"...the divine is equally present in all things..."

 

An Arabic Christmas Carol (Byzantine Hymn of the Nativity)

 

Saint Nicholas Vilimirovich on death and resurrection and an icon with a question

But it is said: "How do the dead stand?" And in what body do they come? (1 Corinthians 35:15).

Paul the Apostle knew in advance and rejects the objections that the unbelievers will make regarding the resurrection of the dead. Even today, the non-believers who have not seen with material eyes the miracle of the natural resurrection, and much more spiritual resurrection, ask: “How will the resurrection of the dead take place? "

And the messenger follows: "I fool! What you plant does not live until it dies. “ (1 Corinthians 36:15). Unless a seed is planted in the ground, the plant will not grow, and in another expression something completely different will come out of the seed. Non-believers see with their own eyes but they do not see, so they ask, “How does a dead man do?” "

How ? The same way Jesus did. He descended to life in the grave and came alive. Even nature demonstrates the resurrection from the dead, in the lord of the living. The universe becomes easier for us and for us to have our resurrection, he himself raised from the grave and before that resurrection he laid up a dead man in the grave four days ago, and the son of a widow of Nayne and the daughter of Yairus.

The unbelievers ask, “What type of body will the dead rise? “In the kind that God wants. With God there are many types of bodies. The apostle Paul divides all bodies into two categories: earthly and heavenly. Therefore, those who died in earthly bodies will wear heavenly bodies: the corruptible will replace the corrupt, the immortal will replace the dead, the beautiful will replace the ugly. In this celestial body man will recognize himself and others around him, and distinguishes himself, whether he is dressed in gay rags or wearing royal purple. O Lord, the fruit of the womb, do not hand us over to eternal corruption, but as sons of royalty, we are dressed in immortality. Amen

She really is receiving a blessing...

 

Starting Up On Sunday---One

 

AN EASTER PRAYER: TO RECOVER THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX TRADITION OF PEACE (Michael Centore in religioussocialism.org)

Taken from ReligiousSocialism.org. Please support them. I believe that Michael Centore's article is especially important right now. 

For those of us with a deep love of Russian Orthodox spirituality, the events of the past two months, heartbreaking enough on their own, have brought additional grief. We mourn the warping of the Russian Orthodox faith for nefarious nationalistic ends. We see Patriarch Kirill’s longstanding capitulation to the violent messianism of Vladimir Putin as a tragic case of succumbing to a false god.

We are not alone in this. In March, nearly 300 Russian Orthodox clerics issued a statement decrying the war and comparing Russia’s actions against Ukraine to Cain’s fratricide of Abel in the book of Genesis. Archbishop Leo of Helsinki, the spiritual leader of the Finnish Orthodox Church, challenged Kirill to “wake up and condemn this evil.” Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams made the case for expelling the Russian Orthodox Church from the World Council of Churches. Pope Francis has been unequivocal in his criticism, breaking protocol to appeal directly to the Russian Embassy in February and exclaiming during a general audience on April 6, “Let the weapons fall silent! Stop sowing death and destruction!”

Unlike the Roman Catholic Church, which has a hierarchical leadership structure centered on the person of the pope, Eastern Orthodoxy exists as an association of 16 (or 14; there are still internal debates over the status of two) autocephalous, or self-governing churches. Many of these are organized as national churches—think of the Russian Orthodox or Bulgarian Orthodox Churches, for example. Though modern ideas of the nation-state and its relationship to ethnicity did not exist when many of these churches were founded, some members have anachronistically applied them to advance nationalistic agendas.

This is precisely what Kirill and Putin are doing when they invoke “Holy Russia” or the “Russian world” as justification for the invasion. In a dangerous alliance of church and state that links up with a longstanding vision of Russia as the “Third Rome,” imperial heir to the Byzantine Empire and defender of “Christian civilization” against a decadent, secular West, they are proposing what the authors of a dissenting open letter at the website Public Orthodoxy describe as “a transnational Russian sphere or civilization . . . which includes Russia, Ukraine and Belarus (and sometimes Moldova and Kazakhstan), as well as ethnic Russians and Russian-speaking people throughout the world.”

Read the rest here.

Prayers to Saint George

I missed the Feast Day of St. George on April 23, but there are other Feast Days for St. George on Nov. 3, 10, and 26 according to this website. See the prayers below---and please feel good about praying to St. George often. He is an ecumenical saint revered by Christians, Muslims and Jews in some places.

I substitute "those who suffer from wears, terrorism, natural and environmental disasters, abuse, addictions, unemployment, imprisonment, hard and dangerous labor, injustice, exploitation and forced migration" for "Orthodox Christians" in these prayers

 

Holy, glorious and praiseworthy St. George!

