Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

At that time, Jesus went to a city called Nain, and His disciples and a great crowd went with Him. As He drew near to the gate of the city, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother…

Today's Gospel reading concerns the resurrection of the son of the widow of Nain. We recall that this miracle occurred just after the healing of the servant of the centurion, a healing which had taken place at a distance. If we meditate upon this event we will see that this miracle of resurrection, like all the Lord's miracles, happened for two reasons.

First let us remember that as the Son and Creating Word and Wisdom of God, Christ in His divine nature, had the power to work miracles, restoring the laws of creation as they had been intended before the Fall, when there was no sickness or death. Through miracles He showed this power, the unique power of the Son of God. In the particular case of the widow, Christ could show His divine power and disprove the rumors which no doubt were already circulating, that the healing of the centurion's servant at a distance had been a mere coincidence - he would have recovered anyway.

As our second point we must remember today that this miracle happened because as a human-being, Christ in his human nature felt pity and had compassion on those who were suffering. In the particular case of the widow, there was great reason for compassion. In those days a widow was likely to become very poor unless she was looked after by her children. Now the only son of the widow of Nain was the only one who could look after his mother. Without him she would have become destitute, a beggar and perhaps would have died of starvation on the streets.

This miracle proves that the divine power of the Holy Spirit flows not from, but through, Christ's all-pure human nature. Christ's Word and Body are Life-Giving, as is later proved in the Gospels by His own physical resurrection. Now since the Church is the Body of Christ, this means that the same power flows through the Church and confers life and healing and resurrection on all who touch Christ in the Church, participating in the spiritual life of the Church.

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

 

In today's Gospel reading we are told of one of the miracles of Christ. That miracle is a great haul of fish. The Gospel starts with a scene of fishermen washing their nets. We learn that one of the fishermen is Peter. Our Lord tells Peter to take Him out in one of the boats for a catch of fish. Peter explains his doubt because they were fishing all night and caught nothing. However, Peter follows the Lord's command. When Peter drops his net at the Lord's command, it is filled to the breaking point. Peter's response to this miracle is to ask the Lord to depart from him because he is a sinful man. Our Lord's response is that from now on, Peter and his partners, James and John, will catch men instead of fish.

God performs miracles to remind us that He is watchful over the world, that God governs the world and orders it. Thus, what may seem to be the natural order of things in the minds of people is disturbed by the action of God. God is the creator and order of the world. As our Lord says, "With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26). Miracles also remind us that without God they can do nothing. Saint Paul reminds us of this when he says, "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that plants anything, neither he that waters; but God that gives the increase" (I Corinthians 3:6-7).

There is a proverb that is similar to this that says, "Men propose, but God disposes." We often have many desires in our hearts and minds. We plan many things. Many of these plans remain as unrealized ideas. Other plans get put into action, ending in failure, while still other plans are put into action, ending in success. These plans are those that were adopted by God.

The plans that are adopted by God are His, are like Him, and come from Him. All that is not from God, like God, and are not God's, are rejected by God. We are reminded of this in the Psalms, where it says, "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it" (Psalms 127:1). If we plan or build something in our own name, it will fail; but if we plan and build to honor God, it will be successful.

The Universal Exaltation of the Holy Cross September 14

It was of Your own free will that You were raised upon the Cross. * Generously bestow Your mercies upon Your new community named for You, O Christ God! * By Your power gladden the faithful * and let them triumph over every evil, * for Your Cross is their ally and their weapon is peace, * assuring unfailing victory.

The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross originated in Jerusalem in the year 355 to commemorate the dedication of the Basilica of the Resurrection. When the true Cross of Jesus was found shortly afterwards, this event was commemorated on the same day. In time, the Feast of the Exaltation supplanted the feast of the dedication.

In 395, St. John Chrysostom wrote of three crosses which were discovered beneath Golgotha by the Empress Helena. Many other writers speak of miracles which occurred through contact with the true Cross. It was through one of these miracles that the true Cross was recognized by St. Helena and St. Macarius, the Bishop of Jerusalem.

The Holy Cross was kept in the Basilica of the Resurrection in Jerusalem until 614, when the Persians conquered the city and burned the Church. In 628, Emperor Heraclius III defeated the Persians and returned the Holy Cross to Jerusalem. A portion of the Cross was taken to Rome in the seventh century by Sergius I, a Pope of Byzantine origin.

