| Christ healing the paralytic For which is easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say “Rise and walk”? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins – He then said to the paralytic – “Rise, take up your bed and go home.” And he rose and went home ( Mt.9:4–7 ; Mk.2:9–12 ; Lk.5:23–25 ). In that hour He cured many of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many that were blind he bestowed sight ( Lk.7:21 ). Doing these things Jesus showed that He is Christ the Messiah, the fulfillment of the prophets who brings the Kingdom of God to the world. ... the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the good news of the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not scandalized at Me ( Lk.7:22–23 ; cf. Is.29:18–19, 35:5–6, 61:1 ; Mt.4:23–24, 11:4–6 ). When one is delivered from sin and evil, one is also freed from sickness and death. In the Kingdom of God there will be “no sickness or sorrow or sighing, but life everlasting” (Requiem Kontakion of the Church). When one is visited by sickness in this world, whether bodily or mental, he is a victim of the devil and the “sin of the world” ( Jn.1:29 ). This does not mean that people are necessarily being personally punished with their diseases. It means rather, as in the case of those born with infirmities and children who are ill, that where sin abounds, sickness and disease are also rampant. It is the teaching of the Church that those who are innocently victimized by sickness, such as small children and the developmentally disabled, are certain to be saved in the Kingdom of God. This is the teaching of the book of Genesis. God did not say to man, “Sin and I will kill you.” He said, if and when you sin, “you will die” ( Gen.2:17, 3:3 ). Thus when man sins and ruins himself by evil, he brings the curse of sickness and suffering to the world for himself and his children; and his life becomes toil until he returns to the dust out of which he is made – and which he is by nature without the grace of God in his life (cf. Gen.3:17–19 ). It is in this sense that the “prince of this world” is the devil ( Jn.12:31, 14:30, 16:11 ). |
| In all of his writings, the apostle insists as well that the faithful have “all the riches of knowledge of God’s mystery of Christ in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,” and that the “spiritual man” has “the mind of the Lord ... the mind of Christ” (Col.2:2–3; 1Cor.2:6–16 ). The Apostle John gives the same doctrine as Saint Paul when he claims that the “Spirit of Truth” whom Christ has given in order to “teach you all things” and to “guide you into all the truth” ( Jn.14:26, 16:13 ), is truly living in the midst of the believers. ... you have been anointed by the Holy One and you know all things. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and know that no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? I write this to you about those who would deceive you; but the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need that any one should teach you; as His anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie, just as it has taught you, abide in Him ( 1Jn.2:20–29 ). This teaching of Saint John is in fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah, quoted directly by Jesus Himself, that in the Messianic Age of the new covenant church, “...they shall all be taught by God” ( Jn.6:45 ; Is.54:13 ). In the spiritual tradition of the Church, the knowledge of God and His truth is the main goal of life. “For what meaning would there be for creation,” asks Saint Athanasius the Great (4th c.), “if man should not know God?” (On the Incarnation, Book 1). Knowledge of God, indeed knowledge itself, according to the scriptures and the saints, is not mere “knowledge about,” the abstract knowledge of information and rational propositions, devoid of living experience. Knowledge is primarily and essentially an existential union, a cleaving together of the spiritual man and the object of his knowledge. Saint Gregory of Nyssa (4th c.) has said, “The Lord does not say that it is blessed to know something about God, but rather to possess God in oneself.” (On the Beatitudes, Sermon 6) The possession of God within the mind and heart is the true knowledge of God. It comes through faith and repentance in the life of the Church. It comes essentially through the gracious purification from all sinful passions. Saint John of the Ladder (6th c.) has written: |
