Reflections After Serving The Royal Hours of Theophany

I mentioned just before Nativity the price we pay for neglecting daily Services [here]. How else will we be shaped for eternity and gain the Mind of Christ – the Mind of the Church – unless we are at least as exposed to the doctrine of the Church as we pray as we are to the “doctrines” of this world through our exposure to various media. Not to mention the need for this for our children’s sake, with a daily exposure to a world-view that is less than Christian and possibly less than human,  in so-called “children’s television”, on the internet, and in both our public and separate school systems.

This morning at 9 am I was in our simple Temple for the Royal Hours of Nativity, with my dear wife, Khouriya Debbie, at the Reader’s Stand. We exercise the option given us by our bishop to serve all the Hours and the Typica consecutively at the time of the Third Hour, in part because several of our most active parishioners live at a fair distance and it is more likely that that would drive for one Service than four.

Services like The Royal Hours of the Nativity and then, less than 2 weeks later – today – The Royal Hours of the Theophany, expose us to Prophetic readings from the Old Testament which point to the great events of the Nativity and Theophany of our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ. They help us to make connections – connections we might never otherwise make – between what was promised by God either through a direct prophecy or through a type, and which has now been fulfilled as witnessed by the New Testament.

“Types” may be persons and/or events in the Old Testament (as with Jonah’s three day “burial” in the great fish) or simply phrases, like this one from the Psalms which is seen to be fulfilled in Christ’s Baptism in the Jordan River, and in the Great Sanctification of Water which occurs tonight at the conclusion of the Vesperal Divine Liturgy of St. Basil for the Theophany:

Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters. [Psalm 73/74:13]

When such connections are made, we begin to be able to think with the mind of the Church – the Mind of Christ. With such connections, our Orthodox Christian world-view grows and develops and replaces the decidedly un-Orthodox worldviews prevalent in our society.

The same can be said for Great Vespers or the Vigil Service which is served on the Eve of every Feast. On these Feasts we find Old Testament prophecies which help us to connect with the Feast – not to mention the opportunity of sharing in the Artos Bread which is the tangible representation of the multiplication of God’s blessings:

“in the houses of those who celebrate this feast and in all thy world, and sanctify the faithful who partake of them.”

I love the way our worship enables and makes it possible for us to make these connections and grow in the attainment of the Mind of the Church. I pray for the day when more and more North American Orthodox Faithful will discover the growth that participation in Services like The Royal Hours and the Vespers/Vigil Service of Important Feasts brings to our lives.

Until then, we keep praying – and we keep making these realities available by offering these Services and trying to encourage the Faithful to participate without laying on guilt.

Glory be to Jesus Christ! May His glory be for ever!

In Our Church

ADVANCE NOTICE: the following joke could be used with almost any christian group - because in fact, many groups want to make this claim - but in my experience, it works best this way:

Once upon a time, there was a meeting of the Pastors of a local community who had gathered to address the issue of what could be done to help those who were in need,  the hungry and homeless. After some discussion on the subject and after they had made some decisions about outreach the hungry and homeless the discussion shifted to they way they each conducted worship services. The Orthodox priest in the group kept pretty quiet, neither asking questions nor volunteering observations. Finally, they all turned to him and said, “Father, you’ve been very quiet. Don’t you have anything to say about our different worship styles, or perhaps you could share how you guys do worship?”

After trying to get out of answering – he just wanted to go home by this point, but realized he’d missed his chance on that – he answered.

“Well, I guess we all have different ways of worshipping the same God. . . . You Roman Catholics like your vestments and bells and are committed to following along your tradition. And since there’s lots of folk who grew up in the Catholic Church I guess it’s OK that you to do things your way. . . . And you Charismatic folk – well, you seem to shy away from any kind of formality and like louder music and a contemporary sound and not much structure, but since many folks like things that way, I guess it’s pretty good that you do things your way. . . . And you Baptists and Alliance fellows – you’re very much committed to evangelism which I think is a wonderful thing, and you stick pretty close to the Bible when it comes to preaching and you try to find out where people are at when you design your worship services. I guess it’s pretty good that you do things your way. . . . And you Reformed folk – you’re pretty conservative I noticed, and you don’t really like much change, so you’ve stuck with the older style of music and a more traditional order of worship. I guess that since there are lots of people who grew up with that and like it, it’s OK that you folks do things your way as well.”

“But what about you guys in the Orthodox Church? How do you do things when you worship? They all asked him.

“Well, as I’ve said based on the people you want to reach and the different traditions you’ve all come from, you’ve all become pretty committed to worshipping God in your own different ways. We Orthodox, on the other hand, from the very beginnings have simply tried to continue to worship God in His way.”

