Visit of His Grace, Bishop Gerasim: A Brief Summary

Christ is Risen!

The visit of Bishop Gerasim on May 14 was particularly joyful, coming as it did during the Paschal Season.  By two counts, just over one hundred people participated in the Pontifical Liturgy and reception afterwards. Guests included members from St. Seraphim Cathedral who helped sing in the choir and serve in the sanctuary.  Around the altar were one bishop, one priest, one protodeacon and eight altar-servers, including our own Methodios Bennett, Alex Roberts, Justin Ruehle and Adrian Schauer.  We were blessed with additional visitors from throughout the Metroplex and from out of state.  

THE GREETING

His Grace was greeted at his car by Roy (Rdr. Demetrios) Hall.  As Bishop Gerasim entered the building a colorful bouquet of flowers was presented by Holly (Katherine) Smith; bread and salt, symbols of hospitality, were presented by Vedon (Spyridon) Otto; and the Cross for veneration by Fr. Basil.   A number of adults and small children stood quietly in the entryway also, to welcome the bishop.  The choir under the direction of Rdr. Stephen Bodnarchuk sang traditional entrance hymns, after which the bishop was vested in the center of the Church.  The slow, processional singing of The Angel Cried was emotionally moving as Protodeacon Steven Kroll read aloud the entrance prayers.

THE LITURGY

His Grace began the service just prior to 10:00 am from the center of the Church.  A well-rehearsed four-part choir of eight, sang hymns and responses. Choir members included Rdr. Stephen Bodnarchuk, John Bradley Benson, Jamie Lynn Gonzalez, Lydia Leal, Anna Osborne, Steven Tinker, along with three additional singers that included a tenor and two visiting altos from St. Seraphim’s. Members of the congregation added their voices, especially during The Litanies, The Creed, The Angel Cried and The Lord’s Prayer, as well as during the Paschal Canon (with many Christ is Risen’s) while the clergy received Communion.

The Liturgy on Sunday, May 14, provided overall a beautiful worship experience.  Choir members put in many hours, weeks prior, setting up and rehearsing special hierarchical music. Altar servers held a related workshop in preparation for this event. Minor liturgical “hiccups” were experienced by clergy, choir and servers, as can be expected whenever a bishop visits. However, numerous compliments expressed delight with the overall beauty of the service.  Each visit by Bishop Gerasim is a learning experience, serving to reinforce in our minds the unique order of a Pontifical Liturgy.

The Epistle lesson was chanted by Roy (Rdr. Demetrios) Hall: Acts 11:19-26, 29-30. His Grace’s sermon focused on the main Scripture reading for the day: John 4:5-42, our Lord’s encounter with the Samaritan Woman.  He contrasted the Gospel’s description of the Jews’ rejection of the Samaritans with the love and openness of Christ.  He further emphasized that in the end, Jesus is not concerned with the where’s and when’s of worship, but that people approach God sincerely, from the depths of their hearts, in spirit and in truth.

THE RECEPTION

The post-liturgical reception was in some ways as wonderful as the service itself. The meal began at approximately 12:35 pm with Bishop Gerasim offering a prayer of blessing after the singing of Christ is Risen.  Food and drink were in abundance. The overall layout and décor were carryovers of Pascha, with brightly colored floral arrangements, center-pieces, mint green table coverings, as well as further recent additions.

Matushka Christine Zebrun, Barbara Connelly, Carol Guanieri, Alla Macchia, Ada Nicholson, Lynn Powers and a crew of many hard-working individuals tended to decorations, to serving our guests and to the preparation of a wide variety of breads, salads, meats, casseroles, main course dishes, fruits, regular and Paschal desserts, along with the purchase of select sodas and beverages.  

A special thanks is extended to the many members and friends of St. Barbara’s who brought their own favorite and unique foods, adding greatly to the reception. The selection was amazing.  A cleaning crew earlier in the week saw to the cleanliness of the building: Les and Ada Nicholson, Lucie Muns, Svetlana and Olga Tsarkova and Fr. Basil. Professional photographs were taken by Bob Guarnieri throughout the morning of May 14.

THE GOODBYE’S

The last individuals to depart from St. Barbara’s did so at around 3:00 pm, having had, what seemed to be, a full day of worship, fellowship and joyous celebration.  His Grace stayed with us for much of the early afternoon visiting with members and friends until his departure to the airport for yet another Episcopal visitation.  Many approached him for a blessing before they left.

On behalf of the parish, we thank everyone again for their assistance, during the Paschal commemoration of the Samaritan Woman, and for the enthusiastic reception of Bishop Gerasim into our midst.

It is always difficult when one starts to list names in a summary such as this. Adding to the difficulty is the fact that many people wear many hats. But please know that if anyone was inadvertently left out, your efforts were greatly appreciated and always are.  

