Modern Orthodox Wisdom

From within this festal celebration unity between humanity and the angels is revealed. The diversity of human existence joined to the diversity of angelic life forms a symphony of created plurality maintained within the unity and plurality of the Holy Trinity.--Fr. Robert Arida

For the rest of this wonderful sermon on the feast of St. Michael and all Angels which is celebrated today by Orthodox Christians on the Old Calendar, go here!

The Presentation of the Theotokos

I cannot believe that I have never written anything about this particular great feast.  There are a number of reasons that is the case.  First, it always seems to fall right smack in the midst of the preparations or actual festivities of the Thanksgiving Holiday here in America so it is put on the back-burner.  But, I think more accurate, the reason I probably have never written about this feast is simply because I just don't really even begin to understand the theological underpinnings of this feast.

Mary's Nativity and Dormition are, in my mind, no-brainers.  The birth of the very temple of God goes hand in hand with the incarnation of the Lord Himself.  Her death shows that even the living temple of God was in need of Christ's death and triumph over death through His Resurrection.  Her taking up into heaven is an example, an icon, if you will, of the very same fate that will await all Christians at the hour of death.  But, what are we to make of her Presentation to the Temple?

Protestants will naturally insist that the reason for my confusion is simply to be found in the absence of the event (including Mary's birth and death) in the Canon of the Scriptures.  That's outright bunk.  Our theology is not simply contained in an infallible book but in the living tradition of the Holy Church through the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  You may not like that answer, but our theology is not dependent upon "your" rules.

Mary's presentation into the temple indicates that Sts. Joachim and Anna were obedient to the law and the Prophets.  Just as Mary, years later, would present her son, the Incarnate Logos, 40 days after his birth to the temple, so Mary's parents did with her.  This shows that God's salvation was not a deviation or a breaking from a law, but the law's fulfillment. 

According to the tradition of the church, after her presentation, Mary then spent her life in the temple's courts until she was in her teens where she was nourished by angels both mentally and physically. She grew up learning the Law and the Prophets from the priests in the temple.  Afterwards, she was betrothed to Joseph and you get the Christmas story.  So, even if we do not/cannot/ will not accept the story as fact, what truth does it communicate?

As Mary is regarded as the icon of human existence, maybe this feast is another reminder of what it means to have a life in Christ.  Mary spent a great many years in the temple learning from the Scriptures entirely unaware that she was to be the very " who would conceive and bear a Son, Emmanuel."  She grew mentally to love the Lord who gave her life which was needed before she could literally bear God Himself in her body.  Perhaps it was that training in the temple that made it very easy to say "yes" to Gabriel's message that she would give birth to Christ.

Christians today want Christ in them at all times, but they are unwilling to put in the work to achieve that.  Yes, God gives of Himself freely, but gifts may be rejected or, as is the custom of today, to regift them to someone more willing.   Christians go to church, expecting even demanding to be uplifted to the heights of heaven only to come away with great disappointment when they are not "magically" transported to some blissful state where all their cares melt away.  Such, though, is not the Christian life.  Christ never said "Follow me and you'll always have me in you and you'll be happy and prosperous."  Even if you don't take prosperous in material terms, this is still a dangerous thought.  The Christian life is not easy as we are always under attack by the evil one.

There is an inevitable struggle. I am positive that the Theotokos, during her earthly life, was besieged by the temptations  of the evil one.  If she had given in, who knows how the history of salvation may have changed?  Struggle, though, is the essence of Christianity.  "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling."  These words of St. Paul cannot mean anything else besides that not only is work required but that such work will be in the presence of what chills us to the bone even to the point where we would give up.

If we want Christ in us, we must prepare.  Too many people simply hope to walk into church and be transformed.  If you came to church from a party with your friends, do you think you are more or less likely to feel that transformation than someone who has entered the church after a morning of solitude and contemplation?  I suppose it can happen, but my point is that there can be no living the Christian life with Christ in us without some preparation.  Mary worked and lived in the temple, the Holy of Holies to physically carry within her the very Temple of God in the flesh.  Even if we can carry Christ mystically within our bodies, shouldn't that require some sacrifice and preparation on our parts?

