The Catalog of Good Deeds: Orthodox Feasts

Showing posts with label Orthodox Feasts. Show all posts

After Pentecost, remembering the descent of the Holy Spirit, the Church celebrates the Sunday of All Saints. This is fitting, as the Saints are the result of the Holy Spirit being given to the Apostles, the fruits of that “grain of wheat, which fell into the earth and died”(John 12:24).

The current feast of All Saints came to prominence in the 9th-century, under the patronage of Byzantine ruler Leo the Wise. Upon the death of the emperor’s devout wife, Theophano, he wanted to build a church named in her honour, but was forbidden from doing so because Theophano was not a canonized saint. Instead, Leo dedicated the church to “all saints”, therefore including the pious Theophano among their number. There was already a day dedicated to the Christian martyrs. The patronal day for Leo’s All Saints church became this day, and the celebrations expanded to commemorate not just the martyrs, but all righteous Christians who were glorified in Heaven. Theophano, as it happens, eventually was counted among the Saints, and her feast day is the 16th of December.

The icons for this feast developed from the 9th-century onwards, and do not vary much. The setting of the icon is Paradise, identifiable by the abundance of trees and shrubery. In the bottom-left of the icon is Abraham holding a righteous soul to his chest, which also identifies the place as Paradise: the Bosom of Abraham is a name given to the place where the righteous dead rest until Judgement Day (Lk 16:19-31). To the right of the icon is Jacob, holding the “Twelve Tribes” in a cloth, whilst in the centre is Dismas the penitent thief who was told by Christ on the cross that “this day you will be with me in paradise”(Lk 23:39-43). These figures at the bottom of the icon can be seen to represent the saints of the “old testament”, before Christ’s Resurrection.

Central to the icon is the great “cloud of witnesses” described by St Paul in his letter to the Hebrews (11:33-12:2). The Saints are gathered around Christ, Who is seated in glory on a rainbow. Beneath Him is the Throne of Preparation, before which Adam and Eve prostrate themselves, whilst the Cross is also present (sometimes supported by Ss Helena and Constantine). These are all images present in the Last Judgment.

The Saints themselves are gathered into ranks according to their “type”: martyrs with martyrs, ascetics with ascetics, holy fathers with holy fathers, Apostles with Apostles and so on. Some of the Saints are usually recognizable, but the idea is always that the number of Saints present is beyond counting, as was beheld by the Apostle John in the book of Revelation:

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,

-Revelation 7:9-11

The “four living creatures” can be seen in the icon, along with the various kinds of angels. The resemblance between the iconography of All Saints and the vision from Revelation is another clear reference to the Last Judgment. The Christian cannot escape such constant reminders of the need for repentance, even in triumphal icons like All Saints.

Often in the top corners of the icon are images of King David the Psalmist, and King Solomon. The psalmist writes “But to me, exceedingly honorable are Thy friends, O Lord” (Ps. 138:16), poetically describing one reason for honouring them with a feast-day. The writings of King Solomon are used for two of the readings for the feast of All Saints. Of the Saints, the wise king says: “But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will ever touch them… In the time of their visitation they will shine forth, and will run like sparks through the stubble;” and “the righteous live for ever, and their reward is with the Lord; the Most High takes care of them.” Any of these verses could describe the scene observed by the two prophet-kings in the icon.

Surrounding the multitude of Saints is a mandorla of light. This shows the communion of Saints: communion with each other and with God. The holy fathers describe how the Saints in heaven can hear our prayers through the grace of the Holy Spirit. Modern fathers like Silouan the Athonite and Theophan the Recluse explain especially well how the Holy Spirit envelops the Saints and allows them through grace to share the percipience of God in hearing the multitude of our feeble prayers. The cloud of light surrounding the angels, saints, and Christ not only show the unity of the saints with God, but the true depth of communion and shared conscience: real theosis.

There are some icons of All Saints that show a more “organized” hierarchy of the saints in heaven, such as this one. This gives the impression of an ordered Heaven, a completed Heaven, like a great heavenly temple with Christ reigning over all. This is not a wrong vision of Heaven by any means. However, the more common All Saints icon shows a circular mandorla of light surrounding the ranks of saints and angels around the throne of God. The circle is a perfect shape and does not look “unfinished”, yet the potential is there for the circle to grow larger: to encompass yet more souls and bring them into the Heavenly realm. The icon reminds us of the Last Judgment in many of the details, yet this great shining cloud also reminds us that there is still room there for us.

Source: https://iconreader.wordpress.com/2013/07/01/all-saints-icon-the-great-cloud-of-witnesses/

Many are the monastic citadels of Orthodoxy in Greece, Russia, and other lands, and in all of them the Resurrection of Christ is celebrated with special solemnity and festivity, undimmed by the worldly views that usually greet the worshipper in a city parish the moment he leaves the church building on Pascha. Here are three views of Pascha in Orthodox monasteries as it was lived in the 19th century and even up to our own times.

