Monday, February 16, 2004
Meat Fast
The Venerable Martyr Romanos
Kellia: Psalm 56 LXX Epistle: 3 John 1:1-14 Gospel: St. Luke 21:8-9, 25-27, 33-36
Psalm 56 LXX), especially vs. 5 (Ps. 57:3, 4 MT), "God hath sent forth
His mercy and His truth, and hath delivered my soul from the midst of lions' cubs." The heart
that cries out, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner," embraces the
journey of prayer revealed in this psalm. What child of God has not bowed his head before the
Lord and earnestly begun, "Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me," as the starting point
of life in Christ? Mercy is the plea which forms the sole center-point of that ineffable life that
has been poured out upon us in Christ and from Him. "Have mercy on me, O God," therefore,
becomes that prayer which we direct repeatedly to Jesus our long-suffering Master, our all-merciful Savior. Stripped of all else, what other words have we? "For my soul trusted in Thee,
and in the shadow of Thy wings will I hope" (vss. 1, 2).
What disrupts this outcry and confidence of the heart? Iniquity! The memory and reality of our
own iniquity and of the burdens created by the iniquity of the world force themselves into our
consciousness: "Deliver us from evil" which is present everywhere and threatens to engulf us and
sweep us away. Of course the child of the Light cries out for mercy and sets his hope in Jesus
"until iniquity shall pass away" (vs. 2). The experience of ubiquitous sin and death evokes the
affirmation, "I will cry unto God the Most High, unto God my benefactor" (vs. 3). What else!
Those who cry for mercy to Christ find that His life-giving presence floods their hearts.
The Lord our God, God the Most High, "hath sent out of heaven and saved me" (vs. 4), He Who
is God before all ages "appeared upon earth and dwelt among men; and was Incarnate of a holy
Virgin, and did empty Himself, taking on the form of a servant and becoming conformed to the
fashion of our lowliness, that He might make us conformable to the image of His glory."
Beloved of the Lord, let the heart of every member of Christ say, "He hath given over to reproach
them that were trampling me down" (vs. 4), for He Himself on the Tree of the Cross hath
trampled down death by death and "sent forth His mercy and His Truth" (vs. 5), Christ Jesus,
Who is Mercy and Life and Truth. My soul is delivered "from the midst of lions' cubs" (vs. 5).
The partaker of the death and resurrection of Christ our God readily admits that the state of this
world is darkness: "As for the sons of men, their teeth are weapons and arrows, and their tongue a
sharp sword" (vs. 6); but, while we are disturbed by such thought of iniquity, and lay upon our
beds "to sleep as one troubled" (vs. 5), yet "it was not possible that the Author of Life should be
holden of corruption!" Not at all! "He loosed the pains of death...making a way for all flesh
through the Resurrection from the dead." Beloved, let us cry out in the words of the Liturgy of
His glorious Ascension: "Be Thou exalted above the heavens, O God, and Thy glory above all the
earth" (vs. 7). Christ is risen! He is "at the right hand of the Majesty on high."
Now, in this present life, we may look with equanimity at the snares which men have prepared
for our feet. While they bowed down our souls to death, yet let each one of us say from his heart:
"They have dug a pit before my face and fallen into it themselves. Ready is my heart, O God,
ready is my heart. I will sing and chant in my glory" (vss. 9, 10).
What then? Let us bestir ourselves! Let us arouse our hearts: "Awake, O my glory; awake, O
psaltery and harp. I myself will awake at dawn" (vs. 11), and confess the God of my salvation
among the peoples. "O Lord I will chant unto Thee among the nations" (vs. 12). God has
answered our plea for mercy. "Magnified even unto the heavens is [His] mercy" (vs. 13). "Lord
Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner!"
Be Thou exalted above the heavens, O God, and Thy glory above all the earth!
Tuesday, February 17, 2004
Meat Fast
Great Martyr Theodore the Soldier (Tyro)
Kellia: Psalm 102:8-15 LXX Epistle: Jude 1:1-10 Gospel: St. Luke 22:39-42, 45-23:1
Psalm 102:8-15, LXX (Ps. 103:8-17 MT), especially vs. 12, "Like as a
father hath compassion upon his sons, so hath the Lord had compassion upon them that fear
Him." It is instructive to reflect on the inner life of the Prophet and King, David, who wrote
Psalm 102. He asserts that "compassionate and merciful is the Lord" and that "not according to
our iniquities hath He dealt with us" (vss. 8, 9). Observe that these statements of his are not
theoretical propositions, but expressions of experience. He had received compassion. He had
been mercifully favored. He knew that he had not received what he deserved for his sins.
We can say many things about the heart and soul of this lyrical psalmist. Deep in himself, he
knew the ugliness of sin (vs. 9). Still, he found continuing communion with the Lord, "like as a
father" (vs. 12). Though scathed by God's burning anger and pierced by Divine wrath in his
mind, spirit, and even in his flesh (vss. 8, 9), yet he affirmed a generous, healing forgiveness,
mercy, and compassion from God (vss. 9-12). From his sin, he stared, without gloss, at the
finality of the winds of time. These would pass over him and bring his own death (vss. 12-14).
Notice that, through all this experience, David tasted fear: fear as dread, as helplessness, and
most of all as reverential awe. Yet he found a fear that changed into ineffable praise and
speechless worship. Three times he interrupts his reflection to mention "them that fear Him,"
among whom, clearly, he counts himself. God's mercy is powerful, prevailing over His righteous
wrath and anger on behalf of "them that fear Him" (vs. 10). God's compassion is gentle, though
firm, upon "them that fear Him" (vs. 12). Although we mortals all are swept away by sin, yet the
Lord's mercy toward us is "unto eternity, upon them that fear Him" (vs. 15).
This meditation of David's is primarily an expression of a discovery. David found the
compassion, mercy, and long-suffering of the Lord. As a Prophet, he returned where he began, to
the graciousness of God. In wonder, as a child holding a glimmering, polished, beautiful stone,
David turned around from one surface to another, the grandeur of what he found through bitter-sweet experience. Such kindness from One Who owed him nothing and to Whom he owed
everything. He discovered a stay of execution, a withholding of wrath and anger (vs. 8).
Consequences followed his sin inexorably. Consider: we, too, know that truth! Yet, "not
according to our iniquities hath He dealt with us" (vs. 9). Far from it!
God forgives. In the infinite expanse of His creation, an immensity which the human mind can
follow only for a few light years, God has "made His mercy to prevail over them that fear Him"
(vs. 10). It is incredible! God has done this. Not our sadness and repentance. Our repentance
follows as response. The fear that wells up in the mind and emotions moved by terror comes to
rest in the center of the heart as adoration. What else is there for "them that fear Him?" Never
have we known such love! From our earthly fathers we learned stern demand mingled with love.
Even when our fathers failed us in their humanness, at least we learned what fatherhood should
be. When we meet God, there is a revelation of a Lord Who has compassion "upon them that
fear Him" (vs. 12). Our lips now can say without restraint, "Our Father."
Yes, we shall die because we have sinned - a truth David tasted to the dregs. Beloved, let us fall
down before God. He "knoweth whereof we are made" (vs. 12), for "He made Himself of no
reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and [came] in the likeness of men" (Phil 2:8).
Behold: "the mercy of the Lord is from eternity upon them that fear Him" (Ps. 102:15).
Bless the Lord, all ye His hosts, His ministers that do His will. Bless the Lord, all ye His works,
in every place of His dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul. (Ps. 102:19-20).
Wednesday, February 18, 2004
Meat Fast
Leo the Great, Pope of Rome
Kellia and Sixth Hour: Joel 2:12-26 Reading at Vespers: Joel 3:12-21
Joel 2:12-26 LXX, especially vs. 13, "...rend your hearts, and
not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God: for He is merciful and compassionate, long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy, and repents of evils." During the years the Lord Jesus
ministered from Capernaum, He healed a paralytic after He said to him, "Son, be of good cheer;
your sins are forgiven you" (Mt. 9:2). St. Matthew tells us that "some of the scribes [who heard
Jesus' statement] said within themselves, This Man blasphemes!" (Mt. 9:3). Notice that the
Lord's critics merely thought "within themselves" that He was blaspheming. However, desiring
to heal men completely, the Lord said to these detractors, and also to us, "Why do you think evil
in your hearts?" (Mt. 9:4). Our evil thoughts, as well as our sinful acts, are repugnant to God.
The significance of evil thoughts is twofold: 1) the inward corruption they work within us, and,
of course, 2) and the resulting sins and the consequences that follow our wicked deeds.
Moreover, remember, among the various consequences that follow on our evil thoughts and
actions are the Divine judgments that befall us. In today's reading, through the Prophet Joel, the
Lord invites us to heartfelt repentance promising to "recompense [us] for the years which the
locust, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, and the cankerworm have eaten" (Joel 2:25).
We pay a heavy price for evil thoughts and passions. Like worms, they shrivel our hearts and
souls, a process St. Gregory of Nyssa describes well: "...Man, who once lived in the delights of
Paradise, has been transplanted into this unhealthy and wearisome place, where his life, once
accustomed to impassibility, became instead subject to passion and corruption...[For once any
innate passion] occupies the castle of the soul like a tyrant [it] afflicts the obedient lord through
his own subjects...For the whole array of passions, wrath and fear, cowardice and impudence,
depression as well as pleasure, hatred, strife and merciless cruelty, envy as well as flattery,
brutality together with brooding over injuries, they are all so many despotic masters...." These
masters are what Joel called adversary nations, who make us desolate and a reproach to the Name
we bear as Christians (vss. 19-20). The promised land of God's image within us is despoiled!
However, our loving Lord calls us to repent: "...turn to Me with all your heart, and with fasting,
and with weeping, and with lamentation: and rend your hearts, and not your garments..." (vss. 12,
13). Thus the Prophet holds up the icon of repentance to encourage us. Let the Priests sound the
trumpet, God's people gather, and even newly-weds set aside their nuptial joys. Let God's
People weep for their inward and outward sins before the Altar, crying to God, "Spare Thy
People, and give not Thine heritage to reproach" with godless powers ruling them (vss. 15-17).
Observe: God has declared that He will turn His "...face away from [our] sins and blot out all
[our] iniquities " (Ps. 50:9 LXX). He desires not the death of sinners but that we should repent
and live. Describing Himself as "merciful and compassionate, long-suffering, and plenteous in
mercy" (Joel 2:13), the Lord invites us to embrace the coming great Fast. "Be of good
courage...rejoice and be glad, for the Lord has done great things" (vs. 21). Then, as Joel
promises, "God will rain on [us] the early and the latter rain" (vs. 23), as we sow change in the
fields of our hearts and souls (vs. 23). "He will recompense for the years" eaten away by the
consequences of our sins (vs. 25). As Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos says, "Repentance in
deep mourning and joined with confession is what unveils the eyes of the soul to see the great
things of God." Repentance is the promise in Great Lent, which, if we pursue it diligently, shall
enable us to "praise the Name of the Lord [our] God for the things...He has wrought" (vs. 26).
Grant, O Lord, that we may complete the remaining time of our life in repentance.
Thursday, February 19, 2004
Meat Fast
New Martyr Nikita of Epiros
Kellia: Joel 3:12-21 Epistle: Jude 1:1-10 Gospel: St. Luke 23:3-24, 44-56
Joel 3:12-21, especially vs. 12, "Let the nations be wakened and come
up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge...." As we draw close to the coming
Fast of Great Lent and conclude the series of readings from St. Luke's historical record of the
Lord Jesus' Passion, we simultaneously focus on a passage from Prophet Joel which directs our
attention to a Day yet-to-come, the Day of Judgment, when all men will stand before the One
Whose arrest, trial, condemnation, and crucifixion we have been considering. To be precise: the
very Crucified One, being God Himself, will, at the last Day, give the command to every man
who has ever lived in all of history to come before Him in the Valley of the "Lord's Judgment" -
in Hebrew, Jehoshaphat (Joel 3:12).
Thus, at the threshold of the Great Fast, God's Prophet Joel warns us and pleads with us to
prepare for that coming, dread Day of the Lord. Clearly, we will either use Lent to prepare for
darkness and death or eternal life and salvation. Let us heed the Prophet, while we may choose to
fast and struggle within ourselves for purity. Let us not ignore this godly plea and deliberately
join those who will not heed Christ, for all such will surely face desolation and violence.