As we celebrate this Major Feast let us remind ourselves that the power of the Cross is given to each and every Christian. But just as a soldier must learn to properly wield his weapons in battle, so a warrior of Christ must learn how correctly to make the sign of the Cross. A shield has no effect if carelessly waved about in the air. Likewise, there are many who receive no benefit from the sign of the Cross because they make it mechanically or haphazardly.

The Cross, once a tool of death, has become a means to life, an instrument of our salvation; it gives strength to resist temptation, to refrain from gossip or harsh words and it dispels fear. Amen.

The Nativity of the Theotokos - September 8

The birth and early life of the Virgin Mary is not recorded in the Gospels or other books of the New Testament, however this information can be found in a work dating from the second century known as the Book of James or Protevangelion.

According to the story found in this book, Mary's parents, Joachim and Anna, were childless for many years. They remained faithful to God, but their prayers for a child were unanswered. One day, when Joachim came to the temple to make an offering, he was turned away by the High Priest who chastised him for his lack of children. To hide his shame, Joachim retreated to the hill country to live among the shepherds and their flocks. As Joachim was praying, his wife Anna was praying at the same time at their house in Jerusalem. An angel appeared to both of them and announced that Anna would have a child whose name would be known throughout the world. Anna promised to offer her child as a gift to the Lord. Joachim returned home, and in due time Anna bore a daughter, Mary.

The Feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos, therefore is a glorification of the miracle of Mary's birth, of Mary herself, and of her righteous parents. It is the celebration as well of the very first preparation of the salvation of the world.

 

The Beheading of St. John the Baptist

The Beheading of St. John the Baptist

 

The life of St. John the Forerunner, from its first days was entirely dedicated to the One Who would come after him. St. John suffered the loss of his mother soon after childbirth while his father's life ended at the hands of King Herod's servants in the temple.

Following the Baptism of the Lord, St. John the Baptist was locked up in prison by Herod Antipas, the Tetrarch (ruler of one fourth of the Holy Land) and governor of Galilee. Why? Because John the Baptist openly denounced Herod for having left his lawful wife, the daughter of the Arabian king Aretas, and then instead cohabiting with Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip (Luke 3:19-20) At Herod's birthday celebration, Salome, Herodias's daughter, enchanted Herod with her dancing. He swore to give her half his kingdom or whatever she asked for. Prompted by her mother Salome asked for the head of the Baptist. Herod could not refuse as he made his pledge before all his guests. Although it saddened him greatly he had Saint John the Baptist beheaded in prison. (Matthew 14:6-12)

According to Tradition, the mouth of the dead preacher of repentance once more opened and proclaimed: "Herod, you should not have the wife of your brother Philip." Salome took the platter with the head of St. John and gave it to her mother. The frenzied Herodias repeatedly stabbed the tongue of the prophet with a needle and buried his holy head in an unclean place. But the pious Joanna, wife of Herod's steward Chuza, buried the head of John the Baptist in an earthen vessel on the Mount of Olives, where Herod had a parcel of land. The holy body of John the Baptist was taken that night by his disciples and buried at Sebastia, there where the wicked deed had been done.

The Beheading of St. John the Baptist, a Feast day established by the Church, is also a strict fast day because of the grief of Christians at the violent death of the saint. In remembrance of the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist it has been a pious custom amongst our faithful on this day to not eat food from a flat plate, use a knife, or eat food that is round in shape.

Learning to Trust….

 

We have a light fixture over our front door that glints in the sun and is attractive to birds. Every year without fail, a bird tries to build its nest on that light. Because I know that any nest that is built there is bound to fall, I always break up the nests just as the birds begin to make them. After several frustrating attempts, they move to a large maple tree in our garden, and there safely build their seasonal home far from any danger of falling.

 

Like those unknowing feathered creatures, we too, oftentimes find that our dreams and plans are frustrated and lead to failure. We cannot help but wonder why God allows the earthly nests that we struggle so hard and work to build to fall apart and crumble before us. But the fact is that we cannot see as God does; if we too could judge events from the perspective of eternity, we would come to understand that God seeks for us a higher destiny, and a place of true serenity and provision for our deepest needs.

 

Scripture teaches us that God led his people of Israel out of Egypt and into a forty-year journey of hardship in a lonely and forbidding wilderness. And yet, at the end of that journey, they were led from bondage to a glorious land that flowed with milk and honey. From down trodden slaves, He transformed them into a mighty nation envied by others.

