A Contest and A Question!

Before you read, you can listen; but it's not mandatory! click below.

listen to ‘Announcement...A Contest!!’ on Audioboo

Yes, I have a contest for y'all! I'm sorry, I can't help it .I run a Children's youth group and am always giving away prizes so I thought I'd offer a prize to one of my readers. But before I get to that, let me ask a question....

I arrived early to Vespers, had a nice chat with Tammy who informed me that Fr Gary was on vacation so Fr. Ken would be leading Vespers. Then, after venerating the Icons, I decided to sit in a different location than I normally do. (What can I say? I just wanted to shake things up a bit). Well, as a result, I was closer to the front than I normally am. So, we got to one of my favorite parts of Vespers, the Kathisma, where we chant Psalm 2. (Psalm 2 is a psalm I memorized as a teenager and God used that Psalm to get me through a mini crisis of faith!). As we are all chanting, I hear Fr. Ken (sounding like mumbling to me; forgive me) and he was definitely NOT following along with us. I imagine he was praying (I mean what else would it be; surely he wasn't just thinking out loud about the things he had to take care of after Vespers). My Question:
What was Fr. Ken praying? I know the Orthodox have "Secret Prayers" of the priest but I don't remember ever hearing Fr. Gary pray during the Kathisma.  Maybe, he did but I never noticed it before. I would have asked Fr. Ken but, as is my custom, I have to rush out of Vespers right after service to pick up my son at work. As it is, he has to wait at least an hour for me because he gets off work just as we start Vespers so I really don't like to keep him waiting.

So if any of you experienced Vesper's people can clue me in on what type of prayers are in the Rubrics for the priest to say while we chant Psalm 2, I'd appreciate it!

Now, to my contest! For those of you who have been reading for a while, you may remember that I used to number each visit that I made to my parish. I did it as a way to keep track in my mind. But, I stopped putting numbers on my visit back in January . I still would blog each and every time I went to my parish but I did not put a number on it anymore. Well, one of my readers, Bill,  remarked to me, "I know it's silly, but I liked when you use to number your visits."  I thought it was funny he should say that because I was thinking or reprising my numbering system, well....just because!

So, here's the contest: The first person to either email me or, better yet, comment below, what number visit I am up to, wins a $15 gift card to Itunes!  It's really kind of easy to figure out. Just scroll below to the Blog Archive, click on January of this year and start counting to this present blog post! Deadline is by next visit to my parish which, God willing, will be this Saturday night!

I know it's kind of silly to do this and, in many ways, vain but please accept this in the spirit of fun and, more importantly, thank you all for reading my blog and for your prayers. They mean a lot to me as I journey towards Orthodoxy!

Have a great week!