Monday, March 5, 2007
Our Lenten Worship: The Prayer of St Ephrem
I always recite the following prayer before saying my Office. I didn't know that the Byzantines say it during Lent, Constatine has more...
This prayer is considered, in the Byzantine tradition, to be the most succinct summation of the spirit of Great Lent and is hence the Lenten prayer of the highest quality, prayed during all Lenten weekday services, and many more times in private.
O Lord, and Master of my life,
give me not the spirit of slothfulness, faint-heartedness,
lust of power, and vain talking;
but instead grant to me, Your servant, the spirit of integrity,
humility, patience and love;
O Lord and King, grant that I may see my own
faults, and not judge my brother,
for You are blessed unto the ages of ages. Amen.
The priest recites this prayer audibly, unlike most prayers offered aloud in our services. Customarily, we make prostrations after each clause, three in all. The prayer is repeated at virtually every service on the weekdays of Lent. We (or rather, the pious among us) say this prayer several times a day, wherever we happen to be.
The prayer begins with a reaffirmation of our acceptance of God as our Lord and Master over our entire life, all that we are, have and do:
"O Lord, and Master of my life"
At the same time, we come to Him acknowledging our sinfulness and the great sins to which all humanity is inclined as a result of our fallen state - sins that lead us to commit all others, in fact:
"the spirit of slothfulness, faint-heartedness, lust of power, and vain talking"
Slothfulness - i.e. laziness! The Christian life is an effort (which does not mean to say we cannot enjoy life). Christ has promised to give us joy, but joy - real joy - has nothing in common with laziness. Laziness steals our time and gives no joy, one discovers only one has done nothing. Exercise is a good cure for laziness - and Lent is a spiritual exercise.
Being faint-hearted is to ask "Why should we try? What for? We will only fail, so why make the effort?". It is a notion that we cannot accomplish anything. God does not demand success; God is always there to pick us up with His love when we fail.
Lust of power is not only something that characterizes military dictators and control freaks but it is also the foundation of "spiritual independence" to which it ultimately leads. The way of humility and obedience is based on our sense of "need" for God, our dependence on Him and the means He has placed at our disposal to achieve union with Him, by means of and in His Church.
Vain talking - the Spiritual Fathers of the Philokalia, the great teachers of the spiritual way rooted in the constant invocation of the Name of our Lord Jesus, take extra care to warn us of this sin! The harm done to individuals, families and communities by foolish words, often spoken in haste, is countless. Christ in the Gospels warned the people of His day who were very concerned with the sins committed by what went into the mouth that what comes OUT of the mouth is what should be guarded against.
All four of these sins represent the four corners, so to speak, of the fundamental "window" that leads us into sin and spiritual tragedy.
We also ask for specific virtues:
"the spirit of integrity, humility, patience and love"
As God's servants, we ask God to reflect in us His Grace through the virtues that run counter to the four vices we enumerated in the first verse.
Integrity is the virtue by which we recognise God's plan for us and do our best to live in accordance with that plan.
We often think of "humility" as the opposite to integrity. Genuine humility is not at all undignified - humility is freedom from illusion. Humility is being prudent. Humility is being clear-sighted. Humility is ultimately realizing that we are called to sanctification and Divinization in Christ, as He demonstrated on Mount Tabor.
Patience comes from the Latin "patient" - "to suffer". It also means not losing hope that God will answer us and keep His Promises to us, no matter what befalls us now. Suffering, in fact, far from being something to be shunned, is an experience that teaches us how truly dependent we are on God and His Mercy.
We ask for the gift of real, authentic love. Christian love is not a sentiment nor an emotion - it is an act of the will, a virtue. It is a gift of God's grace, but we must make the effort to exercise that gift of grace.
After praying for these 4 virtues, we make two more requests:
"grant that I may see my own faults, and not judge my brother"
We can only truly answer for our own sinfulness, for our own intentions. Only God may judge others. This is why we never say, in public prayer, "have mercy on us sinners" but only "have mercy on me a sinner".
The Bible asks us, "who are you that you should judge another man's servant? (Romans 14:4)" Each of us shall answer to the Lord; God forbid that we should judge each other. Christ warns us, "For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged! (Matthew 7:2)"
Instead of judging, let us pray to God to make us always merciful, as He is merciful to us.
O Lord, and Master of my life,
give me not the spirit of slothfulness, faint-heartedness,
lust of power, and vain talking;
but instead grant to me, Your servant, the spirit of integrity,
humility, patience and love;
O Lord and King, grant that I may see my own
faults, and not judge my brother,
for You are blessed unto the ages of ages. Amen.