A little blunt, perhaps, but at it’s core, it’s a pretty good summary of why we Orthodox Christians worship they way we do – with very little change And we all – many millions of us – worship God day in and day out in pretty much the same that that its always been done. In fact our “Contemporary Service” dates back a holy man named John Chrysostom., and the late 4^th Century – almost yesterday in the eyes of the Holy Church!

Our worship is perhaps the greatest reason why the most effective evangelical invitation we can give people is that of our Master, 

 

                  “Come, and see.” [John 1.39]

And why would this be so?

First, “Come and see” is a most effective evangelical invitation because worship is prayer, and prayer is an encounter expressing and leading to our union with God, and that’s what converts folk – encounters with God. You and I may very well be instrumental in bringing people to Christ our God, perhaps even to the point where we become as parents to them in the Faith, but ultimately conversion is a matter between God and each individual.

I remember attending a seminar on evangelism in my pre-Orthodox days, and I was struck by something one of the presenters said. He asked the rhetorical question,

“What’s the most important thing about the evangelical encounter?”

And his answer, delivered after we’d had a few moments to consider it, was:

“Duck! – or, in other words, get out of God’s way!”

Each of us has the ability – perhaps disability would be a better word – to get in God’s way when it comes to drawing people into the Faith once delivered. I know this because I am among the first in this area. I love to talk about the Faith. Let’s be honest, I love talking and perhaps even love the sound of my own voice too much! And it’s all too easy for me to drown a fragile enquirer in my words. So much simpler just to say “Come and See” and let them be confronted with the Word Who is revealed and encountered in Orthodox worship – Christ Jesus Himself.

Second, “Come and see” is the best evangelical strategy because it is in our worship that who we are as Orthodox Christians is most fully revealed. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard, and heard of, people reflecting on an Orthodox worship experience with such words as “It’s all about Him, isn’t it.” And, “You do all this when there’s so few people present? Wow!”

May we find such joy in our participation in the liturgical life of the Church that we may be bold enough to say “Come, and see.”

Glory be to Jesus Christ! May His glory be for ever!

Revolution Not Resolution – The Problem with Resolutions

Every year it happens, the light of a new year hits us and we make resolutions – resolutions to do better than we did last year at just about anything: dieting; quitting smoking or any other vice; getting more exercise; doing more reading; spending more time with family...the list just goes on, doesn't it?

And then, as if the harsh light of New Year's Day wasn't enough, we go back to work, the kids go back to school, and everything "gets back to normal" – whatever normal is. And that "normal" is usually powerful enough to resist our best intentions and spoil our resolutions! In fact, some of us reading this may have already found that we haven't kept our New Year's resolutions for 2012 – and it’s still New Year’s Day!

What's up with resolutions, anyway? Why do we make them, and, more importantly, why do we so often fail to keep them?

Resolutions come from deep within us. The Church teaches that we are fashioned in God's image but that that image is marred – covered over and stained, if you will. The Good News is that it's still present in us. If it weren't still there, we'd cease to exist.

And that overlooked and almost forgotten image of God deep within is why we're never quite satisfied with our condition, and why we're always seeking self-improvement, to better ourselves.  The image of God within us causes this, and it's a good thing.

One of the more contemporary Fathers, St. Nicholai of Zicha, describes this in terms of memory – a memory of Paradise that exists in some manner beneath thought and emotion – in the bone of our bones, if you will – a deep and forgotten memory that both unsettles us and makes us yearn for more.

And so the problem is not with our desire to be better. The desire to improve is God-given.

And the problem is not with making resolutions to fulfill that desire. Taking steps to act upon this God-given desire – matching our will to our desire – is a good and noble thing.

The difficulty is that our well-intended and firmly desired resolutions are not enough. It is the resolution itself – how we respond to that God-given impulse to get rid of the stuff in our lives that isn't right, or to get more of the stuff that is right - that is our problem.  This is because most of the time our resolutions only address the surface issues – what professions refer to as "the presenting problem".

Let's pick just one: theft. 

Now, we all know that theft is wrong, but it's not enough to just decide that we won't steal again. Nor is it enough to just tell someone to stop stealing. Nor is it really enough to tell me to stay away from opportunities to steal. 

What’s needed is a change on a much deeper level, at the depth of our - of my - hidden motivations. In the Christian Faith, these "motivations" are referred to as "the passions", and they're what rule us, for good or ill, but usually not for good. St. Peter said:

"Beloved, I beseech you as aliens and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh that wage war against your soul." [1 Peter 2.1].