| As the priest reads the Gospel, and taking the body, Joseph wrapped it in a white cloth”, he removes the Body of Christ from the Cross, wraps It in a white cloth and takes It to the altar. The priest then chants a mourning hymn: “When Joseph of Arimathea took Thee, the life of all, down from the Tree dead, he buried Thee with myrrh and fine linen . . . rejoicing. Glory to Thy humiliation, O Master, who clothest Thyself with light as it were with a garment”. The priest then carries the cloth on which the Body of Christ is painted or embroidered around the church before placing It inside the Sepulcher, a carved bier which symbolizes the Tomb of Christ. We are reminded that during Christ’s entombment He descends into Hades to free the dead of the ages before His Incarnation. The Gospel readings which relate these events are: Matt. 27:1-38; Lk. 23:29-43; Matt. 27:29-54; Jn. 19:31-37; Matt. 27:55-61. Good Friday is the only day in the year on which the Divine Liturgy is not officiated. Today the devoted Christian ponders in his heart the deep meaning of the Seven Last Words of Christ uttered on the Cross, the first Divine Pulpit of Christianity. “Do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves” Good Friday Evening – The Lamentation (The service is Matins of Saturday morning sung by anticipation Friday evening.) It consists of psalms, hymns and readings, dealing with the death of Christ, in contrast to His divinity, and in expectation of His Resurrection. One of the hymns relates: “He who holds all things is raised up on the Cross and all creation laments to see Him hang naked on the Tree”. The thoughtful, and well-written Odes,, sung by the choir, compare the Compassion of God and the cruelty of man; the Might of God and the moral weakness of man. The Odes picture all Creation trembling when witnessing its Creator hung by His own creatures: “Creation was moved . . . with intense astonishment when it beheld Thee hung in Golgotha”. The Odes remind us of the vision of Isaiah, who saw Christ, “the unwaning light of the manifestation”, and cried aloud, “The dead indeed shall arise and all those on earth shall rejoice”. During this service the Body of Christ is carried in procession around the church. In some parishes the entire flower-bedecked Sepulcher, symbolizing the Tomb, is carried in the procession. |
| 1978; Schenke. 1984; Turner J. D. Trimorphic Protennoia// Hedrick. 1990. P. 371 - 401; Poirier. 2006; рус. пер. и грамматический комментарий: Еланская. 2004. С. 380-412). Текст без заглавия, получивший условное название «Нория» (IX 2: Nor.) по имени той ( nwrea : 27. 21; norea : 29. 3), которая ex abrupto страстно обращается к «Отцу Всего» и Его окружению, следует, видимо, причислить к гимническому жанру, поскольку за обращением следует гимн в ее честь. Об этом персонаже (ср.: Hypost. arch. в NHC. II 4) и возможной этимологии имени см.: Pearson. The Figure of Norea. 1990; Хосроев. 2016. С. 251. Примеч. 1129 (изд.: Barc, Roberge. 1980. P. 149 - 168; Pearson , Giversen// Pearson. 1981. P. 87 - 99). Еще 2 текста представляют собой молитвы: «Молитва апостола Па[вла]» ( proseuyh pa. [ ulou ] aposto - lou : B 8 - 9; NHC. I 1: Orat. Paul., хотя реконструкция имени условна) с обращением к «тому, который есть и который существует изначально» и конечной доксологией (изд.: Kasser et al. 1975. P. 243-285; Mueller D. Prayer of the Apostle Paul// Attridge. 1985. P. 5 - 11) и герметическая «Молитва» ( p1lhl ) благодарения (NHC. VI 7) (изд.: Krause. 1971. P. 185 - 186; Mahé . 1978. P. 160 - 167 (синоптическое изд. коптских, греческих и латинских текстов); Dirkse P. A. et al. The Prayer of Thanksgiving// Parrott. 1979. P. 375 - 387 (также 3 текста)). Одно сочинение имеет в названии слово «апокриф» (в значении « тайное, сокровенное учение » ), а именно: « Апокриф (от) Иоанна » ( papokru - von Ni..wxannhs : NHC. III 1 и BG. 2; kata i..wxannhn Napokruvon : NHC. II 1; IV 1; Apocr. Jn.; II 1 и IV 1 содержат пространную версию текста, а III 1 и BG. 2 - краткую), но к конкретному жанру это понятие не имеет отношения. Перед нами религиозный, наполненный мифологическими реалиями трактат в форме монолога, вложенного в уста Христа, в к-ром Он рассказывает о непостижимой природе верховного Бога, о Его эонах, о Демиурге и т. д.; во 2-й части монолог переходит в диалог, и Христос отвечает на вопросы Иоанна, завершая беседу призывом записать все услышанное и держать это в тайне от непосвященных (изд.: Krause. |
