The Akathist Hymn of the Most Holy Theotokos at St. Anargroy valley road. Kenya.
Εμφάνιση αναρτήσεων με ετικέτα Jesus Christ. Εμφάνιση όλων των αναρτήσεων
Εμφάνιση αναρτήσεων με ετικέτα Jesus Christ. Εμφάνιση όλων των αναρτήσεων
Σάββατο 20 Απριλίου 2024
When the God became a human
Παρασκευή 5 Αυγούστου 2022
The Mount of Transfiguration and the Bridal Chamber of Christ
There is a propensity in our modern world to break things down – to analyze. We have gained a certain mastery over many things by analyzing the various components of their structure and manipulating what we find. It has become the default position for modern thought. This power of analysis, however, is weakened by its very success. Frequently the truth of something lies not in the summary of its parts but in the wonder of the whole.
This is certainly the case with the Christian faith. It is not uncommon for theology to be addressed under various headings: Christology, soteriology, eschatology, ecclesiology, hermeneutics, etc. It makes for an impresive array of titles on a seminary faculty listing. The problem, however, is that theology ultimately seeks to describe or state one thing (or it should). That one thing, however, is so large that it cannot be spoken with ease. The fullness of the faith is not revealed in the analysis of various constituent elements, but in the slow (and sometimes sudden) apprehension of the whole.
If I had to use a single word to describe the one thing that is “everything” it would be Pascha (in its fullness). I cannot think of any part of the Christian life or revelation that is not gathered into the fullness of Pascha. It is one of the reasons that the liturgical celebration of Pascha is as utterly overwhelming in its Orthodox expression.
Liturgy has a grammar, a way of speaking and revealing truth. This grammar does things that cannot be done as easily in discursive theological writing. I have written about this previously.
For one, Orthodox liturgical practice has a habit of bringing elements of the Christian story together that are frequently kept apart – particularly in our modern compartmentalized approach to the faith. There are “theological rhythms” within the Orthodox cycle of services. Each of the seven days of the week has a particular assigned theme (Mondays for the Angels, Tuesdays for St. John the Baptist, etc.). Every day on the calendar has one or more (usually many more) saints whose memory is kept on that day. There is also the cycle of feasts that depend on the date of Pascha, and others that are determined according to a fixed date.
These cycles are always meeting each other and bringing their own elements and insights into the service. Thus those who come to worship are never “just doing one thing” but are always presented with “several things.” And, greater than that, everything is brought together as a “whole” and not just a collection of parts. The “one thing” is seen at every service, even if one facet shines brighter than others.
It came at Matins on the day before Transfiguration (known as the Forefeast). During Matins each day, there is the reading of “the canon.” This is a hymn that follows a particular poetic structure. It consists of nine odes, each of which takes its inner meditation from one of the nine traditional Biblical canticles of the Old Testament (such as the “Song of Moses” in Exodus 15:1 and following). The sixth ode is always a reflection on the hymn within the book of Jonah (whose three days in the whale is always seen as a “type” of Christ’s three days in the belly of the earth).
This is the verse that struck me:
Making ready for His friends a Bridal Chamber of the glory of that joy which is to come, Christ ascendeth the mountain, leading them up from life below to the life of heaven.
I have generally viewed the Transfiguration in its own “compartment.” I have extended that consideration to include reflection on the Palamite doctrine of the Divine Energies, since St. Gregory Palamas used the image of the Light of the Transfiguration for much of his theological understanding. But I had never made the leap to Pascha (to which belongs the image of the Bridal Chamber).
I found myself speechless. The idea was too full. The image of the bridal chamber and its affinity with Pascha is rich, in and of itself. The Church looks forward to the “marriage feast of the Lamb,” an image used for the close of the age and the fulfilling of all things. Pascha is that close and that fulfilling even though it also occurs at a particular moment in history in 33 A.D. The death and resurrection of Christ is the marriage of heaven and earth, the union of God and man, the fulfillment of all things. Having revealed to His disciples the “Bridal Chamber” (as far as they could bear to see it), He then begins to speak to them of His coming resurrection and His sufferings in Jerusalem
The Transfiguration is also the Bridal Chamber (and is described in many other ways as well). It is a glimpse, (out of sequence in a place where sequence has no place), of the fullness of Divinity. Christ appears with Elijah and Moses, the living and the dead, the prophets and the law, and speaks with them concerning His Pascha. And this happens in the context of the Divine Light – a brightness that was beyond the disciples’ ability to bear.
