My beloved brothers and sisters in Our Risen Lord, God andSavior Jesus Christ.

CHRIST IS RISEN! TRULY HE IS RISEN!

The Great Event, the Glorious Resurrection of Christ, is celebrated by the Holy Orthodox Church as the greatest of all feast days. It is the Feast of Feasts and Celebration of Celebrations. This Great Feast is called PASCHA (Greek for "Passover"), that is, THE DAY ON WHICH IS ACCOMPLISHED OUT PASSAGE (PASSOVER) FROM DEATH TO LIFE AND FROM EARTH TO HEAVEN. The celebration of the Resurrection of Christ continues for a whole week (‘Bright Week’), and divine services held in the Church are celebrated more festively than on all other days. On the first day of the Feast Orthros (Matins) begins at midnight. Before the beginning of Matins, the celebrants, vested in brilliant vestments, together with the faithful, accompanied by the ringing of bells, carrying burning candles, the Cross, and holy icons, proceed around the church, emulating the myrrh-bearing women who proceeded to the tomb of the Savior in the early morning. During the procession, everyone chants, "Thy Resurrection, O Christ Savior, the Angels hymn in the heavens; vouchsafe also us on earth with pure hearts to glorify Thee." The first exclamation of Orthros (Matins) is made before the closed doors of the church while the festal hymn "Christ IS RISEN,.." IS REPEATED MANY TIMES, and then while singing the hymn they enter the church. The services continue all night with open Royal Doors, signifying that now, by the Resurrection of Christ, the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven are opened for all. On every day of this Great Feast, WE GREET ONE ANOTHER WITH THE BROTHERLY KISS AND THE WORDS, "CHRIST IS RISEN!" AN ANSWER WITH THE WORDS, "TRULY HE IS RISEN!" We greet each other in this way and exchange red-colored eggs, which symbolize the new, blessed life revealed from the tomb of the Savior. Bells ring all week. From the first day of Holy Pascha until vespers of the Feast of the Holy Trinity, ONE IS NOT PERMITTED TO KNEEL IN CHURCH OR MAKE PROSTRATIONS.

On the first Tuesday after Bright Week, the Holy Church, extending gladness of the Resurrection of Christ to those who died in the hope of the General Resurrection, especially commemorates the dead, and therefore this day is called "Paschal Soul Day." On this day the Divine Liturgy is celebrated with commemoration of the dead. On this day it is customary TO VISIT THE GRAVES OF ONE’S CLOSE RELATIVES. This tradition differs in some aspects among local churches.

Besides this, the Day of the Resurrection of Christ is celebrated by us ON EVERY SUNDAY OF THE YEAR.

TROPARION
FOR THE FEAST OF PASCHA

Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by
death, and on those in the tombs bestowing life.

KONTAKION HYMN FOR THE FEAST OF PASCHA

Though Thou didst descend into the grave, O Immortal One,
yet didst Thou destroy the power of Hades. And didst rise as
Victor, O Christ Our God, calling to the myrrh-bearing women:
Rejoice! And giving peace unto Thine Apostles, Thou Who
dost grant resurrection to the fallen.

[ Source: The Law of God]

___________________

"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"

– Saint John Chrysostomos

+ + +

With sincere agape in Our Risen Lord,
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

CHRIST IS RISEN! TRULY HE IS RISEN! ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! ΑΛΗΘΩΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ!

+ Father George

My beloved brothers and sisters in Our Risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

CHRIST IS RISEN! TRULY HE IS RISEN! ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! ΑΛΗΘΩΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ!

THE RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD, GOD, AND SAVION
JESUS CHRIST

THE CENTRALITY OF THE RESURRECTION

"Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead,
how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the
dead? But IF THERE IS NO RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD,
THEN CHRIST IS NOT RISEN. And if Christ is not risen, THEN
OUR PREACHING IS EMPTY AND YOUR FAITH IS ALSO EMPTY…
AND IF CHRIST IS NOT RISEN, YOUR IS FUTILE; YOU ARE STILL
IN YOUR SINS! THEN ALSO THOSE WHO HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP
IN CHRIST HAVE PERISHED. If in this life only we have hope in
Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable" (1 Corinthians 15:12-19).

After the Sabbath, during the night on the third day after His suffering and death, the Lord Jesus Christ RESURRECTED BY THE POWER OF HIS DIVINITY. His body was transformed. He left the tomb unseen by the guards, WITHOUT rolling away the stone or breaking the seal placed by the Sanhedrin. From that moment on the guards unknowingly guarded an EMPTY SEPULCHRE. Suddenly there occurred a great earthquake. An Angel of the Lord descended from Heaven. He proceeded to roll back the stone from the entrance to the tomb of the Lord, and sat upon it. His appearance was like lightning and his raiment white as snow. The soldiers standing guard at the tomb were terrified and became like dead men. Regaining consciousness after the fright, they dispersed.

On this day, THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK, at dawn when the Sabbath rest had just ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Joanna, Salome, and other women, having taken the fragrant myrrh which they had prepared, went to the tomb of Jesus Christ to anoint His body, not having had time to do this during the burial. The Church calls these women THE HOLY MYRRHBEARERS. They still did not know that a guard had been placed at the tomb of the Lord and that the entrance to the cave had been sealed. Therefore they did not expect to meet anyone there and said among themselves, ‘Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb?’ the stone was very large, and Mary Magdalene, walking ahead of the other myrrbearing women, arrived at the tomb first. The sun had not yet risen, and it was dark. Seeing that the stone was rolled away from the tomb, Mary hastened to Peter and John and said, ”They have taken the Lord from the tomb and we know not where they have laid Him." Hearing these words, Peter and John immediately ran to the tomb with Mary Magdalene following after them.

At the time the other women, who had been walking with Mary Magdalene, arrived at the tomb and also saw that the stone was rolled away. They suddenly saw a shining Angel sitting on the stone. Turning to them the Angel said: "Fear not, I know that you seek Jesus, Who was crucified, HE IS NOT HERE, FOR HE IS RISEN AS HE SAID WHEN HE WAS WITH YOU. COME, SEE THE PLACE WHERE THE LORD LAY. GO QUICKLY AND TELL HIS DISCIPLES THAT HE IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD."

They entered into the tomb and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. They saw, however, an Angel in white garments seated on the right side of the place where the Lord had lain, and they were struck with fear.

The Angel said to them, "Be not afraid. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, Who was crucified. HE IS RISEN, HE IS NOT HERE. BEHOLD THE PLACE WHERE THEY LAID HIM. Go your way, tell His Disciples and Peter (who by his denial fell from the number of the Disciples), that He is going before you to Galilee. There you will see Him, as He told you."

While the women stood in perplexity, behold, two Angels stood by them in dazzling apparel. Since they were frightened the women bowed their faces to the ground in fear.

The Angels said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?" He is not here. He IS RISEN. Remember how He told you while He was still in Galilee, that the Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise?

Then the women remembered the works of the Lord. They went out and fled from the tomb, for they were overcome by fear and trembling. Then in awe and with great joy they ran to tell His Disciples. On the road, they said nothing to anyone, since they were afraid. When they reached the Disciples, the women told them everything that they had seen and heard. However, these words seemed to the Disciples like an idle story, and they did not believe them.

In the meantime Peter and John ran to the tomb, John outran Peter and reached the tomb first, but did not enter the tomb.

(To be continued)

________

"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!

– Saint John Chrysostomos

+ + +

With sincere agape in Our Risen Lord Jesus Christ,
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+ Father George

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ God,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

HOLY AND GREAT WEEK: HOLY AND GREAT THURSDAY (Part III)

On this day, Holy and Great THURSDAY,
the holy Apostles and Fathers, one after the other,
have commanded for our good that remembrance
is kept of the following Four Events
written in the Holy Gospels:
the SACRED WASHING,
the MYSTICAL SUPPER (that is, the Tradition
handed down to us of the Awesome Mysteries),
the supernatural PRAYER,
and the BETRAYAL in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Couplet for the Mystical Supper

Twofold is the Supper: for there was the Passover that the law brought,
and there is the New Pascha of the Blood and Body of the Master.