We who are gathered in thy church (or: on thy feast) and venerate thy holy icon,

beseech thee, as a known intercessor for our longings:

pray with us to God, Whose loving kindness we implore, mercifully to hear us entreating His goodness,

and not to abandon our requests which are needful unto salvation and life;

that He might grant victories over adversaries;

and furthermore we pray thee abjectly, thou holy Trophy-Bearer,

to strengthen the Orthodox Christians in their battles, by the grace given thee;

crush the power of insurgent foes,

that they may be disgraced and brought to shame, and their presumption shattered;

may they know that we have Divine help, and thy mighty defense made known unto all in sorrow and trouble.

Entreat the Lord God and Maker of all creation to deliver us from eternal torment,

that we may always glorify the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages.

Amen.

Prayer II

O holy Great-Martyr and Wonder-worker George!

Visit us with thy swift help, and entreat God Who loveth mankind,

that He not condemn us sinners according to our iniquities,

but rather do with us according to His great mercy.

Despise not our prayer, but seek for us from Christ our God, a life quiet and pleasing unto Him,

wellbeing of soul and body, fruits of the earth in all their abundance,

and that we might not turn to evil the good things bestowed upon us by the all-generous God,

but rather make use of them unto the glory of His holy name,

and the glory of thy mighty intercession;

may He grant the Orthodox Christians to overcome their enemies,

and strengthen His community with enduring peace and bliss.

And especially may He guard us round about with the ranks of His holy Angels,

so as to deliver us, after our departure from this life,

from the snares of the evil one and his fearful torments in the air,

presenting us without condemnation before the throne of the Lord of glory.

Hear us, O passion-bearer of Christ, George;

and without ceasing, entreat the Master and God of all, One in Three Persons,

that by His grace and love for mankind we may find mercy to stand with Angels and Archangels at the

right hand of the Righteous Judge,

and ever to glorify Him with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages.

Amen.

The Altar And Iconostasis In An Orthodox Church

 

An Assyrian Orthodox Priest Calls For Humility, Honesty, And Repentence In The Church

 

Jesus, Mary and the angels...

 

For Our Friends Who Celebrate Easter/Pascha Today

 

The Holy Fire in Jerusalem

Very few Christians in the west are familiar with the Holy Fire and the faith and hope that is attached to it. I think that whether ones believes in this miracle or not, it is a hopeful and life-giving tradition that can provide optimism and uplift to our best sides. I have pasted in a translation of part of an account from Jerusalem

When they asked Pope Thauphilos III (and he is the only patriarch who enters the holy grave and comes out the bearer of holy light) what he feels about when he sees the holy light out of the grave and what happens in detail before the light comes out he says:

"Sit in front of the stone on which the body of Christ is placed by the Holy Peter Strong, and continue to pray with fear and strength, and it is Prayer was and is still praying, and when the miracle of the emergence of the holy light (holy fire) occurred from inside the holy stone on which the body of Christ was placed.

And this holy light is blue and then changes into several colors, which cannot be explained within the boundaries of human science, because its gloom is like the cloud coming out of the lake, and it appears as a wet cloud but is a holy light.

The appearance of the holy light comes annually in different forms, it repeatedly fills the room where the tomb of Christ is located. And the most important characteristics of the holy light is that it does not burn, and I have received this holy light for sixteen years, and my beard has not burned. And he appears as a pillar of light, and from him the lighting of the candles that I carry, and then go out and give the holy light to the Armenian Patriarch and the Coptic, and all those present.

And the Holy Light lights some candles of the self-righteous believers, and illuminates the high lampshades in front of all those present."

An Arab Orthodox Christian Meditation On The Crucifixion

Great Friday makes us stand face to face before Jesus crucified for our salvation. In it we meet the secret of redemption with repentance and receive forgiveness. This day will not be fruitful for me unless I live sincere repentance at my feet Jesus and this day was a holy day of sorrow. Just as from the top of the cross I declared forgiveness when God said to the priest, "Today you will be with me in Paradise," I also must strive to get from my faithful lips a word of forgiveness.

Finally I must put the cross in the center of my life as a nail tool. Put the sacrifice of Jesus at the center of life, thought and will, looking at people and things from the cross's point of view, this is true repentance that imposes drastic change in our entire lives so that Jesus becomes the crucified one who goes through everything in our lives. And when one understands the "centered" of the cross, that day is the most important day of his life.

Flower of the Week of Pain

This is Holy Friday for Orthodox Christians. For Orthodox Christians In the holy lands of the Mideast today and Holy Week signify particularly hard spiritual (and sometimes political) struggles. Time can be forgotten in the fasting and spiritual work of this week. I have included a clip from an icon of the crucifixion as a reminder. The following note and photo came from Palestine; Every year in the holy lands sprouted in the season of the Week of Pain and it is a red flower symbolizing the blood of the Lord Jesus crucified for us inside it a black cross symbolizing the mother of the Lord Jesus for us and this cross is surrounded by a small thorn symbolizing the thorn crown and this flower withers after resurrection in the fifty period.

Encouragement for Orthodox Christians on Holy Friday

 

The special beauty and poetry of Great Thursday for Orthodox Christians...

