The Church Year – Page 2 – ORTHODOX PRAXIS

June 19, 2021

Pantokrator Monastery at Ntaou Pendeli

Entrance to Transfiguration Chapel at Pantokrator

Monastery

Today we visited and venerated the relics of the Holy Fathers of the Pantokrator Monastery at Ntaou Penteli. Our Transfiguration Parish in Austin TX is blessed to have relics of these martyred Fathers in our Holy Altar. This link will relate the history of the Monastery for your understanding: http://www.pantokratoros-tao.gr/index.php/en/ The convent is growing and building a new Church Temple to the Glory of God. The Commemoration of these Martyrs is the Tuesday of Bright Week

God Bless ….Fr. G.

April 20, 2021

Standing by the Cross

There is a word that appears in the hymnography of the Church which is prominent in Great Lent and in Holy Week. That word is stavrotheotokion. If we look at this compound word and break it down to its component parts we can recognize a couple of fairly familiar Greek words, Stavro – Greek for cross and Theotokos, the Mother of God. Now, we can connect the concepts The Theotokos and the Cross. The Stavrotheotokion is a troparion (short hymn with a theme usually sung after a verse of psalm), which is a manifestation of true human emotions. It is a poetic expression of the pain, sorrow and astonishment of a mother beholding her Son and her God on the Cross. These verses of theology and tenderness are heard in many of the services of the Great Lent, but reach their zenith in the services of the Holy Passion. The Theotokos expresses the wonder of us all. The awe, which could only be articulated by a mother who has kept a secret for many years (“and his mother kept all these things in her heart” Luke 2, 51). The identity of her Son as the incarnate God was known the Theotokos since the Annunciation. Now at the Cross she suffers a new mystery, the inscrutability of her Son and Creator taking on death by His own free choice. Each of these verses proclaims the truth of Christ’s condescension.

…”Woe is me beloved Child, light of my eyes! Thou has hung the earth above the waters, how can you endure to be nailed upon the Tree between two evildoers.” – Vespers of Tuesday in the Third Week.

Nonetheless, the Virgin stands by the cross, hour by hour true to her mission to intercede for the entire world. Her pain is palpable. Her lament is moving and yet there is true nobility in her devotion. When all the disciples, except John the Beloved, had fled because of their fear, she and the other women stood there unafraid. St. Romanos the Melodist has captured her grief and her consolation in a kontakion (a combination of troparia of the same structure, connect alphabetically or acrostically) used on Great and Holy Friday. As we, the Church prepare for Holy Week and the revelation of the pain and suffering of Christ, Our Lord and God we will also be reminded of the deep sorrow of His mother as she stands by the Cross with pain in her heart and tears in her eyes. The dialogue between the Theotokos and her Son becomes the revelation of God’s plan of salvation in poetry. This kontakion is lyrical theology, the stavrotheotokion with the voice of response by our Crucified Lord. Christ assures the Theotokos just as she witnesses his hanging on the Cross, she would receive the grace of being the first to see His glorious resurrection.

“Courage, Mother because you will see me first on my coming from the tomb. I am coming to show you by how many toils I ransomed Adam and how much I sweated for his sake. I shall show it to my friends by showing the marks in my hands and then you will see Eve, Mother, living as before, and you will cry out with joy: ‘He has saved my forebears, my Son and my God.’*

*(St. Romanos the Melodist. On the Life of Christ: Kontakia. Translated by Archimandrite Ephrem Lash. Edited by Kerry Brown, The Sacred Literature Series. New York et al.: HarperCollins Publishers, 1995, p. 148).

December 23, 2020December 20, 2020

The Nativity in the Flesh of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ

For Orthodox, the true image of God and the true nature of man are revealed in history by one event. God has revealed Himself to us in Christ. Through the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos, Christ accomplishes this by His Incarnation in the Flesh. The Incarnation of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, reveals the image of the Father to the world and only through Him, in the Holy Spirit, can we KNOW God the Father (St. John 17, 25-26). The hymn of Christmas, by St. Romanos the Melodist, summarizes the theology of incarnation with this phrase, “A new born child; God before the Ages”.

The Incarnation is an act of GOD out of love. It is an act of God identifying with our nature and of sharing His Nature with us. The nature of God as Trinity was the topic of the first two Ecumenical Councils; the next five great Councils dealt with who is Jesus and what is His relationship to us, His creation.

JESUS CHRIST IS FULLY AND COMPLETELY PERFECT GOD.
JESUS CHRIST IS FULLY AND COMPLETELY PERFECT MAN.
JESUS CHRIST IS NOT TWO PERSONS BUT ONE.
JESUS CHRIST IN HIS HUMANITY IS LIKE US IN EVERY WAY, SAVE HE IS WITHOUT SIN.