I'm sure that this feast has broader theological implications than what I have considered here and I'm happy to leave that at the feet of more learned theologians than I.  But, as we Orthodox Christians (at least those on the Revised Julian Calendar) are now on the road to Bethlehem and the cave to behold the Incarnation of the Saviour, we cannot get to our destination without preparation and the actual journey.  This especially holds true for the big picture.

Happy feast!

The Second Day of the Nativity Fast

Great is the mystery of the fear of God who is our Strength.  He who is pure and blameless became a man like unto me to carry my transgressions.--Prosomion hymn based on "O House of Ephratha" Tone 2

O Lord, the prophets rejoiced for they beheld Thine Incarnation, as truly promised.  Thoud dist show forth Thy radiance upon the benighted world, and thereby opened wide the Kingdom.  Therefore, O Thou who art beginningless, grant us to behold Thy wondrous Nativity and praise the emptying of Thyself.--Doxasticon, Plagal tone 2

The First Day of the Nativity Fast

O house of Ephratha, august and holy city, thou glory of the prophets, prepare the house wherein the Divine One shall be born for us.--Tone 2

O our Lord that cometh, O Emmanuel, enlighten us by Thy radiance, banishing our sorrow. Strengthen us by Thy love for us, making us stand upright and firm in hope:  O our Lord that cometh, O Emmanuel.--Plagal tone 2

ΑΞΙΟΣ!

The Coptic Church yesterday was given its new spiritual leader, Pope Tawardos (assuming he keeps that name), yesterday after the church's former spiritual head, Pope Shenouda III, reposed last March.  The new pope has any number of challenges to face including an Egypt which has undergone a revolution and has put into power people who, though they say they will protect the Coptic Christians, may well increase the institutionalized persecution that was already present in Egypt under the dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak. 

The Coptic Church and her flock, despite its second-class status in Egypt, continues to thrive despite all the roadblocks in the way and the number of people who have fled to Europe and the United States.  I hope and pray that, despite the fear of increased violence and renewed persecution by the new Islamist dominated government, that the new Pope may build on the foundation poured by the late Pope Shenouda III and protect the flock from any encroaching dangers.  It would be a horrible shame for Egypt to lose its Christian heritage.  May God grant the new Pope many years!  ΑΞΙΟΣ!

Pope canonizes Roman Catholic's first Native American Saint

You can read the details here.  This is a big deal in any number of ways.  The Catholic Church is, frankly, not gaining any ground in Europe.  Within the next hundred, barring some great awakening, the churches in Europe will be more empty than they already are.  The practicing faithful will be reduced to a mere few to carry on the faith for the next generation.  Yes, people will be married and children will be baptized in churches, but that will be done more as a mere nod to tradition than an actual sincere proclamation of faith in the sacraments. 

The Roman Catholic Church is very aware of this and despite the outreach to Europe, the Pope and the hierarchy know that the future of Catholicism (if it has any future) is in the new world.  But even that mission is encountering resistance from Pentecostal and other Evangelical movements deliberately targeting Catholics.  I'm not trying to suggest that the Pope's canonization of the Native American, Kateri Tekakwitha, is singly going to cause a boon for Catholicism in the New World, but it does make a radical statement that the Pope and the Roman Church simply cannot rely on Europe for the continued propagation of the faith.  I'm sure that new American saints, especially  Native American saints and not just European transplants, will be canonized more regularly during the remainder of Pope Benedict's pontificate as well as during his successor's. 

But why did this take so long?  Catholicism has been here in the "New World" for 500 years now.  There had to be other candidates for sainthood during this time.  I certainly grant that sainthood, canonized sainthood, is not something that just occurs, but is a long and arduous process.  If I may play the conspiracy theorist, I think that the Roman Church is, in many ways, trying to shed the image of it resembling an aristocratic European social club.  What point is there in retaining that image especially when the church is more or less in a holding action in Europe, almost bordering on retreat?  If the Americas and third world countries are the future for Catholicism, then these people need to know they are valued and for more beyond mere numbers.

