As Iron Sharpens Iron

Hymn of Cleanthes

2011-10-02T13:33:00.001-05:00

Cleanthes was a pre-Christian (as in BC) Stoic. I've taken this hymn and only changed the name of "Zeus" to "Theos" (they're cognate both with each other and "Deus") and "lightning bold" to "sword". All of it could generally be used as a Christian hymn, and the theology in some of the lines is so completely Christian that I am shocked. I've bolded some of them.

Most glorious of the immortals, invoked by many names, ever all-powerful,
Theos, the First Cause of Nature, who rules all things with Law,
Hail! It is right for mortals to call upon you,
since from You we have our being, we whose lot it is to be God's image,
we alone of all mortal creatures that live and move upon the earth.
Accordingly, I will praise You with my hymn and ever sing of Your might.

The whole universe, spinning around the earth,
goes wherever you lead it and is willingly guided by you.
So great is the servant which You hold in Your invincible hands,
Your eternal, two-edged, sword.
By its strokes all the works of nature came to be established,
and with it You guide the universal Word of Reason which moves through all creation,
mingling with the great sun and the small stars.

O God, without You nothing comes to be on earth,
neither in the region of the heavenly poles, nor in the sea,
except what evil men do in their folly.
But you know how to make extraordinary things suitable,
and how to bring order forth from chaos; and even that which is unlovely is lovely to You.

For thus you have joined all things, the good with the bad, into one,
so that the eternal Word of all came to be one.
This Word, however, evil mortals flee, poor wretches;
though they are desirous of good things for their possession,
they neither see nor listen to God's universal Law;
and yet, if they obey It intelligently, they would have the good life.

But they are senselessly driven to one evil after another:
some are eager for fame, no matter how godlessly it is acquired;
others are set on making money without any orderly principles in their lives;
and others are bent on ease and on the pleasures and delights of the body.
They do these foolish things, time and again,
and are swept along, eagerly defeating all they really wish for.

O Theos, giver of all, shrouded in dark clouds and holding the vivid bright light,
rescue men from painful ignorance.
Scatter that ignorance far from their hearts.
and deign to rule all things in justice.
so that, honored in this way, we may render honor to You in return,
and sing your deeds unceasingly, as befits mortals;
for there is no greater glory for men
or for gods than to justly praise the universal Word of Reason.

Pentecost

2011-09-19T11:01:00.001-05:00

This is a hymn for Pentecost to the tune of The Cave by Mumford and Sons. It draws heavily on the Orthodox liturgy for the feast.

Our human hearts, by wickedness inspired

At Babel, were united in their pride

You tore our tower down

and caused our one tongue to divide

Holy Spirit come, we pray again

Wash away our idols, make us clean

Burn in us all that is not of You

And dwell within

The Babel curse turn back

The ruin, wreck and wrack

Unite our broken tongues again

The Babel curse unmake

Our fallen, flesh tongues take

And give to us the tongues of flame

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And so Your Holy Spirit, You sent down

To the twelve disciples gathered 'round

All who heard the Word in their tongue

marveled at the sound

The orators were once unlettered sons

Theologians formed from fishermen

Proving the philosophers to be

the foolish ones.

The slow-tongues, now enflamed,

The One-Who-Is proclaimed

And sophists silenced with the Word

For tongues of fire baptized

The simple men made wise

Who caught the whole world in their net

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So let Your Spirit fall in seas of fire

Our daughters and our sons may You inspire

The young and old, the slave and free

be caught up in the pyre

And make my heart Your home

For You and You alone

Can make my sin-soiled spirit fresh

And take our hearts of stone

For You, and You alone

Can give to us a heart of flesh

The lyrics are pulled from the sources below. The Orthodox prayers seemed to flow along three themes:

- Fire

- Giving wisdom to the ignorant

- Uniting the tongues that were divided at Babel

Ultimately, the song is meant to tell a story.

- Our tongues were divided at Babel, when we were united in pride and wickedness

- They were re-united at Pentecost when we were given the flaming Tongues of the Holy Spirit

- A plea for further healing and unity today

The Holy Spirit gives all things,

makes prophecies flow,

perfects priests,

taught the unlettered wisdom,

revealed fishermen to be theologians …

When you sent down your Holy Spirit to the Apostles as they were sitting,

Then the children of the Hebrews saw it

and were beside themselves with amazement;

For they were hearing them speaking in other, strange tongues,

as the Spirit gave them,

For though they were simple men, they have been made wise;

And having caught the nations for the faith, were preaching things divine …

Blessed are you, Christ our God,

Who revealed the fishermen to be most wise

by sending down to them the Holy Spirit

and so, through them, catching the whole world in a net.

The slow of tongue, covered in divine darkness, proclaimed the law written by God.

For shaking the dust from his mind’s eye, he sees the One Who Is,

And is initiated into knowledge of the Spirit as he gives praise with songs inspired.

When the power of the divine Spirit came down,

it divinely united in one harmony the voice divided of old

of those who had wickedly agreed together

Inapprehensible is the blaze of the Godhead,

for it revealed the unlettered to be orators

Bridling the mouths of Sophists in abundance with the Word

Joel 2:28-32

Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;

your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

your old men shall dream dreams,

and your young men shall see visions.

Even on the male and female slaves, in those days,

I will pour out my spirit.

I will show portents in the heavens and on the earth,

blood and fire and columns of smoke.

The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood,

before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.

Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved;

for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape,

as the Lord has said,

and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.

Ezekiel 36:25-28

I will sprinkle clean water upon you,

and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses,

and from all your idols I will cleanse you.

A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you;

and I will remove from your body the heart of stone

and give you a heart of flesh.

I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes

and be careful to observe my ordinances.

Then you shall live in the land that I gave to your ancestors;

and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

God. Was. In. Her. Womb.

2011-09-08T07:30:00.002-05:00

I'm currently finding myself in strange, spiritual limbo; considered too Catholic for Protestants and too Protestant for Catholics. Alas. Today is the birthday of Mary, the Mother of God, and calls to mind that aspect of Catholicism which most disturbs Protestants. That is, Marian devotion.

When I first started peeking into Catholicism, that was THE issue that most disturbed me. I was a relatively quick convert to saintly intercessions and to the Real Presence. Really, almost every aspect of Catholicism, once understood, was embraced. But this strange worship of Mary ... I couldn't get on board with that. This was about 12 years ago.

Recently, I read an essay by Chesterton which included a bit about the centrality of Mary to the Christian faith. Rather than try to explain it, he would proclaim it! Those who balk at it balk at Christianity. And I found, as I read it, I agreed.

‎"I DO not want to be in a religion in which I am 'allowed' to have a crucifix. I feel the same about the much more controversial question of the honour paid to the Blessed Virgin. If people do not like that cult, they are quite right not to be Catholics. But in people who are Catholics, or call themselves Catholics, I want the idea not only liked but loved and loved ardently, and above all proudly proclaimed. I want it to be what the Protestants are perfectly right in calling it; the badge and sign of a Papist. I want to be allowed to be enthusiastic about the existence of the enthusiasm; not to have my chief enthusiasm coldly tolerated as an eccentricity of myself. And that is why, with all the good will in the world, I cannot feel the crucifix at one end of the town as a substitute for the little Roman Catholic Church at the other."

Several years ago, I wrote a satirical Protestant Prayer of Praise to Mary. In it, buried beneath the snarkiness, is an important idea. If you, in any way, shape or form, believe in the Incarnation, then veneration of the Virgin it is the most natural, the most Christian thing, to do. It is true that, in these Gnostic times, the Incarnation has been made a mere footnote to the Crucifixion. The birth of Christ was so we could have a pure sacrifice, nothing more.

Let's assume, for a moment, that this little tidbit of heresy [penal substution / vicarious atonement] is true, that this was the only purpose of the God becoming man. So what? Do you realize what we're saying, here? Of all the beliefs held by all the religions in all the world, this is the most ludicrous, insane, mind-meltingly incongruous doctrine of them all. We needed to be saved from our sin, so God took on flesh? That's like mobilizing the National Guard in hazmat suits to airlift your son to Johns Hopkins because the school nurse calls to say he has a 99.2 degree temperature.

What do we know about this God?

Moses could only look at His backside lest he be obliterated.
Even then, when he returned to his people, his face was so bright that he had to wear a veil.
Isaiah feared the coal that would burn his unclean lips.
The sight of God struck Saul (later St. Paul) blind.
This is God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God, begotten not made, of one Being with the Father.

This is who was to be placed in Mary's womb. So, when I say "Holy Mary," you'd better believe it's true! It better have been, because if it hadn't, she'd have been consumed! Burned alive from the inside-out. None of this b.s. about "a fitting vessel" or any of that crap. None of this idiocy about not passing along a sin nature. I KNOW for a FACT she was holy, whatever the reason for it needed to be, because otherwise, she'd have been incinerated. And if I didn't know it before the Annunciation, I sure as heaven know it afterwards. How do I know? Let me break this down for you.

God. Was. In. Her. Womb.

Do we really understand Who God Is? I mean REALLY? Because if we do, I'm not sure how we can escape at least the tiniest bit of wonder and awe at Mary. Allow me to use Tolkein. In the Silmarillion, Tolkein tells the tale of Beren and Luthien. It's a good story. A really good story. A love story that has all that "love at first sight", star-crossed lovers from opposite sides of the tracks crap, except awesome. In the story, Beren is given the task of retrieving a Silmaril (a jewel containing some of the lost light from the elder ages) from Morgoth (a baddie who makes Sauron look as menacing as Mole Man). Beren gets it and is able to hold it because he is pure. When Morgoth's giant demon-dog bites off Beren's hand and runs away, the Silmaril begins to eat him up from the inside out, because he is corrupt and evil. When demon-dog is killed, the Silmaril is retrieved, still in Beren's hand (which has been preserved from decay in the belly of the beast because of the Silmaril).

Multiply that times a bajillion and you have the situation for Mary. Weekly, I am a little concerned about taking Communion because, as I eat and drink God, I'm running the risk of having a violent, matter-antimatter, reaction that will blow me to pieces. So, let me say again,

God. Was. In. Her. Womb.

And God did not do this lightly. He was sending the fullness of Himself. And He was sending Himself, NOT because we needed a really good sacrifice, but because we needed to kill God. We needed to kill God, NOT so that He could have someone worthy of His eternal wrath, but so that by His death, Death would die and sin would become a flaccid, impotent, stingless insect (which, nevertheless, seems to be doing extremely good bidness.) Yet, it's not amazing that His death killed Death. It's not amazing that He rose again. He was God. What else did we expect? What is amazing was that He had a death to die at all.

And so, Mary is at the center of Christianity because Christ is INSIDE her. Even after He was born, it was wrapped in a robe formed from her flesh and woven in her womb that the Word walked the world. It is because of her Son that I worship the mother.

Yes, I said worship. I worship Mary. Or adore. Or venerate. Whatever. We could lay all the words out and dissect them to find one that doesn't offend but still speaks truth. If I see a nuclear (oops ... sorry ... I meant "nuke-you-lar") bomb descending I can argue over whether it's targeting my city or the next one over. Or, I could run like heck. Bandying about verbs until we find an appropriate one will not change the essential fact that the Virgin bore The Verb, Verbum Dei.

Let me put it another way. Many years ago, some of my siblings read a series of books by a Christian romance author. The book was about a female collaborator during the German occupation of France in WWII, one of those women who were shaved bald after the war. She loved this Jewish guy, but knew she could never have him because of her past. Although I did not read it (never been one for romance as a genre), one scene they described stuck in my head. This woman was taking a cup from which the object of her affections had imbibed. When she was alone, she put her lips on the spot his lips had touched.

This is about as good an image of what I'm talking about as any I could muster. This is a love so intense, so all-consuming, that anything that person touches, or that is associated with him, becomes sacred. A cup, a hair, a picture, a journal ... all of it holy because of the association. Gimli did not want a strand of Galadriel's hair to "set in imperishable crystal" because he though Galadriel had really nice hair. He wanted it because it was hers. Probably, more than that, he saw the same light that was captured in the Silmarils reflected off of her face (for she was one of the few left on Middle Earth who had seen that light before it was extinguished).

So worship? Yes! Adore? Yes! Venerate? Yes! All of them, and more! There is very little of which Mary is not worthy and which it is not right for us to give her. More than the grail that bore Christ's blood, more than the cross that crushed His body, more than the sepulcher He used to harrow Hell; she is worthy. Because, and I can't say this emphatically enough,

God. Was. In. Her. Womb.

He glorified her Himself. I honor her BECAUSE of my understand of Who and What God Is, BECAUSE of my understanding of the absolute lunacy of the Incarnation. To honor the mother glorifies the Son and inasmuch as she is not held in honor, our faith is lessened.

Mary the dawn, Christ the Perfect Day;
Mary the gate, Christ the Heavenly Way!
Mary the root, Christ the Mystic Vine;
Mary the grape, Christ the Sacred Wine!
Mary the wheat, Christ the Living Bread;
Mary the stem, Christ the Rose blood-red!
Mary the font, Christ the Cleansing Flood;
Mary the cup, Christ the Saving Blood!
Mary the temple, Christ the temple's Lord;
Mary the shrine, Christ the God adored!
Mary the beacon, Christ the Haven's Rest;
Mary the mirror, Christ the Vision Blest!
Mary the mother, Christ the mother's Son
By all things blest while endless ages run.

Icons of St. John the Forerunner

2011-06-24T11:03:00.000-05:00

Theophany Hymn

2011-01-07T07:09:00.000-05:00

The following hymn is meant to be sung to a slightly modified "God With Us" by Amy Grant / Casting Crowns. It's based on all the Orthodox, Theophany prayers below it. Basically, the prayers (thus, the hymn) combine the story of Jesus' Baptism with Joshua and Israel crossing into Canaan.

The icon of the Theophany is explained in this really cool website. The only missing part is the little guy you see in the Jordan. I've alternately heard that explained as an anthropomorphism of the river itself (which speaks in the prayers) or the devil about the be burned out of the water.

Lord Jesus Christ descended to the Jordan

The way He once descended to the Earth

Creator come down close to His creation

To be baptized by the herald of His birth

Who said, "How will a lamp the Light illuminate,

Or the servant on his Master lay his hand?

Word of God, now wash me and the water!

Take away my sin, O holy Lamb!”

Hear the Father say, "My beloved Son!"

See the Spirit Dove now descend

He's the hidden God who has come to us

Now made manifest to all man.

Still, He comes to those who will call to Him

Into humble hearts He'll descend

He's the hidden God who has come to us

Now made manifest to all man.

The river, filled with fear and weak with wonder

Said, "I feel the Fire that flames within my flood

I do not know how I can cleanse the Clean One

Or wash within my waves the Word of God."

"Be quick, for I have come to end the Enemy,

The dragon hidden deep within your depth,

To deliver all the world from his devices,

And by My death to kill the tyrant Death."

Hear the Father say, "My beloved Son!"

See the Spirit Dove now descend

He's the hidden God who has come to us

Now made manifest to all man.

Still, He comes to those who will call to Him

Into humble hearts He'll descend

He's the hidden God who has come to us

Now made manifest to all man.

With humble heart, I wade into the water.

To heal my broken heart and make me whole!

And as Word once burned the river Jordan,

May He burn the thorns of sin within my soul!

Hear the Father say, "My beloved Son!"

See the Spirit Dove now descend

He's the hidden God who has come to us

Now made manifest to all man.

Still, He comes to those who will call to Him

Into humble hearts He'll descend

He's the hidden God who has come to us

Now made manifest to all man.

-------------------------

The river Jordan was turned back by the mantle of Elisha,
after Elijah had been taken up to heaven.
The waters were parted in two,
and the stream became a dry path.
This was truly a type of baptism,
by which we pass over the stream of life.
Christ has shone forth in the Jordan to sanctify the waters.

Today the Lord enters the Jordan and cries out to John:
“Do not be afraid to baptize me,
for I come to save Adam, the first-formed man!”

Today the nature of the waters is sanctified.
The Jordan is parted in two;
it holds back the flow of its waters
as it beholds the washing of the Master.
You have come to the river as a Man, O Christ the King,
and hasten to be baptized like a servant by the Forerunner,
on account of our sins, O good God Who love mankind.

To the voice of one crying in the wilderness,
“Prepare the way of the Lord,”
You came, O Lord, taking the form of servant.
You asked to be baptized though you have no knowledge of sin.
The waters saw You and were afraid.
The Forerunner trembled and cried aloud:
“How will the Lamp illumine the Light?
How will a servant lay his hand on the Master?
You take away the sin of the world, O Savior.
Sanctify both me and the waters.”

The Prophet above all prophets in honor,
the Forerunner and Baptist, saw You, the Lamb of God,
Who wash away the sins of the world.
His right hand trembled;
seized with anguish he cried aloud:
"I dare not touch Your head, O Word.
Sanctify and enlighten me, O Merciful One;
for You are the life and the light and the peace of the world!"

“O Prophet,” the Lord now says to John,
“come and baptize me, your Creator,
who cleanse and enlighten all with grace!
Touch my divine head and do not hesitate!
O Prophet, let it be so now;
for I have come to fulfill all righteousness!
Make haste; for I hasten to destroy the Enemy,
the prince of darkness, hidden in the waters,
that I might deliver the world from his snares,
and in my love grant eternal life!”

The waters saw you, O God;
the waters saw You and were afraid.
- Psalm 77:16

Why do you stop the flow of your waters, O Jordan?
Why do you make your streams flow back?
Why do you not follow your natural course?
“I cannot bear the fire which consumes me,” it said.
“I am amazed and shudder at the extreme condescension.
I have not learned to wash the pure or cleanse the sinless.
I have learned only to wash the filthy garment.
Now Christ, Who is baptized in me,
teaches me to burn the thorns of sin.
And John, the voice of the Word, bears witness with me.
He cries out: ‘Behold the Lamb of God,
Who takes away the sin of the world.’”
Let us the faithful cry to Him:
“O God, Who shone forth for our salvation, glory to You!”
now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Let us the faithful praise the greatness of God’s plan for us.
For He Who alone is pure and undefiled
becomes a man because of our transgressions.
He is cleansed with our cleansing in the Jordan,
sanctifying both us and the waters,
and crushing the heads of the dragons in the water.
Therefore, let us draw water in gladness,
for upon those who draw in faith
the grace of the Spirit is invisibly bestowed by Christ God,
the Savior of our souls.

When You, O Lord, were baptized in the Jordan,
the worship of the Trinity was made manifest.
For the voice of the Father bore witness to You,
calling You His Beloved Son;
and the Spirit in the form of a dove
confirmed the truthfulness of His word.
O Christ our God, You have revealed Yourself
and have enlightened the world, glory to You

The Father bore witness to You,
and the Divine Spirit in the form of a dove descended on You,
as You came in flesh to the Jordan, O Lord.
You desired to be baptized in human form,
that in Your compassion You might enlighten us who have gone astray, and deliver us from all the snares and wiles of the Dragon.
Make your home in our souls, O loving God.
now and ever, and unto ages of ages.

Feast of the Transfiguration

2010-08-06T09:28:00.013-05:00

Today is the Feast of the Transfiguration of Christ on Mt. Tabor, also known as the "little Theophany." For those who wish to read more about it, here are two explanations of the feast from the Orthodox Church in America and the Greek Orthodox Church in America as well as a sermon from St. Gregory of Palamas.