| At this point also it is necessary to note that the Roman and Protestant churches differ in their credal statement about God by adding that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father “and the Son” (filioque) – a doctrinal addition unacceptable to Orthodoxy since it is both unscriptural and inconsistent with the Orthodox vision of God. With the affirmation of the divinity of the Holy Spirit, and the necessity of worshipping and glorifying him with the Father and the Son, the Orthodox Church affirms that the Divine Reality, called also the Deity or the Godhead in the Orthodox Tradition, is the Holy Trinity. The Holy Spirit is essentially one in his eternal existence with the Father and the Son; and so, in every action of God toward the world, the Holy Spirit is necessarily acting. Thus, in the Genesis account of creation it is written: “The Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters” ( Gen.1:2 ). It is this same Spirit who is the “breath of life” for all living things and particularly for man, made in the image and likeness of God ( Gen.1:30, 2:7 ). Generally speaking the Spirit in Hebrew is called the “breath” or the “wind” of Yahweh. It is He who makes everything alive, the “Giver of life” Who upholds and sustains the universe in its existence and life (e.g. Ps.104:29 ; Job.33:4 ). The Holy Spirit is also he who inspires the saints to speak God’s word and to do God’s will. He anoints the prophets, priests, and kings of the Old Testament; and “in the fullness of time” it is this same Spirit who “descends and remains” on Jesus of Nazareth, making him the Messiah (anointed) of God and manifesting him as such to the world. Thus, in the New Testament at the first epiphany (which means literally showing forth or manifestation) of Christ as the Messiah – his baptism by John in the Jordan – the Holy Spirit is revealed as descending and resting upon him “as a dove from heaven” ( Jn.1:32 ; Lk.3:22 , see also Mt.3:16 and Mk.1:9 ). It is important to note, both here and in the account of the Spirit’s coming on the Day of Pentecost, as well as in other places in the Scriptures, that the words “as” and “like” are used in order to avoid an incorrect “physical” interpretation of the events recorded where the Bible itself is literally speaking in quite a symbolical and metaphorical way. |
| The Divine Liturgy of St. Basil is officiated on this day. The readings are: 2 Cor. 11:23-32; Mtt 26-2-28; Jn. 13:3-17; Mtt 26:21-39; Lk. 22:43-44; Mtt 26:40-75; Mtt 27-1-2. During this Liturgy the priest prepares the “Amnos”, the Holy Communion, which is kept throughout the whole year to be given the faithful in times of sickness. The Body and Blood of Christ is present in the Church during the entire year and throughout the ages. On this day, with greater feeling than ever, Christians come for Holy Communion singing: “Receive me Today, O Son of God, as a partaker of Thy Mystic Feast; for I will not speak of the Mystery to Thine enemies, I will not kiss Thee as did Judas, but as the thief I will confess Thee. Lord, remember me when I comest to Thy Kingdom.” “We worship Thy passion, O Christ……” Great Holy Thursday Evening (The service of the HOLY PASSION of our Lord Jesus Christ. The service is Matins of Friday morning sung by anticipation Thursday evening.) Good Friday celebrates the holy, saving and awesome Passion of Christ. To take away our sins, Christ willingly endured the spittings, scourgings, buffetings, scorn, mocking and the purple robe; the reed, sponge, vinegar, nails, spear and, above all, the Cross and Death. The confession from the cross of the penitent thief, crucified with Christ, is celebrated. This service is long, but its content is dramatic and deeply moving for the devout Christian. Participation in the prayers and the historical sequence of the events, as related in the Gospels and hymns, provides a vivid foundation for the great events yet to come. Following are the references of the “Twelve Gospel” readings of this service: 1. St. John 13:31 thru Ch. 18,1 2. St. John 18:1-29 3. St. Matthew 26:57-75 4. St. John 18:28 thru Ch. 19:16 5. St. Matthew 27:3-32 6. St. Mark 15:16-32 7. St. Matthew 27:33-54 8. St. Luke 23:32-49 9. St. John 19:38-42 10. St. Mark 15:43-47 11. St. John 19:38-42 12. St. Matthew 27:62-66 These readings relate the last instructions of Christ to His disciples, the prophecy of the drama of the Cross, the dramatic prayer of Christ and His new commandment. The day should be devoted to reading the “Gospel of the Testament” of Christ which He left for all men. The Church services during Holy Week re-enact the events of this Gospel. |
