Japan Earthquake

Posted on by Fr. Peter
If you are like me the events of the last week have been on your mind.  I always struggle with events like this to make sense of it all and always come to the realization that sometimes you just cannot make sense out of everything.  Watching the pictures and video on TV pulls at my heart strings and I have very intense emotions about the entire event.  It reminds me of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, although this seems many many times worse.

Now that some time has past we start to hear from people from all quarters.  The Anti Nuclear folks are out as well as the pro nuclear people and the most despicable folks, the ones who claim to raise money for Japan, but are really raising it for themselves are out in full force.  Please, know who you are giving too before you give.  Questions have been asked if the US could handle an event such as this, and I have to admit, as one who has been working in Emergency Management, that no we could not.  We are not ready for an event like this but there really is no way to plan for something like this either.  Remember, entire towns have been washed away.

So what do we do?  Well we pray!  When all else fails, pray!  Pray for the people of Japan, pray for those who will be going to help the search and recovery of the people who are missing.  Pray for the scientists working to solve the nuclear problem and of course pray for all of us to hep us make sense out of all of this.  If you are looking for a practical thing to do you can help assemble Health Kits.  These kits contain the basic necessities of life and can be assembled at low cost and sent to organizaitons like IOCC for distribution.  If you would like to do this please follow the instructions on this page to assemble the kits.  If the kits are not complete or are assembled wrong they cannot be used.

If you are looking to help support work going on in Japan, please give to charities you know about.  Most churches have charities that have funds for work such as this.  In the Orthodox Church we have the IOCC who has begun accepting donations.  The Red Cross is always an option although I personally have some problems with how much of the money raised actually goes to the field.  Be an informed giver.

From a mental health stand point, try not to saturate yourself with the coverage.  Yes be informed, but turn the channel now and again and watch something uplifting, if you can find it, or just turn it off and read a book.  Talk to your children about this and let them know that they are safe.  Things like this affect children more than we like to think.  Stay calm and again pray.

14 March ~ Benedict the Righteous of Nursia

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Many of you know that I spent several years in a Benedictine Monastery. These were very happy years of my life and I have very fond memories of my time there. Today is the feast day of one of the great monastic saints, east or west, Benedict. To all of my Benedictine friends happy feast day. I know on your calendar today is not the feast but happy feast day anyway.

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.

Sunday of Orthodoxy

Posted on by Fr. Peter
The Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy is celebrated on the first Sunday of Great Lent. It is the celebration of the victory of the iconodules over the iconoclasts by the decision of the Seventh Ecumenical Council. Therefore, the service is to commemorate the restoration of icons for use in services and private devotional life of Christians.
Services often include the clergy or the faithful triumphantly processing around the church, holding icons of their patron or parish saints. In areas where multiple jurisdictions exist (such as the United States), Pan-Orthodox Vespers are also usually celebrated in the evening.
Each of the Sundays of Great Lent has its own special theme. In the course of Church history, almost each Lenten Sunday has obtained a second theme, a historical theme. Originally the Lenten fast was the time for catechumens to prepare for baptism and entry into the Church. The Sunday spiritual themes were part of the early Christian catechesis.
Historical theme
The theme of the day is victory of the True Faith. “This is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith” (1 John 5:4). Also, the icons of the saints bear witness that man, “created in the image and likeness of God” (Gen 1:26), becomes holy and godlike through the purification of himself as God’s living image. The connection of the victory over iconoclasm with Lent is purely historical; the first Triumph of Orthodoxy took place on this particular Sunday.
Spiritual theme
The first Sunday of Great Lent originally commemorated the Prophets such as Moses, Aaron, and Samuel. The Liturgy’s alleluia verses and scripture readings appointed for the Sunday of Orthodoxy reflect this older usage. The Epistle reading is a completion of Hebrews 11:24-26, 32-12:2. The yet-to-be-baptized catechumens of the early church heard the Epistle about the Old Testament men who lived by their faith in a promise whose fulfillment they did not see. After the righteous of the Old Testament are mentioned, the Epistle says: And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.
The Gospel lesson is John 1:43-51, and it ends with a explanation of the something better of the Epistle: “You will see greater things than these.” And He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” The catechumens of the early church, and the faithful preparing for Pascha today, are told that, with faith, they will see the inauguration of the new age, the fulfillment of all promises, and the manifestation of the Kingdom, through the Incarnation, in the Church.
Hymns
Troparion (Tone 2)
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.
Kontakion (Tone 8)
No one could describe the Word of the Father;
but when He took flesh from you, O Theotokos, He accepted to be described,
and restored the fallen image to its former beauty.
We confess and proclaim our salvation in word and images.
Source
Great Lent: Journey to Pascha, by Fr. Alexander Schmemann (1974). St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press.

