Category: Patristics

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Our Age of Ego and Self Centeredness

Abba Sisoes the Great at the Tomb of Alexander the Great

I read a beautiful reflection on the icon  of  Abba  Sisoes the Great at the tomb of Alexander the Great and wanted to share it. In our present day climate of “likes” and “internet influencers,” I thought this to be very relevant and something for us all to think about as we consider the ego driven pursuit of fame and the values of our age.

Abba Sisoes  was born in 367 and died in AD 429. He became an ascetic in the desert of Thebes in Egypt. His memory is celebrated on July 6  and belongs to the first generation of great ascetics who followed St. Anthony the Great.

The monastery of Abba Sisoes, located in the valley of Nitria in the region of Wadi el Natroun in Egypt, is one of the ancient monasteries of the Skete, the cradle of Christian monasticism, which has been operating since the 4th century AD. The monastery contains the relic of Saint Sisoes which is said to be perfectly preserved on a red cloth.

The monks claim that it is common for Saint Sisoes to perform miracles for the true believers and is also considered one of the most important monastic saints of Orthodox and  Coptic Christians.

The disciples of Saint Sisoes, who are considered to be the first to depict the relevant scene, describe it as follows: ‘Sisoes the Great, at the tomb of the glorious King of the Greeks, Alexander, is terrified and expresses his sorrow over the ephemeral glories of this life.

Saint Sisoes stands at the open tomb of Alexander the Great, so he weeps and exclaims:

‘Seeing you in a grave, I am timid and frightened at your sight and I shed tears from my heart, bringing to my mind the debt that all people have to pay (that is, death), so I will suffer such an end. Ah, ah death, who is the one who can avoid you?’

We hear in the Funeral Service of our Holy Church this prayer:

“Where is the pleasure in life which is unmixed with sorrow? Where the glory which on earth stood firm and unchanged? All things are weaker than shadow, all more elusive than dreams; comes in one fell stroke, and Death in turn, prevails over all these vanities. Wherefore in the Light, O Christ, of Your countenance, and in the sweetness of Your beauty, to him (her) whom You have chosen grant repose, for you are the Friend of Mankind.”  

The reality of death viewed through the saving grace of the Lord is the only comfort and solace we as Orthodox Christians have in our lives. This is the lesson of this beautiful story of Abba Sisoes. God Bless….FrG

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The Foundations of the Church: A Study of the Ecumenical Councils (Part 3)

The Triumph of Orthodoxy

The Foundations of the Church is a short study of the first seven Ecumenical Councils. The classes are recorded from the Adult Education Series of Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church –  Austin, Texas. This class is  Part 3 of the series recorded on June 15,  2022. This recording explores the 6th.  and 7th.  Ecumenical Councils and their impact on the orthodoxy and theology of the Church. The  video recordings are unedited transcriptions of the Zoom presentation of the class. Please forgive the lack of polish of the recording. For a better viewing of this segment, please begin at 3:00 min. into the recording. The presenter is Fr. George  P. Bithos  The link to the video is below. God Bless.. FrG

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Lenten Journey, 2021

 

In our Lenten Journey we are called upon to look to three foundational guideposts. These are Prayer, Fasting and Alms Giving. As we approach the mid-point in Great Lent, I offer this small prayer to assist you.

A  prayer from St. John Chrysostom according to the Hours of the Day or Night

1:00 AM:  Lord, deprive me not of Your heavenly and eternal blessings.

2:00 AM:  Lord, deliver me from everlasting torments.

3:00 AM:  Lord, if I have sinned in word or deed, in mind, or spirit, forgive me.

4:00 AM:  Lord, deliver me from all distress, ignorance, forgetfulness, laziness, and stony hardness of heart.

5:00 AM:  Lord, deliver me from all temptations and spiritual abandonment.

6:00 AM:  Lord, enlighten my heart which has been darkened by evil desire.

7:00 AM:  Lord, being human, I sin; but You, being God, have mercy on me.

8:00 AM:  Lord, take heed of the weakness of my soul, and help me with Your grace that Your holy name may be glorified in me.

9:00 AM:  Lord Jesus Christ, inscribe the name of Your servant in the book of life, granting me a blessed end.

10:00 AM:  Lord my God, I have done nothing good; yet by Your compassion help me to make a new beginning.

11:00 AM:  Lord, refresh my heart with the dew of Your grace.

12:00 PM:  Lord, God of heaven and earth, remember me, who am sinful, wretched, evil and impure, in Your kingdom, according to Your steadfast love.

