Sunday April 29th

Sunday homily from St. Michael's Orthodox Church.

Title: 32 are gone because 1 was lost.

Topic: Forgiveness

PODCAST

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Virginia Tech showing forgiveness

From the Boston Globe:

Virginia Tech showing forgiveness, little anger toward campus gunman
By Sue Lindsey, Associated Press April 28, 2007

BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Kelly White and her two children visited the semicircle of memorials on the Virginia Tech campus, leaving 32 pink tulips -- one for each victim in last week's massacre. They also placed a tulip on the stone for gunman Seung-Hui Cho.

"Forgiveness is part of being freed from anger," said White, a Blacksburg resident with relatives who attended the school. "I try to teach my children that God loves everyone."

Cho slaughtered 32 people in the worst shooting in modern US history. But there has been little outrage directed toward him around campus.

He is memorialized alongside his victims, and many students preach forgiveness and talk about him like a troubled family member.

Caroline Merrey, 22, jumped to safety out a classroom window in the building where Cho killed 30 people and himself. She said she was angry at Cho, but also feels sorry for him. "I don't know how I can be feeling both of those things at the same time, but I do," she said.

Campus leaders, experts, and those touched by the tragedy say there are several reasons for the spirit of forgiveness. Many people are too overcome by grief to think about anything else. The fact that Cho killed himself provided enough retribution, some say. Others say the forgiveness is rooted in the strong Christian values of this area.

And there is also the loyalty to the "Hokie Nation."

After a student organization placed the stone memorials in a semicircle last week on the main campus lawn, senior Katelynn L. Johnson added a 33d stone for Cho. Johnson said she told almost no one about the stone because she feared a backlash.

She came forward after someone took it away, because she was outraged by the brief removal of the rock. She says she accepts all "fellow students, faculty, and alumni as Hokies" no matter what problems they have.

"I believe his life had value no matter what he did," she said. "We lost 33 people."
Johnson said she has received hundreds of messages supporting placement of the stone for Cho.

She only got a few negative responses, and only one from the Tech community.

After the first stone for Cho was removed, someone else came forward and placed a new one there. As of Thursday, the stone remained.

The appearance and disappearance of the stone reflects the community's struggle to come to terms with the massacre.

Virginia Tech has not included Cho in its memorial services for the 32 victims. A bell chimed 33 times Monday on the campus lawn, but university officials said the first chime was to start the ceremony.

Officials also released 32 balloons into the air to remember Cho's victims.

The university so far has had no contact with Cho's family and does not plan to award him a posthumous degree as it will the students he killed, spokesman Mark Owczarski said.

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Baba Knocks Self Out Making Sign of the Cross

Los Angeles, California, USA -- 65-year old baba Masha (St Mary of Egypt) Harrison today knocked herself out when making the sign of the cross. Used to the military-crisp and somewhat exaggerated crossing method sometimes seen in other babushki, Mrs Harrison forgot she was wearing a cast on her right hand, and in making her usual swift, powerful move toward her forehead for the beginning of the ancient symbol, thwacked herself hard enough to cause her to temporarily lose consciousness. Fortunately she was caught in her fall by her husband, Ralph (St Raphael the Archangel) Harrison. Mrs. Harrison quickly regained consciousness, and contined the service with slightly more subdued gestures.

Just some fun!

from www.theoniondome.com

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Virginia Day 3

Back from a full day at the Tech. Spent most of the day at the Newman center just talking to the students as they came in. I call this tail gate ministry and all we do is listen try to answer their questions. I did a radio interview for the Come Receive the Light program that should hit the Internet on Saturday if you want to listen.

Tonight we had diner with the students at one of their dining halls. I am glad I am not a student now or I would be bigger than I am now. Anyway great time and then back to the Newman Center for Vespers. I have to say again that they have been great at the Newman and deserve much praise and thanks from us for providing us a place to meet and worship it has been great.

Looks like we will be leaving tomorrow (Thursday) morning and heading back to the parish. It is going to take me a few days to process my feeling from this. I keep remembering the statement that I saw on campus, "32 are gone because one was lost" That will be my sermon on Sunday.