Pascha on Mount Athos

A description by Constantine Leontiev, a 19th century Russian intellectual and philosopher who was awakened spiritually by his exposure to the thousand-year-old monastic life on Mount Athos:

"The strict ascetical practices in most of the monasteries on Athos before the Paschal Festival reach such a point that it is frightening to think about it. Church services fill all day and all night. The taking of food is limited in the extreme. On certain days only the singers in the choir receive a piece of bread once or twice. During this time every-one on Athos must struggle with his body and spirit. When the Greeks greet one another at the commencement of the fast, they say: "I wish you success in swimming across the Lenten sea." Indeed, the sea of hunger and sadness, of fatigue and forced prayer may not be foregone either by virtue of one's own conscience or by the monastic regulations, except in cases of extreme exhaustion. In Passion Week the spiritual exertions of men for the glory of Christ and the honor of God become even more intense, the services longer, the food still more limited, the time for sleep and rest still shorter, and the examination of one's conscience yet more merciless.

The last evening comes. Everywhere there is silence. The cells of the monks are closed; the corridors are quiet and the churches empty. The woods, the mountains, the sea – nowhere can human beings be seen. Then, exactly at midnight resound strong hammer strokes against a board. Suddenly the bells begin to ring powerfully and solemnly. Life springs into being. Doors bang and voices can be heard. Lights flicker everywhere. Illumined by hundreds of candles, the open churches glow. Everyone wakes up happy and full of joy. Even those who were most exhausted experience an inexplicable feeling of excitement. The swimming across the great sea of bodily privation and the sometimes almost unbearable struggles of the soul have ended. We have landed on a joyous, flowering shore. Christ is risen from the dead,. He has conquered death through death. The Paschal Liturgy on Athos lasts from midnight till dawn. Then all the monks go for a time to their cells but come back for an early service.

Vespers is celebrated together with the Greeks in the largest church of the Russian Monastery of St. Panteleimon. This church is high, majestic, stern, dark arid at the same time blinding with gold. The iconostasis is very, very high. The church is completely filled with light. Besides a massive chandelier there is a giant silver ring with a row of candles that draw a garland of light around the pyramid-shaped lights of the chandelier.

Between the lights of the chandelier and the ring hang countless oil lamps and candles. On great feast days the chandelier and the ring rotate. All this blaze Of candles and lamps, of gold and silver – blinds, gleams, sparkles and rotates as though silently rejoicing with the people in an unbroken, festal dance.

Then, the exclamation of the deacon:

That we may be worthy to hear the Holy Gospel, let us pray to the Lord. The reading from the Gospel of St. John.

It is the Gospel in Greek. The reading has scarcely ended when suddenly there resounds a deafening ringing of bells .... Then a moment's silence .... And in this sudden silence in the church, somewhere in the depths, we hear a strange but pleasant ringing sound as though large drops with musical tone were falling onto metal. The Greeks are striking with their small hammers against metal discs. And again silence.

Then an exclamation in Church Slavonic:

That we may be worthy to hear the Holy Gospel, let us pray to the Lord. The reading from the Gospel of St. John.

The priest reads in Slavonic. Again, the solemn ringing.., and once again the soft beating of the metal discs. Let us attend. The Gospel in Turkish. After renewed ringing ... once more the exclamation; Rome speaks:

Cum ergo sero esset die illo una sabbatorum~et fores essent clausae, ubi erant discipli .... (John 20:19)

Next I hear a language which I cannot understand. It is Albanian, the language of heros, terrible robbers and faithful servants.

Vespers ends. No more ringing is heard. In the paved court and along the long corridors between the monks' cells again profound silence holds sway. For a long time I sit at the open window and look at sunny, golden, yellow, brown and white shrubs on the mountain side which is usually dark and bare but now seems to share our joy. I hear the soft tinkling of the bells on grazing donkeys. But other sounds overwhelm my soul on this evening: the exclamations and the ringing, the reading of the word of God, the different languages: Peace to you, Eirene humin, Pax vobiscum, Selam size.

The dark church, the stern appearance of the icons, the flashing gold and silver everywhere – the stillness, the ringing, the singing – and the wonderful reading to which everyone devoted the closest attention, interrupted only now and again by a smile of joy or an expression or mild surprise. And above our heads in the dark space, the silent, joyous, unceasing dance of countless lights. Truly this is the Festival of Festivals!"

Pascha on Valaam

Over a thousand years old, Valaam Monastery is situated on the islands of Lake Ladoga in northern Russia, not far from the Finnish border. In addition to the main monastery there were many small monastic communities (sketes) scattered about the islands. Closed by the communists in 1939, Valaam has since been turned into a museum by the Soviets.