1 :00 PM:  Lord, receive me in repentance and do not forsake me.

2:00 PM:  Lord, put me not to the test.

3:00 PM: Lord, grant me good thoughts.

4:00 PM:  Lord, grant me tears of repentance, remembrance of death and contrition.

5:00 PM:  Lord, grant me sincere confession of my thought.

6:00 PM:  Lord, grant me humility, deliverance from my own will and obedience.

7:00 PM:  Lord, grant me patience, forbearance and meekness.

8:00 PM:  Lord, implant in me Your holy fear, the source of all blessings.

9:00 PM:  Lord, enable me to love You with all my soul, my mind and my heart; and my neighbor as myself.

10:00 PM:  Lord, protect me from evil people and demons, from impure passions and all unseemly things.

11:00 PM:  Lord, as you commanded; Lord, as You know all things; Lord, as You desire I desire Your goodness; let Your will be done in me.

12:00 AM:  Lord, let Your will, not mine, be done through the intercessions of the all-holy Theotokos and of all the Saints, for You are blessed forever. Amen.

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St Cuthbert the Wonderworker, Bishop of Lindisfarne

As many of you know, I read for my Ph.D. in England at the University of Durham. During this time I gained a great appreciation for the early Orthodox saints of Great Britain. One of these saints is St. Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, whose holy relics are buried in the Great Cathedral of Durham on the university campus. Last Saturday, our Holy Church commemorated St. Cuthbert.. This short film from Trisagion Films tells his story.  I pray you find it inspirational and begin to appreciate the rich heritage of the Celtic saints of the Church. God Bless….Fr. G.

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It’s Just a Face

This Sunday our Holy Church turns our attention to the restoration of the holy icons into the Church. We celebrate this event with the commemoration of the Sunday of Orthodoxy. I could say much in discussing this feast and as a matter of fact my entire dissertation studies the details of this event. Nonetheless, I would ask you to think a moment on this questions. What do the faces in this icon or any icon really say to us?

The icon above is the icon of St Methodios l, Patriarch of Constantinople, the Confessor. He can also be seen in the icon of the Sunday of Orthodoxy standing next to the icon within the scene.  When I talk to people about icons many times I hear:  “but they don’t look like real people.” In making this observation people touch on the very truth of the icon. Even though the image depicts “real people” they are shown in their deified reality. What does this mean? As Orthodox Christians we are all called to struggle ascetically towards our deification in Christ. The saints depicted in the icons are the truth of this endeavor. In their lives, they have ascended the ladder of deification and are shown in their glorified reality. They are no longer of this world, but belong to the reality of God. Their image in the icon reflects this truth. Byzantine icons reflect the world of God and not the world of fallen man. As the viewer of the icon, we should not be drawn to the beauty and form of the world but the radiance of God’s kingdom. The images are stylized to reflect this glory. 

In viewing the icon we are given subtle clues to the reality of the saints life.  The icon of St. Methodios above was taken from a drawing of his icon from the Vatican Library. The icon was once present in the loge of Hagia Sophia but was destroyed by an earthquake many years ago.  The icon shows a white scarf encircling the patriarch’s face. This detail testifies to the suffering of Methodios as a confessor to the faith, in that he was tortured in prison by having his teeth removed and his jaws broken; because of his support of the holy icons. He required this white scarf around his chin for the rest of his life even when he became patriarch. So the icon testifies to his suffering for Christ and his faithfulness to the truth of the Church.

In icons we have the reflection of Christ alive in the life of the person depicted for us in the holy image. Each saint in an icon is truly the reflection of Christ in their life. This is why we place a vigil lamp in front of the icon because the saints depicted there, in the icon, always reflected Christ and His light to their community, in their time and in time in memoriam. So as we see there is more than just a face in the reality of the icons. How very apt is our prayer when we ask the holy saint’s of God to intercede  for us!

God Bless and have a Blessed Great Lent……..Fr. G.  

