Traditions Of The Eastern Church

Sunday of the Forefathers

2011-12-10T06:55:00.000-08:00

Today is the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers. Every year, two Sundays before we celebrate the Nativity of Christ, we remember His forefathers, His relatives according to the flesh. This remembrance is given to us for a very specific reason, which is mentioned by our holy father Gregory Palamas in one of his homilies for this very Sunday. This Sunday is given to us, St. Gregory writes, so that we can know that the Hebrews were not cut off by God, nor were the Christians grafted on (as St. Paul writes) in a way that was unjust or unreasonable. There is an inner continuation between the Old and the New Covenants. And in learning this, we’re offered a warning from the history of God’s chosen people.

The forefathers of Christ were, for the most part, Jews. They were from the Chosen People of God - one of the very reasons that God had chosen a people was to prepare that people and eventually to bring forth the Messiah from that people. The Fathers of the Church are very careful to make sure we understand that being a chosen people doesn’t mean you’re better than everyone else. The Chosen People are chosen by an all- knowing God to fulfill His purposes. And that’s it. So the relatives of Christ were obviously from among the Jews. All of Hebrew people were the Chosen People, but only some of the people are recognized to be the forefathers of Christ.

This is where the great importance of this day for us is seen. It is a reminder that our relationship with God, as members of the New Covenant, is based on the same factor as those members of the Old Covenant - the true members of Christ are those who do the will of God. Outward membership in the Church is not enough. What we learn on this Sunday is the fact that to be chosen by God is an inner transformation. Through the history of God’s dealing with us, it was not outward but inward obedience that indicates chosen-ness. In our understanding of the New Testament to be chosen by God for salvation means that we choose God. The Church is the New Covenant, the chosen people…but we choose to be her members. The question put before us by the Church today - are we living as true members of the Body of Christ? That’s the most important questions we’ll consider today.

Through faith You justified the Forefathers, betrothing through them the Church of the gentiles. These saints exult in glory, for from their seed came forth a glorious fruit: She who bore You without seed. So by their prayers, O Christ God, have mercy on us!

A Pattern in Making Disciples

2011-09-26T16:50:00.000-07:00

1) Christ teaches the Word of God, and the Word of God stirs listeners to initial faith.

2) Christ involves the new believer in a specific challenge, and the new believer personally experiences the grace of God; he or she feels unworthy, yet amazed.

3) Christ calls the new believer to become a permanent disciple and co-worker with God. The new believer freely and totally gives over his or her life to the Lord and has a new sense of mission as Christ’s disciple.

We too, are called to DISCIPLESHIP and to lower our nets for that “great catch”. Consider, for a moment, the state of the world around us. Consider this city we are in, and the cities and towns nearby. Consider the frightful nature of the world, of the overflowing cup of evil all around us. Consider the huge numbers of confused and frightened people, darting this way and that, like frightened fishes in a great dark sea. Some, though perhaps not all, would doubtless find peace and joy if they could but find Christ, in the fullness in which we find Him in our Holy Church. We need only lower our nets, as Christ bids us, and we can catch them for Him. How do we do this?

We can do it by witnessing for Christ through the lives that we lead. If we are kind, patient, and generous towards our neighbors, that in itself is the beginning of our witness. If we are models of Christian piety in our lives, praying, keeping the fasts, attending Liturgy, and remaining close to the Church, that too is a witness and will attract a larger catch. Finally, we must not be ashamed of Christ’s Church by hiding it from those around us. If neighbors or friends or acquaintances have no religious life, or if they are dissatisfied in their current religion, we can invite them to attend Divine Liturgy and introduce them to our Holy Church and our community of faithful. So, let us not be apprehensive in sharing the beauty of our Eastern Church with others. Let each of us strive to follow in the footsteps of the holy apostles Peter, James, and John, by becoming catchers of souls for Christ. Let each of us also put aside all those things that distract us from our real purpose in this life, let us leave those things, as the Gospel says, and, like the apostles, follow Christ. Amen.

Sunday after the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

2011-09-17T07:34:00.001-07:00

On the day we remember the Cross, we must pay particular attention to what Divine Love is. God so loved the world that He gave His Only-Begotten Son unto death, so that no-one, no-one should be forgotten and left aside.

But if that is true, how should we look at one another and treat one another? If each of us is so meaningful to God, if He loves him to such an extent that His life is given, His death is accepted - how should we treat our neighbor?! There are people whom we love in a natural way, who are akin to us in mind, in emotion, in so many ways - but is that love? Does that mean that we love this person as the most precious person in the eyes of God and the most precious person in my eyes, because I want to be with God, share His thoughts, His attitude to life?

And how many there are whom we treat with indifference: we wish them no evil - they don’t exist for us! Let us look around, here, in this congregation, now and week after week, and ask ourselves, “What does this person mean to me?” - Nothing; just someone who attends the same church, who believes in the same God, who receives the same communion - and we forget that those who have received this same communion have become part of the body of Christ, that God Himself lives in them, and that we should turn to them, look at them and see in them the temples of the Holy Spirit, an extension of the Incarnation.

Let us ask ourselves severe, pertinent questions about the way in which we treat our neighbor and we see our neighbor. Let us devote a whole week perhaps to thinking of one person after the other and ask ourselves, ‘Is there any love in me for this person?’ Not a sentimental love, but the kind of love which in the light of God makes this person precious, - precious to the point that I should be prepared, ultimately, yes, to give my life for this person. This is not asked day after day, but what is asked is that we should give some warmth, some compassion, some understanding, some recognition to the existence of this person. And when we come to confession next week, let us bring that, among other things, to God: does my neighbor exist for me? Who is he to me? To God he is everything; if he is nothing to me, where do I stand before God? Amen.

- Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom)

THE LEGEND OF THE TREE OF THE CROSS

2011-09-17T07:19:00.000-07:00

The Tree of the Holy Cross and the site where it grew are sanctified in ecclesiastical sources. In legends and ancient tradition they are linked back to the biblical patriarch Abraham or earlier still to Seth, the son of Adam, planting a twig by his father’s tomb.

The legend recounts that the three Angels who visited Abraham (Genesis 18) left him their staffs before proceeding to Sodom. After Lot sinned with his daughters at Sodom, he confessed to Abraham who instructed him to plant the staffs in the environs of Jerusalem and give them water from the Jordan River – their blossoming would signify that God accepted his penance.

Lot planted the staffs in the valley outside Jerusalem where the Monastery of the Cross stands today. His unceasing attempts to haul water from the Jordan were stymied by Satan for 40 years before he finally managed to water the staffs, and they immediately blossomed and grew into a triplet pine/cypress/cedar Tree. During King Solomon’s reign, the Tree was felled for timber in the building of the Judaic Temple, however, the beams would fit nowhere and were cast aside as cursed – the very ones that would make Jesus Christ’s Cross in later times.

The Fathers Speak…

Abba John used to say that the saints are like a group of trees, each bearing different fruit, but all watered from the same source. The practices of one saint differ from those of another, but it is the same Spirit that works in all of them.

- The Desert Fathers

Blessed is the one who knows his own weakness, because awareness of this becomes for him the foundation and beginning of all that is good and beautiful. Love sinners but hate their works; and do not despise them for their faults, lest you also be tempted.

- St. Isaac the Syrian

Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

2011-08-27T18:41:00.000-07:00

In today’s Gospel Christ tells us about a man who owed a vast sum of money to his overlord but had no means of repaying and his lord forgave him all because he had pity on him. After leaving his overlord’s presence this man met another who owed him a small amount, and began demanding payment without mercy. Hearing this the overlord said: I forgave you your enormous debt, so how could you not forgive your debtor his small indebtedness? In the same way we expect that through one word of God’s mercy, the gates of eternal life will be opened for us, yet we close these very doors - no, the small doors of this temporal life in the face of another person. What can we hope for?

The Gospel says in another place: with what measure you measure it shall be measured unto you. In the Beatitudes it says: blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy, and in the Lord’s Prayer: forgive us as we forgive. How simple it all seems, and yet how difficult we find it. It would be simple if our hearts responded to sorrow, to need; it is difficult because our hearts are silent. But why is this so? May it not be because when someone behaves badly we always think he must be a bad man, without realizing that often the man so much wants to be good, so much wants every word of his to be pure, his thoughts and his heart pure, his actions worthy ones, but he simply has not the strength, he is enmeshed by old habits, by the pressures of his environment, by false shame and so many other things. And he continues to act wrongly; but we could disentangle him. We could look at him as God looks at him, with pity, as one might look at a sick man dying of a disease that could be cured if only he were given the right treatment.

And each one of us could do what is necessary for someone. Look at a man and pity him for being wicked, angry, vengeful, and bad in one way or another. Have pity on him and turn the bright side of your soul towards him, tell him that his actions and his words will not deceive you, however wicked they may be, because you know that he is an image, an icon of God, besmirched and disfigured, and yet in him you bow down to God, and love him as a brother. To do this may cost you a great deal, but if you can do it once or twice and see how a person changes because you have faith in him, because you have rested God’s hope on him, what a world we should live in - a world of mutual trust.

- Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom)

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

2011-08-13T06:46:00.000-07:00

And they cried out for fear. But immediately He spoke to them, saying “Take heart, it is I; have no fear.”

The Sea of Galilee is actually a rather small lake (only thirteen by eight miles) which is almost completely surrounded by mountains. When the northern winds are funneled through the mountain peaks, they sweep violently across the lake, causing fierce waves. It was in the midst of such a violent storm that Christ Our Savior manifested His power to the disciples by walking on the water.

Just prior to this event, Jesus had performed the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. One would think that the disciples, having just seen this demonstration of Jesus’ power, would have been confident that Jesus surely could save them from the fury of the storm. Like them, we too tend to forget or misunderstand the significance of Jesus’ work in our lives.

In this incident, Peter’s faith was both tested and strengthened; he experienced the trials and growth of a true disciple of Christ. Having seen the power of Our Lord’s words and actions, Peter put his faith in him and began to walk across the waves toward Jesus (Matthew 14:29).

By stepping out of the boat at the Lord’s invitation, Peter demonstrated at least some degree of realization that Jesus was the Messiah. Even when his faith faltered and he began to sink, it was still to Jesus that he cried out: “Lord, save me” (Matthew 14:30). After the Lord had returned Peter to the safety of the boat, all the disciples worshipped Jesus in awe saying, “Truly you are the Son of God” (Matthew 14:33).

Day after day, we are confronted with situations which put our faith in the Son of God to the test. Perhaps there has been a sudden death in the family, an unexpected financial burden, or some other crisis in the family that seems too hard to bear. At times like these, our faith may falter; we can doubt that God cares for us or even that he exists. Yet it is in these very situations that our faith can be strengthened by calling out to Christ Our Savior.

Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

2011-08-06T10:06:00.001-07:00

We constantly read about Christ’s miracles in the Holy Gospels, and we ask ourselves, “why is it that such things were possible in those days, and yet we see so few miracles in our own day?”