We look forward to Bishops Gerasim’s next visit and to another joyous celebration. 

In the Risen Lord,

 Fr. Basil

Pascha and Pentecost

The Feast of the Resurrection, Baptism and Evangelism

+ His Eminence Archbishop Dmitri 

(Archbishop Dmitri fell asleep in the Lord on August 28, 2011.  He was the beloved founding hierarch of the Diocese of the South (1977), a noted visionary, author, linguist and scholar.)  

For forty days after Pascha, the Church lives and rejoices in light of Christ's resurrection.  At each service during the Paschal season the faithful sing, "Christ is Risen!"  The Paschal canon, sticheras and kontakion are repeated many times.  Members of the Church greet one another with a holy kiss and with the words, "Christ is Risen!" receiving back the affirmation, "He is Risen, indeed!"

The Paschal season is experienced by the Orthodox as the focal point of all Christian celebration.  Such is the content of our liturgical life, and yet what a paradox that immediately after "the feast of feasts, holy day of holy days," Christian people take a vacation from Church.  We often witness generally, a decline in church attendance at this time of year.  As a result, the wonderful joy proclaimed by the Church's liturgy fails to be deeply felt by many individuals.

Regarding this phenomenon much thought has been given to the idea of restoring or recapturing that which has been lost.  In recent years the Church has devoted a great deal of time and effort to the restoration of Lent and to some extent of the Paschal season, because we have witnessed (probably for centuries) an almost complete loss of the Great Fast as a meaningful phenomenon in the Christian community.  Perhaps we Orthodox have been somewhat more reluctant than others to do away with these seasons entirely, for we have realized in some way that the very essence of the Faith is to be found in Lent, Pascha and the Paschal season.

I am convinced, however, that the dimension that has been lost and which we are still somewhat far from acquiring, that makes it difficult to recapture and restore the meaning of what is at the heart of the Christian year, is what can be called the "baptismal dimension."

We are all somewhat familiar with the history of the matter we are talking about:  (A) how Lent developed from a period of intense preparation for those who were to be baptized; (B) how at the Paschal celebration the catechumens were baptized and became, for the first time, full

participants in the Eucharist; and (C) that the Paschal season was a period of post-baptismal instruction, in which the newly baptized were told repeatedly of the marvelous things that had happened to them through the waters of the fount, and were prepared for their own "mission" as disciples.

The entire Church not only lived the new life in Christ, but true to its missionary nature, concentrated its attention upon incorporating the new converts into the Body of Christ.  Such were the "missionary" and "baptismal" orientations of the Church.  All of this was centered on the Paschal celebration for one simple reason:  the moment of Christ's triumph over death was the most appropriate moment for one to become a member of Christ:  the meaning of being buried with Him in baptism and rising with Him to walk in the newness of life (Romans 6:3-4) was clear to every Christian.

The true spirit of Lent and the Paschal season can never be recaptured as long as we have a weak missionary vision:  as long as baptisms and receptions of converts are private affairs, become "routine," and are not considered as matters of concern to the whole Church.

With His ascension into Heaven, forty days after the resurrection, our Lord indicates for us the way, the orientation of our life.  The Kingdom of God is initiated on earth with the advent of Christ ("Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand"), and we are commissioned to receive into it, as citizens, "such as would be saved" (Acts 2:47).  Our life, following Christ, is all ascension, directed toward the "Kingdom to come" manifested in and through Christ.  At each Eucharistic celebration (the Divine Liturgy) we participate in that worship which eternally takes place before the Throne of God.

The disciples went back to Jerusalem (after the Ascension) with great joy, because they had the confirmation and assurance that everything, they had been told by Christ, was true.  Now they simply awaited the power to perform their mission in the world.  They knew what their mission was:  to go into all the world, preach the Gospel to all nations, "baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you."  They knew from their Master that He would "always be with them, even unto the end of the world" (Matthew 28: 19-20).  This was the source of their joy:  the assurance of the Lord's abiding presence and of the power to bring others into the fold.  Any lack of joy or participation on our part during the radiant season of Pascha can be said to coincide with (A) a certain amount of doubt or insensitivity to the fact that "Christ is in our midst," or (B) a lack of appreciation for mission.

