The Catalog of Good Deeds: Orthodox Feasts

Showing posts with label Orthodox Feasts. Show all posts

In both Eastern and Western liturgical traditions, March 25th marks a special event in the life of Jesus Christ: His conception in the womb of the Virgin Mary. This event is also known as the Annunciation, when according to the Gospel of St. Luke, the Archangel Gabriel came to the Virgin and announced, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.” (Luke 1:30-31)

Mary’s response to this announcement is a familiar and beloved one: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38) According to Church tradition, her words of acceptance were what allowed God’s Word to enter and initiate within her the human conception of her Son.

Less well known is why March 25th is the date of the Annunciation. Some scholars argue that Christian chose the pagan feast of Sol Invictus (“the Invincible Sun”) on December 25th to celebrate the birth of Jesus. As a result, the feast of Jesus’ conception was established nine months earlier on—you guessed it—March 25th.

This line of argumentation has recently been replaced by a more interesting explanation. Scholars now suggest that some early Christians believed that Jesus actually died on March 25th. And because they ascribed to Him the ancient Jewish piety that a prophet died on the same day as he was conceived, they also established the date for His conception. While the celebration of Jesus’ death later shifted, becoming dependent on the lunar cycle, the Annunciation remained fixed, with Christmas nine months later.

Whether this explanation is ultimately factual, I neither know nor care; entertaining its possibility does, however, offer a rich opportunity for reflection. If Jesus did die on the same day as He was conceived, then from the moment of His conception, He was destined to die. Further, if Jesus is the pattern after which every human being is supposed to be made, then you and I are also born to die, as He was.

This is more than just to say that one day, all of us are going to die. The coincidence of Jesus’ conception and His death suggest to that the purpose of our existence is to die, not just “in the end,” but every day, moment by moment. Just as Jesus’ ultimate death coincided with His conception, every instant of my life must also coincide with a death—an offering of myself for others without concern for my own welfare.

Frankly, the world around us takes the opposite tack. We are born, are taught to survive, are filled with knowledge and skills, find jobs and careers, acquire wealth and material possessions, invest, save money for day—all so that we can manage our destinies, if not completely then a little more completely than before.

Beneath that imperative to manage and control is a more primeval impulse: the fear of death, over which we have no control. The need to survive, to cheat death or put it off for as long as possible is the ultimate driving force behind almost every aspect of individual, social, economic and political life in this world.

The Annunciation, linked with the Cross, is a flat out rejection of this Darwinian way of thinking. When I affirm that my life is a series of deaths to self, I choose something other than “survival of the fittest” and “kill or be killed.” Rather, I make choices as a consumer, as a parent, as a spouse, as a citizen, as a member of the Church, that benefit someone other than myself. I am willing to take cuts, live with less, deprive myself of comforts and conveniences, so that other individuals, communities, species, the world outside myself—might survive and thrive. It’s counterintuitive and revolutionary.

Am I destroyed when I make the decision to make my life choices a series of little deaths? By no means. After all, if I die to myself so that you might live, and you die to yourself so that I might live, we both end up, not just alive, but enriched by one another’s lives. And even if you refuse to respond in kind to my act of self-sacrifice, I can still choose to die in imitation of Jesus’ own self-emptying death for me and the entire human race, and in doing so, I find myself resurrected and transformed by a His resurrection.

The Annunciation, then, is a call to death, but not destruction. It is a challenge to relinquish fear, to reject self-interest, to demonstrate the courage and the conviction of the Virgin Mary’s simple acceptance of Gabriel’s announcement, trusting like her that though the water may come up over our heads, God will not allow us to be drowned in our sufferings, but will lead us through into the promised land of life and joy.

Source: http://stillwaterorthodox.org/2016/04/annunciation-call-life-death/

The question may strike you as irreverent. How dare I suggest that the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Heaven, Tower of David, and all the other titles, could have left us in the lurch like that?

But what if she had?

