Dear TrueLight-
I’m
very saddened reading of your experience there. The few people there is no surprise, but the lack of welcoming is a sad surprise, given the fact you seem to have initiated some conversation several times. If you’d arrived
after Vespers started I wouldn’t necessarily have expected more than a nod and smile from those present, until after the service. I wonder what it was like from their point of view. I can’t imagine they don’t want to encourage visitors.
(As to the picture taking, outside of Liturgy/services, we’re always happy when people take photos, and I’ve seen people doing so often in the ROCOR Cathedral, and during services at the OCA parish I go to. I’d be very surprised if that influenced anything about your visit. I’d never have asked you to take some pictures if I thought it was poor form in any way.)
I’ll make some comments. None is meant to dismiss in any way how lacking, for whatever reasons, in common friendliness they
seem to have been yesterday with you. Again, I would be curious to hear their perspective. I can speculate on some reasons why they might have left you to just pray alone.
If you’d come to OLF Reader’s Vespers yesterday you’d have found only the deacon and me chanting, and the music can be quite shaky in places
. We’ve not had a priest in residence, not even one living in SF, for decades so we’ve not had Vespers with a priest at all. And since all our parishoners commute a fair distance, even those who actually live in SF, we don’t get much of a turn out for things outside of Major Feasts and Sundays,
Most of us go to an Orthodox Church for Vespers. In my occasional visits to the OCA Cathedral in SF for Sat. Vespers there were half a dozen in the choir at most, a priest, and maybe 3 or 4 parishioners apart from those from my parish. When I go to the Greek Cathedral on my side of the bay there are rarely more than 6-10 people in the pews for even festal vespers. At the OCA Cathedral usually the guy at the candle counter says “Hi” but beyond that there isn’t any interchange. Once the cantor at the Greek Cathedral struck up a conversation with me when we ended up walking to the parking lot at the same time. Never have had any other interchange.
I was on my own learning the ropes in Vespers/Vigils at the OCA parish I go to for those, and early on I did ask if someone could help me, but that didn’t happen. There’s the sense that different people do things differently during DL or vespers depending on whether they are Ukrainian, Coptic, Greek, Russian etc. all in the same temple at once. Just watch and ask afterwards. There isn’t a sense of people watching to see if you do something wrong which can be so prevalent in some Latin Churches. Again,
Sundays are very different from Vespers in my experience in these Vespers. At the close of Vespers/vigil everyone leaves, or is going to confession, so there isn’t the transition to a meal you get with DL Sundays.
Our deacon began doing Reader’s Vespers (Vespers in the absence of a priest) maybe 5 of months ago. I’ve missed one or two, but the rest of the time it’s been himself and me and occasionally another parishioner. We have a work day every Sat., which is also 99.9% of the time just the deacon and me, and do Vespers at the end of the work day otherwise I would not travel the hour it takes to get there, plus the bridge toll. Our deacon made the decision to do the Vespers in the spirit one finds it in many places around the world such a monasteries which I’ve heard many accounts of people going into a temple to find one person alone chanting the Hours.
Since we’re there doing work all day the church is open all day and people do wander in to see the place. Yesterday a young mother and her 5 year old stopped by. Turns out they have lived in the area for several months and been too shy to come by. They are Coptic and struggling with the 1 1/2 hrs it takes to get to the nearest Coptic Church. Fr Dn and I visited with them for quite a while. We would have delayed the start of Vespers, I’m certain, in order to talk with them had they happened to come close to that time.
Once a young man came when we were maybe 10 mins into Vespers. He walked past us to venerate the icons and then came and stood next to us and joined in. We only greeted him after we were finished, at which point we talked for at least half an hour. He returned the next day for DL, and came for a number of other visits before disappearing again.
Sunday I would expect most places to be much larger group and entirely different from Vespers in my experience as described already above.
I see that the link you gave is to a ROCOR Cathedral (and that like us, yesterday was their altar feast day
S Prazdnikom!) I would never encourage anyone to come to my parish for Vespers when they could go to the ROCOR Cathedral here, tho believe me there no one greets me as a visitor there.
I’d be interested to hear what your experience would be there on a Sunday. Again, I’m so sorry you were not offered a friendlier greeting for Vespers.
