| Mary is called Theotokos, meaning «God-bearer» or «the Mother of God,» because she bore the Son of God in her womb and from her He took His humanity. Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, recognized this reality when she called Mary, «the Mother of my Lord» (Luke 1:43). Mary said of herself, «All generations shall call me blessed» (Luke 1:48). So we, Orthodox, in our generation, call her blessed. Mary lived a chaste and holy life, and we honor her highly as the model of holiness, the first of the redeemed, the Mother of the new humanity in her Son. It is bewildering to Orthodox Christians that many professing Christians who claim to believe the Bible never call Mary blessed nor honor her who bore and raised God the Son in His human flesh. Prayer To The Saints is encouraged by the Orthodox Church. Why? Because physical death is not a defeat for a Christian. It is a glorious passage into heaven. The Christian does not cease to be a part of the Church at death. God forbid! Nor is he set aside, idle until the day of judgement. The True Church is composed of all who are in Christ – in heaven and on earth. It is not limited in membership to those presently alive. Those in heaven with Christ are alive, in communion with God, worshipping God, doing their part in the body of Christ. They actively pray to God for all those in the Church – and perhaps, indeed, for the whole world (Ephesians 6:8; Revelation 8:3). So we pray to the saints who have departed this life, seeking their prayers, even as we ask Christian friends on earth to pray for us. Apostolic Succession has been a watershed issue since the second century, not as a mere dogma, but as crucial to the preservation of the faith. Certain false teachers would appear, insisting they were authoritative representatives of the Christian Church. Claiming authority from God by appealing to special revelations, some were even inventing lineages of teachers supposedly going back to Christ or the Apostles. In response, the early Church insisted there was an authoritative apostolic succession passed down from generation to generation. They recorded that actual lineage, showing how its clergy were ordained by those chosen by the successors of the Apostles chosen by Christ Himself. |
| About Pages Проекты «Правмира» Raising Orthodox Children to Orthodox Adulthood The Daily Website on How to be an Orthodox Christian Today Twitter Telegram Parler RSS Donate Navigation Rejection of Despair Source: Pemptousia Saint Peter the Damascan 11 June 2021 We shouldn’t despair when we’re not as we should be. Of course it’s bad to sin. But why do you disrespect God and, in your ignorance, think him weak? Is he who made this great world for you unable to save your soul? And if you say, ‘That’s probably a condemnation of me, as is his acceptance’, repent and your repentance will be accepted, as was that of the Prodigal ( Luke 15, 20) and the Harlot ( Luke 7, 47-48). If you can’t even do this, but continue to sin when you don’t want to, have the humility of the Tax-Collector ( Luke 18, 13) and that’s enough for your salvation. Because those who sin without repentance, but also without despair, necessarily place themselves below all the rest of creation and don’t dare to judge or condemn anyone else. They admire all the more the loving-kindness of God and feel gratitude to their Benefactor. And they may have many other good things on their side. Even though they’re puppets of the devil as regards sin, out of fear of God they still ignore the enemy when he impels them towards despair. So in this they’re with God: provided they have gratitude, thankfulness, patience, the fear of God and if they don’t judge others, so that they themselves won’t be judged ( Matth . 7, 1), which is absolutely essential. As Chrysostom says about Gehenna, it’s almost of more benefit to us than the kingdom of heaven: because of it, many people enter the kingdom, though few enter the kingdom for its own sake, depending, naturally, on the loving-kindness of God. The reason is that the first fills us with fear, whereas the second embraces us; and we’re saved through a combination of both, by Christ’s grace. Those who are under attack from many passions, spiritual and bodily, are crowned if they show patience, don’t carelessly give up their freedom of choice and don’t despair. By the same token, those who have achieved the passionless state, who are safe and sound, can quickly fall away unless they confess the benefactions they’ve received by not judging anyone else. Saint Maximos the Confessor tells us that, should they do so, it would be like claiming that they’d reached the riches of the state of being passionless by their own efforts. |