 

How wonderful it would be if we could each learn to trust God in those times when we too experience the dark passages that enter our lives. How reassured we would be if we never questioned God's wisdom and goodness, even at those times when we find him disturbing the nests that we try to build.

 

When we come to accept the providential care of God with childlike simplicity we soon discover that the barriers we encounter in our lives can in retrospect, come to be numbered among our greatest blessings.

 

-Rev. Andrew J Demotses

 

Preserve me, O God: for in Thee do I put my trust.

Psalm 16:1

Why do we Bless Flowers on the Feast the Dormition?

Holy Tradition tells us that all the Apostles, Saint Thomas, were transported mystically to Jerusalem in order to be with the Mother of God-Theotokos as she died and present at her burial. When Thomas arrived the next day, they opened the tomb so that he could say his farewell. They found only an empty tomb filled with sweet-smelling flowers.

Therefore as part of our celebration we bless sweet-this great sign of her holiness. At the conclusion of the Divine Services flowers and herbs are blessed and the faithful keep them in their homes. During times of family strife or illness, the flower petals are placed in the censer with the incense, and the whole house is censed.

Lord God almighty, You fill all things with Your Word. You commanded the earth to bring forth fruit in due season, and You gave it to mankind for our joy and life. By Your Holy Spirit, bless + now these flowers which have been brought before You in this holy temple to honor the Falling Asleep of the Mother of Your only Son. Purify from all defilement these, Your servants, who receive them, and fill their houses with all fragrance. May all e flowers obtain protection of body and soul; and may Your healing grace be a remedy for our salvation…

Prayers to the Most Holy Theotokos

Beneath your tender mercy we flee, Birthgiver-of-God. Reject not our prayer in our trouble, deliver us from harm, Only Pure and Blessed Lady. Amen

We fly to your patronage, O Virgin Mother of God. Despise not our prayers in our necessities, but who are alone pure and blessed, deliver us from all danger. Amen

Sunday of All Saints

 

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfection of our faith.

Today we are keeping the Day of All Saints, of all those who have heard Christ speak, whose hearts and minds have been set afire, and went out into the world to bring to the whole world the good news. The news that God has so loved the world, that He has entered into it never to leave it, and that in His Resurrection He has taken all that is the world - in His Flesh the whole visible world, in His soul all the human world - and has established it on the right hand of the Father.

This is not only the glory of the Church, it is a call addressed to each of us. Today we are called by the Gospel, we are encouraged by the Epistle, so to love God as to become truly His disciples, and that means that our faith in Him must be and become, day after day, more truly faithful, so that seeing us, seeing how we live, seeing who we are, people could believe that Christ has come to save the world and is worth following as a Master and as a Friend.

St James, speaking to people of his time said: "If you want to show me your faith without your works, I will show you my faith by my works…" Let us then go into the world to bring to a world which is in great misery now, in distress that it has lost its way, the good news. Not only the news that God has come and is in our midst, that He has shown us the way, that He is the way and He has given an example for everyone to follow, not in a slavish way, not as a hireling, but with the joy that following this way means that we are fulfilled and that life is deep in us and it can flow on to others.

This is the message of today's feast. In the next two weeks we will keep more particularly the feast of our particular Church like Vladimir and his mother St. Olga or the patron of our Eparchy St. Josaphat and even the saints glorified in our own country St. Elizabeth Seton or St. John Neumann, - people of our blood, our flesh, our kin. Let us think of them and let us try to live in such a way that they may rejoice that they have a following worthy of Christ and worthy of their lives. Amen.

Pentecost Sunday

"And there appeared to them cloven tongues as it were of fire, and it sat upon every one of them: and they began to speak with other tongues, according as the Holy Spirit gave them utterance."

(Acts 2:3-4)

Following His Ascension, when the Savior fulfilled His promise and sent the Holy Spirit, the Comforter appeared to Christ's followers as tongues of fire. As a result of the Spirit's operation the disciples spoke in languages foreign to them and were guided as to what to say. It is extremely significant that on the day of Pentecost the manifestation of the Holy Spirit should take the form of tongues and that the first results of the disciples' baptism of the Holy Spirit should be the ability to speak in languages other than their own. This affirms the universal character of Christ's mission, one which was formed for all nations, resulting in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Of great significance as well is the fact that the fruit of the disciples' labors on Pentecost was the addition to the Church of about three thousand souls. (Acts 2:41) Here we begin to understand what our Lord meant when He told His chosen ones that they would henceforth be fishers of men. Hearing about such a large number of individuals brought into the Church by Peter and the eleven, we recall that during Christ's earthly ministry it was only when the disciples obeyed His will that they caught such an enormous catch of fish that their "net brake."