It can be rightly asked, "how can we not revel in the joy of these forty days, when we think of the possibilities for bringing salvation to others, given to us by the risen Christ dwelling among us, unless it is true that our faith wavers and that we have little interest in mission and evangelism?"  We must pray always that our Lord will give to us the Spirit of wisdom and understanding to come to an appreciation of the Paschal season for the life of each of our communities

Paschal (Resurrection) Season 2023

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 16, one week after 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 25), 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 4), 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 (of blessed memory) 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 23)

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 (April 30):

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 7)

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 10).  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 14)

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 21)

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 25) 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 4) 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 11), 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 18, 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 January 29 with the Sunday of Zacchaeus will end on June 18.  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)

Bringing Good Out Of Evil

Prophet Habakkuk, Holy Week & Pascha:
A Reflection

Archpriest Daniel Kovalak  

Written a decade ago, the following article refers briefly to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, in which three people were killed and hundreds injured. Starting with that tragic event, the author addresses the age-old question, “how can God bring forth good, out of evil?” In doing so, Fr. Daniel recalls the confusion experienced by the Prophet Habakkuk as he wrestled with the notion of God allowing destruction to fall upon the people of Judah. He lists the great evils of men that led to Christ’s crucifixion. He reminds readers as well, of the greatest good that came ultimately from our Lord’s Self-Offering upon the Cross. A beneficial reflection as we approach Holy Week, and as the nation mourns three children and three adults recently killed at Covenant Christian School in Nashville.

“The inspired Prophet Habakkuk now stands with us in Holy Vigil.  He is like a shining angel, crying out with a piercing voice: ‘Today salvation has come to the world, for Christ is risen as All-Powerful!’” [Fourth Ode of the Paschal Kanon]

Just when our Lenten efforts are beginning to bear some fruit, something always seems to happen that derails our spiritual journey.  Sometimes it’s a minor irritation, illness or unexpected interruption. Sometimes it’s a more formidable and shocking event, with consequences that rock our world—like bombs in Boston!

Once again, as the media assaults us with breaking news, eyewitness interviews, endless analysis and graphic images of the consequences of evil acts, in a rare moment of reflection comes the question, “Where’s God in this?”  About 600 years before Christ, there lived a prophet named Habakkuk.  There’s a short, three-chapter book in the Old Testament that bears his name.  The Church commemorates him annually on December 2 and, whether we realize it or not, his prophecy is an integral part of our liturgical life.

As most of the prophets, Habakkuk was, shall we say, disinclined in his calling from God.  To communicate God’s divine will to stubborn people who’d rather be doing their own thing than be reminded of their sin and need to repent was (and still is!) hazardous duty.  Prophets were stoned because they scratched places that didn’t itch.  Nevertheless, Habakkuk was given a vision to deliver to the Chosen People—a revelation of God’s justice.  Judah consistently disobeyed God, and it seemed God had tolerated enough of their contempt and was ready to teach them a hard lesson.  Habakkuk saw the wrath of God descending on Judah at the hands of Babylonians.  This blew his mind because the Chaldeans were the most merciless, godless, ruthless people on the face of the earth!  Habakkuk’s perplexity was that God would not only allow evil against Judah, but that He’d use notorious Babylon as His rod of correction!

In spite of his trepidation at this vision, Habakkuk was utterly convinced that good would somehow come.  He just couldn’t imagine how.  Perhaps not unlike a tragic April day in Boston, Habakkuk was confronted by the haunting question, “how can God bring good out of evil?”  Because Habakkuk was faithful— because he embraced the will of God as his name implies—his prophecy was actually one of encouragement to Judah, that in spite of the overwhelming odds against them, in some wonderful yet mysterious way, God would bring good out of it.  Habakkuk then took up a vantage point in a tall tower to witness the vision unfold before his eyes.  He became the watchman who literally “kept vigil,” confidently waiting in faith to see God work.  The rest is history.

The Passion Gospels upon which our Holy Week services are built confront us with a horrible picture of the incredible evil heaped upon Our Lord.  He was betrayed by a kiss, dragged to an unjust trial, scourged, mocked, slapped, spit upon, crowned with thorns, and nailed to the cross, where the agony and humiliation continued.  Deceived by Judas, denied by Peter, condemned by religious leaders, sentenced by Pilate, crucified by soldiers, abandoned by seemingly everyone—what greater evil can we imagine!  All this and more, the Gospel says.  And we firmly believe He endures willingly.  Why?  “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

Among the things we should do all the time, but especially during Holy Week, is assume a proper spiritual vantage point, akin to Habakkuk’s tower, to contemplate the mystery of the Cross, to keep vigil, to observe and respond to the actions of God with total faith, to prayerfully contemplate how God’s will for man unfolds to bring the greatest good out of the greatest evil. (Hint: it has something to do with “trampling down death by death!”)

In view of all the irritations, distractions and breaking news of the day, we would also do well to occasionally revisit Habakkuk’s conclusion and make it our own (3:17-18): “Though the fig tree does not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.”  May this faith be ours as we journey to the Promised Land of Pascha, and confidently face the issues of today.

Orthodox Holy Week 2023

St. Barbara Orthodox Christian Church

 (April 8 - 16)

On Saturday, April 8, Orthodox Christians begin observing the most solemn of days leading up to the celebration of Pascha on April 16:  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, Tomb and 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). 