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Virginia Day 2 Part 2

Just back from a meeting with the students at the Tech. As I mentioned in the previous post, Bishop Thomas was there and we all went to the Memorial for the Trisagion service. It was beautiful as people came up and stood with us as we prayed for the dead and placed a cross among the other flowers there. We returned to a meeting room where we asked the students to describe their feelings. Most of them knew someone who was either killed or injured and the emotions are still raw. Confidentiality does not allow me to describe anything that they said but it was difficult to listen to and I am glad I am here.

We will meet one on one tomorrow and the rest of the week and tomorrow night we are having diner with them in one of the dining halls and then to the Newman center for vespers and more one on one. Please continue to pray. Below is a photo of the memorial. Fr. Kevin from OCF is taking pictures, I hope the one of Bishop Thomas in a "Hokie" hat comes out if it does I will post it here.

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Virginia Day 2

Right now I am blogging from the Newman Center at Virginia Tech. We have been welcomed in with open arms and given space to meet with students. We spent the morning walking around the campus and viewing all off the memorials that have sprung up. The most powerful of all the memorials is the one on the parade field in front of the main admin building. As I walked around the circle of all the names on the parade field was the name of the shooter. Not off by himself but right in the middle of all of them. What a powerful witness to what is going on here. We were stopped by people as we walked around. People just wanted to say thanks for coming and being with them in their time of need.

All around campus people have written different things here and there and the most powerful statement was the following: "32 are gone because one was lost" amazing what more can I say.

At the moment we are doing an interview for Ancient Faith Radio that should be airing soon. We will meet with the students tonight as well as with Bishop Thomas of the Antiochean Archdiocese. Please continue to pray for all of us.

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Virginia Day 1

Just a short post. We arrived about 8pm very long day but a very nice drive and I was able to get myself in the right spiritual space. Stopped off in Scranton, PA and had a nice visit with ,y classmate Fr. Christopher. He is a Melkite priest there and I have not seen him in a while so it was nice to see him and catch up.

Met with the rest of the team at diner and we will meet again tomorrow morning for another planning session. We meet with the students tomorrow night at 7pm for a trisagion service and then a needs assessment to see where we go from here.

Finally got on the Internet so that is why this post is so late. It is almost midnight here so I am off to get a few hours sleep before the day begins. Keep praying.

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Off to Virginia

I am all packed and waiting for my ride to arrive. As I mentioned in a previous post, I am off to Virginia Tech to meet with the Orthodox Christian Fellowship and try and help them begin the healing process. Although I have dine this kind of work before, and it seems to be my specialty, this will be the hardest one yet. The students return to school today after a few days off and what they really need is to just get back. As cold as that seems that is the best medicine. That is not to say that they should forget, never, but the best way to honor those slain is to continue classes and graduation and for them to be the best citizens that they can be.

I plan to blog while I am on this journey, more to be able to put words to my thoughts than anything else. I face a 10 hour drive so this maybe my last post today. Perhaps I will post again tonight before bed.

Keep me and my team in your prayers please that we can be used as God's instrument. Fr. Mychal Judge late chaplain of the FDNY used this prayer often and I quote it here. This will be my prayer this week.

Lord, take me where you want me to go;
Let me meet who you want me to meet;
Tell me what you want me to say
And keep me out of your way.

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Sunday of the Myrrbearers

Acts 6:1-7
Mark 15:43-47

Well I recorded the homily for today right in the church and I think the sound quality is pretty good. I solicit your comments for sounds quality purposes only, I know the content is great so no need to comment on that. Sit back and enjoy.

PODCAST

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Saturday

Today is a beautiful day here in New England. I think Spring has finally arrived. Lot's to do today. I will be going outside for a little while to do some work on the church grounds. Although we have someone who keeps the lawn cut, I like to do the work around the church, take care of the flower beds, and such things like that. It is a great time to meditate and think about things. Get your hands in the earth and participate in the process of growing stuff. I do not have a green thumb, but I manage to do okay.