Our God as Trinity is a perfect community of love shared between the Three Persons of one essence. The Incarnation is also about sharing and participation. Christ shares our humanity, even to death on the cross. This act of perfect love enables us, in Christ, through His Spirit to participate in the life of God. We are called to intimate communion, even friendship with our Lord. The entire history of Christ in the world can be summed up in one word ENCOUNTER. Through Him, in Him and with Him, we encounter the Living God. Christ assumed our human nature and our human body. He transformed them with the Glory of God and showed us the true original beauty of our created potential. In His Ascension He present our humanity to His Father, wholly transfigured, so that we might share in the Nature of God. As we celebrate the great miracle of Christ’s incarnation let us allow Christ to be born in our hearts as He was born in that humble manger in a cave. By allowing Christ to be born within us we can become His presence in the world to love our fellow human beings as He loves us.

Ria and I wish you and your families a blessed Nativity and a joyous 2021. God Bless Fr. G

November 11, 2020November 11, 2020

St. Theodore the Studite

Today our Holy Church commemorates the feast of St. Theodore the Studite. I feel a special closeness to St. Theodore. He was a leading voice that loudly called for the use of icons in the Church. He lived in the latter part of the 8th century and the early part of the 9th. century. This was the time that the Church was torn apart by the controversy concerning the use of Holy Icons. This controversy was divided into two distinct period. The first period was that time prior to the 7th Ecumenical Council (Nicaea II). The great writer in defense of Icons of this time was St. John of Damascus. After the Council, there was a resurgence of iconoclasm lead by the Emperors Constantine V and Leo V. During this time Theodore, the abbott of the Studium Monastery of Constantinople rose up and wrote a wonderful treatise “On the Holy Icons,” which is available in translation for all to appreciate. Additionally, Theodore wrote many hymns used during Great Lent and other feast of the church year. His many letters are also available for us to really get to know this great monastic father. Theodore suffered torture and pain for icons and stood his ground in spite of all the forces against him. He renewed monastic rules and these rules are used by Orthodox monasteries all over the world today. May the strength and faith of St. Theodore guide us and may he always intercede to our Lord on our behalf.

Apolytikion of Theodore the Studite

Plagal of the Fourth Tone

You are a guide of Orthodoxy, a teacher of piety and modesty, a luminary of the world, the God inspired pride of monastics. O wise Theodore, you have enlightened everyone by your teachings. You are the harp of the Spirit. Intercede to Christ our God for the salvation of our souls.

Kontakion of Theodore the Studite

Second Tone

Ascetic in truth and equal to the Angel’s life, thy life was made bright with contests and martyric trials; and the holy Angels’ companion was thou, Theodore, blest of God; now together with them, O Saint, thou ceaselessly prayest Christ in our behalf.

November 4, 2020November 4, 2020

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.

October 29, 2020

Sts. Cosmas and Damian – November 1

Sts. Cosmas and Damian, the Physicians

My sons the doctors, this rather stereotypical phrase is descriptive of a proud parent speaking of the accomplishment of their children. Even today, we express great joy when our sons or daughters reach that lofty position of becoming a physician. The place of doctors has always been one of respect and admiration. Throughout history, the dedication of healers has usually brought prestige, social status as well as financial reward. This is true today and it was true in antiquity. This brings us to a series of saint-brothers who shared their given names and were all physicians. The brothers commemorated November 1st. are the first in this remarkable grouping. We have become familiar with their stories. As Christians, they shared the conviction that the gifts which God had given them and which they had nurtured through study and hard work should be given back to those whom they served. Physicians who served and asked nothing in return, but why? First and foremost, these men were raised in an environment which allowed them to understand their gifts and abilities realistically. Their upbringing allowed them to look at their talents as “on-loan” from God. Each of us are given gifts to nourish and develop; most do this wither it is by education or practice or both. What many of us forget, in the process, is the source of our gifts. These three pairs of brothers knew that God had given them their gifts, the development of these gifts was inspired by God’s Holy Spirit and most importantly, the use of them was directed by Christ and His message of Love.

The greatest gift all these doctors have shared with us is not the gift of healing, as profound as it is, nor the example of giving as admirable as we know it to be; but the lesson of perspective. They knew the source of all gifts and thanked God by developing them and offering them back to God through His people. What are your gifts? What are you doing with them? How do you look upon them: as your right or the gift of a generous God?

Hymns of The Feast:

Holy Wonder-workers and Unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian of Mesopotamia

Troparion — Tone 8

Holy unmercenaries and wonderworkers, Cosmas and Damian,

heal our infirmities.

Freely you have received; freely you give to us.

Kontakion — Tone 2

Having received the grace of healing,

You grant healing to those in need.

Glorious wonder workers and healers, Cosmas and Damian,

visit us and put down the insolence of our enemies,

and bring healing to the world through your miracles.