Lazarus Saturday & Palm Sunday (April 8 and 9)

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. 

Liturgies for Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday at 10:00 am.  Vespers, Lazarus Saturday, 6:30 pm with Blessing of Palms. 

Great & Holy Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday (April 10 – April 12)

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)

Bridegroom Matins for Holy Monday and Tuesday at 7:00 pm.  Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts on Holy Wednesday at 7:00 pm.

Great & Holy Thursday (April 13)

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 offers the response of the Church to these events in the life of Christ.  During the 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 14)

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.

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.

Service for Holy Friday at 3:00 pm. 

Great & Holy Saturday (April 15)

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. 

Holy Saturday’s service starts at 9:00 am.

Pascha (April 16)

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 dim lights 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 16, 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 17 – April 22)

The week immediately after Pascha is an extended, intense celebration of the Lord’s Resurrection. Although we enjoy a 40-day Paschal season (April 16-May 25, 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 16.  There is, as well, no fasting during Bright Week.  We look forward to celebrating Pascha with all of our Church members and friends. 

During Bright Week we will celebrate an additional Paschal Liturgy at St. Barbara’s on Thursday, April 20 (10:00 am).  Resurrection Vespers will be celebrated the night before on Wednesday, April 19 (7:00 pm).  In addition, other Orthodox Churches throughout the Metroplex will celebrate Bright Week services also, as their schedules allow.  We invite you to check out their websites and avail yourselves of these opportunities. 

 Christ is Risen!  Indeed He is Risen!

An Orthodox Christian Perspective on the Cross of Christ

Archpriest Stephen Kostoff

(March 19 is the mid-point of the Fast, the Sunday of the Veneration of the Cross.  Thus, we offer the following meditation.  Father Steven Kostoff is rector of Christ the Savior-Holy Spirit Church, Cincinnati, Ohio. He is also a member of the adjunct faculty of the theology department at Xavier University in Cincinnati, where he has taught various courses on Orthodox theology.)

The misunderstanding may still persist that the Orthodox Church downplays the significance of the Cross because it so intensely concentrates on the Resurrection, or on other such themes as transfiguration, deification, mystical encounter with God, and so forth.  This is an implicit criticism that there is some deficiency in the Orthodox Christian presentation of the place of the Cross in the divine dispensation “for us and for our salvation.”  Such criticism may not hold up under further reflection and inspection, for the Orthodox would say that based upon the divine economy of our salvation, resurrection – and any “mystical encounter” with God – is only possible through the Cross.  As this was “the purpose of his will” and “the mystery of his will” (Ephesians 1:5,9),  our salvation could not have been accomplished in any other way.  The “Lord of Glory” was crucified (1 Corinthians 2:8) and then raised from the dead. Elsewhere, the Apostle Paul writes that “Jesus our Lord” was “put to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (Romans 4:25).

The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews writes of “Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).  A text such as this could be behind the hymn we sing at every Divine Liturgy after receiving the Eucharist: “For through the Cross, joy has come into the world.”  Jesus himself said “that the Son of Man must suffer many things…and be killed and after three days rise again” (Mark 8: 31).  Of the Greek word translated as “must” from these words of Christ, Archbishop Demitrios Trakatellis wrote: “This expresses the necessity (dei) of the Messiah’s terrible affliction.  Judging from the meaning of the verb (dei) in Mark, this necessity touches upon God’s great plan for the salvation of the world” (Authority and Passion, p.51-52).

Many such texts can be multiplied, but the point is clear:  The Cross and the empty tomb – redemption and resurrection – are inseparably united in the one paschal mystery that is nothing less than “Good News.”  Like Mary Magdalene before us, one must first stand by the Cross in sober vigilance before gazing with wonder into the empty tomb and then encountering the Risen Lord (John 20:11-18).

As something of an aside, part of this misunderstanding of the Orthodox Church’s supposed neglect of the Cross in the drama of human redemption could stem from a one-sided emphasis on the Cross in other churches at the expense of the Resurrection.  The redemptive significance of the Cross somehow overwhelms the Resurrection so that it is strangely reduced to something of a glorified appendix to the salvific meaning of the Cross.  As Vladimir Lossky wrote:  “This redemptionist theology, placing all the emphasis on the passion, seems to take no interest in the triumph of Christ over death.”  Since the “triumph of Christ over death” is so integral to the very existence of the Church—and since it is the ultimate paschal proclamation, as in “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death!”—then the Orthodox Church will never concentrate on a “theology of the Cross” at the expense of the Resurrection.  Rather, the one paschal mystery will always embrace both Cross and Resurrection in a balanced manner.  Within the Church during the week of the Cross (beginning on the third Sunday of Great Lent), we sing and prostrate ourselves before the Cross while chanting, “Before Thy Cross we bow down in worship, and Thy holy Resurrection we glorify!”