Work needs to be done on my homily for tomorrow, and I am going to try to record it and post it so all can listen. This will be a trial recording and I will solicit comments on the quality of the sound and not necessarily on the content... Okay maybe.

I also need to go out to the campsite and check on any damage from the winter. Boy this will be a full day.

Off to pray!

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Tag

Huw has taged me with Six Wierd Things meme, so here they are:

1. I play the clarinette
2. I love bagpipe music
3. I wear a kilt
4. I used to collect elephants
5. My Favorite Author is WEB Giriffin
6. I own 2 trailers Sphere: Related Content

Message of His Eminence Archbishop Nicolae
regarding the tragedy at Virginia Tech University

Most Reverend Fathers,
Beloved Faithful,

Christ is Risen!

This past week we have witnessed the unspeakable tragedy taking place on the campus of Virginia Tech. The peace of this place was suddenly and violently changed forever. We mourn for those who have been taken away from us, and we share our compassion with their families and friends as they are trying to understand why this did happen. We keep in our prayers Professor Liviu Librescu, of Romanian origin, who voluntarily gave up his life for the love and the welfare of his students. During such difficult moments we often turn to God in prayer, and as we do, I ask each one of you to pray for the victims of this tragedy and for all of their families, as this will be a long process of recovery.

Please join me and the entire Archdiocese as we offer our prayer, and as we express our most sincere sympathy to the Virginia Tech Community. We pray during this time of the Resurrection that those whose life was taken away, may rest in a place of light, in a place of green pastures, in a place of rest from where pain, sorrow and sighing have been taken away.


Your brother in prayer to God,
† NICOLAE

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Virginia Teach

As reported on Fr. Greg's Blog, I am off to Virginia on Monday to help with Crisis Counseling. I am being deployed by the International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) as part of a frontline team. Three of us will be in Blackburgh along with the Executive Director of the Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF) the Orthodox Church Campus Ministry Program.

The hope is to meet with the students at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Roanoke, Virginia each evening and then meet on campus with students during the day. I will be on the ground until Friday. I hope to be able to blog while on the road for both information and also to help me process some of the feelings that will come up during my time there.

Please pray for me and the rest of my team as we travel and minister.

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Fun with Google Maps

H/T to WardWideWeb

Go to www.googlemaps.com
Click "Directions.
"In "From" type New York.
In "To" type London.
See step #24. Sphere: Related Content

Mass. to observe statewide day of mourning for Va. Tech victims

April 19, 2007
BOSTON --Gov. Deval Patrick declared Friday as a statewide day of mourning for the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings, coordinating with a similar observance in Virginia.

The dead included a student from Massachusetts.

Patrick called for a moment of silence at noon, and asked that bells in churches and public institutions be tolled. He said Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine asked fellow governors to join the initiative.

Virginia Tech gunman Cho Seung-Hui shot 32 people to death and committed suicide Monday in the deadliest one-man shooting rampage in modern U.S. history. Among those killed was Ross Alameddine, 20, of Saugus, a Virginia Tech sophomore.

"No one wants to get the call that families of the Virginia Tech victims got this week," Patrick said in a statement accompanying his declaration on Thursday. "What happened on that campus was an unspeakable tragedy and our thoughts and prayers are with all those touched by it."

from www.Boston.com Sphere: Related Content

Heroes

The stories of heroes are beginning to come out of the tragedy in Virginia. One of those is Romanian Born Dr. Liviu Librescu. This is the Holocaust survivor that put himself between the gunman and his students to give them time to get away. How awesome is that? The thing that strikes me most about this is that he survived the Holocaust and was gunned down at a US University.

May His Memory Be Eternal!

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St. Donnan

Several months ago I began postings about Scottish Saints. I feel short and stopped posting them but now I continue with today's entry St. Donnan. This information comes from the Catholic Encyclopedia.

There were apparently three or four saints of this name who flourished about the seventh century.