There are surprisingly few hymns on the feast. This one is a translation by my hymnic hero, John Mason Neale, of an ancient, Latin office hymn. However, Sufjan Stevens, one of my current, favorite artists, has a song about the Transfiguration on his album "Seven Swans" (a collection of really good Christian songs). I wish we'd sing it at church. Anyway, here is a video of the song and some lyrics followed by some of my favorite icons and other renderings of the Transfiguration.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

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When he took the three disciples to the mountainside to pray
His countenance was modified, his clothing was aflame
Two men appeared; Moses and Elijah came
They were at his side
The prophecy, the legislation spoke of whenever he would die

Then there came a word
Of what he should accomplish on the day
Then Peter spoke, to make of them a tabernacle place
A cloud appeared in glory as an accolade
They fell on the ground
A voice arrived, the voice of God
The face of God, covered in a cloud

What he said to them
The voice of God: the most beloved son
Consider what he says to you, consider what's to come
The prophecy was put to death
Was put to death, and so will the Son
And keep your word, disguise the vision till the time has come

Lost in the cloud, a voice: Have no fear! We draw near!
Lost in the cloud, a sign: Son of man! Turn your ear!
Lost in the cloud, a voice: Lamb of God! We draw near!
Lost in the cloud, a sign: Son of man! Son of God!

Chords: Em D Dm C / Bm A Am G

A Lenten Sermon Based on the Pascal Sermon of St. John Chrysostom

2010-02-18T14:23:00.000-05:00

If anyone be devout and love God,
Let him commence this radiant fast with joy!
If anyone be a wise servant,
Let him, rejoicing, enter into the school of repentance.

We who have wallowed long in sin,
Let us now begin our return.
If anyone has strayed from the first hour,
Let him today repent with zeal.
If anyone has sinned from the third hour,
Let him with gratitude embrace the fast.
If anyone has fled God from the sixth hour,
Let him have no misgivings about his prompt return;
Because he shall in nowise be turned away therefore.
If anyone has indulged the flesh since the ninth hour,
Let him draw near, fearing God alone and trusting in His mercy.
And if anyone has turned away only at the eleventh hour,
Let him also not hesitate to turn back with haste.

For the Lord, who is longsuffering and full of compassion and mercy, will accept the last even as the first.
He restores him who repents at the first hour,
As He does him who turns back at the eleventh.
And He shows mercy upon the last,
And cares for the first;
And to the one He gives,
And upon the other He bestows gifts.
And He both accepts the confession,
And welcomes the intention,
And honors the contrite heart and rejoices in the return.

Wherefore, enter all of you into the holiness of your Lord;
Offer your repentance,
Both the last, and likewise the first.
You rich and poor together, repent, for today we stand outside the closed gates of paradise.
You sober and you heedless, prostrate yourselves before your King!
Return to the Lord today, both you who have sinned with knowledge and those who have done so in ignorance.

Your pantries are full; empty them to the hungry.
The belly enslaves us, let no one be dominated thereby.
Enter all of you into the Great Fast;
Stripped of heavenly wealth by sin, all draw near to God’s rich loving-kindness!
Let no one despair in his sinfulness,
For the Bridegroom comes at midnight.
Weep all of you for your iniquities,
And draw near to the life-giving Cross of our Lord.
Let no one put confidence in the flesh,
For the Devil has deceived us all thereby, and therewith enslaves us to sin.

By turning from God, we are made captives.
We have called good evil and evil good, and put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.
And Isaiah, foretelling this, did cry:
Woe to those who put darkness for light, and light for darkness!

We are embittered, for we are banned from Eden.
We are embittered, but it is we who have mocked God.
We are embittered, for now we shall surely die.
We are embittered, for we have succumbed to the serpent.
We are embittered, for we are fettered in chains.
We partook of a fruit, and met the deceiver.
We were entrusted with paradise, but we chose Hell.
Our eyes were opened to see the nakedness of sin.

Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver us!
O Lord, make haste to help us!

This is the acceptable time, let us repent!
This is the day of salvation, let us crucify the passions!
The end is at hand and destruction hangs over us!
The end draws nigh, let us come again to our senses!
The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, what first-fruit shall we offer?
Let us delay not, lest we remain dead in the grave, sold under sin!
For God desires not the death of the sinner, but that he should turn from his wickedness and live!
So, let us choose life, and live, for the mercy of God endures forever!
To Him be glory and dominion
Unto ages of ages. Amen.

Holy Myrrhbearer and Equal of the Apostles Mary Magdalene

2008-07-23T08:19:00.003-05:00

Sensing Thy divinity, O Lord,
a woman of many sins,
takes it upon herself
to become a myrrh-bearer
and in deep mourning
brings before Thee fragrant oil
in anticipation of Thy burial; crying:
"Woe to me! For night is to me,
a dark and moonless madness
of wild-desire, an eros of sin.
Receive the springs of my tears
Thou Who gatherest the waters of the oceans into clouds,
bend to me, to the sorrows of my heart,
Thou who bendedst down the heavens
in Thy self-emptyingIncarnation,
I will kiss with my lips Thine immaculate feet
and dry them with the locks of my hair;
those very feet
whose sound Eve heard at the dusk in Paradise
and hid herself in fear.
Who shall count the multitude of my sins
or the depth of Thy judgment,
O Saviour of my soul?
Do not ignore Thy handmaiden,
O Thou whose mercy is endless".

- Hymn of Kassina

O woman of the gleaming hair,
(Wild hair that won men's gaze to thee)
Weary thou turnest from the common stare,
For the shuiler Christ is calling thee.

O woman of the snowy side,
Many a lover hath lain with thee,
Yet left thee sad at the morning tide,
But thy lover Christ shall comfort thee.

O woman with the wild thing's heart,
Old sin hath set a snare for thee:
In the forest ways forspent thou art
But the hunter Christ shall pity thee.

O woman spendthrift of thyself,
Spendthrift of all the love in thee,
Sold unto sin for little pelf,
The captain Christ shall ransom thee.

O woman that no lover's kiss
(Tho' many a kiss was given thee)
Could slake thy love, is it not for this
The hero Christ shall die for thee?

- "Song for Mary Magdalene" by Padraic Pearse

Icon: Sophia, the Holy Wisdom

2008-07-16T12:00:00.009-05:00

O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti,

attingens a fine usque ad finem fortiter,

suaviterque disponens omnia:

veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae.

O Wisdom, who proceeds from the mouth of the Most High,

reaching out mightily from end to end,

and sweetly arranging all things:

come to teach us the way of prudence.

O come, Thou Wisdom, from on high,

and order all things far and nigh;

to us the path of knowledge show,

and teach us in her ways to go

This is a Russian icon based on Proverbs 9:1, which is inscribed across the top:

Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars:

In the center is Mary, holding Jesus, enthroned. Above her is God the Father and God the Holy Spirit (uncharacteristically presented as an old man and a dove). The rest of the icon is arranged in sevens:

Seven archangels are in the clouds with St. Michael directly to the left and St. Gabriel (holding a lily symbolic of the Annunciation) to the right.
Seven steps, each with a different virtue

Glory
Grace
Humility
Purity
Love
Hope
Faith

Standing on the seven steps are seven men who are harder to identify. I think the ones to the left are Solomon (the wise king), Aaron (the first High Priest) and Moses (the lawgiver). The ones on the right probably represent the New Covenant, but I can't tell who they are.
There are seven pillars, each with a symbol. Of the ones I can identify:
What appears to be the Bible
The seven branched Menorah or candlestick from Revelation
Seven horns, probably from Revelation 8, although possibly from Joshua and the Battle of Jericho
Seven stars, probably from Revelation 1, 2 and 3 or from Amos 5:8
Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion,
and turneth the shadow of death into the morning,
and maketh the day dark with night:
that calleth for the waters of the sea,
and poureth them out upon the face of the earth:
The LORD is his name.
Seven cups/bowls/vials of wrath from Revelation 15
Seven ears of corn from Genesis 41 (Joseph in Egypt)

It's a very interesting icon. I am told by Orthodox friends that it is rather Western (for instance, the representation of the Trinity) and rather late (19th c.) for an icon. Here is an icon of Christ as Holy Wisdom which is supposed to be based on an 18th c. Russian icon called "Holy Silence" (an odd name for "The Word of God"):

This is a 12th. c. drawing by Hildegard of Bingen of Holy Wisdom:

In this one, Wisdom is surrounded by the seven liberal arts; Grammatica, Rhetorica, Dialectica, Musica, Arithmica, Geometrica and Astronomica. I would assume that the four figures below are the authors of the Gospels, but I'm not sure because they don't have the traditional animals attending them (man, ox, lion, eagle). I also don't know who the two figures directly below Wisdom are, or what the three heads in her tiara are.

And, finally, a more "official" Russian icon of Holy Wisdom from the 14th c. Novgorod school. Note that, unlike the first one, Jesus and Mary are separate from the person of Wisdom.

Maundy Thursday

2008-03-21T07:33:00.005-05:00

If you live alone, whose feet will you wash?
- St. Basil

Of Thy Mystical Supper, O Son of God,
accept me today as a communicant;
for I will not speak of Thy Mystery to Thine enemies,
neither like Judas will I give Thee a kiss.
But like the Thief will I confess Thee:
Remember me, O Lord, in Thy Kingdom.
- Orthodox hymn for Holy Thursday

Earth cannot bar flame from ascending,
Hell cannot bind light from descending,
Death cannot finish life never ending.
- Christina Rossetti

O God of Love, O God of Love
You gave to us a new command
That even as you gave us Love
We give ourselves to all of man.

The Love you gave us was Your Son
The One Begotten of You, He
Our life and our salvation won.
May we give of ourselves as free.

Though sinful servants, we request
Through all the struggles of our days
A mind forgetful of the past
A heart to love all, and your ways.
- Hymn based on an ancient Coptic prayer (below)

O God of love, who gave us a commandment
that we should love one another,
even as you loved us and gave your beloved Son
for our life and salvation;
we pray you to give us, your servants,
in all times of our life on the earth,
a mind forgetful of past ill-will,
and a heart to love our brothers and sisters.
- From the liturgy of St. Gregory

Love is but a song to sing
Fear’s the way we die
You can make the mountains ring
Or make the angels cry
Though the bird is on the wing
And you may not know why

Some may come and some may go
We shall surely pass
When the one that left us here
Returns for us at last
We are but a moment’s sunlight
Fading in the grass

If you hear the song I sing
You will understand
You hold the key to love and fear
All in your trembling hand
Just one key unlocks them both
It’s there at you command

Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another
Right now

An Altar for St. Joseph's Day

2008-03-19T08:56:00.014-05:00

There is a tradition in New Orleans, with roots going back to medieval times, of the St. Joseph's Day Altar. So, for this St. Joseph's Day, I have constructed an online altar for the foster-father of Jesus.

An Orthodox hymn

Joseph, when He beheld the greatness of this wonder,
thought that he beheld a mortal wrapped as a babe in swaddling clothes;
but from all that come to pass he understood that He was the true God

Another Orthodox hymn by St. Ephrem the Syrian, from his Hymns on the Nativity

Joseph caressed the Son as a babe;
he ministered to Him as God.
He rejoiced in Him as the Good One,
yet he was greatly bewildered and awestruck at Him as the Just One

"Who hath given me the Son of the Most High to be a Son to me?
I was jealous of Thy Mother, and I thought to put her away,
and I knew not that in her womb was hidden a mighty treasure,
that should suddenly enrich my poor estate.
David the king sprang from my race, and wore the crown;
and I have come to a very low estate,
who instead of a king am a carpenter.
Yet a crown hath come to me,
for in my bosom is the Lord of crowns!"

A more recent Christmas song by 4 Him which captures the spirit of the previous two:

Why me, I'm just a simple man of trade
Why Him, with all the rulers in the world
Why here inside this stable filled with hay
Why her, she's just an ordinary girl
Now I'm not one to second guess what angels have to say
But this is such a strange way to save the world

The Fathers of the Church spent some time talking about the reasons why Mary and Jesus needed Joseph, what role he played in the Gospel story. This first excerpt is from the Venerable Bede:

Blessed Mary had then a husband
who would be the most reliable witness of her integrity
and most faithful custodian of our Lord and Saviour.
For the Child Jesus, Joseph would bring to the temple
the victims of sacrifice prescribed by the law;
in the hour of persecution he would take Him
and His Mother into Egypt and bring them back;
and finally he would provide many other services
called for by the fragility of the nature assumed.

The guarantee afforded by Joseph's genealogy,
the protection of Mary against stoning as an adulteress,
and the concealment of the virginal birth from the evil one.

Echoing this same idea is St. Jerome:

In His boundless wisdom, God employs the simplest of means.
What was the best way to effect the incarnation of the Son of God?
To reveal openly the all-holy Virgin's virginal state
would have meant to bring attention to the Lord Jesus prematurely,
without proper preparation.
A threefold purpose was accomplished by Joseph's betrothal to the Virgin:
quiet obscurity was assured for Christ until the appointed moment,
an impenetrable defense was provided for both her and the divine infant.
All this was accomplished by the sacred betrothal of St. Joseph to the Virgin-Mother.

One of the most interesting, and unknown, aspects of the life of Jesus is his relationship to his foster-father. We have no record of interaction between the two in Scripture, and Joseph was dead when Jesus was crucified. According to the most ancient tradition, dating from the time of the Apostles, Christ Himself heard his confession, an account of his entire life. Here is the end of an apocryphal account of that confession. Jesus says:

Hail, my father Joseph, thou righteous man.

Joseph answers,

Hail, my well-beloved Son.
Indeed the agaony and fear of death has encompassed me.
But as soon as I heard Thy voice, my soul was at rest.
O Jesus of Nazareth! Jesus, my Saviour!
Jesus, O sweetest name in my mouth, and in the mouth of all that love it!
O Eye that seest and Ear that hearest, hear me!
I am Thy servant; this day I most humbly reverence Thee
and before Thy face I pour out my tears.
Thou art altogether my God.

In this song by Michael Card, the devotion of St. Joseph to Jesus is represented as well:

How could it be this baby in my arms
Sleeping now, so peacefully
The Son of God, the angel said
How could it be Lord I know He's not my own
Not of my flesh, not of my bone
Still Father let this baby be
The son of my love

Pope John Paul II summarized the silent witness of St. Joseph this way:

Sacred Scripture says little of him.
It does not record even one word spoken by Joseph, the carpenter of Nazareth.
And yet, even without words, he shows the depth of his faith, his greatness.
Saint Joseph is a man of great spirit.
He is great in faith, not because he speaks his own words,
but above all because he listens to the words of the Living God.
He listens in silence.
And his heart ceaselessly perseveres in the readiness to accept the Truth
contained in the word of the Living God.

This sonnet praises the "silent saint," who nevertheless has been named patron of the Universal Church (and about a hundred other things):

Saints know thee best, oh, hidden, silent saint!
And would that I could feel a little part
Of that great love Theresa's kindred heart
Felt for thee, Foster-father! But the taint,
The chill, is on my soul; and few and faint
The prayers that from this earthly bosom dart
Up to that heavenly throne whereon thou art
ln glory, not too high to hear my plaint.
Patron of all who work in humble ways!
Pray that from pure and earnest motive I
May fill with patient toil the moments flying;
Patron of happy death-beds! when my days
Have reached their term, be thou, dear Joseph! nigh,
With Mary and with Jesus, while I'm dying.

The Joys and Sorrows	of St. Joseph
Mighty Joseph, son of David! High and glorious is thy state— Of our Lord the Foster-father, Mary's spouse immaculate. The Almighty's faithful servant, Of the Holy Family Head and father. Oh! I pray thee, Be a father unto me. Sorely was thy bosom troubled Till the mystery was revealed Which the Lord had wrought in Mary Who in patience all concealed. But an angel soon from heaven Bids thy loving doubts to cease; So may every care and trial Turn for me to joy and peace. With the Virgin young and tender, In the winter-time forlorn, Thou to Bethlehem didst journey That our Lord might there be born. As thy God thou didst adore Him, While He in the manger lay; Now is He in heaven exalted— Turn to Him for us and pray! Flying at the angel's -warning, Far from Herod's fury wild, Long in Egypt didst thou tarry With the Virgin and the Child. By thy toil, thy pain, thy sadness, In that exile dark and drear, Help me in the cares and sorrows Which may be my portion here.	Home from Egypt's land returning, Thou wouldst rest in Galilee, But to Nazareth art bidden, That the Child secure may be. Souls retiring, sweet, and humble, Thou dost still for Jesus seek: That my heart may be his garden, Make it humble, pure, and meek. Thou didst search, with loving anguish, For the little Jesus lost; But, in finding Him, what rapture Purchased at that sorrow's cost! Thee, my light, my life, my Jesus, May I never lose by sin! May my heart be pure and simple, So that thou may'st rest therein ! Jesus, Mary, hung above thee On that sad yet happy day When, with their fond arms around thee, Passed thy gentle soul away. Oh ! when death shall come to take me, All its terrors I'll defy, If, with Jesus and with Mary, Thou, dear Joseph, wilt be nigh. Thus, O glorious Saint, my homage I thy grateful client pay. Hear my prayer and smile upon me, Guide and guard me on my way. May I 'neath thy kind protection Safely reach my journey's close, And with thee, in heaven's bright palace, Through eternity repose!

The Joys and Sorrows

of St. Joseph

Mighty Joseph, son of David!
High and glorious is thy state—
Of our Lord the Foster-father,
Mary's spouse immaculate.

The Almighty's faithful servant,
Of the Holy Family
Head and father. Oh! I pray thee,
Be a father unto me.

Sorely was thy bosom troubled
Till the mystery was revealed
Which the Lord had wrought in Mary
Who in patience all concealed.

But an angel soon from heaven
Bids thy loving doubts to cease;
So may every care and trial
Turn for me to joy and peace.

With the Virgin young and tender,
In the winter-time forlorn,
Thou to Bethlehem didst journey
That our Lord might there be born.

As thy God thou didst adore Him,
While He in the manger lay;
Now is He in heaven exalted—
Turn to Him for us and pray!

Flying at the angel's -warning,
Far from Herod's fury wild,
Long in Egypt didst thou tarry
With the Virgin and the Child.

By thy toil, thy pain, thy sadness,
In that exile dark and drear,
Help me in the cares and sorrows
Which may be my portion here.

Home from Egypt's land returning,
Thou wouldst rest in Galilee,
But to Nazareth art bidden,
That the Child secure may be.

Souls retiring, sweet, and humble,
Thou dost still for Jesus seek:
That my heart may be his garden,
Make it humble, pure, and meek.

Thou didst search, with loving anguish,
For the little Jesus lost;
But, in finding Him, what rapture
Purchased at that sorrow's cost!

Thee, my light, my life, my Jesus,
May I never lose by sin!
May my heart be pure and simple,
So that thou may'st rest therein !

Jesus, Mary, hung above thee
On that sad yet happy day
When, with their fond arms around thee,
Passed thy gentle soul away.

Oh ! when death shall come to take me,
All its terrors I'll defy,
If, with Jesus and with Mary,
Thou, dear Joseph, wilt be nigh.

Thus, O glorious Saint, my homage
I thy grateful client pay.
Hear my prayer and smile upon me,
Guide and guard me on my way.

May I 'neath thy kind protection
Safely reach my journey's close,
And with thee, in heaven's bright palace,
Through eternity repose!

Finally, a Litany to St. Joseph. In these times where we are too loud to hear the Lord, too proud to do the humble (yet infinitely necessary) tasks he asks of us, and too selfish to put others first; may his prayers and his example lead us to be silent, humble and loving.