The first is that we do not see the miracles that surround us; we take everything for granted, as completely natural. We receive all the good things from the hand of God as though they were normal, and we no longer see that life is a wonderful, joyful miracle, that God wanted to create us, that He called us from non-being into being, laid open before us the whole miracle of existence. And what about those miracles that are even less obvious to us, like health, like peace, like friendship, like love? They are all pure miracles - you cannot buy them, you cannot force anyone to give you his heart; and yet all around us there are so many hearts open to each other, so much friendship, so much love. And our physical existence which we consider so natural - is not that a miracle?

Today we read that the people were in need, that the apostles noticed this need and spoke to the Lord about it. And the Lord said: “It is up to you to relieve this need, to feed these hungry people”. “How?” they said, “we have only two fishes and five loaves; can that possibly be enough for such a crowd?” And Christ blessed those fish and those loaves and it was enough for the crowd.

The Lord urges upon His disciples is, “give everything that you have, and we shall be able to feed them all.” The disciples did not leave aside some fish and some bread for themselves; they gave it all to the Lord. And because they gave everything, the Kingdom of God, the kingdom of love, the kingdom where God can act freely and unrestrained, was established and all were satisfied. This call is addressed to us also: when we see want, let us give all, and all will be well.

On this Sunday let us consider this, for every one of God’s miracles was introduced, and so to speak conditioned, by the participation of all. It depends on us that the Kingdom which we pray and long for should be established on earth, that Kingdom which we are called on to build together with God and in His name. Amen.

ON DRAWING CLOSER TO GOD

2011-08-04T08:55:00.000-07:00

Many hundreds of years ago a very holy old man lived in a desert. One day people came to him and said, “Father, teach us, how can we come closer to God while we live in the world?” The old man drew a circle in the sand at his feet. “This circle is the world,” he said “and here in the center of it is God. Each one of us lives in the world,” and he made dots around the edge of the circle. “As we try to come closer to God, we draw closer to each other and this is the only way in which we can come closer to God. Remember it.”

- The Teaching of St. Dorotheos of Gaza

WHY DO WE WEAR A CROSS?

2011-07-29T08:28:00.000-07:00

Procession of the Life-giving Cross of Our Lord
August 1

In pre-Christian times, the Cross was the instrument of a shameful and horrible death. The Romans invented it and used it in order to intimidate the peoples whom they had subjugated. Everyone looked on this instrument of execution the shameful Cross with horror.

But a remarkable change took place with respect to the Cross after Our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified on it. The Lord suffered and died on the Cross. He took horrible sufferings upon Himself in order to save us from sins. The Cross received great glory, such as no other object made by the hands of man has possessed. The Cross became the sign of our salvation, through which we receive the power of God the grace of God.

The Cross is the first and greatest Christian sacred object. When the priest sanctifies water, he immerses the Cross in it, and the water becomes holy. When we wear the Cross on our chest, our body constantly touches it, and from this touch it, too, is sanctified. The Cross that we wear protects us from danger.

During the Soviet Union, believing people would wear a Cross at great risk, since there could be much un-pleasantness from the godless for this. But these remarkable people were not afraid to confess their faith, and they would fearlessly wear a Cross. One ought not to look upon the Cross as some kind of jewelry like a bracelet or brooch. The Cross must adorn our soul and not our clothing, and must constantly remind us that we are Christians, called to live according to our faith, which is founded on the Savior’s sufferings on the Cross.

On Healing

2011-07-29T08:17:00.000-07:00

At that time, as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.”

Again and again we hear in the Gospel the story of men or women who were healed of their illnesses, and it seems so simple in the Gospel: there is a need, and God meets it. Why is it then — we ask ourselves — that it does not happen to each of us? Each of us is in need of physical healing and of the healing of our soul. And yet, only a few are healed — why? What we miss in the reading of the Gospel is that Christ did not heal people indiscriminately. One person in a crowd was healed; many, who were also sick in body or soul, were not. That comes from the fact that, in order to receive the grace of God, so that it acts in us unto the healing of soul or body, or both, we must be open to God — not to the healing, but to God.
Illness is something which we so often wish to banish from our experience, not only because it hampers our life, not only because it is accompanied by pain, but also — I suspect even more — because it reminds us of our frailty, it speaks to us of our mortality.
What can we do then? We must ask ourselves attentive questions, and when we come to God asking Him to heal us, we must first prepare ourselves to be healed. To be healed means not just to be made whole with a view to going back to the kind of life which we had before, it means being made whole in order to start a new life, as though we had become aware that we had died in the healing act of God, aware that all that was the old man in us, this body of corruption of which St. Paul speaks, must go in order for the new man to live.
Are we capable of receiving healing? Are we willing to take upon ourselves the responsibility of being made new in order to enter, again and again, into the world in which we live, with a message of newness — to be light, to be salt, to be joy, to be hope and faith and love, to be surrendered to God.
Let us reflect on it, because we all are sick in one way or another; we all are frail, all are weak, all are incapable of living to the full, even the life which is offered us on earth. Let us reflect on it, and become capable of opening ourselves to God in such a way that He may work His miracle of healing, make us new — but in order for us to bring our newness, indeed God’s newness, into the world in which we live. Amen.

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

2011-07-23T08:20:00.000-07:00

On this Sunday a man was brought to the Lord Jesus Christ, paralyzed, by four of his
friends. And Christ, seeing their faith, said to him that he could be healed. There are two things in this story which I would like you to think about. The one is that this man was ill, he was in need; perhaps he was unable either to express his need, or to express the faith that he had in the possibility of healing; but his friends had faith: faith in Christ, faith in His power to heal, to make whole. And they took this man and brought him to the Lord.