| 295 A fundamental principle for orthodoxy: sanctification, true knowledge of God, is not acquired by intellectual prowess or erudition but by humble obedience (cf. Section 17, infra). 299 In the sense of a field of human knowledge (epistm) naturally accessible to the reason. Infused illumination (the true gnosis) is different in kind from that sort of knowledge, and as such is «not-knowledge», or «learned ignorance». It is in this respect that Palamas affirms that «contemplation is not knowledge». 301 That is, mystical knowledge is inaccessible to the unillumined created mind; it is transcendent, unique, not to be compared with any other kind of knowledge. 303 Other patristic writers apply the title «paternity» to Christ to illustrate His saving role as Second Adam, citing in particular Isa. 8:16 (cf. Jn. 2:29 ). Vid., e.g., Ep. ad Diognetum (ed. H. I. Marrou, p. 192); also several passages in Ps. Macarius. Ps. Denys applies the notion of paternity to the Trinity as a whole, not only to the Father (de div. nom. 1.4, PG III, 592 A). 314 That is, the truth of Scripture is not self-explanatory, but remains an «obscure light» until the Holy Spirit illuminates our hearts to perceive its inner meaning. By contemplation, the inner eye is purified, and we are assimilated to Christ, Who is all truth; thus the hesychast is able to see the divine light directly («in full daylight»), not only as mediated through the veils of Scripture. 315 De div. nom. 1.4, PG III, 592BC. The crucial identification here is of the light that illumines the Christian contemplatives on earth and saints in heaven with the Light of Thabor. It will also be the glory of the Age to Come, as Denys says: So the hesychasts who have already attained to the vision of the divine light are living eschatological lives, anticipating here and now the splendour of the Resurrection at the End. The light that transfigured Christ was an effulgence of divinity, not a product of the apostles» imagination. 317 The analogy of the Sun, representing the Absolute and the light that flows from It, is a commonplace of the Greek patristic tradition, going back eventually to Plato " s image in Rep. Palamas is at pains to point out that the metaphor cannot be pressed too far, because the sun is liable to change and its light too is variable. The reference to the sun " s obeying the orders of the saints alludes to certain O.T. incidents (Jos. 10:12–13; 2 Kings 20:11) cited by Palamas in a different context in his Letter II to Barlaam, 61, ed. P. Chrestou, in Palama Syggrammata (Thessaloniki, 1962), p. 294. |
| In his first epistle to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 15:23), Saint Paul speaks of there being orders. The Chiliasts wrongly interpret this passage as referring only to two orders, namely of the Just and of the Sinful, whose resurrections will be separated by a period of one thousand years. In truth, Saint Paul is speaking here of many orders, analogous to the degree of holiness or sinfulness (for one differeth from another in glory—see vv. 39-41) with which they will be revealed. Holy Scripture is explicit and categorical in many places concerning the Second Coming of Christ, namely, that it will be one single date for all, righteous and sinners alike, without there being a period of one thousand years between the resurrection and judgement of some and that of others. The Saviour said: For the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation (Jn. 5:28-29). Hence, there will be one voice alone announcing the resurrection of all. In another place the Lord also says: When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world ... Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire ... (Mat. 25:31-46). Here the Saviour speaks with precision and clarity concerning His Second Coming and future judgement. In this most glorious parable He communicates the following certainty: there will be one harvest for the wheat and the tares alike (Mat. 13:30, 42-43), the Bridegroom will come for all the virgins at one and the same time (Mat. 25:1-13), and in the same hour will a reckoning be sought for the work done by the servants entrusted with the talents (Mat. 25:14-30). Therefore, one is the last advent of Christ, one the resurrection and appearance of all before the King and Judge, and one the judgement of mankind. |