Since tomorrow, Friday, the Hebrew sacrifice of Passover, that is, the slaughter of a lamb reared to that end, was intended, the Truth follows the old type on that Friday, that is to say, by the sacrifice of the True Passover, namely the Lamb of God and the Father, the One “Who TAKETH AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD” (John 1:29). It was Our Lord Jesus Christ Who was prefigured by the paschal lamb that the Hebrews were sacrificing yearly.

It was during the evening, then, of this day, the eve of the ancient law’s Passover, the Feast Day OF UNLEAVENED BREAD, and a Thursday, that Jesus, together with the Twelve Disciples, observed the Passover meal. The Lord did so in the evening of Thursday, observing the Jewish reckoning of time of ‘night day’: this means that the evening of the present day is called the evening of the following day. In other words, according to Hebrew tradition “Friday Eve” began after sundown on Thursday. Preparations were arranged by Zebedee, the man described by Our Savior as follows: ‘A man shall meet you, bearing an earthenware vessel of water; follow him” (Matthew 14:13; Luke 22:10). Saint Athanasios, and others as well, identifies the man as Zebedee of whom other things are also mentioned.

Now, afterward, Jesus revealed the more perfect things to His Disciples. When night had fully come, Christ delivered to them, and through them to us, the Mystery (Sacrament) of Pascha. It was then that He inclined with the Twelve. Therefore, O reader, see that this was no Passover meal of the old law since they were not only reclining but also having a table laid with bread and drink. AS to the menu of the Passover meal of long ago, according to the Book of Exodus, there was roasted lamb which was eaten with unleavened bread with bitter herbs. The participants were to have their loins girded, with sandals on their feet, and staves in their hands. They were commanded to eat in haste. The Jews were instructed as follows: “Nothing shall be left of it till the morning, and a bone of it ye shall not break, but that which is left of it till the morning ye shall burn with fire” (Exodus 12:10). Therefore, all that remained was committed to the flames.

According to Saint John Chrysostom, before the commencement of the Mystical Supper, Christ rose from the supper and washed the feet of His Disciples. He did so to shame Judas and to remind the others that one ought NOT TO SEEK THE FIRST PLACE OF HONOR.”

After Judas had withdrawn to the high priests, the Lord repaired to the Mount of Olives…Elsewhere, we read that Judas DID NOT PARTAKE OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST. Within the document Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions. Many of the Holy Fathers, however, believe Judas was not absent.

After the Mystical Supper, going out beyond Kedron, in the Garden of Gethsemane, Satan, hearing the Lord speaking as a man in prayer, was deceived. It is here where Judas led those who would arrest Jesus, that is after Judas gave the signal by planting a false kiss upon Christ. When day had arrived, Christ was brought from Annas to High Priest Caiaphas. Those, thereafter, who escorted Jesus to Pilate would not enter the Praetorium or judgment hall that they might eat the Passover then. It was fitting that the Truth follows what was typified in the law. All these incidents transpired during the night of Thursday and continued into Friday. For this cause is it needful that we bring to mind these fearsome and ineffable works and deeds.

Blessed Theophylact states: “The praying in Gethsemane was from His human nature…and this is declared by His sweat and by His agony which was so great that, as the saying goes, drops of blood fell from Him. For, as the saying goes, those who toil exceedingly ‘sweat blood,” and those who lament bitterly ‘weep blood.’ This is why the Evangelist uses the image of sweating drops of blood, to show that the Lord was not merely damp, but perspired all around… In a more mystical sense, the Lord willed to suffer these things in order TO HEAL HUMAN NATURE OF COWARDICE…THUS MAKING COWARDICE OBEDIENT TO THE DIVINE WILL.

ON THE MYSTICAL SUPPER

GOD has called us to participation in His Goodness. Saint Maximos the Confessor tells us that “the Logos/Word enables us to participate in holy life by making Himself OUR FOOD, in a manner understood by Himself and sby those who have received from Christ A NOETIC PERCEPTION OF THIS KIND. It is by tasting This Food that we say with David, “TASTE FOR YOURSELVES AND SEE THAT THE LORD IS GOOD; HAPPY IS THE MAN WHO HOPETH UPON HIM” (Psalm 33:8). We, therefore, become truly aware that the Lord is full of virtue. For the Lord transmutes with divinity those who eat it, bring about their divinization, since He is the ‘BREAD OF LIFE’ (John 6:35-48), and of power in both name and reality.

We have received the power OF CONTINUOUS UNION WITH GOD THROUGH OUR OWN CHOICE. Saint John of Damascus explains how this came about, writing: “God Who is GOOD and altogether GOOD and more than GOOD. Who is GOODNESS THROUGHOUT, BY REASON OF THE EXCEEDING RICHES OF HIS GOODNESS DID NOT SUFFER HIMSELF, THAT IS HIS NATURE, ONLY TO BE GOOD, WITH NO OTHER TO PARTICIPATE THEREIN, BUT BECAUSE OF THIS HE MADE FIRST THE SPIRITUAL AND HEAVENLY POWERS:NEXT THE VISIBLE AND SENSIBLE COSMOS; NEXT MAN WITH HIS SPIRITUAL AND SENTIENT NATURE. ALL THINGS, THEREFORE, WHICH HE MADE, SHARE IN HIS GOODNESS IN RESPECT OF THEIR EXISTENCE. For He Himself is existence to all, …not only because it was He that brought them out of nothing into being, but because His energy preserves and maintains ALL THAT HE MADE–AND ESPECIALLY IN THE LIVING CREATURES. For both in that they exist and in that they enjoy life, they share IN HIS GOODNESS….Man, however, being endowed WITH REASON and FREE WILL, RECEIVED THE POWER OF CONTINUOUS UNION WITH GOD THROUGH HIS OWN CHOICE–IF INDEED HE SHOULD ABIDE IN HIS GOODNESS, THAT IS, IN OBEDIENCE TO HIS MASTER…” Source: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church)

(To be continued)

_______________

“Glory Be T GOD
For
All Things!”

– Saint John Chrysostomos

+ + +

With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+ Father George

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ God,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE

HOLY AND GREAT WEEK (Part II)

HOLY AND GREAT WEDNESDAY

On this day, Holy and Great WEDNESDAY,
the Holy Fathers have ordained that
remembrance is to be made of the
ANOINTING OF THE LORD WITH MYRRH by
the harlot, for this, took place shortly prior to
the SAVING PASSION.

The woman pouring out myrrh on the body of Christ anticipates the
myrrh and aloes of Nikodemos.

"O Lord, the woman who had fallen into many sins, perceiving Thy
Divinity, took up the duty of myrrh-bearer; and, lamenting, she brought
to Thee sweet-smelling myrrh oils before Thy burial."

"Thou, O Christ God, Who wast anointed with noetic
myrrh, by Thine abundant sufferings, do Thou set us free and
show us mercy, for Thou alone art good and the Lover of
mankind. Amen."

Gospel Reading
Great Wednesday Vespers Presanctified Liturgy: Matthew 26:6-12

"Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper
[Matthew26:6], a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of
very costly perfumed ointment and she poured it upon His head
as He reclined at table" [Matthew 26:7].

Saint John Chrysostom observes that "it is not without purpose that the Evangelist Matthew mentions the leprosy of Simon. He did so in order that He might show from what quarter the woman took confidence and came to Jesus. For inasmuch as the leprosy seemed a most unclean disease, and to be abhorred, and yet she saw Jesus had both healed the man (for else He would not have chosen to have tarried with a leper and had gone into his house. She, as a result, grew confident, that He would also easily wipe off the uncleanness of her soul."

