Here is a list of the top posts of the past week here at Shepherd of Souls
The Cross of Pope John Paul II
The Lost Towns of the Swift River Valley
Good Leaders Must First be Good Followers
IOCC Responds to Victims of Tornadoes in the South
Baltimore, MD (IOCC) — The powerful spring storms that spawned a cluster of damaging tornadoes this past week have affected the lives of millions of people across the South. At least 34 people across six states – Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Iowa – were killed and more than 200 injured in tornadoes that leveled entire neighborhoods and threatened more destruction in some of the most heavily populated parts of the country.
As survivors sift through the devastation left behind by tornadoes that ripped through their towns, please join IOCC in praying for the families and lost loved ones. “We are saddened by the loss of life and destruction that has accompanied the recent severe weather impacting the US heartland, and pray that our Resurrected Lord grant eternal rest to the departed and raise up those whose lives have been torn apart by these events,” stated Dan Christopulos, IOCC U.S. Country Representative. “We are working through our Orthodox and ecumenical network to see how to best marshal our resources for the benefit of those impacted by this natural disaster.”
HOW YOU CAN HELP
You can help the victims of disasters in the United States, like the Oklahoma Tornadoes, by making a financial gift to the United States Emergency Response Fund, which will provide immediate relief as well as long-term support through the provision of emergency aid, recovery assistance and other support to help those in need. To make a gift, please visit www.iocc.org, call toll free at 1-877-803-IOCC (4622), or mail a check or money order payable to IOCC, P.O. Box 17398, Baltimore, Md. 21297-0429.
IOCC also anticipates the need for Emergency Clean-Up Buckets which are in low supply. For directions on how to assemble Emergency Clean-Up Buckets, please visit www.iocc.org/kits.
ABOUT INTERNATIONAL ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHARITIES
IOCC is the official humanitarian aid agency of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America. Since its inception in 1992, IOCC has delivered more than $438 million in relief and development programs to families and communities in 50 countries. IOCC is a member of the ACT Alliance, a global coalition of churches and agencies engaged in development, humanitarian assistance and advocacy. To learn more about IOCC, please visit our website at www.iocc.org.
The Cross of Pope John Paul II
On Sunday, April 27, 2014 the world witnessed the canonization of two new saints in the Roman Catholic Church, Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, known as Pope John XXIII and Karol Józef Wojtyła, known as Pope John Paul II. I rejoice on this day with my Roman Catholic brothers and sisters. I especially rejoice with the members of St. John Paul II Parish here in Southbridge, many of whom are in Rome to witness the canonization of their patron.
Some 35 years ago, on October 1, 1979 Karol Józef Wojtyła, the newly elected Pope John Paul II, came to Boston for the first time. On that rainy afternoon on Boston Common, the Pope presided at a Mass under a specially built canopy. I was 13 years old, and was amazed that the head of the Roman Catholic Church was in Boston and presiding at a Mass on Boston Common. We were going to go to the Mass but it was raining so bad that we stayed home and watched it on television.
He was so young and energetic, on that October day on Boston Common, unlike the images we would see of him later in his life. I cannot remember anything that he said on that day but this Pope would impact the rest of my life. He would be Pope for the majority of my life and impact the church, and the world, in so many ways. Some think he was too conservative and other think he was too liberal but I believe he was the right man at the right time, and he has laid the ground work for what I hope and pray, will be the ultimate reconciliation of East and West. Pope John Paul II, along with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Regan, have been credited with helping to end Communism in Eastern Europe and providing freedom to so many that had been held captive.
About fifteen years ago I was given a gift of a white metal cross that has a rather fascinating story. On that October day in 1979, over the altar that the mass was said on, was a roof that was held up by steel columns. After the Mass the altar and platform were dismantled and the steel removed. The man who built the platform removed the steel and from that steel made metal crosses and I was given one by his daughter who was a fellow teacher at a Catholic school in Jamaica Plain.
The Cross sits on a self in my living room and every so often I look at it and it reminds me of that day in 1979 but on this day, April 27, 2014, it reminds me that a saint once stood beneath or beside that metal, now made into a cross, and I say a little prayer.
The Lost Towns of the Swift River Valley
Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Located in Central and Western Massachusetts was the Swift River Valley, and area of rich agriculture and mills. Like many small American towns, the towns of Dana, Enfield, Greenwich, and Prescott were built up along with Swift River where the river water was used for drinking and to power the mills and in the winter the ice was harvested and sold to other parts of the United States.
By the early 19th century the need for water in Boston has surpassed what was available and between the years of 1846-1848 construction began on the Cochituate Aqueduct on Lake Cochituate located in Wayland and Natick. This would supply up to 10 million gallons of water per day. The constriction of this reservoir would solve to problem of much needed water for only a short period of time. The need was great so a study was commissioned to find another spot in Massachusetts where water could be obtained to satisfy the thirst of the growing city of Boston and the surrounding communities.