Here in the words of a righteous monk Abbot Philemon, is a glimpse of how he remembered Pascha on Old Valaam:

"Hardly anywhere else in our Holy Russia was the feast of Pascha celebrated so humbly and quietly as on Valaam. We were left to ourselves in the monastery, for no pilgrim could cross Lake Ladoga whose icy water were ferocious as at no other time of year Each skete had its own services. Only our (main) monastery, having spent the time of Great Lent in the usual labors, fasting an intensified prayer which began with everyone partaking of the Holy Mysteries (likewise on Passion week), would finally, unite on Holy Night in the basement church (of Sts. Sergius and Herman) in anticipation of the Light bearing Paschal Matins.

No one, of course, slept this night. The Acts of the Apostles was read; everyone who so desired took part. And there were man who crowded around the reading stand wanting to take a turn. Everyone would read a bit replacing one another. Twenty years in row I remember this service, and the preparations for it, the expectations and these solemn readings. How I also longed to read the Acts. And I would wait in line with the others, gradually nearing the sacred place But no! Every time something stopped me revealing the demon of vainglory. I didn’t have the courage, and so I never did read the Acts in the middle of the church in the Valaam Cathedral.

A fierce frost. Snow. Around us a wide strip of fragrant firs –darkening on the white path. Here the bannered procession will pass by; here it comes. Here and there bonfires, begin to flicker; they are made by our Finns, our monastery workers who love to light them in this day. Soon will burst forth our thousand-year-old Valaam singing, grand but simple, of the Paschal troparion – I can hear t now! The cathedral is lit with candles and sparkles with gold. The mighty Valaam bells burst out in solemn peals. And a long line of vested clergy shines with gold. The soul trembles and melts before this mighty splendor in glorification of the Risen God, by us poor and humble ones...

Unutterable was the feeling of contrition and awe in which I stood through this service, really going upstairs to the choir loft from here everything could be seen better. Only the last year, already in the rank of deacon, was in the altar – and I must admit, it some how hurt me to be too close to the awesome beauty of what was performed: I didn't know where to stand, to whom to go for a blessing t order to get vested...I lost peace in trifles..,

The service was conducted at a brisk pace, everyone sang the canon, even the 'simpletons.'

Then came the long line of congratulatory brethren, greeting one another with a triple kiss, all servers holding icons, headed by the abbot. Everyone exchanges the Paschal embrace with a kiss. Hundreds, over a thousand monks line up. The first to greet you with 'Christ is risen!' is the abbot, while his cell-attendant hands you an egg, and then all the brethren.

Liturgy is conducted strictly, according the typicon, but at a quick pace, joyous and light. There's scarcely time to take it in before it is all over. Then everybody goes to the refectory to break the fast, solemnly following the abbot in pairs according rank, carrying the holy artos , [A special bread with a cross signifying Christ as the Heavenly Bread (John 6:33)] the singers preceded by those carrying the banners – and it is during the entire week. On the tables · there is a second egg for everyone (these are the only eggs the Valaam monk sees during the entire year), kulich and cheese pascha-but not very much; the Valaam monk's fast is strict, and even on the Great Feast of Pascha, he consoles himself with little, Day breaks – the light-bearing Resurrection of Christ! On Valaam it is very special – we are all alone! And everyone is left to himself. The pealing of bells is uninterrupted; everyone is welcome to go and ring. But even here, not once did I make it to the belfry.

I was drawn rather into the expansive wilds of nature, hastening to visit all around – what beauty, what grace abounded! Once you came out to the shore of the lake, you held your breath upon beholding the grandeur of the breaking ice on the wide surface of the lake. And how apparent here was the feeling of our solitude! our being cut off from the world. Then I'd visit all the chapels; there were many of them scattered about. There we'd sing "Christ is risen", either together with someone else, or alone. Besides ourselves, the brethren, there was no one anywhere.

This state of freedom was so unusual! There was no need to hurry anywhere, to rush; one was not afraid to be late to some obedience, or to miss anything. There was only one day like this in the whole year, long and full, 1asting without end – you can go everywhere, wherever you want, and you feast on it endlessly, wandering and walking to your heart's content, the soul rejoicing.

At approximately 3 o'clock, a bell is rung, its peculiar short rings calling everyone to tea. At this time many come from the sketes also. Tea is served with milk: three pieces of lump sugar, bread, sweet bread – eat, drink as much as you want.

For the next several days the service is conducted in various churches; the Risen Lord must be glorified everywhere. The service on the third day after Pascha is held in the upper church of the Cathedral. [This church was used only in summer and was unheated.] Everyone dresses as warmly as possible. Clouds of vapor rise from the mouths of the singers. I don't know how the Holy Gifts do not freeze – it's so terribly cold ! But the Paschal service proceeds very briskly.