What happened on that fiftieth day after our Lord's resurrection was the filling of the disciples with the Holy Spirit, their transformation into the Church. Pentecost is the day of the Church's founding. From this point in time the disciples were empowered to do what our Lord told them: "As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." (John 20:21). Throughout its history the Church never lost its conviction that Jesus had given it the strict mandate to "catch" the entire world, to bring all people into His net. The disciples – and those who came after them – were convinced that their message, committed to them by Christ, was vital, a matter of life or death. This is why they were able to convince so many, because they themselves were convinced. On this Pentecost Sunday let us reaffirm our "conviction" to evangelize ALL nations and to bring many into His net the Holy Church.

How Frequently Should We Go to Confession?

Enter into the Church and wash away your sin, for there is a hospital for sinners and not a court of law.

St. John Chrysostom

As we celebrate the First Reconciliation-Confession of our parish children maybe we should take time to focus on this important question. The answer to this question is interrelated with the similar question---how frequently should we receive Holy Communion? The goal and purpose of the Christian life is to be united with the Lord, which can occur only as we become increasingly like Him, little by little. Therefore, since being united with Him in Holy Communion and overcoming our sins by frequent Holy Confession are very effective means (within a life daily prayer) of moving towards this goal of the spiritual life, ideally we should receive Holy Communion at every Divine Liturgy and go to Confession frequently. Let me ask you this question: How often do you see your doctor? Once a year… More often than that… If you are suffering from a physical illness you visit your doctor on more regular bases. Therefore in order to heal our souls and bodies we are to go to Confession on more regular bases. As a child I remember the practice of so-called "First Fridays", which encouraged the faithful to go to Confession on monthly bases. What we witness now days is the tendency to receive Holy Communion more frequently, but often without the adequate preparation that includes frequent Holy Confession. It is fairly common today that if a person receives Holy Communion every week, it is considered acceptable that they go to Confession just during the two penitential seasons (Philip's Fast-Advent and Great Fast-Lent).

    We must remember that our sins make us sick in our souls (and sometimes bodies). Therefore, we need to visit our spiritual physician (our Father Confessor) and receive the "Medicine of Immortality" as frequently as possible, if we are to have any hope of overcoming our sins and receiving healing of our sin-sick souls and bodies. Let us strive to do the most possible to be united more fully with the Lord, rather than to settle for the least we can get by with. It is virtually impossible to love the Lord too much, or desire to be united with Him too much. Similarly, it is virtually impossible to receive Christ's Body and Blood too often, or to go to Confession too often, as long as we participate in these Holy Mysteries with sincere prayer and preparation.

Sunday of the Man Born Blind

We do not know from experience what physical blindness is, but we can imagine how this man was walled in himself, how all the world around him existed only as a distant sound, something he could not picture, imagine. He was a prisoner within his own body. He could live by imaginations, he could invent a world around himself, he could by touch and by hearing approximate what really was around him; but the total, full reality could only escape him. We are not physically blind, but how many of us are locked in ourselves! We meet people, and we see them with our eyes; but seldom it happens that beyond the outer shape, features, clothes, - how often does it happen that we see something of the depth of the person? How seldom it is that we look into a person's eyes and go deep in understanding! We are surrounded by people and every person is unique to God, but are people unique to us? Are not people that surround us just 'people', who have names, surnames, nicknames, whom we can recognize by their outer looks but whom we do not know at any depth?

Often this is our condition: we are blind, we are deaf, we are insensitive to the outer world, and yet, we are called to read meanings. When we meet a person, we should approach this person as a mystery, that is as something which we can discover only by a deep communion, by entering into a relationship, perhaps silent, perhaps in words, but so deep that we can know one another not quite as God knows us, but in the light of God that enlightens all and each of us. But are we doing this? Is our concern to convey the width, and the depth, the beauty and the meaning of things to every person whom we meet? Are we not rather concerned with receiving than with giving? And yet, Saint Paul who knew what it meant to receive and to give, said, "It is a more blessed thing to give than to receive".