The legislation that created the Cochituate Aqueduct also set forth three policies that are still in effect concerning the water supply system in Massachusetts.
- Public rather than private ownership of the water supply system
- Use of upper reservoirs, with gravity fed rather than a pump system
- Watershed protection, rather than filtration, as the primary measure to ensure the quality of the water.
With demand growing in 1922 another study was commissioned and it was decided that the damming of the Swift River was the only way to provide a long term solution to the water problem in Boston. The Metropolitan Water District was created and included 26 communities within ten miles of the Massachusetts State House in Boston. That has increased today to 40 communities and serves as a backup system for several more in the Commonwealth.
The major problem in the construction of this new water system were the town of Dana, Enfield, Greenwhich, and Prescott all of which were located in the Swift River Valley and would have to be destroyed so the valley could be flooded. All of the structures, houses, barns, shops, mills, and cemeteries as well as all of the vegetation would have to be removed and all of their citizens relocated. The residents opposed this decision and took their case to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court which ruled against them and in April of 1938 the four communities ceased to exists.
There is nothing left of these once occupied communities with the exception of the Dana Common located in the center of what was Dana Massachusetts. There is a stone marker that was placed there in 1996 at a reunion of the townsfolk still living. Access to this area is available by foot.
Today the Quabbin Reservoir covers an area of 38.6 square miles and holds a total of 412 billion gallons of water. The entire system is gravity fed so there are no pumps used along the entire system. The Quabbin Watershed is a beautiful area that has been preserved as parkland and a refuge for wildlife although I believe that all of that beauty and conservation came at too high of a price.
Several years ago I was exploring this area and came across the Swift River Valley Historical Society which maintains three buildings in New Salem Massachusetts with an extensive collection of artifacts from the three towns. If you find yourself in the area it is worth the trip to the museum.
Just this past weekend I discovered a documentary that was aired on WGBY in 2001 called under the Quabbin. This documentary takes viewers under the waters of the Qubbin to visit the town for the first time since 1938. I have embedded the video below. It is about an hour long but worth watching.
The destruction of these four communities and the way of life of thousands of people is, in my opinion, a black mark on the history of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. To destroy people’s homes and businesses for no other reason, than to provide water to people in another part of the state is just wrong. The communities in that area receive no benefit from the Quabbin as all of the water is sent east. The people of the Swift River Valley were not wealthy but they lost their homes to the wealthy of Boston and surrounding communities who do not even remember the names of the four towns that were destroyed.
Family Research Tour ~ Maine
At the time of this writing I am in Machias Maine on the last leg of my three day family research trip. I began this journey on Tuesday in York and have slowly made my way North West visiting small towns and cemeteries along that path my ancestors took prior to coming to Massachusetts.
My brothers and I have been engaged in genealogy work for the last 30 or so years and, like most genealogists, we go full speed ahead for a while and then back off, now we are back on the trail and we are having a difficult time finding two generations, well one generation anyway. So I have come to Maine to ask questions and read vital records and visit cemeteries.
The Preble family first came to America in 1640 and settled in Scituate Massachusetts. After a short stay there they moved on and became one of the founding families of York Maine. Leaving York the family moved to Bowdoinham, Windsor, Whitefield, Winslow, and finally Machias before my great grandfather settled in Massachusetts.
One of the disturbing things along this journey is the condition of many of the cemeteries. Now I know the winter has just ended and the frost is one reason stones tip over, but some of them have been toppled for years and the fact that they have not been cared for is disturbing. One example is the Old Settlers Cemetery in Deer Isle Maine. In this cemetery are the remains of many of the founding families of the town, including some of my Haskell relatives. The condition of the cemetery is disturbing, overgrown, stones on the ground etc. This is a major burial ground and it is not being cared for.
Another example is the Preble Point Cemetery in Arrowsic Maine. This cemetery had fallen into disrepair and neglect until one family discovered it and cleaned it up, stood up and repaired the stones, and now takes care of this place. There are only 6 or 8 people buried there but they deserve to be cared for so their final resting place is not lost forever.
The trip has been productive, well sort of. We did not learn a whole lot that we did not already know but we did disprove some facts that we had been relying on. Primary sources are invaluable in any sort of historical research especially genealogy. Sometimes a secondary source, such as a town history or a family history can be used but there is no replacement for the actual record. We had been chasing a person based on a town history book, but after reading his will and seeing the birth records we know that this person is not who we thought he was. So for that purpose the trip was worth it.
We have much more work to do and I am sure I will be returning to Maine but for now it is time to make one more stop at a cemetery and then the long journey home.