In the coming Fast we have the opportunity to awaken our hearts and minds to the Holy One Who
calls us to fast. Let us, therefore, not abstain in some narrow, craven, slavish obedience to rules
concerning the intake of food. The Lord Jesus asks us to shape our Lenten efforts to Him
personally: "return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and
rend your hearts." (Joel 2:12, 13). St. Athanasios particularly directs us to the Lord's command
to "sanctify a fast" (Joel 2:15), warning us that, "the boast of fasting did no good to the Pharisee,
although he fasted twice in the week, only because he exalted himself."
Rather, Beloved, let us reflect on the dread day of Judgment, and allow the Prophet's call to
awaken us for the coming Lenten effort. First, notice how terrifying and severe Joel's imagery is
as He describes the Divine Judgment (vss. 13-15). Then note that he also explicitly speaks of the
Lord sparing and blessing His People (vss. 16-17), yet leaving no doubt that God also will make
an inquisition for the righteous blood of His people which has been shed. Finally, he reveals that
when God judges there will be separation: "sheep from goats, left from right, guilty and children
of the Kingdom" (Mt. 25:32, 33; Joel 3:19-21).
Judgment is not pretty, but severe and terrifying. God will cut down, tread upon, press all evil-doers "for their wickedness is multiplied" (Joel 3:13). Divine judgment means repayment for
crimes and wrongs. There will be resounding noise from the multitudes of wicked who will face
their own cruel and wicked actions (vs. 14). Many will be thrust into eternal darkness where no
consoling, created lights will be available (vs. 15). God will give them no light.
Still, when the Lord shakes the heaven and the earth, on that great and terrible day, He also "shall
spare His people, and shall strengthen the children of Israel" (vs. 16). At the same time, His
Church will be purified of "strangers" (vs. 17), even as the Lord Himself has said, "I never knew
you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!" (Mt. 7:23). Those who say they "belong"
but who have scoffed at His call to purity will be separated out forever.
The Prophet concludes with contrasting images - for the Children of God there will be sweet
wine, flowing milk, springs of water, and eternal habitation with the Lord (Joel 3:18), but
ominously God says, "I will make inquisition [of the guilty] for their blood [of the holy martyrs
and innocents], and will by no means leave it unavenged" (vs. 21). Lent is a gift for preparing!
O soul, beware, before the end, and cry out, God, save me, for Thou alone art compassionate.
Friday, February 20, 2004
Meat Fast
Leo, the Bishop of Catania in Sicily
Kellia and Sixth Hour: Zechariah 8:7-17 Reading at Vespers: Zechariah 8:19-23
Zechariah 8:7-17 LXX, especially vs. 15, "so have I prepared and taken counsel in
these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: be ye of good courage." In
today's reading the Lord God proclaims a new era in which He will do good to His Church. Too
long have His People struggled without profit and found no peace, for affliction fell upon "him
that went out or to him that came in"(vs.10). Now, by the Prophet Zechariah, God announces a
reversal of circumstances: "I will not do to the remnant of this people according to the former
days, saith the Lord Almighty" (vs. 11). Instead, God declares, "I will shew peace: the vine shall
yield her fruit, and the land shall yield her produce, and the heaven shall give its dew: and I will
give as an inheritance all these things to the remnant of My People" (vs. 12).
Along with God's announcement of new circumstances, He exhorts His people to "be of good
courage, and strengthen your hands" (vs. 13). When faced everywhere with defeat, conflict, and
affliction, one finds it is easy to become resigned, to settle for muddling through, and to think
always in a defeatist mode. But here, God is calling His people from lethargy to renewed
diligence - with a promise: "I [will] save you, and ye shall be a blessing" (vs. 13).
As an example recently of such a time, consider the new circumstance of the peoples of Eastern
Europe. They lived under Communism for many years. Abruptly, their political, economic, and
social conditions changed. But the life that followed has not been a golden era. Many facets of
life have become more difficult, even stringent. But a new era exists in Eastern Europe. "Strong
hands" and diligence have a much greater opportunity of reward than before.
Now, Beloved of the Lord, let us ask, "To whom is this word of God directed?" Why does the
Church give us this lesson at the threshold of Great Lent? Though this message was given in
time past through the Lord's Holy Prophet Zechariah, today it is for our Lenten journey. In
Christ, the Prophet of the Lord calls us to the work of the Lenten Fast. We must look into the
situation of our life in Christ. What were our former conditions? And more important, what is
the new circumstance that now is in place as a result of God's intervention?
The old conditions, as the reading describes them, are these: "the wages of men could not be
profitable, and there could be no hire of cattle, and there could be no peace by reason of the
affliction" (vs. 10). If we heed the prophetic message from the perspective of the Apostles and
the Holy Fathers, we shall hear St. Paul speaking of those fallen conditions under which we lived
before we received the grace of God: "the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23).
True, at times sin appears to pay well, yet God's Prophet David prays, "deliver my soul from
ungodly men...yea, with Thy hidden treasures hath their belly been filled. They have satisfied
themselves with swine and have left the remnants to their babes" (Ps. 16:13-15 LXX). The
Psalmist Asaph gives us the reason: "Surely, for their crafty dealings Thou has appointed evils for
them" (Ps. 72:17 LXX). Evils are the wages of sin of which the Apostle Paul speaks.
Beloved of the Lord, we live under new circumstances. "While we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us" (Rom. 5:8), and our Lord and Savior bids us, "Come unto Me, all ye that travail and are
heavy laden, and I will refresh you" (Mt. 11:28). Let us turn from our sins and their deadly
wages and receive refreshment. Let us use this Lenten season to "make our hands strong" for the
things of God. Listen: "These are the things which ye shall do; speak truth every one with his
neighbor; judge truth and peaceable judgment in your gates: and let none of you devise evil in his
heart against his neighbor; and love not a false oath" (Zech. 8:16, 17).
Lord, grant us to pass the days of Lent in diligence that Thy kingdom may come upon us.
Saturday, February 21, 2004
Meat Fast
Eustathios, Archbishop of Antioch
Kellia: Zechariah 8:19-23 Epistle: Romans 14:19-23 Gospel: St. Matthew 5:42-48
Zechariah 8:19-23(LXX & MT), especially vs. 19, "...therefore
love truth and peace." Hebrew prophecy is a special genre of Biblical literature through which
the face of Christ shines in glory. However, when reading the Prophets' messages, certain
"ground rules" must be applied by Christians to unveil the glory. These working principles allow
one who knows the fullness of Christ to apply the Prophets' words within the context of the
believing, worshiping Church as "a child of the Light and an heir of eternal good things."
First, one always must understand that the Prophets foresaw the Mystery of Christ only in bare
outline. God provided enough information concerning the Lord's first and second coming that
His ancient people finally learned to expect the "Messiah" (the Christ); but only to us who are
united to Christ Jesus has it "been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God" (Mk. 4:11).
For this reason, the Christian reader of Old Testament prophecy must "flesh out" the Gospel from
the prophecies. Nonetheless, in completing what we read, we have the support and advantage of
the Apostolic witness of the New Testament and the wisdom of the Holy Fathers.
Second, ancient prophecy was written as poetry, and must therefore be read as such. Its imagery
always should be received through one's heart and mind, within Holy Tradition, and with the aid
of the Holy Spirit in order to receive God's truth.
Finally, the language of the Hebrew Prophets assumes the ethos, worship, and life of ancient
Israel and Judah. However, since the coming of Christ, words such as "Israel, Jerusalem, and
Zion" must be understood as the Church, as St. Paul has made clear (Rom. 9-11). The Body of
the Faithful in Christ, the Church, is the true Israel of God (Rom. 11:8, 23, 24).
With these introductory principles available, let us turn now to the present reading from the
prophecy of Zechariah. The lesson is about the age to come, God's eternal kingdom, that will
prevail following Christ's Last and Great Judgment.
Zechariah, however, speaks of four fasts practiced in ancient Israel in the fourth, fifth, seventh,
and tenth months (vs. 19). These ancient fasts were initiated as times of national repentance for
Israel's sins, sins that led to the exile of Judah's monarchy, the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction
of the Temple of Solomon, and a murderous and futile uprising against the Babylonians.
Zechariah foresaw that one day God would restore and forgive and that the need for repentance
would end. Then fasts would become feasts - times of celebration.
Let us be attentive! God is urging us to conduct our Christian fasting in the love of the Lord, in
truth and peace. We are to fast now to prepare ourselves to celebrate both the coming Feast of
Holy Pascha, but also to be worthy of the eternal banquet of the Lamb, the heavenly feast of the
age to come in Christ's Kingdom (Rev. 19:9) - when all fasting will be feasting.
In the age to come, Jew and Gentile servants of Christ alike will worship and pray as one People,
"inhabitants of many cities, peoples and nations" (Zech. 8:22). The incorporation of the nations
into Israel, into the Church, began in Apostolic times (Gal 3:28). Now, two thousand years of
inclusion has made the Church largely Gentile, yet we are one in Christ, the new People.
Why, then, do we have Fasts now? Why Great Lent, the Apostles' fast, the Dormition Fast and
the Nativity Fast? These seasons are gifts to help us prepare for our place in that great company
of peoples from every nation who will walk in the Uncreated Light of the New Jerusalem in the
age to come, when all tears and the need to fast will be wiped away (Rev. 21:4).
O Thou Who knowest the secrets of all hearts, prepare us through fasting to feast with Thee in
Thine eternal and glorious banquet in the age to come.
Sunday, February 22, 2004
(Tone Three)
Sunday of Forgiveness: of Cheesefare
Kellia: 1 Kings 24:1-25:1 LXX Epistle: Romans 13:11-14:4 Gospel: St. Matthew 6:14-21
1 Kings 24:1-25:1 LXX, especially vs. 17, "He said to David, "You are more
righteous than I; for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil." Over the years
during which David, the anointed son of Jesse, served in the court of King Saul, the initial
affection of the King for the young David turned into a poisonous suspicion and eventually a
homicidal jealousy. David fled to the wilderness for his life, and Saul gathered an army to search
out and destroy the young man. During this campaign, God protected David from harm and twice
provided Saul opportunities to repent and quit his efforts to kill David. Today's reading portrays
the first of these God-ordained occasions, and reveals David's great capacity for forgiveness.
The passage teaches us how to forgive so that we may ourselves be forgiven (Lk. 6:37).
Note how the hand of God brought the unsuspecting Saul into the very cave where David and his
men were hiding (1 Kngs. 24:3). The reality was not missed by David's men, for they said to
David, "Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, 'Behold, I will give your enemy into your
hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you'" (vs. 4). Every reason to strike was
plainly and conveniently provided by the circumstances. No mention of forgiveness was
introduced. David recalled God's promise to deliver him from Saul, and the opportunity for self-defense was at hand. David was convinced to move up on his quarry "stealthily" (vs. 4).
Consider why David did not strike a fatal blow but elected instead to "cut off the skirt of Saul's
robe" (vs.4). In taking a piece of the King's robe, he revealed ambivalence in his own heart, his
desire to kill the King vs his reluctance to touch the anointed of God. His irresolute action forced
the truth on him: inwardly he had consented to kill Saul, but his "heart smote him" (vs. 5), both
for his agreement and for touching the person of the King. In this life there are always excuses,
opportunities, and reasons for not forgiving. Only a heart that is athirst for the living God
hesitates in time, and sometimes even the godly fall. Let us beware.
Writing later, David discloses how he may have been saved in this moment: "The Lord is nigh
unto them that are of a contrite heart, and He will save the humble of spirit" (Ps. 33:18 LXX).
He had a healthy heart. He was humble, contrite, and aware of his capacity to sin. Thus, his
spirit revolted at acquiescing to murder, and he hastened to keep his men from the same sin: "the
Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord's anointed" (1 Kngs. 24:6, 7).
Beloved, the image of Himself which our Lord and Savior instilled in us when He formed us in
the womb is present in every man, even the most reprobate. So listen to St. Nikolai of Zica: "no-one is certain that he will not, before his death, commit that very sin for which he has condemned
his brother....Therefore, my brothers, let us condemn no man, that we be not condemned."
