Spreading Out Her Veil

 

 

Dear Parish Faithful,


On October 1, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos. The Great Horologion describes the Feast in this manner:

The Feast of the Protection commemorates the appearance of the most holy Theotokos in the Church of Blachernae in Constantinople in the early sixth century, as recorded in the life of St. Andrew the Fool for Christ's sake. While the multitudes of the faithful were gathered in church, Epiphanius, the friend of St. Andrew, through the saint's prayers, beheld the Virgin Mary above the faithful and spreading out her veil over them, signifying her unceasing protection of all Christians. Because of this we keep a yearly feast of gratitude, imploring our Lady never to cease sheltering us in her mighty prayers.

As we chant in one of the hymns of the Feast:

Heaven and earth are sanctified, 
the Church shines and all people make glad. 
For behold, the Mother of God with the hosts of angels, 
with preachers and evangelists, prophets and apostles, 
has invisibly entered. 
She prays to Christ for Christians 
and entreats Him to have mercy on this city and people 
who glorify the Feast of her Protecting Veil. (Stichera at Great Vespers)

 

This evening (Thursday, September 30) is the Eve of the Feast, and we will celebrate the Protection at Great Vespers (7:00 pm). We also commemorate St. Romanos the Melode on October 1. I hope to have something prepared about him for Friday. As we all know, the icon of St. Romanos is on one of our deacon's doors.

'Wood is healed by Wood!' - The Tale of Two Trees

Dear Parish Faithful,

As we bid farewell to the Feast of the Elevation of the Cross, today being the Leave-taking, perhaps a few more words about the Cross might be appropriate.

 The Feast of the Elevation of the Cross raises a myriad of themes - Biblical, historical, theological, etc. - for our meditation, to use that term. One such theme is what we call a typological reading of the Scriptures. This is a profound way of discovering the inner connection between persons, events, and places of the Old Testament - what we would call "types" - with their fulfillment as "antitypes" in the New Testament. Thus, Adam is a type of which Christ - the last Adam - is the antitype:  "Adam who was the type of the one who was to come" (ROM. 5:14).

Through typology we learn that the Old Testament can now be read as anticipating the Person of Christ and the saving events recorded in the New Testament, without undermining the integrity of the historical path of ancient Israel as the People of God entrusted by God with a messianic destiny. One such typological application is expressed in an intriguing and paradoxical manner through one of the hymns of the Feast of the Elevation of the Cross:

...For it is fitting that wood should be healed by wood, and that through the Passion of One who knew not passion should be remitted all the suffering of him who was condemned because of wood.  (Sticheron, Great Vespers)

 

A truly wonderful phrase: "wood should be healed by wood!" Yet, what is this "wood" that is being referred to? How does wood "heal" wood? The wood in both instances is clearly the wood of two trees - the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil as found in GEN. 2; and the wood of the Tree of the Cross. In disobedience to the command of God, the man and woman of GEN. 2 - Adam and Eve - ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This was the one tree, the fruit of which, it was not safe for them to eat:

 

You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in that day that you eat of it you shall die. (GEN. 2:17)

The freedom and self-determination of the first man and woman were tested by this divine commandment. In a celebrated interpretation of this passage, St. Gregory the Theologian (+395) draws out the meaning of this command and its consequence

[God gave Adam] a law as a material for his free will to act on. This law was a commandment as to what plants he might partake of and which one he might not touch. This latter was the tree of knowledge; not, however, because it was evil from the beginning when planted, nor was it forbidden because God grudged it to us - let not the enemies of God wag their tongues in that direction or imitate the serpent. But it would have been good if partaken of at the proper time. The tree was, according to my theory, contemplation, which is safe only for those who have reached maturity of habit to enter upon, but which is not good for those who are still somewhat simple and greedy, just as neither is solid food good for those who are yet tender and have need of milk. (Second Oration on Easter, 8)

This is also found in St. Athanasius the Great (+373)

Knowing once more how the will of man could sway to either side, in anticipation God secured the grace given to them by a command and by the place where he put them. For he brought them into his own garden and gave them a law so that, if they kept the grace and remained good, they might still keep the life in paradise without sorrow or pain or care, besides having the promise or incorruption in heaven. But if they transgressed and turned back and became evil, they might know that they were incurring that corruption in death that was theirs by nature, no longer to live in paradise but cast out of it from that time forth to die and abide in death and corruption. (On The Incarnation, 3.4.)