Litany to St. Joseph:
Renowned offspring of David,
Light of Patriarchs,
Spouse of the Mother of God,
Chaste guardian of the Virgin,
Care father of the Son of God,
Diligent protector of Christ,
Head of the Holy Family,
Joseph most just,
Joseph most chaste,
Joseph most prudent,
Joseph most strong,
Joseph most obedient,
Joseph most faithful,
Mirror of patience,
Lover of poverty,
Model of artisans,
Glory of home life,
Guardian of virgins,
Pillar of families,
Solace of the wretched,
Hope of the sick,
Patron of the dying,
Terror of demons,
Protector of Holy Church,
Holy Joseph, pray for us.

Father Brown on the Reasonableness of Reason

2008-03-06T04:39:00.001-05:00

Reason and justice grip the remotest and the loneliest star. Look at those stars. Don't they look as if they were single diamonds and sapphires? Well, you can imagine any mad botany or geology you please. Think of forests of adamant with leaves of brilliants. Think the moon is a blue moon, a single elephantine sapphire.

But don't fancy that all that frantic astronomy would make the smallest difference to the reason and justice of conduct. On plains of opal, under cliffs cut out of pearl, you would still find a notice-board, "Thou shalt not steal."

- From "The Blue Cross" by G.K.Chesterton

How to be a peacemaker

2008-02-26T12:12:00.001-05:00

Blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall be called the children of God-the children because they set the Father on the throne of the Family.

The main practical diffculty, with some at least of the peace-makers, is, how to carry themselves toward the undoers of peace, the disuniters of souls. Perhaps the most potent of these are not those powers of the church visible who care for canon and dogma more than for truth, and for the church more than for Christ; who take uniformity for unity; who strain at a gnat and swallow a camel, nor knowing what spirit they are of; such men, I say, are perhaps neither the most active nor the most potent force working for the disintegration of the body of Christ. I imagine also that neither are the party-liars of politics the worst foes to divine unity, ungenerous, and often knowingly false as they are to their opponents, to whom they seem to have no desire to be honest and fair. I think, rather, they must be the babbling liars of the social circle, and the faithless brothers and unloving sisters of disunited human families.

But why inquire? Every self-assertion, every form of self-seeking however small or poor, world-noble or grotesque, is a separating and scattering force. And these forces are multitudinous, these points of radial repulsion are innumerable, because of the prevailing passion of mean souls to seem great, and feel important. If such cannot hope to attract the attention of the great-little world, if they cannot even become 'the cynosure of neighbouring eyes,' they will, in what sphere they may call their own, however small it be, try to make a party for themselves; each, revolving on his or her own axis, will attempt to self-centre a private whirlpool of human monads.

To draw such a surrounding, the partisan of self will sometimes gnaw asunder the most precious of bonds, poison whole broods of infant loves. Such real schismatics go about, where not inventing evil, yet rejoicing in iniquity; mishearing; misrepresenting; paralyzing affection; separating hearts. Their chosen calling is that of the strife-maker, the child of the dividing devil. They belong to the class of the perfidious, whom Dante places in the lowest infernal gulf as their proper home.

Are we to treat persons known for liars and strife-makers as the children of the devil or not? Are we to turn away from them, and refuse to acknowledge them, rousing an ignorant strife of tongues concerning our conduct? Are we guilty of connivance, when silent as to the ambush whence we know the wicked arrow privily shot? Are we to call the traitor to account? or are we to give warning of any sort? I have no answer. Each must carry the question that perplexes to the Light of the World. To what purpose is the spirit of God promised to them that ask it, if not to help them order their way aright?

One thing is plain-that we must love the strife-maker; another is nearly as plain-that, if we do not love him, we must leave him alone; for without love there can be no peace-making, and words will but occasion more strife. To be kind neither hurts nor compromises. Kindness has many phases, and the fitting form of it may avoid offence, and must avoid untruth.

We must not fear what man can do to us, but commit our way to the Father of the Family. We must be nowise anxious to defend ourselves; and if not ourselves because God is our defence, then why our friends? is he not their defence as much as ours? Commit thy friend's cause also to him who judgeth righteously. Be ready to bear testimony for thy friend, as thou wouldst to receive the blow struck at him; but do not plunge into a nest of scorpions to rescue his handkerchief. Be true to him thyself, nor spare to show thou lovest and honourest him; but defence may dishonour: men may say, What! is thy friend's esteem then so small? He is unwise who drags a rich veil from a cactus-bush.

Whatever our relation, then, with any peace-breaker, our mercy must ever be within call; and it may help us against an indignation too strong to be pure, to remember that when any man is reviled for righteousness-sake, then is he blessed.

- "The Hope of the Gospel" by George MacDonald

The Word of God?

2008-02-12T16:20:00.000-05:00

Sad, indeed, would the whole matter be, if the Bible had told us everything God meant us to believe. But herein is the Bible itself greatly wronged. It nowhere lays claim to be regarded as the Word, the Way, the Truth. The Bible leads us to Jesus, the inexhaustible, the ever unfolding Revelation of God. It is Christ "in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," not the Bible, save as leading to him.

And why are we told that these treasures are hid in him who is the Revelation of God? Is it that we should despair of finding them and cease to seek them? Are they not hid in him that they may be revealed to us in due time-that is, when we are in need of them? Is not their hiding in him the mediatorial step towards their unfolding in us? Is he not the Truth?-the Truth to men? Is he not the High Priest of his brethren, to answer all the troubled questionings that arise in their dim humanity?

Unspoken Sermons, Volume 1, The Higher Faith

Cool Christmas Icon

2008-01-01T17:32:00.001-05:00

"Twixt the Two" by George MacDonald

2008-01-01T16:22:00.000-05:00

Star high,
Baby low
'Twixt the two
Wise men go;
Find the baby,
Grasp the star---
Heirs of all things
Near and Far!

This image is of a rocket attack over Bethlehem.

"Christmas Carol" by G.A. Studdert

2007-12-28T18:42:00.000-05:00

COME worship the King,
That little white thing,
Asleep on His Mother's soft breast.
Ye bright stars, bow down,
Weave for Him a crown,
Christ Jesus by angels confessed.

Come, children, and peep,
But hush ye, and creep
On tiptoe to where the Babe lies;
Then whisper His Name
And lo! like a flame
The Glory light shines in His eyes.

Come, strong men, and see
This high mystery,
Tread firm where the shepherds have trod,
And watch, 'mid the hair
Of the Maiden so fair,
The five little fingers of God.

Come, old men and grey,
The star leads the way,
It halts, and your wanderings cease;
Look down on His Face,
Then, filled with His Grace,
Depart ye, God's servants, in Peace.

15th c. Christmas Prayer

2007-12-28T18:39:00.000-05:00

Lo, in the silent night
a child to God is born
And all is brought again
That ere was lost or lorn

Could but thy soul, o man
Become a silent night!
God would be born in thee
And set all things aright.

Syriac Christmas Hymn

2007-12-28T18:38:00.000-05:00

Jesus Christ, radiant center of glory,
image of our God, the invisible Father,
revealer of His eternal designs,
prince of peace;
Father of the world to come.
For our sake he took the likeness of a slave,
becoming flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary,
for our sake, wrapped in swaddling bands
and laid in a manger
adored by the shepherds
and hymned by the angelic powers, who sang:
Glory to God in the heavens
and on earth peace and good to men.
Make us worthy, Lord, to celebrate and to conclude in peace
the feast which magnifies the rising of your light,
by avoiding empty words, working with justice,
fleeing from the passions,
and raising up the spirit above earthly goods.
Bless your Church, formed long ago
to be united with yourself through your life-giving blood.
Come to the aid of your faithful shepherds,
of the priests and the teachers of the Gospel.
Bless your faithful whose only hope is in your mercy;
Christian souls, the sick, those who are tormented in spirit,
and those who have asked us to pray for them.
Have pity, in your infinite clemency, and preserve us
in fitness to receive the future, endless, good things.
We celebrate your glorious Nativity
with the Father who sent you for our redemption,
with the life-giving Spirit,
now and for ever and through all ages. Amen

" Moonless darkness stands between" by Gerald Manley Hopkins

2007-12-28T18:37:00.000-05:00

Moonless darkness stands between.
Past, the Past, no more be seen!
But the Bethlehem-star may lead me
To the sight of Him Who freed me
From the self that I have been.
Make me pure, Lord: Thou art holy;
Make me meek, Lord: Thou wert lowly;
Now beginning, and alway:
Now begin, on Christmas day.

"The Oxen" by Thomas Hardy

2007-12-28T18:24:00.002-05:00

Old Christmas or Little Christmas (Nollaig Bheag in Irish) is one of the traditional names for January 6.. It is so called because it was, until the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, the day on which Christmas Day was celebrated.

On Old Christmas Eve, we'd sit 'fore the fire and Mom and Dad and Granny'd tell us about the baby Jesus born in a stable on this night, and they'd say that if we'd go out at midnight we'd see the old elderberry bush blooming in the fence corner right in the show, and that if we peeped in through a chink in our stable and made no racket at all, we'd see the cow and the old mule kneeling down - paying honor to the King of Kings.

All of us would try to stay up until midnight so we could go see the elderberry blossoms, and the bruted kneeling down, but we were all used to going to bed at the edge of dark and we never could keep awake that long. That used to be our Christmas.

It was a good, peaceful kind of time ... Now I guess everybody celebrates the Day this (new) was ... but in the evening of the fifth day of January, I always remember Granny Katty sitting bowed over the fire, singing of the little Babe with dew drops a shining on his cradle.
- Jean Ritchie

Christmas Eve, and twelve of the clock.
"Now they are all on their knees,"
An elder said as we sat in a flock
By the embers in hearthside ease.
We pictured the meek mild creatures where
They dwelt in their strawy pen,
Nor did it occur to one of us there
To doubt they were kneeling then.
So fair a fancy few would weave
In these years! Yet, I feel,
If someone said on Christmas Eve,
"Come; see the oxen kneel
"In the lonely barton by yonder coomb
Our childhood used to know,"
I should go with him in the gloom,
Hoping it might be so.

"A Christmas Hymn" by Richard WIlber

2007-12-28T18:24:00.001-05:00

A stable-lamp is lighted
Whose glow shall wake the sky;
The stars shall bend their voices,
And every stone shall cry.
And every stone shall cry,
And straw like gold shall shine;
A barn shall harbor heaven,
A stall become a shrine.
This child through David's city
Shall ride in triumph by;
The palm shall strew its branches,
And every stone shall cry.
And every stone shall cry,
Though heavy, dull, and dumb,
And lie within the roadway
To pave his kingdom come.
Yet he shall be forsaken,
And yielded up to die;
The sky shall groan and darken,
And every stone shall cry.
And every stone shall cry
For stony hearts of men:
God's blood upon the spearhead,
God's love refused again.
But now, as at the ending,
The low is lifted high;
The stars shall bend their voices,
And every stone shall cry.
And every stone shall cry,
In praises of the child,
By whose descent among us,
The worlds are reconciled.

"The Sending of the Magi" by Carmen Bliss

2007-12-28T18:23:00.001-05:00

In a far Eastern country
It happened long of yore,
Where a lone and level sunrise
Flushes the desert floor,
That three kings sat together
And a spearman kept the door.
Gaspar, whose wealth was counted
By city and caravan;
With Melchior, the seer
Who read the starry plan;'
And Balthasar, the blameless,
Who loved his fellow man.
There while they talked, a sudden
Strange rushing sound arose,
And as with startled faces
They thought upon their foes,
Three figures stood before them
In imperial repose.
One in flame-gold and one in blue
And one is scarlet clear,
With the almighty portent
Of sunrise they drew near!
And the kings made obeisance
With hand on breast, in fear.
"Arise," said they, "we bring you
Good tidings of great peace!
To-day a power is wakened
Whose working must increase,
Till fear and greed and malice
And violence shall cease."
The messengers were Michael,
By whom all things are wrought
To shape and hue; and Gabriel
Who is the lord of thought;
And Rafael without whose love
All toil must come to nought.
Then Rafael said to Balthasar,
"In a country west from here
A lord is born in lowliness,
In love without a peer.
Take grievances and gifts to him
And prove his kingship clear!
"By this sign ye shall know him;
Within his mother's arm
Among the sweet-breathed cattle
He slumbers without harm,
While wicked hearts are troubled
And tyrants take alarm."
And Gabriel said to Melchior,
"My comrade, I will send
My star to go before you,
That ye may comprehend
Where leads your mystic learning
In a humaner trend."
And Michael said to Gaspar,
"Thou royal builder, go
With tribute to thy riches!
Though time shall overthrow
Thy kingdom, no undoing
His gentle might shall know."
Then while the kings' hearts greatened
And all the chamber shone,
As when the hills at sundown
Take a new glory on
And the air thrills with purple,
Their visitors were gone.
Then straightway up rose Gaspar,
Melchior and Balthasar,
And passed out through the murmur
Of palace and bazar,
To make without misgiving
The journey of the Star.

"Christmas" by George Herbert

2007-12-28T18:22:00.000-05:00

All after pleasures as I rid one day,
My horse and I, both tir’d, bodie and minde,
With full crie of affections, quite astray ;
I took up in the next inne I could finde.

There when I came, whom found I but my deare,
My dearest Lord, expecting till the grief
Of pleasures brought me to him, readie there
To be all passengers most sweet relief?

O Thou, whose glorious, yet contracted light,
Wrapt in night's mantle, stole into a manger ;
Since my dark soul and brutish is thy right,
To Man of all beasts be not thou a stranger :

Furnish and deck my soul, that thou mayst have
A better lodging, than a rack, or grave.

THE shepherds sing ; and shall I silent be?
My God, no hymne for thee?
My soul ’s a shepherd too : a flock it feeds
Of thoughts, and words, and deeds.
The pasture is thy word ; the streams, thy grace
Enriching all the place.
Shepherd and flock shall sing, and all my powers
Out-sing the day-light houres.
Then we will chide the sunne for letting night
Take up his place and right :

We sing one common Lord ; wherefore he should
Himself the candle hold.

I will go searching, till I finde a sunne
Shall stay, till we have done ;
A willing shiner, that shall shine as gladly,
As frost-nipt sunnes look sadly.
Then we will sing, and shine all our own day,
And one another pay :
His beams shall cheer my breast, and both so twine,
Till ev’n his beams sing, and my musick shine.

"The Journey of the Magi" by T.S. Eliot

2007-12-28T18:21:00.000-05:00

"A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter."
And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
And running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires gong out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty, and charging high prices.:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.
Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no information, and so we continued
And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.
All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I have seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.

St. Romanos the Melodist Christmas Hymn

2007-12-28T18:20:00.000-05:00

Today the Virgin gives birth to him who is above all being,
and the earth offers a cave to him whom no one can approach.
Angels with shepherds give glory,
and magi journey with a star,
for to us there has been born

a little Child, God before the ages. (Isaias 9.5, Psalm 73(74).12.)

Bethlehem has opened Eden, come, let us see;
we have found delight in secret, come, let us receive
the joys of Paradise within the cave.
There the unwatered root (A double allusion to Isaias 11.1 and the virgin birth.)
whose blossom is forgiveness has appeared.
There has been found the undug well
from which David once longed to drink. (2 Kingdoms (2 Samuel) 23.13-17, 1 Chronicles 11.17-19)
There a virgin has borne a babe
and has quenched at once Adam’s and David’s thirst.
For this, let us hasten to this place where there has been born

a little Child, God before the ages

The mother’s Father has willingly become her Son,
the infants’ saviour is laid as an infant in a manger.
As she who bore him contemplates him, she says,
"Tell me, my Child, how were you sown, or how were you planted in me?
I see you, my flesh and blood, and I am amazed,
because I give suck and yet I am not married.
And though I see you in swaddling clothes,
I know that the flower of my virginity is sealed,
for you preserved it when, in your good pleasure, you were born

a little Child, God before the ages.

"High King, what have you to do with beggars?
Maker of heaven, why have you come to those born of earth?
Did you love a cave or take pleasure in a manger?
See, there is no place for your servant in the inn,
I do not say a place, not even a cave,
for that too belongs to another.
To Sara, when she bore a child, (Isaac, the beloved son of Abraham, is one of the most frequent types of Christ.)
a vast land was given as her lot. To me, not even a fox hole. (Matthew 8.20.)
I used the cavern where willingly you made your dwelling,

a little Child, God before the ages."

Brodsky's Christmas Poem

2007-12-27T18:37:00.000-05:00

. . . God
has lighted in the blue immense
the planets, icon lamps to glow
before the face we cannot know.

. . . and you
half wish to clench your eyes, or step into
a different galaxy, in whose wastes there shine
more lights than there are sands in Palestine. .

"The Savior must have been a docile Gentleman" by Emily Dickinson

2007-12-27T18:36:00.000-05:00

The Savior must have been
A docile Gentleman—
To come so far so cold a Day
For little Fellowmen—

The Road to Bethlehem
Since He and I were Boys
Was leveled, but for that 'twould be
A rugged Billion Miles—

Hamlet on Christmas

2007-12-27T18:34:00.001-05:00

Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes
Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated,
This bird of dawning singeth all night long;
And then, they say, no spirit dare stir abroad,
The nights are wholesome, then no planets strike,
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,
So hallow'd and so gracious is the time.

"The Mystic's Christmas" by John Greenleaf Whittier

2007-12-27T18:33:00.001-05:00

"All hail!" the bells of Christmas rang,
"All hail!" the monks at Christmas sang,
The merry monks who kept with cheer
The gladdest day of all their year.

But still apart, unmoved thereat,
A pious elder brother sat
Silent, in his accustomed place,
With God's sweet peace upon his face.

"Why sitt'st thou thus?" his brethren cried,
"It is the blessed Christmas-tide;
The Christmas lights are all aglow,
The sacred lilies bud and blow.

"Above our heads the joy-bells ring,
Without the happy children sing,
And all God's creatures hail the morn
On which the holy Christ was born.

"Rejoice with us; no more rebuke
Our gladness with thy quiet look."
The gray monk answered, "Keep, I pray,
Even as ye list, the Lord's birthday.

"Let heathen Yule fires flicker red
Where thronged refectory feasts are spread;
With mystery-play and masque and mime
And wait-songs speed the holy time!

"The blindest faith may haply save;
The Lord accepts the things we have;
And reverence, howsoe'er it strays,
May find at last the shining ways.

"They needs must grope who cannot see,
The blade before the ear must be;
As ye are feeling I have felt,
And where ye dwell I too have dwelt.

"But now, beyond the things of sense,
Beyond occasions and events,
I know, through God's exceeding grace,
Release from form and time and space.

"I listen, from no mortal tongue,
To hear the song the angels sung;
And wait within myself to know
The Christmas lilies bud and blow.

"The outward symbols disappear
From him whose inward sight is clear;
And small must be the choice of days
To him who fills them all with praise!

"Keep while you need it, brothers mine,
With honest seal your Christmas sign,
But judge not him who every morn
Feels in his heart the Lord Christ born!"

"Ecce Puer" by James Joyce

2007-12-27T18:29:00.000-05:00

Of the dark past
A child is born;
With joy and grief
My heart is torn.

Calm in his cradle
The living lies.
May love and mercy
Unclose his eyes!

Young life is breathed
On the glass;
The world that was not
Comes to pass.

A child is sleeping:
An old man gone.
O, father forsaken,
Forgive your son!