"And not for naught does Matthew name the city also, Bethany, but that thou mightiest learn, that OF HIS OWN WILL HE COMES TO HIS PASSION. For He Who before this was fleeing through the midst of them, then, at the same time when their envy was most kindled, comes within less than two miles, so completely was His former withdrawing Himself a part of a dispensation.

The woman, therefore, having seen Him, and having taken confidence from thence came unto Him. For if she that had the issue of blood, although conscious to herself of nothing like this, yet because of that natural-seeming UNCLEANNESS, approached Him trembling and in fear; more was it a likely this woman should be slow, AND SHRUNK BACK BECAUSE OF HER EVIL CONSCIENCE.

Wherefore, also, it is after many women–the Samaritaness, the Cananaean, the one wi the issue of blood, and others besides–that she comes to Him, BEING CONSCIOUS TO HERSELF OF MUCH IMPURITY. Note also that she did not draw near publicly BUT IN A HOUSE. And whereas all the others were coming to Christ FOR THE HEALING OF THE BODY ALONE, SHE CAME TO HIM BY WAY OF HONOR ONLY, AND FOR THE AMENDMENT OF THE SOUL. For neither was she at all afflicted in body, so that for this most especially one might marvel at her.

"Furthermore, not as to mere man did she come to Him, otherwise she would not have wiped His feet with her hair. She came before Him as to One GREATER THAN MAN CAN BE. Therefore, that which is the most honorable member of the whole body, this she had at Christ’s feet, even here own head."

THE ANOINTING OF THE FAITHFUL

The anointing is NOT a substitute for the Mystery (Sacrament) of Repentance/Confession. The Holy Oil (Efchelaion or Holy Unction) is ONLY administered to those IN COMMUNION WITH THE CHURCH, WHICH PRESUPOSES THOSE ENGAGED IN AN ACTIVE SACRAMENTAL LIFE OF REGULAR CONFESSION AND FREQUENT HOLY COMMUNION.

HEALING AND FORGIVENESS ARE CONNECTED. The DIAKONIA (Ministry) OF HEALING the sick began with the early Church. Spreading the Gospel, the primary concern of the Orthodox Church was often attended to the care of orphans and widows, collection of alms, and caring for one’s neighbor. The brohter of the Lord, Iakovos (James), writes in his epistle (letter): "Is anyone among you suffering ill? Let him keep on praying. Is anyone cheerful? Let him keep on chanting. Is anyone among you infirm? Let him CALL THE PRESBYTERS (Priests) of the Church; and let them PRAY OVER HIM, HAVING ANOINTED HIM WITH OIL IN THE NAME OF THE LORD. And the prayer of faith shall save the one who is sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; AND IF HE BEONE WHO HATH COMMITTED SINS, IT SHALL BE FORGIVEN HIM. KEEP ON CONFESSING YOUR TRANSGRESSIONS TO ONE ANOTHER AND PRAYING FOR ONE ANOTHER, THAT YOU MIGHT BE HEALED. THE ENTREATY OF A RIGHTEOUS MAN HAS MUCH STRENGTH WHEN IT IS ENERGIZED" (James 5:13-16).

CONSECRATED OIL BESTOWED PERFECTION ON CHRISTIANS, PRIESTS, KINGS, AND PROPHETS. Oil was used to anoint the sick and BRING PENITENTS BACK INTO THE CHURCH. The anointing of the sick IS THE OLDEST EXTANT Efchologion dating from the late 8th century. The fuller rubrics for the Cathedral of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, dating from 1027 A.D., indicate that the RITE may be PERFORMED IN A DOMESTIC CHURCH BY SEVEN PRESBYTERS (PRIESTS) ON SEVEN CONSECUTIVE DAYS–WITH A DIFFERENT PRESBYTER PRESIDING EACH DAY DURING THE PROSKOMIDE.

With regard o Slavic usage, the rite of anointing was practiced essentially as in the Greek churches. Since the Slavs adhered closer to having SEVEN PRIESTS CARRY OUT THE RITE, THE SERVICE DEVOLVED UPON THE LARGE MONASTERIES AND CATHEDRALS TO CARRY OUT THE REQUIREMENT WHERE THERE WERE SUFFICIENT CLERGYMEN.

THE RITE has the WHOLE CHURCH gathered around the sick members. Seven Presbyters, A NUMBER EXPRESSING THE FULLNESS, PARTICIPATE. The sick person no longer feels isolated and alone but integrated into the body of the Christ. ALL SHOULD ATTEND, for "WE" who are many, ARE ONE BODY IN CHRIST, AND EACH ONE MEMBER OF ONE ANOTHER [Romans 12:5]. For"EVEN AS THE BODY IS ONE AND HAS MANY MEMBERS, AND ALL THE MEMBERS OF THE ONE BODY, BEING MANY, ARE ONE BODY, SO ALSO IS THE CHRIST. FOR ALSO BY ONE SPIRIT WERE WE ALL BAPTIZED INTO ONE BODY–WHETHER JEWS OR GREEKS,WHETHER SLAVES OR FREE–AND WERE ALL GIVEN TO DRINK INTO ONE SPIRIT. FOR ALSO THE BODY IS NOT ONE MEMBER, BUT MANY" [1 Corinthians 12:12-14]. Therefore, "WE ARE MEMBERS OF HIS BODY, OF HIS FLESH, AND OF HIS BONES" [Ephesians 5:30].

There are seven blessings, seven epistles, and seven gospels that are read during the divine service. During the Sixth Prayer (blessing) of anointing, the priest gives thanks and says, "We thank Thee, O Lord our God, Who art good and lovest mankind, the Physician of OUR SOULS AND BODIES, Who painlessly has born our infirmities, by Whose stripes we have all ALL BEEN HEALED; Thou Good Shepherd, Who didst come to seek the wandering sheep; Who givest consolation to the fainthearted, and life unto those who are broken of heart…do Thou LOOSE, REMIT, FORGIVE, O GOD, THE SINS OF THY SERVANTS AND THEIR INIQUITIES WHETHER VOLUNTARY OR INVOLUNTARY, WHETHER OF KNOWLEDGE OR OF IGNORANCE…". [Source: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church)

(To be continued)

_____________

"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"

– Saint John Chrysostomos

+ + +

With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+ Father George

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ God,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

HOLY AND GREAT WEEK ACCORDING TO OUR HOLY ORTHODOX
CHRISTIAN CHURCH, THE AUTHENTIC CHURCH OF CHRIST.

HOLY AND GREAT MONDAY

On this day, Holy and Great MONDAY,
the Holy Church commemorates the
blessed JOSEPH the All-comely and
remember how a fig tree was cursed
and withered by the Lord.

Couplet to Wise Joseph

The wise Joseph showed himself a just ruler. Praise to Thee, O giver
of grain! O thou goodly sheaf that stood up in the midst of the threshing-floor
heap!

Couplet regarding the withered fig tree

The Synagogue of the Hebrews is thought by Christ a fig tee destitute
of spiritual fruit, and He withers it with a curse. Let us flee from a similar
calamity.

From this day we COMMEMORATE THE OBSERVANCE OF THE Sacred Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ. In the first tier of all the types of Our Lord is the all-comely Joseph, the 11th son of the Patriarch Jacob and the firstborn of his wife Rachel. The entire life of the Righteous Joseph is given in The Great Synaxaristes, under the date of his commemoration; the 31st of March. As the object of envy of his elder brothers, due to his prophetic dreams, they cast him down into a pit.

Saint Aphrahat makes a succinct comparison showing us how Joseph was A PREFIGUREMENT OF JESUS. "Joseph was persecuted, and his brothers were persecutors; Joseph was exalted and his persecutors bowed down before him, and so his dreams and his visions were fulfilled. Joseph who was persecuted was A TYPE OF THE PERSECUTED JESUS. His father clothed Joseph in a tunic of diverse colors, and His Father clothed Jesus with a body (taken) from the Virgin. His father loved Joseph more than his brethren, and Jesus is the Dear and Beloved One of His Father. Joseph saw fulfilled the visions and the Prophets. Joseph, with his brethren, and Jesus is the Chief of shepherds. When his father sent Joseph to visit his brethren, they saw his coming and plotted to kill him; and when His Father sent Jesus to visit His brethren, they said, "This the heir; come, let us kill him."

