Orthodixie

We are coming up on the Fifth week of the Great Fast where the service of Compline with the entire Canon of St Andrew of Crete, along with the life of St Mary of Egypt, is served in Orthodox parishes around the world. The following article speaks of the Great Canon per use in First Week and Fifth Week. The author is Archpriest Victor Potapov of the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St John the Baptist in Washington, DC. I have taken liberty to edit, slightly, and have added hyperlinks. St Ephraim’s prayer is explored H E R E. Another good article on The Prayer may be found H E R E. Glory to God for all things!

Prayer of St Ephraim the Syrian

O Lord and Master of my life,
Take from me the spirit of sloth, despair,
lust of power and idle talk; (prostration)

But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to Thy servant.
(prostration)

Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my
own transgressions and not to judge
my brother, for blessed art Thou unto ages of ages. Amen. (prostration)

O God, cleanse Thou me a sinner. (12 times, with as many bows, and then again the whole prayer from the beginning throughout, and after that one great prostration)

Have mercy on me O Lord, have mercy on me!

The first week of Great Lent has been known since times of old as the dawn of abstinence, or clean week. During that week, the Church persuades her children to come out of that sinful state into which all of mankind fell because our forefathers did not abstain, because they lost the blessings of heaven, the state of sin which each of us increases by his personal sins. It coaxes them into coming forth by way of faith, prayer, humility and fasting, things, which are pleasing to God. This is the time for repentance, says the Church: Behold the day of salvation, the entrance to the Fast. “O my soul, be watchful, close all the doors through which the passions enter, and look up towards the Lord.” (From the first canticle of the triodion canon at Matins on Monday of the first week of Great Lent).

The Old Testament Church, which held especially sacred the first and last days of several great feasts. Likewise, according to the Ustav [liturgical tradition], Orthodox Christians, prepared and inspired by the maternal instructions offered by their Church from antiquity, observe the first and last weeks of Great Lent especially strictly and assiduously.

The services of the first week are especially lengthy, and the podvig of physical abstinence during that week is considerably more rigorous than in the subsequent days of Great Lent. Over the course of the first four days of Great Lent, Great Compline is served, with the reading of the Great Penitential Canon of St. Andrew of Crete, which as it were sets the tone which is to resound throughout Great Lent. During the first week of Great Lent, the Canon is divided into four separate parts, one chanted at each Compline. On Thursday (actually Wednesday evening) of the fifth week of Great Lent, our attention is again directed to St. Andrew’s marvelous composition, this time in its entirety, so that with the conclusion of Great Lent in sight, we might not become lackadaisical, careless, and negligent, so that we might not forget ourselves and stop strictly watching over ourselves in everything.

The refrain “Have mercy on me O Lord, have mercy on me” accompanies each verse of the Great Canon. Several troparia in honor of St. Andrew, composer of the canon, and to St. Mary of Egypt are also included. The Church of Jerusalem implemented this practice during St. Andrew’s lifetime. When in the year 680 AD, St. Andrew traveled to Constantinople for the 6th Ecumenical Council, he brought with him and made public both his great composition and the life of St. Mary of Egypt, written by his compatriot and teacher, Sophronios, Patriarch of Jerusalem. The Life of St. Mary of Egypt is read together with the Great Canon at Matins on Wednesday of the fifth week of Great Lent.

The Great Canon is more astonishing than any other liturgical text encountered during Great Lent. It is a marvel of liturgical hymnography, with texts of amazing power and poetic beauty. The Church decided to call it the Great Canon not so much for its length (250 troparia, or verses), as for the quality and power of its content. St. Andrew, Archbishop of Crete, who composed the Canon in the 7th Century, also composed many other canons used by the Church over the course of the liturgical year.

The Great Canon consists of a conversation between the penitent and his own soul. The conversation begins:

“Where shall I begin to weep for the actions of my wretched life? What first-fruit shall I offer O Christ in this my lamentation? But in Thy compassion grant me forgiveness of sins. with what shall I begin to repent, for it is so difficult.”