"The Thread of Life" by Christina Rossetti

2007-12-27T18:22:00.000-05:00

The irresponsive silence of the land,
The irresponsive sounding of the sea,
Speak both one message of one sense to me: —
Aloof, aloof, we stand aloof, so stand
Thou too aloof bound with the flawless band
Of inner solitude; we bind not thee;
But who from thy self—chain shall set thee free?
What heart shall touch thy heart? what hand thy hand?—
And I am sometimes proud and sometimes meek,
And sometimes I remember days of old
When fellowship seemed not so far to seek
And all the world and I seemed much less cold,
And at the rainbow's foot lay surely gold,
And hope felt strong and life itself not weak.

Thus am I mine own prison. Everything
Around me free and sunny and at ease:
Or if in shadow, in a shade of trees
Which the sun kisses, where the gay birds sing
And where all winds make various murmuring;
Where bees are found, with honey for the bees;
Where sounds are music, and where silences
Are music of an unlike fashioning.
Then gaze I at the merrymaking crew,
And smile a moment and a moment sigh
Thinking: Why can I not rejoice with you ?
But soon I put the foolish fancy by:
I am not what I have nor what I do;
But what I was I am, I am even I.

Therefore myself is that one only thing
I hold to use or waste, to keep or give;
My sole possession every day I live,
And still mine own despite Time's winnowing.
Ever mine own, while moons and seasons bring
From crudeness ripeness mellow and sanative;
Ever mine own, till Death shall ply his sieve;
And still mine own, when saints break grave and sing.
And this myself as king unto my King
I give, to Him Who gave Himself for me;
Who gives Himself to me, and bids me sing
A sweet new song of His redeemed set free;
He bids me sing: O death, where is thy sting?
And sing: O grave, where is thy victory?

Cool Christmas Icon

2007-12-22T18:29:00.001-05:00

I came across this interesting illumination from the Paris Psalter which incorporates a lot of Greek mythological imagery in the service of a Christian meaning. Many thanks to Silouan who decoded most of this for me.

Symbolism:

The lady in black is Nyx, which means night.
The man in the middle is Esaias (Isaiah). The iconograoher painted him to look like John the Baptist, though it makes sense.
The child with the torch is Orthros, which means daybreak (it's also the Greek name for the Matins service.)
The hand in the clouds is making a Chi Rho (the first two letters of Christ in Greek) which Orthodox priests use when blessing.

Thus, this picture is of Isaiah receiving his vision from the preincarnate Christ at the end of night and the beginning of a new morning - or at the end of an age and beginning of the next. Or, as Isaiah put it (9:2):

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

This is a really fascinating icon for another reason. Roman Mithras was depicted with his two companions, the young men called dadophores. One held his bright torch up and the other held his guttering torch down. This artist has borrowed that motif, though he's certainly put his own stamp on it.

The race that long in darkness pined,
Have seen a glorious Light;
The people dwell in day, who dwelt
In death's surrounding night.

Emmanuel and Elmanuim

2007-12-16T05:12:00.000-05:00

The people who were wandering in darkness cried out to heaven, 0
"Great God, come quickly to our aid! Loving Lord, hasten to help us!" 1
Hearing their prayers, God took counsel with Himself.
In a three-fold voice He said, "It is time," and the heavens hushed in wonder.

So the Son stripped Himself of His robes of glory.
He removed His regal crown
His power and wealth were set aside.
And while all things were in quiet silence,
and night was in the midst of her swift course,
the Almighty Word, leapt down out of His royal throne. 2, 3

He came to us in such a poor, pitiful state,
devoid of crown, throne, robes and power; 4
and coming He asked us what we had to give Him.

"My children, I have no clothes, for I have set them aside for love of you.
What have you to give me, to cover my nakedness?"
"We have only the womb of a Virgin. Of her you may take our flesh
though it is diseased with death and stained with sin."
"This will I take," He replied.
Yet, in the taking, He made the flesh clean and living.

"My children, I have no house, for I have left My Father for love of you.
What home have you to give me, to shelter me from the wind?"
"We have only the stable of this Inn, where the sheep and oxen sleep."
"This will I take," He replied.
Yet, in the taking, He made that stable the palace of the wide world and high heavens.

"My children, I have no throne, for I have set aside My seat for love of you.
What throne have you to give me, from which I may administer justice and peace?"
"We have only this manger, the feeding place of ox and donkey."
"This will I take," He replied.
Yet, in the taking, He made that manger more holy than the Ark of the Covenant.

"My children, I have no way to travel, for I who was once all places
have bound myself to this one place for love of you.
What steed have you to give me, that I might ride to your rescue?"
"We have only this donkey, who is used to bear the burdens of his owner."
"This will I take," He replied.
Yet, in the taking, He made that donkey the bearer of the most noble Son of God.

"My children, I have no food, for I who once had no need have made myself needful for love of you.
What meal have you to give me, that I might be nourished for the great battle?"
"We have only this bread and this wine, which will be used for Passover."
"This will I take," He replied.
Yet, in the taking, He made it His broken Body and His blessed Blood.

"My children, I have no crown, for I have laid aside my diadem for love of you.
What crown have you to give me, to show that I am your King?"
"We have only this crown of thorns, which will pierce your brow."
"This will I take," He replied.
Yet, in the taking, He made it more noble than any golden laurel that ever adorned a Caesar.

"My children, I have no sword, for I have laid aside all my power for love of you.
What weapon have you to give me, that I might free you from your oppressors?"
"We have only this cross, on which to hang you."
"This will I take," He replied.
Yet, in the taking, He defeated both death and sin.

"My children, I have no bed, for I Who was once tireless have become tired in my labors to free you.
What resting place have you to give me, that I may take my Sabbath?"
"We have only this borrowed barrow, the grave of a stranger."
"This will I take," He replied.
Yet, in the taking, He made it the doorway to harrowed Hell and hallowed Heaven.

And the people who had walked in darkness saw the great Light.
God had become naked for them.
God had become homeless for them.
God had become throneless for them.
God had become limited for them.
God had become hungry for them.
God had become thirsty for them.
God had become crownless for them.
God had become weaponless for them.
God had died for them.
God had become one of them.
And they said, "We call Him Emmanuel, for God is truly with us."

And so it was that, in obedience and humility, the Son took all that He was given and made it blessed.
And all that had been laid aside was returned to Him, power, throne, crown, robes and glory. 6
He turned again to earth and said,

"My children, you have no gifts, for all that was once Mine is restored to me.
What tribute have you to give me, that I may know of your love?"
"We have only our failing flesh, our weak wills and our poor hearts,
but we give them to You to do with as you would."
"These will I take," He replied.
Yet, in the taking, God-with-us changed our names to we-with-God.

I wrote this poem for my father's Christmas Cantata, to go between two versions of Veni, Veni Emmanuel (one for Christmas and one for Holy Week). It was meant to bridge the Cradle and the Cross. I melded three things together for the final product. The first is an Orthodox Vespers prayer for Christmas Night:

What shall we offer thee, O Christ,
Who for our sakes hast appeared on earth as man?
Every creature made by thee offers thee thanks.
The angels offer thee a hymn;
The heavens a star;
The magi, gifts;
The shepherds, their wonder;
The earth, its cave;
The wilderness, the manger:
And we offer thee a Virgin Mother.
O God from everlasting, have mercy upon us.

The second is the Good Friday Reproaches, spoken by Christ on the Cross to His people:

My people, What have I done to you?
How have I offended you? Answer me!
I led you out of Egypt; but you led your Savior to the Cross.
For forty years I led you safely through the desert,
I fed you with manna from heaven,
and brought you to the land of plenty;
But you led your Savior to the Cross.
O, My people!
What have I done to you that you should testify against me?

Holy God. Holy God. Holy Mighty One. Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us.
The final is the final verse of In the Bleak Midwinter:

What then shall I give him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would give a lamb.
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part.
But what I can I give Him, give Him my heart.

...

"Gloria in Profundis" by G.K. Chesterton

2007-12-04T19:53:00.000-05:00

There has fallen on earth for a token
A god too great for the sky.
He has burst out of all things and broken
The bounds of eternity:
Into time and the terminal land
He has strayed like a thief or a lover,
For the wine of the world brims over,
Its splendour is split on the sand.

Who is proud when the heavens are humble,
Who mounts if the mountains fall,
If the fixed stars topple and tumble
And a deluge of love drowns all-
Who rears up his head for a crown,
Who holds up his will for a warrant,
Who strives with the starry torrent,
When all that is good goes down?

For in dread of such falling and failing
The fallen angels fell
Inverted in insolence, scaling
The hanging mountain of hell:
But unmeasured of plummet and rod
Too deep for their sight to scan,
Outrushing the fall of man
Is the height of the fall of God.

Glory to God in the Lowest
The spout of the stars in spate-
Where thunderbolt thinks to be slowest
And the lightning fears to be late:
As men dive for sunken gem
Pursuing, we hunt and hound it,
The fallen star has found it
In the cavern of Bethlehem.

Excerpts from C.S. Lewis Regarding the True Myth

2007-11-28T11:21:00.000-05:00

If ever a myth had become a fact, had been incarnated, it would be just like this. And nothing else in all literature was just like this. Myths were like it in one way. Histories were like it in another. But nothing was simply like it . . . Here and here only in all time the myth must have become fact; the Word, flesh; God, man. This is not "a religion," nor "a philosophy." It is the summing up and actuality of them all.
- Surprised By Joy

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

...now what Dyson and Tolkien showed me was this: that if I met the idea of sacrifice in a Pagan story I didn t mind it at all; again, that if I met the idea of a god sacrificing himself to himself... I liked it very much and was mysteriously moved by it: again, that the idea of the dying and reviving god (Balder, Adonis, Bacchus) similarly moved me provided I met it anywhere except in the Gospels.

The reason was that in the Pagan stories I was prepared to feel the myth as profound and suggestive of meaning beyond my grasp even tho I could not say in cold prose what it meant.

Now the story of Christ is simply a true myth: a myth working on us in the same way as the others, but with this tremendous difference that it really happened: and one must be content to accept it in the same way, remembering that it is God s myth where the others are mens myths: i. e. the Pagan stories are God expressing Himself through the minds of poets, using such images as He found there, while Christianity is God expressing Himself through what we call real things. Therefore it is true, not in the sense of being a description of God (that no finite mind can take in) but in the sense of being the way in which God chooses to (or can) appear to our faculties.

The doctrines we get out of the true myth are of course less true: they are translations into our concepts and ideas of that which God has already expressed in a language more adequate, namely the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection. Does this amount to a belief in Christianity? At any rate I am now certain

That this Christian story is to be approached, in a sense, as I approach the other myths.
That is the most important and full of meaning. I am also nearly certain that it really happened.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Now as myth transcends thought, Incarnation transcends myth. The heart of Christianity is a myth which is also a fact. The old myth of the Dying God, without ceasing to be myth comes down from the heaven of legend and imagination to the earth of history. It happens - at a particular date, in a particular place, followed by definable historical consequences. We pass from a Balder or an Osiris, dying nobody knows when or where, to a historical Person crucified (it is all in order) under Pontius Pilate. By becoming fact it does not cease to be myth: that is the miracle...Those who do not know that this great myth became Fact when the Virgin conceived are, indeed, to be pitied. But Christians also need to be...reminded that what became Fact was a Myth, that it carries with it into the world of Fact all the properties of a myth. God is more than a god, not less; Christ is more than Balder, not less. We must not be ashamed of the mythical radiance resting in our theology.
- God in the Dock

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

He [God] sent the human race what I call good dreams. I mean those queer stories scattered all through heathen religions about a god who dies and comes to life again, and by his death, has somehow given new life to men.
- Mere Christianity

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Death and re-birth - go down to go up - it is a key principle. Through this bottleneck in Nature, this belittlement, the highroad nearly always lies... The pattern is there in Nature because it was first there in God...The total pattern...is the real Death and Re- birth: for certainly no seed ever fell from so fair a tree into so dark and cold a soil as would furnish more than a faint analogy to this huge descent and re-ascension in which God dredged the salt and oozy bottom of Creation...The Corn-king is derived (through human imagination) from the facts of Nature, and the facts of Nature from her Creator; the Death and Re-birth pattern is in her because it was first in Him. On the other hand, elements of Nature-religion are strikingly absent from the teaching of Jesus and from the Judaic preparation which lead up to it precisely because in them Nature's Original is manifesting Itself.
- Miracles

St. Comgan and the Jewels

2007-11-28T05:45:00.000-05:00

St. Comgan heard about a miser who owned a fabulous collection of jewels. The miser kept the jewels in a safe. Comgan called on the miser, and said: "I hear you have a fabulous collection of jewels. Would you allow me to see them?"

The miser replied: "It would be a pleasure. I haven't looked at them myself for many years, so I too shall enjoy seeing them." He opened the safe, took out a gold box and carefully placed the box on a table. He unlocked the box, and lifted the lid. Both Comgan and the miser stared with open mouths at the diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and sapphires which it contained. The miser dipped his hand in the box, and let the precious stones run through his fingers. Then after a few minutes he closed the box, and returned it to the safe.

"Thank you for giving me those jewels," Comgan said.

The miser replied: "I haven't given them to you; they belong to me."

Comgan said: "I have had as much pleasure as you from looking at them. So there is no difference between us - except that you have the expense and anxiety of buying and looking after them."

That day the miser gave away one jewel to every household in the town. There were just enough - with one left over for himself.

"Phoenix" by D.H. Lawrence

2007-11-25T15:00:00.000-05:00

Are you willing to be sponged out, erased, cancelled,
made nothing?
Are you willing to be made nothing?
dipped into oblivion?

If not, you will never really change.

The phoenix renews her youth
only when she is burnt, burnt alive, burnt down
to hot and flocculent ash.
Then the small stirring of a new small bub in the nest
with strands of down like floating ash
shows that she is renewing her youth like the eagle,
immortal bird.

St. Comgan and the Grieving Widow

2007-11-25T14:50:00.000-05:00

An old couple were admired by everyone in their village for the happiness of their marriage. They never quarreled, and were always loving and affectionate toward each other.

Eventually the husband died, and the wife was overcome with grief. Her children and her neighbors tried to console her, but to no avail. Weeks and months passed, and still the old woman was grieving and inconsolable; tears of grief rolled down her cheeks from morning till night.

St. Comgan heard about her. He asked one of his wealthy friends to lend him a ring with a precious jewel set in it. He took it to the old woman, and said to her: "I want you to find a family which has no sorrows, and give that family this ring."

The woman set off in search of a family with no sorrows. She visited every home in the region and talked to
every family. Finally she returned home, and gave the ring back to Comgan. Her grief had gone.

St. Clement of Rome

2007-11-24T12:32:00.000-05:00

The strong must make sure that they care for the weak.
The rich must be certain to give enough to supply all the needs of the poor.
The poor must thank God for supplying their needs . . .
We all need each other: the great need the small, the small need the great.
In our body, the head is useless without the feet and the feet without the head.
The tiniest limbs of our body are useful and necessary to the whole.

St. Ephrem the Syrian's Hymn on Fasting

2007-11-24T11:54:00.000-05:00

1.1
The is the fast of the First Born, the first of his victories.
Let us rejoice in his coming; for in fasting he has overcome.
Though he could have overcome by any means,
He revealed for us the strength hidden in fasting, Overcomer of All.
For by means of it a man can overcome that one who with fruit overcame Adam;
He became greedy and gobbled it. Blessed is the First-Born who encompassed
Our weakness with the wall of his great fasting.

Res:
Blessed is the King who adorned the Holy Church with Fasting, Prayer and Vigil.

1.2
This is the fast which exalts; which appeared from the First Born
So as to extol the younger ones. There is occasion for delight for the discerning ones in fasting;
When one sees how much he has grown. Fasting secretly purifies the soul
So it can gaze on God and grow by the vision of Him.
For the weight that is from the earth, bends it back to the earth.
Blessed is he who gave us fasts,
The sheer wings by which we fly to him.

1.3
Fasting is bright and beautiful for any who bright enough
To gaze on God. The Turbid One, stirred up by anything
Cannot fix the eye on that Clear One. He who possesses a clear eye
He can gaze upon him; as much as it is given to him to gaze.
Instead of the clarifying wine, let us clarify our thought
So that we will be able to see the Clear One
Who overcame the Evil Oneby means of fasting, that Disturber of All.

1.4
This is the fast through which greed escapes
The peoples at the top of the mountain ; clothed in fasting he overcame the Greedy One.
Who had clothed himself with the food of Adam's house.
The Lord of Victories gave us his weapon, he ascended on high to be an observer.
Who would not run to the weapon by which God overcame
It is a shameful thing, my brothers, to be bested by the weapon
Which overcomes and causes to overcome all creation.

1.5
Because the enemy is not visible, let us purge our thinking so that he sees that we see him.
He is able to steal some of those whom he sees
That they have not noticed him.
When a soul undertakes a fast,
The the fast bears it and gives it back to its counterpart.
Amid the volleys of sharpened arrows, hiddren from view, the hidden eye
Is polished to see from whence they come.

1.6
This is the instructive fast, it teaches the athlete the ways of the contest.
Draw near to it, study, learn to struggle shrewdly.
Behold he instructed us to fast with our mouths and hearts,
Let us not fast from bread and think thoughts
In which the hidden poison of death is hidden.
Let us confess on the fast day the First Born
Who gave us the word of life to meditate on.

1.7
Let the scriptures be for us like a mirror, let us see in them our fast
For the Bible descriminates between fasts and prayer.
It chooses one type of fast and rejects another
Some fasters appease God and others anger him.
There is a prayer which is sinful, and another which is the medicine of life
O Lord let us rejoice in our fast
As he rejoiced, my brothers, in his own fast.

1.8
The fast is not defiling for the Holy One, for through it he descended and shone
Another mixing made the fast defiled, though itself is pure.
Examine nature! Are not desirable fruit
Polluted by loathsome fruit?
Our thoughts are repelled by them though they be washed many times.
Blessed is the Pure One who receives those fruits
Which all the penitent having purified them give to him.

1.9
The Troubler mixes filth with our Clarity,
So as to make the first-fruits of our prayer and fasting hateful.
It is possible by his jealousy, that our gift be rebuked.
Take away your deceits from your fasts, remove mockery from your praise.
May your voices wash your mouths from lies.
Allow us, O First Born in your mercy
To uproot hidden weeds from our thoughts

1.10
Do not be hindered O Simple Ones regarding that Deceiver who robs Fasters.
For when he sees someone abstaining from bread,
He is filled with anger. When he sees someone standing to pray
He fills his mind with one distraction after another.
He steals from his heart the prayer of his mouth,
O Lord of ours give us an eye to see,
How he steals the truth in deceit.

1.11
Come be gathered, my brothers, on this fast day let us sit and marvel at how evil is the Evil One
When he makes a transaction (gives and takes), he impoverishes us by what is his.
And does he become wealthy through what is ours; the truth that he steals suits him not.
The deceit he gives to us does not avail.
It is similar to the whore his companion, who is neither ours nor his.
Judge O Lord, between us and him,
For it is through you that Solomon judged the unclean women.

1.12
Let us seek the trace of truth on the fast day; Let us go forth by it to the place of abodes
For the Blind People run, on a fast day with pride and wandering
Though there is a fast in their mouth, yet an idol is in the heart;
Prayer is on their lips, but divination in their heart
Their stomach is devoid of bread, but full of lies;
Though they wash their hands all day,
Hidden blood still screams against them.