(1) ST. DONNAN, ABBOT OF EIGG, and ST. DONNAN OF AUCHTERLESS are regarded by both the Bollandists and Dempster as different personages, but there is so much confusion in their chronology and repetition in what is known of them, that it seems more probable that they were identical. Reeves (Adamnan's Life of St. Columba), moreover, accepts them as the same without discussion. According to Irish annals St. Donnan was a friend and disciple of St. Columba, who followed him from Ireland to Scotland toward the end of the sixth century. Seeking a solitary retreat, he and his companions settled on the island of Eigg, off the west coast of Scotland, then used only to pasture sheep belonging to the queen of the country. Informed of this invasion, the queen ordered that all should forthwith be slain. Her agents, probably a marauding band of Picts, or pirates according to one account, arrived during the celebration of Mass on Easter eve. Being requested to wait until the Sacrifice was concluded, they did so, and then St. Donnan and his fifty-one companions gave themselves up to the sword. This was in 617. Reeves mentions eleven churches dedicated to St. Donnan; in that at Auchterless his pastoral staff was preserved up to the Reformation and is said to have worked miracles. The island of Eigg was still Catholic in 1703 and St. Donnan's memory venerated there (Martin, Journey to the Western Islands, London, 1716).

(2) SON OF LIATH, and nephew and disciple of St. Senan, in whose life it is related that by his uncle's direction he restored to life two boys who had been drowned. This St. Donnan succeeded St. Ciaran of Clonmacnoise as Abbot of Aingin, an island in Lough Ree, on the Shannon (now Hare Island). He flourished about the middle of the sixth century.

(3) ST. DONNAN THE DEACON, son of Beoadh and brother of St. Ciaran. He was a monk in his brother's monastery at Cluain, or Clonmacnoise, in Ireland, in the sixth century.

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Scottish Bishops Urge a Value Vote

GLASGOW, Scotland, APRIL 15, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The Catholic bishops of Scotland are urging their parishioners to vote against legislation and regulations at odds with the insights and values of the Christian faith.
In a strongly worded letter to be read at all Masses in Scotland's 500 Catholic parishes, the bishops said: "We invite you to look beyond the superficially attractive and fashionable to recognize those policies and values which are most in tune with the dignity of the human person and with the common good of our society."
The bishops' deepest concerns are directed at legislation permitting "abortion, embryo experimentation, easy divorce and civil partnerships." They also fear a future campaign to legalize euthanasia.
Beyond this, the bishops' letter explained: "We find ourselves having to counter criticism of the very existence of Catholic schools, in large part prompted by an agenda which aims to remove religion from the public sphere."
"These dubious innovations are detrimental not just to the good of the Catholic community but to the common good of humanity as a whole," the bishops said. "They deserve to be challenged at the ballot box."

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Virginia Tech

I have been trying to make some sense of of the events of yesterday and I am having a hard time getting my mind around what happened. What causes someone to do the things that were done yesterday. The simple answer of course is evil but did it start that way or was he some how possessed by events that happened before. Either way we will be thinking and praying about this for a long time to come. As we pray for the victims and their families let us not forget to pray for the one who perpetrated this hellish thing and his family as well.

Padre Rob has posted a beautiful prayer and reflection on his blog I could not do a better job so take a look at it here.

May their memory be eternal!

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Sunday of St. Thomas

Acts: 5:12-20
John 20:19-31

A missionary was tortured for preaching Christ in pagan Burma. His fingernails were torn from the roots and he was hung by his fingers until his hands were twisted and scarred. Later when he asked to preach in a certain town, the pagan Prince of that town refused saying: "I would allow a dozen ordinary men to speak, but not you with those scarred hands. My people would never listen to what you say, for they could not help seeing your hands." The inference was that the missionary's scarred hands would speak more convincingly of his love for Christ than any words he could say.

Today we are introduced to the scares of Jesus. Thomas says that unless he sees the nail prints and can touch the wounds he will not believe in the Resurrection. When Jesus reveals himself to Thomas, all Thomas needed was to see the scares he did not need to touch them. For Thomas the scares were the greatest proof that Jesus, who had suffered and died, was now risen from the tomb. Jesus is appearing to us today and he is showing us his scares. What do they mean? I would like to suggest three ways.