 

The theme of the initial innocence of Adam and Eve, their lack of maturity and need for spiritual growth and maturation was very characteristic of the Eastern Church Fathers, being found as early as St. Irenaeus of Lyons (+c. 200).

Therefore, the "wood" of this tree proved to be death-dealing, not because God made it such "in the beginning," but because it was partaken of in a forbidden manner and not "at the proper time."

Nothing created by God is evil by nature; rather, all is "very good." But misdirected free will can pervert the good into something that is evil. The gift of the promise of deification is a God-sourced gift, not a self-sourced gift. 

On the other hand, the Tree of the Cross is precisely the wood through which the first disobedience was undone by the One who died on it in obedience to the will of the Father. The Tree of Life that was in the Garden was the actual "type" of the Tree of the Cross on Golgotha. The last Adam - Christ - healed us of the sin of the first Adam. (As early as St. Justin the Martyr, it was taught that the Virgin Mary was the "new Eve" also because of her obedience to the Word of God). The Cross is therefore

... the blessed Wood, through which the eternal justice has been brought to pass. For he who by a tree deceived our forefather Adam, is by the Cross himself deceived; and he who by tyranny gained possession of the creature endowed by God with royal dignity, is overthrown in headlong fall. (Sticheron, Great Vespers)

 

According to a pious tradition, the place of the skull is the place where Adam was buried when he died. The blood that flowed from Christ "baptized" that skull as symbolic of the sons of Adam (and Eve) being given renewed and eternal life by the blood shed by Christ on the Cross - the Tree of Life.

The Tree of true life was planted in the place of the skull, and upon it hast Thou, the eternal King, worked salvation in the midst of the earth. Exalted today, it sanctifies the ends of the world...  (Litiya, Great Vespers)

"Wood is healed by Wood!" This is the good news revealed in the typological interpretation found in the liturgical hymns of the Feast of the Elevation of the Cross together with the biblical exegesis of the Church Fathers. This is why we honor and venerate the Cross by literally bowing down before it in adoration. The Cross was at the heart of the proclamation of the Gospel, a instrument of shame in the ancient world. But this did not deter the Apostle Paul from proclaiming that Gospel as the power of God:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (ROM. 1:16)

 

We also cannot be "ashamed" of the Tree of the Cross through which "joy has come into the world."

 

Three Fragments for our Life in Christ

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

I am presenting three seemingly disparate "fragments" for your meditation and deep reflection this Friday morning. These passages were written by authors many centuries apart from each other, but they all share a deep commitment to "the faith which was once and for all delivered to the saints." (Jude 3) That is the one of the glories of our Orthodox Faith, a oneness of mind all through the ages of our pilgrimage toward the Kingdom of God, and a capacity to recognize the Christ Who "is the same yesterday today and for ever" ( Heb. 13:8) when presented to us.

 

1. Origen on the Five Spiritual Senses

I am currently teaching a course at XU entitled "Christian Mysticism," which is essentially a course about Orthodox Christian spirituality. I let the students know that from day one. As we are now discussing the historical development of mysticism/spirituality, we covered the towering figure of Origen of Alexandria (+254), who profoundly shaped our spiritual tradition through his voluminous writings, primarily focused on scriptural commentaries. To be brief, Origen is the source of the doctrine of the five spiritual senses, a great influence on later Christian mysticism. If the body perceives reality through the five bodily senses, the soul has its own corresponding five spiritual senses:

 

"And perhaps as the Apostle says, for those who have their senses exercised to the discerning of good and evil, Christ becomes each of these things in turn, to suit the several senses of the soul. He is called the true sight therefore, that the soul’s eyes may have something to lighten them. He is the Word, so that her ears may have something to hear. Again, he is the Bread of Life so that the soul’s palate may have something to taste. And in the same way he is called spikenard or ointment, that the soul’s sense of smell may apprehend the fragrance of the Word. For the same reason he is also said to be able to be felt and handled, and is called the Word made flesh so that the hand of the interior soul may touch concerning the Word of Life. But all these things are the One, Same, Word of God, who adapts himself to the sundry tempers of prayer according to these several guises, and so leaves none of the soul’s faculties empty of grace." (Comm. On the Song of Songs II. 9: GCS, 167)

 

