About this website

O Great Mystery is a website devoted to contemplating and celebrating the great mysteries of the Orthodox Christian faith.

Background

This website was first developed on behalf of Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Indianapolis, Indiana, formerly a parish of the Evangelical Orthodox Church (EOC). The EOC began as a communion of evangelical churches searching for continuity with the historic Christian church. The majority of churches were received into the Antiochian Archdiocese under his emminence, Metropolitan Philip, in 1987. (See Becoming Orthodox, by Archpriest Peter Gilquist, for more information.) Some churches were not yet ready to make this step. Bishop Kenneth Samuel Jensen of Indianapolis was one of those who took this path.

This was by no means a repudiation of Orthodoxy. Holy Trinity continued exploring Orthodox theology and worship. Holy Trinity developed an understanding of herself as an intentional, orthodox, eucharistic community. A relationship formed between Holy Trinity, her mission parishes, and the Communities of New Skete. New Skete is a monastic foundation in the Orthodox Church in America (OCA). This relationship led naturally to Holy Trinity and her mission parishes adopting the rites developed by the Monks of New Skete.

Before the website was ready to go public, Bp. Samuel retired. Holy Trinity and her daughter parishes continued exploring the possibility of communion with the worldwide Orthodox Church, a process initiated by his grace in part as a result of the relationship with New Skete. Most of the mission parishes were received into the Diocese of the South, OCA. Holy Trinity and the one remaining parish were received as missions in the Diocese of the Midwest.

During the transition, it was decided that this site could no longer be supported by any of the parishes. The website development team recognized the value of the site and decided to continue work. Though the members of the development team are all chrismated Orthodox Christians, O Great Mystery is a personal website with no official connection to any Orthodox Church. It is our prayer that this ascesis will be profitable to you.

Hymns and Resources

Many hymns and other texts on this site are provided courtesy of the Monks of New Skete. It should be noted that although we feature many of the works by the Monks of New Skete, we are not directly related in any way to New Skete monastery. We owe them a debt of gratitude for their liturgical work and gentle guiding of the EOC churches towards the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

The main hymns featured on this site are taken from the following book:

Troparia and Kondakia
A systematic collection of various hymns used in Orthodox services: the troparia, kondakia, theotokia, Jerusalem troparia (ypakoai) and exapostilaria for Great Lent, the Paschal season, the eight resurrectional tones, and for each day of the Orthodox calendar of saints, including the twelve great feasts and the days of the week. Translated from the original Greek or Church Slavonic into clear, literary-quality modern American English with the smooth rhythm conducive to an intelligible musical rendition. Signs indicate rank of each feast. Extensive introduction. Index. Gold-stamped light brown imitation leather hard cover, sewn binding with red edges and 3 assorted colored ribbon markers. Printed on the highest quality cream vellum paper with large, easy-to-read black text and red titles.
ISBN 0-9607924-7-3
1984, 450 pp.

If you are interested in purchasing this or any of their other fine liturgical texts, you can contact them at:

Liturgy & Art
Monks of New Skete
PO Box 128
Cambridge NY 12816

Email: monks@newskete.com
Phone: (518) 677-3928
FAX: (518) 677-2373
Web: http://www.newskete.com/