Baptismal Sponsorship: Past and Present

Fr. Lawrence Farley

(With several Baptisms planned for the near future at our parish, as well as several Chrismations in the months to come, we thought that the following article would provide a good reflection on past and present roles of Sponsors (i.e. Godparents) in the life of Christians.)

When infants are brought to the baptismal font, they not only come with parents and friends, but also their sponsors—traditionally in churches of the Russian tradition, a man and a woman. These sponsors have liturgical duties to perform during the service, such as holding the child, and making the responses when the priest requires that the child renounce Satan and unite himself to Christ. But there are other duties as well, which remain after the service is over.

In the classic “Priest’s Guide” as quoted by Archpriest David Abramtsov, we read the following: “The sponsors in Baptism are guarantors pledging to the Church that the baby to be baptized will be brought up in the faith of that Church; therefore they must be members of the Holy Orthodox Catholic Church.” Father David also writes, “Among the other duties of sponsors is the duty of seeing that their godchildren receive Holy Communion frequently, that they attend Sunday School and church regularly, that they learn their prayers and fulfill all the other requirements of the Orthodox Faith.” Sounds good. The only problem is that given our modern North American nuclear family, it is difficult for anyone to promise that their godchildren will fulfill these duties if the parents do not do their bit. And rash promises aside, we should be clear: if the parents do not raise their children in piety and faith, making sure that a living faith is communicated to their offspring, there is precious little that a godparent can do about it. A sponsor can nag, of course, and encourage, and maybe even plead. But the overwhelming lion share of responsibility falls with the parents, and especially with the dad.

The reality is that children learn what is important by observing what their parents do. Grandparents can inspire and influence to some degree, but theirs is a subordinate and supportive role. The parents will model piety for their children (or not), and this will provide the formative effect. Note: the children will learn from what their parents actually do, not just what they say. The parents may say, “Church is very, very important,” but if they do not go to church every week and devoutly receive Holy Communion, and say their private prayers, and pray at meal-times, such exhortations will be recognized by children for the hypocritical clap-trap it is. That is, the exhortations will have no lasting effect. In such a house where the parents do not exercise a living faith, the effect of the godparents’ exhortations and offers will be distinctly minimal. Auntie Sophie and Uncle Walter can be as winning and loving as ever, but their winning love cannot compensate for the poor examples of the parents.

One might be tempted to ask: this being the case, what’s the point of having sponsors? One might begin an answer by looking at how sponsorship functioned in the early Church. In those days, all candidates for baptism had sponsors, even the adults. The pilgrim known to scholars as “Egeria” tells us in her memoirs of her trip to the Holy Land how baptismal sponsorship functioned in Jerusalem in her day. She writes, “On the second day of Lent at the start of the eight weeks, the bishop’s chair is placed in the middle of the Great Church, the Martyrium, the presbyters sit in chairs on either side of him, and all the clergy stand. Then one by one those seeking baptism are brought up, men coming with their fathers and women with their mothers. As they come in one by one, the bishop asks their neighbours questions about them: ‘Is this person leading a good life? Does he respect his parents? Is he a drunkard or a boaster?’ He asks about all the serious human vices. And if his inquiries show him that someone has not committed any of these misdeeds, he himself puts down his name; but if someone is guilty he is told to go away, and the bishop tells him that he is to amend his ways before he may come to the font.” Thus in the early Church the function of the sponsors was to witness to the propriety of the baptism by testifying that the catechumenal candidate was indeed living a Christian life. (Presumably in cases of infant baptism, the issue was whether or not the parents of the infant candidate were living a Christian life.)

At very least then, sponsors function as vestigial witnesses to the nature of Christian discipleship. Baptism is not simply a “get it over with” sort of thing, like a child’s first vaccination. It is the beginning of a life of commitment to Christ and of striving for holiness. The presence of sponsors reveals that something is required of the candidate after the service is all over, and that this requirement is life-long. Baptism is thus like enrollment in school—the process of enrollment is important, but it is essentially meaningless unless one follows it up by actually going to school, attending classes, studying, and taking exams. Enrollment in school looks forward to the day of graduation; baptism looks forward to the day when we die and step into the Kingdom. Auntie Sophie and Uncle Walter stand by as sponsors and point the little candidate to that final and glorious day.

The Church: A Body in Motion

(Sts. Peter and Paul, Evangelism and the Life of the Church)Archpriest Daniel Kovalak

“With what garlands of praise shall we crown Peter and Paul, the greatest among the heralds of the word of God, distinct in their person but one in spirit. The one, the chief ruler of the Apostles; the other who labored more than the rest. Christ our God fittingly crowned them with immortal glory, for He alone possesses great mercy” [Vespers, the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul].

How wonderfully the feast of Saints Peter and Paul (June 29) fits into the liturgical scheme of our Holy Church as yet another manifestation of the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. These two great pillars of the Church offer us significantly more practical wisdom than we imagine. The confession of Peter—that Jesus is “truly the Christ, the Son of the Living God”—is the rock of faith upon which the Church is built. And the perils of Paul, wherein he came to rely totally on the sufficiency of God’s grace, is something for all of us to consider.

But in addition to their individual lives and struggles as recounted in the festal readings, it is their combined witness and testimony from which we can learn a great deal.

We’ve probably all heard of Sir Isaac Newton, the 17th century English mathematician who, among other things, formulated the laws of gravity and motion. In doing so, Newton coined two words to describe the forces of motion: centripetal and centrifugal. Centripetal force is what keeps things down on earth though the planet revolves at incredible speed. Centrifugal force moves things away from a center point—like going around a curve on a roller coaster and your body is forced toward the outside. Can’t we see these ‘forces of motion’ wonderfully illustrated in the persons of Peter and Paul?

Peter, as seen in his epistles, was always encouraging the early Church and Christians in the Roman diaspora to maintain unity within a hostile environment. He instructed Christians to band and keep together, regardless of the distance that separated them, in order to bear witness to Christ. “Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love of the brethren, a tender heart and a humble mind” (1 Peter 3:8). Peter was a centripetal force for the Church.

Paul, on the other hand, was the missionary apostle; the centrifugal force of the Church that challenged her, and led the challenge, to expand her mission to include the Gentiles: “...I am eager to preach the Gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the Gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:15-16).

Do you see the wisdom here? The Church was, is and must always be ‘a Body in motion;’ living and active, never stagnant. And the forces of motion and perfectly exemplified, respectfully, by Peter and Paul. Without the centripetal force of Peter, the Church would have become little more than loosely connected groups ‘doing their own thing’ with no cohesiveness or foundation upon which to build in a unified manner. And without the centrifugal force of Paul, the Church would have remained a relatively small Jewish sect in Palestine. The Church needed both of these ‘forces’ to implement the great Commission of Our Lord to teach and baptize all nations!

In like manner, we—as individuals and members of parish communities—need to practically apply these same forces of motion today. Our lives must be centered on Jesus Christ, anchored in intimate communion with Him Who alone is the Source of our being and the Author of our Salvation. We need centripetal force to keep us grounded in faith as we go about our daily activities and face the trials and tribulations of life. And the Church wonderfully provides this in her worship, sacraments, and ascetic life. But we also need the centrifugal force that ‘moves’ us to adapt to changing circumstances and relationships, helps us to gain new insights into God’s love for us, and share our faith with others!