"Joseph’s brethren cast him into the pit, and Jesus’ brethren brought Him down into the abode of the dead. Joseph ascended from the pit and Jesus AROSE FROM THE ABODE OF THE DEAD. Joseph, after he arose from the pit, had authority over his brethren; and after Jesus AROSE FROM THE ABODE OF THE DEAD, His Father gave Him a great and excellent name," that His brethren should serve Him, and His enemies be put beneath His feet.
After Joseph was made known to his brethren, they were abashed and feared and were amazed at his greatness; and when Jesus shall come at the Last Time, when He shall be revealed in His Majesty, His brethren will be abashed and fear and be dismayed before Him, because they crucified Him. Moreover, Joseph, by the counsel of Juda, was sold into Egypt, and Jesus, by the hands of Judas Iscariot, was delivered over to the Jews. When they sold Joseph, he answered nothing to his brethren; Jesus also spoke not and gave no answer to the judges who judged Him. Joseph’s master wrongfully delivered him up to the prison, and Jesus’ countrymen wrongfully condemned Him. Joseph delivered over his two garments, one into the hand of his brethren, and the other into the hand of his master’s wife; and Jesus delivered over His garments and divided them between the soldies.

"Joseph, when thirty years old, stood before Pharaoh and became lord of Egypt; and Jesus, when about 30 years old, came to the Jordan for Baptism. And He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and coming upon Him, and then He went forth to preach. Joseph nourished Egypt with bread; JESUS NOURISHED THE WHOLE WORLD WITH THE Bread of Life. Joseph took to wife the daughter of the wicked and unclean priest; Jesus ESPOUSED TO HIMSELF THE CHURCH (TAKEN) FROM TEH UNCLEAN GENTILES. Joseph died and was buried in Egypt, and Jesus died and was buried in Jerusalem. The bones of Joseph were brought up from Egypt by his brethren; Jesus His Father RAISED FROM THE ABODE OF THE DEAD AND TOOK UP HIS BODY WITH HIM IN HEAVEN UNCORRUPTED.

HOLY AND GREAT TUESDAY

On this day, Holy and Great TUESDAY,
the Holy Church makes remembrance of the
Parable of the Ten Virgins written in the Holy
Gospel.

On Holy and Great Tuesday we commemorate the Parable of the
Ten Virgins, which is taken from the Holy Gospel of Matthew.

Couplet

Greatest of Tuesdays do the Ten Virgins bring, with five fetching a
victory for the impartial Master.

This Parable, with others, was spoken by Our Lord Jesus Christ to His Disciples as He was ascending to Jerusalem and going to His Passion. He also spoke it to the Jews, warning them to prepare themselves before the end came. He was exhorting them to take the example of the five virgins who practiced almsgiving (charity) along with virginity. Undoubtedly, preservation of virginity is truly a great achievement, which is made more radiant with exercise of the other virtues, especially almsgiving (philanthropy(. One cannot preserve this virtue of virginity to the exclusion of the other virtues. This most particularly is the one with agape (love), by which the lamp of virginity is illumined. Saint Paul adds that "love never falleth away" (1 Corinthians 13:8). So even if one should speak with the tongues of men and of Angels, HAS NOT HAVE LOVE, SUCH A ONE HAS BECOME AS SOUNDING OF OR A CLANGING SYMBAL…". The Lord, therefore, introduced this Parable because even though virginity was held in high regard, as being one difficult to practice, yet not to show agape (love), which is easier, makes such one no better than harlots. In the case of the harlots, they were overcome by bodily pleasure. IN the case of virgins they weree enslaved by possessions. Therefore, we need virginity and preparation AS WE AWAIT THE Bridegroom Christ. Let us be WATCHFUL and PERFORM GOOD WORKS (Works of Charity) BEFORE DEATH OVERTAKES US AND WE CAN NO LONGER PERFORM WORKS OF CHARITY AND LOVE.

Yesterday, we saw the all-comely Joseph practice charity, but he also did great works of charity. For during the 7 Lean Years, he did not neglect the widows, orphans, and prisoners. He showed love and did not seek vengeance upon his brothers. Neither he nor the five virgins were like the fruitless fig tree. Do you see the power of giving alms? Let us be midful of the words of Solomon: "He who hath pity on the poor lends to the Lord, and He will recompless to him according to his gifts {Psalm 19:17). Let us also remember the words of the brother of the Lord: "For the judgment shall be merciless to him who rendered no mercy. Mercy boasteth against judgment" (James 2:13). Know that almsgiving (philanthropy) IS GREATER THAN VIRGINITY, so says the Lord When He comes to judge the world. He is not going to seek virginity but charity (agape), alms (philanthropy), and mercy (eleos). Therefore, let us not negelct too show agape (love) so we may enter into Eternal Life with Christ and not turn away in shame. [Source: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church)

(To be continued)

_________________

Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"

– Saint John Chrysostomos

+ + +

With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+ Father George

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ God,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

OUR DUTIES FOR HOLY AND
GREAT WEEK
By the holy Metropolitan Augustine Kantiotes of Florina,
Greece (+2010) of blessed memory.

We have arrived, my beloved, at the saving Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, at Holy and Great Week. This week is called Great, because in its 168 hours, from today until the night of the Resurrection, we give honor to great events, unique and world-historic, which shocked the earth, the heavens, and that which is below the earth. This is why this Week is called Great, and it is why it should not pass us by like all the others.

And I put forward the question: What are the duties of a Christian for Holy and Great Week? I am not addressing UNBELIEVERS, ATHEISTS, OR CHILIASTS; I AM ADDRESSING BELIEVERS WHO WANT TO CELEBRATE PROPERLY. What, therefore, are our duties during this coming Holy Week?

The first duty, my brethren, IS TO THANK OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST from the bottom of our hearts. Of course, our whole life must be a thank you, a ‘Glory be to Thee, O Lord, for His small and great benefactions, the visible and the invisible, for all the good things, material, and spiritual, that His grace abides in; the sun, air, water, flowers, beaches, all over the place. We should also thank Him for our parents and siblings, our spouse and children, for times and seasons, and for what is blessed and necessary.

An ungrateful person is worse than an animal. You have a dog, you throw him a piece of bread, and he wags his tail and says thank you. People also must be grateful to God. To thank Him for everything, but above all for the SACRIFICE OF HIS SON, FOR HIS REVERED PASSION. We would also like to thank Him for something else; for His longsuffering in so many of our crimes and blasphemies, for which the earth should open us to swallow us and the sea to swell to drown us, and yet it tolerates us. That is why on Great Friday the Church says, "GLORY TO THY LONG-SUFFERING. O LORD, GLORY TO THEE."

So one of our duties is to thank God. The other is to follow the sacred services. The services of Holy and Great Week are not like the others; they differ in many ways. The hymns are sweeter than honey, those inspired poems, such as the LAMENTATIONS at the tomb, do not exist in any other religion in the world. These hymns alone, which neither the Franks nor the Protestants or anyone else possess, are enough to prove that our Church IS NOT OF THIS EARTH BUT OF HEAVEN, INSPIRED BY GOD. Who did these? Where were they written? In schools and universities? They were done in CAVES BY HOLY ASCETICS, as their tears fell to the ground and blossomed. They were not simply written with the mind and due to their education, but THEY WER THE BLOOD OF THEIR HEARTS, OF HEALTHY FEELINGS, AN EXPRESSION OF LIFE, OF HOLY EXPERIENCES, TRUTHS, WHICH ONLY THOSE WHO TRULY LOVE CHRIST CAN HAVE. One must be unconscious so as not to be moved by them.

