Jackson, California
The Holy Orthodox Church
or the
Ritual, Services, and Sacraments of the Eastern Apostolic (Greek-Russian) Church
by
The Rev. Sebastian Dabovich
San Francisco, California
1898, February 9th, Wilksbarre, Pa.
This book, having been examined and approved, is hereby allowed to be printed by the Church Censor, the Archpriest, Alexis Toth
This work is Dedicated to the Sacred Memory of the Late Metropolitan Michael, Of Serbia, by his dutiful Son in the Spirit, The Author
Preface
In pursuing the contents of this small volume, the reader will note that several different subjects have been treated by the author, and presented in the form of separate readings and sermons. In fact, the first half of this book has been written and delivered orally to the congregation of our church, before the author conceived the idea of “getting up a book.” As a pastor, he is obliged to instruct the people in all that which pertains to salvation. On perceiving, that of all his instructions, the present ones, which were also given in the present order, were more or less suitable, and could be, with less difficulty, compiled into a volume, with something bearing at least the semblance of a system, he decided to publish them in their present appearance. These instructions were offered to Christians by a Spiritual Advisor. Therefore, the reader, if one should be found, must not expect to discover a learned thesis on Liturgic Science or Theology. The object which moved the author to publish this book is of a two-fold nature: first, he desired that the children of the Church, born in America, should have the opportunity of obtaining a book which they could easily read and understand, and, by God’s grace, thereby grow firmer in the Faith; and, secondly, he desires with all his heart to contribute the little of God’s might within him to further the holy object of Christ’s church, in seeking all whose who are walking in the way of error, and likewise, if need be, present to zealous students of the Christian religion a book, which may be of service to them in disclosing those differences, which exclude Roman Catholics from her fold, on the one hand, and on the other, debar from her wholesome communion the Protestants.
Sebastian-Hieromonachos
Note
In compiling this volume the following books have been consulted:
The Word of God in the Holy Scriptures and in Holy Tradition.
The Canons of the Holy Apostles and the Canons of the VII General Councils.
St. John Chrysostom and other Fathers of the first centuries.
Simeon, Bishop of Salonica, on the church observances.
Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow.
Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow.
Archpriest Nicholsky on Church Ritual.
The Different Books of Service in the Orthodox Eastern Apostolic Church.
The Roman Missal, London, Burns and Oats, 1882.
The Roman Catechism, enjoined by the order of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore.
Books of Common Prayers of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
Abbé Vladimir Getè, Paris.
Nicodemus Milash, Zara, Austria, 1890.
Archbishop Sergius on Orthodox Truths, Russia, 1893.
Several Protestant Monthly Magazines and Weeklies published in the United States.
Dedication
“Sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord: being ready always to give answer to every man that asketh you a reason concerning the hope that is in you.” (1 Peter, iii. 15.)
This is a digital edition of Beacon from the Bay: The Collected Works of Saint Sebastian Dabovich of Jackson and San Francisco, a several-month-long project to catalogue the out-of-prints works of Saint Sebastian Dabovich, the first American-born Orthodox priest.
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