A marvelous troparion follows:

“Come wretched soul, with thy flesh to the Creator of all. Make confession to Him, and abstain henceforth from thy past brutishness; and offer to God tears of repentance.”

The words are astonishing, containing both Christian anthropology and asceticism: our flesh, an inseparable part of human nature and being, must also participate in our repentance.

The apogee of this conversation with the soul, its constant unremitting call to repentance, comes in the kontakion sung following the 6th canticle of the Canon:

“My soul, O my soul, rise up! Why art thou sleeping? The end draws near and soon thou shalt be troubled. Watch, then, that Christ thy God may spare thee, for He is everywhere present and fillest all things.”

The great luminary of the Church addresses these words to himself, to the one who could be described with the words he used to describe St. Mary of Egypt, who truly was an angel in the flesh. And yet, he so addressed himself, reproaching himself for his soul being in slumber. If he could see himself as such a one, how should we see ourselves? As immersed not only in spiritual sleep from which we cannot be roused, but also in some kind of necrosis.

When we heed the words of the canon of St. Andrew of Crete, we have to ask ourselves: What must I do? If one were to fulfill God’s Law, as he ought, the contents of his life would be of quite a different composition. It is for this reason that the Church offers us this profound Great Lenten Penitential Canon, so full of feeling and conviction, so that we might look deeper into our souls and see what is there. And yet, the soul continues to sleep; in that is our sorrow and our misfortune.

In the wonderful prayer of St. Ephraim of Syria, which we repeat throughout Great Lent, we hear words to the following effect: O Lord and King, grant unto me to see my transgressions! I do not see them; my soul has dozed off, has fallen asleep, and I cannot even see those sins, as I ought. How then will I be able to repent of them! This is precisely why, in the days of Great Lent, each of us should focus all the more on himself/herself, must examine his life, and measure it against the standard set forth in the Gospels, and against no other.

A basic distinguishing feature of the Great Canon is its extremely broad use of images and subjects taken from Sacred Scripture, from both the Old and New Testaments. Unfortunately, we do not know the Holy Bible as well as we ought, and because we do not, for many of us the names mentioned in the Great Canon mean nothing.

And yet, the Bible is not merely a history of the people of Israel. It is also a great chronicle of the soul of mankind, of the souls which would repeatedly fall and stand up again before the face of God, which repeatedly fell into sin and repeatedly repented. If we were to examine the lives of those mentioned in the Bible, we would see that each of them is presented not so much as a historical figure, an individual that did such and such, but as an individual standing before the Living God. The person’s historical or other accomplishments are accorded second place. What remains is what is most important: did that person remain faithful to God, or not. If we read the Bible and the Great Canon with that frame of reference, we will see that much of what is said about the righteous ones and sinners of antiquity is nothing less than a chronicle of our soul, of our repeated falling and rising, of our repeated sin and repentance.

In this regard, a certain religious writer said something quite relevant: “If, in our days so many find it [the Great Canon] boring and not relevant to our lives, it is because their faith is not taking nourishment from the fount of Sacred Scripture, the spring which for the Fathers of the Church was the very source of their faith. We must once again learn to apprehend the world as it is revealed to us in the Bible, learn to live in that biblical world. There is no better way of learning this than through the church service, which not only passes on to us biblical teaching, but also reveals to us the biblical way of life.” (Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann, Great Lent, p. 97).