| In the Church services the stress is on the Apostle Thomas’ vision of Christ and the significance of the day comes to us in the words of the gospel: Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see My hands; and put out your hand, and place it in My side; do not be faithless, but believing.” Thomas answered Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe” ( Jn.20:27–29 ). We have not seen Christ with our physical eyes nor touched His risen body with our physical hands, yet in the Holy Spirit we have seen and touched and tasted the Word of Life ( 1Jn.1:1–4 ), and so we believe. At each of the daily services until Ascension Day we sing the Easter Troparion. At each of the Sunday services beginning with Antipascha, we sing the Easter canon and hymns, and repeat the celebration of the “first day of the week” on which Christ rose from the dead. At all of the liturgies the epistle readings are taken from the Book of Acts telling us of the first Christians who lived in communion with the Risen Lord. All of the gospel readings are taken from the Gospel of Saint John, considered by many to be a gospel written particularly for those who are newly-baptized into the new life of the Kingdom of God through death and new birth in Christ, in the name of the Holy Trinity. The reason for this opinion is that all of the “signs” – as the miracles in Saint John’s Gospel are called – deal with sacramental themes involving water: wine and bread. Thus, each of the Sundays after Thomas Sunday with the exception of the third, is dedicated to the memory of one of these “signs.” The Myrrhbearing Women The third Sunday after Pascha is dedicated to the myrrhbearing women who cared for the body of the Saviour at his death and who were the first witnesses of His Resurrection. The three troparia of Holy Friday are sung once again and from the theme of the day: The noble Joseph, when he had taken down Thy most pure body from the Tree, wrapped it in fine linen and anointed it with spices, and placed it in a new tomb. |
| In the same letter, Saint Paul also says: ... Christ our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed. Let us, therefore, celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth ( 1Cor.5:7–8 ). Of great importance also in the new passover of Christ is the new gift of God’s law, the law not written on tablets of stone, but on human hearts by the very Holy Spirit of God (See 2Cor.3 ; Jer.31:31–34 ; Ezek.36:26–27 ; Joel.2:28–29 ). The giving of the law to Moses on Mount Sinai is fulfilled in the time of the Messiah in the giving of the Holy Spirit to the Disciples of Christ in the upper room on the feast of Pentecost. In the Old Testament, this was the festival of the reception of the law, fifty days after the passover (Acts.2). Thus, once again, in the time of the Messiah, the old event is completed in the new and final one: the exterior law of Moses is completed by the interior law of Christ, the “perfect law, the law of liberty” (Jas.1:25, 2:12), the “law of the Holy Spirit” ( Rom.8:2 ). For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death. For God had done (in Christ) what the law (of Moses), weakened by the flesh, could not do: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin ... in order that the just requirements of the law (of Moses) might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit ( Rom.8:2–4 ; See also 2Cor.3 ; Gal 3–5 ). Thus the apostle John writes: “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” ( Jn.1:17 ). Within the total fulfillment and perfection of the passover-exodus of the Old Testament in the time of the Messiah, it must be noted as well that the crossing of the Jordan into the promised land corresponds to baptism in Christ into the Kingdom of God. Also worthy of note is the symbolic fact that the one who actually crossed the Jordan and brought the people into the “land flowing with milk and honey,” was not Moses but Joshua, whose name in Greek is Jesus, thus prefiguring the One Who was to come of the same name, which means Savior, the One Who began His messianic mission of bringing the Kingdom of God by His baptism in the Jordan River. |
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