Observe that David not only restrained his men, but "went out of the cave, and called after Saul"
(vs. 8). St. John Chrysostom wisely observes about forgiveness that "if one let go him that hath
been scourged and heal him not, he hath done nothing." Sooner or later Saul would have found
the damage to his robe and realized the assault against his person. Notice that David, bathed in
the forgiveness of God, having demonstrated his forgiveness of the King, also sought to extend
his own healing to his opponent as well (vs. 11). Forgiveness must extend beyond holding back
from revenge. Listen to the Apostle Paul, "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of
Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives
himself....Let him who is taught the word share in all good things (Gal. 6:2, 3, 6).
O magnified Lord, let us condemn no man, that we be not condemned, but forgive us our sins and
fill us with that contrition which will lead us to forgive even as we have been forgiven.
Monday, February 23, 2004
Lenten Fast
Pure Monday: Hieromartyr Polycarp
6th Hour: Isaiah 1:1-20 LXX 1st Vespers: Genesis 1:1-13 2nd Vespers: Proverbs 1:1-20
Isaiah 1:1-20 LXX, especially vss. 14, 16, "Your fasting,
and rest from work, your new moons also, and your feasts My soul hates: you have become
loathsome to Me; I will no more pardon your sins....Wash you, be clean; remove your iniquities
from your souls before My eyes; cease from your iniquities." What a sobering lesson to read as
Great Lent begins! What of our Lenten observances, our fasting, our incense, our prayers? Are
they similarly unacceptable to God? The Lord's words are severe; they unsettle the soul.
The message is not hopeless, yet a fatal mistake would be to say, "This message was given
centuries ago to ancient Israel; and the words do not apply to us. We are Orthodox Christians."
Wrong! Beloved, the vision of Isaiah is an indictment against all people who are godless (vs. 3),
who flout God's laws (vs. 2), who are morally unsound (vs. 6), and who have abandoned their
God-given, spiritual and cultural foundation and adopted alien ideas and practices (vs. 7).
Isaiah's portrait is a strikingly accurate description of many 'Christians.' During an interview,
two Christians, American and French, were discussing the spiritual condition of their respective
countries. The American said, "In the sixties, when St. John [Maximovitch] was in the U. S.,
young Americans were all interested in spiritual life...but now they are concentrating much harder
on career goals and business....In France," said the other, "they are like little animals... in a
jungle, only money, a position, and a boyfriend or girlfriend."
However, the Lord continues His appeal: "come let us reason together" (vs. 18). He still expects
Orthodox Christians "to learn to do well" (vs. 17). He is open to us "if [we] are willing and
hearken to Him" (vs. 19). The Lord's indictment calls for honest self-examination and real
efforts at correction. Written eight centuries before the birth of Christ, the Lord's judgment
remains eternally true, even today, two thousand years after the Lord walked this earth in the
flesh. We are God's People in this new century struggling against rampant individualism.
Happily, there is evidence that the Orthodox Church, unlike other Churches in America, is
holding on to Holy Tradition, resisting the permissive trends of the age. But, let us not delude
ourselves. The forces of self-indulgence described in the interview are powerful. Too many
among the Orthodox Faithful have been taken in by the smooth words of those who favor the
direction in which the culture is moving. Some even support the downward moral trend, and feel
no responsibility for the degradation, nor for arresting its advance. Some push for greater
acceptance of the current godless values - even within their parishes, work places, and families.
Beloved of the Lord, if we wish, we may take the solemn journey of Great Lent beginning this
day. Indeed, let us examine our commitment to follow the road to Pascha. Each one can seek out
those places in thought, word, and deed where he is rebelling or resisting (vs. 2), where he does
not regard God as Master (vs. 3), where he forsakes Him (vs. 4). Who has not made fatal
compromises and selfish adjustments? Who is not "pained and sad" (vs. 5)? Let our tears wash
away our iniquities, our confession stop them (vs. 16). Listen to St. John Chrysostom: "nothing
so weighs upon the soul, and presses her down, as consciousness of sin; nothing so much gives it
wings, and raises it on high as the attainment of righteousness and virtue." St. Nikolai of Zica
encourages us to take action, to step out onto the Paschal road : "The Lord approves and
commends all our labor. He desires that we wash our souls in tears, wring them out with
repentance, press them with compunction of conscience and clothe them with good works."
O Lord, Who art slow to anger, look mercifully upon us before the hour of Thy wrath on the
Dreadful Day. (St. Nikolai of Zica)
Tuesday, February 24, 2004
Lenten Fast
Discoveries of the Head of the Forerunner
6th Hour: Isaiah 1:19-2:3 1st Vespers: Genesis 1:14-2:3 2nd Vespers: Prov 1:20-33
Isaiah 1:19-2:4, especially vs. 2:3, "And many nations shall go
and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of
Jacob; and He will tell us His way, and we will walk in it: for out of Zion shall go forth the law,
and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem." The play, No Exit, written by the Existentialist,
Jean Paul Sartre, depicts the common experience of exhaustion and futility within contemporary
society. The play has a cast of three characters, very diverse personalities, thrown together
'eternally' in a space with no exit. Each one works out his or her life-role against the personas of
the other two. At the end of the play, it is clear that the whole action must begin all over again.
Thus, Sartre declares, each person expresses himself in endless interaction with others. The play
presents itself as an ultimate, albeit depressing, truth concerning human life.
In opposition to Jean Paul Sartre's proclamation in No Exit, God reveals that human beings are
not bound to inescapable personas, something He declares in today's Isaiah reading. Rather, the
Lord calls us to "eat the good of the land," or to refuse Him - as a result of which "a sword shall
devour [us]" (vss.19, 20). What is inescapable in our nature is moral freedom, to choose or to
refuse God, truth, and life - "...for the mouth of the Lord has spoken" (vs. 1:20).
At the conclusion of the passage, Isaiah describes the age to come and adds to the motif of
freedom the declaration that the Church is the ultimate destiny of history. At the conclusion of
time, the Church, which Isaiah calls "the mountain of the Lord, the house of God, Zion and
Jerusalem" (see vss. 2:2-4), will be the exalted desire of all nations toward which all mankind
shall assemble. People will encourage each other to go to the New Jerusalem "to the house of the
God of Jacob; that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths" (vs. 3). By the
grace of God, after the exit of this present world with its repetitious news of sordid crimes and
sins, the freedom to choose God's truth, His worship, and His ways shall continue eternally.
Between the opening and closing verses of the reading - between the declaration of our present
freedom to choose and the assurance of eternal human freedom in the age to come - the Prophet
confronts us with the actual state of our present life (vss. 1:21-23) and of God's judgment on us.
Instead of being a "faithful" bride to God our Holy and loving Bridegroom, our race (and each of
us personally) plays the "harlot" with false gods, debasing the "silver" of our freedom in Christ in
order to serve pleasure, wealth, success, power, and self-indulgence (vs. 21). God designed this
world to be the home of the "faithful" (vs. 21), but we make it a nesting place for "murderers"
(vs. 21). The wine of a freely chosen Holy Communion is watered down by thievery, bribery,
and the acquisition of things which do not endure. Both merchandise and truth are watered-down
into inferior "wine" created solely for indulgence but depleted of true eternal and godly value (vs.
22). We favor leaders, the "princes" over us, who "rebel" against God, and themselves keep
company with thieves and respond to bribes (vs. 23). The very ones who should be pleading the
cause of widows and orphans, ignore the defenseless (vs. 23).
Then, in "a preview album," God reveals His coming judgment against all of mankind's sin and
rebellion. He displays pictures of fire, caustic cleansing, shame, and destruction. We shall stand
before the righteous who have cleansed themselves by true repentance and answer for our sins.
St. Nikolai of Zica epitomizes this word of the Lord: "I shall look at you, and see if you have Me
within you; and you will look at Me, as in a mirror, and will see what you are."
"For all the worlds, large and small, that do not tremble before Thine awesome presence, I cry
out: 'O Master Most Merciful, have mercy on me and save me!'" (St. Nikolai of Zica)
Wednesday, February 25, 2004
Lenten Fast
Tarasios, Archbishop of Constantinople
6th Hour: Isaiah 2:3-11 1st Vespers: Genesis 1:24-2:3 2nd Vespers: Proverbs 2:1-22
Isaiah 2:3-11, especially vs. 5, "O house of Jacob, come, let us walk
in the light of the Lord." While today's reading is a prophecy for the ancient people of God and
for Jerusalem, their capital, it also concerns the Church, as St. Nikolai of Zica has noted: "This
prophecy refers to Christ's Church. Although it must have been shrouded in mystery for the Jews
before Christ, it is limpidly clear for us today. The mountain, or heights, of the Lord's house is
indeed established in the top of the mountains - in the heights of heaven - for the Church of
Christ is primarily not of the earth but of heaven, and one part of the members of the Church (and
that now the greater part) is in heaven, while the others are here on earth."
The prophecy divides into four parts: first, the Lord unveils our eyes to envision the completed,
glorious Church which shall be in the age to come (vss. 2-4). Second, God makes His appeal -
that we come to the House of God and learn from Him (vs. 3), bringing peace to all (vs. 4). The
Church in this present world should not wait for the fulfillment history in a passive manner, but
actively walk now in that Divine Light which shall be (vs. 5).
Third, God moves from appeal to warning (vss. 6-9). Ancient Israel chose not to heed the appeal
"to walk in the light of the Lord," and, thereby, drew down upon herself terrible yet inevitable
results: God forsook the majority of the ancient people, to form from an Apostolic remnant a new
People from all nations. In His warning, God states why He rejected the majority: "because their
land [was] filled with idols...what their own fingers...made" (vs. 8).
Fourth, the Lord warns the Church and all mankind: should any embrace such sins, those
members had best "enter into the rock and hide in the dust from before the terror of the Lord, and
from the glory of His majesty" (vs. 10). Let all mankind take heed, including members of the
Church, for "the haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the pride of men shall be
humbled and the Lord alone will be exalted..." (vs. 11). Let us "walk in the light of the Lord."
How shall we understand this expression, "to walk in the light of God?" The Lord Jesus teaches
us in words similar to those of the prophecy: "whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and
he that shall humble himself shall be exalted" (Mt. 23:12). As St. Nikolai of Zica said, "The new
world, the new creation, the new man: all began with obedience and humility."
To exercise true obedience and genuine humility, as Theodoret said, we may "no longer...sit by
the dim lamp-light of the Law, but fill [our] souls with the brilliant rays of the true Light," with
Him Who is the Light. He invites us to walk His personal path, in the Way He defined with His
own humanity by His Incarnate life: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of
no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant" (Phil. 2:5-7). We have His appeal to
walk in Him as Light. Listen to the Paschal invitation: "Come take light from the Light which
can never be overtaken by night. Come glorify Christ, risen from the dead."
By approaching this prophecy as a word for the Church - concerning the Church-as-She-shall-be
(vss. 2-4) - the All-merciful encourages us, while we are in the midst of this world, in this "land
...filled with idols" (vs. 8), always to struggle toward what we know shall be at the end. St. John
of Kronstadt captures the point: "that our union with God in the future world will indeed come
about, and that it will be for us the source of light, peace, joy and bliss; this we partly recognize
by experience even in the present life. During prayer, when our soul is wholly turned toward
God...I would say, we experience an inexpressible well-being. It is good to be here."
O Thou Who didst cause Thy Light to shine on Thine Apostles, lighten our souls.
Thursday, February 26, 2004
Lenten Fast
Photeini, the Samaritan Woman
6th Hour: Isaiah 2:11-22 1st Vespers: Genesis 2:4-19 2nd Vespers: Proverbs 3:1-18
Isaiah 2:11-22 (RSV), especially vs. 11, "The haughty looks of man
shall be brought low, and the pride of men shall be humbled; and the Lord alone will be exalted
in that day." In the past fifty years, God has corroborated the truth of this verse vividly and
repeatedly on the open stage of history. Recall the "Gotterdammerung" of the Third Reich, the
overnight collapse of the Berlin wall, the dissolution of the exhausted Soviet Union, and the swift
reversal of Iraq's territorial claims over Kuwait. Over and over God has demonstrated that He "is
king over the nations, God sitteth upon His holy throne" (Ps. 46:8 LXX).