October 1, 2020

The Protection of the Theotokos

Today our Holy Church celebrates the “Holy Protection of the Theotokos” the feast originated in the vision that St. Andrew, the Fool for Christ, had of the Theotokos covering the faithful who prayed to her. On October 1, 911 St. Andrew saw in his vision of the Theotokos hovering over the faithful protecting them with her veil (omophorion) as they prayed in the Church of the Mother of God – Blachernae in Constantinople. She was safeguarding all who prayed for her protection.

What does this mean for us today over a thousand years later? As Orthodox Christians, the communion of the saints and the power of prayer are realities that we cannot underestimate. The Mother of God stands at the throne of Our Lord ever praying and interceding for us, her children. From the cross Christ said to the Theotokos, “Woman behold your son!” and to His beloved disciple, St. John, “Behold Your Mother!’ And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home” (John 19, 26-27). At the foot of Christ’s cross, the Theotokos became a mother to all of us. The Apolytikion of the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos remind us:

In giving birth, O Theotokos, you have retained your virginity,

and in falling asleep you have not forsaken the world. You who

are the Mother of Life have past over into life and through your

prayers you do deliver our souls from death.

“You have not forsaken the world….” This is the essence of the Theotokos’, ever-present ever-watchful, ever-praying protection for us, her children. Such is the love of a Mother. Throughout the ages, she appears to holy people and people in distress to assure us of her continuing care. St Andrew is not the only one that has seen her. People who have seen her are people like you or I. She has appeared in churches, to monks on Mount Athos, in hospital rooms and in other places that she knows need her loving care. She appears to comfort and reassure her children that she is protecting us through her constant prayers. The hymns of the Church remind us that she is “more honorable than the Cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim.” She stands at the right hand of her Son, the model of the Church interceding always for those who in faith call upon her. As we celebrate the Feast of Her Protection let us join with the angels to sing this hymn from the Divine Liturgy According to St. Basil:

All of creation rejoices in you, O full of grace; the assembly

of the angels and the human race, You are a sanctified temple

and a spiritual paradise, the glory from whom God was incarnate

and became a child – Our God, existing before all ages. He made

your womb a throne, and your body more spacious than the

heavens. All of creation rejoices in you, O full of grace.

Glory to You!

Most Holy Theotokos Pray for us! God Bless…..fr g

January 19, 2011

A New Year's Challenge

The Saints of January

If you take a quick look at January’s ecclesiastical calendar you notice that it is dominated by big events. Christ’s Circumcision, St Basil, Epiphany and its associated feast days, St. John the Forerunner, St. Anthony, Sts. Athanasios and Cyril and the Three Hierarchs (together and separately). Goodness, it’s enough to make you tired. With this post, I would like to look at some of the other commemoration; lest they slip by us. January has a great number of saints that are not featured in bold type, but are extremely interesting in their diversity and their spiritual examples to us. From the very first day, we see the unfolding of families of holiness with Gregory of Nanzianzos (Sr.), father of Gregory the Theologian, to the last day Sts. Cyrus and John the Unmercinaries. We see examples of piety, sacrifice, people who defended the faith and ascetics. There really isn’t enough space to write concerning each saint, but needless to say the variety and diversity are a little mind boggling.

Perhaps, it is more beneficial to think a moment of the intent of the Church to commemorate saints at all. Why do we bother? What good do all these strange names and strange sounding places do us? Most of the people held up for our consideration are literally strangers. We might know someone named Gregory or Tatiana, but few of us know a Hermylos or a Kalogeras. What good do all these historical figures do us? It would seem to me that we can all acknowledge that we live in an age of celebrity. All over television, radio, newsstands and the internet we can not get away from what some “personality” wore last night, said inappropriately, or with whom they were seen. From film stars, to sports’ figures, politicians or the new name of the week; we are constantly inundated by useless prattle about someone who is looking for their fifteen minutes of fame. The sad truth is that many times, we stop and pay attention; only, so that we are “in the know”. What a sad commentary! When confronted by the Church calendar, do we think that these people, who are commemorated, have been held up as examples for hundreds or even thousands of years? How many present day celebrities will have that kind of staying power? The answers to these rhetorical questions truly challenge us to put our priorities straight. Who do we wish to understand, some temporary here today gone tomorrow plastic celebrity or a saint who has been remembered by Christians throughout the ages. Perhaps, we should put a little effort in getting to know a new saint a month. Pick one, choose a new name and look them up. You can even Google most of them. Make this a project this year. Less fluff and more substance; it might be fun and think of how edifying it will be when we know twelve new saints. Within these saints there very well might be a new friend or someone who catches our imagination with the way they brought Christ alive in their time. If you would like refer to Prologue of Ohrid for information on the saints. (http://www.westsrbdio.org/prolog/my.html.)

]]>

Tag: The Church Year