Our faith itself should have this quality of fullness about it – something that is greater than our ability to bear. Our compartmentalization of the world and our faith reduce both to bearable levels – but then we fail to live or to believe. Understanding begins with wonder – and wonder requires something beyond our normal limits. The Transfiguration is an invitation to the Bridal Chamber – the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection in the depths of Pascha. Shame on us if we compartmentalize the event in a meditation on the Divine Light. The Light shines in the darkness for a reason, and for a reason the darkness does not comprehend it.
May Christ carry each of us into the Bridal Chamber of the glory of that joy which is to come – and bring us up from the life below to the life of heaven in the wonder of His Pascha!
Σάββατο 14 Μαΐου 2022
The Vindication of the Mother of God
At Christmas time, the Virgin Mary gets a bit of attention in the wider culture. A woman gives birth in difficult circumstances: Mother, baby, ox and ass, the manger. It’s a very touching scene. She quickly fades from the scene however, with some five centuries of culture desperately afraid that she will get too much attention.
In that vein, she is pretty much absent from Easter. We have eggs, chocolate, bunny rabbits, and the resurrection of Christ (along with new dresses and such), but Mary has no place in our culture’s Easter imagination. Some of this is undoubtedly the result of 500 years of a dominantly anti-Catholic Protestantism. You have to mention Mary at Christmas, but she can conveniently be forgotten at Easter.
Unless you’re Orthodox.
In Orthodoxy, there is essentially no teaching regarding Christ that ignores His mother. There is no teaching regarding Jesus that ignores His humanity and His humanity requires that we remember her. When the Council of 431 (3rd Ecumenical) declared Mary to be “Theotokos” (“Birthgiver of God”) it was on account of its concern that the full truth of who Christ is not be distorted. The mystery of the Incarnation (rightly understood) makes it possible to speak the paradoxical title of “Birthgiver of God” (not just “Birthgiver of Christ”). Christ is fully God and fully man. The one born of Mary was God and man. God was born of her.
This is echoed as well in the prophetic word that was spoken to Mary when she brought Jesus to the Temple 40 days after His birth (in concordance with the Law). Simeon the prophet, holding the child in his arms, said to His mother:
“Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” (Luke 2:34-35)
His words speak of a “sword.” This is far deeper than a hint that what is to happen to her Son will make her sad. He didn’t say, “It will cause you grief.” The suffering of Christ on the Cross is equally the sword that pierces the soul of Mary. Mary is the first Christian, the first to believe the word concerning her Son. His suffering is her suffering. His suffering is to be our suffering as well. If you have been united with Christ on the Cross, then, in some measure, your own soul has been pierced by the sword that pierced the soul of Mary. St. Paul says,
“I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless, I live. Yet, not I, but Christ lives in me, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Mary is the first of those who have been crucified with Christ.
Our ignorance of such things (or our forgetfulness), encourage us to forget that our discipleship is marked by the Cross and defined by our communion with the Crucified Lord. Too easily, the resurrection of Jesus comes to mean nothing more than a promise of life after death. “Jesus died and was resurrected so that I could go to heaven.” While that is sort of true, it represents a serious diminishment of the gospel.
As Christ was on the Cross, His thoughts turned to His mother. He endures the suffering and the shame of the crucifixion. She shares in the shame and, in that, a sword pierces her own soul. Christ gives her to the care of St. John, “the disciple whom He loved.” He does not merely ask John to care for her, but says, “Behold your mother.” John must now be her son. Incidentally, this supports the Church’s teaching that the “brother and sisters of Christ” are not children of Mary. It would have fallen to them to take of her had that been the case.
As the Church enters into the depth of Holy Week and approaches the Lord’s death and resurrection, the Theotokos is ever present on its mind. At what becomes a liturgical climax the Church gathers around the funeral shroud icon (epitaphios) in the center of the Church. Following its commemoration of Christ’s suffering and death, the burial shroud had been placed there for the faithful to venerate. They have offered their lamentations.
At this last moment, as the priest stands before the image, we hear these verses from the choir:
Do not lament me, O Mother, seeing me in the tomb, the Son conceived in the womb without seed, for I shall arise and be glorified with eternal glory as God. I shall exalt all who magnify thee in faith and in love.
Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee!
I escaped sufferings and was blessed beyond nature at Thy strange birth, O Son, who art without beginning. But now, beholding Thee, my God, dead and without breath, I am sorely pierced by the sword of sorrow. But arise, that I may be magnified.
Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee!
By my own will, the earth covers me, O Mother, but the gatekeepers of hell tremble at seeing me clothed in the blood-stained garments of vengeance; for when I have vanquished my enemies on the cross, I shall arise as God and magnify thee.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Let creation rejoice, let all born on earth be glad, for hateful hell has been despoiled, let the women with myrrh come to meet me, for I am redeeming Adam and Eve and all their descendants, and on the third day shall I arise.
Do not lament me, O Mother, seeing me in the tomb, the Son conceived in the womb without seed, for I shall arise and be glorified with eternal glory as God. I shall exalt all who magnify thee in faith and in love.
The verses are a dialog between Christ and His mother. It gathers her whose heart had been pierced with the sword of shame and grief into His own compassion. He encourages her with the promise that He will rise and vindicate her. He will be glorified and will magnify her. Her faithfulness, humility, and obedience will be justified before all the world. “All generations will call her blessed.”
She replies, recalling the mystery of her Son’s “strange birth.” Though she now sees His body lying “dead and without breath,” she urges Him to arise.
He responds that He is “covered by the earth” by His “own will.” He is no one’s victim but is doing the very thing He was born to do. And now He is clothed in the “blood-stained garments of vengeance.” Vanquishing His foes by the cross, He will rise and magnify her.
He closes, repeating the initial verse. At the repetition of “I shall arise,” the priest takes up the funeral shroud and bears it into the altar. The doors are shut and every light, every candle in the Church, is extinguished. In silence the Church waits. Mary waits. All creation holds its breath.
Quietly, the priest begins to sing, “Thy resurrection, O Christ our Savior, the angels in heaven sing…” He will shortly come forth bearing the newly kindled light which spreads to all. And the Paschal procession begins around the Church (I’m describing the Slavic practice).
His resurrection is a vindication of His mother. Equally, it is the vindication of every believer. For we, too, have stood silently by the tomb, venerating His dead body. We, too, have had some share in His shame, either from others or cast upon us by our own unfaithfulness and doubting. Was I wrong to believe in, O Lord? Have you forgotten me? I am surrounded by my enemies and they mock me. Where are You, Lord?
“I shall arise,” Christ says.
Mary saw Him. Mary Magdalen saw Him. Peter and John saw Him. Then the twelve. Then James the Brother of the Lord. Then by over 500. And even to St. Paul He appeared, as if to one born out of time.
And they began the procession that continues to circle the earth singing, “Enable us on earth, to glorify Thee in purity of heart.” At the head of our procession is His Mother – now vindicated and magnified by all. She told the truth. She gave birth to God the Word. We call her blessed.
Videos from St. Maximus Orthodox Church Choirs & ORTODOX™ (Vatopedi monastery, Athos)
Κυριακή 24 Απριλίου 2022
The Last Pascha – A Reveri
The Last Pascha.
It dawns and everyone is there. And we can’t quite remember what we might have had against each other. We’re so glad to see faces that we know. Memory fades like the pains in our bones as we stand with joy and see the Face of Christ. In the light of His Face, only the present has any reality. All things become present in Him. And a sound is heard, first in the distance, but we can’t quite figure where in the distance, and it draws nearer…
It is a song being sung. It seems strange though familiar and then I seem to know the words and I’m surprised at the sound and the strength of my own voice and how it interacts with every other voice, no two singing the same tune and yet it’s one song. Everyone hears it in their own language. It is the Song of the Lamb.
And since every moment is present, there is no sense of how long we have been singing or how long we will sing. But in the Song, everything comes right. The creation beneath our feet begins to awaken. And the Song is taken up by trees and rocks, rivers and sky, until all of creation sings.
And slowly, the motion of a Dance…
Photos from here (Easter 2021)
Σάββατο 23 Απριλίου 2022
Old Testament prophecies hinting the Crucifixion and confirmed historically
Source: https://ethnegersis.blogspot/ - (selected excerpts from Catechesis No.13)
Orthodox Outlet for Dogmatic Enquiries / Translation: K.N.
ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ: ΑΓΙΟΥ ΚΥΡΙΛΛΟΥ ΙΕΡΟΣΟΛΥΜΩΝ: ΟΙ ΠΡΟΦΗΤΕΙΕΣ ΠΟΥ ΕΚΠΛΗΡΩΘΗΚΑΝ ΚΑΤΑ ΤΗ ΣΤΑΥΡΩΣΗ ΤΟΥ ΚΥΡΙΟΥ [Μέρος πρώτο]
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Saint Cyril of Jerusalem**: “....and was crucified for our sake during the time of Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried....” ***** But let us now return to the subject of prophetic proofs that you asked for. The Lord was crucified - you have heard all the testimonies. You have seen the location of Golgotha hill. You agree with the information and applaud it as praiseworthy and you glorify it. But take care lest there come a time during a period of persecution that you renounce Him. Do not delight in the Cross only during a period of peace, but preserve the same faith also during a period of persecution. Do not be a friend of Jesus in a time of peace, and in a time of war become an enemy. (…) *********** So, Christ was crucified for our sake: He, who had been judged during an icy-cold night – which is why there was a coal burning fire nearby: John 18:18: “Now the slaves and servants who had made a fire of coals stood there, for it was cold, and they warmed themselves. And Peter was with them and warming himself.” Christ was crucified at the third hour: Mark 15:25: “Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him”... (The “third hour” means it was 3 hours after sunrise, that is, at 9 in the morning when they crucified Him) Matthew 27:45: “Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.” (The 6th hour was 12 noon, so from 12 noon, darkness covered the entire land, until 3 in the afternoon).
Could these same details have been written by the Old Testament Prophets also? Let us check it out: The prophet Zacharias said: Zacharias 14:7: “On that day there shall be no light; it will be cold and icy for one day – and that day is known to the Lord – and it is not day and not night, and at evening time there shall be light.” (During that one day, there will be no sunlight, so it will be a cold, icy day – hence Peter warming himself at a coal fire outside). ”So? Didn't the Lord know about the other days? Indeed, days are many, but this was the day of the Lord's patience, a day “which the Lord had created” (Psalm 117:24). He likewise knew the day that was “not day and not night” (Zacharias 14:7). What was the meaning of this enigma mentioned by the Prophet: “...and that day is known to the Lord – and it is not day and not night”? What was that day? What should we call it? The Gospel interprets this, as it narrates the events: It was not “day”, because the sun did not shine while moving from east to west; instead, from the 6th hour (12 noon) until the 9th (3 afternoon), complete darkness prevailed (as above, Matthew 27:45), in the middle of the day! Hence, darkness suddenly prevailed in the middle of the day – which darkness God had named “night” (Genesis 1:1: “...and God called the light “day”, and the darkness He called “night”). That is why it was neither “day” nor “night” literally, for there was not enough light to be called “day”, nor dark enough to be called “night”, given that after the 9th hour (3 afternoon) the sun shone again in the sky. This too was foretold by the Prophet when saying: “not day and not night” (Zacharias 14:7), and adding at the end of v.7: “and at evening time there shall be light”. Do you see the accuracy of the Prophets? Do you see how much truth there is in what has been prophesied and written in advance of the actualized events? *********** Do you want to know exactly what time the sun was blotted out from the face of the earth? Was it perhaps on the 5th hour or the 8th or the 10th? Then state the exact time to the inconvincible Jews, o Prophet! When did the sun set? The prophet Amos said: “And it will be on that day, says the Lord God, and the sun will set at noon, and the light will be darkened upon the earth in the daytime.” (Amos 8:9) – exactly as above: “Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.” (as above, Matthew 27:45) What season would it take place in, o Prophet, and what day will it be? “And I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. And I will bring sackcloth on every loin and baldness on every head. And I will make Him like the mourning for a loved one and those with Him like a day of suffering” (Amos 8:10] These details implied the feast days of Unleavened Bread and the Jewish Passover - which was to “contain” the event of the Crucifixion during those days. To which the Prophet adds the following: “And I will make Him like the mourning for a loved one and those with him like a day of suffering.” “And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him” (Luke 23:27) While the Apostles may have remained in hiding, nevertheless, their souls were also filled with despair and mourning.... This prophecy also deserves our admiration.
*********** Now someone else might say: Find yet another characteristic from the Passions of Christ which had been preannounced by the Prophets with such precision.' What other accurate evidence is there, related to the event of the Crucifixion? When Jesus was being led to be crucified, He was wearing only a tunic and His robe was thrown over Him.