Oh, that Light-bearing joy of Valaam! Oh, that holy Russian simplicity, the thousand-year-old austere simplicity, faithful to its poverty and humility, and magnificent in its triumphant celebration of the Resurrected Christ!"

Sarov: A New Paschal Spring

The snow still glistens on the fields and in the dark evergreen forest, where the sun's rays cannot so easily penetrate, winter still ~ seems to reign, But the noise of rushing water on all sides betrays the truth. The succulent green moss and majestic firs saturated with the spring dampness, give off 'something just like church incense, the fragrance of a new, rapidly approaching spring. The birches stand as though lifeless, awaiting the secret summons of nature, in order all at once to clothe themselves in spring's green apparel...' And suddenly, the entire Sarov forest resounds with the ringing peals of the Paschal bells, whose sound carries from the Holy Monastery, from the churches of the holy Sarov Hermitage, echoing in the surrounding fields, forests, groves, towns and villages.

Throughout the Motherland of Holy Russia the sound of Paschal bells once rang out, proclaiming the joy of Christ's Resurrection, and promising the universal resurrection. It was then that mighty men of God worked out their salvation in the Sarov forests. Like “a homeless wanderer, the deser't-dweller” Mark wandered at night among the oak groves which resounded with his continual singing: "Having beheld the Resurrection of Christ..." He said that he felt a special unearthly joy at this time, when all of nature was silent; that at no other time did prayer ascend so easily to God than at this time of peace and quiet. In a solitary cell, the spirit-bearing Elder Nazarius (+1808) ended his days; having gathered on Valaam a whole army of spiritual warriors, and now, beside the river Sarovka, he was at rest already in another world.

Further along the same river, Saint Seraphim, the joy of Holy Russia, for many years: struggled on the path of salvation. How much was thought out, how much was prayed through, in this green "desert". There also, in a small secluded hut, from the age of 12, the future missionary to America, St. Herman, conducted his spiritual struggles as a cell attendant to the ascetic Elder Varlaam.

There also lived the clairvoyant Anthony of Murom (+1855), a friend of the great Seraphim, and Jonah of Kiev (+1902) who, as a youth, lived in a hut near St. Seraphim. Likewise the restorer of Sanaxar Monastery, Theodore (+1791) who resembled the ancient desert fathers, and Theophan of New Lake (+1832) in his youth, and Moses (+1868), one of the founders of Optina Hermitage, and many others.

All of these friends of God; entirely immersed themselves in the stillness of their hearts, and there beheld the true nature of first-created Adam, that natural state of man, that magnificent and God-like dweller of paradise, for whose sake the whole world was created, a stranger to corruption and death. Carefully watching over themselves in the depth of the forest solitude, these wondrous elders studied through their own experience, all the various movements of the heart, the center of human life. Working to uproot all evil and to plant virtue, they illumined their souls with the know1edge of God. Before their inner sight were opened the mysteries of the invisible world, and they were able to discern what was good and what was evil. How did these spirit-filled elders who exhausted themselves so, experience in their hearts Christ's Resurrection? Is it possible, even dimly, to apprehend what the soul of a righteous man experiences who has worn himself out with relentless cleansing of his soul – when touched by the bright rays of the rising Sun of Righteousness?

The stars grow dim in the dawning Sarov sky. The dark forest and oak groves reverberate with the turbulent sounds of the life-bearing spring. With the ringing of church bells and the jubilant rejoicing of human hearts, there rises over the sinful earth the splendor of the dawn of Christ’s Resurrection.

Christ is Risen!

Christ Is Risen, O fathers of Sarov!

Christ Is Risen, O Much-suffering Russian land!

But in Russia, Sarov is no more. No one will answer the Paschal greeting. On the holy grounds of Sarov, there was until recently an abomination of desolation, a concentration camp of 20th century slaves and the graves of the monks – innocent sufferers awaiting the general resurrection. One person timidly remarks: There beyond the forest, protected by a dense thicket, rests a forgotten cemetery, deprived of its crosses. The anonymous boards gaze into the cloudy sky. Forsaken by all, the dead quietly narrate to the distant stars, the unending story of their sufferings – the story of unknown people whose lives were discarded as worthless. Around our barracks stood like a wall the thick green of the swaying birches – the unique and unforgettable thick forest of Sarov. All of us involuntarily felt the invisible strength and grace – giving proximity of the Holy Monastery. St. Seraphim himself appeared once in the forest on the road in Soviet times to a prisoner-monk, when his strength had given out under his heavy load and he could go no further. Almost all the believers among the prisoners midst of the severest trials, they felt his protection, At first it was proposed to build a concentration camp in the monastery, But such a spirit of depression fell upon the workers who were sent there from the "special ' department", so many cases of suicide arose among them, that the authorities moved the camp to another location, and in the monastery they built a home for the children of prisoners. They say that at night the children often see the elder in a white peasant's coat and a short black mantia." (Memoirs of Nun Veronica, St. Vladimir's Calendar for 1973)