2.  St. Nicholas Cabasilas - "In This Union Christ is All-Sufficient"

This second "fragment" is a passage from a true "classic" - The Life in Christ, by St. Nicholas Cabasilas (14th c.). Calling a book a "classic" is admittedly over-used today, but this work fulfills that accolade as well as any book or treatise in our entire theological Tradition. Someone in the parish recently read through The Life in Christ and brought it to my attention. I began reading through it yet again and was, as before, amazed by the book's beauty and depth. St. Nicholas focuses on the three Mysteries/Sacraments of Baptism, Chrismation and the Eucharist. He has famously referred to the Eucharist as the "sacrament of sacraments." Any passage in the book is a "spiritual gem," so here is one that captures some of the inexhaustible fulness of the "life in Christ." This passage is under the subheading "In This Union Christ is All-Sufficient:"

 

"There is nothing of which the saints are in need which He is not Himself. He gives them birth, growth, and nourishment; He is life and breath. By means of Himself He forms an eye for them and, in addition, He is the one who feeds and is Himself the Food; it is He who provides the Bread of life and who is Himself what He provides. He is life for those who live, the sweet odour to those who breathe, the garment for those who would be clothed. Indeed, He is the One who enables us to walk; He Himself is the way (Jn. 14:6), and in addition, He is the lodging on the way and its destination. We are members, He is the head. When we must struggle He struggles on our side. For those who are champions in the contest He is the awarder of the prizes; when we are victors He is the crown of victory." (The Life in Christ, The First Book, 4)

 

3.  Fr. John Breck - "What is lacking in Christ's afflictions?"

The third and final "fragment" is very contemporary, and yet is consistent with the Church's Living Tradition. here is a very enigmatic verse in the Apostle Paul's Epistle to the Colossians, that has always proved a reach challenge to Christian interpreters: "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church ... " (Col. 1:24). Does this imply something lacking in the redemptive power of the Cross? Is the Cross, then, not "sufficient" for our salvation? My good friend, Fr. John Breck, has responded to this challenge with a remarkably profound insight into the meaning of this difficult passage. In so doing he brings a profound insight into the reality of human suffering, so difficult for us to bear and make sense of. This is found in his newest book, Beyond the Horizons - Quantum Theory and Christian Faith. This entire book is a real "eye-opener" about the relationship between Christian Faith and science. Not a simple treatise, the dialogue unfolds in the form of a simple novel. The main character is Robert Rives, a professor of physics. In a deep dialogue with his wife, he says this about the Apostle Paul's thought in Col. 1:24:

 

"I've always been struck by a verse early on in Paul's letter to the Colossians. He says something like, 'I rejoice in my sufferings, for through them I make up for what is lacking in Christ's afflictions - what he bears for the sake of his body, the Church.' I often asked myself what could possible be missing or lacking in the sufferings of this God-man who died a miserable death on a cross. And the answer to that, I think, is that the only thing lacking in Christ's afflictions is our participation in them. For some reason we may never understand, Christ's work of dragging this poor world out of the mire of sin and death can only be completed with our help, by our sharing in his ongoing suffering. This is the down side of what the Church calls synergy: our 'cooperation' with the crucified and risen Lord in his agonizing work of lifting us out of death and corruption, to set us on our own pilgrimage toward eternal life. Pascal was right: 'Christ is in agony until the end of the age.' The point of our life, its most basic meaning, I think, is to share totally in Jesus' own suffering in and for a broken world. And this, so that we and everyone else who really longs for it can also share eternally in his resurrection and glorification. That, as I understand it, is the Christian message, and it's about all that makes sense to me." (Beyond These Horizons - Quantum Theory and Christian Faith, p. 49-50) 

 _____

I hope everyone find here "more than enough" to be further enlightened through our shared Orthodox Christian Faith! These "fragments" can bring spiritual nourishment into our daily lives as we work out our salvation "in fear and trembling."

 

People of the Cross - "Cross Bearers" not "Cross Wearers"

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

For, behold, through the Cross, joy has come into the world.

 

Whenever we openly commemorate and actually venerate the Cross of the Lord, we have the opportunity to dispel a certain characterization of the Orthodox Church, that if allowed to linger unanswered can become something of a caricature. And that is simply the claim that the Orthodox Church stresses the Resurrection of Christ at the expense of the Cross. This implies that the Orthodox Church – or we could say the Christian East – has no real “theology of the Cross.”

For the sake of brevity and simplicity, I would simply like to point out just how pervasive the presence of the Cross of Christ is in the liturgical life of the Church, thus making that presence so real in our ecclesial and personal lives, that if only unconsciously, the Cross is embedded in our minds and hearts.