The priest recites this prayer audibly, unlike most prayers offered aloud in our services. Customarily, we make prostrations after each clause, three in all. The prayer is repeated at virtually every service on the weekdays of Lent. We (or rather, the pious among us) say this prayer several times a day, wherever we happen to be.
The prayer begins with a reaffirmation of our acceptance of God as our Lord and Master over our entire life, all that we are, have and do:
"O Lord, and Master of my life"
At the same time, we come to Him acknowledging our sinfulness and the great sins to which all humanity is inclined as a result of our fallen state - sins that lead us to commit all others, in fact:
"the spirit of slothfulness, faint-heartedness, lust of power, and vain talking"
Slothfulness - i.e. laziness! The Christian life is an effort (which does not mean to say we cannot enjoy life). Christ has promised to give us joy, but joy - real joy - has nothing in common with laziness. Laziness steals our time and gives no joy, one discovers only one has done nothing. Exercise is a good cure for laziness - and Lent is a spiritual exercise.
Being faint-hearted is to ask "Why should we try? What for? We will only fail, so why make the effort?". It is a notion that we cannot accomplish anything. God does not demand success; God is always there to pick us up with His love when we fail.
Lust of power is not only something that characterizes military dictators and control freaks but it is also the foundation of "spiritual independence" to which it ultimately leads. The way of humility and obedience is based on our sense of "need" for God, our dependence on Him and the means He has placed at our disposal to achieve union with Him, by means of and in His Church.
Vain talking - the Spiritual Fathers of the Philokalia, the great teachers of the spiritual way rooted in the constant invocation of the Name of our Lord Jesus, take extra care to warn us of this sin! The harm done to individuals, families and communities by foolish words, often spoken in haste, is countless. Christ in the Gospels warned the people of His day who were very concerned with the sins committed by what went into the mouth that what comes OUT of the mouth is what should be guarded against.
All four of these sins represent the four corners, so to speak, of the fundamental "window" that leads us into sin and spiritual tragedy.
We also ask for specific virtues:
"the spirit of integrity, humility, patience and love"
As God's servants, we ask God to reflect in us His Grace through the virtues that run counter to the four vices we enumerated in the first verse.
Integrity is the virtue by which we recognise God's plan for us and do our best to live in accordance with that plan.
We often think of "humility" as the opposite to integrity. Genuine humility is not at all undignified - humility is freedom from illusion. Humility is being prudent. Humility is being clear-sighted. Humility is ultimately realizing that we are called to sanctification and Divinization in Christ, as He demonstrated on Mount Tabor.
Patience comes from the Latin "patient" - "to suffer". It also means not losing hope that God will answer us and keep His Promises to us, no matter what befalls us now. Suffering, in fact, far from being something to be shunned, is an experience that teaches us how truly dependent we are on God and His Mercy.
We ask for the gift of real, authentic love. Christian love is not a sentiment nor an emotion - it is an act of the will, a virtue. It is a gift of God's grace, but we must make the effort to exercise that gift of grace.
After praying for these 4 virtues, we make two more requests:
"grant that I may see my own faults, and not judge my brother"
We can only truly answer for our own sinfulness, for our own intentions. Only God may judge others. This is why we never say, in public prayer, "have mercy on us sinners" but only "have mercy on me a sinner".
The Bible asks us, "who are you that you should judge another man's servant? (Romans 14:4)" Each of us shall answer to the Lord; God forbid that we should judge each other. Christ warns us, "For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged! (Matthew 7:2)"
Instead of judging, let us pray to God to make us always merciful, as He is merciful to us.
Labels: Lent, Orthodox, Prayer, Spirituality
Sunday, January 14, 2007
More Americans join Orthodox Christian Churches
U.S. Orthodox Christian churches drawing converts
By TOM BREEN
Associated Press Writer
January 13, 2007
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. AP — Greg Mencotti worried he would never find a spiritual home.
The Sunday school teacher grew up Roman Catholic, lost his faith and became an atheist. Eventually, he returned to Christianity, this time as a born-again Christian, spending years worshipping in a Methodist congregation. Still, he felt his search wasn't over.
That led him to the Holy Spirit Antiochian Orthodox Church in Huntington, a denomination with Mideast roots that, like all Orthodox groups, traces its origins to the earliest days of Christianity.
Today, Mencotti is one of about 250 million Orthodox believers worldwide — and among a significant number of newcomers attracted to this ancient way of worship. The trend is especially notable since so few in the United States know about the Orthodox churches here.
"I was like most Americans," said Mencotti, who was urged by his wife to explore Orthodox worship. "I didn't understand anything about Orthodoxy."
Orthodoxy was born from the Great Schism of 1054, when feuds over papal authority and differences in the liturgy split Christianity into Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox halves.