“Then the soldiers, after they had crucified Jesus, took His clothes and made them into four parts, to each soldier one part, and also His undergarment (tunic). Now the tunic was seamless, woven from the top all in one piece.” (John 19:23) This garment was not torn into parts, as it would have become useless. So they decided to cast lots to see who it would fall to: “They said therefore among themselves, ‘Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be’, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: ’They divided My garments among them, and on My clothing they cast lots.” (John 19:24) Was this also mentioned somewhere else? Let us see what the Book of Psalms (11th century B.C.)says: “they divided my clothes for themselves, and on my tunic they cast lots.” (Psalm 21:19) ***********
Also, when He was being interrogated by Pilate, He had been wrapped in a red cloak: “And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him”. (Matthew 27:28) They had intentionally stripped Him, wishing to mock Him for making claims of royalty. Was this also written in the old Testament? Isaiah says: “Who is He that has come here from Edom, with a redness of garments from Bosor – so splendid in apparel, mighty, with power?” (Isaiah 63:1) Who is He that wears scarlet and is being dishonoured? Bosor apparently had such an interpretation for the Jews. “Why are your clothes red, and your garments like those of a wine press worker?” (Isaiah 63:2) To which He replied: “I had My arms outstretched all day long towards an inconvincible and contrary people who did not walk in a true way, but after their own sins.” (Isaiah 65:2)
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He extended His arms upon the Cross, thus “embracing” the ends of the inhabited world. Because the centremost point on earth is Golgotha. And this is not my own reasoning. The Prophet is the one who said: “Yet God is our King from before aeons; He laboured for salvation in the midst of the earth.” (Psalm 73:12). (You, o Lord, forged our salvation through Your world-saving Passions at the centre of the earth). He who had stretched out the firmament with His divine arms has stretched out His human arms, which were pierced with nails so that when His human nature was nailed to the Cross – bearing the sins of mankind – and eventually perished, sin would also perish with it, but we would also be resurrected blameless and righteous. “For one may die with difficulty for a righteous man; but for a good man, perhaps someone may dare to die”. (Romans 5:7) So, because death originated from a man (Romans 5:17), life was restored also by a Man – our Saviour - who died voluntarily. To be certain that this is the case, remember the One who said: “No one takes it away from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have authority to lay it down, and I have power to take it back again”. (John 10:18]. (No-one has the authority to take my life and kill Me if I do not want it. But I give it up on my own. I have the authority to offer my life, and I have the authority also to take it back again)
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But He of course had endured all these things in order to save everyone, but His people reciprocated with a wretched repayment. Jesus said “I am thirsty” (John 19:28]. He who made abundant water spring from a steep precipice, and had asked for the fruits of the vine that He had planted: “Yet I planted you as a fruitful vine, from pure stock. How did you turn to bitterness, you foreign vine?” (Jeremiah 2:21): But what was that “vine”? As regards its nature, it is of course mentioned by the Holy Fathers; as for its proclivity, it was Sodomic, because their vine originated in Sodom and its branches in Gomorrah; and yet, when the Lord thirsted, they took a sponge dipped in vinegar, tied it to a reed and offered that to Him! “Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with soured wine, and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.” (Matthew 27:48) In the book of Psalms we read: “And they gave gall as my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” (Psalms 68:22) Do you see the transparency in the foretelling by Prophets? Well, what kind of gall (bile) did they put in His mouth? They gave him, he says, 'wine mixed with myrrh, but He did not take it” (Mark 15:23). Myrrh is disgusting and terribly bitter to taste; is that how you reciprocate to the Lord? Is that the kind of offering that the vine gives to its master? Isaiah has rightly mourned for you ever since, saying: “I must sing to my beloved one a song concerning My vineyard: A vineyard was created for My beloved one upon a hill, on a fertile place”. (Isaiah 5:1) But let us see what he says further on: 2 And I put a border around it and furrowed it and planted a Sorech vine, and I built a tower in the midst of it and dug out a wine vat in advance in it and I waited for it to produce grapes but, it produced thorns. And now, those who dwell in Jerusalem and you of Judah, judge between Me and My vineyard. 4 What more should I do for My vineyard that I have not done for it? For I have waited for it to produce grapes, but it produced thorns.5 So now I will announce to you what I will do to My vineyard: I will remove its border and it shall be seized; and I will tear down its wall, and it shall be trampled on. 6 And I will abandon My vineyard and it shall not be pruned or dug, and they shall walk over it as if it is a wasteland of thorns; and I shall command the clouds to not deposit any rain on it. 7 For the vineyard of the Lord Shavaoth is the house of Israel and the man of Judah is the beloved new plant. I waited in order to make judgment, but it has made lawlessness; not justice, but noisiness.” (Isaiah 5:2-7) Look at the border of thorns that they surrounded My head with; I waited for the vine (Israel) to make Me grapes to quench My thirst with its wine, but My vineyard brought forth thorns.... So what decision should I make? I will order the clouds not to let rain fall on this vineyard... And of course the clouds stopped raining over that vineyard - that is, the prophetic voice stopped revealing God's will to them. And as the apostle Paul said, Prophets thereafter would act within the Church: “28 But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God. 29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. 