Sabbath
Day Worship
HOLY
TRINITY CELTIC ORTHODOX CHURCH
Toledo, Ohio
http://www.celticorthodoxy.com/bkceltic-orthodox-church
____________________________________________________________________
ANYBODY
CAN KEEP HOLY THE SABBATH. IT IS
NOT NECESSARY TO GO
TO
CHURCH ON SATURDAY TO KEEP THE SABBATH DAY HOLY. FROM THE
MOST
ANCIENT
OF TIMES, BELIEVERS KEPT THE SABBATH HOLY BY PRAYING
PSALM
92 (IN THE SEPTUAGINT TEXT USED IN THE ORTHODOX CHURCH WHICH IS PSALM 93 IN THE
MASORETIC TEXT USED BY CATHOLICS AND PROTESTANTS) IN THE EVENING OF THE EVE OF
THE SABBATH (FRIDAY EVENING / NIGHT) AND PSALM 91 (IN THE SEPTUAGINT TEXT USED
BY ORTHODOX WHICH IS PSALM 92 IN THE MASORETIC TEXT USED BY PROTESTANTS AND
CATHOLICS) ON THE ACTUAL DAY OF THE SABBATH (SATURDAY) AND BY AVOIDING SERVILE
WORK AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
We
learn God's saving truth and Law from both the Old Testament and the New
Testament. Biblical truths are not just Jewish or Christian, they are
divine and therefore eternally Orthodox (right thinking, right worship and right
praxis) and eternally Catholic (Cut from the whole - Having universal
application for all times and places.
We
must make a distinction between "Torah-centric Judaism" [Biblical] and "Rabbinic
Judaism" [Talmudic.] A Torah-centric Judaism was the religion out of which
the first century church in Jerusalem was established by St. James, the brother
of the Lord, and from which the Celtic Orthodox Church was established by St.
Joseph of Aramethia, the Great Uncle of the Christ maintaining it's biblical faith and theology - the faith and Theology of
Christ and the Apostles.
An
over Hellenized East and over Latinized West needs a
re-understanding of the mindset that gave us the Scriptures in both Testaments.
To understand Christ we must understand the mentality from which Christ
taught. We must appreciate and understand our Hebrew roots and by that I
mean the Torah Centered Temple and not the Rabbinic Judaism that lost sight of
the Torah Centered (Biblical) faith. Christ was a Torah observant Jew and it was
the Torah that Christ came to fulfill, but not destroy. The Talmudic
or Rabbinical Judaism crucified Christ, being without the Holy Spirit and the
creation of man rather than God. The Torah centric Temple gave us the
Apostles and the early martyrs and early Christians, being grounded in the Torah
and the ways of the ancients they accepted and recognized the Christ.
The
Church has retained some practices from our Jewish Roots believing these
practices are not Jewish in an ethnic sense, nor even Christian in a religious
sense, but they are simply Biblical in a divine sense, and therefore eternal and
catholic in the sense of classic, having universal application for all times and
places.
THE
CELTS ARE ISRAELITES UNDER ANOTHER NAME
The
word Celt is the Anglicized form of the Greek word Keltoi, which means "the
people who are different." In Scripture, all nations, except the Twelve Tribes
of Israel, are referred to as Gentiles (Foreigners), so the only people who are
different are Israel. The word Celt is therefore another word for Israelite. The
Celts are part of the ten "lost" Tribes of Israel; as are the Tuatha de Danaan
and Milesians. The Irish people are a mixture of Celts; Danaans; Milesians;
Judah/Zarahites (of the "Red Hand" - Genesis 38:28-30§); (Dan-ish) Vikings and
Norsemen and are all racially cousins.
THE
CELTS, ACCORDING TO GOD, ARE ISRAELITES.
The
Irish Celts held three sacred assemblies every year at Tara during Bealtaine;
Lughnasadh and Samhain which assured an abundance of corn and milk; freedom from
conquest; the enjoyment of Righteous Laws; comfort in every house; fruit in
great abundance, and plenty of fish in their lakes, rivers, and estuaries,
exactly as God guaranteed Israel in The Torah/Tara, if they kept The Covenant.