Empires, impregnable walls of iron, human might, the threats and swagger of rulers, all have
been exposed as nothing before God, "Who setteth aside the devices of the peoples, and [Who]
bringeth to nought the plans of princes" (Ps. 32:10 LXX). It is notable that the Lord gave this
prophecy through Isaiah to His ancient People during a time of great national stability, wealth,
and power. Still, the Divine caution is applicable to every generation, "For the Lord of hosts has
a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up and high" (Is. 2:12).
In the opening verses of today's reading, Isaiah reveals God's view of exaltation and low estate:
"the pride of men shall be humbled....For the Lord of hosts has a day" (vss 11,12). From eternity
to eternity, through all of history, God reveals what we men should confess: "Be Thou exalted
above the heavens, O God and Thy glory above all the earth" (Ps. 56:7 LXX).
However, because of the ubiquity of our human sin, few men have escaped the delusions of
exaltation, superiority, and pride before God. But to say that "the Lord of hosts has a day" (vs.
12) declares the inevitable: "the haughtiness of man shall be humbled" (vs. 17). He Who is, He
Who truly exists, Who was and is forever, God the Lord, shall prevail over all that He has made.
All created beings shall be brought low before Him. That is the message of Isaiah the Prophet.
The Prophet carefully details how all that God has created, "all things visible and invisible," will
be restored to their proper and humble estate before God (vss.13-21). This leveling shall occur in
the visible, tangible order of nature and the physical world (vss. 13-14), to every civilization
raised up by man, and to all of men's prized cultural artifacts (vss. 14-17).
The same humbling will take place in the invisible, spiritual order of ideas, concepts, religions,
and philosophies (vss. 18). As the Scriptures witness: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and
bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent" (see Is. 29:14; 1 Cor. 1:19). Men's efforts to
save those cultural idols which we exalt and serve by placing them in "caves of the rocks" to
preserve them (vs. 19) are futile, for God shall arise, "to terrify the earth" (vs. 19).
In the Day of the Lord, He will expose the foolishness of men's sacred assumptions and
ideologies. Then, when men fall from their presumed exaltation, they will "cast forth their idols
of silver and the idols of gold...to the moles and to the bats" (vs. 20), and claw their way into the
clefts, bunkers, and "caverns of the rocks" in futile last efforts at self-preservation.
The words of the Prophet Isaiah are a chilling reminder to every child of God who has
"renounced Satan and all his service and all his pride." Therefore, let us read and mark well the
Prophet's warning and humble ourselves now before our God, for as the Lord Jesus has taught us,
"everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted"
(Lk. 18:14). Beloved of God, let us humble ourselves "from before the terror of the Lord [and]
turn away from man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?" (Is. 2:21, 22).
Remember, O Lord our infirmity, and destroy us not for our transgressions, but be merciful to
our humility, that we may flee from the darkness of sin and devoutly serve Thee.
Friday, February 27, 2004
Lenten Fast
Repose of Raphael of Brooklyn (1915)
6th Hour: Isaiah 3:1-14 1st Vespers: Genesis 2:20-3:20 2nd Vespers: Proverbs 3:19-34
Isaiah 3:1-15, especially vs. 11, "Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for
what his hands have done shall be done to him." News reports continue to indicate that
conditions in Russia are far from ideal, despite the removal of the oppressive Soviet Communist
apparatus and its leaders. Responsible officials in the new Russian government, in the Orthodox
Church, and in the nation's business and industrial community are making leonine efforts to
restore the basic functions of the nation, its spiritual life, and its material infrastructure - roads,
rail lines and air service, hospitals, fire and police, and productivity in agriculture and industry.
As they seek to solve their immense national problems, the Russian people are also confronting a
major epidemic of crime. Much of the crime wave appears to be the work of mafia-type
syndicates, whose criminal activities often ruin good projects initiated by government, business,
or industry, disrupting many positive improvements which responsible Russians are struggling to
establish. However, Russia is not the only nation that faces such problems.
One reads today's passage from Isaiah and immediately thinks of the similar and all-too-familiar
reports of crime, scandal, and corruption that continue to appear in many countries of the world
besides Russia, including the United States. World-wide, it seems, there are national leaders
guilty of serious wrong-doing, with misconduct being reported in business, industry, the military,
education, and even in the professions such as law, medicine, and the clergy.
God teaches us through Prophets like Isaiah that there are consequences in life, not only for
individuals, but for nations, cities, parishes, neighborhoods, and families as well. We sing, "God
is the Lord, Which hath shown us light," but the converse also is true. If people's "speech and
their deeds are against the Lord, defying His glorious presence" (vs. 8), one searches in darkness
for righteousness and justice. Let no people complain if they collect consequences after they
"oppress one another, every man his fellow and every man his neighbor" (vs. 5). God keeps an
orderly world, in nature and in the social, psychological, and spiritual realms as well.
Today's reading begins with a prophetic forecast of the dire consequences that soon will befall
God's ancient People of the kingdom of Judah. All the basics of a strong, healthy national life -
food and water but, above all, leadership mighty in body and spirit - will be taken away (vss. 1-3). Instead, immature and imprudent leaders "shall rule over them" (vs. 4). People will turn on
each other and despicable individuals will intimidate everyone (vss. 5-7). The Prophet's
description matches exactly the rise and fall of nations and empires throughout history.
Isaiah's sad forecast continues with an identification of the causes of social, moral, and political
collapse (vss.8-12). The primary or underlying cause is the turning of words and deeds "against
the Lord, defying His glorious presence" (vs. 8). Speech and actions that evade the truth of God
at heart are efforts to force Him out public and private life through partiality in the courts, the
narrowing of opportunities in life, and the stifling of ideas (vs. 9). Of course, there is the open
embracing of sin: "like Sodom they do not hide it" (vs. 9). While the righteous seek God with
their heart and do "eat the fruit of their deeds" (vs. 10); still, God shows clearly that, in His
Kingdom there will be "Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him" (vs. 11).
The passage ends with a Divine lament (vss. 12-15), much like the weeping of the Lord Jesus
over first century Jerusalem (Lk. 13:34-35). The lines from Isaiah particularly bemoan the
leaders who grind "the face of the poor" (vs. 15), although the people as a whole also are judged.
Lord have mercy upon all civil authorities, our Armed Forces, this and every land, and for the
faithful who dwell therein; and deliver us from all tribulation, wrath, danger, and necessity.
Saturday, February 28, 2004
Lenten Fast
The New Martyr Kyranna
Kellia: Deuteronomy 5:6-12 Epistle: Hebrews 1:1-12 Gospel: St. Mark 2:23-3:5
6-12, especially vs. 12, "Observe the sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord
your God commanded you." The disciple of the Lord perceives time, like the rest of God's
creation, as "subjected to futility" (Rom. 8:20) and, like all other created beings, knows that time
groans now and labors in birth pangs until it is finally delivered "from the bondage of corruption
into the glorious liberty of the children of God" (Rom. 8:21). Furthermore, realizing that God has
yoked the destiny of time to the destiny of all who are in Christ, the Church calls upon us to
hallow and sanctify time, so that with the rest of creation, the minutes, hours, days, months and
years may be liberated with us to magnify Christ Who has manifested Himself in His creation.
To this end, the Church provides us with seven daily hours of prayer as God teaches us by the
Psalmist: "Seven times a day have I praised Thee for the judgments of Thy righteousness" (Ps.
118:164 LXX). In addition, we have received a weekly cycle of time to hallow with fasting the
Lord's betrayal on Wednesdays and His Passion on Fridays, to sanctify His burial and His
harrowing of Hades on the Sabbath day, and to celebrate the awe of His Glorious triumph over
death on the first day of the Week - 'the Lord's Day.' The weekly cycle of prayer is written large
in the yearly cycle with the blessed Feast of Holy Pascha at its center.
From the beginning our gracious God and Creator taught us to hallow all time and to pace
ourselves to its pulse of "an evening and a morning, one day" (Gen. 1:5), so that we might offer
up praise and thanksgiving continuously for His gracious providence which is "new every
morning" (Lam. 3:23). The centerpiece of the human vocation to transform time, the Sabbath
Day, was given at creation when God "blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it
God rested from all His work which He had done in creation" (Gen. 2:3).
Notice, if you will, it was not Moses who first gave the Sabbath commandment, but the Lord
Himself at creation. As St. John Chrysostom said, "the Sabbath did at first confer many and great
benefits; for instance it made them gentle toward those of their household, and taught them God's
providence and the creation as Ezekiel said (20:12); it trained them by degrees to abstain from
wickedness and disposed them to regard the things of the Spirit."
And here we have the three aspects which Moses made explicit when he passed along the
existing commandment concerning the Sabbath observance: to keep it holy to the Lord "as He
commanded you" (Dt. 5:12), to refrain from work, and to rest (vs. 14). During this time taken
from work we should remember "that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your
God brought you out thence with a mighty hand" (vs. 15).
However, because the Resurrection holds the greatest significance for the transformation of time,
the Church celebrates each first day of the week with greater solemnity even than the other six
days of the week, including the Sabbath day. She has done this from the earliest times, for we
know that, in His rising from the grave, the Lord has provided us with access to His eternal
Sabbath. "For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did
from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall" (Heb. 4:10,11).
It was for these reasons that the Council of Elvira in 306, in its 21st canon, required that
Christians substitute the first day of the week as the uniquely Christian day of rest. Christ our
God Who gave us the sabbath commandment did not revoke His own law. Rather, as St. John
Chrysostom said, "He greatly enhanced it," so that now we no longer make one day a festival
"who are commanded to keep a feast all their life long."
Come let us worship Him who hath lightened all by His third-day Resurrection.
Sunday, February 29, 2004
Lenten Fast
Sunday of Orthodoxy: First of Lent: (Tone 4)
Kellia: Exodus 3:1-8 Epistle: Hebrews 11:24-26, 32-12:2 Gospel: St. John 1:41-51
Exodus 3:1-8, especially vs. 2, "And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in
a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and lo, the bush was burning, yet it was
not consumed." St. Nikolai of Zica left us his own reflections on the burning bush, and, thereby,
he invites us to consider its meaning for ourselves: "Let me ponder on the burning bush on
Horeb: 1. How the bush burned but was not consumed. 2. How the most pure Virgin, carrying
the Lord within herself, bore the divine fire but was not burned by it. 3. How the fire of divine
grace rejuvenates, heals and illumines my sinful soul."
The association of the presence and action of God with fire is found throughout Holy Scripture.
Observe that some of the recorded instances of the holy fire of God's presence are described as
grace-bearing, light-giving, or strengthening - the fire of God coming to enable or to renew. On
the other hand, when the Apostle prays in the Epistle to the Hebrews, may we "serve God
acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:28, 29), we
see the fire of the Lord falling to consume in a moment of judgment (Num. 16:21) - as the terrible
destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah reminds us (Gen 19:24, 25).
These two images of Divine fire, so opposite in character, raise questions concerning the
vengeance and mercy of God. Speaking of the vision of the Prophet Daniel in which a fiery
stream was revealed pouring forth from the throne of the Ancient of Days (Dan 7:9, 10), St. John
Maximovitch says: "The more consciously and persistently a man strives toward God in his life,
the greater will be his joy when he hears: 'Come unto Me, ye blessed.' And conversely: the same
words will call the fire of horror and torture on those who did not desire Him, who fled and
fought or blasphemed Him during their lifetime!" The deep truth of God as love, revealed by our
Lord Jesus Christ, can be experienced - depending on the state of one's soul - as fury or as grace.
The recognition that the experience of the fire of God depends in part upon our response to God
is both sobering and hopeful. Like the pillar of fire by which the ancient People were led,
directed, and protected by God (Ex. 13:21-22), so the most pure Virgin Theotokos also was led,
directed, and overshadowed so that she might bear in her womb the all-consuming fire of the
eternal Word of God. As she received and contained the Uncontainable, so she received and was
blessed to give physical nurture to the fire of God upon Whom no one may look and survive.
