Third Sunday of Great Lent ~ Adoration of the Holy Cross

On this the Third Sunday of Great Lent, our Holy Church celebrates the Adoration of the Holy Cross. We have also reached the mid point of Lent and we are almost at the time of the Glorious Resurrection. We pause at this time to remember the Cross upon which our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was hung for our sins and for the sins of our first parents. At the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy it is the custom for the faithful to come forward and venerate the cross. They do this by making three great prostrations. It is not enough for us to simply bow our heads and make the sign of the cross for are in the presence of the King and therefore should show the respect due Him.

It is of interest to point out that the theme of this day is not sorrow but of joy! We get a slight glimpse of what is to come in a few short weeks when our Lord Rises from the Dead and opens for us the gates of Paradise. Fr. Alexander Schmemann of blessed memory has this to say about this day, “We are in mid-Lent. On the one hand, the physical and spiritual effort, if it is serious and consistent, begins to be felt, its burden becomes more burdensome, our fatigue more evident. We need help and encouragement. On the other hand, having endured this fatigue, having climbed the mountain up to this point, we begin to see the end of our pilgrimage, and the rays of Easter grow in their intensity.”

The Vesperal hymns of this day are beautiful and teach us the Theology of the day. In each of the stichera of the day is a little more of that light that Fr. Alexander speaks about.

O Christ Savior, the might of death has broken down under your Cross; and the deceit of Diabolus has ceased; and humanity has escaped and been saved. Wherefore, praise is offered you perpetually.

It is because of the crucifixion of Christ that he trampled down death by His own death. He has set us free from the bondage of that first sin and opened the gates of paradise to us. However, we still must take the initiative and walk through the gates. He has done His part and He is counting on us to do our part.

The whole creation, O Lord God, has been lighted by your glorified Resurrection; and paradise has been opened. Wherefore, all creatures laud you and offer you praise.

The whole of creation has been redeemed by His self-emptying of Himself on the cross. Creation was created in a state of perfection and was sullied by that sin of our first parents. Christ’s death has restored this “shine” to the entire creation and all of it rejoices.

Lent is our self-crucifixion we hear in the Gospel of this day to that is anyone would follow Christ we must take up our cross and follow Him. Fr. Alexander reminds us that it is not our cross that will save us but the very cross of Christ. We must not just do this during this Holy Season of Lent but everyday of our lives. Christ will show us how to do this if we mediate on His suffering and righteous death. For by walking with Him on His road we will find our own salvation. In His footsteps we will find redemption for our sins.

The Vesperal Hymns continue:

Rejoice, O life-bearing Cross, the unconquerable triumph of true worship, O door of paradise, the confirmation of believers, the wall of the Church, through which corruption has disappeared and perished, and the power of death was swallowed, and we ascend from earth to heaven, you incontestable weapon and adversary of Satan’s; for you are the glory of Martyrs and their adornment in truth, the haven of salvation that grants to the world Great Mercy.

Here we see the hymn change and we are addressing the cross itself. The power of the Cross can not be conquered by anything and is the subject of our true worship. The cross is the door through which the doors of paradise were opened and it is the wall that protects the Church and swallowed up death. It is the only true weapon that defeats Satan for the power of the Cross is greater than his.

Come, you first created couple who fell from the heavenly rank through man-destroying envy, because of a bitter delight resulting from the taste of the old tree. Behold, here comes in the truth the most revered Tree. Hasten to kiss it, shouting to it in faith, You are our helper, O most revered Cross, of whose fruit when we partook we attained incorruption and received securely the first Eden and the Great Mercy.

Here we see all of the faith coming together. The first created couple, Adam and Eve, represents all of Humanity and tells the story of how sin entered the world. It was this sin that closed the doors of paradise and changed of very nature from what it was intended to be. We see that a tree was what caused this first sin and now a Tree will be used to bring redemption to the world. The fruit of that first tree, an apple, brought sin and the Fruit of the second Tree, Jesus Christ, will change that sin into celebration. Our nature changes from one of corruption to one of incorruption and we are able to pass through the door.

In the Icon of the Resurrection we see the Resurrected Jesus holding the hand and pulling out of the tomb our first parents and redeeming humanity for all time.

The theme of Lent will now switch from ourselves and the sacrifices that we have been making to those that have been made and are continuously being made for us. We still need to keep to our Lenten regiment but we also now need to focus on what has been done for us.

We adore you O Christ, and we praise You. Because by your holy Cross You have redeemed the world.

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Recovering a Sense of Communon in the Church

I worte this essay for the Annual Publication of the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in the Americas that is due out soon.

One can hardly deny that our world is becoming more and more secular in its view of all things. One needs only look at the news to see how people are turning away from the God of Creation and turning towards the gods of materialism. Secularization is a cancer that affects every aspect of our human existence and dare I say it even infects the Church of Jesus Christ.

Over the past few years we have had endless debates over the Statutes of the Archdiocese and focused much of our attention on the wide-spread concentration of our parishes on the defense of their “rights”, “interests”, and “property” from the hierarchy and the clergy. This reveals a deep secularization of the mind and consciousness that we truly become apprehensive and concerned about the future of our Church. It is this very mind set that is causing our young people to leave the Church where no one spends the time to educate them on what it means to be a member and where we hardly ever hear sermons on how to deepen the inner life and a renewal of the spirituality of the Church and we spend endless hours on festivals, banquets, jubilees and financial campaigns and less and less time on our spiritual life and participation in the Sacraments of the Church.

One such example of this is our “tradition” of a once-a-year obligation for the reception of Holy Communion. St. John of Kronstadt condemned this practice a lukewarm and pietistic and said that it lowered the life of the Church to mere custom. We have a deep spiritual crisis in our country and in our Church and at the very heart of this crisis is secularism; we are divorcing God from the whole of our lives.

The question of the sacraments of the Church has key significance in that they form the principle of unity, the unity that brings us together a community and the system by which we are brought together and not separated. Fr. Thomas Fitzgerald, Dean of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology had this to say on this image of the Eucharist as being the system that brings us together. “When an Orthodox attends the Divine Liturgy, it is not as an isolated person who comes simply to hear a sermon. Rather he comes as a member of a Community of Faith who participates in the very purpose of the Church, which is the worship of the Holy Trinity. Therefore the Eucharist is truly the center of the life of the Church and the principal means of Spiritual Development, both for the individual Christian and the Church as a whole.” In the sacraments of the Church we fund the tools necessary for the change and renewal of our minds and hearts. We should strive to use these tools to help us reverse this move toward secularization and recover our religious and ecclesiastical understanding. The Eucharist is the center of life in the Orthodox Church. The Eucharist is the completion of all of the Churches other Sacraments and the source and the goal of all of the Churches doctrines and institutes.

In the early Church communion of all the faithful was a self-evident norm. Corporate communion was seen not only as an act of personal piety and personal sanctification but also coming from ones very membership in the Church, the fulfillment and “actualization” of that very membership. The Eucharist is the Sacrament of the Church, the sacrament of the assembly, the sacrament of unity. St. John Chrysostom writes, “He mixed Himself with us, and dissolved His body in us so that we may constitute a wholeness, be a body united to the Head.” Participation in the Eucharist was the single sign and criterion of membership in the early Church. The member of the Church is one who is in communion with the Church. Early liturgical service books will show that not only the catechumens were dismissed from the assembly but those who were not to receive communion.