The laws of motion are also important for practical administrative purposes within the Church. Every parish must recognize two types of goals in its collective life: maintenance and growth. We must be good stewards of what God has entrusted to us and concerned with the welfare of our parishioners. But we must also be willing to adapt, expand and widen our scope to fulfill our function as the Church to ‘teach all nations’.

May we learn from the example of Peter and Paul of the diversity of spiritual gifts within the Church that, though they may not always reflect uniformity, nevertheless serve a common purpose: to reveal, manifest and announce the living God that all may know Him and love Him as we do, and keep the Body of Christ ‘in motion’!

Apostleship and America + Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann

(The following is an excerpt from a brief article written in commemoration of our Father Among the Saints, Innocent, Enlightener of the Aleuts and Apostle to America;  as well as for the 10th Annual Orthodox Education Day at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Seminary. Fr. Schmemann's words remind us of our Christian responsibility to this country as we celebrate the Feasts of Pentecost, All Saints, and All Saints of America, on June 8, 15, and 22, respectively). 

 

To comment on a saint is not only to glorify his achievements and his personal growth in the grace of the Holy Spirit.  In every saint, God challenges us in our own life, our own ministry, our own vision.  In the life of St. Innocent, the essence of such challenge is embodied in his title as Apostle to America.  Therefore, when we venerate his icon and contemplate, with joy and gratitude, his life, the two words that we ought to accept into our hearts are Apostleship and America.

 

The gift of apostleship is bestowed upon each member of the Church on the day of his Baptism and Chrismation.  If we call our Church "apostolic" it is because She is sent;  "apostle" meaning "sent by God." It is because She is sent in Her totality, and this means in all Her members, into the world to preach the Gospel of Christ, to manifest His presence, to fulfill the salvation which He accomplished.  In this sense, we all are apostolic and apostles.  We all carry the responsibility for the apostolicity of the Church.

 

Today we need more than ever to be reminded of this apostolic nature and function of the Church, and of the apostolic vocation of each of us as members of the Church.  For we are living in an increasingly dechristianized, if not already openly antichristian world.  Our culture is permeated with ideas alien to the Gospel of Christ;  with rejection of His Kingdom, of its truth, light and joy. Truly it is the time for an apostolic renewal.  And in this renewal, the place and the role of the laity is unique. If the first duty of the clergy is to serve the Church, the first and essential duty of the laity is to bring into the world — and this means into its culture, daily life, professions, family, etc. — the Christian witness, the image of Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit.  It is indeed deeply significant that St. Innocent’s canonization took place at a time of a crisis, a tragic crisis, encompassing all the aspects of human existence.  It is as if, by revealing to us the Apostle to America, God was reminding us of our own vocation to be fully Orthodox in America, not for ourselves, but for the sake of America.

 

Let this Education Day also be a day of our own rededication to our apostleship.  Let our joy at glorifying God in our commemoration of St. Innocent be the source of a new energy, a new desire to serve God and His Church in the darkness, anxieties and conflicts of our world today.

An Orthodox at the Liturgy - Archbishop Paul of Finland

(The following is taken from the book, "Feast of Faith:  An Invitation to the Love Feast of the Kingdom of God," published by St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1988, pp. 107-108).

 

At the Liturgy, when you see others going to Communion, do not join the group just because you do not want to look different from the others.  Going to Communion always implies that you wish to do so, and that you have already made the decision before going to Church.

 

Let it be evident in some way in your life that you have this desire and longing, to take part in Communion.

 

Think about going to Communion before the morning when you go to Church.  Pray for a right disposition, especially for the grace of repentance, so that before Communion you may sincerely confess yourself to be "the first of sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15 and Prayer of St. John Chrysostom prior to Communion).

 

As you prepare your spirit, prepare your body also, fasting completely on the morning of your Communion, not eating or drinking anything.  It is also good, if you are able, to do without the evening meal the night before.  When you feel uncomfortable from doing this, transform your hunger to spiritual hunger and thirst, and wait to be satisfied at the Eucharist and Holy Communion (Commonly the faithful fast from midnight until the end of the morning Liturgy).

 

Before Communion, as you read your evening and morning prayers, add one or more extra prayers.  The Liturgy itself contains a preparation for Communion, but it is important also to prepare yourself personally in your own place of prayer.

 

The Apostle gives clear instructions about this.  He says to those preparing for Communion:  "Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup."

 

And again he warns:  "Whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord"  (1 Corinthians 11:28-29, 27).  Of what does this self-examination consist?

 

If a serious sin is weighing upon you, go first to Confession and only then, with your father confessor's blessing, go to Communion also.    

 

If you simply feel unworthy in every respect, do not hesitate (to approach the Chalice).  Holy Communion is precisely for such people.  It is not for those who approach the Holy Cup with self-satisfaction.  Indeed Holy Communion is given "for the remission of sins and unto life everlasting."

 

Of course the self-examination of which the Apostle spoke is not limited only to preparation for Communion -- in fact one always means to go to Communion.  Self-examination is the ongoing process of checking the direction of one's life.  Am I moving towards God or away from Him?  What is my attitude towards my neighbors?  Do I offend them?  Do I wrong them?  Is there Christian love in me or only pious superficiality?

 

If you notice something in yourself which needs correcting, but you do not succeed in this right away, do not be depressed about it or abstain from Communion, as long as you are repentant of your weakness.  Will He who commanded us to forgive, "seventy times seven times" not forgive you if you sincerely repent? (Matthew 18:22).

 

The faith that participation in the Holy Body and Blood of Christ will give you strength will be realized in the improvements which you make.  The Apostle gives comfort and hope, saying:  "It is God who works in you both to will and to work"  (Philippians 2:13). And God works in you when you are sufficiently humbled and call on Him for help.   

 

*  (His Beatitude, the Most Reverend Archbishop Paul (Olmari) was the primate of the Church of Finland 1960 to 1987.  A charismatic and deeply spiritual person, he worked fervently in the development of the liturgical life of the Finnish Church.  The Archbishop also placed much attention on the development of New Valaam Monastery as a functioning monastery as well as the site of an Orthodox Culture and Research Institute.  He wrote a number of books on Orthodoxy and Orthodox life.  In 1967, he was honored by the Theological Faculty of the University of Helsinki with an honorary doctorate.  Archbishop Paul retired in 1987 and was succeeded by Archbishop John (Rinne).  On February 12, 1988, he reposed and was buried in the cemetery of New Valaam Monastery.  From orthodoxwiki.org.)

The Paralytic - Wilt Thou Be Made Whole?

The Paralytic

(Wilt Thou Be Made Whole?)

Fr. Basil Zebrun

     In the Orthodox Church the Sundays immediately after Pascha focus thematically on what took place following Jesus' Resurrection.  Additionally, they remind the faithful of their personal renewal through baptism, by references to water, healing and enlightenment as found primarily in the Gospel according to St. John.  The missionary endeavors of the Apostles and the early life of the Church are also highlighted through readings from the Book of Acts.         

