| But far more importantly, by making clay of the spittle and applying it to eyes blind from birth, Jesus may be recalling the creative act of Gen 2 (cf. John 20:22 ). 7061 This allusion would fit well the likely creation allusion in the healing in John 5 (see comment on 5:19–20). Whatever the spittlés symbolic value, if the blind man knew the source of the mud he would not likely have thought it pleasant. Granted, later rabbis idealized the purity of those in the holy city, and a second-century rabbi thus deemed all spittle found there (except in the market area frequented by the unclean) ritually pure (m. Seqal 8:1). 7062 But spittle could be impure if it came from one who was impure; 7063 thus one touched by Gentile spittle had to immerse afterwards, 7064 and later teachers claimed that a high priest touched by spittle had to be replaced so that a clean priest would be available on the Day of Atonement. 7065 The shaming implied by spitting in Num 12could be understood as a cursing (Sipre Num. 106.1.1). 7066 Whether John intends a symbolic double entendre in «anointing» is difficult to determine, but readers accustomed to his double entendres will likely find it plausible. The language of «anointing» (πχρισεν, 9:6, 11) may suit symbolically or literally curative substances (cf. λεφω in Mark 6:13 ; Jas 5:14, though this was a natural way to describe any application of oil–Matt 6:17; Luke 7:46; χρω in Heb 1:9). 7067 Yet it also appears in some early Christian texts as a depiction of the Spirit " s empowerment for mission (χρω in Luke 4:18; Acts 10:38; 2Cor 1:21 ), not least in Johannine literature (χρσμα in 1 John 2:20, 27 ). 1D. Siloam (9:7) The command to «wash» may be compared with various purification rituals in antiquity (see comment on 1:25–26,31), but for Johns biblically informed ideal audience it may evoke the story of Naaman (2 Kgs 5:10–14), though this man is not a Gentile. 7068 As with Naaman, the man is instructed to carry out an act which by itself would never have brought healing; 7069 hence the significance of the pools title, «sent.» Probably within Jerusalem " s walls at this time, 7070 the Pool of Siloam included masonry varying in height from 12 to 18 inches, 7071 with four porches around the pool (cf. |
| John Anthony McGuckin Cross JOHN A. MCGUCKIN Orthodox theology approaches the cross of Christ most characteristically as a trophy of divine glory. It is the cipher above all others that sums up and encapsulates the love and mercy of the Lord for his adopted race. It is the “sign of salvation,” the icon of hope. In many Orthodox painted crosses the title bar does not read “Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews” (INRI in Latin, INBI in Greek, IHЦI in Slavonic), but is made to read “The Lord of Glory,” and often on Orthodox devotional crosses one reads marked there the generic superscription Philanthropos Theos: “The God Who Loves Mankind.” At first, early Christian theology demonstrated mainly a horrified sense of awe that the powers of wickedness could treat the Lord in such a violent way (Acts 2.22–35). But the tone was decidedly that God’s glorification of his servant Jesus far outweighed the dishonor that the dark spiritual powers tried to inflict. The Apostle Peter, in his speech to the people of Jerusalem, sums it up in the words: “God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2.36). There is a regular contrasted pairing of the ideas of humiliation (in the cross) and exalted glorification of Jesus by God (because of the faithfulness to the point of crucifixion) such as can be seen in the ancient hymn which the Apostle Paul quotes ( Phil. 2.6–11 ), as well as in the schemes of Ascent (Anabasis) and Descent (Katabasis) that structure St. John’s theology of crucifixion and glorification in his profound gospel (cf. Jn. 3.13–15 ). St. Paul took a decisive step when he made the cross not merely a scandal to be explained away but a mystery of faith and God’s love that ought to be celebrated as pivotal ( Gal. 6.14 ). The cross in Christian use was already, and rapidly, shifting away from a thing of shame to being the great sign of the new covenant of reconciliation ( Eph. 2.16 ; Col. 1.20; Heb. 12.2). In the early apologists and apostolic fathers the cross is rarely mentioned (though see Ignatius of Antioch, Letters to the Ephesians 9.1; 18.1; To the Trallians 11.2; To the Philadelphians 8.2). But popular devotion to it as a confident symbol of Christian victory over the powers of this world was steadily growing, as can be seen in the appearance in art and inscription from the 2nd century onwards of the cross-shaped monogram Fos – Zoe (“Light and Life in the Cross”: one must imagine the words written at right angles to one another, Fos down vertically, Zoe horizontally, making a cross, with the middle letter of both being shared in common). |