Also, during the Feast of Tara/Torah the kings of Ireland used to settle the
affairs of Ireland for seven years, so that debts, suits and adjustments used
not to be submitted for judgment until the next feast, seven years later, which
the Torah calls the 'Year of the "I AM's" Release' when all debts were forgiven,
every seven years. This proves that Irish Celtic law was based on The Torah and
is further confirmation that the Celts are Israelites.
Also
the word British is not English; it is Hebrew.
Brit
(Berit) means Covenant in Hebrew and Welsh
Ish
means man or people of, in Hebrew and English
Therefore
British means The People of The Covenant,
in
other words, the People Israel of The Covenant.
However,
the Celtish / Irish people are Israelites descended from Jacob/Israel's fifth of
his twelve sons, who was called Dan and fathered the Tuatha de Danaan - the
Tribe of Dan (the Irish and Danish). Therefore the Irish people are Celtish /
British-Israelites by birth i.e. People of The Covenant in the Torah in the
Bible and in The Ark, which is buried at Tara.
The
Celtic Orthodox Church has always placed great importance on Saturday
worship
as the Sabbath and on Sunday worship as the Lord's Day.
In
the Celtic Orthodox Church, all Priests are obligated
to
offer the Mass on the Sabbath and on Sunday both. The laity are expected to
fully
participate on both days in the measure that may be possible.
CELTIC
ORTHODOX SABBATH WORSHIP ENDURED FOR CENTURIES:
In
an Irish work ("Liber ex Lege Moisi") from ca.800 c.e. It is said that the
Celtic
Orthodox Church was closer to Judaism than any other branch of
Christianity.
The shared elements include the keeping of the Saturday Sabbath
and
zealous emphasis on Scripture mandates as the word of God and the basis of
their
Christian conduct.
"The
Messianic Legacy",1986, 1987 U.K. "Members of the
Celtic Orthodox Church
were
suspected by the Roman Catholics of Judaising and its members in Scotland
were
accused of really being Jews because they kept both the Sabbath and the
Lord's
Day and had all the bows and partial prostrations and worshipped in bare
feet
.
(Baigent, Leigh, & Lincoln. "The Messianic Legacy", 1986, 1987 U.K.). We
also
find that in Britain the Celtic Orthodox Church kept Saturday as the
Sabbath
Day and Sunday as an additional day of worship. Incidentally, John Brand
("Observations
on the Popular Antiquities of Great Britain", London, 1841)
describes
the great lengths the Roman Church went to, to extinguish all possible
traces
of 7th-day Sabbath keeping amongst the English.
In
the 500s CE: 6th CENTURY: SCOTLAND "In this latter instance they seem to have
followed
a custom of which we find traces in the early monastic church of
Ireland,
by which they held Saturday to be the Sabbath on which they rested from
all
their labours" (Life of St. Columba, page 96) Columba specifically referred
to
Saturday as the Sabbath and this was the custom of that early church on Iona,
an
island off the coast of Scotland). Sunday was honored as the "LORD'S DAY", A
DAY
OF WORSHIP IN ADDITION TO SATURDAY THE SABBATH.
7th
CENTURY: SCOTLAND AND IRELAND
In
the 600s CE: "It seems to have been customary in the Celtic Churches of early
times
in Ireland as well as Scotland, to keep Saturday as a day of rest from
labour.
They observed the fourth commandment [that you should not work on the
seventh
day] literally on the seventh day of the week." (The Church in Scotland,
Moffatt,
page 140) "The Celts ...kept Saturday as a day of rest." (The rise of
the
Medieval Church, page 237)
In
the 900s CE: 10th CENTURY: SCOTLAND "They worked on Sunday, but kept Saturday in
a Sabbatical manner." (A History of Scotland from the Roman Occupation, vol.1,
p.96)
In
the 1000s CE: 11th CENTURY: SCOTLAND "They held that Saturday was properly
the
Sabbath on which they abstained from work." (Celtic Scotland, vol.2, p.350)
During
the 11th century the Catholic Queen of Scotland, Margaret, tried to stamp
out
those that kept Saturday as the Sabbath Day and who refused to honor Sunday
as
the Sabbath Day.