 

     The Church's ordering of post Paschal lessons originates from Pascha being the traditional feast for receiving catechumens. Historically, the appointed Scripture readings and accompanying hymns -- from Pascha to Pentecost -- constituted further instruction for the newly received.  Their rebirth in Christ and reception of the Holy Spirit illumined their minds to a more profound understanding of the Church's mysteries.  Thus, during the fifty days leading to Pentecost the newly baptized heard for the first time, lessons from St. John, the most sacramental  and mystical of the Gospel accounts.  Those who were already members of the Church, upon hearing these passages, were reminded of the New Life bestowed upon them at the time of their own baptism.               

 

     The Third Sunday after Pascha (May 11) -- also known as the Fourth Sunday of Pascha -- specifically commemorates Christ’s healing of the Paralytic (John 5).  The passage is a beautiful expression of our Lord's self-identification with man, His desire to save man from the corruption of this world.         

 

     The Evangelist John identifies this as the third sign (miracle) performed by our Lord.  It takes place at the Sheep Pool in Jerusalem, during the Jewish feast of Pentecost, the commemoration of the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai.  Indeed, the five porches of the Pool are sometimes said to symbolize the Law, specifically the five books of Moses, Genesis through Deuteronomy.

 

     By some accounts the Sheep Pool in Jerusalem was a foul place.  At the pool sacrificial animals were washed.  In addition, the pool possessed healing properties so that people with various diseases sat around the water, often for years, waiting for a chance to be cured.  At times they cried out greatly in pain.  Suffice it to say, few came near this place unless absolutely necessary.     

 

     As it happens, Jesus drew near, and by coming to the pool He did two things.  First, He displayed great compassion for one man, who never had an opportunity to hear Christ's words or to see His miracles;  the Gospel tells us that he had been ill, immobile, "thirty eight years" (verse 5).  Neither had the man any chance of benefiting from the water's miraculous quality due to the competitive atmosphere surrounding the pool.  The Gospel relates that after the stirring up of the water, "whoever stepped in first...was made well of whatever disease he had" (verse 4).  Thus, the man said to Jesus, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up;  but while I am coming, another steps down before me" (verse 7).  Considering the Paralytic's situation,  Jesus did not require faith from him as He did with others.  He simply asked one question:  "wilt thou be made whole?" (verse 6), sometimes rendered, "do you want to be healed?"    

 

     Secondly, by showing such love to the Paralytic, Christ's love for all mankind is revealed. The Sheep Pool with its stench, misery and death, is an icon of this fallen world.  The response of the Paralytic -- "Sir, I have no man" -- reflects the experience of those who suffer through life's divisions, its broken character.  There is, in fact, "no man" who can help except One.  And to each person that One Man -- Jesus -- says, as He did implicitly to the Paralytic,  "God's Savior has arrived. Do you want to be relieved not just from physical ailments, but from every consequence of sin, and ultimately from the "fear of death," that holds men captive (Hebrews 2:15).   In other words, "wilt thou be made whole, complete?"  Do you want a new and blessed life, the antidote for the brokenness of this world?"    

 

     Answers to the above are not as obvious as some may think.  The questions assume a particular dynamic between God and man:  that in everything God takes the initiative, but man is called to cooperate with divine grace.  Nothing is forced.  There is no coercion, no overriding of human freewill.   There is always the possibility of saying no to Jesus, as well as yes, and an affirmative response implies a lifelong commitment. Thus, the initial question of desire -- "wilt thou be made whole?" -- is necessary. 

 

     For the Paralytic it was necessary because his physical limitations may have led to mental and emotional debilitations as well;  feelings of despair or perhaps uselessness. A hymn sung at Great Vespers describes such a possibility, placing words into the mouth of the Paralytic as part of an inspired commentary:    

 

     "The Paralytic was like an unburied corpse. He saw Thee and shouted: “Lord, have mercy on me! My bed has become my grave!  Why should I live?  What use is the Sheep's Pool to me? I have no one to put me into the pool when the waters are stirred. I come to Thee, O Fountain of healing. Raise me up, that with all I may cry to Thee: ‘Glory to Thee, O Almighty Lord!’” (Lord I Call Upon Thee;  Eve of Paralytic Sunday)

 

     Thus, on one level, Christ's healing would bring with it a practical accountability for life as never before experienced by this man, essentially requiring Jesus to ask:  "Wilt Thou be made whole?"             

 

     On another level, however, our Lord offers the Paralytic more than the ability to walk or to function physically, one hundred percent.  In the end He brings salvation, and this particular gift of spiritual healing also demands dedication, a giving up of the old and faithfulness to the new, an ultimate accountability.  In the Orthodox Church this "taking off and putting on," is acknowledged at the time of baptism when the newly illumined are asked, "do you renounce Satan?" and "do you unite yourself to Christ?"  For our purposes we could say that the catechumen is essentially questioned several times, "Are you sure that this New Life is what you want, and that you wish to follow Christ as our Lord?"

 

     Of related significance, Jesus later says to the Paralytic, "See, you have been made whole.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon thee" (verse 14.  See also John 8: 11).  The assumption is that once a person has received the gift of Christ, life cannot simply continue as usual.  From that moment there is a calling to, "work out (one's) own salvation, with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12) in light of divine grace:  "Sin no more..."                

Some people may reject the above dynamic as insulting to God's sovereignty and power.  It is unsettling to others, because such an understanding of salvation and healing places a certain responsibility on the faithful, on their desire to be changed and to live "the New Life."

 

     But the Orthodox Church would emphasize that with such an approach God's great love is shown.  God loves His creation so much that He is willing to share everything that He is and has, including freedom.  Ultimately, God wants sons and daughters who love Him and not servants who merely fear Him, or who are forced to obey Him.  He Who has freed man, honors His creatures with the freedom to choose the life of glory and splendor made manifest through the Resurrection.   Christ is Risen!

Faith and Resurrection

Faith and Resurrection

Fr. Dmitri Dudko

(Father Dmitri Dudko was a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church in the late twentieth century.  During the 1970's he initiated a unique style of question and answer sermons, concerning Christianity.  These popular "talks" influenced thousands, and attracted the attention and anger of the Soviet government as well.  Indeed the sufferings mentioned herein by Fr. Dmitri may be understood as those experienced by Christians at the hands of atheist authorities.  They may refer as well to suffering in general for the love of Christ and neighbor, in light of the Resurrection.  Fr. Dmitri fell asleep in the Lord on June 28, 2004 in Moscow. The following are excerpts from one of his remarkable sermons as found in the book, "Our Hope," published by St. Vladimir Seminary Press.)

The first week of Pascha has passed:  Bright Week.  Tradition tells us of how St. Mary Magdalene brought the emperor a decorated egg, saying, "Christ is Risen!"  With this she began her preaching of the risen Christ.  During the first years of the Soviet regime they still allowed debates on religious themes.  One resourceful Metropolitan, instead of answering the claim that "today nobody believes in the resurrection of Christ," turned to those in the hall and proclaimed, "Christ is Risen!"  The hall, which was overflowing with no one but "atheists," answered with a roar:  "Indeed He is Risen!"  We in the Russian Orthodox Church have a remarkable Saint, Seraphim of Sarov, who was canonized just before the Revolution.  He lived in the nineteenth century.  No matter what time of year it was, he greeted all who came to him with the words:  "Christ is Risen, my joy!"  And the warmth of Christ's resurrection filled the soul of each individual.......