But their faith would not have been sufficient; many were paralyzed, many were sick who did not find friends who would bring them to the healer. It is not only their faith in Christ; it is also their love to their friend that prompted them to act. And again, it is because this man, in the years when he was whole, was able to call out love, friendship, devotion, faithfulness in their hearts that in the hour of need they came to his rescue.

Here are two lessons for us. The one is that we can bring forth the needs of people - physical, spiritual and other needs; we can bring forth their needs to God if we have faith in His healing power, and our faith can open the gates of salvation for those who perhaps have not enough faith, who might not even be able to say, ‘I believe, Lord, help my unbelief - those who doubt, those who hesitate, those who are uncertain that we can bring them to the Lord. But this is possible only if the person in need has created in us, called out in us love; a love so personal, so faithful that we prove capable of acting. Or perhaps, if our life in Christ is deep enough that God has sawn into our hearts so much of His own compassion, of His own love that we can turn to the unknown, turn to whom we have never heard of, prompted by nothing but by his or her need, and bring him or her to God unto salvation, unto healing.

We must remember both the necessity for us to become capable of love and capable of calling out love around us. And also we must learn to have the daring of faith when we see need around us, and bring it to the Only One who can resolve it, who can heal, Who can make whole not only bodies, and minds, and souls, but the complex relationship between people. Here is a calling, here is a vocation for us; let us pay attention to what God says to us in this Gospel, in this Good News of the power of love, divine and human, and the power of faith to which God’s love and mercy responds. Amen.

DON’T BLACKMAIL GOD!

2011-07-23T08:18:00.000-07:00

- Elder Porphyrios (+1991)

We shouldn’t blackmail God with our prayers. We shouldn’t ask God to release us from something, from an illness, for example, or to solve our problems, but we should ask for strength and support from Him to bear what we have to bear. Just as He knocks discreetly at the door of our soul, so we should ask discreetly for what we desire, and if the Lord does not respond, we should cease to ask. When God does not give us something that we ask for insistently, then He has His reasons. God, too, has His “secrets.” Since we believe in His good providence, since we believe that He knows everything about our lives, and that He always desires what is good, why should we not trust Him?

Let us pray naturally and gently, without forcing ourself and without passion. We know that past, present and future are all known, “open and laid bare” before God. As St. Paul says, “Before Him no creature is hidden, but all are open and laid bare to His eyes.” We should not insist; such persistence does harm instead of good. We shouldn’t continue relentlessly in order to acquire what we want; rather, we should leave things to the will of God. Because the more we pursue something, the more it runs away from us. So what is required is patience, faith and composure. And if we forget it, the Lord never forgets; and if it is for our good, He will give us what we need, when we need it.

On Forgiveness

A brother who was insulted by another brother came to Abba Sisoes, and said to him: “I was hurt by my brother, and I want to avenge myself”.

Abba Sisoes tried to console him and said: “Don’t do that, my child. Rather leave vengeance to God”. But he said: “I will not quit until I avenge myself”.

Then Abba said: “Let us pray, brother; and standing up, he said: “Our Father... forgive us our trespasses as we forgive NOT those who trespass against us...”

Hearing these words, the brother fell at the feet of the Abba and said: “I am not going to fight with my brother any more. Forgive me, Abba.”

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

2011-07-16T13:48:00.000-07:00

When He reached the region of the Gadarenes on the other side, two men came to meet Him from among the tombs; they were possessed by demons, and so violent that no one dared pass that way.

One day a five year old boy climbed onto an eight ton road roller left idling near his home where some highway construction was being done. He pressed the buttons and pulled the levers like he saw the regular driver do. The machine started rolling and rolled over five automobiles before someone was able to get it under control. The boy was able to start the huge piece of equipment but he could not control it or stop it.

Sometimes our own lives are like that. We know how to start, but we can’t stop. We start out with freedom of choice, but we continue to choose the wrong thing until it is out of control and we cannot stop it. Any drug addict will tell you he or she would give anything to be freed of his or her habit which has him or her “hooked”. In sober moments the alcoholic hates himself for the hell that he creates in his home, but his bottle is like a chain from which he cannot break loose. So it is with the sex pervert, the compulsive gambler, the person married to his work, and so many others chained and bedeviled like the two men in today’s gospel story (Matt. 8:28-34). They could not control themselves. They were held captive and looked for freedom. We pray for people like that in every Divine Liturgy: “For the sick, the suffering, the captive, for their health and salvation.”

Our Lord freed those two unfortunate men from the terrible possession tormenting them. Jesus Christ today still has that power to destroy the demoniac in anyone. What no human being can do, Christ can. No one could set an alcoholic free until one day fifty some years ago, one alcoholic turned to Christ and went on the establish Alcoholics Anonymous. Today hundreds of thousands of alcoholics have been set free by God through A.A. There are similar kinds of groups working now with drug addicts. The names of the devils may not be the same as Our Lord exorcized in today’s gospel, but the power of Christ is greater than any demon can claim over a human being. No matter what kind of bedevilment may threaten our own lives, we have available to us the saving power of Jesus Christ if we want it and ask for it.

- by Msgr. John T. Sekellick, J.C.L.

Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

2011-07-09T06:26:00.000-07:00

The centurion in today’s Gospel reading receives a great compliment from Our Lord. He said: “"Truly, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” Why? Because, in this army officer we see examples of three virtues in action – not just in theory – but in action. First of all the centurion was a man of great compassion. Remember at the time of Our Lord the Romans practiced slavery and had a reputation for being cruel to slaves.
In this culture a centurion could have easily let a servant die and buy another. After all they were ONLY property. However, he was concerned about his servant. This shows compassion.