In the United States, Orthodox Christians are a fraction of religious believers, numbering about 1.2 million, according to estimates by Orthodox researchers.
In the past, their growth had been largely fueled by immigration, with churches forming mainly along ethnic lines. Some converts came to Orthodoxy through marriage to a church member.
But now about one-third of all U.S. Orthodox priests are converts — and that number is likely to grow, according to Alexei D. Krindatch, research director at the Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute in Berkeley, Calif. A 2006 survey of the four Orthodox seminaries in the country found that about 43 percent of seminarians are converts, Krindatch said.
There are no exact figures on the rate of conversion across the 22 separate U.S. Orthodox jurisdictions. But when Mencotti began attending Orthodox worship, the church was packed with converts, including the church's pastor, the Rev. John Dixon.
The Rev. John Matusiak, pastor of St. Joseph Church in Wheaton, Ill., part of the Orthodox Church in America, said his parish has grown from 20 people in the early 1990s to more than 600 today, with the overwhelming majority of new members younger than 40.
Krindatch's research found that one-third of the more than 200 U.S. parishes in the Antiochian Orthodox Church were founded after 1990.
Matusiak said growth is especially apparent in suburbs and commuter towns. "People in Wheaton weren't flocking to Orthodoxy, because there was never a church here," Matusiak said.
Many converts credit the beauty of the liturgy and the durability of the theology, which can be a comfort to those seeking shelter from divisive battles over biblical interpretation in other Christian traditions.
Dixon, who was raised an Old Regular Baptist, an austere faith of the Southern Appalachians, said his conversion grew from his studies about the origins of Christianity as an undergraduate at Marshall University. The turning point came when he first attended services at an Orthodox church.
"As soon as I came in that day," he says, "I knew I was home."
Convert-fueled growth, though, has its challenges.
Like converts in all faiths, the newly Orthodox bring a zeal that can be unsettling for those born into the church, who tend to be more easygoing in their religious observance. Parishes run the risk of dividing between new and lifelong parishioners, Krindatch says.
"Converts to Orthodoxy form their own little quasi-seminary and it's almost a closed group," says the Rev. Joseph Huneycutt, associate pastor of St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church in Houston, who was raised Southern Baptist then became Orthodox.
And some worry about converts' impact on the churches. They are entering the parishes at a time when many lay activists across Orthodox denominations are pushing church leaders to let go of ethnic divisions and pool resources so they can better evangelize in the United States.
Huneycutt, author of "One Flew Over the Onion Dome," a book about conversion, and the editor of OrthoDixie, a blog about Orthodoxy in the South, said he was drawn to the faith by the beauty of its rituals and its teachings.
On his first visit, he said the church was filled with the smell of incense and the sound of the chanted Divine Liturgy. The altar was largely concealed by the iconostasis, a large screen or wall hung with icons of Christ, Mary, angels and Apostles. And worshippers received Communion from a chalice and spoon.
"I had become convinced that the Eucharist was the center of Christian worship — ancient Christian worship," Huneycutt says. "Once I had reached that point in my personal walk with Christ, there was no going back."
By TOM BREEN
Associated Press Writer
January 13, 2007
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. AP — Greg Mencotti worried he would never find a spiritual home.
The Sunday school teacher grew up Roman Catholic, lost his faith and became an atheist. Eventually, he returned to Christianity, this time as a born-again Christian, spending years worshipping in a Methodist congregation. Still, he felt his search wasn't over.
That led him to the Holy Spirit Antiochian Orthodox Church in Huntington, a denomination with Mideast roots that, like all Orthodox groups, traces its origins to the earliest days of Christianity.
Today, Mencotti is one of about 250 million Orthodox believers worldwide — and among a significant number of newcomers attracted to this ancient way of worship. The trend is especially notable since so few in the United States know about the Orthodox churches here.
"I was like most Americans," said Mencotti, who was urged by his wife to explore Orthodox worship. "I didn't understand anything about Orthodoxy."
Orthodoxy was born from the Great Schism of 1054, when feuds over papal authority and differences in the liturgy split Christianity into Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox halves.
In the United States, Orthodox Christians are a fraction of religious believers, numbering about 1.2 million, according to estimates by Orthodox researchers.
In the past, their growth had been largely fueled by immigration, with churches forming mainly along ethnic lines. Some converts came to Orthodoxy through marriage to a church member.
But now about one-third of all U.S. Orthodox priests are converts — and that number is likely to grow, according to Alexei D. Krindatch, research director at the Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute in Berkeley, Calif. A 2006 survey of the four Orthodox seminaries in the country found that about 43 percent of seminarians are converts, Krindatch said.