Speaking of convenient clichés, there are many who like to characterize each Lord’s Day – Sunday – as a “little Pascha.” For on each and every Sunday, we proclaim the Resurrection of Christ as we do on Pascha itself. Sunday, therefore, is a weekly extension of the paschal joy of the Resurrection. The hymns of the Liturgy are imbued with the power of the Resurrection:

 

“Having beheld the Resurrection of Christ, let us worship the holy Lord Jesus, the only sinless One…”

 

Yet, based on this same pattern, we could say that every Friday is a “little Great and Holy Friday,” another extension of that most solemn of days – the Day of the Cross - as we commemorate the Cross on Friday as we commemorate the Resurrection on Sunday. It is for this reason that Friday is a day of fasting in the Church, as a way of keeping the Cross in mind as we practice some self-denial. And not only Friday on a weekly basis. On Wednesday, we also commemorate the Cross of the Lord and His Mother at the foot of the Cross:

 

O long-suffering Lord, when Your Mother saw You nailed to the Cross, she poured forth streams of tears because of You. Completely overcome by Your surpassing goodness and by Your compassion for the human race, she began to sing the praise of Your infinite power! (Aposticha, Vespers for Wednesday, Tone 8)

 

For this reason each Wednesday is also a day of fasting.

In addition to the present Feast of the Elevation of the Cross, we liturgically venerate the Cross precisely at the midpoint of Great Lent, on the Third Sunday, in order to set our minds forward to the Passion of the Lord. There is also the Procession of the Lifegiving Cross on August 1, as a way of inaugurating the two-week Dormition Fast. Often, a cross is carried in various liturgical processions – usually at the head of such a procession – and many churches will have a large Cross present for contemplation and veneration.

At the very end of the Liturgy, the faithful come forward to kiss the Cross held by either the bishop or priest. That is basically our last liturgical gesture before we “depart in peace.” And, of course, all (Orthodox) Christians wear a cross. This, however, can be problematic if we fail to heed the words of Christ Himself.

For the Lord taught us that “if any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” [Mark 8:34]. These words challenge us to never be content with being passive observers of the Cross, but instead to become active participants in the life of self-denial and co-suffering love that are implied in taking up the Cross. This further means that by our very vocation as Christians, we are “cross-bearers” and not simply “cross-wearers.” It is one thing to wear a cross, and another thing to bear a cross.

Of course it is a good thing that Christians do wear crosses. This is something of an identity badge that reveals that we are indeed Christians, but this worn cross is certainly not another piece of jewelry—Byzantine, three-barred, Celtic or Ethiopian! By wearing a cross we are saying in effect,

 

“I am a Christian, and therefore I belong to the Crucified One, Who is none other than the ‘Lord and Master of my life.’ My ultimate allegiance is to Him, and to no other person or party. With the Apostle Paul, I also confess, ‘I am not ashamed of the Gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith'...”[Romans 1:16].

 

Such a confession already takes us far beyond passively being a “cross-wearer” to actively becoming a “cross-bearer.” 

Dying to sin in Baptism makes the impossible possible. And with a faith in Christ that is hopefully ever-deepening in maturity, we can further exclaim with the great Apostle, “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires”[Galatians 5:24].

I am hoping that these few points make it quite clear that to claim that the Orthodox Church under-values the Cross simply does not hold up to even superficial observation. As for the deeper levels of the meaning of the Cross – a “theology of the Cross” – we can only here once again refer to some of our theologically-expressive and beautiful liturgical hymns:

"Who without change didst become man and was crucified, Who art one of the Holy Trinity, glorified with the Father and the Holy Spirit: O Christ our God, trampling down death by death, save us!"('Only Begotten Son' – Second Antiphon) 

"For enduring the Cross for us, He has destroyed death by death..."(Hymn of the Resurrection, following Holy Communion)

 

Orthodox Christians are people of the Cross “for, behold, through the Cross joy has come into the world."

+ + +

"Before Thy Cross . . ."

Magnify, O my soul, the most precious Cross of the Lord.

You are the mystical Paradise, O Theotokos, in which Christ blossomed; through Him the life-bearing Wood of the Cross was planted on earth.
Now at its Elevation, as we bow in worship before it, we magnify you. 

—Hymn to the Theotokos for the Elevation of the Cross.

The link provided here is to a fairly detailed article on Wikipedia (there are, of course, different assessments of this source) that provides a history of the "true Cross" of the Lord from its discovery in the 4th c. to some of the scattered allusions to its ultimate fate in sources both Western and Eastern. What is of interest, is that the various Churches that have established a feast day of the Cross have agreed upon September 14 as the prime date, again both East and West.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_Cross

The Leavetaking of the Feast is on September 21.