The second virtue we find in the centurion is his great faith. This was the virtue Jesus noticed up front. He said, “Speak only the word and my servant shall be healed.” The centurion was not even Jewish. He probably worshipped all the pagan Roman gods. He most probably didn’t know anything about Jewish faith and the longing for the Messiah and Savior. He probably didn’t believe in only one God. Also he was a man of social standing so for him to go to Jesus, this poor itinerant preacher of no social standing, was a tremendous act of faith.

The third virtue is one of humility. This is not a popular virtue in our day at all. In our “me first” generation we see pride, stubbornness and selfishness high on the list. Pride involves putting other things before God, his Church and others. Many people operate like this: “I’ll go to church ONLY if it fits my schedule; OR only if I don’t have a ball game, a trip or something “MORE” important. Last week we heard the Gospel, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.” Our commitment to Christ and His Church cannot be a hobby or a pastime. What is the first of the Ten Commandments? “I am the Lord Your God. You shall not have strange gods before me.” God wants first place or no place! The virtue of humility involves doing God’s will even when I feel like it or not or even when something else looks more exciting to do. We can learn so many things from this centurion and this Gospel reading.

On this Sunday ask yourself this: If I were put in front of Christ today or encountered Him like the centurion did, what would He say? What would my Lord say about me?

What is the Significance of Liturgical Colors

2011-07-09T06:24:00.000-07:00

Anyone who has at least once attended a Divine Service of the Eastern Church, has most likely noticed the beauty and festivity of the vestments. The diversity of colors is an inalienable part of the Liturgical - Church symbolism, a way of affecting those praying. Bright and radiant vestments convey the joy and exultation of God’s beauty and greatness, while dark vestments instill within us a sense of repented to return to God.

Since ancient times, the Liturgical books have offered flexibility in Liturgical color, only specifying whether the vestments worn for a particular feast or season should be light or dark. This has led to various local practices over the years. In the contemporary practice common to many parishes, there are six basic color groups.

1. White is used for Pascha and Transfiguration. In some jurisdictions it is also used for the Nativity, Theophany and Ascension.

2. Gold is used on the Nativity of Our Lord and when no other color is called for as it conveys the riches and glory of God’s kingdom.

3. Dark Red or Purple is used for the Great Fast – Lent.

4. Green is used for Pentecost and monastic saints. In some jurisdictions it is also used on Palm Sunday.

5. Blue is used for the Feasts of the Mother of God.

6. Red is used for the Feast of the Holy Cross, Beheading of St. John the Baptist, martyr saints and during the Nativity Fast (Philip’s Fast).

The color of the Feast is worn from the Vigil the night before the Feast Day until the leave-taking of the Feast, the final day of the festal season. The length of these post-feasts vary, and are given in the Liturgical calendar and rubrics.

Third Sunday After Pentecost

2011-07-02T07:07:00.000-07:00

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?In today’s Gospel reading Christ urges us not to be anxious about our lives and bodies - what we shall eat, drink, or wear. But how can this be, if we must eat and drink, and clothe ourselves? Are we not earthly beings, who are bound by laws of biological existence?
Christ came to restore our nature, to lift us out of the fallen state, and to give a new and original order to our lives. Our spirit must now find nourishment in God, the source of being; our soul must be inspired by things divine, even as the spirit draws it to God; even our bodies must not live “by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Mt 4:4)
Christ is not calling us to stop eating - He Himself ate and drank, and His disciples did the same; He is not calling us to disregard our clothing - He Himself wore a robe made for Him by His Most Pure Mother. Christ is not calling us to reject our life, but to sanctify it: to bring every aspect of our life to the service of the kingdom, to remember that the goal of Christian life is THEOSIS - a union with Christ and ascension of our nature to the right side of the Father, not SHOP - OSIS - a union with groceries and ascension to the nearest shopping mall.
“Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well” (Mt. 6:33). Note that Christ is saying that these things will be yours as well. God knows that we need all these things. He placed us in this world, and He blesses the labor of our hands. But let us not be like the man to whom God said “Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” (Luke 12:20). Let us instead firmly bind our hearts to heaven by making it: heaven - our treasure. Only such a life is pleasing in God’s sight, because only such a life is truly life, life in the fullness of being and life abundant (John 10:10). Amen.

Second Sunday after Pentecost

2011-06-25T08:20:00.000-07:00

“Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.

Matthew 4:19

Jesus called all types of people. Andrew was a simple fisherman like his brother Peter. Andrew was present when John the Baptist proclaimed that Jesus was “the Lamb of God” and they followed Jesus to learn more about Him. After spending the day with the Lord, Andrew told his brother Peter: “We have found the Messiah” (John 1:41). Tradition has it that perhaps John was the unnamed disciple with Andrew during his first encounter with Jesus (John 1:35). These two men were actively searching for God and responded to Jesus’ call with enthusiasm and obedience.

The first disciples were not extraordinary people. The original twelve included several fishermen, a tax collector, and at least one who was a political activist. The power of Jesus transformed all but one into men whose lives were dedicated to the preaching of the Gospel and the proclamation of the message of salvation to all peoples. Old prejudices, divisions, and ways of thinking were laid aside as they listened to the Lord and followed Him.

Jesus calls us to serve Him in this same way. He calls us just as we are - faults, strengths and weaknesses notwithstanding - to a life of holiness. “We have been buried with Him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).