How did we get so far from the mark? Why is it that in nine out of ten Liturgies celebrated, no one comes forward to approach the chalice? Is no one else amazed by this or concerned? How did the once a year reception of communion become the accepted norm of our Church? How did we get such an individualistic understanding of communion? I think that we can find the answer in the pious relationship we have toward the Eucharist. We fear that we will profane the Mystery. After all the, Church teaches that “the one who eats and drinks unworthily drinks and eats his condemnation.” (1 Corinthians 11:29) “Neither the Fathers nor the liturgical texts can supply us with any encouragement for non-partaking of the Mysteries, nor do they even hint at such a practice. In emphasizing the holiness of communion and its ‘awful’ nature, in calling for a worthy preparation for it, the Fathers never endorsed nor approved the wide-spread idea of today that since the Mystery is holy and awful, one must not approach it too often. In the Fathers, the view of the Eucharist as the Sacrament of the Church, of her unity, fulfillment and growth was self-evident” (Schmemann).

“We must not avoid communion because we deem ourselves to be sinful. We must approach it more often for the healing of soul and the purification of the spirit, but with such humility and faith that considering ourselves unworthy… we would desire even more the medicine for our wounds. Otherwise it is impossible to receive communion once a year, as certain people do… considering the sanctification of heavenly Mysteries as available only to saints. It is better to think that by giving us grace, the sacrament makes us pure and holy. Such people manifest more pride than humility… for when they receive, they think of themselves as worthy. It is much better if, in humility of heart, knowing that we are never worthy of the Holy Mysteries we would receive them every Sunday for the healing of our diseases, rather than, blinded by pride, think that after one year we become worthy of receiving them” (St. John Cassian).

As we have seen there is nothing on our tradition that justifies our practice of infrequent communion. This new tradition is leading to a decay of our Church life and a deviation from the foundations of the Church. We simply attend liturgy now thinking that nothing more is required of us then to just sit and listen. We feel that once a year we need to fulfill our obligation and have a fast confession during Holy Week and then, feeling that we are now worthy, receive communion. If we desire a real renewal of the Church it will come from hunger for the Eucharist.

So how can we faithfully prepare for communion? What steps must we take to make this a reality in our lives? We see that two Sacraments have been joined together. We find it is necessary to receive sacrament of penance before one can receive communion.

Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann in his paper to the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America states that the “practice, and I repeat once more, a natural and self-evident one in the case of infrequent, once-a-year, communion, led to the appearance in the Church of a theory according to which the communion of the laity, different in this from the communion of the clergy, is impossible without the sacrament of penance, so that confession in an obligatory condition – always and in all cases – for communion. I dare to affirm that this theory not only has no foundation in Tradition, but openly contradicts the Orthodox doctrine of the Church, of the Sacrament of Communion and of that of Penance.”

What is the essence of the Sacrament of Penance? The Sacrament was the “sacrament of reconciliation with the Church of those excommunicated from her.” In other words those who have been excluded from the Eucharistic assembly. In short, the Sacrament of Penance was the sacrament of reconciliation with the Church for those who were excommunicated from the Church for definite sins, those clearly defined in the canonical tradition. This is not to say that members of the Church or the non-excommunicated are sinless on the contrary as the Church teaches that no human being is sinless. The prayers of forgiveness and remission are an important part of the Liturgy itself. “…and do not despise the sinner but have instituted repentance for salvation… Forgive us every transgression voluntary and involuntary…” (Trisagion Prayer). “…prostrate ourselves before your compassions toward our sins and the sinful errors of the people… Make us worthy to bring you prayers…” (First Prayer of the Faithful). “… that regarding our prayer, you will cleanse our souls and bodies from all defilement f flesh and spirit and grant us to stand innocent and uncondemned before your holy altar…” (Second Prayer of the Faithful). The Church has always considered the Sacrament itself “for the remission of sins.” So we see here a distinction between the sins that excommunicated one from the Church and the sinfulness that we are incapable of avoiding. The sinfulness of humanity is dissolved in the Church’s liturgy and is the “sinfulness that the Church confesses in the ‘prayers of the faithful’ before the offering of the Holy Gifts” (Schmemann). We believe that when we ask for the forgiveness of our “sins voluntary and involuntary, those in word and deed, committed knowingly and unknowingly” we are forgiven. Communion is given for the “remission of sins” and for the “healing of souls and body.” We need to be aware of our total unworthiness and understand that the gift we are about to receive can never be deserved by any earthly being.

The whole point behind the preparation for communion is not to make us feel worthy but to reveal to us the great “abyss” of God’s mercy and love. “Before the Lord’s Table the only ‘worthiness’ of the communicant is that he has been and realized his bottomless ‘unworthiness.’ This indeed, is the beginning of salvation” (Schmemann).

To use the words of Fr. Alexander, the making of sacrament of penance obligatory “mutilates” the doctrine of the Church. It creates two categories of members those who have been excommunicated from the Eucharist, as the “very content and fulfillment of membership.” And those whose membership is defined by paying dues and other secular materialistic definitions. It also mutilated the doctrine of Communion by making it the Sacrament of only the few worthy ones and not the Sacrament of the Church, of sinners who by the “infinite mercy of Christ” are transformed into “His Body.” It also replaces the genuine preparation for Communion, genuine inner repentance, with a three minute confession that makes one feel entitled to communion.

Interior conversion is what the whole of the Christian life is about. All of the practices of the Church are aimed at a transformation of our entire being, that it is a deep rooted change that makes us a different person. This is not something that one can do overnight, it takes a lifetime of struggle and practice. The Sacraments of the Church are designed as tools that will aid us in this struggle or dare I say journey to the Cross of Christ. The grace that we receive in the Sacraments of the Church will enable us and give us strength for the journey. Strength to pick up our cross and to follow Him. He is the way the truth and light, anything else is mere folly.

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Still Alive

Just a quick note before I dash off to a prayer service to let you all know that I am still alive. There has not been much to blog about these last few days but a round up will be coming soon. I also have a podcast planed for over the weekend so stay tuned for that. Not sure of the subject yet but it will have something to do with Lent.

Ok gotta dash!

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Alexy II Sends Easter Greetings to Pontiff

VATICAN CITY, MARCH 23, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia sent Easter greetings to Benedict XVI, which highlighted the optimism and joy implicit in the message of Christianity.

Vatican Radio reported that in the message Alexy II addresses “with his entire soul greetings of joy, health, divine benediction for a Holy Easter” to the Pope.

The contemporary world, the message continues, “places us before many difficulties and challenges. In many countries and regions bloody conflicts continue, hostility between peoples becomes more grave, attempts to drive Christian values from life and society continue.”

“But if the reality that surrounds us is complex, Christians are called to defeat skepticism and all the disgraces and difficulties, taking inspiration from the joy of Easter and the words of Christ.”
The Itar-Tass agency reports Alexy II also addressed messages to the principal exponents of the Protestant confessions. Orthodox Easter in Russia is celebrated, according to the Julian calendar, on April 27.

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Round Up

Yesterday was a rather busy day here in Village. It began with a funeral for a long time parishioner. This was a difficult one. About 3 months ago I did a funeral for the same family and this one took a toll on them. After the funeral, as is the custom here, we went to a local restaurant for the mercy meal. After I was back in the office preparing for Liturgy today.

We had Vespers as usual but a half hour early to give me enough time to leave here and go celebrate the Easter Vigil with a friend of mine. I know it is not Orthodox Easter yet, but it was nice to worship and not have to worry about the heat or my sermon or anything but worship it was a great experience but I got home way to late. So in bed after midnight and then up at 6am for Liturgy today. After liturgy and coffee hour I am off to the rents house to have dinner with the family and to spend a few days in rest. I did this last week and I was able to get a lot of reading done so it was well worth the journey. But I will have to cut it short as I have a funeral for a fellow fire chaplain on Tuesday.