The appellation "all-pure" directs us to consider the state of her heart and soul which God knew
and selected as fitting for His union with our nature. Likewise, the term calls us to self-examination, prayer, and purification through ascesis. May the fire of God illumine my darkness!
Most significant for those who are called "the Faithful in Christ," is the announcement of
purification and cleansing by fire which can also make us fit vessels for the fire of God. The
empowering presence of the Holy Spirit of God descending upon the Disciples at Pentecost,
"appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them" (Acts 2:3). These
"average, ordinary" men were filled and shielded by the fire of God, and thus received that fire as
a great grace. Divine fire is radically renewing. The change in the disciples, as one compares
their manner in the Gospel of Luke, while they accompanied the Lord in His dusty walk through
Galilee, Samaria, and Judea, with the portrait of them in the Acts of the Apostles, is awesome.
Were these the same men? They were indeed, "average and ordinary" like ourselves, but men
who were able to say, "we have seen with our eyes...we have looked upon, and our hands have
handled...the Word of life....manifested to us" (1 Jn. 1:1, 2), men healed by the Fire of God.
O All-Holy Spirit from above, be Thou our blessed unction, strength, and fire of love.
Sunday, February 1, 2004
Fast Free Week
Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee
Kellia: Exodus 13:1-18; 22:29* Epistle: Romans 8:28-39 Gospel: St. Luke 18:10-14
Exodus 13:1-16; 22:29, especially vs. 15, "For when Pharaoh stubbornly
refused to let us go, the Lord slew all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both the first-born of
man and the first-born of cattle. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the
womb; but all the first-born of my sons I redeem." The first reading for the Vespers of
Presentation enriches our understanding of two ceremonies which the Virgin Theotokos fulfilled
when she brought her Child and our God to the Temple in Jerusalem. The Gospel for the Feast
(Lk. 2:22-40) alludes to these two rites as follows: first, "the days of her purification...were
completed," referring to the rite which restored her to the worship of the Temple. Second, the
phrase, "to present Him to the Lord (as is written in the Law of the Lord)," refers to the ceremony
consecrating to God her first-born infant son, our Lord Jesus Christ (Lk. 2:22-23).
*The full reading is a composite of passages from three Old Testament Books: Exodus, Leviticus,
and Numbers, each portion focusing on different aspects of the two rites. The Exodus verses
describe the consecration a first-born male child. The Leviticus portion (12:1-8), depicts the rite
for purifying a mother following birth-giving. The third, from Numbers (8:16-17), reveals how
the consecration of a firstborn involved the assisting Levites.
Exodus 13:15 provides the formal answer which a father in ancient Israel was expected to give to
his sons when they asked (vs.14) the meaning of the rituals related to firstborns. The whole
portion from Exodus explains the three elements in the father's answer: the purpose of the ritual
was 1) to "sacrifice to the Lord all males that first open the womb," 2) to associate the rite with
Passover and the day "when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go," and 3) to redeem every
first-born son from death - "but all the first-born of my sons I redeem'" (vs. 15).
"The Lord said to Moses, 'Consecrate to Me all the first-born; whatever is the first to open the
womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine'" (vss. 1, 2). From Latin
words meaning to make holy, 'consecrate,' emphasizes the total surrender of all firstborns to
God. Similarly, in English, "holy" and "wholly" derive from the same root, being intimately
united in meaning. In performing rites associated with firstborns, a worshiper renounces personal
ownership and declares God to be the Owner of all he has received by live birth.
Since the first-born is confessed to be God's, all subsequent births are likewise presumed to
belong to the Lord as well. As the Lord had instructed Moses: "And you shall say to Pharaoh,
'Thus says the Lord, Israel is my first-born son, and I say to you, 'Let my son go that he may
serve me'; and if you refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay your first-born son'"(Ex.4:22, 23).
The reader should note that all rites of consecration of firstborns are associated directly with
Passover and the related Feast of Unleavened Bread, Mazzoth. As Israel came out of Egypt, so
also "no leavened bread shall be eaten" (Ex. 13:3). The key phrase is "out of": leaven is purged
'out of' bread as Israel was brought 'out of' Egypt (vs. 3). The Lord has consecrated a People to
Himself, and taken them 'out of' bondage in Egypt, and they are to remember Whose they are
and to "serve" Him completely thereafter (vs. 2).
"Redemption" in rites of firstborns refers to an action to save the life of the firstborn. For
example, "Every firstling of an ass you shall redeem with a lamb (which is sacrificed instead), or
if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every first-born of man among your sons you
shall redeem" (vs. 13), obviously with no infant sacrifice. While a lamb might be substituted for
the ass, a five shekel offering was made to the Priests for a first born son (Nu. 18:16).
Come, let us all praise Him Who was crucified for our sakes, Mary's Son and our God.
Sunday, February 2, 2004
The Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple
Kellia: Isaiah 6:1-12 Epistle: Hebrews 7:7-17 Gospel: St. Luke 2:22-40
Isaiah 6:1-12, especially vss. 5-7, "'...mine eyes have seen the King, the
Lord of hosts!' Then flew one of the seraphim to me, having in his hand a burning coal which he
had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth, and said: 'Behold, this has
touched your lips, your guilt is taken away, and your sin forgiven.'" In Hebrews, the Apostle
reminds us that "God,...at various times and in various ways, spoke in time past to the fathers by
the Prophets" (Heb. 1:1). In having this passage from Isaiah read at the Vespers of the Feast of
Presentation, the Church unites two theophanies, or Divine appearances, to His holy Prophets.
Isaiah spoke of beholding God centuries before the birth of Christ, and Simeon, as God's
Receiver, lived straddling two centuries - for many years before Christ and then just a few days
into the first century after the Nativity. These two theophanies, the one to Isaiah and other to
Simeon, may seem quite different, but in fact, they share important similarities.
First, both Isaiah and Simeon clearly were Prophets of God, but in exactly what sense can we say
they were Prophets? St. Nikolai of Zica points out that Prophets are "inspired men of God," that
is, men filled with God the Holy Spirit, and, therefore, "The visions of the holy Prophets are true,
for the words and heavenly apparitions in these visions were indeed later confirmed. They are
true, and therefore have served men well, turning them from evil to good." Both Isaiah and
Simeon had visions of God, and both spoke words that have proven true. We cannot even
imagine the number of lives that have been established in righteousness because of repeatedly
singing the words from Isaiah, "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of Sabaoth" (see Is. 6:3) or from Simeon,
"Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace!" (See Lk. 2:29).
As different as their experiences of God might appear in form and content, both Isaiah and
Simeon undeniably had encounters with the living God, and each one, through his meeting with
God, knew true salvation.
Initially, for instance, when God revealed Himself to Isaiah "high and lifted up" (vs. 1), the
Prophet was in despair of salvation, for being a prophet of God, he knew the implications of
"seeing" the Lord face to face: that "man shall not see Me and live" (Ex. 33:20). Hence, he could
only cry out: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst
of a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!" (Is. 6:5). Yet the
majestic seraph reassures him, "your guilt is taken away, and your sin forgiven" (vs. 7).
Simeon's readiness to repose reflects the same personal realization of salvation: "Now lettest
Thou me depart, O Master, that I may tell Adam that I beheld as a babe the immutable God, Who
is before eternity, and the Savior of the world." What is so remarkable about the revelation of
Simeon is that he was able to see in the Babe Whom he received the awesome, terrible, and
wholly other God. Of course he was able to look upon the face of God, because of the ineffable
condescension of the Lord in taking our flesh upon Him as a humble human infant.
In both Isaiah's and Simeon's meetings with God there came personal direction from the Lord
God Who disclosed Himself. Isaiah heard the call of the Almighty asking, "Whom shall I send,
and who will go for Us?" (vs. 8), and in responding, "Here am I! Send me," he received God's
directive to "Go, and [speak] to this people" (vs. 9). In Simeon's case, the Holy Spirit told him
both to wait for "the consolation of Israel" and when to go to the Temple (Lk. 2:25, 27).
The mere sight of the infant Jesus released Simeon from further waiting, "For mine eyes have
seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people" (Lk 2:30-31).
I have beheld Thee, O Light before eternity, the Lord and Savior of the Christian people.
Tuesday, February 3, 2004
Fast Free Week
The Righteous Simeon and Anna
Kellia: Is 19:1-5, 12, 16, 19-21 Epistle: 2 Peter 2:9-22 Gospel: St. Mark 13:14-23
Isaiah 19:1-5, 12, 16, 19-21, especially vss.19, 20, "In that day there will
be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at its border. It
will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; when they cry to the Lord
because of oppressors He will send them a Savior...." The Prophet Isaiah begins this passage
with an announcement: "An Oracle concerning Egypt" (vs. 1). Thereby he declares that what he
is about to say is a revelation from the Lord concerning the future of Egypt. Because the Holy
Fathers read and received Isaiah's words as Divine oracle, they were quick to discern the
presence of Christ in the prophesies: His flight as an infant into Egypt, a land burdened under
terrible idolatry at the time of His visitation. They perceived that Egypt's fall under Roman
control was a consequence of its idolatrous worship, but they also found in the Prophet's words
the joyous prediction of Egypt's transformation into a Christ-worshiping nation.
In the first verse, the Fathers regularly translated the original as 'light,' with the sense of 'having
little weight' or 'being insubstantial' rather than as 'illumination." Hence, many of them
understood the 'cloud' upon which the Lord rode to refer to His Incarnate body within which He
clothed His Divinity, to shroud it from common gaze. Some understood the 'light cloud' to refer
to the body of the Theotokos who bore the infant Jesus in her arms. In any case, following the
Presentation ceremonies in the Temple, because Joseph was warned to "take the young Child and
His mother [and] flee into Egypt" (Mt. 2:13), the Incarnate and infant Lord rode out of Israel into
Egypt in the arms of His mother to escape the efforts of Herod "to destroy Him" (Mt. 2:13).
The idols of Egypt trembled "at His presence" when He arrived, being by nature demons and
rightfully fearing the One Who held all power in His hand over their shadowy existence. They
trembled because, being incorporeal, spiritual beings themselves, they immediately perceived the
true nature of this tiny Refugee, despite His appearance as a defenseless infant. But, as Theodoret
has shown, the Prophet "teaches the efficacy of the coming of the Master" to an idolatrous land.
The hard hearts "of the Egyptians will melt within them" (Is. 19:1).
Centuries before Christ was born, the Lord warned the Egyptians of the judgment that was
coming upon them for their idolatry: "the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out,
and I will confound their plans; and they will consult the idols and the sorcerers, and the
mediums and the wizards; and I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a hard master; and a
fierce king will rule over them, says the Lord, the Lord of hosts" (vss. 3, 4). Theodoret observes
that this prophecy was fulfilled by the reign of Augustus Caesar, for he "made a definite end to
the kingdom of Egypt and delivered it to administrators."
While in "that day the Egyptians will be like women, and tremble with fear before the hand
which the Lord of hosts shakes over them" it will also happen that in "that day there will be an
altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at its border" (vss. 16,
19). The Gospel would soon come to Egypt and free that land from idolatry. St. Nikolai of Zica
observes the wonder in Isaiah's vision: "The Egyptians will know the one, living Lord at the time
that He appears in the flesh among men. The idols will be destroyed and the temples of demons
and animals thrown down; the altar of the one living God will be established and the table of
oblation raised up....the greatest ascetics will appear in that land that was formerly covered with
darkness, the most courageous martyrs for Christ the Lord...."
O Lord, Thou hast appeared for the revelation of the Gentiles, sitting on a bright cloud: free me
also Thy servant to depart from corruption; for I have beheld Thee in the flesh.
Wednesday, February 4, 2004
Fast Free Week
The Venerable Isidore of Pelusium
Kellia: 1 Kings 12:6-15 LXX Epistle: 2 Peter 3:1-18 Gospel: St. Mark 13:24-31
1 Kings 12:6-15 LXX (1 Sam. 12:6-15 MT)
especially vs. 14 "If ye will fear the Lord, and serve Him, and obey His voice, and not rebel
against the commandment of the Lord; then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you
continue following the Lord your God." Samuel's speech, transferring power from himself to
Saul, divides into three parts: an opportunity to settle any outstanding claim against Samuel (vss.