Perhaps during these upcoming days we can go to our Church or to a quiet place in our homes and make a short retreat with the Lord to examine our lives. How have we responded to the call of Jesus over the year just passed? If we see that we have fallen short of the Lord’s plan for us, let us repent and know the forgiveness of Christ. If we see areas where we have grown stronger, let us try to make further progress in them this year. God wants to work marvelous things in our lives because He loves us and is faithful to His promises. We, in turn, can offer our lives to Him as we announce to the world: “We have found the Messiah!” (John 1:41).

Sunday Of All Saints

2011-06-18T07:17:00.000-07:00

On this Sunday of All the Saints I encourage you to just look around you at all the icons we have in our Holy Church and you will see what? Martyrs, confessors, ascetics, educated people, simple people, rich, poor, bishops, monastics, lay people. This is what we call the Heavenly Church. She is all-embracing, and she is filled up by the earthly, Militant Church. There is room for each of us there. This is what today’s Apostle reading tells us: “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb. 12:1-2).
Just think: all of these saints were live people like us. And like us, all of them were different people; and their paths were different. But all of them, absolutely all, had three qualities which they all possessed identically. These qualities are pointed out to us in today’s Gospel reading. They are obligatory for everyone, and this means for us, too; we cannot escape them. Here they are: ‘Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father, who is in heaven” (Mt. 10:32). This is the first thing. Don’t you feel how important this is for us modern day people? Why, the whole world around us as if asks us: “Are you Christian or one of ours?” We cannot leave this question unanswered. In our speech, our actions, our thoughts and feelings (for our feelings are somehow passed on to the others), we must answer loud and firm: “Yes, I am a Christian!”

Here is the second: “He that loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he that loves son or daughter more than Me, is not worthy of Me” (Mt. 10:37). Here and now, the Lord demands from you and me this all-consuming love - to love Him more than everyone and everything. And only through this love for Him will we really be able to love our relatives, strangers, and even our enemies.

Finally the third: “And he that takes not his cross, and follows after Me, is not worthy of Me” (Mt. 10:38). This instance does not even require explanation. Each of us has his own sorrows and difficulties in life; they are personal for each of us. It is difficult, burdensome, but such is our life; and this means, such is the Will of God for us. Let us thank the Lord even for this cross! Without it we cannot be saved. And the Lord wants all of us to be saved, and to be united into one Triumph with all the Saints, whom we are glorifying today. Amen.

Pentecost Homily

2011-06-15T09:20:00.000-07:00

Now aviliable on our parish website.

Emergency Procedure - Use Often

2011-06-15T09:06:00.000-07:00

PENTECOST – THE DESCENT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ON THE APOSTLES

2011-06-10T10:43:00.001-07:00

When the Most High came down and confused the tongues, He divided the nations; but when He distributed the tongues of fire, He called all to unity. Therefore, with one voice, we glorify the all-holy Spirit!

The tenth day after the Ascension of Jesus Christ was the fiftieth day after the Resurrection of Christ. It was the Jews' great feast of Pentecost, which commemorated the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai.

All the Apostles, the Mother of God, and the other Disciples of Christ and other of the faithful, were all together in one room in Jerusalem.
It was the third hour of the day by the Hebrew reckoning of hours, according to our system – nine o'clock in the morning. Suddenly a sound came from Heaven, like a rush of a mighty wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. There descended on them tongues that looked like fire, which rested on each one of them. There were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, previously unknown to them. Thus the Holy Spirit, according to the promise of the Savior, descended on the apostles in the form of tongues of fire, as a sign that He gave the apostles the ability and zeal to preach the teachings of Christ to all peoples. He descended in the form of fire as a sign of the power to cleanse sins, to sanctify and warm souls.

From the day of the descent of the Holy Spirit the Christian faith quickly spread with the help of God, and the number of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ multiplied. Instructed by the Holy Spirit, the apostles preached boldly to all about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, about His suffering for us and resurrection from the dead. The Lord helped them with many great miracles which were performed by the apostles in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. At first the apostles preached to the Jews, and then dispersed to various countries to preach to all the people. To perform the sacraments and to preach Christianity the apostles established, by the laying on of hands, bishops, presbyters, and deacons. This grace of the Holy Spirit, which was clearly conferred on the apostles in the form of tongues of fire, is now conferred in our Holy Church invisibly in its sacraments, through the successors to the apostles, the pastors of the Church, its bishops and priests.

10 TIPS FOR HOLY WEEK AND PASCHA

2011-04-17T18:40:00.001-07:00

1. Make participation at the Divine Services for Holy Week and Pacha a priority.

2. In our homes we should strive to "keep out the world" and enter into the peace, solemnity, and theology of the events of the last days of Our Lord.

3. Make sure to read the last chapters of the Holy Gospels that speak of the Passion, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Christ.

4. If you are visiting another parish and wish to receive Holy Communion, make sure that the priest knows who you are and that you are prepared. This should be done in advance by phone, email, or any other way.

5. Last year's palms and willow branches should be placed outside in an area to decay where they will not be disturbed. They are holy and should not be simply thrown out with the garbage.

6. On Good Friday or Pascha before venerating Holy Objects, such as the Cross, Icons, or the Holy Shroud-Plashchanytsia, make sure to wipe off your lipstick or chap-stick. Reminder: we do not kiss the face of Our Lord, His Mother, or the Saints; instead kiss the hands or feet.

7. If you haven't yet made your Confession during the Great Fast-Lent, try to make it today on Palm Sunday or during Holy Week.

8. Try to make amends with those we may be upset with or those who are upset with us, so that on Pascha-Easter we can joyfully sing, "Let us call brothers, even those that hate us, and forgive all by the Resurrection!"