As I write this from my office here in the Village the sun is streaming through the window but it is only 25 degrees out there. I know March is almost over and April is right around the corner but I cannot wait for the warm weather to get here. It is nice to be able to go out and feel the rays of the sun and it also means the lake house will be open soon. That brings to mind all the work that will take to open. Oh man I am tired already.

To my Western Christian readers Christ is Risen! To my Orthodox readers, hang in there it will be our turn soon. Just think, tomorrow we can get the Easter candy on Sale!

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Saturday of Souls

I should have posted this two weeks ago but it slipped my mind. In some Churches each Saturday during Lent is celebrated as a Saturday of Souls. Here is some information from the Greek Archdiocese website concerning this celebration.

Apolytikion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone
Only Creator who out of the depths of wisdom lovingly govern all things and upon all bestow what is accordingly best for them, give rest to the souls of Your servants, for they have placed their hope in You, our Author and Maker and God.

Kontakion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone
Give rest, O Christ, among the Saints to the souls of Your servants, where there is no pain, no sorrow, no grieving, but life everlasting.

Reading:
Through the Apostolic Constitutions (Book VIII, ch. 42), the Church of Christ has received the custom to make commemorations for the departed on the third, ninth, and fortieth days after their repose. Since many throughout the ages, because of an untimely death in a faraway place, or other adverse circumstances, have died without being deemed worthy of the appointed memorial services, the divine Fathers, being so moved in their love for man, have decreed that a common memorial be made this day for all pious Orthodox Christians who have reposed from all ages past, so that those who did not have particular memorial services may be included in this common one for all. Also, the Church of Christ teaches us that alms should be given to the poor by the departed one's kinsmen as a memorial for him.

Besides this, since we make commemoration tomorrow of the Second Coming of Christ, and since the reposed have neither been judged, nor have received their complete recompense (Acts 17:31; II Peter 2:9; Heb. 11:39-40), the Church rightly commemorates the souls today, and trusting in the boundless mercy of God, she prays Him to have mercy on sinners. Furthermore, since the commemoration is for all the reposed together, it reminds each of us of his own death, and arouses us to repentance.

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Morning Prayer

Thanks to Thee ever, O gentle Christ,
That Thou hast raised me freely from the black
And from the darkness of last night
To the kindly light of this day.

Praise unto Thee, O God of all creatures,
According to each life Thou hast poured on me,
My desire my word, my sense, me repute,
My thought, my deed, my way, my fame.

Carmina Gadelica, Hymns and Incantations, Collected in the Highlands and Island of Scotlad. By Alexander Carmichael Sphere: Related Content

20 March ~ St. Cuthbert

Bishop of Lindisfarne, patron of Durham, born about 635; died 20 March, 687. His emblem is the head of St. Oswald, king and martyr, which he is represented as bearing in his hands. His feast is kept in Great Britain and Ireland on the 20th of March, and he is patron of the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, where his commemoration is inserted among the Suffrages of the Saints. His early biographers give no particulars of his birth, and the accounts in the "Libellus de ortu", which represent him as the son of an Irish king named Muriahdach, though recently supported by Cardinal Moran and Archbishop Healy, are rejected by later English writers as legendary. Moreover, St. Bede's phrase, Brittania . . . genuit (Vita Metricia, c. i), points to his English birth. He was probably born in the neighbourhood of Mailros (Melrose) of lowly parentage, for as a boy he used to tend sheep on the mountain-sides near that monastery. While still a child living with his foster-mother Kenswith his future lot as bishop had been foretold by a little play-fellow, whose prophecy had a lasting effect on his character. He was influenced, too, by the holiness of the community of Mailros, where St. Eata was abbot and St. Basil prior. In the year 651, while watching his sheep, he saw in a vision the soul of St. Aidan carried to heaven by angels, and inspired by this became a monk at Mailros. Yet it would seem that the troubled state of the country hindered him from carrying out his resolution at once. Certain it is that at one part of his life he was a soldier, and the years which succeed the death of St. Aidan and Oswin of Deira seem to have been such as would call for the military service of most of the able-bodied men of Northumbria, which was constantly threatened at this time by the ambition of its southern neighbor, King Penda of Mercia. Peace was not restored to the land until some four years later, as the consequence of a great battle which was fought between the Northumbrians and the Mercians at Winwidfield. It was probably after this battle that Cuthbert found himself free once more to turn to the life he desired. He arrived at Mailros on horseback and armed with a spear. Here he soon became eminent for holiness and learning, while from the first his life was distinguished by supernatural occurrences and miracles. When the monastery at Ripon was founded he went there as guest-master, but in 661 he, with other monks who adhered to the customs of Celtic Christianity, returned to Mailros owing to the adoption at Ripon of the Roman Usage in celebrating Easter and other matters. Shortly after his return he was struck by a pestilence which then attacked the community, but he recovered, and became prior in place of St. Boisil, who died of the disease in 664. In this year the Synod of Whitby decided in favour of the Roman Usage, and St. Cuthbert, who accepted the decision, was sent by St. Eata to be prior at Lindisfarne, in order that he might introduce the Roman customs into that house. This was a difficult matter which needed all his gentle tact and patience to carry out successfully, but the fact that one so renowned for sanctity, who had himself been brought up in the Celtic tradition, was loyally conforming to the Roman use, did much to support the cause of St. Wilfrid. In this matter St. Cuthbert's influence on his time was very marked. At Lindisfarne he spent much time in evangelizing the people. He was noted for his devotion to the Mass, which he could not celebrate without tears, and for the success with which his zealous charity drew sinners to God.


At length, in 676, moved by a desire to attain greater perfection by means of the contemplative life, he retired, with the abbot's leave, to a spot which Archbishop Eyre identifies with St. Cuthbert's Island near Lindisfarne, but which Raine thinks was near Holburn, where "St. Cuthbert's Cave" is still shown. Shortly afterwards he removed to Farne Island, opposite Bamborough in Northumberland, where he gave himself up to a life of great austerity. After some years he was called from this retirement by a synod of bishops held at Twyford in Northumberland, under St. Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury. At this meeting he was elected Bishop of Lindisfarne, as St. Eata was now translated to Hexham. For a long time he withstood all pressure and only yielded after a long struggle. He was consecrated at York by St. Theodore in the presence of six bishops, at Easter, 685. For two years he acted as bishop, preaching and labouring without intermission, with wonderful results. At Christmas, 686, foreseeing the near approach of death, he resigned his see and returned to his cell on Farne Island, where two months later he was seized with a fatal illness. In his last days, in March, 687, he was tended by monks of Lindisfarne, and received the last sacraments from Abbot Herefrid, to whom he spoke his farewell words, exhorting the monks to be faithful to Catholic unity and the traditions of the Fathers. He died shortly after midnight, and at exactly the same hour that night his friend St. Herbert, the hermit, also died, as St. Cuthbert had predicted.


St. Cuthbert was buried in his monastery at Lindisfarne, and his tomb immediately became celebrated for remarkable miracles. These were so numerous and extraordinary that he was called the "Wonder-worker of England". In 698 the first transfer of the relics took place, and the body was found incorrupt. During the Danish invasion of 875, Bishop Eardulf and the monks fled for safety, carrying the body of the saint with them. For seven years they wandered, bearing it first into Cumberland, then into Galloway and back to Northumberland. In 883 it was placed in a church at Chester-le-Street, near Durham, given to the monks by the converted Danish king, who had a great devotion to the saint, like King Alfred, who also honoured St. Cuthbert as his patron and was a benefactor to this church. Towards the end of the tenth century, the shrine was removed to Ripon, owing to fears of fresh invasion. After a few months it was being carried back to be restored to Chester-le-Street, when, on arriving at Durham a new miracle, tradition says, indicated that this was to be the resting-place of the saint's body. Here it remained, first in a chapel formed of boughs, then in a wooden and finally in a stone church, built on the present site of Durham cathedral, and finished in 998 or 999. While William the Conqueror was ravaging the North in 1069, the body was once more removed, this time to Lindisfarne, but it was soon restored. In 1104, the shrine was transferred to the present cathedral, when the body was again found incorrupt, with it being the head of St. Oswald, which had been placed with St. Cuthbert's body for safety -- a fact which accounts for the well-known symbol of the saint.