1. Love - The scares of Jesus show that although we are sinners, Jesus died for us.

A little girl sat on her mother's knee, and as she looked into her mother's face she said" "Mummie, you've got the prettiest hair and the sweetest eyes I have ever seen. And Mummie, why are your arms so ugly?" The mother then explained to her daughter that when she was a tiny baby the house caught fire. She ran into the house and rescued her our of her crib. In the process her arms and hands were badly burned. When the little girl heard this, tears began streaming down her face. Looking once more into her mother's face she said, "Mummie, you've got the prettiest hair I have ever seen, and yours is the sweetest face, and your eyes are wonderful. But, Mummie, your hands and your arms are the most beautiful of all. I have loved you always, but I love you more than ever now."

This love of Jesus for us should make us all respond as Thomas did with "my Lord and my God." This is the true Christian response to the scars of Jesus.

2. Struggle - The scares of Jesus show that life is a struggle. The life of a Christian is not easy. Even God's own Son had to suffer. But God promises us victory over this suffering

3. Our Scars - The dark hour when we feel that God is not with us in our suffering. The first thing that Jesus does is show us His scars and His sufferings. Jesus came to save us all but also to suffer with us. Look at His hands and his side. He is holding his hands out to you. His scars did not go away with resurrection He carries them with you, and they are your scars.

4. Scars caused by sin - The nail is the preferred symbol for sin. Each sin is a nail that contains to be driven into the body of Jesus. In sin we not only break the commandments but we break God's heart.

The world is full of footprints of God. Every thing we see is footprint of the maker. But we need not follow Him by His footprints. He has revealed Himself to us through the Gospel. This book tells us who God is and what he has done through His Son. The footprints of the setting sun may tell us that God is. But only the nail prints in the hands of Jesus tell us that God is love. Jesus appears and showed Hos scars. They were proof of His love. They won the final victory over death they speak compassion to our wounds. Scars that we re-open with our sin but can close again with repentance. We have been very hard on Thomas through the years but today he speaks for all of us. The words he spoke should be our words. "My Lord and My God."

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Kirking of the Tartans

As I mentioned in a previous post, I had the honor of leading the Kirking of the Tartans service yesterday. Below is the sermon I gave for the event. It is recreated from notes so I might have left some of the things out but the main points are there.

Why are we here? We are here to celebrate our heritage. We do this because the more we know about our roots the better equipped we are for the future. A cherished history inspires us to greatness while illuminating certain sinkholes of though and behavior.

How do we do this? I am by training what's known as a historical theologian. I look at theology not just from the scriptural or dogmatic sense but in the context of history and what was going on at the time. Most of our theology was adopted because of some historical event or schism. So with this in mind let us look at the kirking of the tartans and why we do this. The main reason is faithfulness.

In 1745 our ancestors fought what would latter be called the battle of Culloden. The battle was fought after several unsuccessful Jacobite rebellions and culminated with the brutal repression of the Scottish people. Part of this repression was the prohibition against the wearing of the traditional highland dress, the pipes, and other related legislation from 1746 leading to the destruction of the clan system. This was not the first time our ancestors were treated this way. All we have to do is think of the movie Braveheart for a trip down memory lane of another severe brutal repression.

So with this repression came the Highland Clearance. 1792 became known as the year of the sheep and people were forced off of their land to make room for the much more profitable sheep. Many of these people left Scotland as my ancestors did and began a new life in Nova Scotia leaving behind everything that they knew and loved. There were also religious considerations. Many if not all of the Highlanders were Roman Catholic and also Presbyterians and were forced out on religious grounds.

