Doctors needed for OCMC Health Care Missions

Posted on by Fr. Peter

Medical personnel, especially doctors and health care providers, are needed to conduct medical clinics and offer health instruction in communities around the world that have limited access to basic medical care and regular medical attention. By participating on a health care outreach, you will help treat various common illnesses found in other parts of the world, including malaria, parasites, and other tropical diseases. Medical personnel participate in an outreach of the local Church to heal the sick, care for the poor and needy, and offer a living witness to the healing love of Christ as our Lord and Savior.
OCMC health care teams travel to regions where most clinics are set up in church buildings, existing health care facilities, schools, or outside in remote locations that often do not have access to electricity. The team will provide various health care services and apply “field medicine”.
The Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC) is offering two Health Care Mission Team opportunities in 2012. A Team to eastern and northern Uganda and another Team to western Tanzania will serve numerous communities and provide medical care to hundreds of people. Additionally, the Tanzania Team will work with long-term OCMC Health Care missionaries.
OCMC invites you to join this holistic mission experience that ministers to both the physical and spiritual needs of people with very limited access to medical care. For more information on how to apply, please visit our Web site, http://www.ocmc.org/ , or e-mail us at teams@ocmc.org.

Distorting the Debate of Religious Freedom

Posted on by Fr. Peter

By Rep. Darrell Issa

Let’s make something perfectly clear: I support a woman’s right to use contraceptives. I don’t question whether women and men have a right to use contraception — I believe they do. This is not about religious freedom versus contraception but about religious freedom versus unconstitutional mandates.

When Congress granted broad powers and authority to the Obama administration through the 2010 health care overhaul, it was never explained that the administration would use those powers to launch an assault on religious freedom.

In an unscripted but revealing moment, then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) infamously said Americans “cling to guns or religion … to explain their frustrations.” Four years later, actions taken by his administration have thrown our nation into a very fundamental debate about the proper role of government in our lives.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee recently convened the first Congressional hearing on the administration’s mandate that religious employers pay for abortion-inducing drugs, contraceptives and sterilization procedures in their employee health care plans, despite the fact that some of these items and services violate the employers’ core religious teachings.

The committee heard from a Catholic, a Lutheran, a Baptist, a rabbi and university administrators united in their opposition to the administration’s mandate. These men and women spoke eloquently about their concerns, not because they share the same views about contraception or even abortion (they do not) but because they value their religious freedom, guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution.

It was the committee’s hope to engage in a robust debate about the First Amendment infringements created by the administration’s proposal. Unfortunately, Congressional Democrats directed by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) were more interested in political theater and decided to cast the hearing about something that it wasn’t.

Our nation’s founders believed so fervently in religious liberty that they established the First Amendment so people of all faiths could practice free from the fear of persecution or harassment.

As Democrats asked, “Where are the women?” 20 feet from them, Dr. Allison Garrett from Oklahoma Christian University and Dr. Laura Champion from Calvin College would explain their belief that this was an issue of religious freedom, not contraception.

“This debate is not about whether women have the right to obtain these drugs,” Garrett said. “Rather, this debate is about whether those who believe that contraceptives or abortifacients violate their religious convictions must pay for them. There is a vast difference between the right to make a purchase for oneself and requiring someone else to pay for it.”

According to Champion’s testimony, the issue is not about contraception because “contraception is not controversial at our school.”

The core issue we explored at the hearing was the federal government’s efforts to compel religious institutions to use their own money to pay for services that directly violate their religious teachings.

Given the purpose of this hearing, some of the theatrics and rhetoric from the left that followed had more to do with scoring partisan points than contributing to a constructive dialogue about the Constitution and basic freedoms.

For purported proponents of the First Amendment to cavalierly discard concerns about infringements of the protection to practice a faith freely is a disappointing, but not surprising, contradiction.

The smoke screen of the left’s efforts to distort the conversation is designed to mask the legitimacy of efforts to protect freedom of religion and conscience. This is not just a concern for one church or one faith, but one that affects all Americans who value their constitutional rights.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