1.13
Blessed is he who endured and sustained and his head is crowned in exaltation.
With a bold voice, as one who deserves a payment, he demands his wage
He is not like me, who is too weak to fast, too lowly for the vigil
The first to be overcome. My enemy possesses skill
When he overcomes me, he lets me rise that he might again cast me low.
O Sea of mercies give me a handful of mercies

"Weeping with Christ" and other sayins of St. Isaac

2007-11-24T11:47:00.000-05:00

Do not despise the sinner for we are all guilty.
If, for love of God, you rise up against him, mourn for him instead.
Why do you despise him?
Despise his sins but pray for him so that you may be like Christ,
who did not get annoyed with sinners but prayed for them.
Can't you see how he wept over Jerusalem?
For we, too, have been duped by the devil more than once.
So why despise him whom the devil, who mocks us all, has deceived just like us?
Why, O man, despise the sinner?
Is it because he is not as just as you are yourself?
But what happens to your justice from the moment you are without love?
Why did you not weep for him?
Instead, you persecute him.
It is through ignorance that certain people get upset,
believing themselves to have discernment into the deeds of sinners.

Let yourself be persecuted, but do not persecute others.
Be crucified, but do not crucify others.
Se slandered, but do not slander others.
Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep: such is the sign of purity.
Suffer with the sick.
Be afflicted with sinners.
Exult with those who repent.
Be the friend of all, but in your spirit remain alone.
Be a partaker of the sufferings of all, but keep your body distant from all.
Rebuke no one, revile no one, not even those who live very wickedly.
Spread your cloak over those who fall into sin, each and every one, and shield them.
And if you cannot take the fault on yourself and accept punishment in their place, do not destroy their character.

What is a merciful heart?
It is a heart on fire for the whole of creation, for humanity, for the birds,
for the animals, for demons, and for all that exists.
By the recollection of them the eyes of a merciful person pour forth tears in abundance.
By the strong and vehement mercy that grips such a person’s heart,
and by such great compassion, the heart is humbled
and one cannot bear to hear or to see any injury or slight sorrow in any in creation.
For this reason, such a person offers up tearful prayer continually even for irrational beasts,
for the enemies of the truth, and for those who harm her or him,
that they be protected and receive mercy.
And in like manner such a person prays for the family of reptiles
because of the great compassion that burns without measure
in a heart that is in the likeness of God.

The person who is genuinely charitable not only gives charity out of his own possessions,
but gladly tolerates injustice from others and forgives them.
Whoever lays down his soul for his brother acts generously,
rather than the person who demonstrates his generosity by his gifts.

God is not One who requites evil, but who sets evil right.
Paradise is the love of God, wherein is the enjoyment of all blessedness.
The person who lives in love reaps the fruit of life from God,
and while yet in this world, even now breathes the air of the resurrection.
In love did God bring the world into existence;
in love is God going to bring it to that wondrous transformed state,
and in love will the world be swallowed up
in the great mystery of the One who has performed all these things;
in love will the whole course of the governance of creation be finally comprised.

Question: When is a person sure of having arrived at purity?
Answer: When that person considers all human beings are good, and no created thing appears impure or defiled. Then a person is truly pure in heart.

Love is sweeter than life.
Sweeter still, sweeter than honey and the honeycomb
is the awareness of God whence love is born.
Love is not loath to accept the hardest of deaths for those it loves.
Love is the child of knowledge.
Lord, fill my heart with eternal life.

As for me I say that those who are tormented in hell
are tormented by the invasion of love.
What is there more bitter and violent than the pains of love?
Those who feel they have sinned against love
bear in themselves a damnation much heavier than the most dreaded punishments.
The suffering with which sinning against love
afflicts the heart is more keenly felt than any other torment.
It is absurd to assume that the sinners in hell are deprived of God’s love.
Love is offered impartially.
But by its very power it acts in two ways.
It torments sinners, as happens here on earth
when we are tormented by the presence of a friend to whom we have been unfaithful.
And it gives joy to those who have been faithful.

That is what the torment of hell is in my opinion: remorse.
But love inebriates the souls of the sons and daughters of heaven by its delectability.

If zeal had been appropriate for putting humanity right,
why did God the Word clothe himself in the body,
using gentleness and humility in order to bring the world back to his Father?

Sin is the fruit of free will.
There was a time when sin did not exist,
and there will be a time when it will not exist.

God’s recompense to sinners is that,
instead of a just recompense,
God rewards them with resurrection.

O wonder!
The Creator clothed in a human being enters the house of tax collectors and prostitutes.
Thus the entire universe, through the beauty of the sight of him,
was drawn by his love to the single confession of God, the Lord of all.

Will God, if I ask, forgive me these things
by which I am pained and by whose memory I am tormented,
things by which, though I abhor them, I go on backsliding?
Yet after they have taken place the pain they give me
is even greater than that of a scorpion’s sting.
Though I abhor them, I am still in the middle of them,
and when I repent of them with suffering I wretchedly return to them again.

This is how many God-fearing people think,
people who foster virtue and are pricked with the suffering of compunction,
who mourn over their sin;
They live between sin and repentance all the time.
Let us not be in doubt, O fellow humanity, concerning the hope of our salvation,
seeing that the One who bore sufferings for our sakes is very concerned about our salvation;
God’s mercifulness is far more extensive than we can conceive,
God’s grace is greater than what we ask for.

When we find love, we partake of heavenly bread
and are made strong without labor and toil.
The heavenly bread is Christ,
who came down from heaven and gave life to the world.
This is the nourishment of angels.
The person who has found love eats and drinks Christ every day and every hour
and is thereby made immortal. …
When we hear Jesus say, “Ye shall eat and drink at the table of my kingdom,”
what do we suppose we shall eat, if not love?
Love, rather than food and drink, is sufficient to nourish a person.
This is the wine “which maketh glad the heart.”
Blessed is the one who partakes of this wine!
Licentious people have drunk this wine and become chaste;
sinners have drunk it and have forgotten the pathways of stumbling;
drunkards have drunk this wine and become fasters;
the rich have drunk it and desired poverty,
the poor have drunk it and been enriched with hope;
the sick have drunk it and become strong;
the unlearned have taken it and become wise.

Repentance is given us as grace after grace,
for repentance is a second regeneration by God.
That of which we have received an earnest by baptism,
we receive as a gift by means of repentance.
Repentance is the door of mercy, opened to those who seek it.
By this door we enter into the mercy of God,
and apart from this entrance we shall not find mercy.

Blessed is God who uses corporeal objects continually
to draw us close in a symbolic way to a knowledge of God’s invisible nature.
O name of Jesus, key to all gifts, open up for me the great door to your treasure-house,
that I may enter and praise you with the praise that comes from the heart.

O my Hope, pour into my heart the inebriation that consists in the hope of you.
O Jesus Christ, the resurrection and light of all worlds,
place upon my soul’s head the crown of knowledge of you;
open before me all of a sudden the door of mercies,
cause the rays of your grace to shine out in my heart.

O Christ, who is covered with light as though with a garment,
who for my sake stood naked in front of Pilate,
clothe me with that might which you caused to overshadow the saints,
whereby they conquered this world of struggle.
May your Divinity, Lord, take pleasure in me,
and lead me above the world to be with you.

I give praise to your holy Nature, Lord,
for you have made my nature a sanctuary for your hiddenness
and a tabernacle for your holy mysteries,
a place where you can dwell,
and a holy temple for your Divinity.

Fare the Well - Free, O Lord

2007-11-20T03:47:00.000-05:00

+ Fare thee well in Christ. Peace be with thee. Amen.

As thy soul goes forth from this world, let it go forth in peace.
In the Name of God the Father Almighty Who created thee.
In the Name of Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God Who suffered for thee.
In the Name of the Holy Spirit Who is poured forth in thee.
In the Name of the Angels and Archangels,
Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles,
Innocents, Martyrs, Confessors, Virgins,
and all of the souls of the Saints who are pleasing to God.

Today mayest thou be placed with them in peace,
may thy place and habitation be in the Holy Heavenly Jerusalem.
May Saint Michael the Archangel, who was meritorious to lead the heavenly armies, take thee up.
May the Holy Angels lead thee and guide thee into the Heavenly Jerusalem.
May Saint Peter the Apostle to whom the Lord handed down the keys to the heavenly kingdom, take thee up.
Go forth in peace, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
Who will illuminate thee in life eternal and raise thee in the first resurrection in the newest Day.

Lord Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd,
receive the soul of Thy servant N. in peace,
and forgive all of his (her) sins.
Receive, O Lord, Thy servant in the good,
and free his (her) soul from all the dangers of hell,
and from the snares of punishments, and from all tribulations.

Free, O Lord, the soul of Thy servant,
as Thou didst free Noah from danger.
Free, O Lord, the soul of Thy servant,
as Thou didst free Elijah and Enoch from tasting death in the world.
Free, O Lord, the soul of Thy servant,
as Thou didst free Abraham through faith and believing.
Free, O Lord, the soul of Thy servant,
as Thou didst free Lot from Sodom and the flaming fire.
Free, O Lord, the soul of Thy servant,
as Thou didst free Isaac from the hand of his father Abraham.
Free, O Lord, the soul of Thy servant,
as Thou didst free Jacob through the benediction of Thy majesty.
Free, O Lord, the soul of Thy servant,
as Thou didst free Moses from the hand of Pharaoh, king of the Egyptians.
Free, O Lord, the soul of Thy servant,
as Thou didst free Job from his sufferings.
Free, O Lord, the soul of Thy servant,
as Thou didst free Jonah from the belly of the whale.
Free, O Lord, the soul of Thy servant,
as Thou didst free David from the hand of Saul the king, and Goliath,
and from all of the chains of his sins.
Free, O Lord, the soul of Thy servant,
as Thou didst free Daniel from the Lion's den.
Free, O Lord, the soul of Thy servant,
as Thou didst free three youths, from the fiery furnace
and the hand of the iniquitous king.
Free, O Lord, the soul of Thy servant,
as Thou didst free Suzanna from false accusation.
Free, O Lord, the soul of Thy servant,
as Thou didst free the human race by Thy Passion.
Free, O Lord, the soul of Thy servant,
as Thou didst free Peter and Paul from prison.
Free, O Lord, the soul of Thy servant,
as Thou didst free Thecla from the three torments.

Thus be pleased to free, O Lord, the soul of this human being,
and allow him to dwell with Thee in the heavenly good things of Thy kingdom,
Who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns unto ages of ages. Amen.

St. Marcellus, St. Martin and Pacificsm

2007-10-30T14:59:00.000-05:00

During the consulship of Faustus and Gallus [298], on the 5th day before the kalends of August [28 July], when the former centurion of the first cohort had been brought in, the praeses Fortunatus said, "What were you thinking to discard your belt and hurl down your sword and staff ?"
Marcellus replied, "I have already told you on 21 July, loudly and in public, before the standards of this legion, when you were celebrating the anniversary of your emperor, that I am a Christian and cannot observe this oath unless to Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God."
The praeses Fortunatus said, "I cannot conceal your rash behaviour and so I will report these things to the ears of our lords the Augusti and Caesars. You, of course, will be sent to the court of my lord Aurelius Agricolanus, the vice-praetorian prefect, under armed guard by the consular official Cecilius.

Manilius Fortunatus sends greetings to his lord Agricolanus. On the anniversary most happy and blessed throughout the whole world of our same lords the Augusti and Caesars, when we were willingly celebrating the festival, lord Aurelius Agricolanus, the centurio ordinarius Marcellus, seized by what madness I do not know, wantonly disgirded himself of belt and sword and decided to hurl down the staff which he was carrying before the very headquarters of our lords. I have decided that it was necessary to report what was done to your power, even for him to have been sent to you also.

During the consulship of Faustus and Gallus, at Tingis, on the third day before the kalends of November, when Marcellus, the former centurion of the first cohort, had been brought in, an official announced, "The praeses Fortunatus has sent him to your power. There is here for your greatness also a letter concerning his case which I
will read out if you so direct."
Agricolanus said, "Let it be read out.". When it had been read out, Agricolanus said, "Did you say those
things which are recorded in the praeses' record ?"
Marcellus said, "I did."
Agricolanus said, "Were you serving as a centurio ordinarius ?"
Marcellus said, "I was."
Agricolanus said, "What madness possessed you to cast aside aside your oath and say such things ?"
Marcellus said, "No madness possesses him who fears God."
Agricolanus said, "Did you make these separate statements which are recorded in the praeses' record ?"
Marcellus said, "I did."
Agricolanus said, "Did you hurl down your weapons ?"
Marcellus said, "I did. It is not proper for a Christian man, one who fears the Lord Christ, to engage in earthly military service."
Agricolanus said, "Marcellus' actions are such that they ought to be disciplined." And so he stated, "It pleases (the court) that Marcellus, who defiled the office of centurion which he held by his public rejection of the oath and, furthermore, according to the praeses' records, gave in testimony words full of madness, should be executed by the sword."

St. Martin Renounces His Weapons by Simone Martini (1317)

In this fresco we see St. Martin, as an officer in the Roman army face to face with the enemy, announcing his decision:

I am a soldier of Christ and I cannot fight.

To the left, in the Roman camp with Emperor Julian, we see a group of soldiers and the treasurer distributing money to the mercenaries. To the right, waiting for the battle, behind the hill, we see the barbarian army with their armour and their spears. St. Martin (still a knight, but carrying a cross and shown in the act of blessing) is looking towards the Emperor but walking towards the enemy. His battle is the struggle against paganism, and his only weapon is the word of Christ.

WASTE of Muscle, waste of Brain,
Waste of Patience, waste of Pain,
Waste of Manhood, waste of Health,
Waste of Beauty, waste of Wealth,

Waste of Blood, and waste of Tears,
Waste of Youth's most precious years,
Waste of ways the Saints have trod,
Waste of Glory, waste of God,--
War!

"Written at the Bottom of a Crucifix" by Victor Hugo

2007-09-09T17:14:00.000-05:00

You who cry, come to this God, for He cries.
You who suffer, come to Him, for He cures.
You who tremble, come to Him, for He smiles.
You who pass, come to Him, for He remains.

An Exposition of The Mysteries (Mar Narsai, 437 AD)

2007-08-28T11:43:00.002-05:00

He was laid in a manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes, as Man;
and the watchers extolled Him with their praises, as God.
He offered sacrifices according to the Law, as Man;
and He received worship from the Persians, as God.
Simeon bore Him upon his arms, as Man;
and he named Him 'the Mercy' who showth mercy to all, as God.
He kept the Law completely, as Man;
and He gave His own new Law, as God.

He was baptized in Jordan by John, as Man;
and the heaven was opened in honour of His baptism, as God.
He went in to the marriage-feast of the city of Canna, as Man;
and He changed the water that it became wine, as God.
He fasted in the wilderness forty days, as Man;
and watchers descended to minister unto Him, as God.
He slept in the boat with His disciples, as Man;
and He rebuked the wind and calmed the sea, as God.

He set out and departed to a desert place, as Man;
and He multiplied the bread and satisfied thousands, as God.
He ate and drank and walked and was weary, as Man;
and He put devils to flight by the word of His mouth, as God.
He prayed and watched and gave thanks and worshipped, as Man;
and He forgave debts and pardoned sins, as God.
He asked water of the Samaritan woman, as Man;
and He revealed and declared her secrets, as God.

He sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, as Man;
and He forgave the sinful woman her sins, as God.
He went up into the mountain of Tabor with His disciples, as Man;
and He revealed His glory in their sight, as God.
He shed tears and wept over Lazarus, as Man;
and He called him that he came forth by His mighty power, as God.
He rode upon a colt and entered Jerusalem, as Man;
and the boys applauded Him with their Hosannas, as God.

He drew nigh to the fig-tree and shewed that He was hungered, as
Man;
and His mighty power caused it to wither on a sudden, as God.
He washed the feet of His twelve, as Man;
and He called Himself Lord and Master, as God.
He ate the legal passover, as Man;
and He exposed the treachery of Iscariot, as God.
He prayed and sweated at the time of His passion, as Man;
and He scared and terrified them that took Him, as God.

The attendants seized Him and bound His hands, as Man;
and He healed the ear that Simon cut off, as God.
He stood in the place of judgement and bore insult, as Man;
and He declared that He is about to come in glory, as God.
He bore His Cross upon His shoulder, as Man;
and He revealed and announced the destruction of Zion, as God.
He was hanged upon the wood and endured the passion, as Man;
and He shook the earth and darkened the sun, as God.

Nails were driven into His body, as Man;
and He opened the graves and quickened the dead, as God.
He cried out upon the Cross 'My God, My God,' as Man;
and promised Paradise to the thief, as God.
His side was pierced with a spear, as Man;
and His nod rent the temple veil, as God.
They embalmed His body and He was buried in the earth, as Man;
and He raised up His temple by His mighty power, as God.

He remained in the tomb three days, as Man;
and the watchers glorified Him with their praises, as God.
He said that He had received all authority, as Man;
and He promised to be with us for ever, as God.
He commanded Thomas to feel His side, as Man;
and He gave them the Spirit for an earnest, as God.
He ate and drank after His resurrection, as Man;
and He ascended to the height and sent the Spirit, as God.

Deadly Sins and Heavenly Virtues

2007-08-04T19:39:00.000-05:00

Sin	Virtue	Importance
Pride (vanity)	Humility (modesty)	Most
Envy (jealousy)	Kindness (admiration)
Wrath (anger)	Forgiveness (composure)
Sloth (laziness/idleness)	Diligence (zeal/integrity/Labor)
Greed (avarice)	Charity (giving)
Gluttony (over-indulgence)	Temperance (self-restraint)
Lust (excessive sexual appetites)	Chastity (purity)	Least

Fear and Love

2007-07-15T11:30:00.000-05:00

Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Love of the Lord is the end.
- The Poor Brother

Naturally, the first emotion of man towards the being he calls God, but of whom he knows so little, is fear. Where it is possible that fear should exist it is well that it should exist, cause continual uneasiness, and be cast out by nothing less than love.... Until love, which is the truth towards God, is able to cast out fear, it is well that fear should hold; it is a bond, however poor, between that which is and that which creates--a bond that must be broken, but a bond that can be broken only by the tightening of an infinitely closer bond.

Verily God must be terrible to those that are far from Him: for they fear He will do--yea, is doing--with them what they do not, cannot desire, and can ill endure... While they are such as they are, there is much in Him that cannot but affright them: they ought, they do well, to fear Him... To remove that fear from their hearts, save by letting them know His love with its purifying fire, a love which for ages, it may be, they cannot know, would be to give them up utterly to the power of evil.

Persuade men that fear is a vile thing, that it is an insult to God, that He will have none of it--while they are yet in love with their own will, and slaves to every movement of passionate impulse--and what will the consequence be? That they will insult God as a discarded idol, a superstition, a falsehood, as a thing under whose evil influence they have too long groaned, a thing to be cast out and spit upon. After that, how much will they learn of Him?

... George MacDonald (1824-1905), "The Fear of God," Unspoken Sermons, Second Series [1885]

In Praise of Mary

2007-06-26T12:12:00.000-05:00

I thought I would take a crack at a hymn of praise to Mary, highlighting the Old Testament imagery which points to her:

Hail, fleece of Gideon, soaked with dew though the ground was dry.
Hail, bush of Moses, that burned but was not consumed.
Hail, rod of Aaron, that blossomed though without root.
Hail, gate of Ezekiel, closed after the King had entered.
Hail, tongs of Isaiah, which hold the Fire of Heaven
Hail, ladder of Jacob, by which God descended as Man
Hail, mountain of Daniel, from which Christ was cut by the Hand of God
Hail, Ark of the Covenant, who bore the Law of God and Bread of Heaven.
Hail, Holy of Holies, in whom the Presence of God dwelt
We hail thee, maid and mother, bearer and borne,
Pray for us.