| Church Tradition: The Boundary of Communion To be in communion with any particular church body is to adopt their church tradition . Though hard to accept for some, according to the Scriptures church tradition is the unifying bond of Christian fellowship. It is the name we give to that body of doctrine, moral teaching, worship, and church polity inherited by a group of believers. In one of his earliest letters the apostle Paul attests to this: Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle (2 Thess. 2:15). And he praises the Corinthians who keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you (1 Cor. 11:2). The tradition is more than a set of intellectual beliefs. It encompasses a way of life, sets a boundary for what is necessary and true, and either unites or disengages one from communion with others: But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us (2 Thess. 3:6). Like the Church itself, Church tradition is not invisible or secret. It is something that is lived and has been lived by those who came before. As Paul writes to the Hebrews: Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God; consider the outcome of their life, and imitate their faith (Heb. 13:7, RSV). The faith and tradition of any church group can be seen and experienced by observing its corporate life. As St. Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons testifies: “It is within the power of all, therefore, in every church, who may wish to see the truth, to contemplate clearly the tradition of the apostles manifested throughout the whole world.” What has been passed down and preserved within a church body, i.e. its faith tradition, is what makes it either possible or impossible for us to unite ourselves to that body. If we are not in communion with that tradition, we cannot in clear conscience have Eucharistic communion. If we whole-heartedly accept that tradition, we should be brought into communion with that church and receive Holy Communion monogamously there. |
| Jesus begins His public work after His baptism, and immediately refers Isaiah’s prophecy about the Messiah directly to Himself: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me ...” ( Is.61:1 ; Lk.4:18 ). All the days of his life Jesus is “full of the Holy Spirit” – preaching, teaching, healing, casting out devils and accomplishing every sign and wonder of his messiahship by the Spirit’s power ( Lk.4:11 ). It is written that even his self-offering to God on the cross is made “through the eternal Spirit” (Heb.9:14). And it is through the same divine Spirit that he and all men with him are risen from the dead ( Ezek.37:1–4 ). On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit comes upon the disciples of Christ in the form of “tongues as of fire,” with the sound “like that of a mighty rushing wind” (Acts.2:1–4). We note once more the use of “as” and “like.” The coming of the Spirit on Pentecost is the final fulfillment of Christ’s earthly messianic mission, the beginning of the Christian Church. It is the fulfillment of the Old Testamental prophecy that in the time of the messiah-king, the Spirit of God will be “poured out on all flesh” ( Joel.2:28 ; Acts.1:14). It is the condition of the age of the final and everlasting covenant of perfect mercy and peace ( Ezek.34:37 ; Jer.31–33 ; Is.11:42, 44, 61 ). The Christian Church lives by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit alone is the guarantee of God’s Kingdom on earth. He is the sole guarantee that God’s life and truth and love are with men. Only by the Holy Spirit can man and the world fulfill that for which they were created by God. All of God’s actions toward man and the world – in creation, salvation and final glorification – are from the Father through the Son (Word) in the Holy Spirit; and all of man’s capabilities of response to God are in the same Spirit, through the same Son to the same Father. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of life. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies through the Spirit who dwells in you ( Rom.8:11 ). |
| El venidero juicio del mundo y de la humanidad (escatología cristiana) E l símbolo de la fe (credo) Niceo-Constantinopolitano en los párrafos 7, 11, 12 contiene la doctrina de la fe ortodoxa sobre la futura venida del Hijo de Dios a la tierra, el temible juicio universal y la futura vida eterna. Artículo 7: vendrá otra vez con gloria, a juzgar a los vivos y a los muertos, y su reino no tendrá fin. Artículo 11: Espero la resurrección de los muertos. Artículo 12: y la vida del siglo venidero. Amén. En la acción Divina están trazados los planes del futuro hasta el final de los siglos. Una parte indivisible de la doctrina cristiana consiste en que la palabra de Dios nos habla sobre los acontecimientos de los últimos tiempos: la segunda venida del Señor, la resurrección de los muertos y el fin del mundo. Y seguidamente, el comienzo del reino de la Gloria y la vida eterna. La última parte de la teología dogmática habla sobre la culminación de ese gran proceso, cuyo principio está expresado en la primera página del libro del Génesis. El destino del hombre después