Our third duty is to fast. This Holy and Great Week is a week of fasting, strict fasting. Do not listen to the materialists and the impious. We keep the fasts of our Holy Church, and especially THIS FAST, AS A TRADITION OF THE APOSTLES AND HOLY FATHERS OF ORTHODOXY. When we talk about fasting, we do not simply mean THE FASTING OF THE STOMACH TO REMEMBER THE VINEGAR OF THE CROSS, BUT WITH THE FASTING OF STOMACH OUR MOUTHS MUST ALSO FAST FROM BAD-MOUTHING, OUR TONGUE FROM OBSCENITY, OUR EYES FROM FILTHY SPECTACLES.

During these days in Byzantine times, the Emperors would sign a decree: Great Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday, and Pascha Sunday the hippodromes and all the theatres were closed. The Church IS IN MOURNING. If we were a Christian nation, centers of corruption would have to be close from Great Monday, for mourning to be established for the One Who was raised up for us on the Cross.

But we have another duty. It is the duty of Confession and Divine Communion. I will not expand on this, but will only say that during these holy days, and especially on the night of the Resurrection, we are called to stay in church till the end with our Resurrection candle. Whoever hears Christ is Risen and then leaves, it would be preferable if they had just stayed home. That which takes place, where the churches empty after Christ is Risen, is a desecration, a contempt for Christ. Let us remain, therefore, until the end and prepare to receive Divine Communion.

This WEEK is especially a week for Divine Communion. What is Divine Communion? The Body and Blood of Our Christ, fire from heaven. I ask, what are you? Are you straw? If so, then do not approach the Holy Things, otherwise, you will burn. Are you gold? If you are gold, then gold is not threatened by the fire; the more it approaches the fire the more it is cleansed. So if you are a Christian, and remain UNREPENTANT, THE FIRE WILL BURN YOU, JUST LIKE IT BURNED JUDAS WHO COMMUNED UNWORTHILY. But if you have gone through the furnace of Sacred Confession, then approach; Divine Communion will be for you a medicine of immortality.

During Holy and Great Week we also have a sacred duty to our brethren who are suffering and are in need. IT IS A WEEK OF LOVE AND MERCY. Give a fine meal to someone who is hungry, a new piece of clothing–not old and used–to someone who does not have any, help a widow and an orphan, give some medicine to someone who needs it, visit someone who is sick, give a consoling word to someone that is sad, do whatever a heart of love thinks it can.

What I have said is nothing. There is something else which is more difficult. If you do everything we have said so far, and do not do this last thing, then you are not a Christian. What is it?

I know Christians who are people of prayer, whose ears are drawn to sacred words, who fast strictly, who confess and commune, but few are the Christians who have–what? "LET US FORGIVE ALL THINGS WITH THE RESURRECTION" (Doxastikon of the Praises, Pascha Sunday).

GREAT WEEK IS A WEEK OF FORGIVENESS. Who, my brethren, in this life has no dislikes, coldness, contradictions, who does not have an enemy? During these Holy Days let us look up towards the Crucified One. No one was wronged or hurt like Our Christ. While the nails ripped into His flesh, at the same time the curses and anathemas of the Pharisees ripped into His heart, yet He prayed on the Cross, saying: "FATHER, FORGIVE THEM, FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO" (Luke 23:34). Let us FORGIVE ONE ANOTHER, therefore, during these Holy Days; brides and mothers-in-law, brothers and sisters, friends with friends, children with parents, all without exception. Let us expand our hearts, let us feel the love of Our Christ within us. How can we celebrate without love?

My brethren! Holy and Great Week equals a hand open to mercy, eyes with tears of repentance, feet that hasten to the church, hearts reconciled full of worship towards the Crucified One. Do we perform these duties? Do you know who we are like? We are like a beggar who every day has fifteen cents thrown at him, but one day a certain king passes by him and says, "Open your pockets" and begin to count 1, 2… 5… 10…100…168 gold coins that dazzle his eyes. And he, instead of taking this treasure to use it, goes to the river and throws the gold coins in the water. Is this not insanity? The hours, therefore, that the Church gives us are a treasure. Every hour–every bell ring, every beat, every second–is an important hour.

Let us take advantage of these Holy Days. Let us not allow them to escape from us like the rest of our lives. Do we know if we still live to celebrate another Great Week? Perhaps this Great Week is the last of our lives? How many people did we have with us last year? Where are they now? We are leaving, the train is whistling only once do we go through life with this skin.

I pray this Holy and Great Week is an important milestone in our lives. May the Lord give us this week holy thoughts, holy feelings, heroic decisions, and sanctification of the soul. May we seal Holy Week with the words, "REMEMBER ME, LORD, WHEN THOU COMETH INTO THY KINGDOM" (Luke 23-42). [Source: Orthodox Heritage, pg. 11-12)

________________

"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ God,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

"BEHOLD NOW IS THE DAY OF SALVATION" (2 Corinthians 6:12)

On the Great Feast of Palm Sunday Saint Gregory Palamas delivered the following homily. He states, "In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee", said God through Isaiah the Prophet (Isaiah 49:8). It is good today to speak these words of the Apostle to your charity (agape): "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation" (2 Cor. 6:2). "Let us, therefore, cast off the works of darkness, and let us work the works of light. Let us walk honestly as in the day" (Romans 13:12-13). The commemoration of Christ’s SAVING PASSION is at hand, and the news, great spiritual Passover, which is the reward for dispassion and the prelude of the world to come. Lazarus proclaims it in advance by coming back from the depths of Hades and rising from the dead on the fourth day just by the voice and command of God, Who has power over life and death (John 11:1-45). By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, children and simple people sing praises in advance to the Redeemer from death, who brings souls up from Hades and GIVES SOULS AND BODIES ETERNAL LIFE.

"What man is he that desireth life and to see good days? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips that they speak no guile: depart from evil and do good" (Psalms 34:12-14, cf. 1 Peter 3:10-11). Evil MEANS GLUTTONY, DRUNKENNESS, AND DISSOLUTE LIVING. Evil MEANS LOVE OF MONEY, BEING GREEDY FOR GAIN, AND INJUSTICE. Evil MEANS VAINGLORY, ARROGANCE, AND PRIDE. Let everyone turn aside from such vices and do those things which are good. What are they? SELF-CONTROL, FASTING, CHASTITY, RIGHTEOUSNESS, ALMSGIVING, FORBEARANCE, LOVE, HUMILITY. That by so doing we may worthily partake of the Lamb of God Who was SACRIFICED FOR OUR SAKE, and so receive the earnest of incorruption, and keep it as an assurance of the inheritance promised to us in heaven. Is it hard to do what is good, and are the virtues more difficult than the vices? That is certainly not how I see it. The drunken, self-indulgent person subjects himself because of this to more sufferings than someone who restrains himself; the licentious person suffers more than someone chaste; someone striving to become rich more than someone who lives in contentment with what he has; the person seeking to surround himself with glory than someone who passes his life in obscurity. Since, however, the virtues seem more difficult to us because of our love of comfort, let us force ourselves. "The Kingdom of heaven suffereth violence", it says, "and the violent take it by force" (Matthew 11:12)…

"…Blessed are the poor in spirit" (Matthew 5:3). The poor in spirit are those whose spirits, or souls, are free from boasting, love of glory, and fondness for pleasure, and therefore either choose to be poor in external things as well or else courageously bear involuntary poverty. Those who are rich and comfortable, and enjoy fleeting glory, and in general all who long to be like them, will yield to more harmful passions and fall into other worse traps of the devil, which are more difficult to deal with. When someone becomes rich, he does not lay aside his desire for riches, but increases it, grasping at more than he did before. In the same way pleasure lovers, power-seekers, the dissolute, and the debauched increase their desires rather than renouncing them. Rulers and eminent men increase their power so as to commit greater injustices and sin…

"By saying, ‘Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord", they showed that He was from God the Father and that He came in the name of the Father. As the Lord said of Himself, "I CAME IN THE NAME OF MY FATHER" (cf. John 5:43) and I proceed forth and came from God" (John 8:42). On the other hand, by saying, "Blessed be the kingdom of our father David that cometh", showed that this was the kingdom of which, according to prophecy, the Gentiles too, and indeed the Romans, were to believe. For this king was not just Israel’s hope, but also the expectation of the Gentiles, according to Jacob’s prophecy: "Binding his foal unto the vine", where "foal" refers to the Jewish people who were subject to Him".

