Joseph and the Nativity of Christ

Of all of the main characters in the Scripture, there is one from whom we never hear a word.  That, of course, is Joseph, Jesus' step-father and husband to Mary.  We see him, of course, in every Nativity scene and his importance cannot be understated especially since if he did not listen to to the angel and choose to take Mary as his bride, then the history of salvation may have well turned out differently. His reputation of being Jesus' protector can also not be underestimated as it is he who took Mary and the infant, Jesus, to Egypt to protect them from Herod.   He is honored for his actions and rightfully so, but I've always been curious as to what Joseph may have said.  Though none is recorded in Scriptures, at the hymns of the Royal Hours, Joseph is given some very intriguing things to say.

From the first Hour:  Joseph spoke thus to the Virgin:  "What is this doing, O Mary, that I see in thee?  I fail to understand and am amazed, and y mind is struck with dismay.  Go from my sight, therefore, with all speed.  What is this doing, O Mary, that I see in thee?  Instead of honor, thou has brought me shame; instead of gladness, sorrow; instead of praise, reproof.  No further shall I bear the reproach of men. I received thee from the priests of the temple, as one blameless before the Lord.  And what is this that I now see?"

From the third Hour:  "I have searched the prophets, " said he, "and have been warned by an angel:  and I am persuaded that Mary shall give birth to God, in ways surpassing all interpretation.  Magi from the east shall come to worship Him with precious gifts."

From the sixth Hour:  "What is this strange mystery in thee, O Virgin?  And how shalt though bring forth a child, Calf upon whom the yoke has never come?"

Then in the ninth Hour, Mary responds to Joseph's hesitations and doubts:  "Why are thou downcast and troubled, seeing me great with child?  Why are thou wholly ignorant of the fearful mystery that comes to pass in me?  Henceforth, case every fear aside and understand this strange marvel:  for in my womb, God now descends upon the earth for mercy's sake, and He has taken flesh.  Thou shalt see Him according to His good pleasure, when He is born; and filled with joy thou shalt worship Him as thy Creator.  Him the angels praise without ceasing in song and glorify with the Father and the Holy Spirit."

Joseph's doubt is met with the confidence of Mary who first said "yes" to the Lord when Gabriel announced she was pregnant.  Joseph's concern for this reputation is met with Mary's revelation that the mercy Jesus brings in the flesh will make such a concern trivial. Joseph's amazement that Mary is pregnant in the first place is compounded by who is contained within Mary. Sure the words are not Scriptural, but they don't have to be.  This dialogue illustrates not only the concerns we frail humans have, but also the real importance of this day and who has come in the flesh, truly in the flesh.

Christ is born to raise up the image that fell aforetime.

Sunday of the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea

Today, the Sunday following the Ascension of our Lord, we commemorate the 318 holy fathers of the First Ecumenical Council at Nicaea in 325 A.D., which was convened by the Emperor, St. Constantine, to deal with the heresies of Arius once and for all.  How fitting that this commemoration should be right after the Ascension as it was Jesus Christ, the Theanthropos (God-Man) Who ascended into heaven, not some created being as Arius thought.

The hymnography for this feast is great on so many levels.  Though we contemplate the reality of our life in Christ from what He has worked for us and what has been given to us through His saints, we do not contemplate the embellishments of the Byzantine hymnographers.  Here's a prime example from the stichera at Psalm 140 at Great Vespers.

Keeping his eyes shut that he may not see light, into sin's deep pit Arius fell headlong.  His bowels were torn by a divine hook that he give up violently all his substance and his soul; and become in this wise, through his most evil purpose and his manner another Judas.  But the Council gathered in Nicae, proclaimed that Thou, O Lord, art truly the Son of God, one with the Father and the Spirit in rank.

Great, huh?  By the prayers of the fathers of the First Council of Nicaea, may we continue to be true to the Orthodox faith and fight off the heirs to Arius' heresy and may we assume eternal life.

Forefeast of the Theophany

One of the things I love, liturgically, about the Orthodox Church is how every major feast (those of the Master and a few of the Theotokos) have not only the day of feasting, but also a forefeast and a leave-taking of the feast when the hymns of that day are, more or less, repeated. Most feasts have a period of one week where we are celebrating.