de la muerte La muerte es el destino común de los hombres. Pero, ella no es la aniquilación del hombre, sino solamente la separación del alma y del cuerpo. La verdad sobre la inmortalidad del alma humana es una de las verdades fundamentales del cristianismo. «Dios no es el Dios de los muertos, sino de los vivos, ya que en Él todos están vivos.» En las Sagradas Escrituras del Nuevo Testamento la muerte es llamada «la partida del alma» («que después de mi partida vosotros podáis en todo momento tener memoria de estas cosas,» 2 Ped. 1:15), liberación del alma de su prisión ( 2Cor. 5:1 ), separación del cuerpo («sabiendo que en breve debo abandonar mi cuerpo,» 2 Ped. 1:14), separación («deseo irme y estar con Cristo, lo cual es muchísimo mejor» Fil. 1:23), partida ( " el tiempo de mi partida esta cercano» 2Tim 4:6 ), Dormición («David…. durmió, y fue reunido con sus padres» Hech. 13:36). Según el claro testimonio de la Palabra de Dios, el estado del alma después de la muerte no es inconsciente, sino consciente, (por ejemplo, la parábola del rico y Lázaro). El hombre después de la muerte está sometido al juicio denominado particular, a diferencia del último juicio universal. «Es fácil al Señor, el día de la muerte pagar a cada uno según su proceder» dice la Sabiduría de Sirac (Eclesiástico 11:26). Lo mismo expresa el Santo Apóstol Pablo : «Está establecido para los hombres que mueran una sola vez, y después de esto el juicio» (Heb. 9:27). El Apóstol expresa que el juicio sigue directamente después de la muerte del hombre, comprendiendo, evidentemente, no el juicio universal, sino el particular, según lo interpretan los Santos Padres de la Iglesia. |
| How angels help us pass through the tollhouses. Examples from the Lives of the Saints The Way of All Flesh: Conversation 2, Part 5 Archpriest Oleg Stenyayev On the angels’ help for people in life and in passing through the tollhouses That the angels act as intercessors (“those angelic spirits in their boundless love defended and supported me”—see Conversation 2, Part 3 ) is something we find in Holy Scripture, where it is written: Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? (Heb. 1:14)—that is, their very function consists in helping us struggle against the demons. And if we become the offenders of the defenseless, unfortunate, and “little ones” (Mt. 18:60), then Christ warns us that their special status of being God’s close ones can be used against us: Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels (that is, those who we might disdain, insult, or persecute.—Archpriest O. S.) do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven (Matt. 18:10)—it follows that they can intercede for those whom they protect. Without a doubt, the angels watch after the paths of each of us, are not removed from our problems, and experience great joy if we step upon the path of repentance and correction. It has been said, There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth (Luke 15:10); they are the ones who bear our prayers before the throne of God, as it is written: And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand (Rev. 8:3-4). The phrase, “with the prayers of the saints” witnesses to the fact that the prayers of a living or reposed saint reach the Son of God not without the help of the angels, and the Son of God, as the only Intercessor one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5), intercedes for us before His Heavenly Father. |
| Vishnevskii’s emphases on reading Holy Scripture, venerating icons and taking communion all revolve around the more central theme of ‘becoming Christlike’ and knowing the indwelling presence of Christ. In a sermon preached on the Forefeast of the Annunciation in 1870 he says that ‘for our salvation by grace through faith, it is not only necessary to believe in the Trinity one in essence, in the Lord Jesus Christ – the God man, in His saving passion…but it is necessary that ‘Christ should dwell in our hearts by faith’ (Eph. 3 v. 17), that his grace, light, power and life should guide and direct us, in a word that our attitudes should be the same as were in Christ. (Phil 2 v. 5) A wonderful example of this theme in his preaching is a sermon preached on the feast of the Icon of the Saviour ‘Made without Hands’ in 1871 which is a reflection on the role of the icon in becoming Christlike. The text of the sermon is Gal 4 v. 19, ‘My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.’ In the Russian text the word ‘formed’ is ‘voobrazitsya’, from the word for image ‘obraz’, and so can be translated ‘that Christ’s image should be formed in you’. Vishnevskii says that St. Paul is reminding the Galatians that it is not enough to see Christ’s crucifixion depicted before their eyes (Gal 3 v. 1) but ‘Christ’s qualities should so shine in them that everyone looking at them would understand that Christ is in them, that they had the same attitude as was in Christ. (Phil 2 v.5)…just as anyone looking at that image ( ubrus) of His face, miraculously imprinted for Abgar, the ruler of Edessa, sees Him as though before himself in human flesh, which He ‘shared…so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death’ (Heb 2 v.13) … ‘let us not be content therefore just to have the happiness of seeing His most holy face; but let us try to be like our Lord and Saviour in all the circumstances of our life.’ ‘We can learn how to have Christ’s image within us from the painters who depict his most pure face on icons. As He himself miraculously imprinted his face on the ‘Ubrus’ so that we, looking at him, should recall his saving incarnation and, learning of the economy of God’s grace granted to us in Him, should become one with Him in spirit’ (1 Cor. |