From this time to the Reformation the shrine remained the great centre of devotion throughout the North of England. In 1542 it was plundered of all its treasures, but the monks had already hidden the saint's body in a secret place. There is a well-known tradition, alluded to in Scott's "Marmion", to the effect that the secret of the hiding-place is known to certain Benedictines who hand it down from one generation to another. In 1827 the Anglican clergy of the cathedral found a tomb alleged to be that of the saint, but the discovery was challenged by Dr. Lingard, who showed cause for doubting the identity of the body found with that of St. Cuthbert. Archbishop Eyre, writing in 1849, considered that the coffin found was undoubtedly that of the saint, but that the body had been removed and other remains substituted, while a later writer, Monsignor Consitt, though not expressing a definite view, seems inclined to allow that the remains found in 1827 were truly the bones of St. Cuthbert. Many traces of the former widespread devotion to St. Cuthbert still survive in the numerous churches, monuments, and crosses raised in his honour, and in such terms as "St. Cuthbert's patrimony", "St. Cuthbert's Cross", "Cuthbert ducks" and "Cuthbert down". The centre of modern devotion to him is found at St. Cuthbert's College, Ushaw, near Durham, where the episcopal ring of gold, enclosing a sapphire, taken from his finger in 1537, is preserved, and where under his patronage most of the priests for the northern counties of England are trained. His name is connected with two famous early copies of the Gospel text. The first, known as the Lindisfarne or Cuthbert Gospels (now in the British Museum, Cotton manuscripts Nero D 4), was written in the eighth century by Eadfrid, Bishop of Lindisfarne. It contains the four gospels and between the lines a number of valuable Anglo-Saxon (Northumbrian) glosses; though written by an Anglo-Saxon hand it is considered by the best judges (Westwood) a noble work of old-Irish calligraphy and illumination, Lindisfarne as is well known being an Irish foundation. The manuscript, one of the most splendid in Europe, was originally placed by its scribe as an offering on the shrine of Cuthbert, and was soon richly decorated by monastic artists (Ethelwold, Bilfrid) and provided by another (Aldred) with the aforesaid interlinear gloss (Karl Bouterwek, Die vier Evangelian in altnordhumbrischer Sprache, 1857). It has also a history scarcely less romantic than the body of Cuthbert. When in the ninth century the monks fled before the Danes with the latter treasure, they took with them this manuscript, but on one occasion lost it in the Irish Channel. After three days it was found on the seashore at Whithern, unhurt save for some stains of brine. Henceforth in the inventories of Durham and Lindisfarne it was known as "Liber S. Cuthberti qui demersus est in mare" (the book of St. Cuthbert that fell into the sea). Its text was edited by Stevenson and Warning (London, 1854-65) and since then by Kemble and Hardwick, and by Skeat (see LINDISFARNE). The second early Gospel text connected with his name is the seventh-century Gospel of St. John (now in possession of the Jesuit College at Stonyhurst, England) found in 1105 in the grave of St. Cuthbert.

Written by Edwin Burton. Transcribed by Paul Knutsen.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IV. Published 1908. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Nihil Obstat. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York

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Comments

Due to some recent unkind comments I will now be moderating comments on this blog. The offending comments have been deleted. I ask in charity that you post comments. Being unkind towards other of differing opinions is not Christian and will not be tolerated.

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Iraq Five Years Latter

Tonight will mark the fifth anniversary of the United States invasion of Iraq. Regardless of how you feel politically about the situation, please pray for those who have given their lives on both sides and be thankful for their honorable service. Let us also pray that it will end soon.

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Stichera for Presanctified Liturgy Tonight

Keeping a spiritual fast, O brethren, let us speak no lies with out tongue nor give our brothers and sisters cause for scandal. But through repentance, let us make the lamp of our soul burn brightly, and let us cry with tears to Christ: "Forgive us our trespasses in Your love for all."

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Episcopal Row

As a rule I do not comment on inter-jurisdicitonal arguments on this blog and I defiantly do not comment on things in other churches, however I am going to break my policy on this one.

For those of you who do not follow all things Episcopal/Anglican, the House of Bishops met this past week in Texas and it was revealed at this time that Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire is not invited to the Lambeth Conference this year. Lambeth is the once every 10 year gathering of all the Episcopal/Anglican bishops in the world. It seems that some bishops object to +Gene and his lifestyle. If you do not remember he is the bishops that is living in a open relationship with another man. Now I will say this, I don't necessarily agree with his lifestyle but he was canonically elected, consecrated and rules a diocese. I am sorry but just because you disagree with someone stand on issues does not mean they should not be invited. It seems that small minded people in the Anglican world are running the table here.

At the meeting in Texas when it was announced they told this bishop of the church that he could not pray and meet with them but that he was invited to set up a boot in the exhibition area of the meeting, like he is on display of some kind. I find this repugnant that the church would treat one of her bishops this way. Regardless of how you feel about +Gene personally you have to feel his pain in this situation. I for one feel very bad for him and for the Church in New Hampshire. I hope that wisdom prevails here and he is in fact invited to the meeting.

In charity please pray for +Gene and the Episcopal Church in New Hampshire.

UPDATE: I was giving some thought to this posting and I have come to a slightly different conclusion. Although I do not agree with the lifestyle choice of the bishop, it is his lifestyle and not mine. I am not in any position to judge him or anyone for that matter that is not my job that is for the Lord alone to do. Sometimes I think this world would be a much better place if everyone just worries about how they are living their lives and not how others do!

Nasty comments are not welcome and will be deleted!

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17 March ~ Saint Patrick, the Enlightener of Ireland

Apolytikion in the Third Tone
O Holy Hierarch, equal of the Apostles, Saint Patrick, wonderworker and enlightener of Ireland: Intercede with the merciful God that He grant unto our souls forgiveness of offences.

Kontakion in the Fourth Tone
The Master revealed thee as a skillful fisher of men; and casting forth nets of Gospel preaching, thou drewest up the heathen to piety. Those who were the children of idolatrous darkness thou didst render sons of day through holy Baptism. O Patrick, intercede for us who honour thy memory.

Reading:
Saint Patrick, the Apostle of the Irish, was seized from his native Britain by Irish marauders when he was sixteen years old. Though the son of a deacon and a grandson of a priest, it was not until his captivity that he sought out the Lord with his whole heart. In his Confession, the testament he wrote towards the end of his life, he says, "After I came to Ireland - every day I had to tend sheep, and many times a day I prayed - the love of God and His fear came to me more and more, and my faith was strengthened. And my spirit was so moved that in a single day I would say as many as a hundred prayers, and almost as many at night, and this even when I was staying in the woods and on the mountain; and I would rise for prayer before daylight, through snow, through frost, through rain, and I felt no harm." After six years of slavery in Ireland, he was guided by God to make his escape, and afterwards struggled in the monastic life at Auxerre in Gaul, under the guidance of the holy Bishop Germanus. Many years later he was ordained bishop and sent to Ireland once again, about the year 432, to convert the Irish to Christ. His arduous labours bore so much fruit that within seven years, three bishops were sent from Gaul to help him shepherd his flock, "my brethren and sons whom I have baptized in the Lord - so many thousands of people," he says in his Confession. His apostolic work was not accomplished without much "weariness and painfulness," long journeys through difficult country, and many perils; he says his very life was in danger twelve times. When he came to Ireland as its enlightener, it was a pagan country; when he ended his earthly life some thirty years later, about 461, the Faith of Christ was established in every corner.