Could she have said No? You might say that of course she couldn’t, she was far too holy — but you would be guilty of demeaning and dangerous sentimentality. It is demeaning because it turns Our Lady from a free human being into a sanctified automaton. The whole glory of the Annunciation is that Mary, the second Eve, could have said No to God but she said Yes instead. That is what we celebrate, that is what we praise her for; and rightly so.

This sentimental view is dangerous too. If we believe that the most important decision in the history of the world was in fact inevitable, that it couldn’t have been otherwise, then that means it was effortless. Now we have a marvellous excuse for laziness. Next time we’re faced with a tough moral decision, we needn’t worry about doing what is right. Just drift, and God will make sure that whatever choice we make is the right one. If God really wants us to do something he’ll sweep us off our feet the way he did Mary, and if he chooses not to, it’s hardly our fault, is it?

So Mary could have said No to Gabriel. What if she had? He couldn’t just go and ask someone else, like some sort of charity collector. With all the genealogies and prophecies in the Bible, there was only one candidate. It’s an alarming thought. Ultimately, of course, God would have done something: the history of salvation is the history of him never abandoning his people however pig-headed they were. But God has chosen to work through human history. If the first attempt at redemption took four thousand years to prepare, from the Fall to the Annunciation, how many tens of thousands of years would the next attempt have taken?

Even if the world sometimes makes us feel like cogs in a machine, each of us is unique and each of us is here for a purpose: just because it isn’t as spectacular a purpose as Mary’s, it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. When we fail to seek our vocation, or put off fulfilling some part of it, we try to justify ourselves by saying that someone else will do it better, that God will provide, that it doesn’t really matter. But we are lying. However small a part I have to play, the story of the Annunciation tells me it is my part and no-one else can do it.

Faced with the enormity of her choice, how was Mary able to decide? If she said No, unredeemed generations would toil on under the burden of sin. If she said Yes, she herself would suffer, and so would her Son; but both would be glorified. Millions of people not yet born would have Heaven open to them; but millions of others would suffer oppression and death in her son’s name. The stakes were almost infinite.

You might say that Mary didn’t worry about all this, just obeyed God; but I don’t believe it. What God wanted was not Mary’s unthinking obedience but her full and informed consent as the representative of the entire human race. The two greatest miracles of the Annunciation are these: that God gave Mary the wisdom to know the consequences of her decision, and that he gave her the grace not to be overwhelmed by that knowledge.

When we come to an important decision in our lives, we can easily find our minds clouded by the possible consequences, or, even more, by partial knowledge of them. How can we ever move, when there is so much good and evil whichever way we go? The Annunciation gives us the answer. God’s grace will give us the strength to move, even if the fate of the whole world is hanging in the balance. After all, God does not demand that our decisions should be the correct ones (assuming that there even is such a thing), only that they should be rightly made.

There is one more truth that the Annunciation teaches us, and it is so appalling that I can think of nothing uplifting to say about it that will take the sting away: perhaps it is best forgotten, because it tells us more about God than we are able to understand. The Almighty Father creates heaven and earth, the sun and all the stars; but when he really wants something done, he comes, the Omnipotent and Omniscient, to one of his poor, weak creatures — and he asks.

And, day by day, he keeps on asking us.

By Fr. Gregory Jensen

Source: http://palamas.info/what-if-she-had-said-no/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed

The Holy Empress Helen uncovered the Precious Cross and Nails of the Lord at Jerusalem in 326.

At the beginning of the reign of Saint Constantine the Great (306-337), the first Roman emperor to recognize Christianity, he and his pious mother Saint Helen decided to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. They also planned to build a church on the site of the Lord’s suffering and Resurrection, in order to reconsecrate and purify the places connected with the Savior’s death and Resurrection from the foul taint of paganism.

The empress Helen journeyed to Jerusalem with a large quantity of gold. Saint Constantine wrote a letter to Patriarch Macarius I (313-323), requesting him to assist her in every possible way with her task of the restoring the Christian holy places.

After her arrival in Jerusalem, the holy empress Helen began to destroy all the pagan temples and reconsecrate the places which had been defiled by the pagans.