 

Guest Reflection: The Holy Spirit in the Life of the Church

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

Here is another guest reflection, this time from John Guentz, who is now a catechumen. John is a former Anglican priest, so his comments below are more than a little interesting, as he has an awareness of a good deal of Western theological trends and emphases.

___________

Father Bless!

I wanted to mention some good take-aways from Fr Argenti's book on the Holy Spirit. I know there is far more emphasis on the Holy Spirit in Orthodoxy than the Roman church - that is obvious in our prayer and in the liturgy and this is a good thing. It is obvious to me also that the Orthodox theology behind the Holy Spirit is more focused on the true Personhood of the Holy Spirit. Again, the ecumenical councils affirmed this beginning with the Second Council. I personally believe the Roman church has largely left the Holy Spirit behind in much of the worship and liturgy because of the lack of focus on the true Personhood of the Spirit. Fr Argenti goes as far as to say the western depiction of the Holy Spirit as a dove between the Father and the Son (we see everywhere in western art) is enough to relegate the Third Person of the Holy Trinity to a mere link between the Father and the Son diminishing His true Personhood. The same can be said concerning the filioque as to one reason why it is wrong.

Liturgical practice, as I mentioned previously, regarding the Epiclesis is very telling between East and West. In the Roman church the Epiclesis is a short mention before the Words of Institution - while in the Divine Liturgy the Epiclesis is the summit of the consecration prayers. Why this has been a profound point with me is now clear. Fr Argenti, among other discussions of the work of the Spirit, outlines simply but beautifully the role of the Holy Spirit in liturgy and the exegesis (in layman's terms) behind it. 

• As the Holy Spirit transforms our lives and animates the Church - so we ask Him (even laity praying with our Amen!) to transform the bread and wine into the true body and blood of our Savior - which heals and transforms us.
• The liturgy is Pentecost - Fr Argenti says the Liturgy is the Church's "perpetual Pentecost." 
• The Holy Spirit, through communion, unites us all into the Body of Christ - to the Church and to one another as members. Koinonia!
• It is the Holy Spirit that makes us a new creation - we are already in the Kingdom of God - through the Holy Spirit we are able to be Eucharistic people living eucharistic lives of thanksgiving.

We do not base our faith on "feelings," of course. However, there is no energy of Pentecost in what I have experienced in the past. I see at Christ the Savior the work of the Holy Spirit - faith, youth, love for Church, participation, welcoming, fellowship. Thanks be to God...!

Truly, I have never really been able to wrap my head around the whole notion of papal universal jurisdiction and infallibility even with the years I spent in the Roman church. Spending most of my life as an Anglican, and especially my time as a traditional Anglican priest, helped me understand that any rank of bishop may have particular charisms bestowed at ordination - but authority given by God to Peter, James, John and the rest of the apostles were the same "keys". 

John

 

The Nativity of the Theotokos - to see life with a restored vision

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

O incomprehensible and ineffable matters! The God of all things, knowing in advance your worth, loved you; and because of this love, he predestined you, and at the end of times (I Pet. 1:20), he brought you into being and revealed you as Theotokos, Mother, and Nurse of his own Son and God."

"Be glad most blessed Anna, for you have born a female [child]. This female [child] will be the Mother of God, gateway of light and source of life, and she will do away with the accusation against the female sex."

- St. John of Damascus

 

The church was quite filled – and the “Communion line” was quite long – yesterday evening for the Feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos. The simple truth is that a Feast Day was therefore “festal” in nature. Coming as it does right after the beginning of the Church New Year, this Feast allows us a good start that we further hope we can sustain as the liturgical year unfolds before us. As a straightforward and joyous feast of commemorating the birth of the Virgin Mary, we receive a “taste” of the joyousness of life from within the Church that is often obscured by life’s challenges, difficulties and tragedies. Fr. Alexander Schmemann puts it like this: 

In and through this newborn girl, Christ – our gift from God, our meeting and encounter with Him – comes to embrace the world. Thus, in celebrating Mary’s birth we find ourselves already on the road to Bethlehem, moving toward to the joyful mystery of Mary as the Mother of God.

 

In an age of cynicism and unbelief, to encounter the purity of Mariam of Nazareth – the Virgin Mary and Theotokos – is to see life with a restored vision that, again, is only possible from within the Church. Goodness, purity of heart and faithfulness to God are embodied realities lived by real human persons. Such a restored vision of life will strengthen our sense of the inherent goodness of life that sin may obscure, but never obliterate. Yet,  if we can no longer “see” that, then we have lost something absolutely vital to our humanity, and we need to repent and embrace that “change of mind” that will restore our own humanity. 