Bruegel's Seven Deadly Sins

The reason why our resolutions so often fail is because we usually attack our "problems" instead of attacking their cause, the underlying passions which drive us.  What we need is not a resolution, but a revolution – the violent overthrow of the power within us that imprisons and captivates us.

In many of the writings of the ascetical Fathers of the Church, it is a violent revolution that is required in order to attain to the Kingdom of God. Good intentions are never enough! The battle within – the war to quell the passions that govern us – is just that – it's a battle!

The drive to improve, to get rid of the bad stuff in our lives and get more of the good stuff, is a God-given drive – part of being made in His image. And the Christian life – everything that happens after we become Christian – is  all about dealing, in God's Grace and by His help, with the passions, so that day-by-day, month-by-month, and year-by-year the image of God in us grows brighter and clearer. St. Paul declared that

"Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." [Galatians 5.24].

This year, no matter what your resolutions have been, let's start a revolution, by facing and attacking the things that control and motivate us, so that we can grow back into the image that is ours: the image of God.

“And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.” [Matthew 11. 12]

A Darkened Candle-lighted Church - a Cave in Bethlehem

A darkened Church, illuminated but by the flickering of candles lighted for the salvation of our souls and the souls of others. The sweet smell of incense, reminiscent of heaven itself. And the quiet chanting of the Akathist of the Holy Nativity of Christ.

Who could ask for more, for surely in such a time as in our little Mission tonight, as in the cave in Bethlehem, Heaven itself descended upon us and illumined out hearts and minds - illumined our hearts and minds so that we can pray with the utmost compunction the Prayer of the Akathist:

“And we have come to realize that this dread sentence (what would befall Israel if they departed from the Way of the Lord) hath been directed against us and our fathers as well.  For, failing to fear Thy threat and paying no heed to Thy loving-kindness, we have forsaken the path of Thy righteousness and walked in the will of our own hearts, and have made no attempt to hold Thee, the God of men’s understandings and hearts, in our mind. Moreover, treating the traditions of our fathers as of no import, we have abandoned Thee for others…… But do Thou, O compassionate and merciful God, Who art long-suffering, greatly merciful and true, Who maintainest justice and workest mercy among the thousands, Who takest away iniquities, injustices and sins, having abandoned us for a little time, have mercy upon us according to Thy great mercy, and having visited our unrighteousness with a rod, as a compassionate father doth his children, so do Thou spare us.”

 From the Final Prayer  of the Akathist of the Nativity

On the Eve of the Memorial of the 14,000 infants slain by Herod it is all the more fitting that we recognize in ourselves the same greed and pride and malice that led to that slaughter and repent.

Herod, the enemy of God, showeth himself to be a pillar and wall of God-opposing malice and a spawn of great iniquity, who tried to slay Him Who giveth life unto all, and at his command innocent babes were reaped by the sword, like unripe grain; wherefore, having driven all malice from our hearts, let us glorify Him Who came to save us, crying:

Glory to Thee, Who didst show Herod’s intention to be in vain!

Glory to Thee, Who hast numbered with the angels the babes he slew!

Glory to Thee, O Destroyer of malice!

From Ikos 10 of the Akathist of the Nativity

 

Christ is born! Let us glorify Him!

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me, a sinner. 

Mysteries Beyond Mind and Speech

What mysteries beyond mind and speech! God in His compassion is born on earth, putting on the form of a servant that He may snatch from servitude to the enemy those who with fervent love cry out: Blessed art Thou, O Savior Who lovest mankind.

1^st Stichera at The Praises, Orthros of Christmas Eve

 As we approach the great Feast of the Holy Nativity, the Church’s hymns help us to prepare for the feast. During the Pre-Feast, a joyful and wonderful preparation is announced: what is about to happen is good news! 

Several years ago – it seems like a lifetime ago now – I read a book called “The Kingdom of God is a Party”, by Tony Campolo. I’m not necessarily recommending the book, but I have always found the title striking. And it is so wondrously true at this time of year!  The very Kingdom of the heavens, the Kingdom of our God, is bursting upon us – gate-crashing the petty concerns of our lives (Thanks to Philip Turner for that remarkable line from his passion play, "Christ in the Concrete City!) and as the Kingdom of the Heavens gate-crashes our live this Nativity Season, everyone, without exception, is invited!

As I have mentioned in my last two posts, the Pre-Festal theme is joyful anticipation and, even more important, joyful invitation. But that invitation is not just to us, but to the entire cosmos!

Come, Israel slow of heart, cast from thee the mist that lies upon thy soul; recognize the Maker Who is born in a cave. He is the expectation of the nations; He shall destroy thy feasts: for thou wilt not consent to cry aloud: Christ the King of Israel is come.