In her quest for the Life-Creating Cross, she questioned several Christians and Jews, but for a long time her search remained unsuccessful. Finally, an elderly Hebrew named Jude told her that the Cross was buried beneath the temple of Venus. Saint Helen ordered that the pagan temple be demolished, and for the site to be excavated. Soon they found Golgotha and the Lord’s Sepulchre. Not far from the spot were three crosses, a board with the inscription written by Pilate (John 19:19), and four nails which had pierced the Lord’s Body.

Now the task was to determine on which of the three crosses the Savior had been crucified. Patriarch Macarius saw a dead person being carried to his grave, then he ordered that the dead man be placed upon each cross in turn. When the corpse was placed on the Cross of Christ, he was immediately restored to life. After seeing the raising of the dead man, everyone was convinced that the Life-Creating Cross had been found. With great joy the empress Helen and Patriarch Macarius lifted the Life-Creating Cross and displayed it to all the people standing about.

Source: https://oca.org/saints/lives/2018/03/06/100680-uncovering-of-the-precious-cross-and-the-precious-nails-by-the-e

The honorable head of John the Forerunner, which excites reverence from the Angels, was first buried in the house of Herod, who had imprisoned him and decapitated him on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, since John had rebuked Herod for his illicit relationship with his brother's wife. When the disciples of John buried his body in Sebaste, Herodias kept his head to mock it and secretly buried it on the grounds of the palace in an unclean place. By this she wished to keep the head separated from the body, in order to prevent his possible resurrection and further rebuke. One of the women of her household was Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward, who also was a follower of the Lord Jesus and was among the myrrhbearers. Distressed over the mistreatment of the honorable head of the Forerunner, she became privy to the hiding place where the head of the Forerunner was buried, so she secretly retrieved it one night and took it to the Mount of Olives, and buried it on the grounds there of one of Herod's estates.

Shortly before Constantine the Great ascended the throne of the Roman Empire in 324, a certain Christian named Innocent resolved to forsake the world and live an ascetic life on the Mount of Olives, where he purchased some land on property that formerly belonged to Herod. There he built a cell and a chapel to pray in. During construction, a trench was needed for the foundation, and while excavating he discovered an earthenware vessel containing a skull. The identity of this skull he learned by divine revelation, accompanied by works of power and grace, having performed many miracles. Before the repose of the monk Innocent, he reburied the honorable skull on the grounds of his cell and chapel. Over a number of years, this site fell into ruin and the location of this precious relic became unknown.

The First Finding of the Head of the Forerunner at the Mount of Olives

After Constantine came to the throne, and his mother Helen made the Holy Land a center of pilgrimage with the discovery of the True Cross and the Holy Sepulcher, among other places, two Monks decided to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to venerate the Holy Places. One night while the monks were sleeping in Jerusalem, one of them was granted a visitation from Saint John the Forerunner. He revealed to the Monk the exact location of his head on the Mount of Olives, and commanded him to find it. When he awoke and told his fellow Monk about this divine revelation, he convinced him that it was nothing but a mere dream and they ignored it. The next night, however, the Forerunner appeared to both Monks separately and rebuked them for their disbelief, commanding them to rise and do what he commanded. Stirred from sleep, they went to the location indicated to them and began to dig. Before long, they discovered the earthenware vessel with the skull. Placing it in a sack made of camel's hair, they returned to Jerusalem.

During this time there was a potter living in Emesa (Homs) of Syria, who had fallen into poverty and was looking for another form of occupation. Leaving his wife and home, he went to look for work, and on the road encountered the two Monks who had now left Jerusalem to return to their homeland with the honorable skull. Seeking companionship in his travels, the potter followed the Monks and carried the sack which contained the skull of the Forerunner after he was asked to, though it was not divulged to him what was in the sack. As they walked and the Monks became a little separated from the potter, the Holy Forerunner appeared to the potter on the road, and said to him, "Know that I am John, the Lord's Forerunner. The sack, the one that you bear in your hand, contains my head. I bid you to flee the company of your fellow travelers." After confirming that the sack contained a skull, the potter obeyed without hesitation and returned to his home and wife in Emesa. As for the reason why the Holy Forerunner bid the potter to take the relic from the Monks, it has been suggested that it was because these Monks were too negligent and unbelieving to properly care for the precious skull. This was shown by the fact that they gave the sack to a stranger to carry, when they should have kept it and guarded it with their lives. The potter, however, submitted to the Monks and carried the sack with care. It has also been suggested that these Monks may have belonged to a heretical sect.