13 March ~ St. Gerald, Bishop of Mayo

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Bishop of Mayo. An English monk, date of birth unknown; died 13 March, 731; followed St. Colman, after the Synod of Whitby (664), to Ireland, and settled in Innisboffin, in 668…

Dissensions arose, after a time, between the Irish and the English monks, and St. Colman decided to found a separate monastery for the thirty English brethren. Thus arose the Mayo (Magh Eo, the yew plain), known as “Mayo of the Saxons”, with St. Gerald as the first abbot, in 670. St. Bede writes: “This monastery is to this day (731) occupied by English monks… and contains an exemplary body who gathered there from England, and live by the labour of their own hands (after the manner of the early Fathers), under a rule and canonical abbot, leading chaste and single lives.”

Although St. Gerald was a comparatively young man, he proved a wise ruler, and governed Mayo until 697, when, it is said, he resigned in favour of St. Adamnan. Some authors hold that St. Adamnan celebrated the Roman Easter at Mayo, in 703, and then went to Skreen, in Hy Fiachrach, and that after his departure the monks prevailed on St. Gerald to resume the abbacy. The Saxon saint continued to govern the Abbey and Diocese of Mayo till his death.

12 March ~ St. Paul Aurelian

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Paul Aurelian (also known, in Breton as Paol Aorelian and, in Latin, as Paulinus Aurelianus) is a 6th century Welsh saint, who became one of the seven founder saints of Brittany.
His hagiographic Life was completed in 884 by a Breton monk named Wrmonoc of Landévennec:
Paul was the son of a Welsh chieftain named Perphirius/Porphyrius (“clad in purple”), from Penychen in Glamorgan (although this is probably due to confusion with King Paul Penychen). He was also brother of three saintly sisters, Juthwara, Sidwell and Wulvela. Paul became a pupil of Saint Illtud at Llantwit Major and on Caldey Island, like Saints Samson of Dol, Gildas and David.
He later visited King Mark of Cornwall and founded the church at Paul, before moving on to Brittany to establish monasteries at Lampaul on the island of Ushant, on the island of Batz (where he later died) and at Ocsimor, now the city of Saint-Pol-de-Léon in Finistère. He was consecrated bishop there under the authority of Childebert, King of the Franks. Paul was a vegetarian.
He was first buried at Saint-Pol-de-Léon, but his relics were later transferred to Fleury[disambiguation needed] near Orléans.[clarification needed] His bell is still kept at Saint-Pol however. Gilbert Hunter Doble thought he might be the same man as Saint Paulinus of Wales. His feast day is 12 March.

Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Last night started the Lenten observance of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts.  This is one of the most ancient Liturgies in the Orthodox Church and I think one of the most beautiful.  The Liturgy is attributed to St. Gregory the Dialogist who lived between AD 540-604 but historians do not agree on weather he wrote it himself or just wrote it down.  Either way I am glad he did what he did.  Here is a little explantion of the Liturgy from my friends at orthodoxwiki.
The service consists of Daily Vespers combined with additional prayers and communion. The communion bread has already been consecrated and intincted with the precious Blood and reserved at the previous Sunday’s Divine Liturgy. Unconsecrated wine is placed in the chalice. Local practice also varies as to whether or not this wine must be thought of as the Blood of Christ. The only practical effect of this variety is that the celebrant who must consume all the undistributed communion at the end of the service might or might not partake of the chalice when he communes himself.
The service is preceded by the reading of the Typical Psalms, and the Divine Liturgy’s opening blessing, Blessed is the Kingdom… is used at the start of the part of the service that resembles daily vespers. Psalm 103, Bless the Lord, O my soul is read. The Great Litany is then intoned and then Psalms 119–133 are read. Then the choir sings Lord, I have cried unto Thee with stichera. The priest makes an entrance with the censer. If the occasion is a feast, the entrance is with the Gospel Book and there is then an epistle and gospel reading for the feast day.
The choir sings O Gladsome Light, and the first reading, from Genesis (or Exodus), is read with a prokeimenon. Then the priest intones Wisdom, let us attend. The Light of Christ enlightened all men, and those praying prostrate themselves. The second reading, from Proverbs (or Job) is read.
In the second part of the service, the choir chants Let my prayer be directed as incense before Thee, after which the prayer of St. Ephraim is read. After a litany the choir sings Now the powers of Heaven with us invisibly do worship, and the presanctified Gifts are brought into the holy altar in a procession resembling the Great Entrance at a Divine Liturgy but in silence. There is no anaphora because the gifts are pre-consecrated.
The prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian is repeated, and the Litany of Petition is proclaimed. The choir sings the Lord’s Prayer, after which the priest intones: The Presanctified Holy Things are for the holy. The Holy Sacraments are brought out through the Royal Doors, and the faithful receive Holy Communion. After the Litany of Thanksgiving and the prayer before the Ambo (“Every good and perfect gift is from above…”), the believers venerate the Holy Cross.