Today is Thomas Sunday, the so-called "Sunday of AntiPascha."  ("Anti" in this case does not have its usual meaning of "against."  It means "instead of" or "in place of" Pascha.)  "Doubting Thomas."  This has become the usual term for someone who does not believe.  But in the Gospel, Thomas is the Apostle of the Resurrection.  This is what the Russian philosopher Vladimir Solov'ev wrote on this subject in his Resurrectional Letters:

"In times  of predominant unbelief it is important that we clarify with which type of unbelief we are dealing.  If it is a flagrant lack of faith -- material, beastly, incapable of rising to a real understanding of the truth -- discussion is pointless.  If it is an evil unbelief -- a conscious misuse of various half-truths through hostile fear of the full truth -- one must pursue such a serpent without anger or fear, disclosing its devices and its wiliness.  Finally, if we are dealing with an honest, purely human unbelief, which but hungers for a full and complete certification of the full truth -- the type of unbelief which the Apostle Thomas had -- it enjoys a full right to our moral recognition.   And if, unlike Christ, we are unable to give such people the certification of truth which they demand, then under no circumstances ought we to  judge or reject them.  Without a doubt these seemingly unbelieving people will precede the vast majority of all believers unto the Kingdom of God.  If Thomas' unbelief had resulted from a profound materialism which reduces all truth to sensory evidence, then having been tangibly convinced of the fact of the resurrection, he might have invented some materialistic explanation for it.  He would hardly have exclaimed, "My Lord and my God!"  From the point of view of sensory evidence, the wounds from the nails and the pierced side could in no wise demonstrate Christ's divinity.  It is even clearer that Thomas' unbelief was not due to some moral bankruptcy or hostility to the truth.  The love of truth drew him to Christ and engendered in him a boundless devotion to the Teacher...Christ did not judge Thomas, but utilized the means which he demanded in order to convince him:  that is, He allowed him to put his fingers into the wounds from the nails..."

The Apostle Thomas is a symbol not of doubt but of confirmation.  His words, "unless I see in His hand the wounds from the nails, and put my hand in His side, I will not believe," do not suggest unbelief, much less materialism.  Christ's wounds are the proof of His resurrection.  In other words, you cannot understand the essence of Christ's resurrection through abstract reasoning alone, but only by communing  with Christ's wounds, with His sufferings...

The atheists use our fear of suffering to stifle our spirit, our free thoughts and feelings.  And they in turn frighten us.  We must overcome our fear of suffering.  Only then will we become really free, active and invincible.  Only then will we overcome the arguments against Christ's resurrection which the atheists use to coerce our minds:  the coercion of "proofs" which at first seem to free our minds but which in fact only fetter them.  Faith is the overcoming of all coercion of the mind.  It is the smashing of all obstacles and impediments set up as "proofs."  It is each person's free acceptance of Christ in his heart.  To believe in Christ's resurrection means to free your mind of doubts, to cleanse your heart from slavery to sins, to fortify your will against all coercion and weakness.  Faith is a breakthrough into eternity .  Unbelief is non-freedom in everything:  in mind, feelings and will...

But faith is not just given to man in an instant;  just like that. The gift of freedom is sent through the Cross, through sufferings.  Only then does freedom become real and understandable for man.  Thus, sufferings become the only reliable proof.  Thus, when Thomas wanted to place his fingers in Christ's wounds, he wanted to accept Christ's resurrection freely.  Christ's wounds and sufferings became for the Apostle, the proof of the Savior's resurrection.

But Christ's sufferings were not those of just any person of any era.  Christ our God became incarnate, He became a man, He was in man.  Christ stands for each man.  "I was sick and you did not visit Me, I was in prison and you did not come to Me," said Christ.  "Lord, when were you sick or in prison?" they ask Him.  "If you did so to this person, you did so to me," He answers.  "Depart from Me, workers of iniquity!"

Anyone who has not in some way tasted of sufferings has no right to talk about the resurrection.  It is blasphemous towards the resurrection for anyone who is afraid of sufferings or who runs away from them, to talk about Christ's resurrection.  Therefore, I repeat, I now simply ignore intellectual proofs. To endure, to experience sufferings -- or at least to do so through compassion for your neighbor -- this is the path of free faith in Christ's resurrection.  Let us make use of the Apostle Thomas' proof.  Let us thrust our fingers into Christ's wounds.  This will be the most reliable proof of the resurrection.

Remember that unfortunate Russian czar, that monster of the human race, Ivan the Terrible.  How much human blood he spilled!  How many executions!  What senseless crimes he committed!  He was even guilty of the death of the greatest Russian bishop,  Philip the Great Martyr.  But this monster, who was also a man of the greatest intelligence, would descend into the dungeon during the days of Pascha to visit the prisoners who were languishing in captivity.  Are we not worse than him, when we fail to extend a hand to those who suffer and are persecuted, when we do not cheer them up?

Let us descend.  Let us exchange the Paschal kiss and proclaim, "Christ is Risen!" to those whose graves are snow bound in the northern blizzards, whose bones are spread abroad all across our vast land, whose names people were afraid to mention out loud not long ago (i.e. the names of Russian martyrs and confessors for the Faith)...

We must say, "Christ is Risen!" to the students who have been expelled from the institutes because of their religious convictions, to those who have been fired from their jobs, oppressed or persecuted in any way.  So what if their faith is not yet real, or even if they still consider themselves unbelievers?  Faith will come to them, because Christ is with all those who suffer.  Christ's resurrection extends to all people, but those who suffer receive it first of all.  If in our love we kiss the clotted wounds of the crucified thief, even while he is still reviling Christ's Name, perhaps we will be helping him to believe in the risen Christ and be showing him the meaning of existence, in the resurrection from the dead.

We must not make Christ's resurrection into anyone's special privilege.  Christ suffered for all -- the righteous and the unrighteous -- in order to resurrect all.   Anyone who knows the truth of Christ's resurrection but hides it, who does not take it to people, is a criminal, whatever his faith.  The light of Christ's resurrection must illuminate all.  Just imagine that we possess the key to eternal happiness and all around us there are unhappy people who are perishing.  We could make these unhappy people happy if only we would use our key...

Everyone who knows the truth of Christ's resurrection, who returns from His empty tomb...should run like the myrrhbearing women and cry, "Christ is Risen!"  People, listen!  Christ's resurrection exists!  It is eternal joy for all of us...Can there be any joy greater than the Paschal joy?!  Let us now sing the Paschal stichera:

"Let God arise;  let His enemies be scattered."

"Today, a sacred Pascha is revealed to us, a new and holy Pascha, a mystical Pascha, a Pascha  worthy of veneration, a Pascha which is Christ, the Redeemer.  A blameless Pascha, a great Pascha, a Pascha of the faithful, a Pascha which opens to us the gates of Paradise, a Pascha which sanctifies all the faithful."