The Prayer of St. Ephrem

Posted on by Fr. Peter
O Lord of my life, take away from me the spirit of laziness, faintheartedness, ambition and idle talk. But grant me rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love. Yes, O Lord and King! Grant me to see my own sins and faults and not to judge my neighbor, for you are truly blessed forever. Amen.
This prayer, composed by the great Father of the Church Ephrem of Syria, is recited from Monday to Friday throughout Lent after each liturgical office of the Byzantine rite of the Church. It is a prayer of great antiquity and is highly treasured in the Eastern Church. Saint Ephrem was a monk and a deacon, refusing like Saint Benedict to be ordained to the priesthood because of his profound humility.
Saint Ephrem’s prayer is called “the Lenten Prayer” because it encompasses the true spirit of Lent. It is like a check list of the virtues we ought to strive for during this holy season. The emphasis is on repentance and humility, the two essential elements of true conversion. In the practice of the Eastern Church, the prayer is accompanied by a deep bodily prostration after each petition. The prostration, besides being penitential, is symbolic of the repentance in which we hope to grow during Lent. After the last prostration, the prayer of “O God, cleanse me from my sins” is repeated twelve times. The faithful repetition of the prayer, three times daily throughout the forty days, sustains us in our daily efforts to work out our personal conversion. The prayer slowly grows in our hearts and helps create within us the necessary climate for true and humble repentance. I often think of Ephrem’s prayer as a mirror, wherein we can look at ourselves honestly, with all of our daily failings and shortcomings, and yet take courage to continue the journey because we trust in God’s loving mercy.
Brother Victor-Antoine d’Avila-Latourrette, OSB
Blessings of the Daily ~ A Monastic Book of Days

Sunday of Orthodoxy Vespers

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Sunday of Orthodoxy Icon
Last night, clergy and laity from the 12 Orthodox Churches in our area joined together to celebrate the Sunday of Orthodoxy. The first Sunday of Lent is set aside to remember the restoration of the Icons that took place at the 7th Ecumenical Council. It is always a wonderful experience to gather with fellow clergy around one of our bishops and celebrate. We were joined this year by the newly consecrated Bishop John of the Antiochian Diocese of Worcester at his Cathedral of St. George. It was also nice to see so many from St. Michael make the trip into Worcester for the Service. Sunday can be a long day and I am very grateful to everyone who came.
I learned a valuable lesson last night, always drive to a place the way you know how to go! I have been driving to the Cathedral for almost 8 years now. I always go the same way, well last night I decided to go a different way and sure enough, I ended up on the opposite side of town than I needed to be on. A frantic call to Fr. Greg, and I was back on track. Luckily we Orthodox like to start everything late so I was almost right on time only missing the very start of the service.
The service was amazing and Bishop John preached a wonderful sermon on unity. It was nice to hear those words from an Orthodox Bishop.
Thanks to the folks at the Cathedral for organizing the service and for the wonderful refreshments after.

Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) on Religious Freedom

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA)
This is how an Orthodox politician should speak, standing up for what is right unlike Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and a Greek Orthodox Christian, Sen. Snowe, who announced her retirement last week, voted down the Blunt Amendment to restore Religious Liberty in US.  Sen. Snowe voted against the Church on this one.  Here is a statement made by Rep. Issa:

Date: Feb. 16, 2012
Location: Washington, DC

Americans of all faiths have a right to practice their religion free from the fear of persecution or harassment from their government. Our nation’s founders believed this and enshrined religious freedom into the First Amendment to the Constitution.

While some Americans may not feel that government mandates forcing them to pay for contraception are an infringement on their religious beliefs, others consider it to be an assault against their freedom of conscience. A government policy that encroaches on the conscientious objections of religious groups concerns all Americans who value the protections of the First Amendment. Today, the committee will hear testimony from leaders of different faiths. They are concerned that government, under this Administration, is encroaching on their First Amendment rights.

The Administration’s actions have forced us to confront a more fundamental question about the proper role of government in our lives.

This hearing is about basic question of religious freedom, and whether or not protection will be afforded to religious institutions who wish to follow their conscience in refusing to pay for products they find morally objectionable. I look forward to hearing from today’s witnesses.

http://oversight.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view;=article&id;=1089&Itemid;=20

Sunday of Orthodoxy Sermon

Posted on by Fr. Peter
To the glory of God Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Glory to Jesus Christ!  Glory Forever!

Today we commemorate the restoration of the Icons that took place at the 7th Ecumenical Council in 787. Prior to this Council Icons had been declared Idols and therefore were not allowed to be used or created. Many of the images from those early days had been destroyed, although some were saved by hiding them in various places. Today, on this first Sunday of the Great Lent, we remember that day and reaffirm our belief is what is Orthodox. At the close of the Liturgy we will recite the Synodal Affirmation of Faith, which is found in the bulletin. Tonight we will gather with Orthodox Christians from all over Worcester County to celebrate this feast day.