Great Lent

Posted on by Fr. Peter
I will admit, I love this time of the year.  I am not sure it is becasue I think the services of this time of the church year are the most beautiful or because I know that Spring is just around the corner.  We had a little glimps of that on Sunday as I noticed the crocus starting to push their way through the snow.  Hope springs eternal!
Last night it was my intention to head on over the St. Spyridon Cathedral in Worcester for the Compline service but it seems the temperature dropped rather quickly and all that rain we had yesterday turned the roads into an ice rink.  Not a good feeling, so I turned around and headed back home.  Trust I was praying more on the ride home then I would have at Compline!  I do wish I was able to attend, it is a beautiful service.

Lent is a time for change and a time for us to slow down in an other wise busy world.  Lent is a time of the year that should be different then the rest of the year.  Take time to read more, pray more, perhaps come to the services in the Church.  Don’t fret about the rules of Lent just do it.  If you have never done the fast before start off slow and work up the idea is to do something.  Eat less, pray more!  That should be the theme for Lent this year.

We are trying something new here at St. Michael this year.  For years I have wanted the men in the Church to get more spirituality into their lives.  So this year I am starting a Bible Study for the men of the Church.  We will gather on Saturday morning (I proposed 6:30am) at 8:00am for an hour of study and fellowship.  Not sure where we are goingt to start but I am working on that.  We also have our usual mid week Presanctified Liturgies, another beautiful service, and that will continue until Holy Week.

Sorry bloggin has been light but I am still working at the Fire Department and that is taking more of my time that I would have guessed when I started but it is very interesting, more on that when I am finished.

So as we begin our journey, please pray for me and I for you.

Clean Monday

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Clean Monday (Greek: Καθαρή Δευτέρα), also known as Pure Monday, or (in Cyprus only) Green Monday, is the first day of the Orthodox Christian Great Lent. It is a movable feast that occurs at the beginning of the 7th week before Pascha.
The common term for this day, “Clean Monday”, refers to the leaving behind of sinful attitudes and non-fasting foods.
Liturgically, Clean Monday—and thus Great Lent itself—begins on the preceding (Sunday) night, at a special service called Forgiveness Vespers, which culminates with the Ceremony of Mutual Forgiveness, at which all present will bow down before one another and ask forgiveness. In this way, the faithful begin Great Lent with a clean conscience, with forgiveness, and with renewed Christian love. The entire first week of Great Lent is often referred to as “Clean Week,” and it is customary to go to Confession during this week, and to clean the house thoroughly (or to have it clean before the beginning of the Fast).
The theme of Clean Monday is set by the Old Testament reading appointed to be read at the Sixth Hour on this day (Isaiah 1:1-20), which says in part:
Wash yourselves and ye shall be clean; put away the wicked ways from your souls before Mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well. Seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, consider the fatherless, and plead for the widow. Come then, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: Though your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white as snow; and though they be red like crimson, I will make them white as wool (v. 16-18).
Clean Monday is a public holiday in Greece and Cyprus, where it is celebrated with outdoor excursions, the consumption of shellfish and other fasting food[2], a special kind of azyme (unleavened) bread, baked only on that day, named “lagana” (Greek: λαγάνα) and the widespread custom of flying kites. Eating meat, eggs and dairy products is traditionally forbidden to Christians throughout Lent, with fish being eaten only on major feast days, but shellfish is permitted. This has created the tradition of eating elaborate dishes based on seafood (shellfish, molluscs, fish roe etc). Traditionally, it is considered to mark the beginning of the spring season, as evidenced by the sticheron fro the Lenten Triodion, “The Lenten Spring has come…”.
The happy, springtime atmosphere of Clean Monday may seem at odds with the Lenten spirit of repentance and self-control, but this seeming contradiction is a marked aspect of the Orthodox approach to fasting, in accordance with the Gospel lesson (Matthew 6:14-21) read on the morning before, which admonishes:
When ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face, that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret… (v. 16-18).
In this manner, the Orthodox celebrate the fact that “The springtime of the Fast has dawned, the flower of repentance has begun to open…”

