Apostle Philip

Troparion (Tone 3) 

Holy Apostle Philip,

entreat the merciful God

to grant our souls forgiveness of transgressions.

Kontakion (Tone 8)

Your disciple, friend and imitator of Your passion,

the God-preaching Philip, proclaimed You to the universe!

By his prayers deliver Your Church from her enemies;

through the Theotokos protect every city, most merciful Christ!

Saint John Chrysostom

Troparion (Tone 8)

Grace shining forth from your lips like a beacon has enlightened the universe.

It has shown to the world the riches of riches poverty;

it has revealed to us the heights of humility.

Teaching us by your words, O Father John Chrysostom,

intercede before the Word, Christ our God, to save our souls!

Kontakion (Tone 6)

Having received divine grace from heaven,

with your mouth you teach all men to worship the Triune God.

All-blest and venerable John Chrysostom,

we worthily praise you, for you are our teacher, revealing things divine!

Heirarchical Divine Liturgy and Tonsure

My family and I were delighted this past weekend to witness our first Heirarchical Divine Liturgy.  Bishop Antoun visited our parish, and it was a joy to have him in our midst and to get to know him better.  As we pray in the Liturgy every week "for our Metropolitan Philip, our Bishop Antoun," this Sunday we had the special distinction of having the bishop in front of us as we sang "many years, Master." Standing in front of the iconostasis in the photo above, from left to right, are myself and Subdeacon Matthew (both awaiting tonsure), Deacon Tikhon, Bishop Antoun, Deacon Ray and Father Andrew. 


Bishop Antoun also met with various parishioners for breakfast and lunch Saturday, with the college students Saturday afternoon, with the children in Sunday School Sunday morning, and with the entire parish for dinner Saturday evening and lunch Sunday afternoon.  It was very kind of him to fill up his weekend with so many activities.  It was of particular interest to me to hear him tell the story at the men's breakfast of the Evangelical Orthodox Church being brought into the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese in the 1980s.  Our parish was formed in 1987 and was a part of this wave of former evangelicals who joined the Orthodox Church.  I was a junior in high school at the time, and a Baptist then, but I have since become aware of the history, having read "Becoming Orthodox" as well as a number of the various testimonials available online.  However, hearing these events from Bishop Antoun, from the perspective of the Church, gave a rather unique facet to the story.  Also of particular interest to me was Bishop Antoun's perspective on the current sociopolitical climate in his home country of Syria.  Bishop Antoun grew up in Damascus, and hearing his thoughts on the situation there, especially as contrasted against what we hear in the American media, was eye opening.  He is a very interesting man, with a very interesting perspective on both the Church and the world.  This is made more interesting still when one considers that this man, an Arabic immigrant to this country, was as he pointed out to us "a United States citizen before most of you were born." 


I was also blessed by His Grace to become a reader in the Church.  Readers hold a clerical, but not liturgical, office in the Church (we do not receive the Sacrament of Holy Orders), and while in the past, their function was more practical (in that many laymen in the early Church could not read, and so their only exposure to the Scriptures were when they were read in Church), in modern times the readers typically chant the prayer offices and read the appointed readings for the day during those offices.  It is the lowest of the minor orders, below subdeacon.  You may read more about Orthodox readers here:

http://orthodoxwiki.org/Reader

Prayers (and, in the case of our members and clergy, patience) are much appreciated, as I still have much to learn.

Bishop Antoun also blessed our new subdeacon this weekend.  Axios, Subdeacon Matthew! 

All in all, a wonderful weekend.  I am blessed and humbled to be a part of this parish, this Archdiocese, and this Church.

Elevation of the Holy Cross

"Before Thy Cross we bow down in worship, O Master, and Thy holy Resurrection we glorify."

Troparion (Tone 1)

O Lord, save Thy people,

And bless Thine inheritance.

Grant victory to thy people

Over all their enemies

And by the power of Thy Cross

Preserving Thy Kingdom

Martyrdom of St. John the Forerunner

The Beheading of St. John the Forerunner is the commemoration of the martyrdom of John the Forerunner. It is a strict fast day because of the grief of Christians at the violent death of the saint. It is commemorated by the Church on August 29.

Although the Forerunner was beheaded in the Spring, around the time of the Passover, this feast was fixed for August, when a church was dedicated in its honor.
The accounts about the martyrdom of John the Baptist are provided by Ss. Matthew (Mt.14:1-12) and Mark (Mark 6:14-29). It was in the 32nd year after the Birth of Christ.

Hymns:

Troparion (Tone 2)

The memory of the righteous is celebrated with hymns of praise,

But the Lord¹s testimony is sufficient for you, O Forerunner.

You were shown in truth to be the most honorable of the prophets,

For you were deemed worthy to baptize in the streams of the Jordan Him whom they foretold.

Therefore, having suffered for the truth with joy,

You proclaimed to those in hell God who appeared in the flesh,

Who takes away the sin of the world, and grants us great mercy.

Kontakion (Tone 5)

The glorious beheading of the Forerunner,
Became an act of divine dispensation,
For he preached to those in hell the coming of the Savior.
Let Herodias lament, for she entreated lawless murder,
Loving not the law of God, nor eternal life,
But that which is false and temporal.

from http://orthodoxwiki.org/Beheading_of_St._John_the_Forerunner

Apophatic vs. Cataphatic Theology

"Allow me to offer a little image to illustrate this. We find, in nature, two different kinds of skeletons that provide structure for creatures - the exoskeleton and the endoskeleton. The exoskeleton like the carapace of an ant or a beetle - it is on the outside (hence "exo-") and contains within itself the essence of the creature. The endoskeleton is like the skeleton of a dog or a man - it is on the inside (hence - "endo") and the structures that are the essence of the creature are hung upon it - everything in its place and a place for everything.

The Western confessions tend to have a dogmatic endoskeleton - certain a-priori assumptions (dogmas) upon which every doctrine, belief and practice is hung. There is a very particular place for everything in the overall organization and structure and if something is out of place then it either doesn't belong or it creates chaos.

The Orthodox Faith tends more towards a dogmatic exoskeleton - defining the outer limits of its essence, but not mandating the inner structure. Everything that is "inside" is part of the teaching of the Church and only those things that are "outside" are excluded. As a result there plenty of room for doctrines and practices that are conflicting to coexist "inside" the Church without causing chaos or cancelling each other out. Our inner unity is defined by the exoskeleton of dogmatic pronouncements without the rigid and defined structure mandated by an endoskeleton (and this allows the Orthodox Church to be both truly One and truly Catholic since it allows the flexibility to address all people in all places in all times without compromising or breaking the structure.)"

-- Archpriest David Moser, from the Orthodox-Convert e-mail discussion list

Holy Transfiguration

The Transfiguration of our Lord is one of the 12 Great Feasts of the Orthodox calendar.  The story is fascinating, but familiar to most Christians, so I will refrain from repeating it here.  I would note, however, something that has always struck me about the Gospel accounts of the Transfiguration.

Much is made of the various distinctions and harmonies between the three Gospel accounts of the Transfiguration -- those of St. Matthew, St. Mark and St. Luke.  What is not often mentioned is St. John, who was the only Evangelist to witness the Transfiguration, did not write about the event at all in his Gospel.  Of course, as students of the Scriptures know, St. John dealt with the Transfiguration in his Revelation.

St. John writes:

Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, 'Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.'

St. John could easily have written about this in his Gospel account, but he chose to deal with it in Revelation.  In light of the fact that St. John was the only eyewitness to write a Gospel account, I find this fascinating.  Skeptics might assert that since the only eyewitness to write an account failed to mention the Transfiguration, it must be fraudulent.  But this ignores that St. John deals with the transfigured (but now resurrected) Christ in Revelation.  As if his purpose in writing was to show the Transfiguration in eschatological terms rather than mere historical terms.  To my mind, this magnifies rather than reduces the value of the Transfiguration account.  It reveals -- from the pen of one who was there -- its ultimate purpose and its real lesson for us.

Orthodox Christianity, lived out, ultimately comes down to the Sacramental life.  And the Sacramental life ultimately comes back to the Incarnation.  The beauty of the Transfiguration is not merely what happened on Mount Tabor, but rather what it means for us.  What it gives to us.  It is not merely that Christ is the Son of God, or that He was glorified once on a mountaintop.  It is that He is "He Who lives, and was dead, and behold [is] alive forevermore."  That He "holds the keys of Hades and of Death."  And this good news is summed up in Christ's words to St. John -- "do not be afraid."  The beauty of the Transfiguration is that Christ has defeated Death and Hades, that we may have hope of eternal life.  That we might become by Grace what He is by nature.  St. John did not write about this in His Gospel directly.  But he did write about it in a different setting.  And I would argue, to greater effect.


Troparion (Tone 7)

You were Transfigured on the Mount, O Christ God,

Revealing Your glory to Your disciples as far as they could bear it.

Let Your everlasting Light shine upon us sinners!

Through the prayers of the Theotokos, O Giver of Light, glory to You!

Kontakion (Tone 7)

On the Mountain You were Transfigured, O Christ God,

And Your disciples beheld Your glory as far as they could see it;

So that when they would behold You crucified,

They would understand that Your suffering was voluntary,

And would proclaim to the world,

That You are truly the Radiance of the Father!