| Here, I think, lies the heart of the problem. For we are unwilling – in fact, violently resist any call – to adopt simpler lifestyles. We have misplaced the spirituality of frugality and abstinence. The challenge is this: How do we live in such a way that promotes harmony – not division? How can we acknowledge – daily – “the earth as the Lord’s” (Psalm 23.1)? This means that stewardship opens up more than simply our pockets and our hands to charitable institutions and tax-deductible options. It opens up our eyes and our hearts to proper and harmonious relations among all of God’s creatures. Learning to give up in a spirit of self-control implies learning to give in a spirit of sharing. It is learning to live in such a way that communicates gratitude and generosity, not avarice and greed. Am I Accountable? While there are numerous passages in the Old and New Testaments that provide insight into the principle and practice of stewardship – intimately relating its social and ecological aspects – it is a message that acquires increasing urgency in light of our ultimate accountability on the day of judgment with Christ’s parable about the faithful and prudent steward in Luke chapter 12, which concludes with the following warning: “From everyone to whom much has been given, more will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.” (verse 48) This is a verse that might not meet with general agreement on a political level; yet it is a statement that deserves close attention on a spiritual level: “Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.” (verse 43) Like the servant in the parable we, too, will be asked for accountability by the Master: “What is this that I hear about you? Give me an account of your management.” (Luke 16.2) We will surely be judged for the abuse of the earth that has been entrusted to us “to preserve,” as for the unjust distribution of its resources to human beings that we are called “to serve” – for the devastation of God’s creation by human beings unjustly usurping the right to control it and arrogantly presuming the right to manipulate it, as for the exploitation of the poor (and the poor nations) by the rich (and the rich nations). |
| The Church has acquired Thy life-giving side as a chalice, from which gushes forth for us a twofold torrent of forgiveness. and knowledge as a type of the two covenants, Old and New, O our Savior. I am bereft of the bridal hall, I am bereft of the marriage and supper. My lamp has gone out for want of oil, the door has been locked while I was asleep; the supper is eaten; and I, bound hand and foot, am cast outside. (Matthew 25; Luke 14:7-35; Matthew 22:1-14) Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: To The Trinity: I confess Thee to be undivided in essence, unconfused in persons, One Triune Divinity, co-enthroned and co-reigning. I sing Thee the great song thrice sung on high. Now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen. Theotokion: Thou givest birth and livest a virgin life, and in both remainest a virgin by nature. He Who is born of thee renews the laws of nature, and a womb gives birth without travail. Where God wills, the order of nature is overruled; for He does whatever He wishes. Song 5. Eirmos: Out of the night watching early for Thee, enlighten me, I pray, O Lover of men, and guide even me in Thy commandments, and teach me, O Savior, to do Thy will. Refrain: Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me. Troparia: How heavy in character I have become, in soul and body, like Jannes and Jambres in Pharaoh’s bitter service, and my mind has sunk low. But help me, O Lord. (Exodus 7: 11; 2 Tim. 3:8) I, wretch that I am, have rolled my mind in mud. But wash me, O Lord, in the bath of my tears, I pray Thee, and make the robe of my flesh as white as snow. When I examine my actions, O Savior, I see that I have gone beyond all men in sins; for I have sinned with knowledge consciously, and not in ignorance. Spare, spare, O Lord, Thy works. I have sinned; forgive me, for Thou alone art pure by nature, and apart from Thee there is none without defilement. (I Peter 3:21) Being God, for my sake Thou didst take my form, and didst work miracles, healing lepers and bracing paralytics; and Thou didst stop the flow of blood of the woman with hemorrhage, O Savior, through the touch of Thy hem. (Phil. 2:6; Matthew 4:24; Luke 8:43-48) |