30 But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be encouraged. 32 And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. 33 For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. (1 Corin.1:28-33) And elsewhere: “And He Himself gave that some be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for edifying the body of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11-12) Agabus was also a prophet, who tied his hands and feet with a waistband and thus prophesied the apostle's imprisonment in Jerusalem “10 And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 When he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, ‘Thus says the Holy Spirit - thus shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentile Romans.’ ” (Acts 21:10-11)
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Saint Cyril of Jerusalem on the Creed**
Cyril became Bishop of Jerusalem ca. 350, during the years of Arian controversy that persisted after the first ecumenical Council of Nicea, convened by the emperor Constantine in 325. Cyril came to accept wholeheartedly the Nicene Creed’s definition of the divinity of Christ as “consubstantial” with God the Father. He attended the First Council of Constantinople in 381. Of his many writings, Cyril’s twenty-four famous catecheses (lectures on aspects of the faith), which he delivered as bishop in about 350, have been preserved. The first five of the catecheses concern 1) the prerequisites for Baptism, 2) repentance and remission of sins, 3) the Sacrament of Baptism, 4) ten key points of doctrine, and 5) on faith and the Creed, or Symbol of Faith. Following is an excerpt from his Catechesis No. 5 on the Creed, §§12 and 13. But in learning the Faith and in professing it, acquire and keep that only, which is now delivered to you by the Church, and which has been built up strongly out of all the Scriptures. For since all cannot read the Scriptures, some being hindered as to the knowledge of them by want of learning, and others by a want of leisure, in order that the soul may not perish from ignorance, we comprise the whole doctrine of the Faith in a few lines. This summary I wish you both to commit to memory when I recite it, and to rehearse it with all diligence among yourselves, not writing it out on paper, but engraving it by the memory upon your heart, taking care while you rehearse it that no catechumen chance to overhear the things which have been delivered to you. I wish you also to keep this as a provision through the whole course of your life, and beside this to receive no other, neither if we ourselves should change and contradict our present teaching, nor if an adverse angel, transformed into an angel of light (II Corinthians 11:14) should wish to lead you astray. For though we or an angel from heaven preach to you any other gospel than that you have received, let him be to you anathema. (Galatians 1:8-9) So for the present listen while I simply say the Creed, and commit it to memory; but at the proper season expect the confirmation out of Holy Scripture of each part of the contents. For the articles of the Faith were not composed as seemed good to men; but the most important points collected out of all the Scripture make up one complete teaching of the Faith. And just as the mustard seed in one small grain contains many branches, so also this Faith has embraced in few words all the knowledge of godliness in the Old and New Testaments. Take heed then, brethren, and hold fast the traditions which you now receive, and write them on the table of your heart. (§12) Guard them with reverence, lest per chance the enemy despoil any who have grown slack; or lest some heretic pervert any of the truths delivered to you. For faith is like putting money into the bank, even as we have now done; but from you God requires the accounts of the deposit. I charge you, as the Apostle says, before God who quickens all things, and Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed the good confession, that you keep this faith which is committed to you, without spot, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. A treasure of life has now been committed to you, and the Master demands the deposit at His appearing, “which in His own times He shall show, Who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only has immortality, dwelling in light which no man can approach unto; Whom no man has seen nor can see. To Whom be glory, honor and power for ever and ever. Amen”. [I Timothy 6:15-16] (§13) ***** Translated by Edwin Hamilton Gifford. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 7. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co.,1894.) Revised and edited by Kevin Knight for New Advent. Reprinted with permission. (Complete text: newadvent.org/fathers/310105.htm). https://adoremus.org/2010/11/saint-cyril-of-jerusalem-on-the-creed/ |
Πέμπτη 21 Απριλίου 2022
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: The End
by The Very Reverend Alexander Schmemann
For there were “normal” men who shouted “Crucify Him” who spat at Him and nailed Him to the Cross. And they hated and killed Him precisely because He was troubling their normal life. It was indeed a perfectly “normal” world which preferred darkness and death to light and life. . . . By the death of Jesus the “normal” world, and “normal” life were irrevocably condemned. Or rather they revealed their true and abnormal inability to receive the Light, the terrible power of evil in them. “Now is the Judgment of this world” (John 12:31). The Pascha of Jesus signified its end to “this world” and it has been at its end since then. This end can last for hundreds of centuries, but this does not alter the nature of time in which we live as the “last time.” “The fashion of this world passeth away” (I Cor. 7:31).