"…Let us all, young and old, rulers and subjects, be childlike in innocence, that God may empower us to make a public show of the trophies, and carry aloft the symbols of victory, not just of victory over THE EVIL PASSIONS, but over visible and invisible enemies, and may we find the grace of the word to help in time of need (cf. Hebrews 4:16). The young colt which the Lord deigned to ride for our sake PREFIGURED, ALTHOUGH IT WAS ONLY ONE, THE GENTILES’ OBEDIENCE TO Him and we, governors and governed alike, are all Gentiles comes from them.

In Christ Jesus, there is neither male nor female, nor Greek, nor Jew, but all, according to the holy Apostle, are one (Galatians 3:28). In the same way, in Him there is neither ruler nor subject, but by His grace we are all one in faith in Him, and belong to one body, His Church, whose Head He IS. By the grace of the All-Holy Spirit we have all drunk of the ONE Spirit, and have all received ONE Baptism. We all have ONE hope and one God, Who is above all, and through all, and in us all (Ephesians 4:6). So let us LOVE ONE ANOTHER. Let us bear with one another, seeing THAT WE ARE MEMBERS ONE OF ANOTHER. As the Lord Himself said, the sign that we ARE HIS DISCIPLES IS LOVE. When He departed from this world, the fatherly inheritance He left us WAS LOVE, and the last prayer He gave us when He ascended to His Father WAS ABOUT LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER (John 13:33-35).

Let us strive to attain to this fatherly prayer and let us not lose the inheritance He left us nor the sign He gave us, lest we should also lose our sonship, our blessing and our discipleship. If that happens, we shall fall away from the promised hope and be shut out of the spiritual Bridechamber. Before His Saving Passion, when the Lord entered the earthly Jerusalem, not just the people, but also the true rulers of the Gentiles, the Lord’s Apostles, spread their garments in His way. In the same manner, let us all, rulers as well as subjects, lay down our natural garments before Him, by making our flesh and its impulses subject to the spirit, that we may be made worthy not only to see and worship Christ’s Saving Passion and Holy Resurrection, but to enjoy COMMUNION with Him. "For if", says the Apostle, "we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall also in the likeness of His Resurrection" (Romans 6:5).

To which may we all attain by the grace and love towards mankind of Our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ, to Whom belong all glory, honor, and worship, together with His Father without beginning and the Life-Giving Spirit, now and forever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. [Source: Saint Gregory Palamas. The HOMILIES]

_____________

"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"

– Saint John Chrysostomos

+ + +

With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+ Father George

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ God,

CHRIS IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

PALM SUNDAY:
THE GLORIOUS FEAST OF THE ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM
OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

On this day, Palm Sunday, we celebrate the Radiant and Glorious Feast
of the Entry into Jerusalem of Our Lord, God, and Savior JESUS CHRIST.

Couplet

The Logos/Word, having sat upon a foal, extendeth the celestial sphere
Mortals seek to be loosed of irrationality.

After the raising from the dead of Lazarus, many came to believe in The Christ. This moved the Synagogue of the Jews to take council and issue A DECISION TO PUT TO DEATH NOT ONLY CHRIST BUT LAZARUS AS WELL. Giving place to their moral badness Jesus withdrew. Meanwhile, the Jews plotted to slay Him DURING THE FEAST OF PASSOVER. The Evangelist John makes the point that "Jesus, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany" (John 12:1). Visiting the house of Lazarus, there was a supper. Mary, Lazarus’ sister, poured ointment on Christ’s feet. We read afterward, in the Gospel of Matthew, when Jesus and His Disciples drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage toward the Mount of Olives, that He sent forth two Disciples. He said to them, "Go into the village, the one opposite you; and straightway ye shall find an ass which hath been tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to me" (Matthew 21:2). The Disciples did as they were commanded. Evangelist John then notes that after the crowd heard that Jesus was coming into Jerusalem, the people TOOK PALM BRANCHES, and went out to meet Him. They were crying, "HOSANNA, BLESSED IS HE WHO COMETH IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, THE KING OF ISRAEL" (John 12:13). Matthew adds that "all the city was shaken, saying, "Who is this?" (Matthew 21:10). The crowds were saying, "This is Jesus the Prophet, the One from Nazareth of Galilee" (Matthew 21:11). The Holy Spirit moved the children to say, "Hosanna, to the Son of David; Blessed is He Who cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest" (Matthew 21:9).

By using PALMS (in Hebrew, the tender branch is called VAIYA, A PALM BRANCH), they were signifying Christ’s COMING VICTORY OVER DEATH. It was the custom to honor THE VICTORS of some contest or a war with triumphant processions with the attendees bearing trees that are ever green. The Prophet Zacharias foretold this event clearly, prophesying: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion; proclaim it aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem; BEHOLD, THE KING IS COMING TO THEE, JUST, AND A SAVIOR; HE IS MEEK AND RIDING ON AN ASS, AND A YOUNG FOAL" (Zechariah 9:9). The Prophet David also FORETOLD THE CONDUCT OF THE CHILDREN: "OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES AND THOSE SUCKLING DIDST THOU PERFECT FOR THYSELF PRAISE" (Psalm 8:2).

With THE ENTRY OF CHRIST INTO JERUSALEM, the entire populace was stirred. The high priests, thereupon, BEGAN PREPARING TO INCITE THE CROWDS TO KILL Him. Jesus, nevertheless, was at times hidden from them and at other times appeared among them speaking to the people by means of Parables.

"By Thine ineffable compassion, O Christ Our God,
make us victors over the irrational passions, and count
us worthy to behold Thy manifest victory over death and
Thy brilliant and Life-bearing Resurrection, and have
mercy on us. Amen."

Saint Gregory Palamas wrote: "Before His saving Passion when the Lord entered the earthly Jerusalem, not just the people but also the true rulers of the nations, the Lord’s Apostles, spread their garments in His way. In the same manner, let us all, rulers as well as subjects, lay down our natural garments before Him, by making our flesh and is impulses subject to the spirit, that we may be made worthy not only to see and worship Christ’s saving Passion and Holy Resurrection but to enjoy COMMUNION WITH HIM. "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, certainly also we shall be of the Resurrection" (Romans 6:5).

Saint Bede states: "Our Lord did not wish to get on an uncovered ass, nor did He wish to get on an uncovered foal, because whether Jew or Gentile, unless one be adorned with the sayings and deeds of the Saints, he cannot have our Lord as His guide, but instead sin reigns in his mortal body to make him obey its impulses of concupiscence."

Saint Ambrose writes: "I should indeed be uncertain of the significance of the broken branches, which were surely wont to entangle the feet of walkers if that good Husbandman had not taught, ‘And even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees’ (Luke 3:9). The ax, at the coming of the Lord, cuts away the barren. It lays low the VAINGLORY of the infertile Gentiles, which is to be trampled by the feet of the faithful, so that the nations n newness of mind, like shoots of new trees, may sprout from the old stumps."