___________________________________________________________________________________
THE
CELTIC ORTHODOX CHURCH ALWAYS HONORED SATURDAY (FROM SUNDOWN OF FRIDAY TO
SUNDOWN ON SATURDAY) AND SUNDAY (THE LORD'S DAY) AS PROPERLY DAYS OF
WORSHIP. THIS WAS ALSO THE PRACTICE
OF THE LARGER CHURCH INCLUDING CONSTANTINOPLE.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
For
the first 400 or more years after the Ascension of Christ, the Christian
Sunday--whenever
it did arise--did not at first generally become a substitute
for
the Bible seventh-day Sabbath, Saturday; for both Saturday and Sunday were
widely
kept side by side for several centuries in early Christian history.
Socrates
Scholasticus, a church historian of the fifth century A.D., wrote, "For
although
almost all churches throughout the world celebrate the sacred mysteries
[the Lord's Supper] on the Sabbath of every week, yet the
Christians of
Alexandria
and at Rome, on account of some ancient tradition, (Anti-Semitism) have ceased
to do this." And Salminius Hermias Sozomenus (c 400 – c 450), the Orthodox
Christian historian, wrote, "The people of Constantinople, and almost
everywhere, assemble together on the Sabbath, as well as on the first day of the
week, which custom is never observed at Rome or at Alexandria." (for hatred of the Jews)
Thus, "almost everywhere" throughout Christendom, except in Rome and
Alexandria, there were Christian worship services on both Saturday and Sunday as
late as the fifth century. A number of other sources from the third to the fifth
centuries also depict Christian observance of both Saturday and Sunday.
THE
APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION
The
Apostolic Constitution compiled in the fourth century, furnished instruction to
"keep the Sabbath [Saturday], and the Lord's day
Sunday] festival; because the former is the memorial of the creation, and the
latter of the resurrection." "Let the slaves work five days; but on the
Sabbath-day [Saturday] and the Lord's Day [Sunday] let them have leisure to go
to church for instruction in piety."
Saint
Gregory of Nyssa in the late fourth century referred to the Sabbath and
Sunday
as "sisters." And about A.D. 400 Asterius of Amasea declared that it was
beautiful
for Christians that the "team of these two days comes together"--"the
Sabbath
and the Lord's day," which each week gathers together the people with
priests
as their instructors.
In
the fifth century, St. John Cassian refers to attendance in church on both
Saturday
and Sunday, stating that he had even seen a certain monk who sometimes
fasted
five days a week but would go to church on Saturday and Sunday and bring
home
guests for a meal on those two days.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpEQOe3hHxE
From
the 4th Century through the 7th Century the Pope at Rome
and
the
Patriarch at Alexandria had as their primary goal the eradication
of
everything within Christianity that was shared with Judaism. They
did
not have any authority to do this but they did have the might
that
would
allow them to get away with it. It
was not a real matter of divine
authority
but a case of “might makes right”.
It took two hundred years
to
force the people to stop worshipping on Saturday and Sunday
each
week. This was achieved by imposing serious
penalties on any clergy
who
continued to offer the Sabbath Mass, even to
excommunication
from the
Church. The faithful who continued
to honor the Sabbath
Day
also suffered excommunication from the church. Now, this “might
makes
right” has been reinterpreted to
mean by divine authority.
If
you accept Sunday as the ONLY day of worship then you are
accepting
the
Roman Catholic Pope has divine authority to change God’s Laws,
according
to them. The people had no choice as the might of
Rome
was too great to
be challenged by the people and the clergy. It was not
a
matter of people accepting Rome had divine authority to delete the
Commandment
of God that teaches to keep the Sabbath but only
the
acceptance of something they could not fight or change.
The
Apostles added worship on Sunday as
the
“Lord’s Day” because that was the day
of
the Resurrection. It was Apostolic practice
and
the practice of the early church to worship
on
Saturday and Sunday both. Being the
first day
of
the week the early Christians went to work after
Sunday
Mass. On Saturday, the Sabbath,
they
refrained
from work and servile labor as is shown
in
the Apostolic Canons appearing above.
In
the heart of every lost soul is the desire to be loved and to love without
fear. We invite you to join
us. You are loved. You already have friends here. Fear not
for the Lord is here, on the Altar in the Eucharist, and is waiting for you with
arms outstretched in loving embrace.