Holy Week 2014

Holy Week 2014

April 12 – April 20

Fr. Basil Zebrun

On Saturday, April 12, Orthodox Christians will begin observing the most solemn of Days leading up to the celebration of Pascha on April 20:  Lazarus Saturday, Palm Sunday and Holy Week.  These nine days are specifically set aside –  consecrated – by the Church to commemorate the final and decisive events in the Lord’s earthly life.  Traditionally, during this time, Christians make an effort to “lay aside all earthly cares,” in order to devote themselves to contemplating the central Mysteries of the Faith:  the Cross, the Tomb and the Resurrection of Christ.  So significant is this period that some have stressed that during Holy Week “time seems to stand still or earthly life ceases for the faithful, as they go up with the Lord to Jerusalem” (Fr. Thomas Hopko).  May we all look upon the days ahead as sacred, dedicated to our Lord.

Lazarus  Saturday  &  Palm  Sunday  (April  12 & 13): 

These two days form a double feast, anticipating the joy of Pascha.  At the grave of His friend Lazarus, Christ encounters “the last enemy,” death (1 Cor. 15:26).  By raising Lazarus, Christ foreshadows His own decisive victory over death, and the universal resurrection granted to all mankind. Palm Sunday commemorates Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, “riding on the colt of an ass,” in fulfillment of a prophecy from Zechariah (9:9).   On this occasion our Lord allows the people to greet Him as a Ruler, the only time during His earthly ministry when this occurs.  Christ is indeed the King of Israel, but He comes to reveal and open to mankind His Heavenly Kingdom.  We hold branches of palms and pussy willows of our own on Palm Sunday, greeting Christ as the Lord and Master of our lives.

     Liturgical services for these two days will be celebrated on Saturday morning at 10:00 am, Saturday evening at 6:30 pm, and Sunday morning at 10:00 am.  Palms will be blessed on Saturday night, the eve of Palm Sunday.

Great  &  Holy  Monday,  Tuesday  &  Wednesday  (April  14 – April 16):

     Having just experienced a foretaste of Pascha we now enter the darkness of Holy Week.  The first three days stress the End Times, the Judgment, and the continual need for vigilance.  They point to the fact that when the world condemned its Maker, it condemned itself, “Now is the judgment of this world” (John 12:31).  They remind us that the world’s rejection of Christ reflects our own rejection of Him, inasmuch as we sin and accept the worldview of those who shouted, “Away with Him, crucify Him!”  Central to the services for these days are the Gospel readings, and the hymns which comment on these lessons.  Among the chief hymns are the Exapostilarion, “Thy Bridal Chamber, I see adorned….,” and the following troparion sung during Matins as the Church is being censed:  “Behold!  The Bridegroom comes at midnight, and blessed is the servant whom He shall find watching:  and again, unworthy is the servant whom He shall find heedless. Beware, therefore, O my soul, do not be weighed down with sleep, lest you be given up to death, and lest you be shut out of the Kingdom.  But rouse yourself, crying: “Holy! Holy! Holy! art Thou, O our God.  Through the Theotokos, have mercy on us!”  (Troparion)

     Liturgical services for these three days will be celebrated at 7:00 pm.

Great  &  Holy  Thursday  (April 17):   During the Matins Service or the Service of the 12 Passion Gospels on Holy Thursday night we “accompany Christ, step by step, from the time of His last discourse with His disciples to His being laid in a new tomb by Joseph of Arimethea and Nicodemus.  Each of the 12 Gospel sections read during the evening service involves us in a new scene:  the arrest of Jesus; His trial; the threefold denial of St. Peter; the scourging and the mockings by the soldiers; the carrying of the Cross; the Crucifixion; the opposing fates of the two thieves; the loving tenderness of the moment when Jesus commits His Mother to the care of His faithful disciple, John;  and the Lord’s final yielding up of the spirit and burial” (Fr. Paul Lazor). The liturgical hymnography for that night comments on the Gospel readings and gives the response of the Church to these events in the life of Christ.  During this service the faithful hold lit candles during the Gospel lessons while kneeling, and in large parishes Church bells are rung before each reading: once for the first reading, twice for the second, and so on.

     The Matins Service at St. Barbara’s on Holy Thursday will be at 7:00 pm.

Great  &  Holy  Friday  (April 18):  On the one hand, this is the most solemn of days, the day of Christ’s Passion, His Death and Burial.  On this day the Church invites us, as we kneel before the tomb of Christ, to realize the awful reality and power of sin and evil in “this world,” and in our own lives as well.   It is this power that led ultimately to “the sin of all sins, the crime of all crimes” the total rejection and murder of God Himself (Fr. Alexander Schmemann).

     On the other hand, the Church affirms that this day of evil is also the day of redemption.  “The death of Christ is revealed to us as a saving death, an offering of love” (Fr. Alexander Schmemann).  Holy Friday is the beginning of the Lord’s Pascha, for the One Who is raised, is the One Who is crucified for us and for our salvation.  “By death Christ tramples down death…”  Thus the tomb of Christ, placed in the center of the Church, is lavishly adorned with flowers, for from the tomb comes life.

     Liturgical services for Holy Friday will take place at 2:00 pm and at 7:00 pm .

     The afternoon service is often referred to as “Burial Vespers.”  During its celebration the final events in the life of Christ are brought to mind through the scripture readings and the hymnography.  At the conclusion of Vespers the faithful kneel and the choir sings, in a very slow manner, the troparia for the day which speak of Joseph of Arimethea and Nicodemus burying the Body of Jesus;  and the angel’s announcement to the Myrrhbearing Women that, “Myrrh is fitting for the dead, but Christ has shown Himself a stranger to corruption.”   As these words are heard the clergy and servers make a procession around the tomb with the “winding sheet” on which is an icon of the crucified Lord. This winding sheet is placed on top of the tomb and venerated by the faithful.

     On Friday night a Matins service is celebrated during which the people sing hymns and lamentations in front of Christ’s tomb.  We hear about how, “hell trembles while Life lies in the tomb, giving life to those who lie dead in the tombs.”  We also begin to hear announcements and foreshadowings of the Resurrection in both the scripture readings and hymns.  In fact, the Alleluia verses chanted after the Epistle reading are the same Resurrectional verses from Psalm 68 chanted by the clergy on Pascha night:  “Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered, let those who hate Him flee from before His face..” (etc.)

Great  &  Holy  Saturday  (April 19):  

On the morning of this day, at 9:00 am, we will celebrate the Vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil.  This service “inaugurates the Paschal celebration…  On ‘Lord I Call Upon Thee’ certain Sunday Resurrection hymns are sung, followed by special verses for Holy Saturday which stress the Death of Christ as the descent into Hades, the region of death, for its destruction.

     A pivotal point of the service occurs after the Entrance, when fifteen Old Testament lessons are read, all centered on the promise of the Resurrection, all glorifying the ultimate Victory of God…The epistle lesson is that which is read at Baptisms (Romans 6:3-11), referring to Christ’s Death and Resurrection as the source of the death in us of the “old man,” and the resurrection of the new man, whose life is in the Risen Lord  (Here we must remember that Pascha has always been the most traditional time for Baptisms of catechumens).  During the verses immediately after the epistle reading the dark Lenten vestments and altar coverings are put aside and the clergy vest in their brightest robes.  An announcement of the Resurrection is then read from the last chapter of St. Matthew”s Gospel.   The Liturgy of St. Basil continues in this white and joyful light, revealing the Tomb of Christ as the Life-giving Tomb, introducing us into the ultimate reality of Christ’s Resurrection, communicating His life to us…”  (Fr. Schmemann).