Saint Kyril of Alexandria remarks, "The multitudes, being more obedient and yielding to the effect of the sign, went to meet the Christ, hymning Him as One Who had conquered death, and carrying palm branches. And they do not praise Him with ordinary language, but quote from the inspired Scripture that which was beautifully spoken with regard to Him, confessing that H was indeed King of Israel, Whom also they called specially their own King, accepting the lordship of the Christ. And the Son, they say, is ‘BLESSED’: NOT because He Who blesses all things and guards them from destruction, and Who IS OF THE INEFFABLE ESSENCE OF THE FATHER, receives the blessing which comes from the Father; but as trusted servants; this One, on the contrary, comes as Lord. Therefore, the prophetic language was quoted very suitably with regard to Him. For indeed some are called lords, who are not such by nature but have the honorable name granted to them by favor. As also, to take another case, men are called ‘true.’ when they abstain from falsehood: but this is not the thing to say with regard to Christ; for He is not called ‘Truth’ for the reason that He does not speak falsely, but because He has that nature which is altogether superior to falsehood."

Saint Gregory Palamas says, "The simple people believed Him in every respect, and did not keep their faith quiet, but began to preach His Divinity by deeds and words… So the King Who raised Lazarus from the dead entered Jerusalem sitting upon an ass. Everyone, children, men, women, old people, immediately spread their garments in the way. They took palm branches, which are SYMBOLS OF VICTORY, and went to meet Him as the Life-Giver and Victor over death. They fell at His feet and escorted Him in procession, singing together, not just outside but also inside the precincts of the Temple, ‘Hosanna, to the Son of David, blessed is He Who cometh in the name of the Lord, hosanna in the highest’ (Matthew 21:9). HOSANNA IS A SONG OF PRAISE DIRECTED TO GOD, WHICH MEANS, ‘SAVE US.’ The additional words ‘in the highest’ show that He is not only praised on earth, nor only by men, but also by THE HEAVENLY ANGELS ON HIGH. The people not only sang His praises and called Him God, but they subsequently OPPOSED THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES’ EVIL PURPOSE AGAINST GOD AND THEIR MURDEROUS ALLEGATIONS…BY SAYING, ‘BLESSED IS HE THAT COMETH IN THE NAME OF THE LORD,’ THEY SHOWED THAT HE WAS FROM GOD THE FATHER AND THAT HE CAME IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER." [Source: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church]

(To be continued)

_________________

"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"

– Saint John Chrysostomos

+ + +

With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+ Father George

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ God,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

SATURDAY OF LAZARUS

On this day, the Saturday before Palm Sunday,
the Holy Church commemorates the raising
of the friend of Christ, the holy and righteous
LAZARUS The four-day dead.

On this day, the Saturday before Palm Sunday, we celebrate the raising of the four-day dead in the tomb of holy and righteous Lazarus, the friend of Christ.

Lazarus was a Hebrew, of the sect of Pharisees. It is said that he was the son of Simon the Pharisee of the Judaean village of Bethany. Since our Lord visited and spoke with Simon continually, Lazarus–as well as his two sisters, Martha and Mary–was please with His genuine teaching. HIs Hellenized name of Lazaros was Eleazar in Hebrew, which means "God hath helped."

According to an ancient tradition, Lazarus reposed at the age of thirty. His resurrection from the dead roused many of the Hebrews either to belief in Jesus or to malice toward Jesus. As to the latter, the high priest wished to put him to death. Lazarus took flight to Cyprus where he sojourned another thirty years, until his repose. After Pentecost, he was CONSECRATED by the holy Apostles as bishop of Cyprus with his seat in Kitium or Larnaka. The Theotokos sewed his Omophorion and cuffs, presenting them to him after departing Mount Athos. It is told that Lazarus, after his experience in Hades, never laughed. However, only once he was seen to smile when he observed someone stealing a clay vessel. He remarked, "Clay stealing clay!" Now he never disclosed what befell him in Hades. Either he was not given leave to speak of it or he was not permitted to see anything there.

In the year 890 A.D., Emperor Leo VI, known as "the Wise" or "the Philosopher," was vouchsafed a divine vision. He had the holy relics of Saint Lazarus transferred from the Larnaka tomb to Constantinople where he erected a church to the friend of Christ’s honor. The holy relics were deposited with much ceremony to the right of the church’s entrance toward the front wall of the Vema. An ineffable fragrance exhaled from his holy relics. The Holy Church commemorated this translation of the holy relics on the 17th of October. Read more about this account in The Great Synaxaristes, as well as other information found on the day of the recovery of his holy relics with those of his sisters, Saints Mary and Martha, on the 4th of June.

The placement of this feast by the Holy Fathers at this point also marks the commencement of the mania of the envious Jews to put Christ to death. The feast is also a resting spot before the upcoming rigors of Holy and Great Week. The evening Vespers for the Saturday of the Righteous Lazarus MARKS THE END OF THE FORTY DAYS.

It is to be observed that only the Evangelist John records the raising of Lazarus. The other Evangelists, who wrote much earlier, have omitted the episode, possibly because Lazarus was still among the living and still could be seen and persecuted. Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow also explained that the Righteous Lazarus had been relentlessly burdened by inquiries concerning what his soul experienced when it separated from his body.

Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovitsky notes that "the Tradition of the Church that the Evangelists did not record the Lord’s raising of Lazarus before his second death renders quite plausible the theory that all of Chapter 11, or perhaps only the first forty-five verses of it, as well as the second half of the first verse and verses 0 through 11, and 18 of Chapter 12, were written by the Evangelists after he had completed the Gospel, that is when Lazarus reposed a second time. We are led to such a conclusion by the inspired narrator’s second return to the day of the raising of Lazarus and to the solemn evening meal which took place that day at his home. "Then Jesus, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had died, whom He raised from the dead. So they made a supper for Him there, and Martha was serving, but Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with Him. Then Mary, having taken a pound of very precious perfumed ointment of pure spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the odor of the perfumed ointment" (John 12:1-3). Previously, in Chapter 11, we are also told how Mary poured ointment on the Savior’s feet: "Now there was a certain sick man, Lazarus of Bethany, of the village of Mary and her sister Martha. And it was that Mary who anointed the Lord with perfumed ointment and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick" (John 11:1-2). Saint John mentions the event here in Chapter 11 as that of an event already known to the reader, but which occurrence is not to be confused with those from the first two Gospels, for there the pouring of ointment on the head of the Lord took place in the house of Simon the Leper. Thus, it is very likely that the Gospel according to Saint John was written during Lazarus’ lifetime, and that the narrative of his resurrection was added by the Evangelist after Lazarus’ second death.

Since Lazarus’ resurrection CONFIRMED THE UNIVERSAL RESURRECTION, it is said that every man is said to be a "Lazarus," and that the burial garment is called "LAZORAMA," thus hinting AT OUR OWN RESURRECTION from the dead at the last trumpet. (1 Corinthians 15:52)

By the intercessions of Thy friend, Lazarus,
O Christ God, have mercy on us. Amen.

FOR CONSIDERATION

"Consider I pray you the miracle as regards its inner meaning. For if our mind be dead like Lazarus, it behooves our material flesh and our nobler soul, like Martha and Mary respectively, to approach the Christ with a confession of faith, and to entreat His help. Then He will stand by us, and command the hardness that lies upon our memory to be taken away, and cry with the loud voice of the evangelic trumpet, "Come forth from the distractions of the world, and loose the cords of your sins, so that you may be able in full vigor to devote yourselves to virtue."

________________

"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"

– Saint John Chrysostomos

+ + +

With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+ Father George

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ God,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

ON PERFECT AGAPE (LOVE)

We read in Saint Paul’s writings that "THERE NOW ABIDETH FAITH, HOPE, LOVE, THESE THREE THINGS;
BUT THE GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE" (1 Corinthians 13:13). Saint John Chrysotomos aks, "How then is love the greater? In that those pass on." Saint Paul had perfect love for God in accordance with what he wrote. Love is the greatest gift in the Church and at the same time the most important of the Gospel Commandments: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God WITH ALL THY HEART, AND WITH ALL THY SOUL, AND WITH ALL THY MIND, AND WITH ALL THY STRENGTH." This is the first Commandment. And the second is like this: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. THERE IS NO OTHER COMMANDMENT GREATER THAN THESE" (Mark 12:30-31).