Pascha means passover, passage. The feast of Passover was for the Jews the annual commemoration of their whole history as salvation, and of salvation as passage from the slavery of Egypt into freedom, from exile into the promised land. It was also the anticipation of the ultimate passage—into the Kingdom of God. And Christ was the fulfillment of Pascha. He performed the ultimate passage: from death into life, from this “old world” into the new world into the new time of the Kingdom. And he opened the possibility of this passage to us. Living in “this world” we can already be “not of this world,” i.e. be free from slavery to death and sin, partakers of the “world to come.” But for this we must also perform our own passage, we must condemn the old Adam in us, we must put on Christ in the baptismal death and have our true life hidden in God with Christ, in the “world to come.”
And thus Easter is not an annual commemoration, solemn and beautiful, of a past event. It is this Event itself shown, given to us, as always efficient, always revealing our world, our time, our life as being at their end, and announcing the Beginning of the new life. . . . And the function of the three first days of Holy Week is precisely to challenge us with this ultimate meaning of Pascha and to prepare us to the understanding and acceptance of it.
1. This eschatological (which means ultimate, decisive, final) challenge is revealed, first, in the common troparion of these days:
Troparion—Tone 8
Behold the Bridegroom comes at midnight, And blessed is the servant whom He shall find watching, And again unworthy is the servant whom He shall find heedless. Beware, therefore, O my soul, do not be weighed down with sleep, Lest you be given up to death and lest you be shut out of the Kingdom. But rouse yourself crying: Holy, Holy, Holy, are You, O our God! Through the Theotokos have mercy on us!
Midnight is the moment when the old day comes to its end and a new day begins. It is thus the symbol of the time in which we live as Christians. For, on the one hand, the Church is still in this world, sharing in its weaknesses and tragedies. Yet, on the other hand, her true being is not of this world, for she is the Bride of Christ and her mission is to announce and to reveal the coming of the Kingdom and of the new day. Her life is a perpetual watching and expectation, a vigil pointed at the dawn of this new day. But we know how strong is still our attachment to the “old day,” to the world with its passions and sins. We know how deeply we still belong to “this world.” We have seen the light, we know Christ, we have heard about the peace and joy of the new life in Him, and yet the world holds us in its slavery. This weakness, this constant betrayal of Christ, this incapacity to give the totality of our love to the only true object of love are wonderfully expressed in the exapostilarion of these three days:
Thy Bridal Chamber I see adorned, O my Savior And I have no wedding garment that I may enter, O Giver of life, enlighten the vesture of my soul And save me.
2. The same theme develops further in the Gospel readings of these days. First of all, the entire text of the four Gospels (up to John 13: 31) is read at the Hours (1, 3, 6 and 9). This recapitulation shows that the Cross is the climax of the whole life and ministry of Jesus, the Key to their proper understanding. Everything in the Gospel leads to this ultimate hour of Jesus and everything is to be understood in its light. Then, each service has its special Gospel lesson :
On Monday:
At Matins: Matthew 21: 18-43—the story of the fig tree, the symbol of the world created to bear spiritual fruits and failing in its response to God.
At the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts: Matthew 24: 3-35: the great eschatological discourse of Jesus. The signs and announcement of the End. “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”
On Tuesday:
At Matins: Matthew 22:15-23:39; condemnation of Pharisees, i.e., of the blind and hypocritical religion, of those who think they are the leaders of man and the light of the world, but who in fact “shut the Kingdom of heaven against men.”
At the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts: Matthew 24:36-26:2; the End again and the parables of the End: the ten wise virgins who had enough oil in their lamps and the ten foolish ones who were not admitted to the bridal banquet; the parable of the ten talents “… Watch, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” And, finally, the Last Judgement.
On Wednesday:
At Matins: John 12:17-50; the rejection of Christ, the growing conflict, the ultimate warning: “Now is the judgement of this world. . . . He who rejects me and does not receive my sayings, has a judge; the word that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day.”
At the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts: Matthew 26:6-16; the woman who poured the precious ointment on Jesus, the image of love and repentance which alone unite us with Christ.
