Coffee With Sister Vassa: "Innocent" Suffering

 

“INNOCENT” SUFFERING 

“I will receive the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.”(Ps. 115:4)

This verse is relevant to both feasts celebrated this Wednesday: the Great Martyr Barbara (NC) and the Entry (or “Leading In” in Slavonic,Vvedenie) of the Theotokos into the Temple (OC). The verse is chanted on feasts of the Theotokos as the Communion Verse, because it connotes the “cup” of suffering, of which the Most Holy Virgin was to drink throughout her unique vocation. Note that the word “cup” in the Bible often means suffering, as in, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me…” (Lk 22:42).

I’m thinking of the suffering that was to be endured by the three-year-old Mary, and of the young Barbara, who, together with Juliana (who was inspired by Barbara’s fearlessness and ended up being martyred with her) “received” the “cup of salvation.” In Barbara’s case, this included the heartbreak of her own father, Dioscorus, having her arrested and later beheading her with his own hands. Before their execution, both Barbara and Juliana were led naked through their city, amidst the derision and jeers of the crowds. I’m thinking also how the young Mary was led, not only into the Temple at age three, being separated from her parents, - but a decade or so later, when she was very-pregnant and both her parents had died, how she was led to Bethlehem, seated on a donkey. This reminds me of our Lord, seated on a donkey, entering Jerusalem, where He was to die His death-trampling death. 

How can we process the “innocent suffering” described above? Let’s first re-think the word “innocent,” which means “harmless,” from the Latin in + nocere, meaning “not to hurt/harm.” And let’s establish that the self-offering of the Theotokos, of Barbara and Juliana, and of their Lord, was by no means “harmless.” Their overcoming of fear, when they were called to “receive the cup of salvation” and testify to Truth, was a liberating sign that dealt a heavy blow to merely-human fear, and to those who terrorized entire peoples through it.“Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against…,” as Simeon said to Mary, when she brought Him into the Temple.

Today we celebrate the mystifying self-offering of the three-year-old Theotokos, and of Barbara and Juliana, in gratitude for their testimony. They testified to the Great Fact that there is more to life and to death than what self-preserving fears would dictate to us. Thank You, Lord, for the Holy Witnesses in our midst. By their prayers, Savior, save us!

Coffee With Sister Vassa: Loving God Without Stress

 

LOVING GOD WITHOUT STRESS

“It is a great art to succeed in having your soul sanctified. A person can become a saint anywhere... At your work, whatever it may be, you can become a saint through meekness, patience, and love. Make a new start every day, with new resolution, with enthusiasm and love, prayer and silence — not with anxiety so that you get a pain in the chest.” (St. Porphyrios, Wounded by Love)

Today is the day of the repose (on December 2, 1991) of Elder Porphyrios Kavsokalivitis, so I’m reflecting on some of the wisdom of this beloved, modern-day saint. I love that he encouraged us to make a new start every day, “not with anxiety so that you get a pain in the chest.” He often advised people to lead their spiritual lives based not on stress or anxiety, but on love. It’s such a useful and consoling tip, as we proceed along the journey of the Nativity Fast.

“We love God without contorting ourselves and without exertion and struggle,” St. Porphyrios says in another passage from the above-quoted book.“What is difficult for man is easy for God. We will love God suddenly when grace overshadows us. If we love Christ very much, the prayer will say itself. Christ will be continually in our mind and in our heart.” 

Let us continue the journey of this Nativity Fast, dear friends, making “a new start every day” and not with anxiety. Holy Father Porphyrios, pray to God for us!

From Mother Paula

Image source: oca.org

Dear family and friends, Wishing everyone a thankful and blessed Thanksgiving day! Hope you enjoy these verses from our Thanksgiving service.

Yours in Christ, Mother Paula & OMT Nuns

Come all you, thankful people, And let us raise a hymn of grateful praise to God, our Benefactor and Creator, The bounteous source of all our blessings, The riches of our earthly life and the glory of the world to come, for in His Great mercy and love for us His children, He has granted us salvation.

We give thanks to God, the Father, For our faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, For the love of all His saints, And for the truth of the Holy Gospel, Which we and all the world have received, Bringing forth the fruit of the grace of God, And salvation to our souls.

Come with the angels let us praise our Lord and Maker Our deliverance from distress, our defense in time of danger, Our healing in sickness, our comfort in sorrow, Our hope in despair, our help in adversity; And let us offer songs of Thanksgiving for this His greatest gift, His ever abiding, mercy and love for us,Through which we are granted forgiveness of sins and life everlasting.

Coffee With Sister Vassa: Preparing for Thanksgiving

 

PREPARING FOR THANKSGIVING

“O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever.” (Ps 106/107: 1)

Goodness and mercy. This year, it is again what I’d like to give thanks for, as I prepare for the wonderful holiday of Thanksgiving and the upcoming (on the OC) Nativity Fast. God reveals His enduring goodness and mercy to me not only through the ever-changing places, things, situations and states of my mind and heart and body, but also through the words, actions, and attitudes of people near and not-so-near to me. As we walk through our both challenging and grace-filled times, I’m reminded that it is through the ups and downs of time that God is invariably sending us the open invitation to change; to grow in understanding, goodness and mercy toward ourselves and one another.

This year, people have imparted, and continue to impart, God’s goodness and mercy to me, even from a long distance, in the strange reality of our online “communities.” Thank You, God, for the goodness and mercy of Your people, who pop up in my life as friends or foes. Help me, Lord, to be teachable and to learn what I need to learn, to pass on Your goodness and mercy in this challenging time, full of opportunities for that kind of thing. Amen!

Thanksgiving Day Meditation

Image source: oca.org

 

Indulging not in food, but in giving thanks to the Lord! Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ, A few years ago I ran across an op-ed piece in our local newspaper titled "A Moveable Fast" by Elyssa East. Such a title in a well-known urban secular publication was a bit intriguing, especially since the article's concluding paragraph can be read in an "Orthodox manner" without a great deal of manipulation:  In the nearly 400 years since the first Thanksgiving, the holiday has come to mirror our transformation into a nation of gross overconsumption, but the New England colonists never intended for Thanksgiving to be a day of gluttony. They dished up restraint along with gratitude as a shared main course. What mattered most was not the feast itself, but the gathering together in thanks and praise for life's most humble gifts. Perhaps this holiday season we could benefit from restoring a proper Thanksgiving balance between forbearance and indulgence. In other words, the uneasy alliance that has formed over the years between Thanksgiving and indulgence does not properly capture the meaning of this national holiday. For Thanksgiving to be properly "observed," a "gathering together in thanks and praise" is the most appropriate response.  This is a good, albeit brief, definition of what we do in the Divine Liturgy. The Eucharist is about our thanksgiving to God not only for what we may have, but for who we actually are as the People of God in the process of growing in His likeness, our life in Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit. We celebrate that service of thanksgiving — the Eucharist — so that we may realize our vocation as "eucharistic beings," and not as mere "consumers." For those who like theological jargon, our anthropology is maximalist, not minimalist. So, just as we engage in the festal Thanksgiving Day table in our homes, we continually make the effort to receive the eucharistic food from the altar table in a spirit of praise and thanksgiving. And we do so joyfully and eagerly. Elyssa East's op-ed article includes a fascinating historical sketch of the mind and practices of the early Puritans in 17th century New England. Fasting and feasting were part of their way of life. Admittedly, I would acknowledge that the "Orthodox ethos" and the "Puritan ethos" are as far apart as one could imagine. There is the saying that a Puritan is a person who is afraid that someone, somewhere, and for some reason is actually enjoying himself! The Calvinist conception of an angry God Who needs to be appeased before He acts swiftly through punishment does not resonate for Orthodox Christians. And we thank our merciful God for that! Perhaps the harsh environment and struggle for survival experienced by these early Puritans further influenced some of their bleak theological conclusions. However, some of our practices may coincide. The author relates that the Puritans' fear of "excessive rains from the bottles of heaven," in addition to "epidemics, crop infestations, the Indian wars and other hardships," led them to call for community-wide days of fasting or a "day of public humiliation and prayer." She further writes: According to the 19th-century historian William DeLove, the New England colonies celebrated as many as nine such 'special public days' a year from 1620-1700. And as the Puritans were masters of self-denial, days of abstention outnumbered thanksgivings two to one. Fasting, Cotton Mather wrote, 'kept the wheel of prayer in continual motion'. Our fasting as Orthodox Christians, however, is not based on a fearful notion of appeasing God; rather, it is a freely-chosen ascetical effort of self-discipline so as to actualize the words of the Lord when He fasted in the desert: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" [Matthew 4:4]. The rhythm of fasting and feasting is directed by our liturgical calendar, as we are now fasting in preparation for the Feast of the Nativity. We are, however, granted a hierarchical "dispensation" on Thanksgiving Day to "break the fast" in order to celebrate this national holiday as Americans.  Actually, the Orthodox can hold their own with any other religiously-based culture when it comes to feasting. We have a great deal to feast about when we reflect upon the "divine economy!" Yet even feasting is not about "gross overconsumption" and mere indulgence. A few more of Elyssa East's paragraphs help us understand the historical, cultural and religious background of our Thanksgiving Day celebration. "It was in the late 1660s that the New England colonies began holding an 'Annual Provincial Thanksgiving,'" she writes. The holiday we celebrate today is a remnant of this harvest feast, which was theologically counterbalanced by an annual spring fast around the time of planting to ask God's good favor for the year. Yet fasting and praying also immediately preceded the harvest Thanksgiving. In 1690, in Massachusetts the feast itself was postponed, though not the fasting, out of extraordinary concern that the meal would inspire too much 'carnal confidence.' As life in the New World wilderness got easier, the New England colonies gradually began holding only their annual spring fast and fall harvest feast. Even after Abraham Lincoln established Thanksgiving as a national holiday in 1863, Massachusetts continued to celebrate its spring day of abstention for 31 more years. As "right believing" Christians, we know to Whom we offer our thanksgiving and why — not only on Thanksgiving Day, but at every Eucharistic Divine Liturgy. As the "royal priesthood" of believers, it is our responsibility to hold up the world in prayer before God — Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If this national holiday is now characterized by "gross overconsumption," that does not mean that we need to follow such a pattern when we have the opportunity to thank and praise God before we share our domestic meals together. Perhaps a properly understood "fear of God" can be spiritually healthy when we contemplate our choices. We have a wonderful opportunity to begin our Day of Thanksgiving by first attending the Divine Liturgy on Thursday morning at 9:30 a.m.