From www.goarch.org

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Sunday of Orthodoxy ~ 1st Sunday of Great Lent

Resurrectional Apolytikion in the First Tone
The stone had been secured with a seal by the Judeans, * and a guard of soldiers was watching Your immaculate body. * You rose on the third day, O Lord * and Savior, grant­ing life unto the world. * For this reason were the powers of heaven crying out to You, O Life-giver: * Glory to Your resurrection, O Christ; * glory to Your eternal rule; * glory to Your dispensation, only One who loves mankind.

Resurrectional Kontakion in the First Tone
You arose from the sepulcher in glory as God, and with yourself resurrected the world. And mortal nature extolled You as God, and death was obliterated, and Adam is dancing, O Master; and Eve, now redeemed from the bonds, rejoices crying out: O Christ, You are He who grants resurrection to all.

Seasonal Kontakion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone
To you, Theotokos, invincible Defender, having been delivered from peril, I, your city, dedicate the victory festival as a thank offering. In your irresistible might, keep me safe from all trials, that I may call out to you: "Hail, unwedded bride!"

Reading:
For more than one hundred years the Church of Christ was troubled by the persecution of the Iconoclasts of evil belief, beginning in the reign of Leo the Isaurian (717-741) and ending in the reign of Theophilus (829-842). After Theophilus's death, his widow the Empress Theodora (celebrated Feb. 11), together with the Patriarch Methodius (June 14), established Orthodoxy anew. This ever-memorable Queen venerated the icon of the Mother of God in the presence of the Patriarch Methodius and the other confessors and righteous men, and openly cried out these holy words: "If anyone does not offer relative worship to the holy icons, not adoring them as though they were gods, but venerating them out of love as images of the archetype, let him be anathema." Then with common prayer and fasting during the whole first week of the Forty-day Fast, she asked God's forgiveness for her husband. After this, on the first Sunday of the Fast, she and her son, Michael the Emperor, made a procession with all the clergy and people and restored the holy icons, and again adorned the Church of Christ with them. This is the holy deed that all we the Orthodox commemorate today, and we call this radiant and venerable day the Sunday of Orthodoxy, that is, the triumph of true doctrine over heresy.

From www.goarch.org

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Catch Up

It has been a while since I wrote anything here so I thought I would jot a few words down before Liturgy this morning. I have been sick for about a month and I think I am finally coming out of it. My voice has returned and I am starting to feel better. I think part of it is because the weather is getting better here in New England as well. Yesterday Onchu and I spent sometime outside, it was wonderful. I was also able to get the rectory cleaned and do some laundry. I am taking the next few days off and going to my parents house, they are still in Florida until Wednesday, so I will have the place to myself. I like to get away every once in a while to read and write and get ahead on some homilies for the coming weeks. Although I usually end up laying on the sofa and watch TV. This time I am going to try and get something done.

What has been going on around here? Friday we had our Annual Ham Party and we did not have a great crowd. I am not sure what to do about this event. However those who came had a good time. We also served Corned Beef and Cabbage, prepared by your host, and everyone said they liked it. Maybe they were just saying that who knows, but there was not much left over. Yesterday, as I noted above was a good day and Vespers last night brought in more people than we have had in the past. It is nice to have more than three people at vespers. Today I get sort of a day off. Sunday of Orthodoxy here in Worcester County is a big deal. All 12 Orthodox Churches gather together in once place, with one of our Bishops, for a combined Liturgy. I have mixed feelings about this Liturgy. Most of my parishioners will not attend so they will not attend Church on this important first Sunday of Lent. So what to do? Anyway His Grace Bishop Nikon of the OCA and a very good friend of mine, will preside. I understand he is a little under the weather as well and will not serve the Liturgy. So there will be more priests than you can shake a stick at, and big procession at the end with all the Icons. Its fun, holy, peaceful, and I don't have to preach!

This week will start off slow then get busy. Like I said I am off for a few days but a working break. On Tuesday I have a Chaplains meeting at Harvard University and Wednesday one of my spiritual children will be here to see me. Wednesday night is Presanctified Liturgy here at St. Michael's and the rest will have to wait for another post.

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Palm Sunday

To all of my Western Christian readers I wish you a joyous Palm Sunday and a blessed Holy Week. I will remember you in my prayers at the altar today, and if you think of it say a little prayer for me as well.

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Collect for Friday

Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Prayer Book Office Sphere: Related Content

14 March ~ Benedict the Righteous of Nusia

Today on the Eastern Calendar is the feast of Benedict the Rigtheous of Nursia. I have a special place in my heart for Benedict as 10 years ago next Friday I took my first vows as a Benedictine at Glastonbury Abbey in Hingham, Massachusetts. I spent some of the best years of my life in the community and I often say if I knew then what I know now I would still be there. Benedict is known as the father of Western Monasticism as most of the monks in the Western World followed his rule of life. Benedict quoted St. Basil in many places in his rule and loved the early saints of the undivided church.

Here is his information from http://www.goarch.org/

Apolytikion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone

The image of God, was faithfully preserved in you, O Father. For you took up the Cross and followed Christ. By Your actions you taught us to look beyond the flesh for it passes, rather to be concerned about the soul which is immortal. Wherefore, O Holy Benedict, your soul rejoices with the angels.

Kontakion in the Fourth Tone

O sun that shinest with the Mystic Dayspring's radiance, who didst enlighten the monastics of the western lands, thou art worthily the namesake of benediction; do thou purge us of the filth of passions thoroughly by the sweat of thine illustrious accomplishments, for we cry to thee: Rejoice, O thrice-blessed Benedict.

Reading:

This Saint, whose name means "blessed," was born in 480 in Nursia, a small town about seventy miles northeast of Rome. He struggled in asceticism from his youth in deserted regions, where his example drew many who desired to emulate him. Hence, he ascended Mount Cassino in Campania and built a monastery there. The Rule that he gave his monks, which was inspired by the writings of Saint John Cassian, Saint Basil the Great, and other Fathers, became a pattern for monasticism in the West; because of this, he is often called the first teacher of monks in the West. He reposed in 547.

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Thursday Morning Prayer

As the light of dawn awakens earth's creatures
and stirs into song the birds of the morning
so may I be brought t life this day.
Rising to see the light
to hear the wind
to smell the fragrance of what grows from the ground
to taste its fruit
and touch its textures
so may my inner senses be awakened to you
so may my sense be awakened to you, O God.

Celtic Benediction, Morning and Night Prayer, J Philip Newell Sphere: Related Content

A Lenten Struggle

Shame on my thoughts, how they stray from me!

I fear great danger from this on the day of judgement.

During the Psalms they wander on a path that is not right;

They run, they distract, they misbehave before the eyes of the great God...

One moment they follow ways of loveliness, and the nest ways of riotous shame - no lie!

O beloved truly chaste Christ, to whom every eye is clear, may the grace of the sevenfold Spirit come to help them, to hold them in check!

Rule this heart of mine, O swift God of the elements, that you may be my love, and that I may do your will.