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The Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple (21 November 2020)

This Saturday we celebrated the Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple. What we know about this event in the life of the Theotokos can be found in two ancient sources. The Protoevagelium of James and The Gospel of the Birth of Mary.  These are materials that were not placed in the canonical sources. Some non-Orthodox “experts” have called these writings the “lost books” or “new sources” They were never lost nor are they new. Orthodox monastics and theologians have always used these sources to expand our understanding of the lives of the saints and events in salvation history. The hymnographers, iconographers and poets of the Church have drawn on these writings to enrich our liturgical and faith experience. These writings give the early events of the life of the Theotokos. The Protoevagelium Jacobi (aka The Infancy Gospel of James) presents the more detailed story of the events of her parental heritage, conception, birth and early life. As we know in the canonical Gospel of Luke, St. Luke begins his narrative with the story of St. John the Baptist and then relates the events of the Annunciation to the Theotokos. So these other sources are valuable as they present some of the rest of the Theotokos’ story. 

The Protoevagelium relates that Joachim and Anna, the Theotokos’ parents, were so grateful to God for His gift of the conception of Mary; they promised to dedicate Mary to God by presenting her to the Temple. The miracle of their having this blessed child erased the reproval of their community because of their inability to bear children. The thinking of that culture was that a childless couple could not participate in the possibility of being heirs to the promise of the future messiah. When  Mary reached the age of three, they fulfilled their pledge and escorted  her accompanied by 10 virgins with lit lamps to the Temple.  This was prophesied in Psalm 44 LXXII [45]. They were met by the High Priest Zacharias, who guided the child Mary into the Holy of Holies. We hear in the Protoevagelium, “Now Mary was in the Temple of the Lord like a dove being fed and she received food from the hand of an angel.” This was the Archangel Gabriel (notice the top left corner of the icon). What happened from age three until the mid-teenage years when we know that the Annunciation took place is not completely detailed. But we know the Virgin piously stayed in the Temple and found favour with God until her betrothal to Joseph.

The material concerning these years can be found in these ancient writings, As we commemorate these events perhaps reading some of these books could expand your understanding. We must know that the Church has not endorsed these writings as canonical, but looks on them as resources to expand and enhance our faith journey. God Bless and Have a Blessed Thanksgiving

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St. Ioannikios the Great

Today our Holy Church celebrates the great monastic father of the 8th-9th century. St Ioannikios the Great , a fervent iconodule (supporter of icons). He lived in seclusion as a hermit on Mt. Olympus of Asia Minor. In his Canon in tribute to Saint Ioannikios, Patriarch Methodios I related that as a young military office serving in the war against the Bulgars, Ioannikios was so appalled by the slaughter; he left the battlefield to become a “soldier for Christ” as a monastic. He lived the remained of his life as a hermit on Mt. Olympus. He wrote the following prayer which the Church declares today.

 The Prayer of St Ioannikios the Great

This prayer is attributed to St. Ioannikios the Great. It is said that he would repeat a version of this prayer between verses of the Psalms, the entirety of which he had memorized:

My hope is the Father, my refuge is the Son, my shelter is the Holy Spirit. O Holy Trinity, glory to You.

This prayer is read at the end of the each of services of the Akathistos Hymn during Great Lent 

The hymns in honour of St. Ioannikios

Apolytikion in Plagal of the Fourth Tone

By a flood of tears you made the desert fertile, and your longing for God brought forth fruits in abundance. By the radiance of miracles you illumined the whole universe. O our holy father Ioannikios, pray to Christ our God to save our souls.

Kontakion in the Fourth Tone

Today we celebrate together your honored memory, and we faithfully beseech you, O holy Ioannikios that we may find mercy with the Lord.

Apolytikion in Plagal of the First Tone

Thou didst abandon earthly glory and wast illumined by the light of God’s inspiration. Wherefore thou didst shine on earth like a fadeless star. For thou wast found worthy to hear the divine voice like Moses and wast also like the Angels and a treasury of grace, O holy Father Ioannikios.

Kontakion in the Fourth Tone

We have come together today to honour thy memory, and implore thee to obtain mercy for us from the Lord, O holy Father Ioannikios.

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Hagia Sophia

The Church of the Holy Wisdom

Dumbarton Oaks is a Harvard University research institute, library, museum, and garden located in Washington, DC. It is a world renown site of research in the area of Byzantine Studies. On September 1, 2020 they will present a scholarly webinar on Hagia Sophia: The History of the Building and the Building in History

The Great Church of the Holy Wisdom is the perpetual symbol of the Orthodox grandeur of Byzantium build to the Glory of God. If you wish to attend this educational webinar this is the link to register: https://www.doaks.org/research/byzantine/scholarly-activities/hagia-sophia-the-history-of-the-building-and-the-building-in-history

“Dumbarton Oaks is conceived in a new pattern . . . it is the home of the Humanities, not a mere aggregation of books and objects of art.”


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