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.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Third Sunday After Pentecost
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.
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.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Second Sunday after Pentecost
“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).
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).
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Sunday Of All Saints
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.
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.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
PENTECOST – THE DESCENT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ON THE APOSTLES
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.
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