From www.orthodoxwiki.com

Lenten Message of His Grace +NIKON

Posted on by Fr. Peter
To the Clergy and Faithful of the Diocese of New England and the Albanian Archdiocese
If ever there was a winter to make us weary, this has been it. In all of this snow, ice, freezing rain, and sub-zero temperatures, even the most stout-hearted New Englanders begin to get a bit weary. Weary of the long dark nights. Weary of the bone chilling cold. Weary of the dangerous drudgery of commuting on slippery roads. But, weariness doesn’t just come from winter. Taking care of our families. Working long hours. Trying to make ends meet in a difficult economy. We face countless challenges every day, that, over time, make our hearts weary and cold, like the barren winter landscape. And weary, cold hearts affect our relationships. Relationships between husbands and wives; parents and children; friends and neighbors, can be strained when we are suffering the oppressiveness of spiritual weariness.
As you may know His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah is on a Leave of Absence. The Holy Synod expressed their love and concern for him in Santa Fe, NM and our desire was that he should take a time of rest and return before Pascha more focused and refreshed. He is scheduled to Consecrate Bishop-Elect Matthias together with the members of the Holy Synod on Bright Saturday. The Synod affirmed our love for Metropolitan Jonah numerous times throughout our gathering. There was no talk whatsoever of removing him as the Metropolitan. He has labored caring for multiple dioceses and as our Metropolitan. He simply needed a break.
This need for spiritual rest and renewal is not unique to bishops, it is a necessity for all of us. The Church gives us the gift of Great Lent so that we can find spiritual renewal in Jesus Christ. For only Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ can warm our cold hearts, and relieve our spiritual weariness. We make this saving Lenten journey through prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
During Lent, the Church offers us beautiful liturgical services, filled with the word of Scripture and composed hymns, which wash our souls like a gentle spring rain. The prayer of the Church is not an obligation to be fulfilled, it is an opportunity for refreshment. Yes, the liturgy is work, that is why it is called “liturgy,” the work of the people. But it is not like the work that we are forced to do for forty or fifty hours a week. It is a life-giving work, a joyous work that brings us together as the Body of Christ, and renews our strength and vitality by the grace of the Holy Spirit.
Fasting is our opportunity to live more simply. It is not a time to live like Pharisees, attempting to maintain some sort of ritual purity laws. “Oh, look, today we can have oil and wine, but no meat, or dairy. So, let’s have lobster and scallops with that really nice margarine that tastes just like butter, and I’ll get a bottle of expensive wine, and we can have a vegan chocolate cake for dessert.” While such a dinner abides by the letter of the fasting rules, it is not fasting. Fasting is the conscious act of simplifying our worldly life to make room for Christ. To live simply, to eat simply, to put aside distractions and temptations of the flesh so that we can quiet our souls and listen to the still small voice of God, this is fasting.
But, fasting is not only about food. We can—and should—fast from TV, the Internet, from talk-radio, from all forms of media. That doesn’t mean we necessarily avoid all contact with media, but perhaps we intentionally watch and listen to less. Again, not because they are bad, but to give us more time, and greater freedom to meditate on Christ. However we keep the fast, it should be borne from our effort to joyfully embrace a life of greater simplicity, so that we can more perfectly follow Christ.
Almsgiving is an opportunity for us to reach out to others with the love of Christ in concrete material ways. If you have plenty of money, give some away to a worthy charity like the IOCC, FOCUS North America. or O-N-E Stewards (Diocese of New England) or the Student Trust Fund or Archdiocesan Projects (Albanian Archdiocese) If you don’t have much money, then invite someone to your house for dinner. Or, go through your wardrobe and donate the extra coat, and the extra pair of shoes to a homeless shelter. And almsgiving does not only apply to strangers. Our almsgiving can, and should begin at home, through the sacrificial giving of our time and attention to family members. Take time to play a game with the kids. Reach out to your spouse and ask how he or she is doing. Do household chores with a cheerful spirit, or do chores that someone else normally does. Almsgiving is not simply about giving money, it is about giving of ones self.
Almsgiving is our opportunity to take concrete action in the name of Jesus Christ. It is our chance to live out our faith in a concrete, substantial way. Put more directly, it is our chance to stand at the right hand of God among the righteous who feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, visit the sick, and ministered to those in prison. (Matt 25:35)
The Lenten season is now upon us, and with it comes a great opportunity to engage in a life-changing spiritual retreat of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Opening our hearts to Christ through prayer we welcome our Lord into our lives. Simplifying our lives through true fasting we make room in our hearts for the grace of the Holy Spirit. Reaching out to our brothers and sisters in concrete acts of mercy through almsgiving we spread the love of Christ in the world. The Church gives us Great Lent to be renewed, to escape the dreariness and weariness of life, and enter into the bright joy of life in Jesus Christ.
With Love in Christ,
+NIKON
Bishop of Boston, New England and the Albanian Archdiocese

