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Holy Tuesday

4/27/2021

Holy Tuesday* (Taking place on Monday night)

Themes: Parable of the 10 Virgins, Alertness/Attentiveness, the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees, Second Coming of Christ

Gospel Reading: Matthew 22:15-46, 23:1-39

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ, The Fathers of the Church who put together the services over time, especially the services of Hoy Week, have really done an extraordinary job. In fact, only through the Holy Spirit could such a task have been accomplished. Each service connects with the previous one and continues the demonstrative, pedagogic, edifying, beautiful, agonizing, and glorious recounting of the Passion and Resurrection of Christ. If we are paying attention to the hymns and readings, we will be taken through Jesus’ final discourses to His disciples and the people. It will be as if we were present at the Last Supper and Garden of Gethsemane. We become witness to the betrayal, arrest, and mock trial of Jesus. We agonize with Jesus’ passion and sing gloriously upon His resurrection.

Holy Monday

4/26/2021

Themes: Christ is the Bridegroom of the Church (the Church is the Bride), alertness, steadfast faith, Joseph the son of Jacob who pre-figures Christ, and the withering of the fig tree.
Gospel Reading: Matthew 21:18-43
The service takes place on the evening after the celebration of the Divine Liturgy for the Triumphal Entrance of Christ into Jerusalem (the Palm Sunday Liturgy).

First of all, some words need definition:

Orthros: This is a worship service that can be held every morning in the church. In general, an Orthros contains readings from the Psalms, a list of the saints or events remembered on that day, petitions of the priest as we pray to God to keep us safe, healthy, on the right path, for peace in the world, and readings from the Epistles (sometimes) and Gospels. It also contains many hymns associated with the saint(s) remembered that day, hymns associated with a particular day of the week or time of year, and hymns associated with a certain type of musical tone. There are 8 types of tones in our tradition, and each week we sing in a particular tone – say the 1st tone. The next week, we sing in the 2nd tone, etc.

Palm Sunday: Jesus’ triumphal entrance into Jerusalem

4/25/2021

Have you ever heard of a triumph? I do not simply mean a victory, but a Roman-style triumph. When the Romans were victorious over another nation or peoples, the army would return to Rome. In the days of the Roman Republic, a triumph was granted to a great general by the senate (in Imperial Rome, the Emperor reserved the triumph only for himself as the “savior of Rome”). During such a procession/parade, the people would gather at the Campus Martius, enter the city through the Triumphal Gate, and slowly make its way to the Capitoline Hill and to the temple of Jupiter with prayers offered to the gods. The procession could take hours or even days! The procession was led by the leaders and peoples captured by the Romans, usually in chains. Some would be in cages and mocked, others would be publicly executed. After the captured people would come the loot gained from the conquest and any exotic treasures, art or beasts captured. At this point, artistic renderings of the battles and conquests would often be processed. Then came the senators and magistrates followed by the general drawn by a four-horses chariot and wearing a laurel (bay leaves) crown (representing victory). Finally, the soldiers, dressed as civilians, unarmed, and wearing laurel crowns as well, would bring up the rear of the triumph singing ribald songs (songs of crude and vulgar nature) to the general. The procession was met by the citizens of Rome with singing and flowers being strewn in the path. A triumph was an incredible public spectacle for all the people in Rome.

Holy Saturday of Lazaros: Resurrection

4/24/2021

Gospel Reading: John 11:1-46
Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ, In essence, Holy Week starts with the Saturday of Lazaros. The Saturday of Lazaros and Palm Sunday, together, express a glorious two-day period in the life of Christ and the life of His Holy Greek Orthodox Church.

I will assume we all know the incredible, heart-wrenching and then, astonishing events of the story around Lazaros’ death and resurrection. As I often say with any reading from the Scriptures, we can discuss so many things. This year however, I want to focus on the command Jesus gives to the people after Lazaros comes forth, alive, from the tomb: “Unbind him, and let him go,” “Λύσατε αυτον, και άφετε υπάγειν”

Saint Mary of Egypt and the Myth of Solitary Confinement

4/18/2021

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ, I think it is safe to say that we all know what solitary confinement is. When someone is in prison and whose crime is particular heinous, for the prisoner’s own safety, or because of vile behavior in prison, the incarcerated is put into a tiny cell, alone, with nearly all contact with the rest of the inmates and staff reduced to a bare minimum. Perhaps a one-hour furlough, alone, into an outdoor cage may be allowed.

In certain political cases, in which the ruler or state wishes to inflict grave distress on a prisoner, solitary confinement is also a weapon of choice.

The 4th Sunday of Lent, St. John Climacos: Prayer

4/10/2021

Two weeks ago, on the second Sunday of Great Lent, when the Church remembers St. Gregory Palamas, I wrote about meditation stemming from some of St. Gregory’s teachings and its application in our lives.

This week, the fourth Sunday of Great Lent, we remember St. John Climacos, or St. John of the Ladder (“Climacos” or “klimax” is Greek for “ladder”). St. John Climacos was born, likely, in the last quarter of the 6th century and died around 650 A.D. He lived a monastic life on Mt. Sinai at the monastery of St. Katherine. From his works, it is clear to see that Mt. Sinai, where Moses encounter God, and Mt. Tabor, where the Transfiguration of Christ took place, are paramount (pun intend) to his ascetical and godly thought.

3rd Sunday of Great Lent: The Adoration of the Holy Cross

4/2/2021

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ, What comes to your mind when you see a cross somewhere? Perhaps you see one on the side of the road. Maybe you see one on a bumper sticker. Sometimes people being interviewed on television are wearing one.

I don’t know about you, but a cross always brings a smile to my face. Far from its original intent of being a sign of torture and humiliation, it’s a symbol of victory, hope, faith, and love. Even in the graveyard or looking upon the rows of crosses in military cemeteries, the remembrance of Christ’s dominion over all always brings a smile of Jesus’ truth and righteousness to my face.

Meditation and Prayer: Who are we calling?

3/27/2021

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I remember when I was a kid picking up the rotary phone and calling our house number, thinking I would prank my mother. After I dialed, however, all I heard on the other end was the “phone is busy” ring; that quick, rhythmic, single-note tone that let one know the connection could not be made – that the line was tied-up. That still happens with our landline (yes, we still have one and we will not get rid of it…) if I call it, but with the cellular phones, it goes straight to voicemail. Either way, the principle is the same: dialing up one’s own number either leads to nothing or a soliloquy.