In addition, and perhaps more tellingly, the growth, development and continuing existence of certain theories of atonement that have proven to be problematic today, but not shared by the Orthodox Church, have had an impact on evaluating the Orthodox Church’s understanding of the Cross on the whole. These theories of atonement will portray God as being primarily characterized by a wrath that demands appeasement, or “propitiation,” something only the death of His Son on the Cross could “satisfy.” These theories would stress the “judicial” and “penal” side of redemption in a one-sided manner. They may also bind God to act within certain “laws” of eternal necessity that would impose such categories as (vindictive?) justice on God in a way that may obscure God’s overwhelming mercy and love.

Not sharing such theories of atonement as developed in the “West,” the Orthodox Church may face criticism for lacking a fully-developed “theology of the Cross.” However, such “satisfaction” theories of atonement are proving to be quite unsatisfactory in much of contemporary theological assessments of the meaning and significance of the Cross in relation to our salvation “in Christ.”

The Orthodox can make a huge contribution toward a more holistic and integrated understanding of the role of both Cross and Resurrection, so that the full integrity of the paschal mystery is joyfully proclaimed to the world. From the patristic tradition of the Church, the voice of Saint Athanasius the Great can speak to us today of this holistic approach (using some “juridical” language!): “Here, then is the…reason why the Word dwelt among us, namely that having proved His Godhead by His works, He might offer the sacrifice on behalf of all, surrendering His own temple to death in place of all, to settle man’s account with death and free him from the primal transgression.  In the same act also, He showed Himself mightier than death, displaying His own body incorruptible as the first-fruit of the resurrection” (On the Incarnation, 20).

In soberly assessing too great of a dependency on juridical language when speaking of redemption, and anticipating some later theories that would narrowly focus on the language of “payment” and “ransom” in relation to the sacrifice of Christ; Saint Gregory the Theologian argued that a “price” or “ransom” was not “paid” to the Father or to Satan, as if either would demand, need or expect such a price as the “precious and glorious blood of God.” Saint Gregory says, rather, the following: “Is it not evident that the Father accepts the sacrifice not because He demanded it or had any need for it but by His dispensation? It was necessary that man should be sanctified by the humanity of God; it was necessary that He Himself should free us, triumphing over the tyrant by His own strength, and that He should recall us to Himself by His Son who is the Mediator, who does all for the honor of the Father, to whom he is obedient in all things …. Let the rest of the mystery be venerated silently” (Oration 45,22).

However, getting it right in terms of a sound doctrine of atonement is one thing – essential as it is – but assimilating the necessity of the Cross in and to our personal understanding and the conditions of our life is another. In fact, it is quite a struggle and our resistance can be fierce! If this is difficult to understand, assimilate and then live by, the initial disciples of the Lord suffered through the same profound lack of comprehension. Their (mis)understanding of Jesus as the Messiah was one-sidedly fixated on images of glory, both for Israel and for themselves. A crucified Messiah was simply too much for the disciples to grasp, ever though Jesus spoke of this in words that were not that enigmatic.  When Peter refused to accept his Master’s words of His impending passion and death in Jerusalem after just confessing His messianic stature and being blessed for it; he is forced to receive what is perhaps the most stinging rebuke in the Gospels when Jesus turns to him and says: “Get behind me Satan! For you are not on the side of God, but of men” (Mark 8:33).  It was Satan who did not want Jesus to fulfill His vocation by voluntarily dying on the Cross, so Peter’s refusal to accept Christ’s words was his way of aligning himself with Satan.

The disciples were not enlightened until after the resurrection of their Lord and Master.  We are raised in the Church so that we already know of Christ’s triumph over death through the Cross.  Our resistance is not based on a lack of knowledge, but of a real human dread of pain and suffering.  It may be difficult to us to “see” the joy that comes through the Cross until we find ourselves “on the other side,” for “now we see in a glass darkly, but then face to face” (1 Corinthians 13:12).  It is our hope and the “certainty” of our faith that Christ has indeed triumphed over death, “even death on a Cross” (Philippians 2:8).  God has blessed us with yet another Great Lent and upcoming Holy Week and Pascha in order to share in that experience of His glorious triumph that begins with the life-giving wood of the Tree of the Cross.

Forgiveness Sunday

+ Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom)

This year, on February 26, we commemorate Forgiveness Sunday, the last day prior to Great Lent.  Several lessons are stressed by the Church as we stand on the threshold of the Fast.  Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom) of blessed memory, offers some thoughts in the following sermon, delivered in his parish on February 25, 1996.

