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Early Church Observation

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The mass I attended was St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Church in Los Angeles, California and this church is very special as it has a fascinating history to it. Out of all the Orthodox churches in Los Angeles, this Coptic Orthodox church is the oldest. St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Church began in 1968 with small number of families attending the Church’s services. As the Church began to develop and expand its presence to the people of Southern California, the Church became a big hit. Unfortunately, in 1997, the Church was burned down during a fire and the Church was remodeled in 2001. After years of services led by many fathers, Father Raphael Hanna leads the Church now. In the service, Father Hanna walked onto the main stand and started the service. …show more content…

A helper of Father Isaac brought out an essence holder, which seemed very ancient looking, and held it up high for many to see. At first, I thought the essence was to just get everyone in the Church in the moment of the Father worshipping, however, I did not expect the Father to turn towards the essence and start rubbing his hands over the smoke as if he was washing his hands. This struck me odd because cleansing is mainly related to water, yet Father Isaac uses smoke. There is no connection between smoke and water, but Father Isaac continued on using the smoke by “splashing” it onto the altar. Father Isaac would cup his hands and “pour” or “splash” the smoke onto the altar just as if we were to splash water onto something or someone. After the use of smoke, Father Isaac grabbed something else. Although it was hard to see exactly what was happening, since the Father turned his back against us, Father Isaac grabbed a round item, which I am guessing is bread, since he constantly touched this round, bread looking object. However, it did not seem as if the bread was consumed immediately because it was when all fathers came and performed their worship that the bread was officially broken and consumed. After Father Isaac brought out the bread and performed his actions, the Father and all other religious member bowed down in front of the altar, showing their

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In Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie suffers from hardship in two relationships before she can find her true love. Janie explains to her best friend, Pheoby, how she searches for love. Therefore Pheoby wants to hear the true story, rather than listening to the porch sitters. Throughout the book Janie experiences different types of love with three different men; Logan Killicks, Joe Starks, and Vergible "Tea Cake" Woods. At 16 Janie marries Logan Killicks.

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The “Rock Pile” by James Baldwin and “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston are two stories that examined black male resistance to emasculation. The men in these stories lived in patriarchal societies, and they reaped the benefits of a structure that favored men. In both of these stories, the male characters are dominant figures in their households, and when they felt like their manhood was being attacked, they retaliate viciously. In “Their eyes were watching god”

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Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston can be characterized as an African-American novel; at least, according to Toni Morrison’s criteria for this genre of novel, it can be. Morrison claims that for a novel to be categorized as African-American, it must contain three things: a “community commenting on or responding to the action,” “the presence of an ancestor” who provides insight and wisdom to the main character, and “an oral quality.” This novel contains all three of these criteria in the forms of characters like Nanny Crawford and the porch-sitters, and in Janie’s oral telling of her story to her friend Pheoby Watson. Through these characteristics, Their Eyes Were Watching God makes a connection to traditional African storytelling

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These were also made of wood and overlaid gold. The Golden Crown was placed on the top of the Altar of Incense. The altar was placed just before the place of God’s habitation, “The Holy of Holies.” The fire was taken from the Brazen Altar. The Table of Shewbread, 1 ½ feet by 2 ½ feet high by three feet long, was where the unleavened showbread was placed.

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First, as the priest walked on to the altar there was a table with a cloth over it which the priest kisses. I was curious as to what the meaning of the table was and asked my friend Paul. His answer was that the meaning the table signified the body of Christ. On that same table the priest set a gold colored what seemed to me to be a wine glass and a circular disk on the table. The priest lifted the circular disk in to the air with both hands and said “this is my body which will be given up for you this is the challis of my blood”.

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As I stepped out of my car, I acknowledge that the church was surrounded by trees, which gave it a calming and peaceful sensation, the building was long with a triangular shaped form, with burgundy bricks surroundings and a bit of white in the front entrance and some at the very top and sides with a dark beige roofing to give the church some color, the windows seemed to be a tinted crystal glass that was designed with blues and a beige color. As I made my way into the church their was an entry room where a man and a women and what seemed to be their two children greeted me and handed me a pamphlet that described what was going to take place in that days Sunday school and mass, then I made my way to another pair of doors where I could hear the choir singing, as I opened the doors the inside of the church was a tan wood looking color all around and had matching tan benches with burgundy red bedding to match the carpet, the thing that stood out most to me when I walked in was the large cross that was in the very front that shined very bright as if the sun was hitting it to give the whole church light, when I looked below the cross, the choir was singing and beside it was a women playing a piano with so much passion and in front of them was a the pastors book stand also a matching tan color with his bible. The people were very kind as I sat down next to a friend that attends that church, they welcomed me with open arms and talked a bit about them self’s and the amount of time

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