9. Remember to prepare and to bring an Easter basket to be blessed on the Feast of the Resurrection. Let us share in the joy of the Lord's Resurrection with fellowship and love.

10. During Paschal Season, sing or read the Troparion "Christ is Risen-Христос Воскрес" together with your "normal" morning and evening prayers. Let the joy of praising the Lord's Resurrection accompany you throughout Bright Week, the Paschal season, and your whole life.

Fifth Sunday of the Great Fast

2011-04-06T07:38:00.001-07:00

The story of Mary of Egypt is remembered and cherished throughout Christendom, east and west. In our Holy Church, however, we remember her twice each year. The first time, her feast day on April 1^st, is our gift to her: we remember what she did, who she was, and who she became. The second time, today on the Fifth Sunday of the Great Fast-Lent, is her gift to us: the gift of her story at the moment when we ourselves must enter the inner desert of our hearts. For what does Lent mean for us? It is that time when we must face ourselves, and face ourselves in the presence of God. Who are we? What do we live for? We fast, pray, repent, and confess. It is hard and we get lost in the wilderness. And we cannot escape the truth of who we are. At this point in Lent, we prepare for Holy Week. And before we can rejoice, we must complete our full sojourn in the desert.

The Life of St. Mary teaches us that the values of the Church are quite different from those of the world. She went out into the desert and had nothing, no friends, no home, no possessions, no clothes and hardly any food and drink. The world looked for pleasure; the satisfaction of the senses, money and power, but St. Mary was moneyless and powerless in the world. Today's Gospel reading confirms the choice of Mary of Egypt, for it says that those who wish to be great must be servants. This is upside down from all the ways of this world. But our Lord preached this and like Him our venerable mother Mary lived this.

Indeed, as we have already said, the Church calls our venerable mother Mary "the greatest of saints". The use of this word "great" may surprise us. In everyday life, we use "great" in other meanings. The world speaks of "great politicians", "a great car", "and a great amount of money". But the Church calls Mary of Egypt "great" and a thousand and a half years after she lived we ask for her prayers, but not for those of any politician or film-star or sportsman. Let us think more carefully before next we utter this word "great".

And as this last week of the Great Fast - Lent begins; let us also ponder on the words of the Mother of God, which led Mary of Egypt to her salvation through repentance and her greatness: "If you cross the Jordan, you will find true peace". These mysterious words are today also addressed to each of us; the interpretation of their mystery is open to the souls of each of us, but only if we ask the Mother of God and our venerable mother Mary of Egypt to guide us. And then we shall find our own "entry into Jerusalem".

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CROSS ITSELF?

2011-03-24T18:58:00.001-07:00

St. Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem, in a letter written around 350 AD to Emperor Constantius, the son of Constantine the Great, states that the true Cross was found in Jerusalem during the reign of Constantine. From the beginning of the fifth century, church writers and historians attribute the finding of the true Cross to St. Helena, the mother of St. Constantine. In his Catechetical theological discourses which St. Cyril delivered in Jerusalem beginning in 347 AD, he commonly mentions the sacred Cross. St. Cyril briefly describes a tradition that was followed in Jerusalem on the morning of Holy Friday. The bishop, the clergy and the faithful would gather in the Chapel of the Cross which had been constructed by Constantine near Golgotha, and there they would venerate a large relic of the true Cross which was kept in a beautiful silver and gold reliquary.

St. Cyril is the first writer to comment on the fact that relics of the true Cross had been distributed all over the world. By the beginning of the fifth century, fragments of the true Cross were found in churches, monasteries and even in homes. In fact, St. John Chrysostom (d. 407) observed that many individuals in his day wore small gold reliquaries containing particles of the Cross around their necks. The expression "knock on wood" comes from the time Christians touched their reliquary crosses in times of trouble.

A reflection from St. Nikolai Velimirovich

Even in His pain on the Cross, the Lord Jesus did not condemn sinners but offered pardon to His Father for their sins saying, "They know not what they do!" (St. Luke 23:34). Let us not judge anyone so that we will not be judged. For no one is certain that before his death he will not commit the same sin by which he condemns his brother. Saint Anastasius of Sinai teaches, "Even if you see someone sinning, do not judge him for you do not know what the end of his life will be like. The thief, crucified with Christ, entered Paradise and the Apostle Judas went to Hell. Even if you see someone sinning, bear in mind that you do not know his good works. For many have sinned openly and repented in secret; we see their sins, but we do not know their repentance. That is why, brethren, let us not judge anyone so that we will not be judged."

Second Sunday of the Great Fast

2011-03-16T12:40:00.001-07:00

On this Lenten journey we have before us a man who is paralyzed, and who has friends that care for him and bring him to the Lord to be healed. He has four friends that will take him on his bed, and want to bring him to Christ. But as we read in the Gospel reading from the holy evangelist Mark 2: 1-12 because of the press (the crowd of people), he couldn't get to Jesus.

What is this press? This "press" is often mentioned in other healings; this press is the obstacles that we encounter in our Christian life. We encounter great obstacles. Now in the case of this man who was paralyzed, he wouldn't have the strength to press through a group of people on his own, and even with help it would be immensely difficult; how can you carry a stretcher through a huge crowd of people? It is not possible. So what did they do? They overcame the press by climbing onto the roof.

A roof is high above all things. The scripture uses this analogy just as it uses mountains sometimes, to say that this is how we should be in our Christian life. We should look up, we should be thinking of spiritual things, not of carnal things, not of just daily things, and we should elevate our mind - to contemplate pure things, and things that God wishes us to know. These people got up on the roof. So of course it was a practical act to get up on the roof, so that they could break the roof tiles and let him down, and it was rather ingenious actually. But it is also an indication of how we should be in our lives.