As Orthodox we know that we do not worship the wood and the paint of the Icon for if we did that would indeed be an Idol and would have no place in our worship. Saint Basil the Great said, “The honor shown to the image passes to its prototype.” By honoring the image portrayed in the Icon we show honor to the prototype or who it is in the image. We Orthodox surround ourselves with Icons. At St. Mary’s Albanian Orthodox Church in Worcester there is not one flat surface in the church that does not have an Icon on it. Our temple here is adorned with Icons that assist us in our worship, and by venerating the paint and wood we are indeed venerating the very face of God.
Imagine a point in time in history when Icons were illegal. Imagine a point in time in history when all of the Icons you see here in our Church would have been confiscated or in some way desecrated. That point was prior to the 7th Ecumenical Council. But the controversy goes much deeper than that. The controversy surrounded the very nature of Christ. Was Christ truly human and truly divine? Was He human and divine from the very beginning or did this combination happen at another point in time in history?
History tells us that the Emperor Leo the 3rd declared that Icons were graven images and therefore should be outlawed. The government was telling the church how it was to worship! It was not until the Empress Irene in 780 came along that Icons were restored. Then it started up again between 815 and 843 until Empress Theodora ended this nonsense for good. I find it amazing that it took to women to smack some sense into people!
But what about veneration of other Icons or images? What about the veneration of the image that is found in humanity? We are so quick to defend the images displayed here made of wood and paint but we are not so quick to defend the Icons made of flesh and blood. You see each created person, each human man and woman is a living Icon created in the image and likeness of the creator. Every human being, Christian or not, is that living Icon, the image of the prototype and when we venerate them we honor the very creator.
We live in a society that does not place a very high value on human life at any point along the spectrum of that life. We have more laws governing the treatment of animals then we do the treatment of people. Poverty, hunger, torture, war, unemployment, abortion, euthanasia, discrimination all of these show dishonor to the image and therefore show dishonor to God.
Our Orthodox Church, from the very beginning of its history, is pro-life. We may disagree when life begins, be it at conception or attachment, but we hold that all life is sacred from its very beginning to it natural end. This is not a theology that we came upon lightly; we came upon this theology due to the fact that the very image of the creator is contained in its creation from the start.
Although our church has been, and please God, always will be, some people in our church feel that it is okay to honor politicians who hold contrary positions to that of the Church. Some of our Orthodoxy organizations give seats of honor to these, so called, Orthodox politicians who have the highest rating by the pro-choice advocates in our country. It is not easy to get the 100% rating from NARAL but we have Orthodox Congressmen and Women who have obtained that very rating and they are proud of it! The sad part is some in the church remain silent when these, so called, Orthodox Christians vote the way they so. Priests will commune them, knowing they are in a state of grave sin, bishops will have their photos taken with their arms around them and Organizations like the IOCC will honor them all because it will bring in money! We have sold our faith for 30 pieces of silver and we show dishonor to the very image of God!
Friends we live in desperate times. We live in times where people only care about what they want, and want it on their terms. Oh they will call themselves Orthodox but it has to be on terms that they decide. We live in a society where life is worth nothing, where pepper spraying someone in Wal Mart for a pair of sneakers seems to be the sport of the day. Where we care more for the latest gadget then we do for fasting and praying. Where our job has become our religion and Sunday has become just another day of the week to do whatever we want to do. We fill our bodies with man manipulated food and we are killing ourselves, and by all of these things we are showing dishonor to the creator, we are showing dishonor to God. We might as well take all of these Icons in this church outside and smash them on the ground!
Friends it is time for to wake up. It is time for us to take the blinders off. Recently I spoke about some changes the Government was trying to force down our throats. One of the best things to come out of this was how it united not only Christians but all people of faith to fight for what is right. For a short period of time, over this one issue, we were united and we were able to push back, not far enough, but we were able to push back. Our bishops, very reluctantly, joined in on this fight. They had to be publically embarrassed in order for them to take a stand for what is right. I find this completely incomprehensible that the bishops of our church would stay silent while the church was coming under attack.
I have spoken a lot about one of our former priests here at St. Michael Fr. Vasilachi. Many of you sitting here today knew him and knew what he went through in Romania. Fr. Vasilachi, and many more like him, were thrown into prison for speaking up for those who had no voice. He spoke against the government of his day because of what was being done to the people and for that he spent 18 years in prison and was forced to leave his home. He watched his brother die in prison for speaking the truth about what was going on. The new Saint Andrei Şaguna, who our Ladies Society here at St. Michael is named after, was a revolutionary and stood up against the government of his day, he is now honored in Romania as a saint and as one of her greatest heroes, and there are thousands more that we will never know. They stood up for what is right and we must do the same thing!
I say all of this to remind us that when we remain silent, when we give in on a position of our faith even a little, when we say it is okay when Orthodox politicians disgrace the faith with their votes, when we say it will never happen to us, we do all of those who gave their life for the faith a disservice, we dishonor their memory and dishonor all that they fought for. It is time for all of us to wake up!
Great Lent is a time for us to take stock of our lives. I will be honest and say that when I see the destruction this past week it makes me stop and think about the things that are important. I know these things are not due to God’s wrath, but it does make me stop and think about what we are doing and where we are headed. Is this some kind of a sign? Is this a reminder from God?
When you come forward at the end of Liturgy today and venerate these Icons, when you venerate you’re Icons at home, think about how you show veneration to the Icons of flesh and blood. Do you show more veneration to these man made Icons then you do for the God made ones? Something needs to change!
We venerate Your most pure image, O Good One, and ask forgiveness of our transgressions, O Christ God. Of Your own will You were pleased to ascend the Cross in the flesh to deliver Your creatures from bondage to the enemy. Therefore with thanksgiving we cry aloud to You: You have filled all with joy, O our Savior, by coming to save the world. (Troparion of the Sunday of Orthodoxy)
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Glory to Jesus Christ!