So as time went on and as the repression grew a service would be held on certain Sundays of the year. On these days people would bring small pieces of their tartan, at great risk to their own lives, to the Kirk, or Church, to be blessed by the clergy. Was this an act of rebellion? Some would answer yes. I believe I would be one of the ones who would answer yes, but I also believe that this was done out of faithfulness. This simple act was an act of great faith. Faith brought them where they were and faith would see them through. Faith is a big word. Faith can move mountains and faith will see US through. We sang the great hymn Faith of our Fathers at the beginning of this service. Although a song about Christian faith I believe that it is applicable to our topic today.

That is the faith we celebrate. That is the faith of our ancestors. The faith that has brought us here and the faith that will lead us home. In a moment we will bless the simple pieces of cloth that are token of our heritage. We honor our ancestors when we wear them with honest pride and genuine humility.

God bless us all.

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Gunman kills 30 on Virginia Tech campus

Another school shooting. Let us pray for all those involved, the victims, families, and the first responders. Sphere: Related Content

Deaths in Iraq

A story on the deaths in Iraq. Sphere: Related Content

Sunday

I am blogging today from and undisclosed location. Yesterday was a busy day. Busier than usual but a good day. Regular Liturgy in the morning with the usual crowd. The Easter people have all returned to their usual no church attendance. I guess we will see them at Christmas.

St. Thomas Sunday, and I will post my homily when I get back to the office.

Yesterday afternoon I was privilege to be the celebrant at the Annual Kirking of the Tartans. A very traditional Scottish service with the blessing of the Plaid. This service daters back to when wearing of the Tartan was prohibited by law. The faithful would bring a small piece of their cloth to the Kirk, or Church, and the clergy would bless it. I spoke about faithfulness and why we do what we do when we re-enact this service. Faithful to our ancestors and faithful to the past and the ability to learn lessons from the past to avoid the pit falls of the future. I will try and post my homily latter on.

Here is the blessing: Bless, O Lord, these simple woven cloths, whose colors, warp and woof, bear the burden and honor, the history of the land of our ancestors, a people of your calling, a nation of your creation. may we sustain the glory of our ancestors by wearing the kilt with honest pride and genuine humility honoring a people known as Scots. In Christ's name. Amen.

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New Direction

Several months ago I posted about changing the name of this blog. Well I don't think I will change the name but maybe the direction.

One of the first spiritual works that I read was the Way of the Pilgrim. If you have not read this book I would suggested that you pick up a copy and give it a read. Nice little book about a pilgrim in Russia and how he is trying to find his way spiritually. The opening line of the book tells the whole story I think.

By the grace of God I am a Christian man, by my actions a great sinner, and by calling a homeless wanderer of the humblest birth who roams from place to place. My worldly goods are a knapsack with some dried bread in it on my back, and in my breast pocket a Bible. And that is all.

Prayer is big and I think I will focus on prayer and spirituality with this blog. I will continue to post about the happenings in my life, if that is of any interest to people, but I think that this is a direction I need to go in. We become very spiritual people during Lent but now that is over we tend to go back to where we were before. Let's take this journey together.

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Silence

It is kind of funny to me that most of the blogs I read went silent during Holy Week. I on the other hand, go silent after Holy Week. I wanted to post some reflections of Holy Week and Easter but I was pooped after all was said and done. I took Monday off and went home to see my family. Spent Sunday afternoon at my brother's house then home to rest. Back out here on Monday afternoon for more rest.

Tuesday was a bad day. It began as any other day and I had a meeting at the local hospital. Each local community in Massachusetts has formed an Emergency Planning Committee and I serve on the one in Dudley. Harrington Hospital in Southbridge is forming a regional committee and the fire chief asked me to attend the meeting. Okay so the meeting ended and off I went to the former Fort Devens to pick up some stuff for the Fire Department. On our return a call came in for a car accident. Nothing big, we get a lot of those in our town. But then the call came back that someone was trapped in the car. Not a good situation. I got my stuff together and headed out the door. Upon arrival the place was going crazy. Fire Fighters all over the place and four people were hurt. One was still trapped in the car and not doing well. The EMT's were performing CPR on him while the rest of the guys cut the roof off. We called for the helicopter to come to transport him to the Trauma Center in Worcester. He did not make it. The doctor pronounced him dead in the ambulance.