On this Sunday let us reflect on how rich, how richly endowed we are, how much it was given us to see, and to hear. And let us realize at the same time how tragically walled we are within ourselves unless we break this wall in order to give, as generously, as richly, as abundantly as we were given. And then indeed, our joy will be fulfilled according to Christ's promise. And no one, nothing will ever be able to take it away from us. Amen

Sunday of the Samaritan Woman

Today's Gospel reading from St. John the Evangelist (Jn 4:5-42) does not give us the name of the Samaritan woman. But the Tradition of the Church remembers, and calls her in Greek - Photini, in Ukrainian - Svitlana, in Western languages - Claire. And all these names speak to us of one thing - of light.

Having met the Lord Jesus Christ she has become a light shining in the world, a light that enlightens those who meet her. Every Saint is offered to us as an example; but we cannot always emulate the concrete ways in which a Saint lived, we cannot always repeat their way from earth to heaven. But we can learn from each of them two things. The one is that by the grace of God we can achieve what seems humanly impossible; that is, to become a person in the image and likeness of God, to be - in this world of darkness and tragedy which is in the power of lies - a word of truth, a sign of hope, the certainty that God can conquer if we only allow Him access to our souls. Because if the Kingdom of God is not established within us, if God is not enthroned in our minds and hearts, a fire that destroys everything unworthy of ourselves and of Him, we cannot spread God's light around.

And the second thing which the Saints can teach us is to understand the message which their names convey to us. Today's Samaritan woman learns and speaks of light. Christ has said that He is the Light of the world, the light that enlightens all people; and we are called to give shelter within our souls, minds and hearts - indeed, within our whole self - to this light; so that the word spoken by Christ, "Let your light so shine before all men, that seeing your good deeds they may give glory to your Father who is in heaven", may be fulfilled and accomplished in and through us.

It is only through seeing our deeds, through seeing how we live that people can believe that the light is God's light; it is not in our words, unless they are words of truth and of power like those of the Apostles, or of Christ Himself indeed. On this Sunday of the Samaritan Woman let us reflect, each of us, on the meaning of our name and on the way in which we can become what we are called. Amen.

Real Courage…

When I was a small boy, I attended Church every Sunday at a big Gothic Presbyterian bastion in Chicago. The preaching was powerful and the music was great. But for me, the most awesome moment in the morning service was the offertory, when twelve solemn, frock-coated ushers marched in lock-step down the main aisle to receive the brass plates for collecting the offering. These men, so serious about their business of serving the Lord in this magnificent house of worship, were the business and professional leaders of Chicago. One of the twelve ushers was a man named Frank Loesch. He was not a very imposing looking man, but in Chicago he was a living legend, for he was the man who had stood up to Al Capone.

In the prohibition years, Capone's rule was absolute. The local and state police and even the Federal Bureau of Investigation were afraid to oppose him. But singlehandedly, Frank Loesch, as a Christian layman and without any government support, organized the Chicago Crime Commission, a group of citizens who were determined to take Mr. Capone to court and put him away. During the months that the Crime Commission met, Frank Loesch's life was in constant danger. There were threats on the lives of his family and friends. But he never wavered. Ultimately he won the case against Capone and was the instrument for removing this blight from the city of Chicago. Frank Loesch had risked his life to live out his faith. Each Sunday at this point of the service, my father, a Chicago businessman himself, never failed to poke me and silently point to Frank Loesch with pride. Sometimes I'd catch a tear in my father's eye. For my dad and for all of us this was and is what authentic living is all about.

-Bruce Larson, in Charles Swindoll, Living Above the Level of Mediocrity.

"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen."

Winston Churchill

Sunday of St. Thomas

Sunday of St. Thomas

 

On this Sunday we are keeping the day of St Thomas the Apostle. Too often we remember him only as a doubter; indeed he is the one who questioned the message which the other Apostles brought to him when they said: Christ is risen! We have seen Him alive!

Why did he not accept their message? Why did he doubt? Why did he say that he must have proofs, material proofs? Because when he looked at them, he saw them rejoicing in what they had seen, rejoicing that Christ was not dead, rejoicing that Christ was alive, rejoicing that victory had been won. Yet, when he looked at them he saw no difference in them. These were the same men, only full of joy instead of fear. And Thomas said: Unless I see, unless I probe the Resurrection, I cannot believe you. Is it not the same thing that anyone can say to us who meets us?