A Monk is to be Dead to the World

Posted on by Fr. Peter

A monk is to be dead to the world, for by his very vocation he is called to be set apart, living a life in imitation of the angels. Whether he be praised or offended, a monk must react as though he were a dead man. He must not be disturbed by insults, nor prideful when people praise him.
In his obedience and humility, he finds beauty in a hidden life. 
Abbot Tryphon of Vashon Island

3 March ~ St. Non of Wales

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Non (also Nonna or Nonnita) was, according to Christian tradition, the mother of Saint David (Dewi Sant), the patron saint of Wales…
Her legend states that she was seduced by a chieftain named Sant or Sanctus and gave birth to David. Variations on her story state that she was either married to Sant before David’s birth or after the birth of the saint. By tradition, she brought the boy up at Llanon (the village being named after her). Subsequently, she would travel to Cornwall and ultimately end her days in a Breton convent.
Rhigyfarch, the late 11th century author of David’s vita, wrote that the saint was the son of sanctus rex ceredigionis, where Sanctus has been interpreted as a proper name and its owner honoured by Welsh Christians as Sandde, King of Ceredigion. However, this Latin phrase can equally well mean simply “holy king of Ceredigion”. David was conceived through violence and his mother, Non, the daughter of the nobleman Cynyr of Caer Goch (in Pembrokeshire), gave birth to him on a cliff top in the middle of a violent storm. The pain of birth was said to have been so intense that Non’s fingers left marks as she grasped a rock and, as David was born, a bolt of lightning is said to have split the rock in two. It is also believed that the two split pieces of rock were the foundation stones for St. David’s Cathedral and St Non’s Chapel.

2 March ~ St. Chad of Lichfield

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Our father among the saints Chad of Lichfield and Mercia (+672) also called St. Caedda was a missionary, bishop, healer, and wonderworker who spread the Orthodox Catholic Faith throughout the British Isles. His feast day is commemorated on March 2.

Everything we know of this great hierarch comes from the writings of St. Bede in his “Ecclesiastical History”, written in 731.

St. Chad, the youngest of four brothers, was born into a humble Northumbrian family near the beginning of the seventh century. His brothers, St. Cedd, St. Cynebil and righteous Caelin all became monks. A family of saints, these four men studied under the great sainted-hierarch and monk, Aidan of Lindisfarne. Saint Aidan was a great source of spiritual insight to these four men, all four became priests of the holy Church. They were sent to Ireland under the great geronda (elder) and saint, Egbert, at the monastery of Rathmelsige (Melfont), for advanced study and training in the monastic life.

Chad worked tirelessly with his brother Cedd (who had been made bishop of London), they established the monastery of Laestingaeu, now Lastingham in Yorkshire. Upon the death of his brother Cedd in 664, Chad succeeded him as abbot.

St. Wilfrid was chosen to become bishop of Lindisfarne after the death of bishop Tudi. He travelled to Gaul for consecration and remained so long absent that King Oswiu (ruler of Northumbria) demanded a bishop. Having learned of the missionary exploits and great humility of Chad, called for his election as Bishop of York, to which place the See of Lindisfarne had been transferred.