The potter returned to his home and told his wife about everything that took place along the road. They both understood that the most precious of treasures was in their home, so they daily burned incense and lit a lamp before it. For this the Forerunner blessed their home, and their poverty became a faint memory. However, they were not overcome with pride, but made sure to properly distribute their wealth to the poor and needy, understanding that they were blessed by God through the Forerunner. At length his wife of many years reposed in the Lord, and as his own end drew near, the Holy Forerunner appeared to him and said, "The time of the end of your earthly sojourn is at hand. Place my head in an empty water vessel. Seal the jug and entrust it to your sister. I do not wish for my head to be enshrined in gold or silver reliquaries." The devout potter obeyed and gave the sealed jug to his sister, bidding her not to open it unless the Forerunner willed for her to do so. After the potter reposed, his sister faithfully kept the precious treasure in her home. And when she reposed she handed it over to another devout and virtuous Christian.

Over time, the precious relic passed from one devout Christian to another. At one point, the honorable head came into the possession of an Arian hieromonk named Eustathios, who lived in a cave. The holy relic was responsible for numerous wonders and miracles and healings, however the heretic Eustathios ascribed these to himself rather than the Holy Forerunner, in order to promote his godless heresy. By this many people were lured into believing that Arianism was true and accepted the heresy. Over time however, the people of Emesa came to understand the evil intentions of Eustathios, and they sought to drive him out of his cave. When the officers were informed they went to have him removed, but Eustathios convinced them to wait for a few hours until he got his things in order and then he would leave. During this time he took the jug which contained the skull and buried it in a deep hole in his cave. His intention was to return at some point and retrieve the relic, which brought him such prestige and fame, in order to continue his fraud. However, with the departure of Eustathios, certain Orthodox monks took up their habitation in this cave, and Eustathios was unable to retrieve the relic.

The Second Finding of the Head of the Forerunner in the Cave of Emesa

As time passed, the site of the cave of the heretic Eustathios became the site of a growing brotherhood of monks. However, no one was aware of the precious treasure contained within the cave. In the middle of the fifth century, Archimandrite Markellos, who was the superior of this community, during the time that Uranios was Bishop of Emesa, was granted a vision of the Holy Forerunner. According to the account of Markellos, which has been preserved, we learn that on February 18th, during the Great Fast, the Holy Forerunner first appeared to him in a vision and blessed him. Then on February 24th the location of the skull of the Forerunner was revealed to him in another vision of a star which he was told to follow and which led him into the cave. Where the star disappeared he began to dig on that spot, and there he found the water jug which contained the holy relic. He then reverently took the honorable skull as a priceless treasure, and brought it to the Bishop, who rejoiced upon learning of this discovery. Soon a church was built in Emesa to honor Saint John the Forerunner. Inside this church a crypt was built, and the honorable head was placed therein, where it was venerated by the faithful, and became responsible for many being healed of illnesses and diseases.

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone

The Forerunner's sacred head, having dawned forth from the earth, doth send incorruption's rays unto the faithful, whereby they find healings of their ills. From on high he gathereth the choirs of the Angels and on earth he summoneth the whole race of mankind, that they with one voice might send up glory to Christ our God.

Kontakion in the Second Tone

Since we have obtained thy head as a most sacred rose from out of the earth, O Forerunner of grace divine, we receive sure healing in every hour, O Prophet of God the Lord; for again, now as formerly, thou preachest repentance unto all the world.

Source: www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2016/02/the-first-and-second-finding-of.html

1. Attend Divine Liturgy and Learn the Troparion

As always, the best way to enter fully into the joy of the feast is to attend Divine Liturgy or Vespers. The services are filled with beautiful imagery and symbolism about Christ as the Light of the World, which lead to excellent discussions with children.