| That John calls Nicodemus νθρωπος, a «man» or «person» of the Pharisees (3:1), may be inconsequential (the term appears more than fifty times in the Gospel), but «a Pharisee» would have been simpler; this term appears nowhere else in the Gospel linked with Pharisees in the genitive. John probably employs the term here to make explicit the connection with the «people» (νθρωπου … νθρπω) whose hearts Jesus knew in 2:25. The «ruler of the Jews» title connects him with the elite who oppose Jesus (7:48)–showing that in Johns narrative world, even some of the prime representatives of «the world» can ultimately become Jesus» followers (19:39). The rulers are not a Johannine invention (Luke 14:1; 18:18; 23:13, 35; 24:20), but John uses them to timely effect in contrasting the Judean elite with Jesus» Galilean followers. The few references to them might all imply the inclusion of Nicodemus (cf. 7:26,48), and they therefore appear less uniformly hostile than «the Pharisees» (12:42), although Nicodemus is also one of the Pharisees, and they, too, appear divided at points (9:16). Because Nicodemus appears to be a prominent figure, some have suggested that John appeals to the prominent Nakdimon ben Gorion, who might have been a very young man in the time of Jesus, forty years before Jerusalem " s destruction. 4759 That Nakdimon was one of the wealthiest and most powerful aristocrats by the time of the Judean-Roman war 4760 might fit John " s portrait, but Nakdimon ben Gorion was also considered very pious by rabbinic standards, 4761 which would suggest that no one in that line of tradition noticed any faith in Jesus on his part. Nicodemus was not, however, an unusual name among Greek-speaking Jews; a prominent one from Rome is a case in point. 4762 Thus most commentators doubt an identification between John " s Nicodemus and the son of Gorion. 4763 What may be significant is that Nicodemus is named at al1. Certainly many other figures in the Gospel, such as the woman in 4:7–42 or the men in 5:5–15 and 9:1–38, remain anonymous. They may remain anonymous unlike Nicodemus because John " s tradition would be more apt to preserve the events of their encounter with Jesus than their names, whereas Nicodemus was of such a stratum of Jewish society that the tradition would preserve his name as wel1. Yet it is also the case that Nicodemus must be named for literary reasons; it would be more difficult for any but the most diligent reader to recognize his recurrence in 7and 19if he remained anonymous, even if he were described by some other traits. |
| John prepares the way of Yahweh (1:23)–and hence of Jesus–and testifies of Jesus» preexistence (1:30). Jesus proves to be one greater than Moses (2:1–11). Jesus would come down from heaven more like divine Wisdom or Torah than like Moses (3:13, 31). Like Torah or Wisdom, Jesus is the bread of life (6:48). He existed as divine before Abraham existed (8:56–59). Jesus is far greater than the «gods» to whom God " s Word came at Sinai (10:33–39). Repeatedly in John the Scriptures testify to Jesus» identity and mission, but the climax of this motif appears when we learn that Isaiah spoke of Jesus when he beheld his glory in the theophany of Isa 6 ( John 12:39–41 ). Jesus is the perfect revelation of the Father (14:8–10) and shared the Father " s glory before the world existed (17:5,24). His self-revelation can induce even involuntary prostration (18:6), and confession of his deity becomes the ultimately acceptable level of faith for disciples (20:28–31). Where Jesus parallels Moses, he is greater than Moses (e.g., 9:28–29), as he is greater than Abraham and the prophets (8:52–53) or Jacob (4:12). Elsewhere, however, Jesus parallels not Moses but what Moses gave (3:14; 6:31), and even here, Moses should not get too much credit for what was «given through» (cf. 1:17) him (6:32; 7:22). Moses may have given water in the wilderness from the rock, but Jesus is the rock himself, the foundation stone of the new temple (7:37–39). How do Jesus» «signs» contribute to this high Christology (as they clearly must– 20:30–31)? Even though John has specifically selected them (21:25), most signs in the Fourth Gospel are of the same sort as found in the Synoptic tradition, which often applies them to the messianic era (Isa 35:5–6 in Matt 11/Luke 7:22). As in the Synoptics, the closest biblical parallels to Jesus» healing miracles are often the healing miracles of Elijah and Elisha. But in some other signs, John clearly intends Jesus to be greater than Moses: for his first sign he turns water to wine instead of to blood (2:1–11; cf. Rev 8:8). Later he feeds a multitude in the wilderness and, when they want to make him a prophet-king like Moses (6:15), he indicates that he is the new manna that Moses could not provide (6:32). The walking on water sign (6:19–21) probably reflects faith in Jesus» deity even in Mark. In this broader Johannine context, the healing miracles themselves may further evoke one story about Moses: people who beheld the serpent he lifted up would be healed. Yet Jesus parallels not Moses but the serpent, through which healing came directly (see 3:14, in a context addressing Wisdom, Torah, and Moses). Those who «see» him (parallel Johannine language to «believe» and «know» him) are healed. |