1-5), Samuel's pleading of the case against the people for demanding a king (vss. 6-15), and an
assurance of God's continuing faithfulness supported by miraculous evidence (vss. 16-25).
Today's portion from the whole is very judicial in character. Samuel, as plaintiff, pleads apostasy
against the people as defendants - God being the Judge. Having already established his own
ethical basis for daring to make such a plea against God's people (vss. 1-5), the Prophet proceeds
to lay out the evidence of their infidelity while acknowledging their actual status as a monarchy.
He concludes by summarizing the possibilities of hope and tragedy before them.
Samuel documents the finding of apostasy: his prime witness is God Himself (vs. 6). The Lord
saved their forebearers, brought them out of slavery, and made them dwell in their own land (vss.
6, 8) Numerous times, when the people brought themselves into dire circumstances through
idolatry but cried to the Lord, He delivered them and made them dwell in safety (vss. 9-11).
Ironically, when they were confronted with a single assault by Nahash the Ammonite against one
of their border towns, they abandoned all confidence in God, despite godly warning, and
demanded the human solution of a monarchy instead of the proven Theocracy (vs. 12). So now,
for better or for worse, they are to live under a human king as they have demanded.
God, Who changes not, ever desires that His People, ancient and modern, should receive
blessings, rather than have "the hand of the Lord...against" them and their rulers (vs. 15). Taking
His People in whatever state they have created for themselves (vs. 13), the Lord provides a three
stage process by which they may "continue following the Lord" (vs. 14). Let us examine the
nature of the three elements in God's design for blessing His People. These apply to the Church.
First is "fear the Lord" (vs. 14), which, as St. Symeon the New Theologian makes clear, is a
blessed interior state closely related to faith or trust in God: "He [who] has the fear of God within
him...wears the invincible armor of faith." Understanding the necessity of having the fear of God
within, the Prophet David begs God: "Guide me, O Lord, in Thy way, and I will walk in Thy
truth; let my heart rejoice that I may fear Thy name." (Ps. 85:10 LXX). Fear of the Lord begins
in the heart and guides infallibly along the Lord's way of blessing, teaching one to hate every sign
of evil, pride, or arrogance that may arise within the self (see Pr. 8:13).
On the basis of fear of the Lord, a man chooses readily and naturally to serve the Lord. Both the
Greek and Hebrew versions reveal that Samuel yearns for God's People to understand that
"serving" God is, in essence, submission to Him in all things. Hear the Prophet Malachi: "For
those who fear the Lord, and who meditate on His Name, 'They shall be Mine,' says the Lord of
hosts"(Mal. 3: 16-17). Furthermore, while servitude to earthly masters crushes the spirit, the
service of God is a liberating and joyful response to God's gift of Himself to us (Jn. 3:16).
Of course, those who serve the Lord in response to His love obey joyfully. They do not rebel and
say "It is useless to serve God" (Mal. 3:14). As Samuel remarks: these "continue following the
Lord [their] God" (vs. 14), or literally, "they shall be after the Lord." That is, those who obey
will be strengthened by God, hear His voice, and receive eternal life (Jn. 10:27).
O Lord Jesus, Thou true and living Way, open our souls and abide in us unto eternal life.
Thursday, February 5, 2004
Fast Free Week
The Martyr Agatha of Palermo
Kellia: 1 Kings 12:16-25 LXX Epistle: 1 John 1:8-2:6 Gospel: St. Mark 13:31-14:2
1 Kings 12:16-25 LXX (1 Sam. 12:16-25 MT),
especially vs. 23, "Moreover as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by
ceasing to pray for you; and I will instruct you in the good and the right way." When the elders
of God's People demanded a king (1 Sam. 8:4, 5), Samuel sought to dissuade them, discerning
that the effect of their request was a rejection of the Lord (1 Sam. 8:6-21). Notwithstanding, the
Lord allowed the will of the elders to prevail and directed His servant to "Hearken to their voice,
and make them a king" (1 Sam. 8:22). The Prophet obediently carried out his Lord's will, but he
never ceased in his efforts to impress on the people the wicked nature of their choice. Even on
the day of the public revelation and acceptance of Saul as king, he reminded them, "But you have
this day rejected your God, Who saves you from all your calamities and distresses" (1 S.10:19).
The triumph of the army of Israel over Nahash the Ammonite under King Saul's leadership (1 S.
11:11) appears only to have reinforced the people's conviction that they were correct in asking
for a king. Worse, the victory revealed a serious hardening of their self-confidence as the
interaction among Samuel, King Saul, and the people reveals: "Bring the men [who repudiated
Saul's reign] that we may put them to death," they said (1 S. 11:12). Except for the wisdom of
the new king, the people would have compounded their wickedness (1 S. 11:13). Samuel, ever
the wise pastor, called the people to Gilgal there to make "Saul king before the Lord." (vs. 14).
The depth of Samuel's pastoral wisdom was fully manifested at Gilgal, for, observe: he used the
occasion to make one further effort to bring the people to compunction.
The burden of Samuel's speech was a pleading of his case against them (1 S. 12:6-15). Notice
how he began his review of the evidence: by adjuring them to "stand still, that I may plead with
you before the Lord" (1 S. 12:7). When he finished outlining his case, there was no outcry of
remorse or of godly sorrow from the people because of their wickedness, only silence.
Therefore, since they would not hear him, he again commanded them to "stand still" (1 S. 12:16),
but this time with a difference: "stand still and see" (vs. 16). For, as he continued, "you shall
know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in
asking for yourselves a king" (vs. 17). With trust in the Lord, he announced, "I will call upon the
Lord, that He may send thunder and rain" (vs. 17). He was confident that God would hearken "to
the voice of a man" (Jos. 10:14), and bring a thunderstorm in the early summer. St. Jerome, who
spent many years in Palestine, reports that he never saw such a phenomenon at that season.
The unexpected storm created fear within the assembly of Israel, for the people fully understood
the implication of the sudden, out-of-season thunderstorm. God was judging them and affirming
Samuel's charges: "Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die; for we have
added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king" (1 S. 12:19).
Wise pastor that Samuel was, he did not relish a fleeting moment of grief, but endeavored to lead
the people into complete repentance and to joyful compunction. While he desired that they
acknowledge their own sinfulness, he also wanted them to know the forgiveness extended to
them by God, in the manner of St. John of the Ladder: "When I consider the actual nature of
compunction, I am amazed at how that which is called mourning and grief should contain joy and
gladness interwoven within it...." So Samuel assured the people, "Fear not, but serve the Lord
with all your heart....for consider what great things He has done for you" (vss. 20, 24).
Open to me the doors of repentance, O Life-giver; for my soul goeth early to the temple of Thy
holiness. In Thy tender lovingkindness, purify me by the compassion of Thy mercies.
Friday, February 6, 2004
Fast Free Week
Boukolos, Bishop of Smyrna
Kellia: 1 Kings 13:1-18 LXX Epistle: 1 John 2:7-17 Gospel: St. Mark 14:3-9
1 Kings 13:1-18 (1 Sam. 13:1-18), especially vs. 11, 12,
"And Saul said, 'When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come
within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, I said, 'Now the
Philistines will come down upon me at Gilgal, and I have not entreated the favor of the Lord; so I
forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.'" The deep sin of presumption exposed itself in
King Saul, a spiritual defect that assured that the "kingdom [should] not continue" within his
family (vs.14). However, lest we be tempted to sympathize with Saul's "foolish doings" (vs. 13)
as we read, and lest we find ourselves wondering why Samuel did not try to correct him for his
indiscretion, let us consider thoughtfully the words of St. Theophan the Recluse concerning self-reliance: "this spiritual disease of ours, so hard to perceive and acknowledge, is more abhorrent to
God than all else in us, as being the first offspring of our self-hood and self-love, and the source,
root and cause of all passions and of all our downfalls and wrong doing."
Consider this fact: all through Holy Scripture, the Lord teaches us that "evil-doers shall utterly
perish, but they that wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth" (Ps. 36:9 LXX). Notice in this
statement of David, that he juxtaposes 'doing' and 'waiting.' In our modern world, so intensely
focused on 'achieving,' 'accomplishing,' and 'doing,' David's admonition warrants close
attention. No one can fault Saul for failure to act. His problem was that he acted
presumptuously, without warrant from the Lord.
To grasp the depth of Saul's brash self-reliance, it is important to reflect backwards (1 Kngs
13:10-14) from the encounter between Saul and Samuel at Gilgal, the national holy site located
on the plains of the Jordan river valley near Jericho. First, there was Saul's defensive remark to
Samuel: "you did not come within the days appointed" (vs. 11). Herein is the signal that there
was a prior arrangement concerning the meeting between the Prophet and the King.
At the heart of the agreement to meet at Gilgal was the godly practice of sacrificing to the Lord in
order to receive His blessing and His direction, a necessity before going into combat in a holy
war (see 1 Kngs. 7:5-11). So, even though we are not told explicitly in this case who called the
people out "to join Saul at Gilgal" (vs. 4), the unspoken protocol would necessarily have included
Samuel to preside at the sacrifice. This solemn rite was a Priestly-Prophetic function, not an
offering which could be performed 'by' the king. Rather, it was done 'for' the king. If Samuel
never showed up, Saul should have simply foregone the sacrifice.
True, the stationing of Philistine garrisons in the middle of the highland territory of the Israelites
is an indication of a strong, existing Philistine hegemony over God's People. One can appreciate
how galling it must have been to have occupying garrisons controlling them. When at last there
was a king who had been anointed to "go out before us and fight our battles" (1 Kngs 8:20), the
Philistines must have been very odious, especially so for Saul, for his home territory of Gibeah of
Benjamin was immediately adjacent to this foreign outpost at Geba (1 Kngs. 13:2, 3).
Here, however, one finds additional evidence of presumption. Given that the king felt the need to
precipitate a war of liberation from the Philistines, should not he first have sought the proven,
godly counsel of Samuel before the Lord, and long before starting the conflict?
Beloved of God, listen to St. John of the Ladder's caution concerning presumption: "there is only
one erring path, and it is called self-rule. But he who has renounced this entirely, even in things
that seem to be good and...pleasing to God, has reached the end before setting out...."
Lord, I have fled unto Thee; teach me to do Thy will, for Thou art my God.
Saturday, February 7, 2004
Fast Free Week
Parthenios, Bishop of Lampsakos
Kellia: 1 Kings 13:19-14:15 Epistle: 2 Timothy 3:1-9 Gospel: St. Luke 20:45-21:4
1 Kings 13:19-14:15 LXX (1 Sam. 13:19-14:14
MT), especially vs. 12, "And the men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armor-bearer, and
said, 'Come up to us, and we will show you a thing.' And Jonathan said to his armor-bearer,
'Come up after me; for the Lord has given them into the hand of Israel.'" In the opening chapter
of Unseen Warfare, a manual prepared for Christians who desire with all their heart "to come
near to God and dwell in union with Him," St. Theophan the Recluse teaches that "to reach your
desired aim, it is first of all necessary to stifle your own wills and finally to extinguish and kill
them altogether. And in order to succeed in this, you must constantly oppose all evil in yourself
and urge your self toward the good. In other words you must ceaselessly fight against yourself
and against everything that panders to your own wills, that incites and supports them." To this
end he admonishes us, "prepare yourself for this struggle and this warfare and know that the
crown....is given to none except to the valiant among warriors and wrestlers."
In the example of Jonathan, the son of King Saul, we have a type or foreshadowing from today's
Old Testament reading of each true Christian as 'a warrior invincible,' to speak using a phrase
from the Chrismation Mystery. In the imagery of the soldiery of the ancient People of God, in the
actions of Jonathan and his armor-bearer, the Lord supplies us with a portrait of what we must do
to become His invincible warriors. We must venture "to fulfill those things which are well
pleasing" to Him. We must seek to be "filled with the faith, hope, and love which are in the
Lord." We must depend solely upon the Lord's "trenchant might speedily to crush down Satan
under our feet" and so give us victory over the evil one.
Look at these two warriors, "Jonathan the son of Saul [and] the young man who bore his armor"
(vs. 1). Outward circumstances had caused the majority of their contemporaries to seek safe
havens from the predatory attacks of the raiders who "came out of the camp of the Philistines in
three companies" (1 Kngs. 13:17), moving to the north, the west and the east, plundering and
destroying as they went, a mighty force "like the sand on the seashore in multitude" (1 Kngs.
