Reflections in Christ

Psalm 90

Lord, Thou hast been our refuge [dwelling place] in all generations.
Before the mountains existed, and [before] the earth and the world were formed, even from age…

During the mid-point of Great Lent, on the Sunday of the Veneration of the Cross, the following verses are sung at the Alleluia just before the reading of the Gospel:  “Remember Thy congregation which Thou hast gotten of old.  God…

Psalm 89

I will sing of thy steadfast love, O Lord, for ever;

with my mouth I will proclaim Thy faithfulness to…

Psalm 88 and at the funeral for a priest

O Lord, why dost Thou cast me off?
 Why dost Thou hide Thy face from me?
Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,
 I suffer Thy terrors; I am helpless. ...

The Annunciation
Psalm 87: City of God and Mother of God

Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God. ...

This hymn – together with the accompanying rite of venerating the Cross – replaces the usual Trisagion hymn during the Divine Liturgy on the Third Sunday of Great Lent.  According to The Synaxarion of the Lenten Triodion and Pentecostarion...

Psalm 86

All the nations you have made shall come
 and bow down before you, O Lord,

and shall glorify your name. ...

Psalm 85

You have shown favor to Your land, O Lord;
You have turned back the captivity of Jacob! ...

Psalm 84

How lovely is thy dwelling place,
 O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, yea, faints 
for the courts of the Lord; ...

Having had the opportunity to sing an operetta with the local symphony orchestra, it’s remarkable to me how wonderfully our Orthodox liturgical progression from Pre-Lent to Lent to Holy Week to…