Would it surprise you to know that the Orthodox Church already has two Native American saints?  Orthodoxy has been in America for less than half the time that Catholicism has, but we already have twice as many canonized saints.  They are St. Peter the Aleut and St. Jacob of the Yukon.  St. Peter was a martyr saint who bravely defended his Aleut people from being converted forcibly to Catholicism by the Jesuits.  St. Jacob was also an Aleut and was a famous evangelizer among his people.

The Importance of Keeping and Preserving the Liturgy

As Orthodox Christians we have a plethora of treasures and resources which aim for us to become one with God (i.e. theosis). Few would argue that one of the most important of those treasures is that of the Divine Liturgy (whether that of St. John Chrysostom, St. Basil or St. Gregory the Great).  We may meet God and the Divine in any number of different ways, but the Liturgy's democratic (for lack of a better word) reach makes it something not only worthy of preserving, but something absolutely necessary of preserving.

I grow tired of those Orthodox who think that the Divine Liturgy is too long or is too archaic or is too "high church" (whatever that really means).  The Liturgy is exactly as long as it needs to be; it is archaic only in the sense that many of the hymns go back more than 100 years (some even 2900 years like the Psalms) ; it is "high church" only if you think that a priest should only be wearing khakis and a polo shirt.  The Liturgy connects us with the past and the present; it connects the earth and the heavens; it connects the people of God to one another; it is made present by the power of the Holy Spirit whose invocation we readily call upon with the hymn, "O Heavenly King..."  We must preserve the Liturgy.

The following words are not my own, but I think they do a good job summarizing why we should preserve the Liturgy and resist calls to shorten it, "Protestantize" it, make it "more relevant", etc.  And these are not the words of an Orthodox priest, but those of a Lutheran pastor who has seen firsthand what the abandonment of the Lutheran (Western) Liturgy has done to that confession. 

 The liturgy is not our domain -- corporately or individually.  It is the domain of Christ and the means of grace that deliver to us what Christ has done in the once for all sacrifice of His body and blood on the cross.  It is the domain of the Church, more than merely the assembled congregation, in which the saints of old and the saints of today receive with joyful faith what Christ has done.  It is not so much a moment in time as the timeless moment in which yesterday and tomorrow encroach upon today, bring the past to the present and in this mystery anticipating the future promised.

We guard the liturgy not because we have some slavish obedience to the past but because this liturgy keeps us from stealing worship away from the hands of Christ and making it into what we do, what we offer, and what we accomplish.  It is entirely too easy for us to fall in love with our own voice in praise so that we forget who is being praised and, worse, forget that such praise is possible only when and where He has revealed Himself to us and given us permission to enter that mystery.

Good words, I think.  Pastor Peters is entirely correct.  Without the Liturgy, too many Christians have become the center of their worship rather than God.  The Liturgy serves to stand as a corrective. It is tested and it is true. 

Lutherans, I believe, can be divided into three camps when it comes to the Liturgy.  First, there are those who regard it as a gift from God and pray it faithfully because it is timeless and connects not only with the past but also of the things to come keeping Christ at the center.  Second, there are those who regard the Liturgy as something that is only historically important, but as there is no strict command from Scripture (sola Scriptura) to use it, it may be used or discarded at the whim of the pastor and/or the congregation.   It's nice, but not required.  Third, there are those who have thrown out the Liturgy altogether simply because it looks "too Catholic" and thus prefer their own individual service.  Man becomes the center here.  There are probably subgroups as well, but that's too much to speculate on.

It would really be a shame if the traditional Liturgy for the Orthodox faithful becomes something nice, but not required.  So far, we have been immune from the individualist tendencies which have plagued the Lutheran confessions, but eternal vigilance is necessary.