Some will undoubtedly see nothing but a stereotype of the “feminine” here, but perhaps Fr. Schmemann has something worthwhile to say in his approach to the “image of woman” as manifested in the Virgin Mary:

The Virgin Mary, the All-Pure Mother demands nothing and receives everything. She pursues nothing, and possesses all. In the image of the Virgin Mary we find what has almost completely been lost in our proud, aggressive, male world: compassion, tender-heartedness, care, trust, humility.

We call her our Lady and the Queen of heaven and earth, and yet she calls herself “the handmaid of the Lord.” She is not out to teach or prove anything, yet her presence alone, in its light and joy, takes away the anxiety of our imagined problems. It is as if we have been out on a long, weary, unsuccessful day of work and have finally come home, and once again all becomes clear and filled with that happiness beyond words which is the only true happiness.

Christ said, “Do not be anxious … Seek first the Kingdom of God” (see Mt. 6:33). Beholding this woman – Virgin, Mother, Intercessor – we begin to sense, to know not with our mind but with our heart, what it means to seek the Kingdom, to find it, and to live by it.

Celebration of Faith, Vol. 3

 

On the day following the Feast – today, September 9 – we commemorate the “ancestors of God,” Joachim and Anna, the father and mother of the Virgin Mary according to the Tradition of the Church. This is a consistent pattern within our festal and liturgical commemorations: On the day after a particular feast, we commemorate the persons who are an integral part of that feast day’s events. For example, the day after Theophany we commemorate St. John the Baptist; and on the day after Nativity, we commemorate the Theotokos. Therefore, because of the essential role of Joachim and Anna in the current Feast of the Virgin Mary’s Nativity, September 9 is the “synaxis of Joachim and Anna” and we thus bring them to mind in an effort to discern and meditate upon their important place in this festal commemoration.

The source of their respective roles is the Protoevangelion of James, a mid 2^nd c. document. As Archbishop Ware has written:

The Orthodox Church does not place the Protoevangelion of James on the same level as Holy Scripture: it is possible, then, to accept the spiritual truth which underlies this narrative, without necessarily attributing a literal and historical exactness to every detail. 

One of those “spiritual truths” alluded to by Archbishop Ware is the account of both Joachim and Anna continuing to pray with faith and trust in God’s providence even though they were greatly discouraged over the “barrenness” of Anna. This is no longer our perception today, for not being able to have a child is hardly a sign of "barrenness!" And it also implies that this is a "woman's" problem, thus disengaging the man's role in the process of conception.  Yet, it is true that a lack of children in ancient Israel could easily be taken for a sign of God’s displeasure, thus hinting at hidden sins that deserve rebuke. Though disheartened, they continued to place their trust in God, refusing to turn away from God though thoroughly tested as to their patience. Perseverance in prayer in the face of discouragement is a real spiritual feat that reveals genuine faith. The conception and then birth of the Virgin Mary reveals the joyous outcome of their faith and trust in God. Perhaps this is why we commemorate Joachim and Anna as the “ancestors of God” at the end of every Dismissal in our major liturgical services, including the Divine Liturgy: We seek their prayers as icons of an everyday faith that is expressed as fidelity, faith and trust in God’s Law and providential care.

Icon of the Conception of the Theotokos by Righteous Anna

 

 

Joachim and Anna could also be witnesses to a genuine conjugal love that manifests itself in the conception and birth of a new child. Their union is an image of a “chaste” sexual love that is devoid of lust and self-seeking pleasure. The strong ascetical emphases of many of our celibate saints may serve to undermine or obscure the blessings of conjugal love as envisaged in the Sacrament of Marriage. In fact, through its canonical legislation going back to early centuries, the Church has struggled against a distorted asceticism that denigrates sexual love even within the bonds of marriage as a concession to uncontrollable passions. The Church is not “anti-sex.” But the Church always challenges us to discern the qualitative distinction between love and lust. The icon of the embrace of Joachim and Anna outside the gates of their home as they both rush to embrace each other following the exciting news that they would indeed be given a child, is the image of this purified conjugal love that will result in the conception of Mary, their child conceived as all other children are conceived.

The Feast of the Nativity of Our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos has four days of Afterfeast, thus ending with the Leavetaking on September 12. That allows us to then prepare for the Feast of the Elevation of the Cross on September 14!

 

Guest Reflection: 'Come and See? It seemed an excuse!'