In another account concerning the new martyr, Abbot Barsanouphius, an organizer of the Josephite catacombs, we read the following: "In Sarov he was beaten until he was half dead; when be came out of the camp he was a completely bent-over invalid who could not walk without crutches, It was hard to recognize the still not so old, well-built, tall batiushka, Father Barsanouphius. After his beating, the Lord granted him the great gift of inner spiritual sight. Likewise, during a time of severe illness, it was as though he were transported into another realm; he had a whole series of visions, which he related as undoubted confirmations of the life to come." (Russia’s New Martyrs, Fr. Michael Polsky; Vol. II, 1957.)

There is no death in God! All are alive in God. Christ is Risen and Life Reigns! And although the sufferings of crucified Russia have in no way diminished to this very day, nevertheless it is with new strength that there come forth sounds of an unmistakable, strong renewal. Do you hear, does the sound carry? Is this not the sound of a Paschal spring?

Yes! A great ascetic of our Russian Church Abroad, Archbishop Vitaly of Jordanville, said:

"These are isolated splashes of an awakening national will to freedom. They are now penetrating the, mass, just as the rays of the spring sun Penetrate the frozen earth. They melt the icy fetters of winter; they tear and carry off the ice which binds and deadens the life of the people; just as the spring torrents of the beloved Volga and the wide Dniepr carry and smash into small pieces the ice floes of winter."

By Monk Herman

Source: http://fatherdavidbirdosb.blogspot.com.by/2013/05/easter-on-mount-athos-at-valaam-and-at.html

"On this day, the Tuesday of St. Thomas week, according to the order instituted by our Holy Fathers, we call to remembrance, in Paschal joy, all those who have died from the beginning of the ages in faith and in the hope of resurrection and life eternal.

"Having previously celebrated the radiant feast of Christ's glorious Resurrection, the faithful commemorate the dead today with the pious intent to share the great joy of this Pascha feast with those who have departed this life in the hope of their own resurrection. This is the same blessed joy with which the dead heard our Lord announce His victory over death when He descended into Hades, thus leading forth by the hand the righteous souls of the Old Covenant into Paradise. This is the same unhoped-for joy the Holy Myrrhbearing Women experienced when discovering the empty tomb and the undisturbed grave clothes. In addition, this is the same bright joy the Holy Apostles encountered in the Upper Room where Christ appeared though the doors were closed. In short, this feast is a kindred joy, to celebrate the luminous Resurrection with our Orthodox forefathers who have fallen asleep.

"There is evidence of the commemoration of the dead today in the writings of the Church Fathers. St. John Chrysostom mentions the commemoration of the dead performed on Tuesday of St. Thomas week in his "Homily on the Cemetery and the Cross."

"Today, the faithful departed are remembered in Divine Liturgies, 'koliva' is prepared and blessed in the churches in memory of those who have fallen asleep, and the Orthodox graves in cemeteries are blessed by the priests and visited by the faithful. On this day alms are given to the poor. Furthermore, it should be noted that due to the great spiritual joy this jubilant commemoration bears, it is called in the Slavonic tongue, 'Radonitsa,' or Day of Rejoicing."

From the "Synaxarion of the Lenten Triodion and Penecostarion" (published in 1999 by HDM Press, Rives Junction, Michigan) on "Radonitsa'

***

A note in the English-language edition of the Synaxarion says that the above account was written "by a monk who wished to remain annonymous." This account does not appear in the Slavonic or Greek Pentecostaria.

The development of a special commemoration of the dead during Thomas Week is undoubtedly related closely to the fact that memorial services are prohibited by the Typicon from being served from Great Thursday through Thomas Sunday. Thus, in the entry for Holy and Great Thursday, the Typicon states: "It is fitting to know: That the Litia for the reposed does not take place in the narthex until Thomas Sunday." Then, in the entry for Monday of Thomas Week, the Typicon states at the end of the instructions for Matins and the First Hour: "And the usual Litia in the narthex." Thus, the begining of Thomas Week presents the first opportunity to commemorate the departed (other than at the Proskomidia) since the middle of Passion Week.

It is interesting to note that in the Typicon and Pentecostarion that are currently in use in the Russian Church, there is no specific mention of a commemoration of the dead on Tuesday of Thomas Week, and the services appointed for that day do not contain any requiem elements. Nonetheless, it is quite common to serve a General Panikhida in church on that day and also to serve Requiem Litias at the graves of the departed.