Today is the forefeast of the Theophany of our Lord, where we celebrate his baptism at the hands of His Forerunner, John. Often, it seems, after Christmas, we Orthodox Christians get into a little bit of festal overload and tend to ignore that one week after Christ's birth in the flesh, we should be celebrating His circumcision in the flesh and naming, and then proceed on to celebrate His baptism where, as the Theophany troparion exclaims, "the worship of the Trinity was made manifest." The forefeasts are there to recall us always to worship our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ and to prepare us for the great theological truth that is revealed to us at every feast for us and for our salvation.

The troparion of the forefeast is as follows:

Make ready, Zabulon; prepare thyself, o Nepthalim. River Jordan, stay thy course and skip for gladness to receive teh Soverign Master, Who cometh to be baptzied. O Adam, be thou glad with our first mother, Eve; hide not as ye did of old in Paradise. Seeing you naked, He hath appeared now to clothe you in the first robe again. Christ hath appeared for He truly willeth to renew all creation.

This hymn is sung to the hard chromatic melody "Joseph was Amazed" which provides the same melody for the Forefeast of the Nativity. And if you read both troparia side by side, you can see that they parallel each other in so many ways.

The Troparion of the Forefeast of Nativity is in boldfaced and the Troparion of the Forefeast of Theophany is in italics.

Make ready O Bethlehem
Make ready, Zabulon

Prepare, O Ephratha
Prepare thyself, O Nephthalim

For the tree of life hath blossomed forth in the cave from the Virgin
River Jordan, stay thy course and skip for gladness to receive the Soverign Master who cometh to be baptized.

For her womb did appear as a supersensual paradise
O Adam, be thou glad with our first mother Eve; hide not as ye did in paradise

In which is planted that holy plant, wherof eating, we shall live and not die as Adam
Seeing you naked, He hath appeare now to clothe you in the first robe again

Christ shall be born raising the image that fell at he beginning.
Christ hath appeared, for He truly willeth to renew all creation.

So many Orthodox hymns have this parallel which is important because though a feast may explain one or several important theological truths, it is important that we see how all of these great acts which our Lord has done for us, are all tied together. It frequently frustrates me when my friends and family who are mainly of Lutheran background say that the only feast we should keep is that of the Death and Resurrection of our Lord. For them, it is always "Cross, cross, cross." And so, as a result, feasts such as our Lord's transfiguration (One of my favorite), the Exaltation of the Cross, Ascension, Theophany, Circumcision and such are skipped over or even totally ignored. This is what has happened in mainstream Protestantism as a whole, where the actions taken by our Lord are repeated by them (Eucharist and Baptism) only because Christ did it; not because there is any theological importance behind those actions!

It is to the credit of the Church which always should call us to mind that the feasts we celebrate are all interconnected to one another. I can list any number of other instances where this happens. As Orthodox, it is important that our hymnography not be taken for granted or ignored. It forms the whole of our history of salvation!

Hymn of Praise to the Most Holy Theotokos in Honour of her Nativity

O greatly desired and long awaited one,
O Virgin, thou hast been obtained from the Lord with tears!
A bodily temple of the Most-holy Spirit shalt thou become,
And shalt be called Mother of the Eternal Word.

The Burning Bush they called thee,
For thou wilt receive within thyself the divine fire:
Ablaze with fire but not consumed,
Thou shalt bear the Golden Fruit and offer it to the world.

Thou shalt be the Bearer of Him Who bears the heavens,
To Whom all of heaven offers up praise!
The Miracle of miracles shall come to pass within thee,
For thou shalt bear heaven, thou who art ``more spacious than the heavens!''

Thou art more precious to us, O Virgin, than precious stones,
For thou art the source of salvation for mankind.
For this, may the entire universe glorify thee,
O Most-holy Virgin, O white Turtledove!

The King of Heaven shall desire to enter the world,
And shall pass through thee, O Beautiful Gate!
O Virgin, when thou dost become woman thou shalt bear Christ for us;
From thy body, the Sun shall blaze forth.

The beauty of Byzantine Chant

One of the things that really moved me into Orthodoxy was the beauty and richness of its hymnography and chanting in the Byzantine style. I will elaborate more on this in part III of my journey.

Here you will hear, in Greek, Psalm 135 (LXX) or 136 in the authorized version. It is chanted by Byzantine Master and Professor of Music, Mr. George Papanicholaos. It is chanted in plagal of tone 1, also called tone 5 based on pa. Enjoy.