Traditional Gaelic Prayer Sphere: Related Content

10 March ~ St. John Ogilvie

The first papal canonisation creating saints did not take place until the Church had been in existence for twelve centuries. Among early saints was Scotland's Queen Margaret in 1250. In the eighth century Adamnan and his companions were recognized, but without formal processes of canonisation. There have been no further canonisations affecting Scotland until 1976, when the final processes for the canonisation of John Ogilvie were completed.

Ogilvie came to the cadet branch of the family well known in north-east Scotland. He was born in Banffshire so it is hardly correct to call him, as some books do, a Highlander, for most people from this corner of the country reject the title. They are of different stock and have a distinctly different accent.

It was this part - Moray, Nairn, Banff and Aberdeen - which at the Reformation clung most closely to 'the old faith', and districts like the Enzie and the Cabrach nurtured a new generation of priests. This mission of the Counter Reformation, as we might expect, became the especial care of the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits. It was the Jesuits who in the end trained and ordained the new saint, but by a roundabout route, for, while surrounded by the Catholicism of the district, his father, and as far as we know his other relatives, were Calvinists and emphatically Protestant.

In 1592 at the age of 13 the lad left home to complete his education on the continent - quite usual in those days for one in his station in society. At some point during the four years of his travels he turned from Calvinism to Catholicism. His personal arguments for this step were simple. The Protestants, he felt, lacked unity, antiquity and the power of miracles. IN 1596 he applied for admission to the Scots college of Douai, then housed at Louvain. Its students were largely from Scottish noble families. Within two years he was transferred to the Benedictine college at Ratisbon, then back tot he Jesuits at Olmutz. He became a novice in 1599.

His desire after his ordination was to return to the Jesuit mission in Scotland, and he knew only too well the dangerous nature of such work. Not until 1613 did his superiors allow him to join the Scottish mission. At the same tome Scots Catholicism was at a low ebb; James had allowed the consecration of Episcopalian bishops but intensified his persecution of the Catholics. Ogilvie, because of the penal laws, travelled as a horse dealer or a soldier. For a short period he removed to London but was sharply instructed by the authorities to return to Scotland where he found friendship and relative safety for a time with William Sinclair and his Catholic household. He ministered for a time in Glasgow and Renfrew as well as Edinburgh and his arrest came unexpectedly in Glasgow market-place where he was betrayed as a priest by on Adam Boyd,a nephew of the sheriff, who introduced himself as wanting instruction in the Catholic faith. Ogilvie was imprisoned both in Glasgow and in Edinburgh and during his imprisonment suffered torture, not so much physical as mental and psychological, through being deprived of sleep and propped upright for long periods. only when he was certified near to death was any respite granted.

The result of the examination was a foregone conclusion. The scaffold had already been prepared. At the end, Ogilvie asked the prayers of the Virgin, the Angels and the Saints. Below the scaffold the crowd of Glasgow citizens, mainly Protestants, were committing the unfortunate priest to God's mercy. 'If there be heere any hidden catholikes, let them pray for me,' came the final words from the scaffold,, 'but the prayers of heretics I will not have.' On all sides it was an age of intolerance.

C.D. Ford, A Highlander for Heaven, 1976

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Monday Morning Prayer

For the morning light
and its irresistible dawning,
for your untameable utterances of life
in boundless stretches of space
and the strength of the waves of the sea
I give you thanks, O God.
Release in me the power of your Spirit
that my souls may be free
and my spirit string.
Release in me the freedom of your Spirit
that I may be bridled by nothing but love
that I may be bridled only by love. Sphere: Related Content

Forgiveness Sunday

For all those whom I’ve caused offense, pain, or scandal, forgive me, a sinner. Sphere: Related Content

Sunday Morning Prayer

I watch this morning
for the light that the darkness has not overcome.
I watch for the fire that was in the beginning
and that burns still in the brilliance of the rising sun.
I watch for the glow of life that gleams in the growing earth
and glistens in the sea and sky.
I watch for your light, O God,
in the eyes of every living creature
and in the ever-living flam of my own soul.
If the grace of seeing were mine this day
I would glimpse you in all that lives.
Grant me the grace of seeing this day.
Grant me the grace of seeing.

Celtic Benediction, Morning and Night Prayer, J Philip Newell Sphere: Related Content

+ B A R T H O L O M E W BY THE MERCY OF GOD ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE NEW ROME AND ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH TO THE PLENITUDE OF THE CHURCH GRACE AND PEACE FROM OUR SAVIOR AND LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND FROM US BENEDICTION BLESSING AND FORGIVENESS

During this period of Holy and Great Lent, our Church calls us to repentance. Doubtless, as contemporary man hears this invitation to repentance, he does not feel comfortable, because he has accustomed himself to a certain way of life, and does not wish to question his own rectitude. Calling one's own rectitude into question produces feelings of insecurity,because the ideological structure within which you have sure and certain refuge is clearly risked.

However, a deeper examination of the issue compels us to accept that people's convictions do not "conform to objective reality, on the basis of reasonable judgment. Rather, they create a justification that is pleasing to self, namely: excuses in sins" (Psalm 140:4). When a person justifies his or her action sand self-vindicates on the basis of erroneous values, significant harm happens, because inevitably, the moment come when the truth emerges, and we find ourselves without excuse. Moreover, there may be no more time to adjust our convictions: that is, to repent of our sinful deeds and erroneous,through which we have tried to justify our behavior.

Now as Christians, we are used to both hearing about and practicing repentance, and we do not feel a conflict with our Church's call to repentance. However, there is a need for us to make a deliberate and conscious effort to realize that a complete repentance has two objectives.

The first objective is threefold: a renunciation of our sins, a decision to cease and desist from sinful deeds and habits, and a decision to make amends for the consequences of our sins. For example, the publican Zaccheus, who sincerely repented during his encounter with Christ, demonstrated his repentance in a practical way by repaying fourfold the very people from whom he had unjustly seized wealth.

The second objective of repentance is that we should change our mentality.We should replace our understandings with other higher and loftier ones; or in the words of the Psalmist: "to ascend in our hearts" (Psalm 83:6). This second objective needs to be pursued especially by those who are unconvinced by their consciousness about specific sins. For example, our understanding of love surely falls short of perfection; likewise our understanding of humility. For when we compare our own spiritual state to the perfection of God, a perfection we are called to imitate, surely we will see our shortcomings and realize the endless road we must traverse in order to find ourselves in the path of those who are like unto God.

As we examine the quality of our inner peace, we ascertain that we fall short of the peace of Christ "which surpasses all understanding" (Philippians 4:7). Pondering the level to which we trust our lives to God's Providence, we sadly realize that we are often seized by anxiety and uncertainty about the future, as if we were either of little faith or even with out faith. In general, upon examination of the purity of our conscience, we realize that we fall short of understanding correctly the many feelings we harbor within ourselves that are detrimental to our purity,often mistaking them as healthy. Thus, a new and more complete enlightenment of our conscience is needed through the teachings of the Fathers and of the Gospel, so that we will be in a better position to think critically about ourselves and our shortcomings, in line with the judgment of God. Since no one can claim to judge himself perfectly, by the same token no one can claim that he has no need of a renewed mind, a more enlightened mind, a transformation of mind, a correction of mind and mentality, i.e. a need of repentance.

The call of our Orthodox Church to repentance is not merely a call to self-reproach. Self-reproach can be useful, as are deep contrition and tears of repentance; but they are not of themselves sufficient. We need to experience the joy emanating from the forgiveness granted to us by God, the sense of deliverance from the burdens of the bondage of sin, and the sense of God’s love for us. Our repentance does not deprive us from the joy of life, making us indignant at the hearing of the sermon calling to repentance. Repentance means cleansing and enlightenment of our minds, more ardent love for Christ and His creation, freedom and joy through the newness of life into which we continually enter through our constant repentance.