So how do we get past the press, how do we get past the difficulties we face in our lives? Get up on the roof. Not just get up on the roof, but there must be labor, both physical and spiritual involved in the Christian life. One of the greatest heresies of all time that we face in our modern society is that the Christian life can be fought without labor, that salvation can be gathered and garnered without labor. This is the great heresy of our age — it has been around now for quite some time — that we can actually be saved without labor. The answer to that is very clear: Oh NO! It takes great labor on our part to be saved; it takes effort for us to push by the press; it takes effort for us to get on the roof, to elevate our minds to things above and not to things below. May this Lenten journey make us stronger in our efforts to face the "press", the daily difficulties in life that we encounter. Amen.

Venerable father Xenophon and Venerable mother Maria – January 26

2011-01-25T17:48:00.001-08:00

Saint Xenophon, his wife Maria, and their sons Arcadius and John, were noted citizens of Constantinople and lived in the fifth century. Despite their riches and position, they distinguished themselves by their simplicity of soul and goodness of heart. Wishing to give their sons John and Arcadius a more complete education, they sent them off to the Phoenician city of Beirut.

By divine Providence the ship on which both brothers sailed was wrecked. The waves tossed the brothers ashore at different places. Grieved at being separated, the brothers dedicated themselves to God and became monks. For a long time the parents had no news of their children and presumed them to be dead.

Xenophon, however, already quite old, maintained a firm hope in the Lord and consoled his wife Maria, telling her not to be sad, but to believe that the Lord watched over their children. After several years the couple made a pilgrimage to the holy places, and at Jerusalem they met their sons, living in asceticism at different monasteries. The joyful parents gave thanks to the Lord for reuniting the family.

The parents Xenophon and Maria went to separate monasteries and dedicated themselves to God. The monks Arcadius and John, having taken leave of their parents, went out into the wilderness, where after long ascetic toil they were glorified by gifts of wonderworking and discernment. Our venerable father Xenophon and his wife Maria, laboring in silence and strict fasting, also received from God the gift of wonderworking.

"No matter where you are, you can set up your sanctuary. Just have pure intentions and neither the place, nor the time will be an obstacle, even without kneeling down, striking your chest or raising your arms to heaven. As long as your mind is fervently concentrated you are totally composed for prayer. God is not troubled by any place. He only requires a clear and fervent mind and a soul desiring prudence."

Our venerable father Anthony the Great

2011-01-13T06:26:00.001-08:00

Our venerable father Anthony the Great

January 17

Saint Anthony, the Father of monks, was born in Egypt in 251 of pious parents who departed this life while he was yet young. On hearing the words of the Gospel: "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell what thou hast, and give to the poor" (Matt. 19:21), he immediately put it into action. Distributing to the poor all he had, and fleeing from all the turmoil of the world, he departed to the desert. The manifold temptations he endured continually for the span of twenty years are incredible. His ascetic struggles by day and by night, whereby he mortified the uprisings of the passions and attained to the height of dispassion, surpass the bounds of nature; and the report of his deeds of virtue drew such a multitude to follow him that the desert was transformed into a city, while he became, so to speak, the governor, lawgiver, and master-trainer of all the citizens of this newly-formed city.

Saint Anthony began his ascetic life outside his village of Coma in Upper Egypt, studying the ways of the ascetics and holy men there, and perfecting himself in the virtues of each until he surpassed them all. Desiring to increase his labors, he departed into the desert, and finding an abandoned fortress in the mountain, he made his dwelling in it, training himself in extreme fasting, unceasing prayer, and fierce conflicts with the demons. Here he remained in prayer and solitude for about twenty years. Saint Athanasius the Great, who knew him personally and wrote his life, says that he came forth from that fortress "initiated in the mysteries and filled with the Spirit of God." Afterwards, because of the press of the faithful, who deprived him of his solitude, he was enlightened by God to journey with certain Bedouins, until he came to a mountain in the desert near the Red Sea, where he passed the remaining part of his life. Becoming an example of virtue and a rule for monastics, he reposed on January 17 in the year 356, having lived altogether some 105 years.

A man asked abbot Antony, "What shall I keep, that I may please God?" Anthony said: "Wherever you go, have God ever before your eyes. In whatever you do, hold by the example of the Holy Scriptures; and in whatever place you abide, don't be swift to leave [out of restlessness]. These three things keep, and you will be saved."

Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

2010-10-09T11:31:00.001-07:00

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

2010-09-25T07:22:00.001-07:00

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

2010-09-10T17:24:00.001-07:00

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

2010-09-04T08:51:00.001-07:00

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

2010-08-28T05:18:00.001-07:00

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….

2010-08-21T06:49:00.001-07:00

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?

2010-08-18T12:35:00.001-07:00

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

2010-05-28T18:32:00.001-07:00

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

2010-05-22T18:50:00.001-07:00

"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?

2010-05-14T19:58:00.001-07:00

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

2010-05-10T05:31:00.001-07:00

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

2010-05-01T18:50:00.001-07:00

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…

2010-04-17T06:29:00.001-07:00

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

2010-04-11T20:30:00.001-07:00

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...

2010-04-11T20:19:00.001-07:00

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

2010-04-03T09:13:00.001-07:00

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

2010-03-27T18:33:00.001-07:00

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

2010-03-22T07:19:00.001-07:00

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

2010-03-13T07:52:00.000-08:00

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?

2010-03-09T08:10:00.000-08:00

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.