St. Chad was consecrated (uncanonically) by Bishop Wini of Worcester and two schismatic British bishops to the See of York.

Saint Chad was hesitant to be bishop, he wanted no part of it, but ultimately he was obedient. As bishop of York, he was much beloved by his flock, travelling great distances on foot to care for his “little sheep.” When St. Wilfrid returned to York and found out his See was given away, he made no objection and retired to a monastery in peace. Saint Chad, a Celtic Bishop, played a huge role in unifying the Church in 664 by accepting and recommending to his fellow bishops the adoption of the Orthodox Nicaean calendar.

In the year 668, Saint Theodore of Tarsus assumed the central Cathedra and became Archbishop of Canterbury and immediately sought about reforming the churches in England and Ireland. Up until this time, the Church in the Isles was not following proper canonical order set down by the Ecumenical Councils. St. Theodore of Tarsus was sent by the Pope of Rome to restore order in the British and Irish churches. Saint Theodore was a wise bishop and a deeply spiritual monastic. While travelling to York he was shocked to find that St. Wilfrid was not the canonical bishop of York. The consecration of St. Chad was uncanonical due to three points made by St. Theodore:

1. The British bishops refused to acknowledge the canonical (Julian) Church calendar established by the Ecumenical Council of Nicea (of which Rome and the four Eastern Patriarchates adhered to)
2. The bishops were out of communion with the Universal Church.
3. An improperly performed consecration ceremony.

St. Theodore decided that in good church order, St. Chad must give up the See of York to it’s rightfully elected bishop, St. Wilfrid. St. Chad in astounding humility responded, “If you decide that I have not rightly received the episcopal character, I willingly lay down the office; for I have never thought myself worthy of it, but under obedience, I, though unworthy, consented to undertake it.” Seeing in him a true bishop, a man of such humble and angelic character, St. Theodore pleaded with Chad to continue in his archpastoral ministry. St. Theodore provided what was lacking from St. Chad’s consecration (“ipse ordinationem ejus denuo catholica ratione consummavit” – Bede, Hist. Eccl. IV, 2) and completed the rite according to the Orthodox Roman Rubricon. St. Wilfrid remained as bishop of York and St. Chad returned to his monastery in Lastingham.

In 669, King Wulfere demanded a bishop for his people in Mercia. St. Chad was called on by St. Theodore of Tarsus to be archpastor of the Mercian people. Mercia was a land of deeply rooted pagan beliefs, and a large area at that. St. Chad considered this to be his true work, bringing the Mercian people to Christ. He soon discovered that a great persecution occurred on the plains of Lichfield, deep within the Mercian lands. The Roman emperor Diocletian had exterminated 1000 martyrs on the plains of Lichfield in the year 303A.D, they are known as the Martyrs of Lichfield. St. Chad considering this to be a holy place moved the See of Mercia from Repton to the exact spot of the massacre in Lichfield, where his new diocesan Cathedral and Monastery were to built. St. Chad is considered the first bishop of Lichfield.

As Bishop of Lichfield, Chad carried out his missionary and pastoral work with zeal. The kingdom of Mercia was huge, and Chad spent much of his time travelling by foot. In accordance with the Celtic tradition, in which he had been brought up, he at first insisted on making all journeys on foot, following the example of the apostles. However, St. Theodore insisted that Chad used a horse for long journeys. St. Chad, unwilling to do anything that he felt would put him above the common man, refused, but Theodore, St. Bede tells us, “lifted Chad bodily onto the horse himself.”

His exploits were known throughout all Mercia, St. Chad was known to have retired, from time to time, to the bottom of a smalll well where he could contemplate and “pray without ceasing.” The people would say that they knew when St. Chad was in his well, “a light like that of the sun, would shine from the bottom of the well.” St. Chad was seen in the uncreated light by countless many. His humble prayers could easily cure illnesses and demonic possession. A gifted man of prayer he was also a source of forgiveness even to those who would seek his destruction.

King Wulfere was a pagan, but also a good statesman. He used Christianity to control his subjects, he secretly despised the Faith. One day, the sons of Wulfere, Princes Wulfade and Ruffin were out hunting a dear near the saint’s cell, when they approached the saint and asked about “the One called Jesus”. So struck by the holy elder’s words they both asked to be immediately baptised into Christ’s holy Church. Wulfere, so enraged by the actions of his sons, killed them with his own hands. Afterwards, filled with such remorse the King suffered in both body and spirit by the loss of his children. He was counselled by his queen to ask the holy elder to forgive him and to hear his confession. As he approached the holy hierarch’s cell he was witness to a great sight, the uncreated light of Tabor that shown upon the saint’s visage. The king fell down in prostrate and begged his forgiveness and to truly bring him into the Orthodox Christian faith. As a penance for the murder of his children, the saint told him to build churches and monasteries in the name of Jesus Christ. He did so, and up until the end of the saint’s earthly life, King Wulfere remained a humble servant of the holy elder.