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Today two themes dominate the readings of the Holy Scriptures. St Paul speaks to us about fasting, and the Lord about forgiveness.  St Paul insists on the fact that fasting does not consist simply of depriving oneself of one form of food or another. Neither does it, if it is kept strictly, obediently, worshipfully, give us any ground to be proud of ourselves, satisfied and secure, because the aim of fasting is not to deprive our body of one form of food rather than the other, the aim of fasting is to acquire mastery over our body and make it a perfect instrument of the spirit. Most of the time we are slaves of our bodies, we are attracted by our senses to one form or another of enjoyment, but of an enjoyment that goes far beyond the purity that God expects of us.

And so, the period of fasting offers us a time during which we can say not that I will torment my body, that I will limit myself in things material, but a time when I will re-acquire mastery of my body, make it a perfect instrument. The comparison that comes to my mind is that of tuning a musical instrument; this is what fasting is, to acquire the power not only to command our body, but also to give our body the possibility to respond to all the promptings of the spirit.

Let us therefore go into fasting with this understanding, not measuring our fasting by what we eat and how much, but of the effect it has on us, whether our fasting makes us free or whether we become slaves of fasting itself.

If we fast let us not be proud of it, because it proves simply that we need more perhaps than another person to conquer something in our nature. And if around us other people are not fasting let us not judge them, because God has received the ones as He receives the others, because it is into the heart of men that He looks.

And then there is the theme of forgiveness, of which I will say only one short thing. We think always of forgiveness as a way in which we would say to a person who has offended, hurt, humiliated us, that the past is past and that we do not any more hold a grudge against this person. But what forgiveness means more deeply than this is that if we can say to a person, let us no longer make the past into a destructive present, let me trust you, make an act of faith in you, if I forgive you it means in my eyes you are not lost, in my eyes there is a future of beauty and truth in you.

But this applies also to us. Perversely, we think very often of forgiving others, but we do not think sufficiently of the need in which we are, each of us personally, of being forgiven by others. We have a few hours left between the Liturgy and the Service of Forgiveness tonight, let us reflect and try to remember, not the offences which we have suffered, but the hurts which we have caused. And if we have hurt anyone in one way or another, in things small or great, let us make haste before we enter into Lent tomorrow morning, let us make haste to ask to be forgiven, to hear someone say to us: in spite of all that has happened I believe in you, I trust you, I hope for you and I will expect everything from you. And then we can go together through Lent helping one another to become what we are called to be, disciples of Christ, following Him step by step to Calvary, and beyond Calvary to the Resurrection. Amen.

The New School Year and Education

Fr. Basil Zebrun

(The general thoughts herein come from a homily at the start of the school year by Metropolitan Anthony Bloom. Additional teachings are from St. John Chrysostom and Fr. Alexander Schmemann. These were recently shared with the congregation at St. Barbara’s during a sermon.)     

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Children are now back in school, and St. Barbara’s in fact, began its Church School Program yesterday. Later this morning, we will have prayers for the start of the New School Year. We will pray for the grace of the Spirit to come upon our students and teachers, enlightening their minds, opening their hearts to profound insights.

It has been said, that Christian parents and teachers often limit their approach to a child’s general education – to their own adult education – thinking mainly in pragmatic, material terms: what can our children, what can we grown-ups learn that will be useful in life?  Useful, not only to earn a living, but to make us well-rounded individuals, conversant on a variety of topics, able to move in social circles that will be of benefit later on.

On a sensory level, Man indeed explores the arts, sciences and world around him to get ahead. More importantly, he does so out of great curiosity, his need to know; out of a love for beauty; and because he wishes to shape his environment, leaving something for future generations to build upon.

 Noble reasons for exploration and study. But regardless, Man’s focus often remains on the world, its form and beauty as ends in themselves. As believers however, we are taught that there is much more to education and to the acquisition of knowledge.

There is a mysterious depth to things around us, “another world” that we wish to open to our children, that will provide ultimate meaning for their studies. This “other world” cannot be grasped simply through the standard rigors of education. It is perceived by the humble of heart, by men and women of prayer, by those who relate to the world as pointing beyond itself, as something other than useful or pleasurable.

All academic disciplines – math, science, history, literature, world affairs, politics, and so on – have an ability to lead our youth, lead anyone with an open heart, to knowledge of the Creator. How many men and women of science – at first skeptics, agnostics, perhaps atheists – have been drawn to faith in God by the complexity of the universe, by things that seemingly cannot be explained?

In their innocence, children are especially open to this experience, and thus, everything in our power should be done to encourage their natural wonder, to get them to see their environment not simply in pragmatic, black and white terms, but to view the world as in fact, a great work of art, with many layers, going beyond the senses.