Archpastoral Message of His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah for Great Lent 2011

Posted on by Fr. Peter
To the Hierarchs, Very Reverend and Reverend Clergy, Monastics and Faithful of the Orthodox Church in America
Dearly Beloved in the Lord:
The beginning of another Lenten season is upon us, and with it comes the opportunity for us to cast aside those things which have distanced us from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Like a wise mother, the Church provides this period of time as a means for us to prepare for receiving the joy of Pascha and Christ’s holy resurrection.
This same joy and blessing was granted to us at our baptism, when the following prayer was read:
“Grant that he (she) who is baptized therein may be transformed; that he may put away from himself the old man, which is corrupt through the lusts of the flesh, and that he may, in like manner, be a partaker of Your Resurrection; and having preserved the gift of Your Holy Spirit, and increased the measure of grace committed to him, he may receive the prize of his high calling, and be numbered with the firstborn whose names are written in heaven, in You, our God and Lord, Jesus Christ.”
Our baptism in the waters of regeneration enabled us to participate in Christ’s death and resurrection. Therefore, it is appropriate for us to use the upcoming season of Great Lent to return to those baptismal waters. For this transformation to take place, we must first have a desire for a change of heart. Do we want to turn aside from the passions of our flesh? Carnal thoughts or deeds, idle chatter, gossip, lying, selfish acts, greed, and gluttony are all things which separate us from Christ. Isn’t it time to stop these destructive habits? Simply put, we know our passions stand in our way of entering into the heavenly kingdom. Now is the time to cast them into oblivion. Instead of tearing each other down, let us build each other up, as the Gospel commands. Instead of slander and accusation, judgment and condemnation, let us encourage and love our neighbors.
If we truly desire to return to God, then let us do so in a spirit of humility. Let God transform our minds and hearts through true repentance, the fruit of that humility. We live in a society which encourages us to have an opinion or comment worthy of posting or tweeting about everyone and everything, but as Orthodox Christians it is time for us to stop thinking we have all of the answers. Let us turn off the rhetoric and excuses while rejecting our arrogance and pride. Denial of self is not easy. Yet we can echo the example of our Savior, who silently, and with meekness and humility approached the cross. When we take up our cross and follow Him, He will make our burden light.
When we have reacquired a sense of humility, it is possible to more clearly recognize our sins and repent of them. Admission of our sins through repentance will not only help us as individuals, but also as communities of Orthodox Christian throughout North America. The effects of a broken and contrite heart can have a great impact on every relationship in our lives. True repentance replaces discord with harmony, and frustration with love. Individually and collectively, our lives should and need to reflect the love found in Jesus Christ.
Great Lent is an excellent time for us to rediscover the importance of loving one’s neighbors. If, as Orthodox Christians we are the Body of Christ, then we have a responsibility to ask forgiveness for our failings, while banishing our grudges and egos. It means sharing the love of Christ with those in need, whether they are in our parishes or on the street. Putting an extra ten dollars in the basket is an excellent start. Or try to actually tithe your income (10%) to the Church during Lent. Taking it one step further to make a connection with someone by providing them with a meal or charity can make Christ present in their lives and so fulfill the law of God.
The joy and radiant light of Pascha will quickly be here, and it is imperative that we make use of the time available for us during Great Lent to work on our spiritual health. It is time for us to cast off the works of darkness, as the Apostle Paul says in his epistle to the Romans. The services, prayers, fasting, and acts of charity we do during Lent are merely tools to help us return to God. Be careful, my beloved ones, that these tools do not become stumbling blocks for us, or that we use them to cause others to sin.
I believe it is possible for each of us to turn from our sins and draw closer to our God the Father by redirecting our lives through Christ. What a joy it will be if each of us begins taking those first steps in love on the narrow path leading back to God. Our collective journey through Great Lent will bring us closer together as a community of love, and as the baptismal prayer says, may we become partakers of the Resurrection. Let us keep a sober mind to properly prepare for that moment on Pascha when we boldly and confidently may proclaim: Christ is Risen!
In the many ways while serving as your archpastor, if I have failed or wronged you, I humbly ask for your forgiveness. May the Lord forgive us all!
With my prayers for a holy season of Great Lent,
With love in Christ,
+ Jonah
Archbishop of Washington
Metropolitan of All America and Canada
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