Their are many folk customs associated with Radonitsa. Perhaps other members of the Ustav List would like to share their knowledge and experience of these customs with us.

By Daniel Olson

Source: http://www.orthodox.net/ustav/radonitsa.html

The Orthodox Church is the Church of the Resurrection, because it gives prominence to Christ’s victory over death. Pascha is the overcoming of death, the passage of the Word to the human heart and not the reduction of the heart to human reason and senses. When one examines the “ethos” of Orthodoxy, one finds that it confers the “spirit” and life that comes out of the Tomb: the “life in the tomb” as the hymns say. It is a blaze of light and the ecstasy of life. This is where the difference between western Christianity and the Orthodox Church can be seen:

Saint Francis, in Kazantzakis’ biography, reaches the highest degree of the spiritual life by feeling “God crucified” in his body. He said of this: “It is a cross, Brother Leone, man’s body is a cross - open your arms and you will see, God is crucified upon it”. And he prayed, “My Christ, my love, I ask one favour of you, one favour for me before I die - that I may feel in my body and soul, as far as possible, Your pain and Your Holy passion…” He reached the point of seeing the wounds of the Cross on his body, and when he asked for another, greater, experience, he heard a divine voice saying: “Do not ask for more; this is where man’s ascent ends - at the Crucifixion!”

On the other hand, the Orthodox saint, St. Silouan the Athonite, saw the Resurrected Christ and experienced Pascha within his being and within creation. Following the vision of Christ resurrected he said: “I was living in a paschal feast. Everything was beautiful; the world was grand, people were pleasing, nature was unspeakably lovely, the body changed and became light, strength was added… the soul overflowed with joy; it had compassion on people and prayed for the whole world.”

This difference between Western and Eastern thinking is seen in the difference between Jean-Paul Sartre and St. Seraphim of Sarov. The former (Sartre), disillusioned by western Christianity said: “The other is my hell!”. The latter (St Seraphim of Sarov) addressed everyone who met him with the greeting: “Christ is Risen, my joy”. Each and every ‘other’ is not ‘different’ a ‘stranger’ a ‘foreigner’, but a brother. The experience of the Resurrection overcomes death, neutralises selfishness, and abolishes Hades. Otherwise, man is enclosed in his own personal hell.

In celebrating “our Pascha” as “the feast of feasts” and as “the death of death, the first-fruits of another life that is eternal” we feel within ourselves and around ourselves the scent of spiritual death, of life that is before the Resurrection of Christ. We live this biological life simply for survival, but, indeed, as yet mortal. We chant “Christ is Risen!”, we celebrate on the outside, but the bitterness of Hades rules within us, often even in church life. The remembrance of death is bitter, so too is the pain of loneliness. These poisonous constraints, even in the field of Christianity are bitter; even in the Church itself, which continues to be the Church of the Resurrection and to preach the mystery of the Resurrection.

It is of course our various passions that keep us away from the existential festival of life. Various pressures also make Church life feel different from this. Christians divided by various political considerations, the Orthodox with various rivalries between themselves; these do not remind us of the Resurrected Christ at all.

So, the crucifixion of the Orthodox Church continues. The wounds of the Cross of the Church in Jerusalem, from its internal weaknesses and external influences blacken the “Holy Fire” that comes from the Sepulchre of Christ. The political opportunism, the nationalistic racists with their all too human passions do not allow the joy of the Resurrection to shine out as light to the people round about.

The domineering powers that can be seen in all Christian confessions drain away the “Joy to all”, the “Peace unto you”, the “be of good cheer”, because they are ruled by other alien powers, foreign to the “spirit” of the Resurrected Christ. Unfortunately, politics, often in ecclesiastical dress, are the nails of the crucified Church, the bride of the Resurrected Christ together with the worldly-led pressures that take place in the name of the term “mother Church”.......

Our Pascha, as the victory over death and the experience of life, is lived out today despite these secular-minded powers and tendencies. It is experienced by those who live humbly and existentially within the sphere of the Church, away from secularisation, racism and political considerations and can be clearly seen in the relics of saints.

Normally, the bodies of those saints that have fallen asleep, which are a just mass of cells, within which are included the cells for ageing, should rot away. However, the power and grace of the Resurrection does not let them break up; something which proves they have overcome death. The saint is a person who is asleep awaiting the last wake up call.

This then is our Pascha, as a mystery of the Resurrection, and not as a Christianity of religiosity with the passions of the love of precedence, of division and of rivalry. ‘Our Pascha’ cannot be replaced by ‘our Religion’, which lives under the rule of death. The Resurrected Christ cannot be made up out of the political expressions of Christianity and the power of the Resurrection cannot fit within the so-called “Christian States”. It is experienced in a life beyond the imagination, thinking and speaking; transfigured by Divine Light, with a loving desire for God and with humility.