We proclaimed the Resurrection of Christ, passionately, sincerely, truthfully, a few days ago. We believe in it with all our being; and yet, when people meet us in our homes, in the street, in our place of work, anywhere, do they look at us and say: Who are these people? What has happened to them? As we read the Holy Scripture we see that the Apostles had seen Christ risen, but the Resurrection had not become part of their own experience. They had not come out of death into eternal life. So it is also with us; except with the saints, when they see them, they know that their message is true. What is it in our message that is not heard? We should be so different from people who have no experience of the living Christ, risen from the dead, who has shared His life with us, who sent the Holy Spirit to us. As in the words of C.S. Lewis, a living person is different from a statue. A statue may be beautiful, magnificent, glorious, but it is stone. A human being can be much less moving in his outer presence, yet he is alive, he is a testimony of life.

On this Sunday of St. Thomas let us examine ourselves. Let us be ready to answer before our own conscience and do what is necessary to change our lives in such a way that people meeting us may look at us and say: Such people we have never seen. There is something about them that we have never seen in anyone. What is it? And we could answer: It is the life of Christ abroad in us. We are His limbs. This is the life of the Spirit in us. We are His temple. Amen.

Do You Believe...

Do You Believe...

 

There was a tightrope walker, who did incredible aerial feats. All over Paris, he would do tightrope acts at tremendously scary heights. Then he had succeeding acts; he would do it blindfolded, then he would go across the tightrope, blindfolded, pushing a wheelbarrow. An American promoter read about this in the papers and wrote a letter to the tightrope walker, saying, "Tightrope, I don't believe you can do it, but I'm willing to make you an offer. For a very substantial sum of money, besides all your transportation fees, I would like to challenge you to do your act over Niagara Falls." Now, Tightrope wrote back, "Sir, although I've never been to America and seen the Niagara Falls, I'd love to come." Well, after a lot of promotion and setting the whole thing up, many people came to see the event. Tightrope was to start on the Canadian side and come to the American side. Drums roll, and he comes across the rope which is suspended over the treacherous part of the falls -- blindfolded!! And he makes it across easily. The crowds go wild, and he comes to the promoter and says, "Well, Mr. Promoter, now do you believe I can do it?" "Well of course I do. I mean, I just saw you do it." "No," said Tightrope, "do you really believe I can do it?" "Well of course I do, you just did it." "No, no, no," said Tightrope, "do you believe I can do it?" "Yes," said Mr. Promoter, "I believe you can do it." "Good," said Tightrope, "then you get in the wheel barrow."

The word "believe" in Greek means "to live by". This is a nice story...makes you ask, how often do we say that we believe Christ can do it, but refuse to get in the wheelbarrow?

Live in faith and hope, though it be in darkness, for in this darkness God protects the soul. Cast your care upon God for you are His and He will not forget you. Do not think that He is leaving you alone, for that would be to wrong Him.

-St. John of the Cross.

Faith is to believe what we do not see; and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe.

-St. Augustine

Artos

 

In our Holy Church during Bright Week, the week following Pascha/Easter, you will notice that the Holy Doors in the Iconostasis are open and there is a table in front to the right of the opening on which there is a round loaf of bread. If you look closely you will note that on this bread is either the icon of the Resurrection of Our Lord or another symbol of Christ's victory over death, the Cross surmounted by a crown of thorns. This bread is called the Artos. "Artos" is a Greek word meaning bread made with yeast. It is blessed at the end of the Resurrection Matins and the faithful kiss it at the end of the Pascal Divine Liturgy. According to the oldest tradition, the Apostles, after the Ascension of Our Lord, placed bread on the Holy Table-Altar each time during the Divine Services, for the Divine Master. This they did for their Master, confessing or believing in His invisible presence among them. At the end of the services they took the bread and lifted it up with the words: "Glory be to You, O Christ, Our God, Glory be to You. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit." The Apostles, after receiving the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Day, went to preach the Gospel throughout the world and, according to tradition, left a loaf of bread on the Altar in remembrance of His Glorious Resurrection.