Owini, a novice monk under St. Chad’s care, was working alone in the fields near Chad’s residence. When he heard the sound of singing apparently descending from the sky to the rectory where the saint was praying. The angelic chanting could be heard for half an hour before returning heavenwards. Chad then summoned his monks and, after urging them to live good Christian lives and to continue in keeping the rules of monastic discipline, announced that he would soon die. When the other fathers had gone away, Owini returned to Chad and begged to know what the singing had been that he had heard. St. Chad replied that he had been visited by angelic hosts summoning him to heaven and that the angels would return in seven days to take him to heaven. He then commanded the young monk to tell no one of this until after his death.
St. Chad was quickly taken ill (probably by the plague) and on the seventh day (March 2, 672), “his holy soul was released from the prison-house of the body and, one may rightly believe, was taken by the angels to the joys of heaven”. St. Chad was bishop of Lichfield and Mercia for just three years, his emulation of Christ ended as it began.

Bede goes on to tell us that he was called “saint” immediately after his death. Miracles and cures of all ailments occurred at the place of his death, his reliquary, his well and anywhere his holy relics travelled.

His holy relics are preserved in the Roman Catholic Cathedral that bears his name in Birmingham, England.

From OrthodoxWiki

Archbishop Nicolae’s Meditation for the Sunday of Orthodoxy

Posted on by Fr. Peter
We all know that the first Sunday of Great Lent is called the Sunday of Orthodoxy and that it was instituted in the year 843, at the end of the period of the Ecumenical Councils, as a witness to the victory of the Orthodox Faith over all heresies, a victory synthesized in the re-establishment of the veneration of icons.

But not all of us know that this celebration of Orthodoxy was superimposed on the ancient commemoration of the Prophets Moses, Aaron, and Samuel, attested to at least since the time of Patriarch Germanos of Constantinople († 740). At that time Great Lent was full of biblical commemorations: in the 2nd week Noah was commemorated, in the 4th the sacrifice of Isaac, and in the 5th Isaac himself. Makarios of Simonopetra speaks in detail about these commemorations in his exceptional work on the Triodion.

The celebration of the prophets harmonized well with the 1st week of Great Lent and the Old Testament atmosphere of the readings during the services. Fortunately this celebration of the prophets was not eliminated, but remained in connection to the feast of Orthodoxy, being justified by the fact that the prophets anticipated and foretold the Incarnation of the Word to which the icons witness.

In his discourses on the icons, St. John of Damascus had already laid out the analogy that exists between them and the visions of the prophets. They did not see the visions they were granted with physical eyes, but with spiritual eyes, like the apostles on Mt. Tabor; and what they saw were “icons” of God, not His Being. These visions were “images” of what would be fully revealed through the Incarnation. Under the New Covenant those things that had served to prefigure were abolished and the prophets’ visions were replaced by icons. As we know, icons are based on the Incarnation of the Son of God, on the fact that God Himself was revealed to human beings. The prophets’ visions prefigured the Incarnation, “the natural Icon of the Father” (St. John of Damascus), so that they can be considered “icons of these icons” (Makarios of Simonopetra), and the prophets can rightly be celebrated together with the holy icons on the 1st Sunday of Great Lent.
By means of this double celebration, the Sunday of Orthodoxy reveals a wonderful work of God in the history of salvation. For if no one had seen God before the Incarnation, until He had taken on human nature, still the prophets foretold Him, seeing across time, actually before the time, the face of the Incarnate God. The Creator was awaiting “the fullness of time” in order to reveal Himself as Savior, but His chosen ones, the prophets, took part in this revelation in order to preserve the faith alive among the people.

Our times are not lacking in the temptation to misunderstand the purpose of icons. Their celebration on the Sunday of Orthodoxy can be for us an occasion for strengthening our faith and for proclaiming the divine revelation. This, if Lent brings us back to the Father’s house, from our wanderings in the world.

May Christ the Lord grant us peace and spiritual joys, together with increased strength to ascend the steps of Holy Lent in a worthy manner toward the light-giving Resurrection!

† NICOLAE
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