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

One of our newest members, Brian Jonson (chrismated this last July 25), just sent this to me. I found it quite 'on the mark' for who we are as Orthodox, and how it describes the Orthodox ethos. And it so nicely captures our invitation to others: "Come and see." So, with Brian's permission, I am sharing it with the entire parish. I hope it actually speaks to your own experience of the Church. Altogether, a very fine reflection on the first major Feast Day of the Church Year.

__________

 

Fr. Steven,

In the years I spent searching and learning about our ancient faith, I often dealt with the question "...but what do the Orthodox believe about...?" to be completed with any number of dogmatic issues. These questions didn't just come from protestant friends and family, they also came from me. In my previous mindset, "what" I believed was of primary importance. This is why I have multiple systematic theology books. I always had a need to turn to a book to understand my theology of God, prayer, ecclesiology, soteriology, and the rest. It was the typical rational, western mindset. My favorite Bible teacher had a slogan: "Unleashing God's Word, One Verse at a Time." He convinced me the entire canon was perspicacious. It was meant to be understood fully by all Christians. (And, of course, his interpretation was different from many of his protestant brethren). I had settled on the "reformed" protestant tradition and held that for more than two decades.

I confess that I would get frustrated when Orthodox Christians would suggest that I "come and see" a Divine Liturgy or other worship service as an answer to my questions. It seemed an excuse. Come and see? How on earth could my attendance at an Orthodox service answer theological questions? I need to see the church doctrinal statement. Where are their systematic theologies? The Nicene Creed? Too broad.

After several years of coming, and seeing, I finally get it. 

What do the Orthodox believe about God? There is one God in Three Persons; it is constantly affirmed in all services.

What do the Orthodox believe about prayer? Listen to the many litanies in our services. Read the prayers in a prayer book. There is no question as to the role meaningful prayer has for the Orthodox.

What do the Orthodox believe about sin? Attend the services at the beginning of Great Lent; listen to the Canon of St. Andrew. Pay attention during Great Vespers; see what the Church says about repentance and Christ's victory over sin.

What do the Orthodox believe about music? Nearly 85% of the services seem to be chanted. The priority of the human voice, God's perfect instrument, is clear. The music is never about any individual talent but rather the corporate expression of worship in Spirit and in Truth. 

What do the Orthodox believe about the Scriptures? They are revered, the Gospel book encased in gold. The faithful venerate the inspired words of God and it seems a large percentage of prayers are straight from the book of Psalms.

What do the Orthodox believe about the material world? Look at our prayers for seasonable weather; see what many saints say about God's creation and creatures; Read the Akathist "Glory To God for All Things"; smell the incense, hear the bells, see the beauty of an Orthodox house of worship filled with icons.

What do the Orthodox believe about our role in society? Notice the prayers for our president, civil authorities and armed forces.

What do the Orthodox believe about the Eucharist? It is the central feature of every Divine Liturgy.

What do the Orthodox believe about those who have reposed? We pray for them; we ask them to intercede for us; we long for the day we can be reunited. The church militant is encouraged and helped by the church triumphant.

If a person truly wants to understand the ancient, true Christian faith, they simply need to "come and see"! All we believe and hold true is on display.

Brian

 

Can't Get No Satisfaction... Thank God!

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,


This is an older meditation, but I thought that it would have a certain resonance since we chanted the Akathist Hymn "Glory to God For All Things" on Tuesday evening as we acknowledged the Church New Year beginning on September 1. I say that because there are certain thoughts expressed in the Hymn that led me to write this particular meditation.

"My soul thirsts for God, for the living God." —Psalm 42:2

"I can't get no satisfaction" —The Rolling Stones

"We thank God for the gift of "blessed dissatisfaction!"

"I (Can't Get No) Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones must be considered one of the great all-time "classics" of the pop/rock music world.

I remember it well from the Summer of 1965. With its driving guitar riff and raspy-voiced lyrics giving a kind of pop-articulation to the disaffection of the lonely and alienated urbanite who, try as he might, just cannot succeed at "satisfying" the material and romantic/sexual goals droned into his mind on the radio and TV; this song - regardless of its actual intentions - managed to say something enduring about the "human condition." (I wonder if the various members of the Rolling Stones ever experience any genuine satisfaction after many years of fame and fortune. And while I am at it: "Memory Eternal" to Charlie Watts). 