3. These Gospel lessons are explained and elaborated in the hymnology of these days: the sticheras and the triodia (short canons of three odes each sung at Matins). One warning, one exhortation runs through all of them: the end and the judgement are approaching, let us prepare for them:
When the Lord was going to His voluntary Passion, He said to His Apostles on the way: behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be delivered up, as it is written of Him. Come therefore, and let us accompany Him, with minds purified from the pleasures of this life, and let us be crucified and die with Him, that we may live with Him, and that we may hear Him say to us: I go now, not to the earthly Jerusalem to suffer, but unto My Father and you Father, and My God and your God, and I will raise you up into the upper Jerusalem, in the Kingdom of Heaven. (Monday Matins)
Behold, O my soul, the Master has confided to Thee a talent; receive the favor with fear; lend to Him who gave; distribute to the poor, and acquire for thyself thy Lord as thy Friend; that, when He shall come in glory, thou mayest stand on His right hand and hear His blessed voice: Enter, my servant, into the joy of thy Lord. O my Savior, deem me, the wanderer, worthy of this, through Thy great mercy. (Tuesday Matins)
4. Throughout the whole Lent the two books of the Old Testament read at Vespers were Genesis and Proverbs. With the beginning of the Holy Week they are replaced by Exodus and Job. Exodus is the story of Israel’s liberation from Egyptian slavery, of their Passover. It prepares us for the understanding of Christ’s exodus to His Father, of His fulfillment of the whole history of salvation. Job, the sufferer, is the Old Testament icon of Christ. This reading announces the great mystery of Christ’s sufferings, obedience and sacrifice.
5. The liturgical structure of these three days is still of the Lenten type. It includes, therefore, the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian with prostrations, the augmented reading of the Psalter, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts and the Lenten Liturgical chant. We are still in the time of repentance for repentance alone makes us partakers of the Pascha of our Lord, opens to us the doors of the Paschal banquet. And, then, on Great and Holy Wednesday, as the last Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is about to be completed, after the Holy Gifts have been removed from the Altar, the Priest reads for the last time the prayer of St. Ephraim. At this moment the preparation comes to an end. The Lord summons us now to His Last Supper.
Σάββατο 16 Απριλίου 2022
Lazarus Saturday: Christ “stole him from among the dead.” Next weekend there will be a blasting of the gates of hell itself!
Largely ignored by much of Christendom, the Orthodox mark the day before Palm Sunday as “Lazarus Saturday” in something of a prequel to the following weekend’s Pascha. It is, indeed a little Pascha just before the greater one. And this, of course, was arranged by Christ Himself, who raised His friend Lazarus from the dead as something of a last action before entering Jerusalem and beginning His slow ascent to Golgotha through the days of Holy week.
One of the hymns of the Vigil of Lazarus Saturday says that Christ “stole him from among the dead.” I rather like the phrase. Next weekend there will be no stealing, but a blasting of the gates of hell itself. What he does for Lazarus he will do for all.
Lazarus, of course, is different from those previously raised from the dead by Christ (such as the daughter of Jairus). Lazarus had been four days dead and corruption of the body had already set in. “My Lord, he stinks!” one of his sisters explained when Christ requested to be shown to the tomb.
I sat in that tomb in September 2008. It is not particularly notable as a shrine. It is today, in the possession of a private, Muslim family. You pay to get in. Several of our pilgrims did not want to pay to go in. I could not stop myself.
Lazarus is an important character in 19th century Russian literature. Raskolnikov, in Crime and Punishment, finds the beginning of his repentance of the crime of murder, by listening to a reading of the story of Lazarus. It is, for many, and properly so, a reminder of the universal resurrection. What Christ has done for Lazarus He will do for all.
For me, he is also a sign of the universal entombment: that even before we die, we have frequently begun to inhabit our tombs. We live our life with the doors closed (and we stink). Our hearts are often places of corruption and not the habitation of the good God. Or, at best, we ask Him to visit us as He visited Lazarus. That visit brought tears to the eyes of Christ. The state of our corruption makes Him weep. It is such a contradiction to the will of God. We were not created for the tomb.
I also note that in the story of Lazarus – even in his being raised from the dead – he rises in weakness. He remains bound by his graveclothes. Someone must “unbind” him. We ourselves, having been plunged into the waters of Baptism and robed with the righteousness of Christ, too often exchange those glorious robes for graveclothes. Christ has made us alive, but we remain bound like dead men.
I sat in the tomb of Lazarus because it seemed so familiar. But there is a voice that calls us all…
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