Ask them, “What is light? What does it do? How is Christ like a light? How are we lights?” I am often amazed at the insight and depth of thought that even the littlest ones have on this subject.

The Troparion for the feast is:

“Hail Virgin Theotokos, full of Grace,

For Christ our God, the Sun of Righteousness, has dawned from you,

Granting light to those in darkness.

And you, O Righteous Elder, rejoice,

Taking in your arms the Deliverance of our souls,

Who grants us Resurrection.”

It can also be a good time to review or learn the canticle of St. Simeon, “Lord now let your servant depart in peace.” This song makes a lovely bedtime hymn to sing as a family or with each child separately while tucking them into bed at night.

2. Bring Home Blessed Candles

Many churches bless candles at Divine Liturgy on the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, because of St. Simeon’s reference to Christ as a Light of revelation to the Gentiles.

If your church practices this tradition, be sure to bring home blessed candles to put in your icon corner. Then, have children hold them during family prayer time or even when you read the Gospel at home.

3. Light Up the House

Another way to integrate the theme of light into your celebration is to “light up your house.”

Fill your house with candles. Perhaps you can eat meals by candlelight or pray your Evening Prayers solely by the light of a candle.

When your children ask you about this change in routine, you have a built-in opportunity to speak about Christ as the Light of the World and our charge as Christians to be lights.

4. Talk about Churchings

The Orthodox tradition of churching–bringing a mother and child into the church 40 days after the birth of a baby–comes from the Jewish rite seen in this feast. This makes the feast an excellent time to tell the children about their own churching, to look at pictures, and talk about the practice in general.

5. Call Elderly Relatives

Finally, two pious elderly saints play a major role in the Feast of the Meeting of the Lord. This can serve as a good reminder to children of the importance of our elders and their wisdom.

Perhaps children can call grandparents, great-grandparents, or other relatives on this day to maintain a vibrant relationship with the elders in their own life.

6. Learn More about St. Simeon

Finally, the children can learn more about the life of St. Simeon as taught by the church tradition. His story is a fascinating one of doubt and faith, of patience and perseverance that is an example to all.

These small, simple activities can help make the feasts of the Church more real in the home.

Source: http://www.orthodoxmotherhood.com/6-ways-celebrate-feast-meeting-lord-temple/

The Feast of the Meeting of Christ in the Temple (February 2) is a feast of the elderly. When the Holy Family entered the Temple courts to offer the required sacrifice for the purification of Mary after her giving birth to Jesus, her Son was recognized as the Messiah by only two people, picked out by the power and illumination of the Spirit from all the multitudes of people swarming through the holy courts, and these two were very elderly. Christ was practically a newborn (little over forty days old) and His Mother was young herself, probably about fourteen years old. But the two people who identified them as the Messiah and His Mother were themselves “well stricken with age” (as the phrase has it), so that fresh-faced youth collided with the wrinkled faces of the elderly.

The first wrinkled face belonged to Simeon. God had promised him that he would not die before he saw the Messiah, and he lived in that luminous hope. Every day he rose up from his bed wondering if today would be the day, and every night he retired a disappointed man. Year succeeded year and still he went to his bed with the promise unfulfilled. Then one day, led by the Spirit, he entered the Temple and God pointed out among the hundreds thronging those sacred courts a young woman accompanied by a much older man, and in her arms, a young baby: that child was the Messiah. Boldly he approached them and took the child into his aged arms, praying, “Lord, now You are dismissing Your servant”—a declaration, not a prayer; the Greek verb is in the present tense—and he knew that this child was the sign that he God was dismissing him and he could now die in peace. His eyes had beheld the Messiah, He who was to enlighten all the nations of the world and glorify the people of Israel. Simeon’s age is not given, but he was clearly elderly, for he was now ready to die a happy man. (Traditions which make him one of the translators of the Greek Septuagint offer poetic symbolism and not sober history, for that would make Simeon about 250 years old.)