Next I got a call to go to the location of the ambulance and I anointed an 18 yo who had died in the accident. I have not done this much, and it is always a blessing to be with someone who has passed on. Each time I anoint someone I get a flash back to the Airport in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina when I anointed 64 people who were dying.

So now I have some messed up fire fighters. Although we get a lot of accidents few few turn into fatals, and most of our guys are young. One of the fire fighters had just been talking to the deceased just a few hours before the accident.

We practice something called Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM). Not a new science but one that came into it's own after 9/11. The basic set up is the guys are allowed to talk about what they saw, felt, heard, smelled, etc. The idea is that if they talk about it now, it wont haunt them latter. Well it does work but the nightmares continue. But it is a good thing and I called in some help as I was part of the scene and needed this myself.

All is well now, and the community is dealing with this as best they can. Moral of the story is this. Kids need to learn to slow down. I think I am supporting not giving them permission to drive until they graduate from high school or maybe until 21. This was a stupid senseless accident that did not need to happen. If they had just slowed down, who knows...

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Blogger's Choice Awards

Well the nominations are out and your humble host has been nominated. So if you think this blog is worthy of being awarded something go here and select best religion blog and look around for little old me and vote. Thanks.

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Army lengthens tours by 3 months

Army lengthens tours by 3 months Sphere: Related Content

The Paschal Homily of St John Chrysostom

At the Resurrection Service we read the ancient homily near the end of the Liturgy. This year I read this but in previous years the Cantor has read it while the faithful came to communion. I am glad I decided to read it so the faithful would here there great words. you can read it at the link below. Thanks to Huw for giving me the link.

The Paschal Homily of St John Chrysostom Sphere: Related Content

Hristos a inviat!

Christ is Risen!

From www.goarch.org

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Liturgical Roundup

Yesterday seems like a blur to me. Three services and many changes in the church for each one concluding with the evening service. Good Friday is a very solemn day in the church. We remember the Crucifixion the taking down, and the burial in the tomb of Jesus. We actually begin this the night before, as I mentioned in a previous post. Yesterday afternoon at 3pm was the service of the taking down from the cross. In this service we actually remove the corpus from the cross, wrap it in a clean linen cloth, and place it on the altar. Towards the end of the service we make a procession with the Epitaphios. This is an image of the taking down from the cross. The one here in the village is hand painted and placed on a board so one can move it around. The Epitaphios is carried by the priest in procession and then placed in the flower decorated Sepulchre. The ladies of the parish come in the morning to decorate the sepulchre for the service. After the service has ended, the Sepulchre is moved to the center of the solea and is left there for the faithful to come and venerate during the day.

The evening service is matins, but we ad the funeral procession. During the service we remove the Epitaphios from the tomb and carry it outside around the church. Four men carry followed by the congregation. Although it was called, all in attendance came outside for the procession. We make four stops to pray for, the parishioners, the clergy, the country, and for the dead. The Epitaphios is then raised in front of the door and the faithful walk under back into the church. The priest then takes it and places in the altar where it will remain for 40 days. Very moving service and one that takes much planning and coordination.

A few more confessions after the Liturgy and then we take all the decorations down for Saturday. This morning we celebrate the Vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil the Great. It is odd to sing about the evening while the sun is up but go figure... As is the custom in this parish, many faithful will come to Communion this morning as they will not be able to attend the liturgy tonight.

I am still working on the Easter Homily, and I think I will write this one out and post it latter on. Blessings to all for Easter and my the Risen Christ bless you and keep you!

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Confession

I just heard another round of confessions. Although not physically taxing they sure are emotional and spiritual things. I always get exhausted hearing confessions. There is so much hurt in the world and I am happy that I can be part of bringing some healing to people and their souls.

Blessed Be God! Sphere: Related Content

Holy Tuesday

Holy Tuesday Information Sphere: Related Content

Twitter

Yesterday I came across this kind of cool thing on the Internet. Twitter.com You post little notes about what your doing and you can follow others to see what they are doing. It is free to sing up and its neat to see what people are doing. You can add me by clicking here.