     It should be noted that on Great and Holy Saturday every major act of the Vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil takes place in front of the Tomb, or processes around it:  the Small Entrance; the 15 Old Testament readings;  the Epistle and Gospel readings;  the Great Entrance;  the distribution of Holy Communion;  and the final dismissal prayer.

Pascha  (April 20): 

     The Main Resurrection service will begin at 11:30 pm on Saturday night (We ask that everyone try to arrive at least 15 minutes early, those with food even earlier, so that we can begin the service promptly with all lights out in the Church).  This particular service is actually comprised of three services, celebrated together, one after another:  Nocturnes, Matins and the Divine Liturgy.  The entire service ends around 2:30 am on Sunday morning and is followed by the blessing of Pascha baskets and the Agape Meal, at which we enjoy fellowship and partake of many non-lenten foods.

     Special features of the Midnight Service include:  Nocturnes (11:30 pm to 12:00 midnight) celebrated in total darkness with only one light for the choir, followed by a triple procession around the outside of the Church, a Resurrection Gospel reading and the first announcement of, “Christ is Risen!”  The Paschal Matins then begins during which the Church is brightly lit and the faithful sing of Christ’s Resurrection in a very joyous manner. Near the end of Matins the Paschal Catechetical Sermon of St. John Chrysostom is read.  During the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom the Gospel from the Prologue of St. John’s Gospel is chanted in several languages, symbolic of the universal character of the Christian Faith.  Immediately after the service food for the Agape Meal is blessed, as well as Pascha (Easter) baskets full of non-fasting foods.

     On Sunday afternoon, April 20, at 12:00 noon, we return to the Church to celebrate Resurrection Vespers during which we hear a Gospel reading and more hymns of Christ’s Resurrection.  A continuation of the Agape Meal will be enjoyed after Vespers.

Bright  Week  (April 21 – April 27):

The week immediately after Pascha is an extended celebration of the Lord’s Resurrection.  Although we enjoy a 40 day Paschal season, the services of Bright Week are uniquely joyous, reflecting the specific tone and spirit of Pascha night.  Divine Liturgies and Vespers celebrated during this time are very similar to those of April 20.  There is, as well, no fasting during Bright Week.  We look forward to celebrating Pascha with all of our Church members and friends.  Once again, we encourage everyone to set aside the days ahead as sacred, dedicated to our Lord.

Christ is Risen!   Indeed He is Risen!

Paschal (Resurrection) Season: 2014

Paschal (Resurrection) Season: 2014

Fr. Basil Zebrun

Introduction and Bright Week:

The week following Pascha (Easter), is called Bright Week, by the Church.  Pascha is celebrated this year by the Orthodox Church on April 20, with Christians of the Western Tradition.  As Holy Week was a final time of anticipation and preparation for “the Feast of Feasts,” so Bright Week is a period of unique Resurrection joy, manifested outwardly in diverse ways.  For instance, during Bright Week there is no fasting at all from various types of food;  all liturgical hymns, ideally, are to be sung rather than read;  and the Church remains highly decorated, with the royal doors and deacon’s doors of the iconostasis left open as they were during the Midnight Service.  This latter practice emphasizes visually that the gates of God’s Kingdom have been open to man through the Cross, Tomb and Resurrection of Christ.  Services during Bright Week are celebrated in a particularly glorious manner, identical to that experienced during the Midnight Service and Resurrection Vespers on Pascha Sunday.  The traditional announcement, “Christ is Risen,” is sung repeatedly by the Church choir, and people greet one another with this same message of hope.

While Bright Week is a time of profound, perhaps uncommon celebration, the Resurrection season is not limited to one week.  For forty days, until Ascension (this year May 29), the faithful recall in songs and greetings the joyous news that ‘Christ has trampled down death by death, bestowing life upon those in the tombs.’  Clergy and altar servers continue to wear their brightest vestments, and everyone stands (rather than kneels) in prayer, both at home and in Church.  The practice of standing in prayer during the Paschal Season serves to stress our belief that in Christ we are already resurrected beings, residents on earth yet citizens of Heaven. The faithful continue this practice until Pentecost (this year June 8), when after Liturgy for the first time since Holy Week we kneel in prayer during three special prayers that are read from the ambo by the clergy.

The five Sundays following Pascha emphasize, through the appointed Scripture readings and hymns, (1.) post-resurrection appearances of Christ;  (2.) the Church’s early life and missionary endeavors (epistle readings are taken from the Book of Acts); and (3.) aspects of baptism, through which we ourselves have died and risen with Christ to a new life in God (Gospel readings are taken from the most “sacramental” of Gospel accounts, that of John the Theologian or Evangelist).  Fr. Thomas Hopko in his Orthodox Faith Handbook Series, Volume II, provides a summary of the meaning of the five Sundays of Pascha.  The following contains quotes and paraphrases from that summary.

Thomas  Sunday  (April 27):

On the Sunday following Pascha, called in our liturgical books “the Second Sunday,” the stress is on the Apostle Thomas’ vision of Christ.  The significance of the day comes to us in the words of the Gospel:  “Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see My hands;  and put out your hand, and place it in My side;  do not be faithless, but believing.” Thomas answered Him,

“My Lord and My God!”  Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen

Me?  Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”  (John 20:27-29). In this last statement Christ refers to all those who will come after the Apostles and become disciples through their words. This includes Christians of every century, including our own.  We have not seen Christ with our physical eyes, nor touched His risen body with our physical hands, yet in the Holy Spirit we have seen and touched and tasted the Word of Life (1 John 1:1-4), and so we believe.  In the early Church it was only on this day that those baptized at Pascha removed their (baptismal) robes and entered once again into the life of this world.

The  Myrrhbearing  Women  (May 4):

The Third Sunday after Pascha is dedicated to the Myrrhbearing Women who cared for the body of the Savior at His death and who were the first witnesses of His Resurrection.  The three troparia of Holy Friday, (having to do with the Noble Joseph of Arimethea anointing and burying the Body of Jesus;  Christ’s descent into hell and its defeat;  and the angel’s proclamation to the myrrhbearing women of Christ’s resurrection)are sung once again and form the theme of the day:

     "The noble Joseph, when he had taken down Thy most pure body from the Tree, wrapped it in fine linen and anointed it with spices, and placed it in a new tomb."

      "When Thou didst descend to death, O Life Immortal, Thou didst slay hell with the splendor of Thy Godhead."

      "The angel came to the myrrhbearing women at the tomb and said: Myrrh is fitting for the dead, but Christ has shown Himself a stranger to corruption! So proclaim: The Lord is risen, granting the world great mercy."

The  Paralytic  (May 11):

The Fourth Sunday is dedicated to Christ’s healing of the Paralytic (John 5).  The man is healed by Christ while waiting to be put down into the pool of water.  Through baptism in the church we too are healed and saved by Christ for eternal life.  Thus, in the church, we are told, together with the paralytic, to “sin no more that nothing worse befall you” (John 5:14).  Our Lord’s question to the man, “Do you want to be healed?” is directed to us as well, reminding us that the gift of life and illumination through the Resurrection brings with it responsibilities.  It must be nurtured and shared with others.