By His Eminence, Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

Source: http://www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/voicefromisles/pascha_in_the_west_and_the_east

This year, the feast of Annunciation fell on the Great Saturday. Last time such a beautiful coincidence happened in 2007. What are the liturgical peculiarities of this day and how can we celebrate the feast?

After the rite of Burial of the Shroud (usually on Great Friday or at night on Great Saturday, an appealing glorification is sung: “With the voice of the archangel we cry to Thee, O Pure One: Rejoice, O Full of Grace, the Lord is with Thee!”

There are two Gospel readings: Matthew, the end of chapter 27, in which it is told about the burial of Chris, and the traditional readings of the feasts of the Mother of God – about the meeting of Virgin Mary with Elisabeth, the mother of john the Forerunner.

Two canons are joined together: the well-known canon of Great Saturday written by St. Kassia, a wonderful church poetess, and no less famous canon of Annunciation, based on an imaginary dialogue between Archangel Gabriel and the Mother of God.

Next morning, at the liturgy of St. Basil the Great, the apostolic and Gospel readings of Annunciation and Great Saturday are united again. After the end of the Eucharistic canon, when “Axion Estin” is usually sung or “All of creation rejoices in you, O full of grace” (in case of the liturgy of Basil the Great), the choir sings one of the favorite chants devoted to the Mother of God – “Do not weep for Me, Mother”. It inspired many poets and artists – from Michelangelo and his heart-rending “Pieta” to Anna Ahmatova and her painful poem “Requiem”.

However, if your parish church is called in honor of the Annunciation, then most likely you will hear another chant: “Let no profane hand touch the living Ark of God, but let the lips of the faithful, singing without ceasing the words of the Angel to the Theotokos, cry aloud in great joy: Hail, thou who are full of grace: the Lord is with thee.”

Church decorations

On Great Saturday, churches are especially beautiful. In the center on the church there is a Shroud decorated with flowers – the image of Jesus Christ in the tomb.

This year there will be even more beauty – near the Shroud there will be an analogion with the icon of the Annunciation of the Mother of God. The Good News about the coming of the Savior, and the tremulous waiting for the good news about His Resurrection.

At the same time, priests will be vested in traditional colors of Great Saturday. During the Burial and the Liturgy before the chant “Arise, O God, judge the earth” (before the apostolic readings), the vestments are black; after that – white vestments. There will be no traditional blue vestments of the Annunciation.

What is permitted to eat and how to celebrate the feast

There is the bad news for the lovers of traditional dished made of fish – there will be no fast easing because of Great Saturday. The good news is that it is permitted to drink some wine at the modest supper. By the way, wine is permitted on every Saturday and Sunday of Great Lent. Not for causing excessive drinking, but because wine in small portions strengthens us indeed.

There is a good piece of advice. On the occasion of the feast, prepare something like mulled wine. Something less time-consuming and not intoxicating. Dilute any wine you like with hot but not boiling water, add there a spoon of cinnamon, a branch of thyme or mint, a piece of apple, a tangerine skin, add a spoon of honey if the wine is too dry – and enjoy its pleasant flavor and taste.

Forget about your household worries. You did not have time for cleaning? Not a big deal. The main thing is to “clean’ your heart, not your house. You did not have time for baking a kulich? If you want one very much you can just buy it.

Remember an old proverb, “On the day of the Annunciation, a bird won’t make its nest, a girl won’t braid her hair”. Focus on living through this main Saturday of the year: “This is the most blessed Sabbath, On which Christ has fallen asleep to rise on the third day!”

By Nun Eugenia (Senchukova)

Translated by The Catalog of Good Deeds

Source: http://www.pravmir.ru/blagoveshhenie-v-velikuyu-subbotu-pochemu-etot-den-osobennyiy/

Many Orthodox Christians insist "Pascha" or any derivitive of the word Passover is the only correct name for the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ, among possibly other liturgical words for the feast, but insist the word "Easter" is innapropriate because it supposedly has pagan origins. Does it truly have pagan origins that would prohibit its use? Or are there in fact justifiable reasons to allow for "Pascha" and "Easter" to both be used with a clean conscience. Since "Pascha" is without controversy, we will examine these things for the word "Easter".