13:5). "There was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people with Saul and
Jonathan" (1 Kngs. 13:22). Still, this pair of invincible and godly warriors, ventured "over to the
Philistine garrison on yonder side" (vs. 14:1), even as we must face into the clamoring of our
wills for pleasure, comfort and ease through this life, and must overcome the constant
temptations to avoid taking up our cross and following after the Lord (Mt. 16:24).
See how Jonathan and the young man went filled with faith, hope, and love. They had faith that
"nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few" (vs. 6). They hoped that "it may
be that the Lord will work for us" (vs. 6); and they loved each other as the Septuagint puts it: "I
am with thee, my heart is as thy heart" (vs. 7 LXX). We must without hesitation in our warfare
follow the Lord Jesus' admonition to "love one another" (Jn. 13:34).
Behold, the wonder of God! By His trenchant might, speedily He brought "panic in the camp, in
the field, and among all the people, the garrison and even the raiders trembled; the earth quaked;
and it became a very great panic" (1 Kngs. 14:15). Two soldiers, invincible warriors, dared to
face their enemies in faith, hope, and love. Beloved of the Lord, examine the evidence: God is
ready to fight for us, to deliver us "from the bondage of the enemy," that He may receive us into
His heavenly kingdom, delivered "from every snare of the adversary."
O Lord, our God, confirm us in the Orthodox faith; deliver us from the Evil One, and from the
machinations of the same; and preserve our souls through the saving fear of Thee.
Sunday, February 8, 2004
Usual Abstinence (Wed & Fri)
Sunday of the Prodigal Son
Kellia: 1 Kings 14:16-30 Epistle: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 (Tone 1) Gospel: St. Luke 15:11-32
1 Kings 14:16-30 LXX (1 Sam. 14:16-30), especially
vs. 23, "So the Lord delivered Israel that day...." The battle against the Philistine forces at
Michmash divides into three sections: Jonathan's successful, initial assault against the guards on
the enemy's perimeter (1 Kngs. 13:19-14:15), the ensuing chaos within the Philistine camp which
mobilized the Israelite troops (1 Kngs. 14:16-30), and two events that occurred in the immediate
aftermath of the engagement (1 Kngs. 14:31-35 and 1 Kngs. 14:36-46).
In making an overview of the battle of Michmash, one is struck by what the Lord accomplished
(1 Kngs. 14:23) - by providing two outnumbered warriors as an example, He mobilized all His
people. It is especially worthy to note that the repercussions of Jonathan's bold display of faith
stirred God's People into forceful combat despite Saul's repeated, inept actions as a commander
of the armies of God. Observe how the Lord encourages us, through the present account, to dare
risking in faith, by demonstrating that He strengthens the resolve of those who act boldly for Him
and uses their daring to enliven other Christians to act as well.
The Israelite lookouts suddenly realized that there was a major disruption going on in the
Philistine camp. The "multitude was surging hither and thither" (vs. 16) in the enemy camp.
This change brought Saul out of a passive mode. He began to assess his immediate situation.
Who was present? He instituted a count to "see who has gone from us" (vs.17). Further, he
directed the priest Ahijah, "Bring the ephod; for he carried the ephod in that day before Israel"
(vs. 18 LXX). (Note: versions that speak of the ark at this point overlook the fact that the ark of
the Lord remained at Kiriath-jearim throughout Saul's reign.)
What the king thought to do by his directions to the priest was to consult God through priestly
divination and to seek directions for responding to the disturbance in the Philistine camp.
However, mounting evidence revealed that serious chaos was building in the enemy
encampment: "every man's sword was against his fellow, and there was very great confusion"
(vs. 20). The Lord used plain evidence to rouse the king fully from his lethargy, so Saul told the
priest to stop the divination: "Withdraw your hand" (vs. 19).
Not only the king finally was stirred into action by the fallout of Jonathan's attack, but the
Hebrew slaves in the enemy camp turned on their Philistine masters (vs. 21). Furthermore, "the
men of Israel who had hid themselves in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines
were fleeing, [and so] they too followed hard after them in the battle" (vs. 22). God used a
skirmish to move His people into action and to achieve a rout. Remember that when Saul took
up a defensive position at Geba of Benjamin, he had only 600 men with him (1 S. 13:15). The
Septuagint reports that as the battle ranged down hill toward Beth-aven, that "all the people with
Saul were about ten thousand men" (vs. 23 LXX). See the power of God through two men!
This present account concludes, with another inept action of King Saul: the issuing of a general
order: "Cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening and I am avenged on my enemies"
(vs. 24). Rather than direct his troops not to divert from battle to feast on plundered food from
the Philistines, the king issued a foolish command against all food, and included an extreme
penalty for eating. Ironically, his own son, the model warrior of the day, was the one who
inadvertently broke the rule. Still, Jonathan benefitted by his act: "his eyes became bright"
(vs.27), and he saw that even a greater victory could have been gained (vss. 29, 30).
Grant us, O Lord, knowledge, both of what we should do and of how to set about it, that we may
acquire only Thee rather than all transient possessions. (St. Ephraim the Syrian)
Monday, February 9, 2004
Usual Abstinence (Wed & Fri)
Great Martyr Theodore
Kellia: 1 Kings LXX 14:31-35 Epistle: 1 John 2:18-3:10 Gospel: St. Mark 11:1-11
1 Kings 14:31-35 LXX (1 Sam. 14:31-35), especially vs. 34,
"And Saul said, 'Disperse yourselves among the people, and say to them, Let every man bring his
ox or his sheep, and slay them here, and eat; and do not sin against the Lord by eating with the
blood.'" As Orthodox Priests prepare the Holy Gifts they confess: "Thou has redeemed us from
the curse of the law, by Thy precious Blood: nailed to the Cross and pierced by the spear, Thou
has poured forth immortality upon mankind, O our Savior, glory to Thee."
Among the People of both of the Old and of the New Covenants, blood has been given great
reverence because of its power to unite God and His People (Ex. 24:8; Heb. 9:14). To establish
its sacredness firmly and strictly, the Lord prohibited any eating of blood: "If any man of the
house of Israel or of the strangers that sojourn among them eats any blood, I will set My face
against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people" (Lev. 17:10).
Blood from slaughtering was to be poured "out upon the earth like water" (Dt. 12:16).
Keeping this prohibition in mind, observe what disorder occurred at the end of the battle at
Michmash because of the austere fast which King Saul imposed on his troops during the fight (1
Kngs. 14:24). The men were so "faint [that they] flew upon the spoil, and took sheep and oxen
and calves; and slew them on the ground; and...ate them with the blood" (1 Kngs. 14:31, 32). So
deeply ingrained was the stricture against eating blood that this impropriety was soon relayed to
the king: "Behold, the people are sinning against the Lord, by eating with the blood" (vs. 33).
Knowing God had promised to "cut off from among his people" (Lev. 17:4) anyone who ate flesh
with its blood in it, and he quickly provided an alternative for the people: "roll a great stone to me
here...disperse yourselves among the people, and say to them, 'Let every man bring his ox or his
sheep, and slay them here, and eat; and do not sin against the Lord" (vss. 33, 34).
In light of the pre-existing and deep-set prohibition against eating flesh with its blood in it, a rule
that carried over into the early Church (Acts 15:20), how are we, the People of the New
Covenant, to understand the pronouncement of our Lord Jesus that "unless you eat the flesh of
the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you?" (Jn. 6:53).
First, shed blood made atonement in the Former Covenant (Lev. 17:11), and the shed blood of
Christ our God, the Mediator of the New Covenant, cleanses us "from dead works to serve the
living God" (Heb. 9:14). In the New Covenant, blood discloses ultimate atoning grace.
Second, the New Covenant brings a new Sacrifice and a new Priesthood, "according to the order
of Melchizedek. For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because
of its weakness and unprofitableness, for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is
the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God" (Heb. 7:17, 18, 19). Christ,
the Priest, offered one sacrifice, shedding His blood once for all. Hence in the Divine Liturgy, as
Theodoret of Cyrus notes: "we do not offer another sacrifice, but perform a memorial [an
"anamnesis," a living re-entry into] of that unique and saving offering."
Finally, the Divine Liturgy, the work of God's People, as an offering is bloodless: "we offer unto
Thee this reasonable and unbloody service." The "flesh and blood" we receive in the Communion
of the Holy Gifts partake of the Mystery of Christ, pour out the life of God shed once for us, and
join our flesh to His resurrection body in a marriage of the soul with her Lord. St. Cyril of
Jerusalem says: "Christ has given the children of the bridal chamber the enjoyment of His body
and His blood." In Christ, by the power of the Spirit, all things are new (2 Cor. 3:6).
The all-Holy Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ is imparted unto me unto life everlasting.
Tuesday, February 10, 2004
Usual Abstinence
Hieromartyr Haralampos of Magnesia
Kellia: 1 Kings 14:36-46 LXX Epistle: 1 John 3:11-20 Gospel: St. Mark 14:10-42
1 Kings 14:36-46 LXX (1 Sam. 14:36-46), especially vs.
45, "Then the people said to Saul, 'Shall Jonathan die, who has wrought this great victory in
Israel? Far from it! As the Lord lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground.'"
King Saul's self-reliance was exposed earlier at Gilgal, when he would not wait for spiritual
guidance from the Prophet Samuel and the Lord (1 Kngs. 13). Saul exhibits the same impulsive
character fault again in this reading, but here, God dramatizes how He corrects His servants,
revealing to us how we may better respond to Christ our King and our God.
First, observe Saul thoughtlessly proposing to "go down after the Philistines by night and despoil
them until the morning light; let us not leave a man of them" (1 Kngs. 14:36). He does not
consider the fact that his troops have been fighting all day and are exhausted. He fails to
recognize that nightfall will greatly hinder the task of overtaking and destroying the remaining
scattered enemy forces. He fails to consider that he is exposing his army dangerously by sending
them unprepared beyond their own territorial bounds into unknown terrain.
But see how God corrects him, through Ahijah the Priest (vs. 36). Would that we always see the
importance of seeking out the godly counsel of our pastors during the crises of our lives! For, by
the grace of God, pastoral counsel already was at hand in the king's camp and, to King Saul's
credit, he heeded his Priest's suggestion. All the flaws in his ill-conceived plan were thereby
averted. Trust in one's spiritual father is essential for Christians. As the monk Arsenius said of
his spiritual father: "I have a father according to the Spirit, from whom I daily receive the very
pure milk of divine grace, I mean my father in God, and he warms me in his womb like a new-born babe." How important that at least we consult our Pastors and Spiritual Advisors!
Unfortunately, Saul again displays his inflated self-confidence and impulsiveness, even as he
receives help from his Priest. Notice the silence that follows when Saul asks his two questions
(vs. 37). Despite the silence, he 'knows' that the cause of his plan being halted is due to a hidden
sin in the camp. He rejects any idea that his tactical proposal is flawed. He does not consider the
possibility that his over-zealous command to fast utterly, and not someone's sin, could be the
reason for God's silence after his question.
Still, God's silence leads to a correction of King Saul. He is forced to see that what Jonathan did
was not a sin. God also corrects us by silence in answer to our prayers. Often He builds our faith
in Himself when He does not answer. His silence forces us to trust. Evagrius the Solitary urges
us: "Do not be distressed if you do not at once receive from God what you ask. He wishes to give
you something better - to make you persevere in your prayer."
God also corrects Saul for pride when he will not admit the excess of his own rules. This time
the Lord speaks through the people's steadfast refusal to allow him to execute Jonathan: "As the
Lord lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for he has wrought this great
victory with God this day" (vs. 45). The king imposed an extreme vow on his soldiers in the first
place and coupled it with a rashly devised punishment. He piles another oath on top of all these
poor judgments with no regard to mitigating circumstances or to the demands of justice in the
case. He is not even humbled by his son's humble acquiescence (vs. 44).
May we always be open to the cautions of God and others when we are certain that we are right.
Blustering and stubborn assertion are invariably unworthy of God's grace.