There are no exact figures on the rate of conversion across the 22 separate U.S. Orthodox jurisdictions. But when Mencotti began attending Orthodox worship, the church was packed with converts, including the church's pastor, the Rev. John Dixon.
The Rev. John Matusiak, pastor of St. Joseph Church in Wheaton, Ill., part of the Orthodox Church in America, said his parish has grown from 20 people in the early 1990s to more than 600 today, with the overwhelming majority of new members younger than 40.
Krindatch's research found that one-third of the more than 200 U.S. parishes in the Antiochian Orthodox Church were founded after 1990.
Matusiak said growth is especially apparent in suburbs and commuter towns. "People in Wheaton weren't flocking to Orthodoxy, because there was never a church here," Matusiak said.
Many converts credit the beauty of the liturgy and the durability of the theology, which can be a comfort to those seeking shelter from divisive battles over biblical interpretation in other Christian traditions.
Dixon, who was raised an Old Regular Baptist, an austere faith of the Southern Appalachians, said his conversion grew from his studies about the origins of Christianity as an undergraduate at Marshall University. The turning point came when he first attended services at an Orthodox church.
"As soon as I came in that day," he says, "I knew I was home."
Convert-fueled growth, though, has its challenges.
Like converts in all faiths, the newly Orthodox bring a zeal that can be unsettling for those born into the church, who tend to be more easygoing in their religious observance. Parishes run the risk of dividing between new and lifelong parishioners, Krindatch says.
"Converts to Orthodoxy form their own little quasi-seminary and it's almost a closed group," says the Rev. Joseph Huneycutt, associate pastor of St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church in Houston, who was raised Southern Baptist then became Orthodox.
And some worry about converts' impact on the churches. They are entering the parishes at a time when many lay activists across Orthodox denominations are pushing church leaders to let go of ethnic divisions and pool resources so they can better evangelize in the United States.
Huneycutt, author of "One Flew Over the Onion Dome," a book about conversion, and the editor of OrthoDixie, a blog about Orthodoxy in the South, said he was drawn to the faith by the beauty of its rituals and its teachings.
On his first visit, he said the church was filled with the smell of incense and the sound of the chanted Divine Liturgy. The altar was largely concealed by the iconostasis, a large screen or wall hung with icons of Christ, Mary, angels and Apostles. And worshippers received Communion from a chalice and spoon.
"I had become convinced that the Eucharist was the center of Christian worship — ancient Christian worship," Huneycutt says. "Once I had reached that point in my personal walk with Christ, there was no going back."
Friday, December 15, 2006
The Beauty of Russian Orthodox Chant
A beautiful video that I found on Constatine's blog. I liked the first hymn, it seemed so angelic.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Highlights of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI's Visit to the Ecumenical Patriarchate
For more information, please visit Ecumenical Patriarchate.
November 29, 2006
6:30pm Arrival at Kemal Attaturk Airport. Greeted by
His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
7:15 pm Official
Welcome of His Holiness Pope Benedict by His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew of Constantinople.
7:30pm Doxology of thanksgiving and
peace, exchange of greetings, and mutual reverence of the Holy Relics.
8:00pm Private meeting between the Ecumenical Patriarch and the Pope.
8:45pm Departure of Pope
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
November 30, 2006
St. Andrew Feastday
9:45am Arrival of the
Pope and welcome by the Ecumenical Patriarch.
10:00am Patriarchal Divine
Liturgy
1. Exchange of the Kiss of Peace.
2. The Pope recites the Lord’s
prayer in Greek
3. Official addresses and responses between the Pope and the
Ecumenical Patriarch.
4. The Prelates bless the Congregation present.
12:00 pm Official joint blessing of the Faithful present and those
around the world from the balcony of the Chief Secretariat, respectively in
Latin and Greek.
12:30pm Official reading and signing of the Joint
Declaration.
1:00pm Patriarchal Luncheon in honor of the Pope.
2:45pm Pope departs from the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, December 1, 2006
Papal Holy Mass at the Holy Spirit Church
8:40 am Ecumenical Patriarch is welcomed by the Pope.
1. Exchange of
the Kiss of Peace.
2. The Prelates jointly bless the faithful, respectively
in Greek and Latin.
1:15pm His All Holiness bids farewell to the Pope as
he departs from Attaturk Airport.
I hope that this comes in useful for those of you who are intending to keep track of the Holy Father's visit to Turkey. Remember to keep him always in your prayers.
In cordibus Jesus et Mariae,
Deo Juvante
Feast of St. Catherine of Alexandria, Virgin & Martyr
Labels: Holy Father, Orthodox, Vatican
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