| Then came the third hour (9 A.M.), when the Dormition of the Mother of God was to occur. A number of candles were burning. The holy Disciples surrounded her beautifully adorned bed, offering praise to God. She prayed in anticipation of Her demise and of the arrival of Her longed-for Son and Lord. Suddenly, the inexpressible Light of Divine Glory shone forth, before which the blazing candles paled in comparison. All who it saw took fright. Descending from Heaven was Christ, the King of Glory, surrounded by hosts of Angels and Archangels and other Heavenly Powers, together with the souls of the Forefathers and the Prophets, who had prophesied in ages past concerning the Most Holy Virgin Mary. Seeing Her Son, the Mother of God exclaimed: “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God My Savior, for He hath regarded the low estate of His Handmaiden” (Luke 1:46-48) and, rising from Her bed to meet the Lord, She bowed down to Him, and the Lord bid Her enter into Life Eternal. Without any bodily suffering, as though in a happy sleep, the Most Holy Virgin Mary gave Her soul into the hands of Her Son and God. Then began a joyous angelic song. Accompanying the pure soul of the God-betrothed and with reverent awe for the Queen of Heaven, the angels exclaimed: “Hail, Full of Grace, the Lord is with Thee, blessed art Thou among women! For lo, the Queen, God’s Maiden comes, lift up the gates, and with the Ever-Existing One, take up the Mother of Light; for through Her salvation has come to all the human race. It is impossible to gaze upon Her, and it is impossible to render Her due honor” (Stikherion on “Lord, I Have Cried”). The Heavenly gates were raised, and meeting the soul of the Most Holy Mother of God, the Cherubim and the Seraphim glorified Her with joy. The face of the Mother of God was radiant with the glory of Divine virginity, and from Her body there came a sweet fragrance. Miraculous was the life of the All-Pure Virgin, and wondrous was Her Repose, as Holy Church sings: “In Thee, O Queen, the God of all hath given thee as thy portion the things that are above nature. Just as in the Birth-Giving He did preserve Thine virginity, so also in the grave He did preserve Thy body from decay” (Canon 1, Ode 6, Troparion 1). |
| While he was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them... But Jesus said to him, «Judas, would you betray the Son of man with a kiss?» And one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, «No more of this!» and he touched his ear and healed him. –Luke 22:47–48,50–51. Location: Jerusalem Number cured: Number of witnesses who saw the miracle: Disciples and crowd ?=50 Miracle 37 Jesus reveals himself after his resurrection from the dead by a miraculous catch of fish. After this Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples... in this way. Simon Peter said to them (the other six disciples), «I am going fishing.» They said, «We will go with you.» They went out and got into the boat; but that night they caught nothing. Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, «Children, have you any fish?» They answered him, «No». He said to them, «Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.» So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, for the quantity of fish. The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, «It is the Lord!» When they finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, «Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?» He said to him, «Yes Lord, you know that I love you.» (Jesus) said to him, «Feed my lambs (the believers).» ...After this he said to him, «Follow me!» – John 21:1,3 –7a,15,19b. Location: Lake of Galilee Number of witnesses who saw the miracle: 7 disciples In the above accounts there are 37 miracles describing in some detail the healing of 39 different people. There are four passages, plus the healings at the feeding of the five thousand, stating that Jesus healed all who came. By rough estimate, it is proposed that at least 1,000 people were healed in these mass healings. In addition there were surely as many as 14,500 to 15,000 people who observed these healings, including the 5,000 on one occasion and the 4,000 on another, who actually ate of the multiplied bread as well as witnessing the miracle. Even if we assume that half of the witnesses saw two miracles, that would still leave 11,000 witnesses to the almost 1,000 miracles. |
| For the commencement of the ‘foretelling of the holy Wood’, one need look no further than the witness of those things which took place ‘in the beginning’, set down in the opening pages of Genesis. It is of no little significance that the one element of Paradise which had the power to lead to death was a tree (Gen 2.16, 17); yet it was not that the Tree of Knowledge was itself evil–St Justin the Martyr is certain that the tree is a symbol of Christ 6 –but that by lying about the tree the Devil might work his deception. ‘He who by a tree deceived our forefather Adam, is by the Cross himself deceived’ . 