The  Feast  of  Mid-Pentecost:

In the middle of the Fourth Week, there is a day which is called by the Church, the Feast of Mid-Pentecost (this year May 14).  On this day we recall that Christ, “in the middle of the feast” teaches men of His saving mission and offers to all “the waters of immortality” (John 7:14).  Again we are reminded of the Master’s presence and His saving promise:  “If anyone is thirsty let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37).

The  Samaritan  Woman  (May 18):

The Fifth Sunday after Pascha deals with the Woman of Samaria with whom Christ spoke at Jacob’s Well (John 4).  Again the theme is the “living water” and the recognition of Jesus as God’s Messiah (John 4: 10-11; 25-26).  We are reminded of our new life in Him, of our own drinking of the “living water,” of our own true worship of God in the Christian Messianic Age “in Spirit and in Truth” (John 4: 23-24).  We see as well that salvation is offered to all:  Jews and Gentiles, men and women, saints and sinners.

The  Blind  Man  (May 25):

Finally, the Sixth Sunday commemorates the healing of the man blind from birth (John 9).  We are identified with that man who came to see and to believe in Jesus as the Son of God.  The Lord has anointed our eyes with His own divine hands and washed them with the waters of baptism (John 9: 6-11).  In Christ we are given the power to see and confess Him as God’s only-begotten Son, and we are given the ability to comprehend clearly and with love, our own lives, the lives of others and the world around us.

Ascension, Pentecost and All Saints Sunday:

The Paschal Season ends with the great feast of Ascension (again, this year May 29) on which believers celebrate the Lord’s ascent in order to be glorified with God the Father and to glorify us with Himself.  He goes in order to “prepare a place” for us, and to take us into the blessedness of God’s presence.  He goes to open the way for all flesh into the “heavenly sanctuary...the Holy Place not made by hands” (See Hebrews 8-10).  Furthermore, Christ ascends in order to send the Holy Spirit (an event celebrated on Pentecost) who proceeds from the Father, to bear witness to Him (Christ) and His Gospel in the world, by making Him (Christ) powerfully present in the lives of His disciples

On Pentecost (June 8) the Church celebrates the final act of God’s self-revelation and self-donation to the world.  God’s plan of salvation – starting with and including the formation of His chosen people, Israel;  the sending of the prophets;  the birth of Christ; His teachings, miracles, sufferings, death, burial and resurrection – all of this culminates with the giving of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost and the birth of the New Israel, the Church of God, the life of which is the continued presence of the Spirit in our midst.

The Sunday after Pentecost, that of All Saints  (June 15), reveals the power of the Holy Spirit in this world, the reason that He was given.  The Saints are those who, without a doubt, have been saved and transformed by the Spirit’s presence, a fate open to all who believe.  And then finally, on June 22, we commemorate All Saints of America, as a logical follow up to the previous Sunday.  This celebration affirms God’s presence and activity amongst His disciples in North America, placing before us local and contemporary examples of sanctity.

Thus a journey which began for us way back on February 2 with the Sunday of Zacchaeus will end on June 22.  But the journey was taken for a reason.  The seasons of fasting and celebration that we have experienced are to lead us to a deeper faith in Christ as Savior.  They are to instill within us a stronger commitment to our own mission, to be Christ’s witnesses “to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8)

(Some of the above information taken from Fr. Thomas Hopko’s, The Orthodox Faith, Volume 2, Worship, published by the O.C.A.’s Department of Christian Education.)

Reflection on Annunciation

The Annunciation

March 25

Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann

     (The following is one of a multitude of sermons delivered by Fr. Schmemann, in Russian, over Radio Liberty.  It is addressed to a largely unchurched audience, living under Communism, at a time when one's faith in Christ was challenged each day by the surrounding society. While referencing contemporary atheistic thinking, Fr. Alexander's words convey the beauty and joy of the Annunciation, celebrated by Christians on March 25.)

The Annunciation!  At one time this was one of the brightest and most joyful days of the year, the feast which consciously, and even unconsciously, was connected with a jubilant intuition, a radiant vision of the world and of life.  The Gospel of St. Luke records the story of the Annunciation.  (Please see Luke 1: 26-38).

Of course, viewed from the perspective of so-called "scientific" atheism this Gospel story supplies plenty of reasons for speaking of "myths and legends."  The rationalist will say, "When do angels ever appear to young women and hold conversations with them?  Do believers really think that people of the twentieth century, living in a technological civilization, could believe this?  Can't believers see just how silly, unscientific and impossible this is?"  The believer always has only one answer to this kind of contentious debate, disparagement and ridicule: yes, alas, it is impossible to fit this into your shallow worldview.  As long as your arguments about God and religion remain on the superficial level of chemical experiments and mathematical formulas you will always easily win.  But chemistry and mathematics are of no help whatsoever in proving or disproving anything at all in the realm of God and religion.  In the language of your science, the words angel, glad tidings, joy and humility are of course completely meaningless.  But why limit the discussion to religion?  More than half of all words are incomprehensible to your rationalist language, and therefore in addition to religion you will have to suppress all poetry, literature, philosophy and virtually the whole of human imagination.  You desire the entire world to think as you do, in terms of production and economic forces, of collectives and programs.  Yet the world does not naturally think in this way and must be handcuffed and forced to do so, or rather, appear to do so.  You say that all imagination is false because the "imaginary" does not exist, and yet the imagination is what people have always lived by, live by now, and will in the future as well.  For everything most profound and most essential in life has always been expressed in the language of imagination.  I don't pretend to understand what an angel is, nor, using the limited language of rationalism, can I explain the event that occurred almost two thousand years ago in a tiny Galilean town.  But it strikes me that mankind has never forgotten this story, that these few verses have repeatedly been incorporated into countless paintings, poems and prayers, and that they have inspired and continued to inspire.  This means, of course, that people heard something infinitely important to them in these words, some truth which apparently could be expressed in no other way than in the childish, joyful language of Luke's Gospel.  What is this truth?  What happened when the young woman, barely past childhood, suddenly heard -- from what profound depth, from what transcendent height! -- that wonderful greeting:  "Rejoice!"  For that is indeed the angel's message to Mary:  Rejoice!

The world is filled with countless books on struggle and competition, each attempting to show that the road to happiness is hatred, and in none of them will you find the word "joy."  People don't even know what the word means.  But the very same joy announced by the angel remains a pulsating force, that still has power to startle and shake the human hearts.  Go into a church on the eve of Annunciation.  Stay, wait through the long service as it slowly unfolds.  Then the moment comes when after the long wait, softly, with such divinely exquisite beauty the choir begins to sing the familiar festal hymn, "With the voice of the Archangel, we cry to You, O Pure One:  Rejoice, O Full of Grace, the Lord is with You!"  Hundreds and hundreds of years have gone by, and still, as we hear this invitation to rejoice, joy fills our heart in a wave of warmth.  But what is this joy about?  Above all we rejoice in the very presence of this woman herself, whose face, whose image, is known throughout the world, who gazes upon us from icons, and who became one of the most sublime and purest figures of art and human imagination.  We rejoice in her response to the angel, to her faithfulness, purity, wholeness, to her total self-giving and boundless humility, all of which forever ring out in her words:  "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord;  let it be to me according to your word."  Tell me, is anything in this world, in any of its rich and complex history, more sublime and more beautiful than this one human being?  Mary, the Most Pure One, the One who is full of grace, is truly the One in whom, as the Church sings, "all Creation rejoices."  The Church answers the lie about man, the lie that reduces him to earth and appetite, to baseness and brutality, the lie that says he is permanently enslaved to the immutable and impersonal laws of nature, by pointing to the image of Mary, the most-pure Mother of God, the One to whom, in the words of a Russian poet, "the outpouring of sweetest human tears from overflowing hearts"  is offered in unending stream.  The lie continues to pervade the world, but we rejoice because here, in the image of Mary, the lie is shown for what it is.  We rejoice with delight and wonder, for this image is always with us as comfort and encouragement, as inspiration and help.  We rejoice because in gazing at this image, it is so easy to believe in the heavenly beauty of this world and in man's heavenly, transcendent calling.  The joy of Annunciation is about the angel's glad tidings, that the people had found grace with God and that soon, very soon, through her, through this totally unknown Galilean woman, God would begin to fulfill the mystery of the world's redemption.  There would be no thunder and no fear in His presence, but He would come to her in the joy and fullness of childhood.   Through her a Child will now be King:  a Child, weak, defenseless, yet though Him all the powers of evil are to be forever stripped of power.

