05/12/2026
Just a reminder we will have the service of Great Vespers for the Feast of the Ascension this Wednesday, May 13th, at 6:30 pm. We hope to see you there. More information about Vespers below....
Evening prayers and, consequently, Vespers, were prescribed by the Church Fathers for two main reasons: 1) to thank God for all His gifts and graces bestowed upon the people throughout the day, and 2) to “render an account to the Lord for our whole day and to implore forgiveness for all our faults.” (St. John Chrysostom, Baptismal Instructions VIII, 17)
These two constitutive elements of Vespers are clearly indicated by St. Basil the Great (d. 379), saying: “When the day is finished (i.e. at the time of Vespers) let us give thanks for what has been given to us during the day and for what we have done rightly; and let us confess what we have left undone, perhaps unknown to us, either in word or in deed or in heart, beseeching the mercy of God in our prayers.” (cf. Long Rules 37, 4)
2. The central part of Vespers is constituted by welcoming our Savior Jesus Christ under the symbol of light. It was natural that at the evening assemblies the candles or lamps would be lit. In religious practice, light always was associated with divinity, since light (fire) symbolized the presence of God as, for example, in the burning bush. (Ex. 3:2)
In the New Testament God is simply called the Light (I Jn. 1:5), dwelling in the “inaccessible light” (I Tim. 6:16). And our Lord Jesus Christ is described as ” the true Light that enlightens all men” (Jn. 1:9). He called Himself “the Light of the world.” (Jn. 9:5) For this reason we profess our Savior as being ” Light of Light” (cf. Symbol of Faith) or, poetically, “Joyful Light.”
It is then fully understandable why the early Christians associated light with the sacred presence of our Lord Jesus Christ in their midst, being assured by Him: “Where two or three come together in my name, there I shall be in their midst” (Mt. 8:20). Thus during their evening gatherings, as the candles or the lamps were being lit, the Christians symbolically (mystically) welcomed the Eternal Light, Jesus, into their midst with the joyous hymn, O Joyful Light (see back cover notes below), hailing from the second century.
From the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh
