A Theological Reading of a Resurrection Icon

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

CHRIST IS RISEN!      INDEED HE IS RISEN!

 

 

Pascha - The Eleventh Day

We have a new mounted print of a justly-famous icon of the Resurrection which is on the stand at the back of the nave, to be venerated when one first enters the church. This icon was one of the examples that Fr. Andrew presented in his excellent discussion of the Iconography of Pascha back in April for our Lenten Zoom Retreat. Perhaps some of our retreat participants will notice this. 

The print and its mounting on wood is done superbly by the St. Isaac of Syria Skete in Wisconsin. When they prepare an icon for purchase, they also include an explanatory sheet that reveals some interesting facts behind the icon's history, as well as a theological "reading" of the icon. I am simply reproducing that for today's "paschal meditation:"
   

   This icon is a detail of the Resurrection from the Protaton Church in Karyes, Mount Athos, from the early 14th century, and was painted by the most celebrated iconographer of the Macedonian School, Manuel Panselinos. This school of iconography is powerful in that although there is a balance achieved overall, the asymmetry of form produces a lively dynamism which reflects the progressive dynamism of Heaven where those who live there  grow throughout all Eternity.

   Here Christ stands on the broken doors of Hades now utterly destroyed in its power to hold men captive, and the keys of the door now smashed and crossed are seen below them. Christ leans forward to take Adam by the hand and bring him out of the abyss and Eve is seen just above her husband, for Christ has come to lead all those who are ready out of this place and back again with Him into Paradise. St. John the Baptist is seen above Eve, looking at the Risen Lord of Life Whom he had preached before him. We, too, can be with the Resurrected Christ if we love Him and His Kingdom above all things, and purify ourselves from sin.

 

Proofs of the Resurrection

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

CHRIST IS RISEN!   INDEED HE IS RISEN!

Paschal Meditation - The Ninth Day

 

We heard the extraordinary passage yesterday of Christ's first appearance to His disciples following His Resurrection, followed then by the Apostle Thomas coming to faith in a very dramatic way (Jn. 20:19-31). Here is a fine exegetical passage from St, John Chrysostom on the challenging issue of Christ's "spiritual body" showing the marks of the nails. We will discuss passages such as this one this evening during our Zoom Bible Study on Jn. 20.

 

20:27 Put Your Finger Here, and See My Hands

The Sign of the Resurrection. CHRYSOSTOM: It is worth inquiring how an incorruptible body showed the prints of the nails and was tangible to a mortal hand. But do not be disturbed. What took place was a matter of condescension. For that which was  so subtle and light as to enter in where the doors were shut was entirely lacking all density. But this marvel was shown so that the resurrection might be believed and so that people might know that it was the crucified one himself and not another who rose instead of him. This is why he arose bearing the signs of the cross, and it is also why he eats. At least the apostles repeatedly made this a proof of the resurrection, saying "we, who did eat and drink with him (see Acts 10:41). As, therefore, when we see him walking on the waves before the crucifixion, we do not say that his body is of a different nature but the same as our own. So after the resurrection, when we see him with the prints of the nails, we do not say that he is therefore  still mortal. It was for the sake of the disciple that he appeared in this way. 

HOMILY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 87.1.

 

The 'Resurrecting Cross' and the powerlessness of death

PASCHAL MEDITATION

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

Here is a truly remarkable passage on the Resurrection of Christ from Fr. George Florovsky. It bears careful reading and re-reading to absorb all that is said in this one paragraph. Further commentary is unnecessary, but I will simply point out for notice how seamlessly Fr. George moves from the death to the resurrection of Christ. The one is not somehow replaced by the other; but rather the Cross is a "resurrecting Cross" that is fully revealed in the Resurrection. 

 

 

 "The death of the Savior revealed that death held no power over him. The Lord was mortal in respect of His complete human nature; for even in the original nature there was a potentia mortis (capacity of death). The Lord died, but death could not keep Him. He was the eternal life, and through His death He destroyed death. His descent into Hades, the kingdom of death, is the powerful revelation of life. By descending into hades, He gives life to death itself. And by the resurrection, the powerlessness of death is revealed. 

"The reality of death is not repealed, but its powerlessness is revealed. In the death of the Lord, the power of the resurrection becomes apparent, which is concealed but intrinsic to every death. The parable of the wheat can be fully applied to His death. In the case of the body of the incarnated, the period between death and resurrection has been shortened. The seed grows to perfection in three days: triduum mortis. During this mystical triduum mortis the body of the Lord was transfigured, glorified, and clothed in power and light. The resurrection happened by the power of God, and by the same power the general resurrection will happen on the last day. In the resurrection the incarnation is perfected, a victorious revelation of life in the human nature. Immortality was grafted to humanity.

"The resurrection of Christ was not only His victory over His own death but over death in general. In His resurrection the whole human nature is resurrected, but not so that all rise from the graves, for mankind must still die. But death has become powerless, and the whole human nature has received its ability to be resurrected."

 

To Enthrone Him in our Hearts for Conquering Death

 

BRIGHT THURSDAY

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

CHRIST IS RISEN!    INDEED HE IS RISEN!

The following was sent to me by our dear friend, Mother Paula, of the Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Ellwood City, PA. It is from the same Bp. Nikolai of Ochrid that was behind yesterday's paschal meditation. Here is a succinct description of the meaning and implications for human life revealed in Christ's victory over death.

 

The last enemy shall be destroyed is death’ (1 Cor. 15:26)

The first enemy of man is the devil.The second is sin.The third is death.

The Lord Jesus conquered these three enemies of the human race.

He conquered the devil by His humiliation.

He conquered sin by His death.

He conquered death by His Resurrection.

At what price does He offer us His victory?

To live for Him and not for ourselves; to enthrone Him in our hearts for conquering, Death.
He has utterly and completely overcome all our enemies, and that is the price in which He offers; His victory to each of us. 

The apostle Paul says, ‘Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’    (1 Corinthians 15:57)

O risen Lord, illumine us, strengthen us and heal us by Thy victory! With thanksgiving, we give glory and praise to Thee forever. Amen.

Excerpts from St. Nikolai Velimirovic’s Prologue Part Two   p. 27

 

Only in the Light of the Resurrection...

 BRIGHT WEDNESDAY

Dear Parish Faithful,

CHRIST IS RISEN!

INDEED HE IS RISEN!

 

The short passage below being offered as a paschal meditation, captures the resurrectional nature of the Orthodox Church in a very personal manner, as it is based on Bp. Nikolai's paschal experience in Jerusalem. Notice how what he experienced in the paschal service "colors" his perception of the world around him once that resurrectional joy has entered his mind and heart. Everyday reality - mundane as it may usually seem - is now seen to be "different," meaning brighter or perhaps even more real.
 

"We waited, and at last our expectations were fulfilled," writes the Serbian Bishop Nikolai of Ochrid, describing the Easter service  at Jerusalem. "When the Patriarch sang 'Christ is Risen', a heavy burden fell from our souls. We felt as if we also had been raised from the dead. All at once, from all around, the same cry resounded like the noise of many waters. 'Christ is Risen' sang the Greeks, the Russians, the Arabs, the Serbs, the Copts, the Armenians, the Ethiopians - one after another, each in his own tongue, in his own melody ... Coming out  from the service at dawn, we began to regard everything in the light of the glory of Christ's Resurrection, and all appeared different from what it had yesterday; everything seemed better, more expressive, more glorious. Only in the light of the Resurrection does life receive meaning."

 

And then Archbishop Kallistos further remarks: 

 

This sense of resurrection joy, so vividly described by Bishop Nikolai, forms the foundation of all worship of the Orthodox Church; it is the one and only basis for our Christian life and hope.