Blessed art Thou, O Lord, teach me Thy statutes. Blessed art Thou, O Master, make me to
understand Thy commandments. Blessed art Thou, O Holy One; enlighten me with Thy precepts.
Wednesday, February 11, 2004
Usual Abstinence Today
Hieromartyr Blaise of Sebaste
Kellia: 1 Kings 15:1-3, 7-23 LXX Epistle: 1 John 3:21-4:5 Gospel: St.Mark 14:43-15:1
1 Kings 15:1-3, 7-23 LXX (1 Sam. 15:1-3, 7-23 MT),
especially vs. 23, " Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you
from being king." The Prophets taught that God always is ready to forgive those who confess
their errors and repent. Among the Lord Jesus' Disciples, Peter's example is a monument to the
possibility of repentance, forgiveness, and restoration; yet among them also is the dark shadow of
Judas who failed to repent and seek forgiveness, which resulted in his self-destruction. Sadly,
King Saul of old would eventually likewise come to despair and suicide (1 Kngs. 31:5).
Long before the events described in today's reading, King Saul already had received a solemn
warning from God. We can only leave to speculation the question of whether the loss of the
kingdom pronounced by Samuel earlier (1 Kngs. 13:13, 14) would have come about for Saul, for
even when God forgives, often He allows consequences to remain. In today's passage, the
Prophet Samuel continued stating the dire and inevitable outcome of the King's persistent self-will. His poignant message also is a stern warning to us to confess, repent, and struggle for God-pleasing change. Ultimately, God always permits those who insist on defying His commands to
reap the harvest of rejecting Him. Saul was rejected by God as a result of his own choice.
First, let us trace King Saul's choice to disobey within the substance of his actions. In very clear
terms, God told the king, "Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have; do
not spare them, but kill both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass"
(1 Kngs. 15:3). The Septuagint (LXX) translation of vs. 3 vividly exposes the intent of God's
command to Saul: "thou shalt smite Amalek and Hierim and all that belongs to him, and thou
shalt not save anything of him alive, that thou shalt utterly destroy him: and thou shalt devote him
and all his to destruction...." (vs. 3 LXX).
Notice the introduction of the name "Hierim" in the LXX version. This word, together with the
verb "devote" later in the sentence, reveals that the order which God gave to Saul was a special
command having two aspects: to place Amalek under a "ban" ("herem"in Hebrew), and, by the
rules of a ban, to destroy totally what was thereby "devoted" to God. A "ban" was a practice of
dedicating an enemy and his goods utterly to God. It meant killing the people and destroying all
their property. Nothing could be retained or left alive by the human agents of God's will: "No
one devoted, who is to be utterly destroyed from among men, shall be ransomed; he shall be put
to death" (see also Dt. 13:12-18). The center of Amalekite power, Agag the king, his city, its
inhabitants, and all physical property, was marked for total destruction.
All of Saul's delight in himself - that he had "performed the commandment of the Lord" (1 Kngs.
15:13), was plainly rationalization. "Stop!," commanded Samuel, because he could hear the
animals they had saved. The more Saul rationalized, the more thoroughgoing was the evidence
of his disobedience. He seeks to shift the blame: " "They have brought...the best of the sheep and
of the oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord" (vs. 15), but exposes his own guilt: "I have gone on the
mission on which the Lord sent me, I have brought Agag the king of Amalek" (vs. 20). Why?
To what end? Samuel sees clearly enough that they swooped "on the spoil" (vs. 19).
Let us have done with all rationalizing, shallow gilding of facts, and efforts to assure ourselves
that we have done the Lord's will when we have not. God views disobedience as rebellion,
stubbornness, and rejection (vs. 23). Let none believe that one may do whatever he wishes,
persist in indulgent delusions, continue disobeying God, and escape dire consequences.
Grant us to serve Thee, O God, in holiness all the days of our lives.
Thursday, February 12, 2004
Week of Usual Abstinence
Meletios, Archbishop of Antioch
Kellia: 1 Kings 15:24-35 Epistle: 1 John 4:20-5:21 Gospel: St. Mark 15:1-15
1 Kings 15:24-35 LXX (1 Sam 15:24-35), especially
vs. 26, "And Samuel said to Saul, 'I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of
the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.'" Does this response of
Samuel seem harsh or unkind? It was not unfair, for the Prophet faced a man who had disobeyed
a direct command of God wilfully (1 Kngs. 15:3). King Saul saw no wrong in his acts (1 Kngs.
15:13). Even as Samuel struggled to convict the king, Saul defended, rationalized, and sought to
shift the blame (1 Kngs. 15:14-21). Finally, as the Prophet persisted, something touched Saul. At
last he confessed: "I have sinned...." (1 Kngs. 15.24). However, his confession reveals serious
spiritual flaws. Appropriately, as a good and wise pastor, Samuel could not assure him of God's
pardon, not on the basis of the king's words and actions. It would have been a mockery.
Beloved, as those who are taught to confess our sins and seek God's forgiveness, let us pray with
care as we read this passage. Let us receive the teaching which the Lord gives here and apply it
to our hearts before Him; for "who knows whether He will not turn and repent, and leave a
blessing behind Him?" (Joel 2:14). Most of all, we ought to direct our attention to Saul's
confession, for there we shall see, in his words and actions, the very distinction concerning
confessions which the Apostle Paul makes between "godly sorrow" which "produces repentance"
and "the sorrow of the world" which "produces death" (2 Cor. 7:10).
First, Saul perceived only that he had broken a commandment of God which he had been given
through God's Prophet (vs. 24). What of his relationship with God? Was the problem simply the
violation of a rule? No, it was a rupture of Communion, a disdain for the God Who made him
king over His People. Saul did not exhibit the true repentance King David did when faced with
his sin by another Prophet (2 Kngs. 12:1-12): "Against Thee only have I sinned and done this
evil before Thee...." (Ps. 50:4 LXX). The loss of relationship with God is most fearful.
Second, observe that Saul's foremost concern was the reaction of the people, even as he
confessed to Samuel: "I have sinned; yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before
Israel" (1 Kngs. 15:30). He continues, blind to the sin which he had earlier acknowledged as the
cause of his disobedience: "I feared the people" (vs. 24). Fear of man led him to contradict God's
explicit command. Note again the difference between Saul and David: King David cried "Have
mercy on me, O God, for man hath trodden me down....but as for me, I will hope in Thee. In
God...I have set my hope; I will not fear what flesh shall do to me" (Ps. 55:1, 2, 3 LXX).
Our relationship with God is the "pearl of great price" (Mt. 13:46). Let us root out all fear of
man and come to the Lord always as we confess, seeking His forgiveness. Then afterwards, well
we should make time and occasion to right any wrongs between us and others.
Finally, and clearly as an outgrowth of his fear of man, King Saul tried to correct his sin - as if it
were a matter strictly between himself and the Prophet Samuel. Note: he asked Samuel to
"pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord" (1 Kngs. 15:25). Whose
garment did he grasp? (vs. 27). Behold the error! Remember, only God can forgive sin. The
worldly man sorrows about the relationships, the privileges, the honors, and prizes of this world.
Of course, he only can produce "worldly sorrow." But God alone delivers our souls from eternal
death. Yes, let us come to our confessors, and, before them, cry out to God Who keeps our feet
from sliding and heals us that we may be well-pleasing before Him (see Ps. 55:12 LXX).
O Lord God our Salvation, grant unto me an image of repentance, forgiveness of sins and
deliverance, reconciling and uniting me to Thy Holy Church, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Friday, February 13, 2004
Usual Abstinence Today
Simeon the Myrrh-Streaming
Kellia: 1 Kings 16:1-13 Epistle: 2 John 1:1-13 Gospel: St. Mark 15:22-15, 33-41
1 Kings 16:1-13 LXX (1 Sam. 16:1-13), especially
vs. 1, "Fill your horn with oil, and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have
provided for Myself a king among his sons." At the portentous meeting between King Saul and
the Prophet Samuel at Gilgal, the Prophet pronounced the doom that would befall the king if he
should persist in his dark self-will and man-pleasing. Later, as Holy Scripture tells us, "Samuel
did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul" (1 Kngs. 15:35).
Today's reading places the same image before us: Samuel the Prophet continuing to grieve "over
Saul" (1 Kngs. 16:1). What a powerful icon! The old man of God weeping for the tall young
prince "whom the Lord [had] chosen...like [none] among all the people" (1 Kngs. 10:24).
Samuel remembered the promise of the man as a warrior (1 Kngs.11), and the remorseful Prophet
considered the King's repeated displays of spiritual failure (1 Kngs. 13-15). Still, God had spoken
through Samuel from the start that Divine rejection was possible (1 Kngs. 12:24, 25). See how
God lifted up His Prophet from his grief over what might have been and over what had become
evident. In today's passage the Lord directs Samuel to anoint a new king. In reading, compare
the anointing of King Saul (1 Kngs. 8, 9 LXX) and of the future king, David. There are
important distinctions between these two royal anointings by Samuel - as there would be marked
differences between the two kings and their reigns.
Foremost among the differences between the anointing of Saul and the anointing of David was
the absence of any human insistence or demand. See how many ways Holy Scripture emphasizes
that the anointing of David was wholly at Divine initiative. No group of elders came asking for a
king. There was only a grieving Prophet whom God had to lift up from dismay and send to
Bethlehem. The Prophet even resisted the direction of God (1 Kngs. 16:2), but God brushed past
his objections: "I will show you what you shall do; and [whom you] shall anoint for Me" (vs. 3).
The Prophet, "in his own flesh" was quite ready to anoint the wrong son of Jesse (vs. 6). In fact,
seven times and the Lord had to stay his hand from obvious and available choices (vs. 10).
Finally, when God had confronted Samuel with the shepherd boy, David, only then did He
release and order His Prophet, "Arise, anoint him; for this is he" (vs. 12).
In David's case are we told explicitly that God revealed the basis for His choice, that He looked
"on the heart" (vs 7), that He "sought out a man after His own heart; and...appointed him to be
prince over His People" (1 Kngs. 13:14). Without a doubt, the Lord knew perfectly well the heart
of the first king, Saul. As the Apostle Peter later confessed, "Lord, You know all things" (Jn.
21:17). And, Beloved, let us acknowledge that the Lord knew that Saul did not love Him as
David did; for, like the Apostle, David loved the Lord his strength...foundation...refuge,
and...deliverer (Ps. 17:1, 2 LXX).
In both anointings, the Lord revealed His choice to His appointed servant, guiding the Prophet in
the selection process. After anointing Saul, Samuel had remained active in the affairs of the
nation, teaching, cautioning, and correcting. But notice that after he anointed David, the Prophet
simply "rose up, and went to Ramah" (vs. 13), leaving David's personal development, his
training, and his affirmation by the People solely in God's hands. Years and many events lay
before the newly anointed king, but the Prophet could go in peace knowing that God had given
the kingdom of Israel to a better man than Saul (1 Kngs. 15:28).
O God, Who in pity and compassion hast visited our lowliness; Who hast set us, Thy humble and
sinful and unworthy servants, before Thee, send Thy Spirit upon us mightily.
Saturday, February 14, 2004
Week of Usual Abstinence
Kyril, Teacher of the Slavs
Kellia: 1 Kings 16:14-23 Epistle: 1 Corinthians 10:23-28
Gospel: St. Luke 21:8-9, 25-27, 33-36
1 Samuel 16:14-23, especially vs. 14, "Now the
Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul...." In the Mystery of Holy Chrismation, we pray, our
compassionate God and King, to grant to those being anointed "the seal of the gift of Thy holy,
almighty, and adorable Spirit...[keeping] them in Thy sanctification....delivering them from the
Evil One, and from the machinations of the same." In the anointing of the Faithful, as Father
Alexander Schmemann says, "we receive the Holy Spirit Himself, and not merely 'grace'....It is
the Holy Spirit, and not some divine power, that descended on the Apostles on the day of
Pentecost. It is He and not 'grace' that we invoke in prayer and acquire through spiritual effort."
When Samuel anointed Saul to be the King of Israel, he told him, "the Spirit of the Lord will
come mightily upon you...and you shall be turned into another man" (1 Kngs. 10:6). Today, we
read the dire statement that "the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul" (1 Kngs. 16:14)