And so, through the individuals and events recounted in the Great Canon, the history of the Old Testament and the New Testament passes before us. Its author points out to us our forefather’s falling into sin, and the corruption of the original world. He points to Noah’s virtues and the bitterness and lack of repentance shown by the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. He resurrects for us the memory of the righteous patriarchs and valiant men: Moses, Joshua son of Nun, Gideon and Jepthah; he allows us to look at the King David’s piety, his fall and touching repentance; he points out to us Ahab’s and Jezebel’s impiety, and also the great paradigms of repentance the Ninevites, Manasseh, the harlot, and the wise thief. He accords special attention to Mary of Egypt, and more than once stops the reader at the Cross and at the Holy Sepulchre of our Lord. Everywhere, he teaches repentance, humility, prayer, and self-denial. It is in these examples that the exhortation to the soul constantly takes place [O my soul] remember this righteous one; thus did he please God; remember that righteous one as well; thus did he please God; you have done nothing comparable.

The Bible speaks of some individuals in a positive light, and about others in a negative one. We must emulate the one, and not the other.

As we can see, the texts are fairly difficult, and therefore, it is essential to prepare well for the Great Canon, so that we might apprehend it.

In the concluding ode chanted on the first day, after all of the historical recollections, there follow troparia of amazing power:

The Law is powerless, the Gospel of no effect, and the whole of Scripture is ignored by thee: the prophets and all the words of the righteous are useless. Thy wounds, my soul have been multiplied, and there is no physician to heal thee. it is useless to remind you of the Old Testament; everything is useless. I will give you examples from the New Testament, and perhaps you will then repent.

I bring thee, O my soul, examples from the New Testament to lead thee to compunction. Follow the example of the righteous, turn away from the sinful, and through prayers and fasting, through chastity and reverence, win back Christ’s mercy.

Finally, having presented all from the Old Testament, the writer ascends toward the Giver of Life, the Savior of our souls, and like the thief, he cries out “Have mercy on me!” and like the publican exclaims “God be merciful to me a sinner!” Emulating the persistence of the Canaanite woman and the blind man at the crossroads he says “have mercy on me, O son of David!” Like unto the harlot, he pours out tears instead of myrrh onto Christ’s head and feet, and weeps bitterly over himself as Martha and Mary did over Lazarus.

Farther on, the Canon underscores the fact that the worst of sinners repented, and will enter the Heavenly Kingdom before we do:

Christ became man, calling to repentance thieves and harlots. Repent, my soul: the door of the Kingdom is already open, and Pharisees and publicans and adulterers pass through it before thee, changing their life.

And when, in some kind of spiritual horror, following from afar after the miracles of the Savior, and brought to compunction by each spiritual struggle in His earthly life, the author of the Canon reaches the awful sacrifice of Christ, his heart’s strength flags, and together with all Creation, he falls silent on quaking Golgotha, and cries out one last time:

O my Judge who dost know me, when Thou comest again with the angels to judge the whole world, look upon me then with Thine eye of mercy and spare me; take pity on me Jesus, for I have sinned more than any other man.

In its concluding troparia, the Great Canon, using every possible means to move us to repentance, as it were reveals to us its method [of instruction]: How I have talked with thee, O soul! I have reminded thee of the Old Testament righteous ones, and have given thee examples from the New Testament [to lead thee to compunction], and yet it is has all been for naught, for thou, my soul hast not followed their lives and actions. Woe to thee when thou art judged! woe unto thee, when thou shalt stand before the Judgment!

Attending the words of the Great Canon, having scrutinized the history of people who ran from God only to be overtaken by Him, people who were in chasms, but whom God led out, let us contemplate the fact that God brings each of us out of the chasm of sin and despair, so that we might offer Him the fruits of repentance.