Be that as it may, a rather odd connection came to me between this song and a verse from "The Akathist of Thanksgiving" that we  sang and chanted for the Church New Year on September 1. In Ikos Six of the akathist, one of the verses in the refrain reads as follows:

Glory to You, Who have inspired in us dissatisfaction with earthly things.

Both the Stones' song and the Orthodox hymn speak of "no satisfaction" or "dissatisfaction." However by "earthly things," the author of this remarkable hymn, does not mean the natural world in which God has placed us. The refrain of Ikos Three makes that abundantly clear:

Glory to You, Who brought out of the earth's darkness diversity of color, taste and fragrance, 
Glory to You, for the warmth and caress of all nature, 
Glory to You, for surrounding us with thousands of Your creatures, 
Glory to You, for the depth of Your wisdom reflected in the whole world ...

 

To the purified eyes of faith, the world around us can be a "festival of life" ... foreshadowing eternal life" (Ikos Two). The "earthly" can lead us to the "heavenly."

"Earthly things" in the context of the Akathist Hymn and the Orthodox worldview expressed in the Hymn, would certainly refer to the very things the Rolling Stones song laments about being absent - material and sexual satisfaction seen as ends in themselves. But whereas the song expresses both frustration and resentment as part of the psychic pain caused by such deprivation, the Akathist Hymn glorifies God for such a blessing! In the light of the insight of the Akathist Hymn, we can thus speak of a "blessed dissatisfaction." The Apostle Paul spoke of a closely-related "godly grief." (On this point, I would imagine that the Apostle Paul and Rolling Stones part company).

This just may prove to be quite a challenge to our way of approaching something like dissatisfaction.

Our usual instinct is to flee from dissatisfaction "as from the plague." Such a condition implies unhappiness, a sense of a lack of success, of "losing" in the harsh game of life as time continues to run out on us; and the deprivation and frustration mentioned above.

Yet, perhaps there does exist something like "blessed dissatisfaction." This wonderful and eloquent entry from Fr. Alexander Elchaninoff's Diary of a Russian Priest supports that contention:

"What is this continual sense of dissatisfaction, of anxiety, which we normally feel within us, save the stifled voice of conscience speaking to us inwardly in the subconscious level, and often contradicting our own will and declaring the untruth that our life is? As long as we live in conflict with the law of light which has been granted us, this voice will not be silent, for it is the voice of God Himself in our soul. On the other hand, that rare feeling of keen satisfaction, of plenitude and joy, is the happiness caused by the union of the divine principle in our soul with the universal harmony and the divine essence of the world."

 

Why should we tolerate the condition of dissatisfaction when limitless means of achieving "satisfaction" are at our disposal? To escape from a gnawing sense of dissatisfaction, don't people resort to alcohol, drugs and sex as desperate forms of relief? Or unrestrained and massive consumer spending? And we should not eliminate "religion" as one of those means of escape.

If those means fail, then there is always therapy and medication as more aggressive means to relieve us of this unendurable feeling.

Sadly, many learn "the hard way," that every ill-conceived attempt to eliminate dissatisfaction through "earthly things" only leads to a further and deeper level of this unsatiable affliction. Sadder still, there are many who would "forfeit their soul/life" just to avoid the bitter taste of dissatisfaction!

If the living God exists as we believe that He does, then how could we not feel dissatisfaction at His absence from our lives? What could possibly fill the enormous space in the depth of our hearts that yearns for God "as a hart longs for flowing streams." (Ps. 42:1)

It is as if when people "hear" the voice of God calling them - in their hearts, their conscience, through another person, a personal tragedy - they reach over and turn up the volume so as to drown out that call.

If we were made for God, then each person has an "instinct for the transcendent" (I recall this term from Fr. Alexander Schmemann), that can only be suppressed at an incalculable cost to our very humanity.

In His infinite mercy, the Lord "blesses" us with a feeling of dissatisfaction so that we do not foolishly lose our souls in the infinitesimal pseudo-satisfactions that come our way. Therefore, we thank God for the gift of "blessed dissatisfaction!"

When we realize that we "can't get no satisfaction," then we have approached the threshold of making a meaningful decision about the direction of our lives. The way "down" can lead to that kind of benign despair that characterizes the lives of many today. The way "up" to the One Who is "enthroned above the heavens" and the Source of true satisfaction.

The Rolling Stones uncovered the truth of an enduring condition that we all must face and must "deal with." I am not so sure about the solution they would ultimately offer ... but in their initial intuition they proved to be very "Orthodox!"

It was good seeing many of you at the service so that the remembrance of God and thankfulness for the glorious gift of life was further planted in our minds and hearts.