The first human failure, transgression of the Commandment, was the making of the choice NOT to love and OBEY God. Since all the Commandments are summed up in these words: "IF YOU LOVE ME, KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS" (John 14:15). And, "THESE THINGS I COMMAND YOU, THAT YOU BE LOVING ONE ANOTHER" (John 15:17). Saint John Chrysostom remarks, "We need everywhere both works and practices, not a mere show of words…God requires THAT LOVE WHICH IS SHOWN BY WORKS. For this cause He was saying to His Disciples, "IF YOU LOVE ME, YOU WILL KEEP (τηρήσετε) My Commandments." For after He said to them, "If you should ask anything in My name, I will do it," that they might not think it was so simply on the strength of asking. He added, "IF YOU LOVE ME," THEN, HE SAYS, "I WILL DO IT."

Therefore, LOVE FOR GOD AND NEIGHBOR ARE INTERDEPENDENT AND MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL. Saint Maximos writes: "Love for every man must be preferred ABOVE ALL VISIBLE THINGS. This IS THE SIGN OF OUR LOVE FOR GOD, as the Lord Himself shows in the Gospels… Do you see that this love for one another makes firm the love for God, which is the fulfilling of every Commandment of God?"

The wise person loves ALL PEOPLE. He loves them with the same love as does God. "Our Lord said TO LOVE OUR ENEMIES and to do good to them THAT HATE YOU, and TO PRAY FOR THEM THAT ABUSE YOU. Why did He command this? That He might free you from hate, grief, anger, and grudges. He did this that He might grant you the greatest of all possessions: PERFECT LOVE. But this CANNOT Be had except by the man who loves all men equally and who, LIKE GOD, "WILLETH ALL MEN TO BE SAVED AND TO COME TO A FULL KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH" (1 Timothy 2:4). Now such a person is the revelation in the world OF GOD’S HIDDEN LOVE, FOR "GOD, WHO HIDES HIMSELF, IS REVEALED THROUGH THE JUST." Love for God and love for the world are not two different loves BUT TWO ASPECTS OF THE ONE, INDIVISIBLE LOVE. Through this love, the total synthesis of mankind comes to be enclosed in a single identity, in which each individual exchanges his own being with the rest, and all with God. UNIFIED IN THE LOVE OF CHRIST, Who is AGAPE (LOVE) and therefore UNITY, the MEMBERS OF His body are also ONE WITH EACH OTHER, SO MUCH SO THAT THEY COME TO KNOW EACH OTHER’S HEARTS AND THOUGHTS, AND THEY FIND IT IMPOSSIBLE TO BE TRULY ABSENT FROM EACH OTHER BECAUSE THEY ARE PERMEATED EACH OTHER’S BEING IN LOVE. There is hardly a letter of Saint Maximos that does not begin or end with such thoughts." He is ever calling to mind the love that binds him with the addressee in a unity that bridges all distance and is the continuing foundation on which they can exchange their thoughts. This deep consciousness of mutual presence that nothing to do with a mere memory or imagination of the absent friend. It is "the law of love, which God has planted in the hearts of all people, and which has nothing to do with sensible feelings or desires. This last element, strong as it may be at times, is always in danger of turning into surfeit and boredom; THOSE WHO LOVE IN A DIVINE WAY, ON THE OTHER HAND-WHO BEAR WITHIN THEMSELVES THE GOD WHO IS LOVE-ARE ELEVATED ABOVE AN END OF THIS KIND. "The tenderness that melts their hearts is a God-given capacity to love… One who loves God CANNOT HELP LOVING ALSO EVERYONE AS ONESELF, EVEN THOUGH THE PASSIONS OF THSOE NOT YET PURIFIED DISGUST SUCH A ONE. So then as one sees the conversion and betterment of others, one rejoices with a boundless and ineffable joy." LOVE continues to grow so that it "makes its own anything and everything that is related to it by nature." It is no longer the product of the emotional faculty alone, but rather it is more proper to say that in a deeper and more genuine way are the vigor and inner intensity of love communicated to the whole consciousness. And so, in Saint Mary’s of Egypt life, she graduated from carnal love TO SPIRITUAL LOVE. "So, if the soul perfectly oriented toward God regards the world indifferently from now on, it is not out of contempt for earthly things, but BECAUSE GOD IS ENDLESSLY MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN ANY OF THEM. So one who loves God prefers knowledge of Him to all things made by Him, and by desires ceaselessly devotes oneself to it. One who has the mind fixed upon love for God scorns ALL VISIBLE THINGS AND EVEN ONE’S BODY AS SOMETHING ALIEN." Saint John of the Ladder (Climacus) observes: "I HAVE SEEN IMPURE SOULS CRAZED FOR PHYSICAL LOVE; BUT WHEN THESE SAME SOULS HAVE MADE THIS GROUNDS FOR REPENTANCE, AS A RESULT OF THEIR EXPERIENCE OF SEXUAL LOVE THEY HAVE TRANSFERRED THE SAME EROS (LOVE) TO THE LORD. They have immediately gone beyond all fear and been spurred to insatiable love for God. This is why the Lord said to the chaste harlot not that she had feared, but that she had loved much" (cf. Luke 7:47), and was readily able to repel EROS through EROS."

DETACHMENT allows the intellect to establish itself as the sole governing principle of the soul. In this restored state, the soul is not moved by irrational impulses. Reason, instead of being ignorant, ought to move through knowledge to seek solely after God; and through the desiring power, of the passion of SELF-LOVE, is ought to yearn for God alone; and through the incensive power, separated from tyranny, it ought to struggle to attain God alone. And from these [powers of soul] reason ought to create divine and blessed love for which they exist; LOVE WHICH UNITES GOD-LOVING PERSON TO GOD AND MANIFESTS HIM TO BE GOD." Therefore, "LOVE IS A GOOD DISPOSITION OF THE SOUL, ACCORDING TO WHICH ONE PREFERS NO CREATURE TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD."

Saint Maximos writes: "For the sake of love, the Saints all resist sin continually, finding no meaning in this present life, and they endure many forms of death and unite in themselves the fractures of nature." Continuing, he says: "These are the marks of love, which bind us to God and to one another: ,,,LOVE OF MANKIND, BROTHERLY AND SISTERLY LOVE, LOVE OF THE POOR, COMPASSION, MERCY, HUMILITY, MEEKNESS, GENTLENESS, PATIENCE, FREEDOM FROM ANGER, LONG-SUFFERING, PERSEVERANCE, KINDNESS, FORBEARANCE, GOODWILL, PEACE TOWARD ALL Out of these and through these the grace of love is fashioned, which LEADS ONE TO GOD Who divinizes the human being that He Himself fashioned." The Commandment OF LOVE IS FOR THE REUNIFICATION OF HUMANITY. "He who is perfect in love and has ATTAINED THE SUMMIT OF DETACHMENT KNOWS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN "MINE AND THINE," BETWEEN FAITHFUL AND UNFAITHFUL, BETWEEN SLAVE ADN FREEMAN, OR INDEED MALE AND FEMALE. Having risen above the tyranny of the passions and looking to nature, one in all men, he considers all equality and is disposed equally toward all. For in him there is neither Greek nor Jew, neither male nor female, neither slave nor freeman, but everything and IN ALL THINGS CHRIST’S."

Saint Mark the Ascetic states: "Christ’s words "But many who are first shall be last, and the last first" (Matthew 19:30) refer to those who participate in the virtues and those who participate in love. For love is the last of the virtues to be born in the heart, but IT IS THE FIRST IN VALUE, SO THAT THOSE BORN BEFORE IT TURN OUT TO BE ‘THE LAST.’ (Source: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church)

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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"

– Saint John Chrysostomos

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+ Father George