There are many hymns which use these images in praise of Mary. I found another one recently from the 13th c.:

Latin lyrics	English translation
Gedeonis area celitus perfusa rore; flamma rubus ignea radiat absque calore. nucleus et nuclea testa prodit lutea, lux aurea! Granum exit palea, oleastris olea, liquetur petra liquore. - Philippe le Chancelier	Gideon's courtyard is wet with dew from heaven; the bush, with fiery flame radiates without heat. The fruit and seed come forth from the shell; as a golden light! Grain comes forth from the chaff, the olive from the olive tree, the rock is made liquid from liquid. - Philip the Chancellor

Here is another translation of the same hymn:

Gideon's threshing floor is
dreched with the dew from heaven,
and the flame burning in the bush
shines without heat.
The earthen vessel
brings forth the seed from a seed,
the golden light!
The good grain comes out of the chaff,
the olive from the olive trees,
and the rock flows with water.

Feastday of St. Lazarus the Poor

2007-06-21T14:38:00.000-05:00

Lazar and Dives lyveden diversly,

And divers gerdon hadden they therby.
- Summoner from Canterbury Tales

"Rich Lazarus! richer in those gems, thy tears,
Than Dives in the robes he wears:
He scorns them now, but oh they'll suit full well
With the purple he must wear in hell."
- Richard Cranshaw "On Lazarus and His Tears"

Top panel: Lazarus at the rich man's door
Middle panel: Lazarus' soul is carried to Paradise by two angels; Lazarus in Abraham's bosom
Bottom panel: Dives' soul is carried off by two devils to Hell; Dives is tortured in Hell

A slave spiritual about the parable:

Antiphon:
Dip your finger in the water, come and cool my tongue,

cause I'm tormented in the flame.

Verses:
Poor man Lazarus, sick and disabled,
He had to eat crumbs from the rich man's table.

Rich man Dives he lived so well,
And when he died he went straight to hell,

I love to shout, I love to sing,
I love to praise my heavenly King,

Child Ballad #56: Lazarus and Dives

Version A	Version B
AS it fell out upon a day, Rich Dives he made a feast, And he invited all his friends, And gentry of the best. Then Lazarus laid him down and down, And down at Dives’ door: ‘Some meat, some drink, brother Dives, Bestow upon the poor.’ ‘Thou art none of my brother, Lazarus, That lies begging at my door; No meat nor drink will I give thee, Nor bestow upon the poor.’ Then Lazarus laid him down and down, And down at Dive’s wall: ‘Some meat, some drink, brother Dives, Or with hunger starve I shall.’ 'Thou art none of my brother, Lazarus, That lies begging at my wall; No meat nor drink will I give thee, But with hunger starve you shall.’ Then Lazarus laid him down and down, And down at Dive’s gate: ‘Some meat, some drink, brother Dives, For Jesus Christ sake.’ ‘Thou art none of my brother, Lazarus, That lies begging at my gate; No meat nor drink will I give thee, For Jesus Christ his sake.’ Then Dives sent out his merry men, To whip poor Lazarus away; They had no power to strike a stroke, But flung their whips away. Then Dives sent out his hungry dogs, To bite him as he lay; They had no power to bite at all, But licked his sores away. As it fell out upon a day, Poor Lazarus sickened and died; Then came two angels out of heaven His soul therein to guide. ‘Rise up, rise up, brother Lazarus, And go along with me; For you’ve a place prepared in heaven, To sit on an angel’s knee.’ As it fell out upon a day, Rich Dives sickened and died; Then came two serpents out of hell, His soul therein to guide. ‘Rise up, rise up, brother Dives, And go with us to see A dismal place, prepared in hell, From which thou canst not flee.’ Then Dives looked up with his eyes, And saw poor Lazarus blest: ‘Give me one drop of water, brother Lazarus, To quench my flaming thirst. ‘Oh had I as many years to abide As there are blades of grass, Then there would be an end, but now Hell’s pains will ne’er be past. ‘Oh was I now but alive again, The space of one half hour! Oh that I had my peace secure! Then the devil should have no power.’	AS it fell out upon one day, Rich Diverus he made a feast, And he invited all his friends, And gentry of the best. And it fell out upon one day, Poor Lazarus he was so poor, He came and laid him down and down. Evn down at Diverus’ door. So Lazarus laid him down and down Even down at Diverus’ door: ‘Some meat, some drink, brother Diverus, Do bestow upon the poor.’ ‘Thou art none of mine, brother Lazarus, Lying begging at my door: No meat, no drink will I give thee, Nor bestow upon the poor.’ Then Lazarus laid him down and down, Even down at Diverus’ wall: ‘Some meat, some drink, brother Diverus, Or surely starve I shall. ‘Thou art none of mine, brother Lazarus, Lying begging at my wall; No meat, no drink will I give thee, And therefore starve thou shall.’ Then Lazarus laid him down and down, Even down at Diverus’ gate: ‘Some meat, some drink, brother Diverus, For Jesus Christ his sake.’ 'Thou art none of mine, brother Lazarus, Lying begging at my gate; No meat, no drink will I give thee, For Jesus Christ his sake. Then Diverus sent out his merry men all, To whip poor Lazarus away; They had not power to whip one whip, But threw their whips away. Then Diverus sent out his hungry dogs, To bite poor Lazarus away; They had not power to bite one bite, But licked his sores away. And it fell out upon one day, Poor Lazarus he sickened and died; There came two angels out of heaven, His soul thereto to guide. ‘Rise up, rise up, brother Lazarus, And come along with me; There is a place prepared in heaven, For to sit upon an angel’s knee.’ And it fell out upon one day Rich Diverus he sickened and died; There came two serpents out of hell, His soul thereto to guide. ‘Rise up, rise up, brother Diverus, And come along with me; There is a place prepared in hell, For to sit upon a serpent’s knee.’ - Dives is Latin for "rich."

Version A

Version B

AS it fell out upon a day,
Rich Dives he made a feast,
And he invited all his friends,
And gentry of the best.

Then Lazarus laid him down and down,
And down at Dives’ door:
‘Some meat, some drink, brother Dives,
Bestow upon the poor.’

‘Thou art none of my brother, Lazarus,
That lies begging at my door;
No meat nor drink will I give thee,
Nor bestow upon the poor.’

Then Lazarus laid him down and down,
And down at Dive’s wall:
‘Some meat, some drink, brother Dives,
Or with hunger starve I shall.’

'Thou art none of my brother, Lazarus,
That lies begging at my wall;
No meat nor drink will I give thee,
But with hunger starve you shall.’

Then Lazarus laid him down and down,
And down at Dive’s gate:
‘Some meat, some drink, brother Dives,
For Jesus Christ sake.’

‘Thou art none of my brother, Lazarus,
That lies begging at my gate;
No meat nor drink will I give thee,
For Jesus Christ his sake.’

Then Dives sent out his merry men,
To whip poor Lazarus away;
They had no power to strike a stroke,
But flung their whips away.

Then Dives sent out his hungry dogs,
To bite him as he lay;
They had no power to bite at all,
But licked his sores away.

As it fell out upon a day,
Poor Lazarus sickened and died;
Then came two angels out of heaven
His soul therein to guide.

‘Rise up, rise up, brother Lazarus,
And go along with me;
For you’ve a place prepared in heaven,
To sit on an angel’s knee.’

As it fell out upon a day,
Rich Dives sickened and died;
Then came two serpents out of hell,
His soul therein to guide.

‘Rise up, rise up, brother Dives,
And go with us to see
A dismal place, prepared in hell,
From which thou canst not flee.’

Then Dives looked up with his eyes,
And saw poor Lazarus blest:
‘Give me one drop of water, brother Lazarus,
To quench my flaming thirst.

‘Oh had I as many years to abide
As there are blades of grass,
Then there would be an end, but now
Hell’s pains will ne’er be past.

‘Oh was I now but alive again,
The space of one half hour!
Oh that I had my peace secure!
Then the devil should have no power.’

AS it fell out upon one day,
Rich Diverus he made a feast,
And he invited all his friends,
And gentry of the best.

And it fell out upon one day,
Poor Lazarus he was so poor,
He came and laid him down and down.
Evn down at Diverus’ door.

So Lazarus laid him down and down
Even down at Diverus’ door:
‘Some meat, some drink, brother Diverus,
Do bestow upon the poor.’

‘Thou art none of mine, brother Lazarus,
Lying begging at my door:
No meat, no drink will I give thee,
Nor bestow upon the poor.’

Then Lazarus laid him down and down,
Even down at Diverus’ wall:
‘Some meat, some drink, brother Diverus,
Or surely starve I shall.

‘Thou art none of mine, brother Lazarus,
Lying begging at my wall;
No meat, no drink will I give thee,
And therefore starve thou shall.’

Then Lazarus laid him down and down,
Even down at Diverus’ gate:
‘Some meat, some drink, brother Diverus,
For Jesus Christ his sake.’

'Thou art none of mine, brother Lazarus,
Lying begging at my gate;
No meat, no drink will I give thee,
For Jesus Christ his sake.

Then Diverus sent out his merry men all,
To whip poor Lazarus away;
They had not power to whip one whip,
But threw their whips away.

Then Diverus sent out his hungry dogs,
To bite poor Lazarus away;
They had not power to bite one bite,
But licked his sores away.

And it fell out upon one day,
Poor Lazarus he sickened and died;
There came two angels out of heaven,
His soul thereto to guide.

‘Rise up, rise up, brother Lazarus,
And come along with me;
There is a place prepared in heaven,
For to sit upon an angel’s knee.’

And it fell out upon one day
Rich Diverus he sickened and died;
There came two serpents out of hell,
His soul thereto to guide.

‘Rise up, rise up, brother Diverus,
And come along with me;
There is a place prepared in hell,
For to sit upon a serpent’s knee.’

- Dives is Latin for "rich."

Blessed Pentecost

2007-05-27T07:34:00.001-05:00

Only-begotten of God, from the heart of the Father you sent to
Those upon earth once again other Advocate, Spirit divine,
Bringing, in tongues made of fire, of the pure, immaterial Godhead,
Sign of your nature and grace for those who are minstrels of praise.

The slow of tongue, covered in divine darkness,
Proclaimed the law written by God;
For shaking the dust from his mind's eye,
He sees the One Who Is, and is initiated
Into knowledge of the Spirit, praising with songs inspired.

The revered and august mouth spoke,
"For you my friends there will be no parting.
For I, once seated with him on my Father's lofty throne,
Will pour out the copious grace of the Spirit
To shine on those who yearn."

The firm Definition, most precise Word,
Brings calm perfection to the heart;
For, his work accomplished, Christ gladdened his friends,
With a mighty wind and tongues of fire,
Apportioning the Spirit, as he had promised.

Only the prayer of Anna, the prophetess
Of old, who brought a broken spirit
To the Might One and God of knowledge,
Broke the fetters of a childless womb
And the harsh insult of one with many children.

Inapprehensible is the Godhead;
For it revealed the unlettered to be orators,
Bridling the mouths of sophists in abundance with a word,
And raising from deep night
Unnumbered peoples by the Spirit's lightning flash.

From the unbegotten Light proceeded
The imperishable Splendor, illuminating with almighty operation,
Whose fiery sound in Sion now reveals
To the nations the consubstantial beacon
Of the Father's authority through the Son.

Monarch of monarchs, Alone from the Lone,
Word issuing from the Father who has no cause,
As Benefactor you have unerringly sent out
To the Apostles your Spirit, equal in strength,
As they sing, "Glory to your might, O Lord!"

Having by a word mixed the divine bath of rebirth
With a compounded nature,
You rain down upon me a stream from your immaculate,
Pierced side, O Word of God,
Sealing me with the fervor of the Spirit.

All things bend the knee to the Advocate,
To the Offspring of the Father, to the consubstantial Father;
For they know unerringly in three Persons
One, unapproachable, timeless Essence;
For the grace of the Spirit has caused light to shine.

As many as are worshippers of the Essence with the Triple Light,
All be consecrated to the Godhead.
For, as our Benefactor, Christ perfects supernaturally
And lights a fiery torch for our salvation,
Furnishing all grace of the Spirit.

O light-formed children of the Church,
Receive the Spirit's fire-breathing dew,
A redeeming purification of offences;
For now a law has gone out from Sion,
The torch-tongue-formed grace of the Spirit.

As he was well-pleased, of his own authority
The un-mastered Spirit comes down from the Father,
Making the Apostles wise with tongues,
Might of the Father, one in form, setting the seal
Upon the life-bearing word, which the Savior spoke.

God the Word, all-sovereign, healed the minds
Of the Apostles of sin, and made ready
An immaculate dwelling for himself,
Now the light of the Spirit dwells in them,
Equal in strength and consubstantial.

As pardon and salvation for us,
Christ, our Master, you shone from the Virgin,
That like the prophet Jonas from the belly
Of the sea beast, you might snatch from corruption
The whole fallen face of Adam.

Almighty, renew a cherished, aa right Spirit
Within us, to hold it eternally,
Who is ever united and proceeding from the Father,
Purging hateful matter, burning
Defilements and filth of minds.

For the Apostles who awaited your coming
In Sion you establish with fiery wind
A longed for dignity, O Spirit,
Knowledge of the Word begotten of the Father,
Swiftly exposing the harsh chatter of the nations' cajoleries.

Harmonious melody of instruments decreed
Reverence to the lifeless idol wrought of gold.
But the Advocate's life-bearing grace
Inspires with reverence to cry, "Only Trinity,
Equal in strength, without beginning, blessed are you!"

Fools did not recognize the voice spoken of
In prophecy, called it drunkenness wrought of wine,
When the strange sayings of the Apostles were heard.
We, the devout, inspired by God, cry out to you,
"Renewer of the universe, blessed are you!"

The seer Joel, inspired by God, thundered an oracle
Of the divine Word, who said,
"Those on whom I pour my Spirit
Will cry out together, 'Nature,
Shining-with-threefold-splendour, blessed are you!'"

The third house was blessed with grace,
To indicate that we should worship
Three Persons in singleness of authority;
But now on the one Lord of days,
Son, Father, Spirit, blessed are you!

The triple radiant type of Godhead's source
Looses the bonds and turns the flame to dew;
Youths give praise; while all created nature
Blessed the only Savior and Creator
Of all as Benefactor.

Coming to rest in appearance like-fiery-tongues,
The Spirit, cause remembrance of the mortal-saving words
Which Christ, heard-as-from-the-Father, spoke
To the Apostles. Creation, once estranged,
Now reconciled, sings of you as blessed.

As Saviour, coming of his own authority,
Light shining of itself and provider of light,
You sent to the Apostles, bringing himself
As a precious wind. While to your servants
You distribute the Spirit so earnestly prayed for.

The spirit-filled mouth of Prophets sang
Of your sojourning, high Lord, in bodily form.
And your Spirit proceeding from the Father's bosom,
Uncreated-cofasioning-cothroned,
You send to believers for the worship of the incarnation.

Hail, Queen, glory of virgins and mothers;
For every mouth fluent and eloquent
With oratory has not the stregth to sing your worthily;
But every mind is dizzy when it seeks to understand
Your giving birth; therefore with one accord we glorify you.

It is right to sing of the Maiden who produced life;
For she alone concealed in the vortex of her womb
The Word, who heals the ailing nature of mortals.
Now seated on the couch at the right hand
Of the Father, he has sent the grace of the Spirit.

On as many as the grace which flows from God has breathed,
Resplendent, dazzling, transformed
With a strange, most glorious transformation,
We have come to know the Essence of equal might, indivisible,
Wise, of triple radiance; and we give It glory.

Atonement and Theosis

2007-05-25T10:00:00.000-05:00

The Typical Western Belief:

Why did Jesus even have to manifest Himself in the Incarnation? God needed a ransom so that man might be forgiven, but only He could meet his own demands. God both declares us guilty and pays our debt. Only He can satisfy His own requirements. A Savior less than God would be disqualified. Because Jesus is the God-man, He was qualified to pay the penalty charged against humanity.

In Eastern Orthodoxy this viewpoint is almost absent. They do not believe the ransom was paid to God. Here's a quote from St. Gregory of Nyssa (In Sanctum Pascha) regarding the debt Christ paid and to whom it was paid:

To whom was that blood offered that was shed for us, and why was it shed? I mean the precious and glorious blood of God, the blood of the High Priest and of the Sacrifice. We were in bondage to the devil and sold under sin, having become corrupt through our concupiscence. Now, since a ransom is paid to him who holds us in his power, I ask to whom such a price was offered and why? If to the devil it is outrageous!

But if the price is offered to the Father, I ask first of all, how? For it was not the Father who held us captive. Why then should the blood of His only begotten Son please the Father, who would not even receive Isaac when he was offered as a whole burnt offering by Abraham, but replaced the human sacrifice with a ram?

Is it not evident that the Father accepts the sacrifice not because He demanded it or because He felt any need for it, but on account of economy: because man must be sanctified by the humanity of God, and God Himself must deliver us by overcoming the tyrant through His own power, and drawing us to Himself by the mediation of the Son who effects this all for the honour of God, to whom He was obedient in everything.

Again he says:

It was Another Who ransomed us both from Death and Sin with His own blood,
Who redeemed us, and yet showed no contempt of those whom He has redeemed,
calling them though He does from deadness to life,
and healing every infirmity of their souls and bodies.

And again:

The Father accepts Christ's sacrifice without having demanded it;
The Son offers it to honour him; and the result is the defeat of the Evil One.
This is as much as we shall say of Christ; the greater portion shall be reverenced with silence.

Yet again, in the Liturgy of St. Basil, the Orthodox pray:

He lived in this world and gave us commandments for salvation.
He released us from the delusions of idolatry
and brought us to the knowledge of You, true God and Father.
He procured us for Himself as a chosen people, a royal priesthood and a holy nation.
Having purified us with water, He sanctified us with the Holy Spirit.
He gave Himself as a Ransom to death, by which we were held captive,
having been sold into slavery by sin.
He descended into the realm of death through the Cross,
that He might fill all things with Himself.
He loosed the sorrow of death and rose again from the dead on the third day,
for it was not possible that the Author of Life should be conquered by corruption.
In this way He made a way to the resurrection of the dead for all flesh.
Thus, He became the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep,
the first-born of the dead, that He might be first in all ways among all things.
Ascending into heaven, He sat at the right hand of your Majesty on High,
and He shall come again to reward each person according to his deeds.

So, instead of coming to pay a ransom to an unforgiving Father, He came to destroy death and sin. Their Easter prayer goes:

Christ is risen from the dead,
Trampling down death by death,
And upon those in the tombs
Bestowing life!

Also, it is commonly held that Christ would have come REGARDLESS of the sin of Adam and Eve. His purpose was always to join the Divine to Dust, thus making theosis (becoming God-like, not becoming God) possible. Here are a bunch of Scriptures, quotes from the Church Fathers and some more recognizable people (like C.S. Lewis) about theosis and the ransom paid by Christ:

My dear people, we are already the children of God but what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed; all we know is, that when it is revealed we shall be like him because we shall see him as he really is.
—St. John, I John 3:2

It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship. . .
—C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

Jesus answered: Is it not written in your Law: I said, you are gods? So the Law uses the word gods of those to whom the word of God was addressed, and scripture cannot be rejected.
- John 10:34-35

And when everything is subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subject in turn to the One who subjected all things to him, so that God may be all in all.
—St. Paul, I Cor. 15:28

St. Irenaeus explained this concept in Against Heresies, Book 5, in the Preface:

...the Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who did, through His transcendent love, become what we are, that He might bring us to be even what He is Himself.