| 2 . Our spiritual pastors and teachers; for they by their doctrine and by the Sacraments beget us to spiritual life, and nurture us up in it. 3 . Our elders in age. 4 . Our benefactors. 5 . Our governors, or superiors, in different relations. 561. How does holy Scripture speak of the honor due to the sovereign? Let every soul be subject to the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God. Rom. xiii. 1, 2. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience " sake. Rom. xiii. 5. My son, fear God and the king, and oppose neither of them. Prov xxiv. 21. Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar " s; and unto God the things that are God " s. Matt. xxii. 21. Fear God; honor the king. 1Pet. ii. 17. 562. How far should love to our sovereign and country go? So far as to make us ready to lay down our life for them. John xv. 13. 563. How does holy Scripture speak of the duty of honoring spiritual pastors and teachers? Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you. Heb. xiii. 17. 564. Is there in holy Scripture any particular injunction to honor elders in age as parents? The Apostle Paul writes to Timothy thus: Rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father; younger men as brethren; elder women as mothers. 1Tim. v. 1,2. Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man, and fear the Lord thy God. Lev. xix. 32. 565. How may we be assured that we ought to honor benefactors as parents? By the example of Jesus Christ himself, who was subject to Joseph; although Joseph was not his father, but only his guardian. Luke ii. 51. 566. Besides these, who are our superiors, whom we must honor after parents, and like them? They who in place of parents take care of our education, as governors in schools, and masters; they who preserve us from irregularities and disorders in society, as civil magistrates; they who protect us from wrong by the power of the law, as judges; they to whom the sovereign intrusts the guardianship and defense of the public safety against enemies, as military commanders; and, lastly, masters, so far as relates to those who serve them, or belong to them. |
Не удалось извлечь искомое из базы ((( |
|
|
| Appealing on this present " joyful day " to " the assembly of the faithful " to this praise of the Most Holy Virgin, the Holy Church together with those present " on this all honorable feast " the example the Saints Joachim and Anna teaches us to fulfill pious vows. And the deeply instructive example of the upbringing of the Most Holy Virgin explains to us our duties to our children that we must as early as possible and to take them to the temple of God more often, to accustom them to the full complement of prayers at home, teaching them in the law of the Lord, particularly in their growth to properly use their time to develop in them love for their neighbor and diligence to inspire obedience in them to the church rules (Ustav), and to waken and strengthen in them the spirit of piety and the fear of God. The beginning of the establishment of this feast of the Entry of the EverVirgin Mary into the Temple is not known with complete accuracy. Saint Gregory of Nyssa (IV Century) first mentioned. In the IX century St. Gregory of Nicomedia composed the stichera, which we now sing on this feast. . Troparion, tone 4 Today is the prelude of the good will of God, Of the preaching of the salvation of mankind. The Virgin appears in the temple of God, In anticipation proclaiming Christ to all. Let us rejoice and sing to her: Rejoice, O Fulfillment of the Creator " s dispensation. Kontakion, tone 4 The most pure Temple of the Savior: The precious Chamber and Virgin; The sacred Treasure of the glory of God, Is presented today to the house of the Lord. She brings with her the grace of the Spirit, Which the angels of God do praise. Truly this woman is the Abode of Heaven. Magnification We magnify you. We magnify you. O Most Holy Virgin, Maiden chosen of God, And we honor your entry into the temple. Paramoeas: 1) Ex. 40:1-5, 9-10, 16, 34-35; 2) 3 Kings 8:1, 3-7, 9-11; 3) Ezek. 43:27, 44:1-4. Matins Gospel: See Mar. 26. Epistle: Heb. 9:1-7; sel. 320. Gospel: See May 21. Refer to the Chapter in the Rubrics (Ustav) and the Menaion: If the feast of the Entry falls on a Sunday. |
|
|