Etymological relation vs. etymological descendance

The word "Easter" has some etymological baggage. Some Christians are wary of using the word because of its supposed pagan origin. The Venerable Bede (672-735) asserted that the word "Easter" derived from "Eostre", the goddess of the Saxons (De Ratione Temporum). In modern times Alexander Hislop connected Easter to the Babylonian goddess Astarte (The Two Babylons, 1858). Apparently, there was indeed a goddess by the name "Eostre" ("Ostara" in German). Hence it seems that "Easter" and "Eostre" are etymologically related. However, it is foolish to take etymological relation as evidence of a "pagan connection" between "Easter" and "Eostre". To see the foolishness of this, consider the following example: There was a Christian theologian in the third century by the name of "Lucian" of Antioch. There is also the name "Lucifer" ascribed to Satan (Isaiah 14:12). Both "Lucian" and "Lucifer" are derived from the Latin word for "light (lucis)". This means that "Lucian" and "Lucifer" are etymologically related. However, neither is an etymological descendant of the other, which means neither name is derived from the other name. Each name is a separate etymological descendant of the root word for light, "lucis". Thus it would be foolish to say, "A Christian should never call himself Lucian because the word is related to Lucifer!" Etymological relation between a negative word (i.e. Lucifer) and the impugned word (i.e. Lucian) does not mean anything. The issue is whether the impugned word is an etymological descendant of the negative word. As for "Lucian", it is not an etymological descendant of "Lucifer". Likewise, Easter is not an etymological descendant of Eostre but rather a separate etymological descendant of a common root word which in itself carries a neutral connotation.

"Easter" is derived from "East"

The root of "Easter" is "east" just as the root of "Ostern" ("Easter" in German) is "Ost" ("east" in German). Likewise, the root of "Eostre" (English) and "Ostara" (German) is the word for "east." Thus both "Easter" and "Eostre" are derived from the word "east". This means neither "Easter" nor "Eostre" has to be an etymological descendant of the other, but each could be a separate etymological descendant of the word "east". The etymology of "east" gives us clues as to why both pagans and Christians wished to use the word "east" for their respective purposes. The etymology of the Saxon word "east" is:

- "O.E. east, from P.Gmc. *aus-to-, *austra- "east, toward the sunrise" (cf. Du. oost, Ger. Ost, O.N. austr "from the east"), from PIE *aus- "dawn" (cf. Skt. ushas "dawn," Gk. aurion "morning," O.Ir. usah, Lith. auszra "dawn," L. aurora "dawn," auster "south"), lit. "to shine." The east is the direction in which dawn breaks." (Online Etymological Dictionary)

"East" refers to the dawn, sunrise, morning. Hence if pagans wished to worship a goddess of sunrise, it was fitting for the pagans to name their goddess after the word "east". But Christians also had reason to use the word "east" to describe the day of their Savior's resurrection. Consider the following passages concerning Christ's resurrection:

- "In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre." (Matthew 28:1)

- "And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun." (Mark 16:2)

The day of Christ' resurrection was in the morning at the rising of the sun. In fact, it was not only a physical morning but also a spiritual morning because the light of salvation had come into the world. Christ began to rise as the "Sun of righteousness" at his resurrection. The following passages compare Christ with the rising of the sun:

- "But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings;" (Malachi 4:2)

- "We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts." (2 Peter 1:19)

- "I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star." (Revelation 22:16)

With these details of Christ and his resurrection, there is no mystery as to why Anglo-Saxon Christians called the day of his resurrection "Easter," a word derived from "east," which means dawn, sunrise, morning. Just as the sun rises from the darkness of night, the "Sun of righteousness" rose (resurrected) from the darkness of death. Christ's resurrection was the sunrise of all sunrises - hence, Easter. This association of Christ's resurrection with the dawn is not pagan but based on biblical narrative and symbolism.

Christians reclaimed the true meaning of "Easter"

Anglo-Saxon Christians may have given the name "Easter" to the day of Christ's resurrection to identify Christ as the true God of sunrise (in the sense of being Creator of the sun as well as spiritually being the "Sun of righteousness"). Thus the word "Easter" stands as a testimony of the Anglo-Saxon Christians' rejection of the goddess in reception of the true God, Jesus Christ. It is counterproductive to suggest that Christians should abandon the word "Easter". Why should we give the pagans a monopoly over a word which signifies the dawn, one of God's most stunning works of creation? The funny thing is that many Christians who oppose the use of the word "Easter" still celebrate "Good Friday". Yet the word "Friday" is based on the name of a pagan goddess. The word "Friday" means "Day of Frige" - Frige being the name of a Norse goddess. "Good Friday" literally means "Good day of Frige (the goddess)". Some Christians say that Christ rose on "Saturday", yet "Saturday" is also derived from the pagan god Saturnus. If one would actually like to avoid a "pagan connection", he would be wiser to avoid using the words "Friday" and "Saturday" rather than the Christian word "Easter". Avoiding all of these words, of course, is an impossibility if we wish to communicate with others regarding the days of the week. We just have to admit that the English language is the language of a people who were once pagan and that there are many vestiges of pagan etymology in English. It is only by God's redemptive grace that the words of our mouths (notwithstanding the occasional pagan etymologies) are found acceptable in His sight:

"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer." (Psalm 19:14)

Source: http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2012/04/pascha-or-easter-or-both.html

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