St. Maximus the Confessor wrote:

A sure warrant for looking forward with hope to deification of human nature is provided by the incarnation of God, which makes man god to the same degree as God Himself became man." and "let us become the image of the one whole God, bearing nothing earthly in ourselves, so that we may consort with God and become gods, receiving from God our existence as gods." For it is clear that He who became man without sin (cf. Heb. 4:15) will divinize human nature without changing it into the divine nature, and will raise it up for His own sake to the same degree as He lowered Himself for man's sake. This is what St. Paul teaches mystically when he says, '...that in the ages to come He might display the overflowing richness of His grace' (Eph. 2:7).

Felix Peccatum Adae

2007-05-03T08:14:00.000-05:00

I have been rereading Perelandra by C.S. Lewis. It is definitely my favorite of his Space Trilogy and, in my estimation, one of his more theologically rich works of fiction. An earthling by the name of Ransom is taken by the eldil (a kind of cross between an angel and an alien) Malacandra, the Oyarsa of Mars, to Venus or Perelandra. On Perelandra their first man and woman are about to be tested, specifically the woman. Ransom has been sent as the emissary of Maleldil, or Jesus, while Ransom's nemesis, Weston, has been sent as a kind of possessed vessel of the Bent One or Satan, the Oyarsa of Earth (or Thulcandra) to tempt the woman.

One of the most profound parts for me came early in the debates between Ransom and Weston. Weston is attempting to persuade the Lady to sleep on the fixed land (all other land are floating islands), which is prohibited by Maleldil. Ransom briefly tells the story of Adam and Eve and all the evil that befell. Weston (or the Bent One using Weston's body) replies:

He has not told you that it was this breaking of the commandment which brought Maleldil to our world and because of which He was made man. He dare not deny it.

Ransom is hard put to find an adequate response to this. He thinks:

How if the enemy were right after all? Felix peccatum Adae. Even the Church would tell him that good came of disobedience in the end.

That phrase, which translates "Happy sin of Adam," refers to an Easter hymn, the Exultet, from the Roman Catholic liturgy. Somewhere in the middle the hymn makes this interesting statement:

Latin lyrics	English translation
O certe necessarium Adae peccatum, quod Christi morte deletum est! O felix culpa, quae talem ac tantum meruit habere Redemptorem!	O truly needful sin of Adam, which was blotted out by the death of Christ! O happy fault, that merited so great a Redeemer!

I have to admit that I find that phrasing somewhat disturbing. Needful? Necessary? Happy? I get the sentiment, but I am otherwise quite put off. After reading this hymn, I was immediately reminded of a Christmas carol I first heard on the Medieval Baebes album, Salve Nos. The 14th c. carol, Adam Lay Ybounden, says, in modern English, "If the apple had not been taken, then our Lady would not have been Queen of Heaven." It ends:

Blessed be the time
That apple taken was.
Therefore we may singen
Deo gratias!

It praises God for the Original Sin. It is expressing gratitude for the advent of rebellion and death. It seems to me that both this carol and the Exultet agree with the argument of Satan/Weston. I was speaking about this with my brother-in-law and he mentioned a theological concept called Supralapsarianism. It states that God planned the Fall (lapsare) in order to facilitate the coming Redemption. It falls in line with Predestination.

Fortunately, for a world that has the Exultet, Adam Lay Ybounden and John Calvin; there are also some sane voices. I can't find a citation at the moment, but I believe St. Gregory of Nyssa, one of the most influential Church Fathers, believed the Incarnation had been planned regardless of the Fall. It took on a new meaning and purpose, but the goal of uniting the Divine to Dust was always in the mind of God. And, of course, there is Mr. Lewis himself who says, through the character of Ransom replying to the Lady:

Of course good came of it. Is Maleldil a beast that we can stop His path, or a leaf that we can twist His shape? Whaever you do, He will made good of it. But not that good He had prepared for you if you had obeyed Him. That is lost forever. The first King and first Mother of our world did the forbidden thing; and He brought good of it in the end. But what they did was not good; and what they lost we have not seen.

Amen. God allows us to follow Him of our own God-given will, but His plan will not be thwarted! This idea is further reinforced later in the book as the King, the Lady, the eldil Perelandra, the eldil Malacandra and Ransom speak together of the Great Dance. In one section, they say:

All which is not itself the great Dance was made in order that He might come down into it. In the Fallen World He prepared for Himself a body and was united with the Dust and made it glorious forever. This is the end and final cause of all creating, and the sin whereby it came is called Fortunate and the world where this was enacted is the centre of worlds. Blessed be He!

"Communion" by George Herbert

2007-04-23T18:24:00.000-05:00

Not in rich furniture, or fine array,
Nor in a wedge of gold,
Thou, who from me wast sold,
To me dost now thy self convey;
For so thou should'st without me still have been,
Leaving within me sin:

But by the way of nourishment and strength
Thou creep'st into my breast;
Making thy way my rest,
And thy small quantities my length;
Which spread their forces into every part,
Meeting sin's force and art.

Yet can these not get over to my soul,
Leaping the wall that parts
Our souls, and fleshly hearts;
But as th'outworks, they may control
My rebel-flesh, and carrying thy name,
Affright both sin and shame.

Only thy grace, which with these elements comes,
Knoweth the ready way,
And hath the privy key,
Op'ning the soul's most subtle rooms;
While those to spirits refin'd, at door attend
Dispatches from their friend.

Give me my captive soul, or take
My body also thither,
Another lift like this will make
Them both to be together.

Before that sin turn'd flesh into stone,
And all our lump to leaven,
A fervent sigh might well have blown
Our innocent earth to heaven.

For sure when Adam did not know
To sin, or sin to smother;
He might to heav'n from Paradise go,
As from one room t'another.

Thou hast restor'd to us this ease
By this thy heav'nly blood;
Which I can go to, when I please,
And leave th'earth to their food.

"Prayer to St. Jude" by Kathleen Norris

2007-04-22T11:58:00.000-05:00

O, great Saint Jude
Whose traitor-sounding name
By man's perceptions crude
Confused is with the obloquy and blame
Of him who to our gain and his disaster
Betrayed so kind a Master;
We, seeing more clear, concede thee what was thine;
The glory of a place beside that board
Whereon, awaiting their predestined hour
Of bowing to all-Good, all-Love, all-Power,
Lay bread and wine
Before that Host adored
Through whom our hope and our salvation came;
Thy kinsman, and our Lord.

O, thou, the sad day done,
Taking the homeward road
To thine obscure abode
In the long shadows of the setting sun,
To meet the frightened crowd
Sobbing aloud,
With thine Aunt Mary silent in their midst,
Leaning upon
The faithful arm of John;
Saint Jude, who didst
Join them in unbelief
And utter agony of grief,
And in a voice of pain and terror cried:
"Saw'st thou--and thou--
Saws't thou indeed my Cousin crucified?"
O, by the memory of that hour of birth
Wherein Heaven's door opened to us of earth,
Befriend--befriend us now!

"Easter Wings" by George Herbert

2007-04-22T08:22:00.001-05:00

Lord, Who createdst man in wealth and store,
     Though foolishly he lost the same,
           Decaying more and more,
                   Till he became
                     Most poore:
                     With Thee
                   O let me rise,
           As larks, harmoniously,
     And sing this day Thy victories:
Then shall the fall further the flight in me.

My tender age in sorrow did beginne;
And still with sicknesses and shame
     Thou didst so punish sinne,
               That I became
                Most thinne.
                 With Thee
             Let me combine,
   And feel this day Thy victorie;
 For, if I imp my wing on Thine,
Affliction shall advance the flight in me

"Easter Vow" by Lauchlan MacLean Watt

2007-04-16T06:28:00.000-05:00

I bind my heart, this tide, to the Galilean's side,
To the wounds of Calvary, to the Christ who died for me.

I bind my soul this day to the brother far away
And the brother near at hand, in this town and in this land.

I bind my heart in thrall to God, the Lord of all.--
To God, the poor man's friend, and the Christ whom He did send.

I bind myself to peace, to make strife and envy cease.
God, knit Thou sure the cord of my thralldom to my Lord!

The Harrowing of Hell

2007-04-09T19:42:00.000-05:00

The typical Eastern Orthodox icon of the Resurrection of Jesus shows Jesus standing on the broken and flattened gates of Hell (also called the Doors of Death, which have fallen to form the pattern of a cross), holding the hands of Adam and Eve and pulling them up out of Hell, and surrounded by various righteous figures from the Old Testament (Abraham, David, etc.); the bottom of the icon shows Hell as a place of darkness and death, often with various bones strewn about, and one figure still tied up in chains who is generally identified as Death or the Devil.

John Chrysostom's homily also addresses the Harrowing of Hell, and is typically read as the chief homily at Pascha, the Eastern Orthodox celebration of Easter. In the Orthodox liturgical practice, the chief "liturgical color" goes from purple on Good Friday to white on Holy Saturday in celebration of the harrowing of Hell then taking place, and in anticipation of Christ's imminent resurrection.

Judas and I

2007-04-09T19:30:00.000-05:00

Gregory of Nyssa on Judas :

Why, indeed, should I speak at all
of that affectionate disposition of our fathers towards each other?
No wonder that, being all naturally equal,
they wished for no advantage over one another,
but thought to exceed each other only in humility.
But my mind was penetrated most of all with this thought;
that the Lord of all creation, the Only-begotten Son,
Who was in the bosom of the Father,
Who was in the beginning,
Who was in the form of God,
Who upholds all things by the word of His power,
humbled Himself not only in this respect,
that in the flesh He sojourned amongst men,
but also that He welcomed even Judas His own betrayer,
when he drew near to kiss Him, on His blessed lips;
and that when He had entered into the house of Simon the leper He, as loving all men,
upbraided his host, that He had not been kissed by him:
whereas I was not reckoned by him as equal even to that leper;
and yet what was I, and what was he?
I cannot discover any difference between us.
If one looks at it from the mundane point of view,
where was the height from which he had descended,
where was the dust in which I lay?
If, indeed, one must regard things of this fleshly life,
thus much perhaps it will hurt no one's feelings to assert that,
looking at our lineage, whether as noble or as free,
our position was about on a par;
though, if one looked in either for the true freedom and nobility, i.e. that of the soul,
each of us will be found equally a bondsman of Sin;
each equally needs One Who will take away his sins;
it was Another Who ransomed us both from Death and Sin with His own blood,
Who redeemed us, and yet showed no contempt of those whom He has redeemed,
calling them though He does from deadness to life,
and healing every infirmity of their souls and bodies.

Sin Line

2007-04-08T13:52:00.000-05:00

This was written in response to a post by the Anglican Philosopher regarding Sin Lines:

I was raised on a sin line mentality. Often, pastors (especially youth pastors) would portray the line in a comic manner leaning over the line in order to breath in as much of the sin on the other side as possible and (oops!) stumbling into sin. They would also speak of "black and white" regarding sin. There is no gray, just white and then black.

I think it is exactly that kind of phariseeism (sp?) that prompted Jesus to say that the one who hates in his heart has murdered and the one who lusts in his heart has fornicated. He tells us to be perfect as His Father is perfect. Anything less than perfection is sin. In that sense, EVERYTHING is gray! This more corresponds to the Orthodox definition of sin as "missing the mark." The straight and narrow isn't about belief, but about obedience.

I've recently heard another concept which rings true as well. All sin is in the heart. Sin is not something you do, it is a condition of impurity. SInful actions are merely symptoms of the disease. In the West we focus on minimizing symptoms rather than curing the disease. So it is with sin. As long as we're not presenting, all is well. But the fornicator and adulterer has merely acted on the sin which is in his heart. Which is in my heart. Until that sin is eradicated, I am no more holy than they.

The Paschal Sermon of Saint John Chrysostom

2007-04-08T08:11:00.000-05:00

Latin	English
Christus resurrexit a mortuis, Morte mortem calcavit, Et entibus in sepulchris Vitam donavit.	Christ is risen from the dead, Trampling down death by death, And upon those in the tombs Bestowing life!

Latin

English

Christus resurrexit a mortuis,

Morte mortem calcavit,

Et entibus in sepulchris

Vitam donavit.

Christ is risen from the dead,

Trampling down death by death,

And upon those in the tombs

Bestowing life!

O Mary! I am the Gardener truly,
I am the One, Who established Paradise.
I am the One Who was killed,
I am the One Who entered the grave.
Touch Me not, for I have not ascended to the Father.
That I have gloriously arisen from that grave,
Give thou this good news to the disciples.

- Mary Magdalene was called Apostle to the Apostles

If any man be devout and loveth God, let him enjoy this fair and radiant triumphal feast! If any man be a wise servant, let him rejoicing enter into the joy of his Lord. If any have laboured long in fasting, let him how receive his recompense. If any have wrought from the first hour, let him today receive his just reward. If any have come at the third hour, let him with thankfulness keep the feast. If any have arrived at the sixth hour, let him have no misgivings; because he shall in nowise be deprived therefore. If any have delayed until the ninth hour, let him draw near, fearing nothing. And if any have tarried even until the eleventh hour, let him, also, be not alarmed at his tardiness.

For the Lord, who is jealous of his honour, will accept the last even as the first. He giveth rest unto him who cometh at the eleventh hour, even as unto him who hath wrought from the first hour. And He showeth mercy upon the last, and careth for the first; and to the one He giveth, and upon the other He bestoweth gifts. And He both accepteth the deeds, and welcometh the intention, and honoureth the acts and praises the offering.

Wherefore, enter ye all into the joy of your Lord; receive your reward, both the first, and likewise the second. You rich and poor together, hold high festival! You sober and you heedless, honour the day! Rejoice today, both you who have fasted and you who have disregarded the fast. The table is full-laden; feast ye all sumptuously. The calf is fatted; let no one go hungry away. Enjoy ye all the feast of faith: Receive ye all the riches of loving-kindness.

Let no one bewail his poverty, for the universal Kingdom has been revealed. Let no one weep for his iniquities, for pardon has shown forth from the grave. Let no one fear death, for the Saviour's death has set us free. He that was held prisoner of it has annihilated it.

By descending into Hell, He made Hell captive. He embittered it when it tasted of His flesh. And Isaiah, foretelling this, did cry: Hell, said he, was embittered when it encountered Thee in the lower regions.

It was embittered, for it was abolished.
It was embittered, for it was mocked.
It was embittered, for it was slain.
It was embittered, for it was overthrown.
It was embittered, for it was fettered in chains.
It took a body, and met God face to face.
It took earth, and encountered Heaven.
It took that which was seen, and fell upon the unseen.

O Death, where is thy sting?
O Hell, where is thy victory?

Christ is risen, and thou art overthrown!
Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen!
Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice!
Christ is risen, and life reigns!
Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the grave.

For Christ, being risen from the dead, is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

To Him be glory and dominion unto ages of ages.

Amen.

Holy Saturday Icon and Prayer

2007-04-07T10:54:00.000-05:00

The great Moses mystically foreshadowed this day when he said:
God blessed the seventh day.
This is the blessed Sabbath.
This is the day of rest,
on which the only-begotten Son of God
rested from all His works.
He kept the Sabbath in the flesh,
through the dispensation of death.
But on this day, He returned again
through the resurrection.
He has granted us eternal life,
for He alone is good, the Lover of man.

Prayers and Poems for Good Friday

2007-04-06T08:26:00.000-05:00

Orthodox Icon of the Crucifixion

Today He who hung the earth upon the waters is hung upon the tree.
Today He who holds the whole creation in His hand is born of a virgin.
The King of angels is decked with a crown of thorns.
He whose essence none can touch
is bound in swaddling-clothes as a mortal man.

WHEN Jesus came to Golgotha they hanged Him on a tree,

They drave great nails through hands and feet, and made a Calvary;
They crowned Him with a crown of thorns, red were His wounds and deep,
For those were crude and cruel days, and human flesh was cheap.

When Jesus came to Birmingham they simply passed Him by,
They never hurt a hair of Him, they only let Him die;
For men had grown more tender, and they would not give Him pain,
They only just passed down the street, and left Him in the rain.

Still Jesus cried, "Forgive them, for they know not what they do,"
And still it rained the wintry rain that drenched Him through and through;
The crowds went home and left the streets without a soul to see,
And Jesus crouched against a wall and cried for Calvary.
- G.A. Studdert

The sun and moon represent law and gospel, sin and grace
and the eclipse that occurred at Christ's death.

DEAR Lord, I hold my hand to take
Thy Body, broken here for me,
Accept the Sacrifice I make,
My body, broken, there, for Thee.

His was my body, born of me,
Born of my bitter travail pain,
And it lies broken on the field,
Swept by the wind and the rain.

by G.A. Studdert; painting is Crucifixion by Dali, based on a drawing by San Juan de la Cruz

by Giotto

When Thou, the Redeemer of all,
hast been laid for all in the new tomb,
Hades, the respecter of none, saw Thee and crouched in fear.
The bars broke, the gates were shattered,
the graves were opened, the dead arose.
Then Adam, thankfully rejoicing, cried out to Thee:
Glory to Thy condescension, O Merciful Master.

How, O Life, canst Thou die? Or abide in a grave.
For Thou dost destroy the kingdom of death, O Lord,
and Thou raisest up the dead of Hades realm.

In a grave they laid Thee, O my Life and my Christ.
Yet behold now, by Thy death, death is stricken down,
and Thou pourest forth life's streams for all the world.

O, how full that joy was! O, how great that delight!
Wherewith Thou didst fill all them that were held by Hades,
when Thou shonest forth Thy light in those dark depths.

- Orthodox Prayers for Holy Week

Surely a Mother understands Thy thorn-crowned head,
The mystery of Thy pierced hands--the Broken Bread.
- G.A. Studdert

Judas

2007-03-27T08:21:00.002-05:00

I saw Judas Iscariot carrying John Wilkes Booth ...
- Down There by the Train by Johnny Cash

Judas the slave and knave,
the disciple and traitor,
the friend and fiend,
was proved by his deeds;
for, as he followed the Master,
within himself he contemplated His betrayal.
Truly Judas is descended from those vipers
who ate manna in the wilderness
yet murmured against Him who nourished them.
For while the food was still in their mouths,
those ungrateful men reviled God.
So too this godless man,
while still bearing in his mouth the heavenly bread,
contrived the betrayal of the Savior.
What greedy purpose!
What inhuman insolense!
He sells Him who nourished him.
He delivers to death the Master whom he loved.
Truely this lawless man is their son.
With them will he inherit perdition.
Spare our souls of such inhumanity,
O only Lord of boundless mercy.

Computer and Religious Icons

2007-03-14T18:00:00.000-05:00

Those little images on computer screens are called 'icons' because of the meaning and use of religious icons. Orthodox Christian icons are called "windows to heaven" because they mystically connect us to the heavenly realms. The Seventh Ecumenical Council (A.D. 787) affirmed for us the theology of the icon, including the truth that "what is done before the icon is conveyed to the one it represents." It is clearly understood that the icon remains wood and paint. It is not what is represented by it, but it is a means of connection or link to that which it represents. (Click on the icon to the right to read St. Mary's story. >>)

Computer icons, in the same way, are not the programs themselves, but graphical representations of the programs or services whose logos they bear. By clicking on them, one can connect to the powers behind the logos. That is why they are called icons, and not merely logos, images or symbols.