One should not imagine that repentance consists of rooting around in one’s personal sins, engaging in self-flagellation, and striving to expose in oneself as much evil and darkness as possible. To truly repent is to turn from the darkness to the light, from sin to righteousness, to understand that our life has been unworthy of its high calling, to confess before God how insignificant we are, and confess that our only hope is God Himself. True repentance is when, standing before the face of God, Who, as the Apostle Peter says “hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light,”(I Peter 2: 9), we understand that life was given to us so that we might become children of God, so that we might commune of the Divine Light. True repentance is reflected not so much in words as in deeds: in readiness to come to one the aid of others, to be open with our neighbors, and not become involuted onto oneself. True repentance is understanding that, while we do not possess the power to become true Christians, God is capable of making us so. As it says in the Great Canon “wheresoever God wishes, the order of nature is overcome.” That is to say, where God so wishes, supernatural events occur: Saul becomes Paul, Jonah is brought out of the belly of the whale, Moses crosses the sea on dry land, the dead Lazarus is resurrected, Mary of Egypt is turned from a harlot into a great righteous one. For, according to the Savior “with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19: 26)

–Archpriest Victor Potapov

Saute until tender:
3 Tbsp oil
1 lg onion (diced)
2 med green peppers (diced)

Add:
3 c. tomato sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp chile powder (or more)
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp (salad) mustard
1 Tbsp honey
Simmer together over low heat about 20 minutes.

Brown in another skillet:
3 Tbsp oil
1 1/2 lbs firm tofu (crumbled)
5 Tbsp tamari
When tofu is well browned and has absorbed flavoring, add tomato sauce.
Serve on buns (or rice).

I like these better than the meat kind. Kids also approve!

1 c. mashed sweet potatoes
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 c. sugar
Mix together.

Add:
2 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 c. raisins (dust w/ flour so they don’t sink to the bottom of batter)

Pour into 9″ X 13″ pan; bake @ 350 for 25-30 min.

After baking, drizzle glaze all over the top.

Glaze:
1/4 c. confec. sugar
2 Tbsp hot water

Cut into squares when cool.

Yummy! Yummy! Yummy!

VATICAN CITY — His All Holiness, BARTHOLOMEW, Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch, today became the first Orthodox Christian to be elected Pope of Rome since the Great Schism of 1054. BARTHOLOMEW was secretly made a Cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2003. The rule for qualification states only that the candidate be an unmarried male of the Catholic faith. As the Church of Rome views the Eastern Orthodox as valid members of the Catholic faith, this election, though surprising, is perfectly canonical. BARTHOLOMEW was elected after only one round of ballots was cast.

Today’s election sent shock waves through ecclesiastical circles worldwide. It even had an effect on the Markets of four countries. It has been almost 1,000 years since the Church divided into East and West. Experts say full unification and consensus on all matters will not be realized for some time. However, the naming of an Orthodox Patriarch to the Papal Throne goes a very long way toward that goal.

“We had suspected, knowing the Holy Father’s longing for Unity, that something like this might take place,” said Fr Guildo Martinez of San Louppe Calistrato. “I don’t know what it all means … I mean, a Pope’s a Pope, right? Today, we’re all Catholics!”

Word out of Russia is that His Holiness Patriarch ALEXEY II boarded a jet bound for Rome moments after the announcement was made. For years, Pope John Paul had been pleading for a chance to visit the faithful in Russia. Patriarch ALEXEY, among others in authority, would not allow it. “This,” according to an unnamed Russian church spokesman, “changes everything.”

“Just last week, over beers, some of my classmates and I were talking about how cool it would be if, say, Patriarch ALEXEY was made Pope!” Charles Turner is a senior at St Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary. “We had a scheme all worked out where ALEXEY would ascend the Chair of Peter and then, to calm American fears, they would select Metropolitan LAURUS of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) to assume the Patriarchal see of Russia. This would help to heal at least a couple of schisms in as many days!” The ROCOR and the Church in Russia (MP) severed Communion last century due to upheavals caused by the Revolution and compromises brought about by Patriarch Sergius. In 2000 they began talks toward reconciliation. Prior to today’s election, most had thought that the reconciliation process would take at least another couple years. Today, one only wonders.