 

It is interesting that at the blessing, the priest chants: ..."May we who offer it (this bread), and those who shall kiss it and shall take of it, may be partakers of Thy heavenly benediction; and by Thy might root out from us all sickness and infirmity, granting health to all. For Thou are the source of blessing, and the bestower of health..." The significance of the Artos is that it serves to remind all Christians of the events connected with the Resurrection of Our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ. While still living on earth, the Lord called Himself the Bread of Life, saying: "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst" (John 6:35).
The Artos is put before us as a symbol of Jesus Christ the Bread of life Who nourishes us with the food of His divine mercies. This is somewhat reminiscent of the Shewbread mentioned in Exodus 25:30; Numbers 4:7; 1 Samuel 21:6; Nehemiah 10:33; Matthew 12:4; and Hebrews 9:2. However, it was unleavened and was to be eaten by the Old Testament priests only while the Artos is leavened, alive with yeast symbolizing life and is to be eaten by all believers who are alive in the Lord. It is a pious custom amongst our faithful to keep a piece of the Artos in their Icon Corner throughout the year and with faith to eat a piece of it when they are sick or under stress. Sometimes, a sip of Holy Water blessed on the Feast of Theophany is taken with it.

Palm Sunday

We gather together today to celebrate Christ's entry into the city of Jerusalem. Today we celebrate Christ as the king who enters our own personal Jerusalem - our hearts. This is a momentary feast of joy and celebration, because tonight we begin the final part of our journey towards Pascha-Easter. Our mood changes from one of joy this morning to one of solemnity, almost of sorrow this evening as we lead up to the great sacrifice that Christ performed for us on the Cross.

The feast of Palm Sunday has been celebrated in our Church since the earliest days of Christianity, but the use of Palms in connection with religious celebrations goes all the way back to Old Testament times. Oddly enough palm trees did not grow around the city of Jerusalem, and people would often buy imported palms for religious celebrations, in particular The Feast of Tabernacles celebrated at the temple in Jerusalem. The palm branch was used as a visual tool proclaiming the sovereignty of God as the true king of the Israelites.

On this Palm Sunday we raise our palm and willow branches to celebrate Christ as the king who enters our hearts, our own personal Jerusalem. But is Christ able to enter? Is there room in our hearts for Christ to rule as king? Often the doors of our hearts are locked. Often Christ is unable to enter because there is already another king of the heart - ourselves. And how do we solve this problem of trying to let Christ in? How do we instill within ourselves the one thing that is missing - God? The answer is to surrender. Surrender to the will of God. Surrender your life to the one who gave you life. We are constantly bound and held captive by the temporal things of this life. We are prisoners of our own selves, of this world, of our careers, of money, of the politicians who rule over us, we are even slaves to our own passions. The only way to find peace, to find true happiness, to experience true love is to surrender yourself to God, to make Him your king, to live in total communion with Him.

At the end of the Divine Liturgy you will receive palm and willow branches, let us take them to our homes and place them somewhere where we can always see them. Let the palm and willow branches remind us that Christ is the king of our families, that Christ is the king of our hearts, that Christ is the only true answer to happiness and meaning in our lives. Amen.

Mary of Egypt

Fifth Sunday of the Great Fast- Mary of Egypt

 

Every year on the Fifth Sunday of the Great Fast we remember our venerable mother Mary of Egypt. She is known in our Holy Church as the "Penitent Saint" and her story of life has been called "an icon in words of the theological truth of repentance". As part of our Lenten journey, Saint Mary of Egypt can teach us something very great. As our venerable father Seraphim of Sarov repeated more than once to those who came to see him, the difference between a sinner who is lost and a sinner who finds his way to salvation, lies in nothing but determination. The grace of God is always there; but our response is not. But Mary of Egypt responded; through the horror of her new perception of herself she responded to the holiness, the grace, the wholeness and sanctity of the Mother of God, and nothing, nothing was too much for her to change her life.

 

This example of hers is presented to us as a crowning moment of this spring of life, which is the Great Fast-Lent. The Church commemorates St. Mary for her recognition of her own sins as an example of how one can free oneself from the slavery and burden of wrongdoings. A week before we heard the teaching and call of Saint John of the Ladder, the one who has established a whole ladder of perfection for us to overcome evil and come to right. And today we see one who from the very depth of evil was brought to the heights of saintliness, and as the Canon of Saint Andrew of Crete says: "Be sure that God Who could heal the leprous could heal the leprosy which is yours."

 

Her example of repentance should be an inspiration to all of us. We have a wonderful opportunity through the sacramental mystery of Penance to obtain forgiveness. The same Jesus who cured the leper with a touch and forgave sins with a word now uses a priest as His instrument to heal and forgive, to teach and console, to correct and encourage. As we near the final days of Lent, the Church gives us the example of Mary of Egypt so that we might not lose hope and to teach us that no sin is too great to be forgiven.