Psalm 2 says "Kiss the Son, lest He be angry with you." Six times in the New Testament we are told to greet one another with a holy kiss or a kiss of love. We are also instructed that death cannot separate the body of Christ. "The gates of hell shall not prevail against it." By means of Orthodox Icons we can obey Scripture. And we are continually reminded of the thin-ness of the veil of death. We continue to be encouraged, admonished and inspired by the Saints who have gone before (Hebrews 11), as their presence is conveyed by their icons. They especially call us to prayer to the Triune God.

The Fathers on Fasting

2007-02-27T08:15:00.000-05:00

Do you fast? Give me proof of it by your works.
If you see a poor man, take pity on him!
If you see a friend enjoying honor, do not envy him.
For let not the mouth only fast,
but also the eye, and the ear, and the feet, and the hands,
and all members of our bodies.
Let the hands fast by being pure from avarice.
Let the feet fast by ceasing from running to forbidden spectacles.
Let the eyes fast by being taught never to fix themselves
rudely upon handsome countenances.
For looking is the food of the eyes,
but if it be unlawful or forbidden it mars the fast
and overturns the safety of the soul;
but if it be lawful and safe, it adorns fasting.
For it would be an instance of the highest absurdity
to abstain from meats and unlawful food because of the fast,
but with the eyes to feed on what is forbidden.
Do you eat flesh?
Do not feed on licentiousness by means of the eyes.
Let the ear fast also.
The fasting of the ear is not to receive evil speaking and calumnies.
"You shall not receive an idle report," it says.
Let also the mouth fast from foul words.
For what does it profit if we abstain from birds and fish,
and yet bite and devour our brethren?"
- St. John Chrysostom

Fasting was ordained in Paradise.
The first injunction was delivered to Adam,
‘Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat.’
‘You shall not eat’ is a law of fasting and abstinence.
The general argument is rather against excess
than in support of ceremonial abstinence.
In Paradise there was no wine, no butchery of beasts, no eating of flesh.
Wine came in after the flood.
Noah became drunk because wine was new to him.
So fasting is older than drunkenness.
Esau was defiled, and made his brother’s slave, for the sake of a single meal.
It was fasting and prayer which gave Samuel to Hannah.
Fasting brought forth Samson.
Fasting begets prophets, strengthens strong men.
Fasting makes lawgivers wise, is the soul’s safeguard, the body’s trusty comrade, the armor of the champion, the training of the athlete.
- St. Basil, in his homilies on the Holy Spirit

Lenten Thoughts

2007-02-23T13:31:00.000-05:00

Themes of Lent:

Israel (wandering for forty years in the desert, Deut 8:2,4),
Moses (who stayed on Mt Sinai for forty days and forty nights, Ex 24:18),
Elijah ( who walked for forty days and forty nights to Mt Horeb, 1 Kg 19:8) and
Christ (who fasted forty days and forty nights in the desert, Mt 4:1-2) must have exercised a predominant influence, but it is also possible that the fact was borne in mind that Christ lay forty hours in the tomb.

Now some have related the wonderful signs performed by our Saviour, and preached His eternal Godhead. And others have written of His being born in the flesh of the Virgin, and have proclaimed the festival of the holy passover, saying, 'Christ our Passover is sacrificed;' so that we, individually and collectively, and all the churches in the world may remember, as it is written, 'That Christ rose from the dead, of the seed of David, according to the Gospel.'

And let us not forget that which Paul delivered, declaring it to the Corinthians; I mean His resurrection, whereby 'He destroyed him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;' and raised us up together with Him, having loosed the bands of death, and vouchsafed a blessing instead of a curse, joy instead of grief, a feast instead of mourning, in this holy joy of Easter, which being continually in our hearts, we always rejoice, as Paul commanded; 'We pray without ceasing; in everything we give thanks.'

So we are not remiss in giving notice of its seasons, as we have received from the Fathers. Again we write, again keeping to the apostolic traditions, we remind each other when we come together for prayer; and keeping the feast in common, with one mouth we truly give thanks to the Lord. Thus giving thanks unto Him, and being followers of the saints, 'we shall make our praise in the Lord all the day,' as the Psalmist says. So, when we rightly keep the feast, we shall be counted worthy of that joy which is in heaven.

We begin the fast of forty days on the 13th of the month Phamenoth (Mar.). After we have given ourselves to fasting in continued succession, let us begin the holy Paschal week on the 18th of the month Pharmuthi (April). Then resting on the 23rd of the same month Pharmuthi, and keeping the feast afterwards on the first of the week, on the 24th, let us add to these the seven weeks of the great Pentecost, wholly rejoicing and exulting in Christ Jesus our Lord, through Whom to the Father be glory and dominion in the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen.

The brethren which are with me salute you. Salute one another with a holy kiss.

- a quote from the second Festal Letter of the holy Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria (died 373)

On Lent

2007-02-21T10:18:00.000-05:00

The Jew rejoices in sabbaths and feast days;
and a monk who is a glutton on Saturdays and Sundays.
He counts beforehand the days till Pascha,
and he prepares the food for it several days in advance.
The slave of his belly calculates
with what dishes he will celebrate the feast,
but the servant of God considers
with what spiritual gifts he may be enriched.
- St John of the Ladder

The Importance of Romans

2007-02-15T16:08:00.000-05:00

Luther called it "purest Gospel" (as opposed to the book of James which he called an "epistle of straw"). The Epistles to the Romans has also contributed significantly to the history of Christian doctrine. Almost every influential Christian thinker has dealt with Romans. Origen, Thomas Aquinas, and Philip Melanchthon, to mention only a few, wrote noteworthy commentaries on Romans. And numerous theological notions have been derived solely or in part from Romans. Augustine acquired his idea of original sin from Romans 5, Luther gained his understanding of justification by faith alone from Romans 3-4, John Calvin obtained his doctrine of double predestination from Romans 9-11, John Wesley got his distinctive teaching on sanctification from Romans 6 and 8, and Karl Barth learned of the importance of the righteousness of God from Romans 1 and 2. In short, this epistle has exerted a powerful influence on all branches of the Christian Church, and its impact on the lives and thought of prominent Christian thinkers through the years has been second, perhaps, only to the canonical gospels. Here is some ancient commentary on Romans 5.

But it is on Romans 5 I want to speak, specifically verses 12 through the end of the chapter. My father asked me to read it and give the Orthodox perspective on it. He is coming from a traditional, Protestant and, to some extent, Roman Catholic position. We have all sinned through Adam, even if we have lived perfect lives otherwise, and all need the "New Adam," Jesus, to save us. What do the Orthodox believe about Original Sin?

To place the term Original sin in context: God created man perfect with free will and gave man a direction to follow. Man (Adam) and Woman (Eve) chose rather to disobey God by eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thus changing the "perfect" mode of existence of man to the "flawed" mode of existence of man. This flawed nature and all that has come from it is a result of that Original Sin. Because we participate in humanity, we share in the sin of Adam because like him, we are human. The union of humanity with divinity in Jesus Christ (Incarnation) restored, in the Person of Christ, the mode of existence of humanity, so that those who are incorporated in him may participate in this mode of existence, be saved from sin and death, and be united to God in deification (theosis, which does NOT mean joining the Trinity). Original sin is cleansed in humans through baptism or, in the case of the Theotokos (God-bearer or Mary), the moment Christ took form within her.

However, this view differs from the Roman Catholic (Augustinian) doctrine of Original Sin in that man is not seen as inherently guilty of the sin of Adam. According to the Orthodox, we inherit the consequences of that sin, not the guilt. The difference came about because Augustine interpreted a Latin translation of Romans 5:12 as meaning that through Adam all men sinned, whereas the Orthodox reading in Greek interpret it as meaning that we all sin as part of the inheritance of flawed nature from Adam. Therefore, the Orthodox Church does not teach that we are born deserving to go to hell and Protestant doctrines such as Predeterminism that result from the Augustinian understanding of Original Sin are not a part of Orthodox belief.

Concept of Atonement in Christianity

2007-02-10T18:26:00.000-05:00

A number of theories of the atonement have been advanced by Christians to explain how and why the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ redeem. Concerning them, their usefulness, and their role C. S. Lewis wrote:

We are told that Christ was killed for us, that His death has washed out our sins, and that by dying He disabled death itself. That is the formula. That is Christianity. That is what has to be believed. Any theories we build up as to how Christ's death did all this are, in my view, quite secondary: mere plans or diagrams to be left alone if they do not help us, and, even if they do help us, not to be confused with the thing itself. All the same, some of these theories are worth looking at.^[1]

Catholic view

Held by many Christians, this view holds that Jesus willingly sacrificed himself as an act of perfect obedience (the Gospels show him struggling with this in the Garden of Gethsemane), atoning for the disobedience of Adam, and thus cleansing Mankind of the stain of original sin. Jesus's sacrifice was an offering of love that pleased God more than man's sin offended God, so now all who believe in Jesus and keep his commandments may receive salvation in his name, see also Great Commission and Sermon on the Mount.

Judicial (Protestant) view

By contrast, the Catholic view off-shoot titled the judicial view was held by Martin Luther, and a major cause of the Reformation. It is held by the majority of Protestants.

This view emphasizes God as Judge. Humanity had sinned and God was therefore required, in His justice, to punish humankind. However, God sent His Son, who was sinless, to take the sin of the world on his shoulders, so that anyone who accepted the gift of Jesus's act could be freed from the consequences of his sin, without violating God's judgement.

The result is that through Christ's death, the Old Covenant passed away and all things became new in a New Covenant. The veil separating man and God was torn, and the people were free to work out their own salvation through the only true Mediator, Jesus Christ, rather than seeking salvation through rituals, rules, or an exclusive priesthood. People who hold this view generally believe that only acceptance of Christ's sacrifice is necessary for salvation, not a ritual or a sacrament. See also Antinomianism.

This view of the theological significance of Jesus's resurrection is analogous to the Jewish Day of Atonement, by which the sins of the Israelites were put onto a flawless scapegoat, who was then released into the wilderness, taking the sins of the people with him.

Christus Victor

The Christus Victor view, which is more common among Lutherans (see, e.g. G. Aulen's book Christus Victor), and Eastern Orthodox Christians, holds that Jesus was sent by God to defeat death and Satan. Because of his perfection, voluntary death, and Resurrection, Jesus defeated Satan and death, and arose victorious. Therefore humanity was no longer bound in sin, but was free to rejoin God through faith in Jesus.

In contrast to the Judicial view, the Christus Victor model emphasizes a spiritual battle between good and evil. This battle is on a cosmic scale. The Judicial view would require Christians to believe that God voluntarily punished Jesus for their sins, whereas the Christus Victor view sees humanity as formerly in the power of Satan, who was defeated by Jesus; and God, through Jesus, broke us out of Satan's power.

The Christus Victor sometimes has also been used to argue that Jesus defeated sin and death for everyone, whether or not they hear of Jesus, granting non-Christians the chance of eternal life (or a guarantee thereof, depending on the particular theology in question).

First Man view

The First Man view, held by a small minority of Christians, especially Pelagians and Semi-Pelagians, states that Jesus was a person just like the rest of humanity, but due to his remarkable faith, purity, sinlessness, and perfection, he earned eternal life, and was resurrected because Death could not hold him. They also believe that by following his teachings and example others may also ultimately earn eternal life.

The First Man view can be compared with the Old-Testament stories of Enoch and Elijah, who walked with God to such a degree of faithfulness that they were not required to die. Enoch 'was no more,' and Elijah was carried in a whirlwind. In the same way, Jesus was faithful to such a degree, that even though he was killed, his Faith earned him Eternal Life. And in the same way, if we are faithful to the same degree, we can also be free from death.

Christus Victor

Main article: Christus Victor

Ransom: Origen, Gregory of Nyssa

Scapegoating: William Tyndale (who invented the word from Hebrew and Greek manuscripts), René Girard, James Alison, Gerhard Förde see 'In Christianity' in Scapegoat

[edit] Physical Theory

Recapitulation: Irenaeus, Athanasius, Cappadocian Fathers, Eastern Orthodox Church

Edward Irving, T. F. Torrance

Moral Influence

Main article: Atonement (moral influence view)

Pierre Abélard (It is questionable whether Abélard himself taught this model of Atonement)

Hastings Rashdall

Satisfaction

Main article: Atonement (satisfaction view)

Divine satisfaction: Anselm of Canterbury & Salvation in Catholicism

Penalty or Punishment satisfaction: John Calvin, Calvinism, & Imputed righteousness

Vicarious Repentance, John Mcleod Campbell, R. C. Moberly

Governmental

Main article: Atonement (governmental view)

Ransom

Main article: Atonement (ransom view)

Denominational Perspectives

Roman Catholic

The Roman Catholic Church does not limit itself to a single theory but several, including, but not limited to, the Ransom, Penal Substitution, Moral Influence theories and the primacy of the Incarnation. Rather, these multiple perspectives are needed to express the fullness of the Atonement.

“

On looking back at the various theories noticed so far, it will be seen that they are not, for the most part, mutually exclusive, but may be combined and harmonized. It may be said, indeed, that they all help to bring out different aspects of that great doctrine which cannot find adequate expression in any human theory.^[5]

”

Rather than considering these different views as theories, it is better to consider them as expressions or representations. While theologians may at times emphasize one idea, this does not imply that the others are any less true or valuable. To consistently emphasize only one aspect of the Atonement is dangerous.

Eastern Orthodox

Eastern Orthodoxy has a substantively different soteriology; this is sometimes cited as the core difference between Eastern and Western Christianity. The Orthodox view is closely related to the Incarnation and is thus closest to the Physical redemption theory.

Protestant

The almost unanimous, contemporary Protestant view is that of penal substitution. The view is so widely believed that few Protestants are aware of alternative understandings of the Atonement. In the rare instances when they encounter other Christians who profess non-substitution views, Protestants usually consider these views heretical.

However, Protestants still use the language of alternative understandings prolifically especially where they are used in the Bible. Usually this is done because, while they consider the penal substitution theory as the literal understanding, they still feel free to use other differing ideas as figurative language about the Atonement. This is true, for example, of the Christus Victor view. There are instances when Protestants confuse other views as the satisfaction view, Matthew 20.28, for example. Jesus said of himself, "The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."

Of course, there are always exceptions. More liberal Protestants, particularly scholars, are more likely to relate with the Moral Influence view.

Lord, Save Me

2007-02-09T11:03:00.000-05:00

Though I have sinned, O Savior,
yet I know that Thou art full of loving-kindness.
Thou dost chastise with mercy and art fervent in compassion.
Thou dost see me weeping and dost run to meet me,
like the Father calling back the prodigal.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me

Instead of freedom from possessions, O Saviour,
I have pursued a life in love with material things;
and now I wear a heavy yoke.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me

I have cared only for the outward adornment,
and neglected that which is within
the tabernacle fashioned by God.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

- from the Canon of St. Andrew of Crete

Celtic Images

2007-01-23T10:19:00.000-05:00

The Three Trees

2007-01-22T18:15:00.000-05:00

There is a special emphasis in the role of the Holy Trinity in our salvation in the theology of the cross. Christ is said to be seen by us in "The cedar, the pine and the cypress."

This is an allusion to the Isaiah 60:13: "The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together to beautify the place of my sanctuary, and I will make the place of my feet glorious." There is a tradition that three types of tree grew together in one spot. An Icon of the Orthodox Church celebrates this and has St Lot, the nephew of Abraham, watering the trees. It was from these trees (different translations refer to different types, but pine, cedar and cypress have the longest tradition) that the Cross of Christ was made.

The Cross of Calvary in the Orthodox Church, East and West, had three tiers or bars: The title where the charge against Christ was written by Pilate, the cross-bar to which Christ's hands were nailed and the (slanted) foot-rest. Some have commented that three types of wood referred to above were reflected in these different parts of the Cross.

O Antiphons

2006-12-30T20:24:00.001-05:00

O Antiphons

Latin

English

16 Dec

O Sapientia,

quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti,

attingens a fine usque ad finem fortiter,

suaviterque disponens omnia:

veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae.

O Wisdom,

who proceeds from the mouth of the Most High,

reaching out mightily from end to end,

and sweetly arranging all things:

come to teach us the way of prudence.

Proverbs 1:20; 8; 9 and I Corinthians 1:30

Christ, Wisdom and Creator of the world

17 Dec

O Adonai,

et dux domus Israël,

qui Moyse in igne flammae rubi apparuisti,

et ei in Sina legem dedisti:

veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento.

O Mighty Lord,

and leader of the house of Israël,

who appeared to Moses in the burning bush,

and on Sinai gave him the law,

come to redeem us with outstretched arm.

Exodus 3; Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:6

Christ, Lawgiver and Redeemer of Israel

18 Dec

O Radix Jesse,

qui stas in signum populorum,

super quem continebunt reges os suum,

quem gentes deprecabuntur:

veni ad liberandum nos,

jam noli tardare

O Root of Jesse,

who stand as a sign for the people,

kings stand silent in your presence,

whom the nations will worship:

come to set us free,

put it off no longer.

Isaiah 11:10; Romans 15:12; Revelation 5:5

Christ, descendant of David, king of kings

19 Dec

O Clavis David,

et sceptrum domus Israël,

qui aperis, et nemo claudit,

claudis, et nemo aperuit:

veni, et educ vinctum

de domo carceris,

sedentem in tenebris,

et umbra mortis.

O Key of David,

and scepter of the house of Israel,

you open, and no one shuts,

you shut, and no one opens:

come, and lead the prisoner

from jail,

seated in darkness

and in the shadow of death.

Isaiah 22:22; Revelation 3:7

Christ, harrower of hell

20 Dec

O Oriens,

splendor lucis aeternae,

et sol justitiae:

veni, et illumina

sedentes in tenebris,

et umbra mortis.

O Dawn,

splendor of eternal light,

and sun of justice,

come, and shine

on those seated in darkness,

and in the shadow of death.

Luke 1:78, 79; Malachi 4:2

Christ, the Resurrection and the Life

21 Dec

O Rex Gentium,

et desideratus earum,

lapisque angularis,

qui facis utraque unum:

veni, et salva hominem,

quem de limo formasti.

O King of the Nations,

and the one they desired,

keystone,

who makes both peoples one,

come and save mankind,

whom you shaped from the mud.

Revelation 15:3; Psalm 118:22; Isaiah 28:16; Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11;

Ephesians 2:20; I Peter 2:6

Christ, Cornerstone and union of all people

22 Dec

O Emmanuel,

Rex et legifer noster,

expectatio gentium,

et Salvator earum:

veni ad salvandum nos,

Domine, Deus noster.

O Emmanuel,

our King and Lawgiver,

the one awaited by the gentiles,

and their Savior:

come to save us,

Lord our God.

Isaiah 7:14; 8:8; Matthew 1:23; Haggai 2:7

Christ, the hope of all Nations, who await his appearing

23 Dec

O Virgo virginum,

quomodo fiet istud?

Quia nec primam similem visa es

nec habere sequentem.

Filiae Ierusalem,

quid me admiramini?

Divinum est mysterium hoc quod cernitis.

O Virgin of virgins,

how shall this be?

For neither before was any like thee,

nor shall there be after.

Daughters of Jerusalem,

why marvel ye at me?

That which ye behold is a divine mystery.

Genesis 3:15; Luke 1:26-56

Mary, birthgiver of God

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

Words: Latin: c. 9th Century

Tr. by John M. Neale

Tr. by Henry S. Coffin

Music: VENI EMMANUEL

Adapted from Plainsong, Mode I

Thomas Helmore

O come, o come, Emmanuel,

And ransom captive Israel,

That mourns in lonely exile here,

Until the Son of God appear.