 “O Sun, my Son, how shall I wrap Thee in swaddling clothes? How shall I give Thee milk, Who givest food to all creation? How shall I hold Thee in my arms Who holdest all things? How shall I look upon Thee without fear, on Whom the cherubim with many eyes dare not to lift their gaze?” So spake she who knew not wedlock as she held Christ.

O ye shepherds, shout aloud in new songs: O ye Magi, cast away your magic spells. Let the mountains and the hills rejoice exceedingly. O ye daughters of kings, come unto the joy of the Theotokos. O ye people, let us say: Blessed art Thou, our God Who now art born: glory to Thee.

Come, O Bethlehem, prepare for the birth. Come, O Joseph, and be enrolled with Mary. O most sacred manger! O swaddling clothes that carry God! There the Life was wrapped, even Christ our God, Who shall tear to pieces the bands of death, and bind fast mortal men to incorruption.

O most blessed womb of the Maid of God, thou hast been shown forth as spiritually vaster than the heavens. For Him Whom heaven cannot contain, thou dost carry and hold within thee. O most blessed breasts of the Virgin, that Christ has sucked Who feeds all that has breath! He has built flesh for Himself in the womb of the Maiden that knew not a man.

2^nd – 4^th Stichera and Doxostika from the Praises, Orthros on Christmas Eve

Again, the theme is joyful anticipation and, even more important, joyful invitation, not just to us, but to the entire cosmos! It is not just you and I and our families and friends who have received the invitation and are almost ready to celebrate the Great Feast – it’s all! 

Those who have rejected Christ (represented in the hymn by Israel) are invited.

The Holy Theotokos, who in the heavenlies celebrates with us, amazed and filled with wonder at what has been wrought through her, is included!

All who have ever gazed upon and all who will ever gaze upon Him before whom the angelic hosts cover their eyes are enticed to participate.

The very city of Bethlehem and even the inanimate objects such as the manger and the swaddling clothes – all that was, is, and ever shall be - is not excluded, but is now coming to celebrate with us  the Nativity in the Flesh of our Lord, God and Saviour!

No matter how we may feel at Christmas – and for many it’s a lonely and grief-filled time of year – whether we’re surrounded by friends and family, or even if we have no one with which to share the Feast, we are not alone. The whole of the Cosmos, the bodiless powers of heaven, all peoples who are, who have been, and who will be, are now are invited with the very rocks and stones of this wondrous Creation to join in the Feast!

Christ is born! Let us (all) glorify Him!

A Dearth of Daily Worship

The other day I shared how I felt a deep sadness that the most common experience of North American Orthodox Christians in the closing days of the Nativity Fast is the burden of an intensified fast.  This is because the remedy for the burden of the ascetical discipline of the Fast is participation in daily worship. 

Sadly, the traditional practise of daily worship is all but lost in North American Orthodoxy, not that it was ever truly practised on any large scale, although there are notable examples of such practise. Were we to attend daily Orthros and/or Vespers we could not help but to be confronted with the joy and lightness of the Pre-Feast of the Nativity.

Triumph, O Zion!

Make glad, Jerusalem, city of Christ our God!

Receive the Creator contained within a cave and a manger.

Open the gates to me;

I will enter to see a Child wrapped in swaddling clothes Who upholdeth the creation in the palm of His hand,

Whose praise the angels sing with unceasing voice: The Lord and Giver of life who doth save the human race.

Dec 21 Doxastikon at “Lord, I Have Cried”

The unapproachable God in His tender mercy approacheth me; 

He willeth to be born in the flesh in the city of Bethlehem.

He receiveth human nature from a Virgin maiden.

Let us eagerly run to greet Him, crying out in fear:

Glory to Thee, O Lord!

He who hast bowed the heavens and hast made His abode within the Virgin,

cometh in the flesh to be born

in the cave of Bethlehem, as it was written,

to be seen as an Infant, imparting life to babes in the womb.

Therefore let us rejoice,

and greet Him now with upright hearts!

Dec. 21 1^st Sessional Hymns at Orthros

Confronted with such hymns as these, fasting – even the strictest fasting – become more of a joy than a burden. But we cannot enter into this reality without our participation in the daily worship cycle of the Orthodox Faith.

The real question is what can be done about what I have called a dearth of daily worship? 

I do not suggest that folks fail to say their daily prayers, although I know that I do from time to time. Nor will I infer that there is a lack of desire to grow in Christ in the hearts of Orthodox Christians in Canada and the States. In my experience most of the Orthodox Christians I have got to know - in person, but also through social media and the wonder of the internet – most Orthodox Faithful I have got to know are just that: faithful! They truly love God and desire to grow in union with the Triune God – even when they are not able to express that desire in traditional theological language. And even when they fail, as I do all too often, to match actions to desire.