Furthermore, rumours are circulating about the purpose of ALEXEY’s hastening to the Vatican. Some have speculated that Pope John Paul, in his Will, revealed what many had long suspected: the Russian Patriarch is a KGB operative. This, in the words of the Pontiff’s last testament, is the real reason behind his not being allowed to travel to Russia during his pontificate. The Communists, who still covertly rule the land, had witnessed what had happened in formerly Communist lands when visited by the Pope in the 80s and 90s. If, as the rumours have said, this turns out to be true, the positing of LAURUS of the ROCOR as the head of the ten million member Russian Orthodox Church might not be too far off base.

Others are keeping a keen eye on the various Orthodox jurisdictions in America. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese (GOA) is already under the Ecumenical Patriarch. The Orthodox Church in America (OCA), anxious for some time now about the possible reconciliation of the ROCOR and MP, has recently been making overtures toward Constantinople. Metropolitan PHILIP of the Antiochian Archdiocese (AOA) has previously stated that the autocephalus churches in America “would submit to the authority of the Ecumenical Patriarch if that’s what was necessary for Orthodox unity.” If, as PHILIP said, the OCA and AOA were to join together and submit to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the combined forces — EP, OCA, AOA, GOA & Rome — would constitute the single largest Communion ever.

Vatican and Orthodox prelates realize that the opportunities are mind-boggling and many goals will take time, patience, and fervent prayers to accomplish. One of the first matters of debate will be the date of Easter (Pascha). However, just as most agree that the Filioque clause, one of the main bones of contention a thousand years ago, is best left out of the Creed — as does the Orthodox — so they also seem to agree that the dating of the annual celebration of the Jesus’s Resurrection should be celebrated according to the Orthodox Paschalion. Noting that there already exist within Orthodoxy so-called Western Rite parishes, and within Roman Catholicism Byzantine Rite parishes, Vatican officials hope that matters of ritual will not be as divisive as other topics (such as married priests, divorce & remarriage, Purgatory, and fasting requirements).

One curious development since today’s announcement has occurred within the Anglican Communion. “For years and years I have struggled with where I should go,” said Fr Bill Thompson of Chattanooga. “As a conservative man and a traditionally minded priest, I can no longer serve the Episcopal Church. Now that Rome and New Rome have reconciled, I’m ready to do as the Romans do!” Fr Thompson said that other like-minded Episcopal clergy will likely be making a move now that the scandal of multiple overlapping Orthodox jurisdictions is headed toward resolution. Judging by reports both in America and abroad, many Anglican clergy are having similar thoughts and taking similar steps. “We have turned back the clock to the days just before the Revolution in Russia,” says Bishop Tanger Whittier of East Downey. “Back then, the question was about the validity of Anglican Orders. No one ever — certainly not me in my lifetime — thought we’d see the day when THAT was the Anglican news story. God be praised!” At press time many Anglican Bishops in Africa were already scrambling to call or visit the newly elected Pope BARTHOLOMEW as soon as able.

Needless to say, media observers were caught off guard by today’s election. Many had figured John Paul’s successor would be Cardinal Francis Arinze of Nigeria, the first black Pope. In a statement given via his assistant immediately after the announcement, Arinze said, “My election as Pope would have been novel. This, however, is extraordinary. Truly God is doing a new thing among His people. Today we are all His people.”

One source for this story may be found HERE.

“[He] dedicated his life to studying the history of the goddess, and nothing has done more to erase that history than the Catholic Church” (p.46).

Can you say “hooey?” I thought you could.
See previous posts Part 1, Part 2, Addendum, Part 3.

“The fleur-de-lis … the flower of Lisa … the Mona Lisa” (p.114).

This one caught by breath. My mind went, “Really?” Having been, once upon a time, of the High Church camp as an Anglican, I was taught & believed the fleur-de-lis was a symbol of the Virgin Mary. (Then again, wasn’t everything?) Now here comes this new and strange information. And, ya gotta admit, it looks and sounds possible. Baseless, however, totally baseless. In fact, after reading this article about the mystical symbol, Brown’s claims look just plain silly.