The one who constantly repents, ever progresses, ever rejoices through new ascents, finds constant satisfaction in deeper understandings of all things.Through the transformation of mentality and understanding, the one who repents better understands the whole world, becomes wiser, more judicious,more discreet, nobler and a true friend of Christ. Therefore, the preaching of repentance should be favorably received by wise persons who are able to appreciate any improvement that comes from the renewal of the human person through repentance.

Therefore, brothers and sisters and beloved children in the Lord, let us accept the invitation of our Church to repentance as we have set forth above. Let us who have fallen short through sin cleanse ourselves from sin through confession. Let us constantly examine our own presuppositions, so our judgments and thoughts may be godly and pure, just and true.Finally, we paternally pray that all of you may enjoy the every assistance and help of the Lord on your road to repentance and throughout your renewed life in Christ.

Holy and Great Lent 2008
BARTHOLOMEW of Constantinople
The fervent intercessor for you all before God

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Archbishop Nicolae’s Message for the beginning of Great Lent

Before the Feast of the Lord’s Resurrection the Holy Church has established a period of seven weeks of fasting. More precisely we should say that there are six weeks plus one, for the seventh is Passion Week, a time which we consider beyond fasting and indeed any earthly effort.

What is the meaning of the Fast, and why does the Orthodox Church still preserve this special kind of preparation before our great feasts?

We must remember in the first place that fasting is related to one of God’s provisions for mankind. The Holy Fathers say that in Paradise man received the commandment to fast, to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, otherwise he would die. The purpose of the commandment was to protect man from falling away from God, which brings death. St. Basil the Great says, “Because we did not fast, we left Paradise and were driven out of it”. Beginning with the commandment in the Garden of Eden, continuing with the prophets Moses, Elijah, and Daniel, with St. John the Baptist, and then with the Savior Christ Himself, fasting has been a practice respected by all who wished to put aside material things in order to gain spiritual things.

The Savior makes a statement which reveals the profound meaning of fasting: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which comes out of the mouth of God”. This shows that fasting does not mean just starving ourselves by abstaining from food, but nourishing ourselves with another kind of food—spiritual food, which is the Word of God. The Savior tells us that man is not made of soul and body, the soul desiring spiritual things and the body desiring material things; but man is soul and body, and spiritual things can be nourishment even for the body.

In fasting we can experience the fact that our body can be nourished also by another kind of food, not only by bread. This is because, as a result of our efforts in fasting, the body begins to let go a little of its attachment to material things and to receive spiritual things more. The very matter with which we are in solidarity through our body begins to be spiritualized through the work of grace, to which is added man’s efforts to receive the Word of God. In fasting we begin to understand a certain communion which was established between God and man before the fall of Adam, a communion in which the entire being of man, soul and body, participated. We also begin to understand the communion which exists between us as people, related to our communion with God. The closer we get to God, the closer we get to our brothers as well.

In the light of these things, every time of fasting is a struggle for each Christian who desires to fast. Today’s world and our responsibilities in it don’t encourage our fasting. In every fast, the struggle comes in trying to find a certain balance between our ascetical efforts and fulfilling our daily responsibilities. But this struggle will bring spiritual joy for the one who fasts and discovers the meaning of our Savior’s words about feeding on the Word of God.

† NICOLAE

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Pope invites Patriarch to join Synod meeting

Vatican, Mar. 7, 2008 (CWNews.com) - During a brief March 6 conversation with Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) invited the Orthodox leader to join in the October meeting of the Synod of Bishops.

The Holy Father also invited the Ecumenical Patriarch to participate in Vatican ceremonies celebrating the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul on June 29. Each year the Constantinople patriarchate sends an ecumenical delegation to Rome for that feast day, just as the Vatican sends delegates to Constantinople for the patronal feast of St. Andrew.

However, the Pope encouraged Patriarch Bartholomew himself to join in the Vatican celebration this year, when the feast day will inaugurate a special year dedicated to St. Paul. If the Orthodox leader accepts the invitation, it would be returning the visit that Pope Benedict paid to Constantinople in November 2006.

The Synod of Bishops will meet in October to discuss the theme: "The Word of God in the life and mission of the Church." The Pope's invitation to Patriarch Bartholomew to join in that discussion underlines the warmth of ecumenical relations between the two prelates and between Rome and Constantinople.

During his visit to Rome, the Ecumenical Patriarch spoke at the Pontifical Oriental Institute, of which he is an alumnus. Invoking the image used frequently by the late Pope John Paul II, Patriarch Bartholomew said that the Eastern and Western churches are the two "lungs" of the Christian world, and "must work together in harmony."

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Saturday Morning Prayer

In the silence of the early morning
your Spirit hovers over the brink of the day
and new light pierces the darkness of the night.
In the silence of the morning
life begins to stir around me
and I listen for the day's first utterances.
In the earth, sea and sky
and in the landscape of my own soul
I listen for utterances of your love, O God.
I listen for utterances of your love. Sphere: Related Content

I Lie Down This Night

I lie down this night with God,
And God will lie down with me;
I lie down this night with Christ,
And Christ will lie down with me;
I lie down this night with the Spirit,
And the Spirit will lie down with me;
God and Christ and the Spirit
Be lying down with me.

Carmina Gadelica, Hymns and Incantations, Collected in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, by Alexander Carmichael Sphere: Related Content

6 March ~ St. Baldred

Two saintly men are held in special honor by the folk of East Lothian ad treasured as peculiarly their own. The two were very different in their lives and their beliefs: Baldred, an anchorite (hermit) who lived in the Dark Ages and Blackadder the Covenanter of the seventeenth century. Both were by family East Lothian men though their missionary journeys took them widely through the Boarders and beyond. The grey cliffs of the Bass were home to both for at least a good portion of life: the hermit Baldred because he choose to have it that way, the Covenanter Blackadder because he was prisoned there till he died.

It was long accepted that he had been a follower of St. Kentigern and had worked with and under that great missionary around the beginning of the seventh century. However, recent research compels students of the period to forsake the dates in the Aberdeen Breviary and accept the dating of Simeon of Durham that Baldred died ('tod the way of the Holy Fathers' as Simeon so much more graciously puts it) 'in the 29th year of King Egbert of Northumbria', which marks it as 756. Not much can be written about the life of an anchorite except that he fulfilled his chosen work in his chosen cell and passed on the missionary task to the next generation. Every generation, though, needs fresh conversions, for Dean Inge once wrote truly 'each generation represents a fresh invasion of the barbarians'.

It is clear that even Baldred did not spend all his years in his cave for he left several place-names in East Lothian suggesting his presence. Baldred's Chapel at Tantallon is now little more than a ruin. At Aldham Bay you may see the rock called Baldred's Boat when the tide is out. Like other medieval saints, if no boat was handy he just sailed over on a rock. 'Baldred's Cradle', further down the coast, is a terrifying fissure in the rocks through which the tides roar when the storms come. Prestonkirk and Tyningham parishes have many memorials of Baldred and the kirk at the former place may well be the site of his chapel. His huge stone image is said to have lain there till 1770 when a new kirk was built and a mason, perhaps inspired by shades of Blackadder, took a hammer and broke the image up.

A.P. Forbes, Kalendars of Scottish Saints, 1872

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Morning Prayer

Bless to me, O God,
My soul and my body;
Bless to me, O God,
My belief and my condition;

Bless to me, O God,
My heart and my speech,
And bless to me, O God,
The handling of my hand;

Strength and busyness of morning,
Habit and temper of modesty,
Force and wisdom of thought,
And Thine own path, O God of virtues,
Till I go to sleep this night;

Thine own path, O God of Virtues,
Till I go to sleep this night.

