10. Gifts to church

In the same way that an icon is a window into the heavenly kingdom, the Church is the gateway to heaven and the palace of the Heavenly King. Just as we bring gifts when we are invited as guests to someone’s home, in many countries Orthodox Christians bring gifts to church to show their love for God. They may offer bread for the litya, wine for Divine Liturgy, pure oil for the lampadas, or candles to burn before the icons. Sometimes they even bring bread or fruit for the trapeza (the common festive meal after Liturgy). They offer the best that they have as a way of showing God that He is the most important thing in their lives.

If you give alms as you are able, when the church collection plate is passed around, your gift will always be achnowledged by the prayers of the Church and God’s mercy. Even after many centuries, people who helped build churches and monasteries with their alms are still remembered by the Church in its prayers.

Gifts of food and money are good and necessary, but they are still an outward sign of the thing that God wants most of all—the warmth of a child’s heart, and your sincere prayers to Him as your Heavenly Father.