“The Priory believes that Constantine and his male successors successfully converted the world from matriarchal paganism to patriarchal Christianity by waging a campaign of propaganda that demonized the sacred feminine, obliterating the goddess from modern religion forever” (p.124).

However, it was a female, Constantine’s mother, Helen, who, wishing to find the Cross of Christ, destroyed a temple dedicated to the goddess, Venus, which had been built on the sacred spot by the Emperor Hadrian. (Read more here.) Otherwise, to my knowledge, there is no proof whatsoever that “matriarchal paganism” played any role, large or small, in Constantine’s actions and edicts. He did make Christianity legal with his Edict of Milan in 313. This act helped to end the centuries old slaughter of Christians, returned previously confiscated property, and allowed for freedom of worship.

“Midwives also were killed for their heretical practice of using medical knowledge to ease the pain of childbirth, that was God’s rightful punishment for Eve’s partaking of the Apple of Knowledge, thus giving birth to the idea of Original Sin. During three hundred years of witch hunts, the Church burned at the stake an astounding five million women” (p.125).

For what it’s worth, the latest figures for deaths during the European witch craze are between 30,000 to 50,000 victims. Not all were executed by the Church, not all were women, and not all were burned (no doubt, some were midwives).

That being said, there is no “heresy” in easing pain. This is not to say that midwives were not killed. Yet to accuse Christianity of opposing the easing of pain as a heresy is disingenuous. Brown continues by stating that Eve’s partaking of the apple gave birth to the idea of Original Sin. Well, I mean, transgressing the [then] only Commandment of God was certainly contrary to the will of God, n’est pas?

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die” (Gen.2:16-17).

Eve sinned — that is, she “missed the mark” of faithfulness. The first sin (hence, original), obviously happened with Eve and Adam. Unless you have an anti-Christian/Catholic bias — which, undoubtedly, Brown does — how can you view the record otherwise? So, as often happens in The Da Vinci Code, Brown mixes apples and oranges and assumes no one will know the difference. Greater still, the fact that what he’s serving is poison may go unnoticed especially when presented as fruit punch.

Let’s look at some of the “curses” placed on Adam & Eve after their transgression …

First and foremost: Death entered God’s creation. From that point on, we all shall die. This was foretold by God (see above).

Next, God curses the serpent and foretells a struggle (physically & figuratively)…

The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above all wild animals; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen.3:14-15).

Then …

To the woman he said, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children….

Oh dear, look at the rest of the sentence …

“… yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you” (Gen.3:16).

Adam’s turn …

And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, `You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Gen.3:17-20).

So now Adam’s got to work. Question: Is there some prohibition against easing the pain of work? Certainly not … e.g., beasts of burden, etc. It should also be noted that Adam may have been faithful to his wife, in eating the fruit, but, in disobeying God, he sinned. This is what is prohibited (not, of course, solely listening to the voice of your wife).

The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living (Gen.3:20).

Notice that Adam, a man, named his wife “Eve” — the mother of the living — AFTER she’d eaten the forbidden fruit, after they’d sinned, after the Fall. So much for Brown’s claim that:

“[The] concept of woman as life-bringer was the foundation of ancient religion. Childbirth was mystical and powerful. Sadly, Christian philosophy decided to embezzle the female’s creative power by ignoring biological truth and making man the Creator” (p.238)

“… Noah himself was an albino?” (p.187)

This snippet leaps out and flies past — presenting itself as undisputed truth. Had you ever heard of this before? Not me. (Incidentally, I used to listen to the radio for hours waiting for them to play the Edgar Winter group’s “Frankenstein” — but, I digress.) It turns out this notion of Noah being albino comes from the non-canonical book of Enoch (1 Enoch 106:2).

Throughout The Da Vinci code the message is clear: Banned Books = Good; Canonical Books = Bad. (More here.)

Next time we’ll look at the infamously loaded Chapter 55 — which is sort of like Area 54, only less factual.