Carmina Gadelica, Hymns and Incantations, Collected in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, by Alexander Carmichael Sphere: Related Content

Vegetable Stock

Since it is Meatfare week and we are now in the fast period I thought I would post some recipes that I have used in the past. One of the most basic things to cook during the fast is soup. My friend Br. Victor from Our Lady of the Resurrection Monastery in New York always has a pot of soup on the stove. Soup stock is easy to make and it can be frozen for weeks. Make a big pot and then freeze it and use it as necessary. The following recipe comes from the book When you Fast. You really can use any combination of veggies for this stock.

2 Cups Chopped Onions
4 Carrots, peeled and Chopped
2 Celery Stalks, Chopped
2 Bay Leaves
1/2 cup tightly packed or 2/3 cup loosely packed chopped fresh parsley
2 Large Garlic Cloves
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
2 teaspoons salt
14 cups cold water

Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 25 minutes. Strain and cool. Makes about 10 cups.

You really do not need to chop the veggies just peel them and throw them in the water. Make sure the water is cold as you get better results, and once the stock come to the boil turn it down right away. Sphere: Related Content

Podcast Episode #16

Episode #16 of Shepherd of Souls Podcast is now online.

PODCAST

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3 March ~ St. Ailred

Ailred was born in 1109, the son of a married priest of Hexham. He appears to have been well connected, for he was a lifelong friend of King David I of Scotland and the king's son, Henry, whose dominion stretched far south across what was later to be the border. Ailred passed from boyhood to manhood and was appointed seneschal of Scotland. He relinquished a brilliant career at court to become a monk when, in 1134, he entered the great and beautiful Rievaulx in Yorkshire as a Cistercian. He left nine years latter to become abbot of Ravesby in Lincolnshire. After four years he was back at Rievaulx as abbot.

Apart from his friendship with the royal family, Ailred had many Scottish links. He delighted in visiting Dundrennan and the other Scottish Cistercian houses, and he wrote the life of St. Ninian which became the standard biography. He was a close friend of Godric, the hermit of Finchale.

His theological works showed not only a great depth of learning, but also spirituality; foremost among these were Speculum Caritatis (The Mirror of Charity) and De Spirituali Amicitia (On Spiritual Friendship). Among the finest gems of medieval devotion is his great pastoral prayer for his family of monks. An extract (translated) reads:

To thee, my comfort and my God, I humbly own
That I am not as contrite and as fearful as I ought to be
For my past sins.
Nor do I feel enough concern about my present ones.
And Thou, Sweet Lord, hast set a man like this over they family.
Me, who take all too little trouble with myself.
Thou biddest to be concerned on their behalf;
And me, who never pray for them.
I, who never pray enough about my own sins,
Thou wouldst have pray for them.
I, who have taught myself so little too,
Have also to teach them.
Wretch that I am, what have I done?
What have I undertaken? What was I thinking of?
Or rather, Sweet Lord, what wast Thou thinking of

Regarding this poor wretch?

Ailred died a Christmas 1166, prematurely worn out not only by his responsible monastic duties but by illness. From living for years in damp, cold buildings, he contracted very severe arthritis and internally he suffered from kidney and bladder disorders. His faithful biographer monk, Walter Daniel, tells a little about the beloved abbot's terrible pain, with constant rising during the night for relief.

Ailred was never formally canonised but from the beginning his Cistercian brethren accorded his the honor of a saint.

His festival is 3 March, or 3 February for the Cistercian Order.

F.M. Powicke (ed), The Life of Ailred of Rievaulx by Walter Daniel, 1950

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Orthodox Church in Alaska

I do not like to comment on struggles that go on in other jurisdictions but I cannot remain silent any longer on the situation in Alaska. Surf on over to the ocanews.org site for an update. When the stories first came into the light of day I was giving people the benefit of the doubt to the people in command there but things are not looking good.

It all began with the alleged sexual harassment of Paul Sidebottom and then led to the Chancellor going off for rehab. Then the bishop appoints someone a reader who is a convicted sex offender. Now we are seeing letters from clergy about other abuses at the hand of the bishop. Bishops are supposed to be fathers for their diocese and not a tyrant. This bishop seems to have crossed the line and should be removed for the sake of the church.

All of the Orthodox Church in America should be concerned about this situation. We owe a great debt to the Church in Alaska and such greats as St. Herman and St. Innocent. Let us pray for the Church in Alaska and her people. My prayer is that the Synod of the OCA responds to their calls for help. If this bishop is removed and a new bishop is assigned, he should spend the first year kissing the feet of everyone in the diocese as a sign of humility.

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1 March ~ David of Wales

When Scots folk talk of St. David more often than not they mean the patron of Wales, Dewi Sant, rather than King David, Son of Queen Margaret. Dewi Ddyfrwr, David the water drinker, was roughly contemporary with Columba but he lacked a biographer like Adamnan to record his life and works. Rhygyfarch (1057-99) came so much later that his Latin Life of St. David, alleges Professor Bowen, 'cannot be relied on for a single historical fact'.

Traditionally obligingly furnished the saint with a princely pedigree - son of a Welsh chief named Sant, great-grandson of Cunedda Wledig, the famous prince who led his people south from Scotland to help the Welsh Britons to repel Irish invaders. His mother was Nonnita, also reputedly the daughter of a chief, although another suggestion says that she was a nun raped by the prince.

David was born on the Cardigan coast at a place called Mybyw, Latinised to Menevia, now Henfynw. When he set up a community he chose a place further south on a neck of land, the Vallis Rosina or Valley of the Little Bog. Later, in his honor, it was known as Ty Ddewi, David's House, and it is now the miniature cathedral city of St. David's. Later, when Canterbury achived control of the Welsh Church, history was distorted to present David as the first diocesan bishop of sout-west Wales corresponding to St. Dubricius at Llandaf in the south-east. Diocesan or monarchical bishops came to the British Church much latter than David's time and we should picture the ancient Ty Ddewi as the simple cultic center of a very large number of daughter communities, the 'family' or 'parouchia' of the saint. David probably represented a 'puritan' element of the early British Church which led to his nickname of 'Waterman' and his monastic rules were probably more severe than those imposed in other monasteries.

Bowen has plotted the sites of some two score Dewi 'cills' or churches in south-west Wales, a smaller cluster in Gwent and over into Hereford, and several separated foundations in Cornwall, Devon and Brittany, but there is no record of a single ancient foundation honoring David any further north. Only by courtesy, therefore, could he be considered patron of all Wales; and even in the south, saints such as Teilo or Padarn would have equal right to the honor.

In addition to the Scottish link if the saint's descent from the chieftain, Cunedda Wledig, be accepted, Dr. A.B. Scot suggested that David had been educated at Candida Casa - an attractive possibility but without any obvious historical foundation. In the west of Scotland there are several ancient dedications, introducing forms such as Kildavie (Southend); Weem (Perthshire) has David as patron, and there is a Cladh-cill-Dabhi (rock of David's chapel), a Davie's fair, a Kildave and a Dundaveie near Aberfeldy. Kippendavie in near dunblane and there are other similar dedications. It is unlikely, however, that these have a connection with the Welsh saint. It has been suggested (by Frank Knight and others) that they derive from St. Dabius, a follower of St. Patrick. Dewi Sant's emblem is not a leek or a daffodil but is in fact a dove.

E.G. Bowen, Settlements of Celtic Saints in Wales, 1955
A.W. Wade-Evens, Welsh Christian Origins, 1934 Sphere: Related Content