It's Holy Week for Orthodox Christians. Below are two photos and messages from Palestine. I seldom edit these posts because I like their poetry and I think that they can be understood and appreciated as they are. 

Thursday Evening

As the evening we enter from the light of the Great Thursday to the pain of Friday, the day of Christ's pains and death and burial, when the Liturgy Friday evening begins with the service of the Gospel of Pain, which is the Friday magic prayer. As Jesus followed us on the Great Thursday to the High, we follow him on Great Friday to the Glorious Glorious.

Today's service is very old, its notes go back to early Christian times, to the prayers of the Church of Orchlem and three elements included:

- The first consists of sailing, readings and night eviction from the Mount of Olives to the Church of the Resurrection where the grave of Christ is;
- The second includes prostration for the remains of the Holy Cross;
- The third includes prayers and recitations in the same place of iron.

This day is not just a symbol of copper and a symbol of it, it does not stop when it comes to past. It is a day when evil shall prevail, but it shall be defeated at the feet of the Lord Jesus.

Ahead of this redemption event that the Lord Jesus Christ hoped for by his voluntary sacrifice on the cross raises the following question: We who call ourselves Christians, should we not often make our own logic as the logic of this world that ruled Jesus by death?

Which side would we stand if we were living in the Oracle of Pilates Days? This is the question that addresses us with every word from Great Friday service.

Today is the Day of the Decoration of this real world, not the Symbolic, and the Day of our true Religion, not the weather.

It is a revelation of the nature of this world that favored and still favors darkness over light, evil over good and death over life. This is the world that Christ condemned to death has condemned himself to death. And we are as much as we accept his spirit, sin and betrayal to God as we are condemned.
And this day remains the day of redemption with excellence, for the death of the saviour has appeared a death to save us. Christ's death is the peak of revelation of His mercy and love. And in the end he is my salvation because he breaks down the very fountain of death itself: evil. Through all his pains, Christ alone was victorious because evil cannot do anything against him

We also received this:

Great Thursday

1- Thursday morning
Great Thursday enters us into the secret secret of the Great.
Today's prayers are defined by four events:
1- The Lord's Last Supper with His disciples.
1- Washing the feet of the pupils.
1- The Lord's prayer in the body.
1- The betrayal of Judah.

The first two events reveal the love of God in the world. The third event reveals the obedience of Jesus to God the Father until death. While the fourth event, the betrayal of Judas, reveals the secret of sin which is the deviation of love and distorting it towards something not worthy of love. This is the secret of sin that pushed Christ to the cross.

Thursday as we remember Jesus' final hours with his disciples, handed over and judged by Jewish and Romanian authorities. Therefore, the main topic of this day is "Loving to the End":

“Jesus knew that the hour had come to pass from this world to his Father, he loved his own, whom in the world, loved them to the end” (John 13:21). Love to the end extends to death, to the broken body and bloodshed, this is the truth that Jesus announced at the secret dinner with his disciples where the secret of the pride founded a secret counselor advising them to eat his body and drink his blood and make remembrance of what He did on this last dinner.

This is how we are, in every holy place, fulfilling what Jesus commanded us to do. So on this day Jesus presented his body and blood as a lie, and he entered into his pain. It remains that the secret meaning of dinner is that "It is not by bread alone that man lives", but by the bread that comes down to us from above that is full. May God give us food and drink in Christ Jesus.

Interfaith Greetings this Holy Week

 

Encouragement and support for those who celebrate Easter on April 24 with a message from Palestine

 

We buried him with the grace of death, even as Christ raised from the dead, by the grace of the Father, so shall we ask you to be alive? Romans 6:4.

There is an interesting phenomenon among many Christian traditions today which are performing religious duties during special holidays while neglecting their spiritual lives throughout the rest of the year. But God never intended for worship to be limited to certain times of the year. While Easter is a great time to remember Christ's death and resurrection in particular, let this truth become your life. Let us celebrate the resurrection of Christ, and the completion of the new life He has given us every day! Pray that God deepens your daily walk with him by reminding you of the new life He has given you.

Beautiful hymns of the Resurrection in Greek with iconography

 

We have two important dates to mark: The Healing of the Paralytic and The Sunday of Thomas (with music from Ralph Stanley)

The Healing of a Paralytic: Mark 2:1-12

1 When Jesus returned to Capernauma after some days, it became known that he was at home.

2 Many gathered together so that there was no longer room for them, not even around the door, and he preached the word to them.

3 They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.

4 Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him. After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying.

5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven.”

6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves,

7 “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins?

8 Jesus immediately knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves, so he said, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts?

9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, pick up your mat and walk’?

10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth”—

11 he said to the paralytic, “I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.”

12 He rose, picked up his mat at once, and went away in the sight of everyone. They were all astounded and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”

John 20:19-29 and see this: https://www.goarch.org/thomas-sunday

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

21 [Jesus] said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

22  And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit.

23 Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”

24 Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.

25 So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

26 Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”

27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”

28 Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

29 Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”