Pascha Encyclical of Archbishop Nicolae
PASTORAL LETTER ON THE FEAST OF THE LORD’S RESURRECTION 2014
† NICOLAE
by the mercies of God
Archbishop of the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in the Americas
To our Beloved Clergy and Orthodox Christians
peace and holy joy from Christ the Risen Lord,
and from us hierarchical blessings.
I await the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come (The Creed).
Most Reverend Fathers,
Beloved Faithful,
Christ is risen!
For 2000 years we have greeted one another on this holy morning with these words, which proclaim a great miracle, the victory of life over death, a miracle that happened at a certain time and place, but has implications beyond time and the world we know. Through this greeting we both proclaim the historical event of the Savior’s Resurrection and witness to our belief that this event has value for us now and in eternity.
St. Matthew the Evangelist describes for us the first meeting with the Risen Christ as one having an historical nature: So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word. And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me (Matt. 28:8-10). We know that to this encounter were added others which establish a historical truth, the fact that Christ, who received death on the Cross and was buried in a tomb, arose on the third day. The historical nature of this event is assured by the multitude of the testimonies of those who encountered Christ after He had risen from the tomb.
Father Dumitru Stăniloae explains the perspective from which this historical event should be understood: “If the persons to whom the Risen Christ appeared were historical persons, then through them could be verified, according to all the rules of the historical method, if not the manner of Christ’s Resurrection and the character of His Risen Body, at least the fact of the Resurrection” (Dogmatic Theology). The Resurrection of Christ is an event that surpasses the ordinary history of humankind through the fact that it overturns man’s advance towards death. And through the participation of persons connected to certain places, times, and circumstances, this meta-historical event touches history. If we see history as a rigorous repetition of similar kinds of phenomena, then the Resurrection of Christ marks an opening of history toward an order that is above strictly immanent causality, as Fr. Stăniloae goes on to say. “The Resurrection is the single event that proves not only that history is made in collaboration with powers that are above human powers, but also that history is destined to be raised up to a higher plane, to that of incorruptible life, a spiritualized plane where the freedom of the human spirit reigns, rather than the uniform processes of nature.” The Resurrection changed the course of human history and gave it the meaning of eternity. The Resurrection introduced into time the One outside of time, the Eternal One. Christ entered into a certain relationship with history, but historical persons were also given the ability to recognize the meta-historical fact of the Resurrection.
We also, 2000 years after the event of the Resurrection, can experience this change that was introduced into history. That which we proclaim to one another is not only an historical event, but is the new reality of our life in history. St. Paul the Apostle tells us that we have also risen with Christ: “God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:4-7). We have risen with Christ and we live a new life. Christ’s Resurrection is a source of divine life for us in our earthly life, a source of power, of cleansing, and of growth in communion with God and our fellow man. “Let us cleanse our senses that we may behold Christ shining like lightening with the unapproachable light of Resurrection,” says a verse from the Paschal Vigil. We also meet the risen Christ in the Holy Eucharist, and this encounter brings about our change, our transition to the new life.
In a prayer after communion the priest says, “O Great and most holy Pascha, O Christ, Wisdom, Word, and Power of God, grant us to partake of You more perfectly in the unwaning day of Your kingdom.” The perfect and complete encounter with Christ will take place at the end of the ages, in the eternal Kingdom of God. Confessing the historical fact of the Resurrection, living with the Risen Christ during the time of our earthly life, Christians pray at the same time, in the Our Father, that the Kingdom may come, and they witness in the Creed to the expectation of the universal resurrection and eternal life. The history in which the event of the Lord’s Resurrection took place will be fulfilled at the Second Coming of Christ. History is not the realm of perfection, but of movement toward perfection. It is the realm of incomplete revelation, says Fr. Stăniloae. St. Paul tells us that “the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God” (1 Thes. 4:16), and that this event will take place “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet (1 Cor. 15:52). History will have an end that will mark the unending day of the Kingdom of God.
Most Reverend Fathers, Beloved Faithful,
Confessing the Lord’s Resurrection as an historical fact that will be revealed in its fullness at the second coming of Christ, it is fitting that we perceive the meaning of history and of the world in which we live. Our history is one of turmoil, of “false prophets, increasing wickedness, and cooling love” (Mt. 24:11-12). But Christ Himself teaches us to persevere in patience and in fulfilling our mission, for this is how we will be saved. We proclaim the God who descended into history, the God-man who triumphed over death and rose again, and we are still filled with hope. For hope does not come from man, nor from the world, but from the Victor over death and the Giver of eternal life. With this hope it is fitting that we should always proclaim that Christ is risen!
I embrace you in Christ, the Risen Lord, and I wish you a Joyful Feast with health, peace, and joy in your families and parishes!
Your brother in prayer to God,
† NICOLAE
Chicago, The Feast of the Lord’s Resurrection, 2014
Sunday Links Roundup
Here are links to a few things I have been reading this past week.