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Boston Red Sox

Well yesterday was the first day of the season and our beloved Red Sox lost 7-1 to Kansas City. I guess all one can say is wait till next year!

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Holy Monday

Holy Monday Information Sphere: Related Content

Palm Sunday Recap

What a busy day yesterday! Well I guess it all began on Saturday morning rather than yesterday. Saturday was the Saturday of Lazarus and we had an all too rare Saturday morning Liturgy. After this Liturgy a cleaning of the church, bulletin preparation, homily finishing, newsletter stuffing, and then vespers and confessions. After all of that, the ladies were in the church kitchen preparing for our meal after Palm Sunday Liturgy. A little shut eye and ready for Sunday.

Sunday mornings always begin early for me. I usually rise about 6am and begin the day by looking over the Scripture passages again for the morning liturgy. Here in our little church we celebrate the service of Orthros at 9am. This is a great service that sets the mood for the day. Liturgy at 10am with the blessing of palms. I do this at the beginning of the liturgy and I was surprised at how many people were not there for the blessing, although liturgy always starts at 10! I guess we are still getting used to the time change... LOL

The church looked great, sorry I forgot to take pictures! Palm branches were all over and this year I used the Palm fans for decorations, man did they look good. The opened up over night and were about three feet across I was so shocked when I entered the church in the morning.

After liturgy off to the hall for a little simple meal as a community to begin Holy Week. It is nice to be able to sit and have some food with the folks here and get caught up on all of there comings and goings. We had some new faces in the crowd today and rumor has it they were brought to the church because they found these humble pages. That took me back a little to think that someone came to the church because of something I wrote here. Hmmmm that still needs some thought. The meal was simple tuna casserole prepared by the ladies and served buffet style. Most everyone came to the hall after liturgy. We had some food left over so I jumped in the truck and took it to my guys at the Fire House. They are always so appreciative of free food, as I am!

Back to the church to begin the transformation from Palm Sunday to Holy Week. The first liturgical celebration was last night with Bridegroom Matins. Actually this service is for the morning but we seem to mix things up a little during Holy Week and we do our service in "anticipation" of the next day. Thankfully we have one book for the entire week so no more shifting around looking for things. Last year we purchased several copies so the people can follow along. Fr. Greg has a great post on this little book, commonly know as the quarter pounder because of its size. I think these first few days of Holy Week are my favorite. I am not sure why, maybe because they are the lest complex services and the cantor has to do all the work, but I think it goes deeper than that. Look for more posts on this subject latter on.

Well blessed Holy Week to all and if you are in the neighborhood stop by for a service. I posted the Schedule earlier so scroll on down to see.

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Holy Week Liturgical Line Up

Below is the Schedule of services for Holy Week here at St. Michael's. If you are in the area pop in and say hi.

Palm Sunday
Matins 9am
Liturgy 10am
Bridegroom Vespers 7pm

Holy Monday
Bridegroom Vespers 7pm

Holy Tuesday
Bridegroom Vespers 7pm

Holy Wednesday
The Mystery of Holy Unction 7pm

Great & Holy Thursday
Vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil the Great 10am
Holy Passion (Reading of the 12 Gospels) 7pm

Great & Holy Friday
Royal Hours 9:30am
Vespers with Taking Down from the Cross 3pm
Lamentations - Matins of Holy Saturday 7pm

Great and Holy Saturday
Vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil the Great 10am
Vigil of Pascha 11:30pm

Great & Holy Pascha
Resurrection Service 12:00am
Holy Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom 12:30am
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Palm Sunday

Today on both the Eastern and Western calendar is Palm Sunday. How nice it is that we are able to celebrate Holy Week and Easter together this year. Maybe this is a sign of things to come! Well we can dream any way. Continuing the previous post I am linking to the website from St. Barbara Greek Orthodox Church for information on Palm Sunday. Once again I must say thanks to the folks from the church for this great resource.

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