We can study for example, sculptures, buildings, portraits, even icons and classic literatures, gaining insights into the minds of the artists and authors. In a similar fashion, the earth, sun, moon and stars, bear witness to the One Who is above it all, yet is “everywhere present, filling all things.” Traditional Christianity holds together these two ideas in a perfect balance: the belief in God’s Transcendence, that He is entirely “other,” along with the experience that He is infinitely close to His creation. Each day that experience is at a person’s grasp, accessible to anyone with an open mind, a willing heart. 

The Apostle Paul declares in Romans, chapter 1 that, “What can be known about God is plain to (men), because God has shown it to them.  Ever since the creation of the world (God’s) invisible nature – his eternal power and deity – has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made.” (v. 19-20)

St. John Chrysostom highlighted this idea of creation as a beautiful reflection of God’s gracious activity: “let us not test the works of God with (the) human mind, but instead, looking at what has been created, let us marvel at the Artist.” (Homily on Genesis:1)

Fr. Alexander Schmemann, time and again, spoke of the world as the original sacrament. Adam and Eve, through their stewardship of the Garden, were to know their Maker, find delight in His Presence.

This “other dimension,” the world’s sacramental nature, provides direction, gives ultimate meaning to all academic pursuits. We seek to instill in our children, sensitivity to this other side of life. That effort in fact, constitutes the fundamental focus of Church School, of Orthodox religious education.  The main purpose of religious education from an Orthodox point of view, is not simply to impart historical/theological information, but to lead the student, old or young, through his studies, more deeply into Christian worship, to bring to his awareness, the Kingdom of Heaven revealed on earth, given fully through the life of the Church.

This mystery of the Divine Revelation in Christ, is experienced most powerfully within the Liturgy. Into this gathering are brought many elements of creation: bread, wine, oil, water, incense, candles, wood and paint, through which the grace of the Spirit is felt.  Interestingly enough, young kids, even without formal training, often perceive the wonder of liturgical worship more readily than grown-ups. Such a thought was expressed to a group of Christian educators almost fifty years ago by Fr. Schmemann:

“Children penetrate more easily than adults into the world of ritual, into liturgical symbolism. They feel and appreciate the atmosphere of worship. The experience of the ’Holy’ which is at the root of all religion – the feeling of an encounter with Someone, Who is beyond daily life – is more accessible to children that it is to us. ‘Unless you turn and become like children,’ (Christ said): these words apply to the receptivity, the open-mindedness, the naturalness which we lose when we grow out of childhood. How many men have devoted their lives to the service of God and consecrated themselves to the Church because, from their very childhood, they have treasured their love of the house of God and the joy of liturgical experience.”

(Liturgy and Life, p. 16, Department of Christian Education, Orthodox Church in America.)

For any person with an open heart – not just children – all things are transparent to the Creator. There is joy and thanksgiving for all that exists, even outside the Liturgy. We read in Psalm 19, “The Heavens are telling the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims His handiwork.” (v. 1)     

I would like to conclude by quoting, Bishop Anthony Bloom: such a remarkable person. His approach to education is broad, based upon his own experiences as a man of science, a surgeon in WWII. He came to a deep faith in Christ, only after a period of personal struggle.  His style allows for each person, place, or object of study, to become a lesson in faith, a window into the Kingdom.  It is consistent with that of many Saints, who also enjoyed the benefits of a diverse and higher education.

He says, “One must show a child that this (entire) world is, for us believers, created by God and that it is an open book before us.  Instead of setting faith (and) the teachings of the Church, against the world which surrounds us – (the world of) literature, art and science – we should show children that through these (very) disciplines the mystery of God opens up ever more deeply and widely. God created this world, (and) for Him, everything which is the object of our scientific research is part of theology…The whole of creation is a kind of introduction to God’s creativity.” (editor’s emphasis) (Sermon on the start of the school year.) 

Think for a moment about that last statement: “The whole of creation is a kind of introduction to God’s creativity.” We can ask ourselves: is this the lesson, is this the certainty we impart unto children, unto anyone in our sphere of influence, the conviction of the world’s transparency to its Maker?     

Let us pray that would be the case, although I fear too often we posit the world against religion, against Christianity, instead of stressing (as we heard this morning) that, “God so loved that world that He gave His only-begotten Son…,” that He came not to condemn but to save. Let us pray that our children in their studies, will discover the material world, as well as the people around them, to be beautiful revelations of the presence and wisdom of God, icons, windows into Heaven.  Christ is in our midst! 

Paschal (Resurrection) Season: 2022

Introduction and Bright Week

(Some of the information herein taken from Fr. Thomas Hopko’s Orthodox Christian Faith Series) The week following Pascha (Easter), is called Bright Week, by the Church.  Pascha is celebrated this year by the Orthodox Church on April 24, one week later than 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 June 2), 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 12), 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). 

