Palm Sunday

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

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

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

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

Mary of Egypt

Fifth Sunday of the Great Fast- Mary of Egypt

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

Why all these Prostrations and Bowing

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

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

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

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

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

How often are we to cross ourselves?

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

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

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