Come and experience the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God
and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
WHY
DID THE APOSTLES AND THE EARLY CHURCH OBSERVE THE SABBATH?
(THE
APOSTLES KEPT SATURDAY AS THE SABBATH AND
SUNDAY
AS THE LORD’S DAY – CAN WE DO ANY LESS?)
1.
After working the first six days of the week in creating this
earth,
the
great God rested on the seventh day. (Genesis 2:1
2.
This stamped that day as God's rest day, or Sabbath day, as
Sabbath
day
means rest day. To illustrate: When a person is born on a
certain day, that day thus becomes his birthday. So when God
rested
upon the seventh day, that day became His rest, or Sabbath
Day.
3. Therefore the seventh day must always
be God's Sabbath day. Can you
change your birthday from the day on which you were born to
one on
which you were not born? No. Neither can you change God's
rest day
to
a day on which He did not rest. Hence the seventh day is
still
God's Sabbath
day.
4. The Creator blessed the seventh day.
(Genesis 2:3
5. He sanctified the seventh day. (Exodus
20:11
6. He made it the Sabbath day in the
Garden of Eden. (Genesis 2:1-3
7. It was made before the fall; hence it
is not a type; for types were
not
introduced till after the fall.
8. Jesus says it was made for man (Mark
2:27)
that is, for the race, as the word man is here unlimited;
hence,
for the Gentile as well as for the Jew.
9. It is a memorial of creation. (Exodus
20:11)
Every time we rest
upon the seventh day, as God did at creation,
we commemorate that grand event.
10.
It was given to Adam, the head of the human race. (Mark
2:27)
11.
Hence through him, as our representative, to all nations.
(Acts
17:26).
12.
It is' not a Jewish institution, for it was made 2,300 years
before
ever there was a Jew.
13.
The Bible never calls it the Jewish Sabbath, but always "the
Sabbath
of the Lord thy God." Men should be cautious how they
stigmatize
God's holy rest
day.
14.
Evident reference is made to the Sabbath and the seven-day week
all,
through the patriarchal age. (Genesis 2:l-3; 8:10,12; 29:27,28.etc.)
15.
It was a part of God's law before Sinai. (Exodus 16:4)
16.
Then God placed it in the heart of His moral law. (Exodus
20:1-17)
Why did He place
it there if it was not like the other nine precepts,
which all admit to be immutable?
17.
The seventh-day Sabbath was commanded by the voice of the
living
God.
(Deuteronomy 4:12
18.
Then He wrote the commandment with His own finger. (Exodus
31:18
19.
He engraved it in the enduring stone, indicating it’s
imperishable
nature. (Deuteronomy 5:22
20.
It was sacredly preserved in the ark in the holy of
holies.
(Deuteronomy
10:1-5)
21.
God forbade work upon the Sabbath, even in the most hurrying
times.
(Exodus
34:21)
22. God destroyed the Israelites in the
wilderness because they profaned
the Sabbath. (Ezekiel 20:12)
23.
It is the sign of the true God, by which we are to know Him
from
false gods. (Ezekiel 20:20)
24.
God promised that Jerusalem should stand forever if the Jews
would
keep the Sabbath (Jeremiah 17:24)
25.
He sent them into the Babylonish captivity for breaking
it.
(Nehemiah
13:18)
26.
He destroyed Jerusalem for its violation. (Jeremiah 17:27)
27.
God has pronounced a special blessing on all the Gentiles who
will
keep it. (Isaiah 56:6)
28.
This is in the prophecy, which refers wholly to the
Christian
dispensation. (See Isaiah 56.)
29.
God has promised to bless all who keep the Sabbath. (Isaiah
56:2)
30.
The Lord requires us to call it "honorable". (Isaiah 58:13
31.
After the holy Sabbath has been trodden down "many generations,”
it
is to be restored in the last days. (Isaiah
58:12
32.
All the holy prophets kept the seventh day.
33.
When the Son of God came, He kept the seventh day all His
life.
(Luke 4:16; John
15:10) Thus He followed His
Father's example
at creation. Shall we not be safe in following the
example of both the Father and the Son?
PRAY
AS DID THE ANCIENT CHURCH
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