Commemorations for Post Paschal Sundays include:

1. St. Thomas the Apostle (May 1);

2. The Holy Myrrhbearing Women, David the King, the Righteous Joseph of Arimethea, Nicodemus, and James the Brother of our Lord (May 8);

3. The Paralytic by the Sheep Pool (May 15);

4. The Samaritan Woman (St. Photini (Svetlana)) (May 22); and

5. The Blind Man (May 29).    

Holy Week: The Ultimate Perspective

Archpriest Stephen Kostoff
(Pastor and Adjunct Professor of Theology, Xavier University in Cincinnati)

(Although we offered this reflection almost a decade ago, we thought that a reprint of these insightful words by Fr. Stephen would serve as part of a good preparation for Holy Week.)  

At the beginning of Holy Week, we contemplate “The End”—of the earthly ministry of Christ, of our own lives and the judgment that it will lead to, and of the “end of the world.” In other words, there is something of an “apocalyptic edge” to the texts of the services, beginning with the Scriptures and extending into the hymnography. Another term would be “eschatological,” meaning the “last things” in relation to the fulfillment of God’s design for the world. That may initially sound like a strange combination of themes.  After all, our major concern and focus is upon our Lord voluntarily going up to Jerusalem in order to ascend the Cross in the flesh.  But right before the Son of Man ascends the Cross, He solemnly declares, “Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the ruler of this world be cast out” [John 12:31].  In judging Christ, “the world” judges itself.  Sin and darkness seem to prevail when the Innocent Christ is led away to be crucified.  The triumph of such darkness can freeze the heart and lead many to despair of the very fate of the disciples at this time.  As the prophet Amos said, “The one who is stout of heart among the mighty shall flee away naked on that day” [Amos 2:16; cf. Mark 14:51-52].  Where do we stand?

It is striking that in the hymns for the Bridegroom Matins of Holy Tuesday, for example, there are not many direct references to the Passion of Christ. There is much more of a combination of exhortations and warnings to us—the contemporary disciples of Christ—concerning our relationship to Christ, to the world, and to our neighbor.  Are we loyal to our Lord as we remain in the world?  As we await the Second Coming of the Lord in glory, do we manifest true discipleship by fulfilling His commandments?  If the Bridegroom were to come “at midnight,” would He find us “watchful” or “heedless?” Are we “weighed down with sleep”—the sleep of spiritual sloth and torpor—or do we “rouse” ourselves in order to glorify God through our faith and deeds? Do we have a “wedding garment” with which to enter the “bridal chamber” of the Lord?  To come to the service is to “subject” oneself to this deep probing as the Lord searches our hearts for signs of faith and love.  This is done through the hymnography which in turn elaborates upon the parables of the talents, the wise and foolish virgins, the wedding banquet, etc.  Firmly, but rather relentlessly, the hymns reveal the true state of our souls in order that we turn to the Lord and seek His healing forgiveness:

     "How shall I, the unworthy one, appear in the splendor of Thy saints?  For if I dare enter Thy bridal chamber with them, my garments will betray me; they are unfit for a wedding. The angels will cast me out in chains. Cleanse the filth of my soul, O Lord, and save me in Thy love for mankind.

     "O Christ the Bridegroom, my soul has slumbered in laziness. I have no lamp aflame with virtues. Like the foolish virgins I wander aimlessly when it it is time for work. But do not close Thy compassionate heart to me, O Master. Rouse me, shake off my heavy sleep. Lead me with the wise virgins into the bridal chamber, that I may hear the pure voice of those that feast and cry unceasingly: “O Lord, glory to Thee!”

     "Thou art more beautiful than all men, O Bridegroom. Thou hast invited us to the spiritual banquet of Thy bridal chamber. Strip me of the ugly garment of my sins as I participate in Thy passion. Adorn me in the glorious robe of Thy beauty that proclaims me a guest in Thy Kingdom, O merciful Lord."

Contemplating “The End” at the beginning of Holy Week provides the necessary and ultimate perspective on the events of Holy Week that culminate with the Cross of our Lord. “This world” will judge itself—a judgment from which we flee by remaining loyal to Christ.  But to do this meaningfully, we must make a choice:  are we like the “innocent” but apathetic bystanders, who safely flee from any engagement in the passion of Christ or of any self-denial and a willingness to bear our own personal crosses? Or do we heed the Gospels and the call of the hymnography to rouse ourselves to both the active and contemplative life of authentic discipleship?  The “end” of Christ’s ministry on the Cross is the “beginning” of the New Age of the Kingdom of God’s presence in this world. The Son of Man will be raised from the dead and glorified to the right hand of the Father on high.  We anticipate that as we move through Holy Week, but it will be as “stewards of grace” that the Kingdom will be an experience in our lives and not simply an idea.

For more information about Holy Week at Saint Barbara: Holy Week 2022