 

In Scripture we read: "though your sins be red as scarlet, I shall make them white as snow." We still have time to make a good confession…May the example of Saint Mary of Egypt draw attention to our own need for repentance so that we, too, nourished by Holy Communion, may rededicate our lives to the service of God.

Why all these Prostrations and Bowing

Why all these Prostrations and Bowing
during the Great Fast-Lent?

Following the Divine Liturgy last Sunday for the Veneration of the Cross I was asked: Father, Why are we to make a “full prostration”. What’s the significance of doing all this bowing in Church?

As part of our “liturgical piety”, prostrations or bows have always played a significant role in our Divine Worship. Reading the writings of monastic fathers prostrations or bows are clear outward acts of humble reverence before God and/or outward signs of repentance. Standing back up again is a sign of being raised up with Christ. We read the following in the writings of the great hesychast bishop Theoliptos: “Do not neglect prostration,” he admonishes his spiritual children. “It provides an image of man’s fall into sin and expresses the confession of our sinfulness. Getting up, on the other hand, signifies repentance and the promise to lead a life of virtue. Let each prostration be accompanied by a noetic invocation of Christ, so that by falling before the Lord in soul and body you may gain the grace of the God of souls and bodies.”

In bending our knees we assume an attitude of humility before our God to whom we offer our prayer. Kneeling, then touching our forehead to the ground, we acknowledge our sinfulness; we create a living image of our fall into sin. Our very posture represents a confession of that state, a calling to mind of our spiritual poverty, of our susceptibility to passions of greed, lust, anger and malice. Prostrations offered from the heart are a powerful action in attempting to attain the forgiveness of those whom you have transgressed against. If sincere, they can wipe out all effects of insult or transgression, and refill the heart with a love greater than it felt before.

Being part of “liturgical piety”, prostrations or bows have always been an essential part of our Divine Worship during the Great Fast-Lent. This “liturgical piety” is meant for everyone who is healthy, able and well. It is not meant to make us “suffer” by further harming a bad back, knee, etc. Then, of course, we adjust accordingly. But it is not meant to be a “pious performance” by the priest alone together with a few other “pious parishioners.” As a basic liturgical principle, the priest is not an exception, but an example for the gathered faithful. Especially now during this Lenten season let us continue this pious practice of prostrations and bows that symbolize our extreme humility before Almighty God.

How often are we to cross ourselves?

The answer is very simple: Frequently. Why according to our Holy Tradition are we to cross ourselves so frequently? We are well aware of the tremendous power of our great enemy, the devil, who attacks unceasingly. Our Lord left us an invincible weapon against him: the Cross. So the sign of the Cross is made against danger, against fear of some kind of trouble, as a protection against the devil’s wiles, and when begging God for His help, His mercy, His forgiveness, His granting of a petition. God is ever present, ready to assist in our daily struggle whenever we ask.

As Eastern Christians we are to make the sign of the Cross as we begin and end our private devotions-prayers, when we enter the Church, when we venerate the icons, the Holy Gospel, or the Holy Cross. We make the sign of the Cross when the name of the Holy Trinity is pronounced during the Divine Liturgy or any Divine Service. Finally, we make the sign of the Cross at prayers before and after meals, and at any appropriate times as an act of piety.

St. Kosmas Aitolos, concerning the sign of the Cross, writes the following: Listen, my brethren, how the sign of the Cross is made and what is means. First, just as the Holy Trinity is glorified in heaven by the angels, so should you join your three fingers of your right hand. And being unable to ascend into heaven to worship, raise your hand to your head (because the head means heaven) and say “Just as the angels glorify the Holy Trinity in heaven, so do I, as a servant glorify and worship the Holy Trinity. And as the fingers are three separate, and are together, so is the Holy Trinity three persons but one God.” Lowering your hand to your stomach, say: “I worship You and adore You my Lord, because you condescended and took on flesh in the womb of the Theotokos for my sins.” Place your hand on your right shoulder and say: "I beg You, my God, to forgive me and to put me on Your right with the just.” Placing your hand again on your left should say: “I beg You my Lord, do not put me on the left with the sinners.” This is what the Cross means. On this Sunday as we honor the Life-giving Cross let us remember that the sign of the Cross gives us great strength to repel and conquer evil and to do good, but we must remember to make the sign of the Cross correctly and without haste, otherwise it will not be the sign of the Cross, but just waving our our hand around, which only gladdens the demons. By making the sign of the Cross carelessly we show a lack of reverence for God. This is a sin, called sacrilege.