This is what we celebrate on the Annunciation and why the feast has always been, and remains, so joyful and radiant.  But I repeat, none of this can be understood or expressed in the limited categories and language familiar to "scientific" atheism, which leads us to conclude that this approach willfully and arbitrarily has declared an entire dimension of human experience to be non-existent, unnecessary and dangerous, along with all the words and concepts used to express that experience.  To debate this approach strictly on its own terms would be like first climbing down into a black underground pit where, because the sky can't be seen, its existence is denied.  The sun can't be seen, and so there is no sun.  All is dirty, repulsive, and dark, and so beauty is unknown and its existence denied.  It is a place where joy is impossible, and so everyone is hostile and sad.  But if you leave the pit and climb out, you suddenly find yourself in the midst of a resoundingly joyful church where once again you hear, "With the voice of the Archangel, we cry to You, O Pure One:  Rejoice!"

(From, "Celebration of Faith:  Volume 3, The Virgin Mary," published by Saint Vladimir Seminary Press.)

Arise, Your Sins Are Forgiven You

Arise, Your Sins Are Forgiven You

+ Fr. Alexander Men

(The following is a sermon delivered on the Sunday of St. Gregory of Palamas, the second Sunday of the Fast.  The homilist, Fr. Alexander Men (1935 -1990), was an architect of religious renewal in Russia at the end of the Soviet period.  A remarkable leader and prolific author he was assassinated in 1990.  Through his writings, through his memory and his spiritual heritage, however, he still speaks, and it may be he is an increasing presence in the world as his work becomes better known." Edited excerpts from an introduction by Bishop Seraphim Sigrist).

On the Second Sunday of Lent (this year March 16), the Church opens to us a page of the Gospel that we all know well, about the healing of the man sick of the palsy (Mark 2: 1-2).  The man sick of the palsy was paralyzed, lying like one dead, and others carried him to the Lord. From the Holy Scriptures we remember that four men were carrying the sick man on a stretcher, but when they arrived at the house where the Savior was, they could not get inside because the crowd was so dense.  They tried to get in through the door but could not.  Nevertheless they did not give up.  They climbed up on the roof, taking the stretcher with them;  they took the roof apart and let down the stretcher into the room.  Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralyzed man, "Rise, your sins are forgiven you."

Have you ever thought what kind of people they were; those who carried the stretcher?  After all, it doesn't say that they were relatives, or the sick man's children, mother, father or brothers.  Apparently they were simply friends, possibly neighbors.  They made the effort for the sick man's sake, not their own.  Not everyone would have climbed onto someone else's roof, taken it apart and let the stretcher down on ropes.  It was probably awkward and difficult, but they wanted at all costs to get through to where the Lord was.  And He saw their faith in their efforts and exertions.  The main thing He saw in them, of course, was their love for this man.  They had taken a lot of trouble on his behalf, expecting and believing that he would be healed;  that the Lord Jesus could save this man who was lying there like a living corpse.

Reading these pages, I thought about the way things happen in our lives.  I remember someone who was also paralyzed;  you all know who I mean.  He had a son and other relatives, but no one gave him any help.  He used to lie there like a piece of rubbish, like a corpse or worse.  Such things happen often in our life here.  Not always in so dreadful, mean and humiliating a manner, such as when a son cares nothing for his own mother;  often it is less obvious.  Hearts can be cold, uncaring and insensitive.  But these men we read about in the Bible were quite different.  They wanted this man to be healed so much, that was as if they themselves were ill and longed to rise from their sickbeds.

So, my dear friends, we have before us a great example for Lent.  What kind of example?  That we can be saved and find the Lord in our lives only together, by helping each other, loving and forgiving, stretching out a helping hand.  If that is how we try and live, God's hand, Christ's hand will be stretched out to us in response.  That is because, at the same time that He is saving us from the abyss, He wants us to help each other.  When we cannot help outwardly, through action, we can help through prayer.  So our daily prayers for each other should not be just a list of names.  But when you yourselves pray for your relations and friends, for people close to you and for those in need, pray properly, with the same kind of persistence as the relations or friends of that paralyzed man used to try and get into the house, to reach the Lord.

There will be obstacles;  you know what they are:  our laziness, weariness and weakness.  How difficult it all is!  We feel as if we were carrying heavy boulders, rather than praying.  But at the moment when you find it difficult to pray for those close to you, remember that it was probably not very easy to haul the stretcher with the paralyzed man in it, onto the roof.  Those men were rewarded however: Jesus saw their faith.  And if you and I overcome our inertia, He will see our faith, so that in the end we shall overcome all obstacles.  The Lord tells us, "Knock and it shall be opened unto you," so be persistent in prayer.

Do we not all know how confused and weak people are, how everyday matters endlessly distract us and fill our thoughts and emotions?  It's funny to think that we allow these same matters, silly trifles that we won't even remember the day after tomorrow, to fill our short lives which, you would think, we would treasure above all else.  All this cuts us off from our Lord, shutting us off from heaven and choking off prayer, like smoke from a funnel rising and obscuring the light from the sun.  And what is smoke?  It is made up of tiny black particles.  In just the same way, our sins and restlessness rise and obscure everything like smoke, so that our life ceases to be Christian and becomes vain and pointless.

Only a search for the Lord, a longing to touch Christ the healer, can give us victory.  It is Lent now and we are trying to pray more and practice abstention more often.  A small abstention from food is a tiny, microscopic offering to God.  Let us try to pull ourselves together spiritually and this time let us offer the Lord a prayer for each other, not for ourselves, not for our own health, salvation or well being, but for our sisters and brothers, for those who are dear to our hearts:  offer the Lord a prayer for them today, as the Gospel teaches us.  Pray for them, that their way may be blessed, that the Lord may keep them and come to meet them;  then all of us will ascend towards the Lord, as if holding on to that prayer.  This is the main thing;  the rest will follow, but this is essential to our lives.  Then Jesus, seeing our faith, will say to all those for whom we have been praying, and to us, for whom they have been praying:  "My child, awake from your sleep and your sickness, from your palsy, your spiritual paralysis;  arise, your sins are forgiven you."