Welcome! Thank you for visiting and reading this inaugural post in the "/rīt/worship" blog. I should explain the title. First, let me confess that I'm a "word nerd." I love puns and crossword puzzles, poetry and beautiful prose, and I'm known to occasionally shout out Greek root words like Gus Portokalos in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." I'm also a Catholic liturgical musician, passionately in love with my Lord, the liturgy, and sacred music. I'm deeply interested in orthodoxy - in my faith, in worship, and in musical art. Did you know the word orthodoxy comes from TWO GREEK WORDS? (you knew I would go there, right?)
orthós (ὀρθός) means "right" or "straight," as in ortho+dontics (straight teeth). doxa (δόξα) originally meant "belief/doctrine," but after the 3rd century BC it came to also mean "glory" and "worship." So orthodoxy = "right belief" and "right worship," the subject of this blog. Not "Orthodox" with a capital "O" (the branch of Christianity which separated from the Catholic Church in the 11th century), but "orthodox" as in authentic/straight/right worship, glorification, and doctrine about God. The phonetic spelling "/rīt/" also applies to the word rite. The study of liturgy concerns rite/worship in the Church, celebrated faithfully (right doctrine), correctly (right worship), and reverently (rightly directed toward God). In fact, the orthodox rites of the Catholic Church have the power to transmit orthodox theology. In turn, orthodox theology leads one to desire orthodox worship. It's all of a piece. Finally, "/rīt/" also applies to the word write, another passion of mine. In this blog, I'll write about worship in the Catholic Church, and hopefully something I write will inspire you, dear reader, to desire right worship - in this life, and the next. Feel free to comment. If you have burning questions about Catholic liturgy and doctrine, I'll try to answer them. Give me a topic, any topic, I show you how it relate to Greek word orthodoxy! Blessings.
2 Comments
-b
9/25/2019 04:12:10 am
Right/Write on, brother!
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E.Flynn
9/26/2019 06:14:01 am
Ha I miss your humor! I love that you're doing this! And fantastic photo of you too. Can't wait to delve into all things liturgy with you here. Looking forward to your next post and to learning lots from you!
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December 2020
CategoriesAlex E. HillCatholic husband for 36 years. Catholic father of 6. Catholic musician, published Catholic composer. Lover of authentic Catholic liturgy and music, in line with Catholic teaching. Did we mention Catholic? |