The reality is that Orthodox Faithful can not attend daily worship that is not offered, and they will not attend daily worship until it is offered!And they probably won't immediately start making daily worship services part of their lives the very moment we priests decide to give it a try! We are talking about a complete change in the way most of us in North America think. To move to daily worship in an Orthodox Temple will require on the part of both clergy and laity a "coming to one's self" as deep as that of the Prodigal Son.

When I was converting to the Orthodox Faith one of my pastoral colleagues remarked that he couldn't belong to a church where most of the saints commemorated were monastics and un-connected with "real life". There are many things that can be said in response to this misunderstanding. But one advantage that monastics do have over those who are non-monastics is that they are expected to participate in daily worship - and thus their minds are shaped and their souls enriched by the beauty of holiness that is present in our daily services. 

But daily worship services are not the sole domain of the monastery! They can be served in our parishes and missions, and even in our homes. More and more the resources are available. 

All that remains is our hearts and minds.

The Orthodox Church's Daily Cycle of Prayer and Worship

Worship and Devotion in Daily Life

An Incredible Lightness

Today is the beginning of the Pre-Feast of Christmas – that is to say, the time when we get even more serious about our preparation for the celebration of the Holy Nativity of our Lord, God, and Saviour Jesus Christ.

It’s sad that so many Orthodox Christians only experience the most difficult part of the Pre-Feast – the ascetical discipline – the intensifying of the Nativity Fast. Most of the Nativity Fast is fairly relaxed when compared to the requirements of Great Lent, but these last four days, December 20^th through the 23^rd, along with the Paramon – Christmas Eve – are as strict as any Lenten days.

Today at Orthros there were Sessional Hymns (Kathismata), a Canon by St. Romanos the Melodist, hymns at The Praises, and Aposticha hymns dedicated to the Pre-Feast, that is, dedicated to helping the ordinary Christian (there really are no other kinds) enter into the joy of the days leading up to the celebration of Nativity.

 

Proceed, O angelic powers!                                                    

go to Bethlehem; prepare the manger,                                          

for the Word cometh to be born.                                                

Wisdom proceedeth from the mouth of the most high!                              

Receive, O Church of God, the announcement of salvation; 

enter into the joy of the Theotokos!                                          

Let us sing with gladness, O people:                                       

Blessed is He Who cometh:  O our God, glory to Thee!                           

                                                                              

Out of Jacob the star ariseth, illumining the cave!                            

Come, let us celebrate in anticipation!                                       

Let us run with the Magi;                                                     

let us assemble with the shepherds;                                            

let us see God wrapped in swaddling clothes;                                  

let us behold the Virgin giving milk to the Lord!                             

O fearful sight!                                                            

Christ the King of Israel, draweth near!                                        

                                                                              

Let the hills drop down sweetness from on high!                               

Behold, God cometh from the dark and shady mountain! 

Let the nations submit themselves!                                            

Rejoice, O prophets; leap for joy, O patriarchs;                              

dance, O families of the nations,                                             

Christ, the great Ruler, cometh to be born;                              

the King of heaven appeareth on earth!                                          

                                                                               

Let us rise up from the earth!                                                

He Who fashioned mortals cometh now to renew His royal image! 

Rejoice and make merry, ye powers on high! 

The light dawns for those who await salvation!                                

The middle wall of partition shall be destroyed!                   

Christ, the King of Israel, draweth near!  

December 20 - Praises at Orthros

I left Orthros this morning with a sense of lightness that I don’t usually associate with strict fasting days. That sense of lightness came from having sung these wonderful hymns in preparation for the Feast. There is a sense of being able to endure anything for the sake of the joy that is coming on the 25^th and which, even now in the Pre-Feast, has begun.

 

Today is also the Feast of St. Ignatius the God-bearer of Antioch. He, too, knew what it was to endure suffering for the sake of the joy that was set before him. Because he was united to Christ our God he no longer feared death – even death at the hands of sinful men enacted by the teeth and claws of wild beasts. His hymns – Sessional Hymns and a Canon – bear witness to his joy in Christ Jesus, a joy which turned away fear and displaced pain and suffering. In several of his hymns he is compared to the Holy Spostle St. Paul, who penned these words:

 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12. 1-2

May we be filled with joy even before the joy of the Nativity, for He comes that we may know joy that has no end. Glory be to God!

Some facts about and quotes from St. Ignatius of Antioch the God-bearer .