7 The hymns of the day leave no room for doubt, that the Evil One’s use of the tree to conquer man was itself a mystical prophecy of Christ’s future use of a Tree to defeat the Devil himself. The fact that humanity fell into death by eating from a tree is, say the Fathers, clear intimation that one day it might ‘find restoration in the wood of the Cross’ . 8 Holy Abraham’s near-sacrifice of his beloved son, Isaac (Gen 22.1-19), again intimates the future sacrifice of God’s only-begotten Son at Calvary. But not just the Passion is here foretold: the Cross itself is specifically prophesied–for as Isaac was led to the hilltop for sacrifice, he carried the wood of his torment upon his back (Gen 22.6). The image of Jesus ascending the rise to Golgotha with His Cross upon Simon’s shoulders (cf. Mark 15.21; Luke 23.26) is strikingly predicted. And we find in another life, that of the Patriarch Jacob, that near the point of his death, his actions, too, foreshadow the cross; for in offering the paternal blessing to Joseph’s sons, the figure of his own body, with his hands laid on their heads, is of a man extended upon a cross (Gen 48.14). In the person of Israel, it is from the figure of the Cross that the divine blessing comes to the children of God. The sacred texts also provide imagery of a more specific character. The staffs of wood used to guide the Chosen People, as poignant examples, show forth the reality of the exalted power of the Cross. ‘Israel, foreseeing the future, did reverence the top of Joseph’s staff, revealing how in times to come the most glorious Cross should be the safeguard of royal power’ . 9 It was a staff of wood which signified the royal priesthood of Aaron (Numbers 17.1-8), and a wooden staff which the God-seer Moses used to part the very sea (Exodus 14.15-29). This entire segment of the Exodus from Egypt is itself a radiant icon of the spiritual life: for the holy people, before they could reach salvation from their pursuers, had to pass through the waters of the Red Sea–waters mystically prefiguring those of baptism. But before these waters could become the way to life, the power of the wood was required to call them into holy order. Is there a more meaningful image of the power of the Cross of Christ? |
| That Jesus» hearers do not understand his appeal to his Father at this point indicates that they do not know Jesus or the Father (8:19). 6669 They do not know where his father is (8:19a), hence cannot know who he is, for the Father is above (8:23), where Jesus is going (8:21). ). On the level of the characters in the story world, their question, «Where is your father?» may function as a mock demand: If you cite a witness, produce him! Wehere is this «father» of whom you speak? That they suspect that Jesus is going to die to get to his Father (8:22) may suggest that they think he refers to a deceased human father; perhaps they could interpret this as dependence on a «ghost» or spirit-guide (cf. 7:20; 8:48). One could construe the matter differently; if 8indicates that some still wished to seize him and could not (rather than that they simply did not do so because they did not understand), it could suggest that they knew he spoke of God hence were enraged by his claim that knowing him was inseparable from knowing his Father (8:19). In the end, however, Jesus» comments show that they probably were unaware that he spoke about God (8:27). In either case, God " s sovereign purpose was the factor restraining the hour (8:20; cf. 7:30). As generally in the biblical tradition and in John in particular (10:4,14; see introduction, ch. 6, on the knowledge of God), «knowing God» implies «no theoretical knowledge of God but spiritual communion with him.» 6670 Jesus came to reveal the Father (1:18), so it is only through him that others know the Father and come to where he is (14:4–10), there worshiping him in truth (4:23–24). Jesus offered these words in the vicinity of the temple treasury (8:20), 6671 where another extant tradition also locates some of his public teaching ( Mark 12:41 ; Luke 21:1). Treasuries were standard in ancient temples, 6672 so that a temple which lacked one was noteworthy. 6673 John " s tradition presupposed some intimate knowledge of the temple on the part of its audience, many of whom must have made pilgrimage to the temple before 70. Yet even after the templés destruction, a Jewish writer could expect some readers to know of «the treasury» (Josephus Ant. 19.294). 6674 This chamber reportedly adjoined the court of women, where the lighting of torches and dances commemorated the light in the wilderness. 6675 Those who had made pilgrimage while the temple remained might well recall such details, and therefore conclude that Jesus» message was available to all Israel gathered at the temple on that day. John " s audience may find a strange sense of disjunction between the holy temple and the opposition to God " s Son occurring there. On Jesus» «hour» not having come, see comment on 7:30; cf. 2:4. |
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