Boston 1775 ~ The “No King But Jesus” Myth
The Junto ~ Yes, Virginia, there was an American Enlightenment
The New York Time Opinionator ~ Passover in the Confederacy
Sons of the American Revolution ~ Dedham man to get belated recognition for service in the Revolution
Glory to God for all Things ~ Judas Loves Money
Emerging Civil War ~ ECW Weekender: The Civil War Horse Memorial
Boston 1775 ~ William Dawes Tells a Good Story
The Way of Improvement Leads Home ~ “Is Blogging Scholarship?” The Video is Here!
Journal of the American Revolution ~ Who Shot First? The Americans!
Boston 1775 ~ Joseph Green, John Hamock, and the Freemasons
The Way of Improvement Leads Home ~ Thomas Kidd on Arthur Sherr’s Thomas Jefferson
Scottish Clan Blog from Scotland ~ 19th Century Clan Catalogue For Sale
First Things ~ The Dangers of Internet Orthodoxy
Emerging Civil War ~ The Absolution at Gettysburg (this is my essay)
The Paschal Homily of St. John Chrysostom
If any man be devout and loveth God, let him enjoy this fair and radiant triumphal feast! If any man be a wise servant, let him rejoicing enter into the joy of his Lord. If any have laboured long in fasting, let him how receive his recompense.
If any have wrought from the first hour, let him today receive his just reward. If any have come at the third hour, let him with thankfulness keep the feast. If any have arrived at the sixth hour, let him have no misgivings; Because he shall in nowise be deprived therefore. If any have delayed until the ninth hour, let him draw near, fearing nothing. And if any have tarried even until the eleventh hour, let him, also, be not alarmed at his tardiness.
For the Lord, who is jealous of his honour, will accept the last even as the first. He giveth rest unto him who cometh at the eleventh hour, even as unto him who hath wrought from the first hour.
And He showeth mercy upon the last, and careth for the first; And to the one He giveth, and upon the other He bestoweth gifts. And He both accepteth the deeds, and welcometh the intention, and honoureth the acts and praises the offering.
Wherefore, enter ye all into the joy of your Lord; Receive your reward, both the first, and likewise the second. You rich and poor together, hold high festival! You sober and you heedless, honour the day! Rejoice today, both you who have fasted and you who have disregarded the fast. The table is full-laden; feast ye all sumptuously. The calf is fatted; let no one go hungry away. Enjoy ye all the feast of faith: receive ye all the riches of loving-kindness.
Let no one bewail his poverty, for the universal Kingdom has been revealed. Let no one weep for his iniquities, for pardon has shown forth from the grave. Let no one fear death, for the Saviour’s death has set us free. He that was held prisoner of it has annihilated it.
By descending into Hell, He made Hell captive. He embittered it when it tasted of His flesh. And Isaiah, foretelling this, did cry: Hell, said he, was embittered when it encountered Thee in the lower regions. It was embittered, for it was abolished.
It was embittered, for it was mocked. It was embittered, for it was slain. It was embittered, for it was overthrown. It was embittered, for it was fettered in chains. It took a body, and met God face to face. It took earth, and encountered Heaven. It took that which was seen, and fell upon the unseen.
O Death, where is thy sting? O Hell, where is thy victory?
Christ is risen, and thou art overthrown! Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen! Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice! Christ is risen, and life reigns! Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the grave. For Christ, being risen from the dead, is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
To Him be glory and dominion unto ages of ages.
Amen.
Top Posts of the Past Week
Here is a list of the most read posts this past week at Shepherd of Souls
10 Tips for Holy Week and Pascha
Southbridge in the Civil War 1861
Holy Monday ~ Bridegroom Matins
Great and Holy Friday ~ The Royal Hours
Great and Holy Wednesday ~ The Hymn of Kassiani
Great and Holy Friday ~ Taking Down from the Cross
Great & Holy Saturday
On Saturday, the high priests and Pharisees gathered together before Pilate and asked him to have Jesus’ tomb sealed until the third day; because, as those enemies of God said, “We suspect that His disciples will come and steal His buried body by night, and then proclaim to the people that His resurrection is true, as that deceiver Himself foretold while He was yet alive; and then the last deception shall be worse than the first.” After they had said these things to Pilate and received his permission, they went and sealed the tomb, and assigned a watch for security, that is, guards from among the soldiers under the supervision of the high priests (Matt. 27:62-66). While commemorating the entombment of the holy Body of our Lord today, we also celebrate His dread descent with His soul, whereby He destroyed the gates and bars of Hades, and made His light to shine where only darkness had reigned (Job 3 8 : 17; Esaias 49:9; 1 Peter 3:18-20); death was put to death, Hades was stripped of all its captives, our first parents and all the righteous who died from the beginning of time ran to Him Whom they had awaited, and the holy angelic orders glorified God for the restoration of our fallen race.