The Two Extremes

In an early section of For Life of the World there's mention of two extremes, two seemingly opposite forces that are consequences of the modern desire to "secularize" the world and the Evangelical/Protestant ethos (one that can quite easily tempt Orthodox Parishes too) to conquer the world for "religion". In other parts of the book, Fr Alexander points out that as Christians attempt to continue to split the world into categories of "secular and religious" or "sacred and profane" they actually feed into the the presuppositions and forces that created the 'secular' world in the first place.

Confusion and Clarity

"we need to be confused sometimes in order to be illumined. Better real confusion than false clarity."

+ Fr Thomas Hopko, The Names of Jesus Podcast on Ancient Faith Radio

Meeting Christ in the Stranger

On Pilgrimage: Meeting Christ in the Stranger

By Jim Forest (talk for the Orthodox Friends of Iona pilgrimage, August 2012)
http://www.jimandnancyforest.com/2012/07/23/stranger/

Here we are, pilgrims all, in a corner of the world that Saint Columba would still find familiar even though fifteen centuries have passed since his arrival. We’re just a pleasant walk and a short ferry ride from the isle of Iona, which has no physical relics of its most famous occupant, not one small bone to kiss or actual signature to peer at, but where every beach and cliff is a relic. If you haven’t done it in the past, you’ll probably take home a few ounces of Iona, most likely a piece of green-veined Iona marble and perhaps also a fragment of dull gray Lewisian Gneiss, the oldest exposed rock anywhere on Earth, roughly 2.7-billion years old, rock that carries one back to the early days of creation. We may put these souvenirs of pilgrimage on an icon shelf at home, a reminder of an Abraham-like saint who sailed off from his homeland to find the place that God would show him. It turned out to be Iona.

Christ is Risen!

Christ is Risen. Wishing you and your families a blessed and joyful Pascha (Feast of Resurrection)!!!

http://youtu.be/q3exhc29WpQ

Paschal Homily of St John Chrysostom

Christ is in our midst

"Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."

Hebrews 13:2

Andrei Rublev's Icon of the Holy Trinity

During the days of Pope Kyrillos, Dr. (...) was a man who loved the poor and the needy... he went to the church on Easter night to attend the Easter Mass by Pope Kyrillos. The man was surprised by the organizers at the doors, preventing a poor man with torn clothes and long beard and hair from entering. Dr. (...) intervened to end the problem but the organizers refused to let the poor man in because his looks were inappropriate since it was Easter night and the representative of the president will come with ministers and some political figures... that's in addition to the live TV broadcast. The doctor  promised that he would keep the poor man next to him in a place that was away from peoples' eyes...and indeed, the man entered with the doctor and stood next to him during the whole Mass without lifting up his head until the Mass ended.

The doctor went out..... and the man behind him..... and at the outside doors, the doctor said to the man, "Kol sana we enta tayeb!!" (Happy Easter!!) ...and the man responded to the greeting. Then the doctor asked him, "where do you live?"

The man answered, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head." The doctor said to the poor man, "Come, let's take a blessing and eat dinner together !" And they both rode the doctor's car and went to his house. So, when the doctor's wife saw the poor man she murmured and became very displeased. She said to her husband with anger,
"What kind of people are you bringing in our house?? Can't we have dinner together alone, even on Easter night?!!!"

Her husband didn't want to upset her.

So, he opened his clinic, which was across from his apartment, and took the poor man in it to rest. He brought the food for both of them to eat together. The poor man lifted up his hands and said, "I thank your hospitality and your love to my poor brethern for which you will have a crown in my Kingdom... Tonight, everyone invited his family but you invited the Lord!" .... and a bright light like the sun shone and the doctor didn't see anyone in front of him....who was that?!!! where is He?!!!.... He disappeared!! but I noticed the marks of nails in His hands.......YES, IT'S HIM !!!!!!

+ + +

Christ is in our midst.

He is and ever shall be.

HH Pope Tawadros II's Paschal Message

The Papal Encyclical for the Glorious Feast of the Resurrection 2013
Khristos Anesti; Alithos Anesti!
Pi-Ekhrestos Aftonf; Khen O Methmi Aftonf!
Christ is Risen; Truly He is Risen!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0Ip8WIEajo

I congratulate you on the occasion of the Glorious Feast of the Resurrection, which is the Feast of all Feasts, the Joy of all Joys and the Delight of our lives. The Feast of the Resurrection comes after a long period of fasting; 55 days to be exact. This fast culminates in the Holy Week of Pascha, which is a period filled with prayer, fasting, and supplication. Subsequently, Great Friday arrives, during which we declare ‘I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me’ (Galatians 2:20). Finally, Sunday, the Day of Light arrives... the Day of the Sun of Righteousness and the Resurrection of the Lord Christ from the dead.

Beautiful References from the Feast of Resurrection Divine Liturgy (Coptic Rite)

Gospel Response 

Moreover He was placed in the tomb, according to the prophetic voices, on the third day, Christ rose from the dead.

Alleluia alleluia, alleluia alleluia, Jesus Christ the King of glory, has risen from the dead.

This is He who is worthy of glory, with His good Father, and the Holy Spirit, both now and forever.

For blessed be the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the perfect Trinity, we worship Him and glorify Him.

Fraction for Bright Saturday (Coptic Rite)

Fraction for Bright Saturday (Coptic Rite)
http://tasbeha.org/hymn_library/view/2499


O Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the name of salvation, who according to the multitude of His mercy descended into Hades and destroyed the power of death.

Blessed Great Friday

Discourse On the Passion of the Saviour

by St Ephrem the Syrian

I am afraid to speak
and touch with my tongue
this fearful narrative
concerning the Saviour.
For truly it is fearful
to narrate all this.

Our Lord
was given up today
into the hands of sinners!

The Victorious Cross

Although Prof. Vigen Guroian does reference some of the common misconceptions concerning Iconology that were mentioned by Dr. Leonid Ouspensky (ie. supposed "canonical" methods of painting, anti-naturalism in iconography, etc), the following chapter from his book "The Victorious Cross" gives a thought provoking critique of the movie "The Passion of Christ."

One wonders if the iconological arguments Guroian makes is dependent on Ouspensky's perspectives on the transcendental image. I admit that Ouspensky's mention that "a temporal portrait of a saint [or of Christ] cannot be an icon, precisely because it reflects not his transfigured but his ordinary, carnal state," does make a good argument, but one wonders what that implies for kenosis, pathos in icons, or when the carnal or material continually points towards the Archetype, the Resurrection and death transformed.

Nonetheless, I would agree with Guroian that there's a sort of overemphasis in the film on suffering and a bit of absence of the connection to Resurrection. I'd also agree that some of the images play into the desire for pietism. Lots to muse over.

Also related is http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2013/04/the-passion-of-christ-orthodox.html

The Victorious Cross

By Vigen Guroian, adapted from "Chapter 5: The Victorious Cross" in Melody of Faith (Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2010) 93-114.

I confess the Cross, because I know of the Resurrection.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem, The Catechetical Lectures, 13:4