The other person to recognize the babe in arms as the Messiah was also elderly. Anna was a prophetess—not someone who stood and publically proclaimed oracles like Isaiah did, but a woman to whom God confided things and who stood deep in His secret counsels. St. Luke reported that after her marriage she lived with her husband for seven years, making her about twenty-one or so when she suddenly became a widow. Instead of remarrying she remained in that state, taking her grief into the presence of God and remaining in the Temple day and night—not literally day and night, for there is no reason to think that the Jewish Temple offered dormitories for women—but virtually day and night. She was the first one to enter the Temple when its gates opened and the last one to leave, and she spent all her time fasting, praying, worshipping, and pouring out her heart to the Lord. The Greek text of Luke 2:37 says she was “a widow of eighty-four years”, which could mean that she was eighty-four when she met the Holy Family or that she remained a widow for eighty-four years, which would make her about 105 when she met the Holy Family. Either way, she was a very, very old woman.

God thus chose as the vehicles for His revelation two people who had walked with Him for many years, and who had served Him for decades. He could have chosen anyone, including younger people, people with strength, vigour, and the ability to cross land and sea with the important news. He didn’t. Instead He chose two people who were wrinkled, white-haired (or balding), stiff and bent with age, people who had grown old in His service, people who were soon to die. What does this mean? It means that faithful service is important, and that God honours age. It means that our own goal should be to grow similarly old in the service of God, so that God can confide in us as He did to Simeon and Anna.

Our own culture does not value age. Age is shameful, and the elderly are often shunted off, disappearing into nursing homes, their presence an unwanted burden, their witness and voice of no account. Our culture instead values youth, and we are often treated to the sight of young celebrity twenty-somethings being interviewed on television and consulted about their views on everything from politics to spirituality. When I see such young wrinkle-free celebrities sitting on talk shows and pontificating I often want to shout at the television, “Why are you asking them? They are scarcely old enough to legally vote, drink, or drive, and you think they have some secret wisdom to impart? Their grandparents have forgotten more than they themselves know! Why aren’t you asking their grandparents?” Alas, the experience of the elderly, accumulated often through suffering, too often counts for nothing. They have committed the ultimate offense: they are old, wrinkled, and not pretty. Not even Botox could disguise their shame.

Saner societies than ours take a different view. The Scriptures counsel us to “rise up before the hoary head and honour the face of an old man” (Leviticus 19:32)—i.e. to stand up when a person old enough to have white hair enters the room. Significantly the commandment is rooted in basic respect not just for the elderly, but for God, for the verse ends with the words, “and you shall fear your God; I am the Lord”. Indeed, many if not most societies demand respect for the elderly. Even our own canonical tradition insists upon a certain maturity for its office-holders: deacons may not be ordained until they reach twenty-five years; presbyters until they reach thirty years, and bishops until they reach thirty-five. And in those days, thirty years of age was older than it is now, for a man thirty years old had been married for a while and you could tell how his children were turning out. It is otherwise now; thirty is the new twenty. The point is the Church valued maturity, and made it an essential requirement for those in its service.

Simeon and Anna thus counsel us to flee from the inanity of our culture which despises age and idolizes youth, and return again to a place which respects the wisdom which only the passing of years can bestow. There are exceptions, of course. Some old people remain foolish and stupid, and some young people are replete with a wisdom beyond their years. But these exceptions prove the rule. The Feast of the Meeting brings to our attention God’s choice of the elderly as His vehicles for divine insight. Let us aspire to follow in their footsteps, and grow old in the service and wisdom of God.

Source: http://frlawrencefarley.blogspot.com.by/2017/02/the-feast-of-meeting-celebration-of.html

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Annunciation and the Call to Life-in-Death

The Question of Annunciation

The Story of the Holy Cross and Nails Uncovered in Jerusalem in 326

1st and 2nd Finding of the Honorable Head of John the Forerunner

6 Ways on How to Celebrate the Feast of the Meeting of the Lord

The Meeting of the Lord as a feast of the elderly

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