Christ is Risen in the Appalachian Ridge and Valley region of the Susquehanna Confluence. Truly He is Risen!
This blog is an ongoing reflection on Orthodox Christian life, apologetics, and Bible study in Northern Appalachia, by an unworthy American Russian Orthodox country priest who as a literature professor studies and teaches about Christian ecosemiotics, or the articulation of meaningfulness in Creation. He asks for your prayers. Below is an introduction to the blog.
Appalachian-style Orthodox chant, video above and below.
The Russian Orthodox statesman-writer Konstantin Pobedonostsev wrote, “Let us remember the ancient admonition: ‘know thyself.’ In application to life this means: know the milieu in which you must live and act, know your country, know your nature, your narod [the community of people] with its soul and its way of life, its wants and needs. This is what we should know and what we for the most part do not know. But what a blessing it would be for us and for all of society if we tried to know all this, if only that place, that region, that corner of a region where destiny has placed us” (translated by Thomas Calnan Sorenson).
This can relate to prophecies of the restored Israel as the Church (as in Ezekiel 36)–a place in which Paradise is glimpsed, along with a sense of the Kingdom of God, by illumination in the local parish as fractal for the “One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church.” The mystical unity that Russian Orthodox Christians call sobornost, non-essentialist and from the heart, sparkles in the mystery of the Orthodox Church as the Body of Christ in every place, including in the Northern Appalachia of our parish.
Saturday Feb. 7 we’ll start a new reading in St. John Church’s “Online Orthodoxy” class: Reading the first part of The Orthodox Church by Timothy Ware (1963-63), first edition (later the author became Metropolitan Kallistos), on Church history. We’ll be reading and discussing in sections. Please join us Saturdays 10 to 11 a.m., and contact Father Paul for the link (priestpauls@pm.me), A pdf of the first edition is attached here, and a physical copy is also available in the Church library.
Dear brothers and sisters today we begin the Lenten Triodion, which lasts ten weeks through Pascha. This is the first of the three Sundays before Great Lent. Now we should prepare ourselves and flee from all that is spiritually toxic and corrupt in our lives, seeking God’s help, fleeing as did Lot from Sodom, and Noah to the Ark.
We should prepare as if we are on a beautiful but arduous trail working upwards. For the uplands are those of Paradise to which our Lord Jesus Christ beckons us, across the mountains of Lent that are more rugged than those of our Appalachia, while so radiant on the horizon lies the glorious heights of the Resurrection of Pascha.
In today’s Gospel reading, the Publican, the corrupt tax collector and sinner, says “God be merciful to me a sinner.” He utters in this Gospel parable from our Lord the basis of the Jesus Prayer in Orthodox Church Tradition. The short form of that prayer builds from this, and personalizes it, to “Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me.” In Greek, in Slavonic, and even in an Appalachian English, this becomes five words, in effect the five words that the Apostle Paul said was better than a multitude of vain words: Lord Jesus Christ, mercy me. It is what we as Orthodox Christians pray when we can not pray anything else, and when we want to pray without ceasing: Lord Jesus Christ, mercy me. As the Apostle put it, “I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue” (I Cor. 14:19). These are the words of the prayer that warms our heart, so that, as Saint Seraphim of Sarov put it, we can acquire the Spirit of peace, that thousands around us may be saved. By contrast, the vain words in a tongue today can be anything from texting, media reports, social media posts, heartless theological musings, political sloganeering, self-promoting rhetorical lies, to abstract academic language. Instead: Lord Jesus Christ, mercy me.
In this little heartfelt prayer of the Publican is summed up all the Gospel. Lord is the recognition of Jesus by the Holy Spirit. Christ indicates Jesus’ identity as the anointed One of God the Father. Here we have the Orthodox Trinity, the fullest teaching of the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a relation uncorrupted by the heretical filioque of the West. In the prayer is also the inherent understanding and participation in the uncreated energies of God, which also is a teaching fully found only in Orthodoxy. And this prayer brings the humility we need in our practice of Orthodox asceticism and govenie, the strong preparation for the Eucharist, another distinctive feature of our Orthodox faith. Let us take up our prayer ropes, our chotki or komboskini, as our weapons in this spiritual warfare against the demons with God’s help.
In this short prayer we have the name of Jesus, He Who saves. How powerful is the name of the Incarnate God recognized as Lord, more than we can imagine. The Holy Scripture tells us for millennia the power of the name of God, especially in the New Testament history of the Acts of the Apostles, in healings by His name.
Church Tradition teaches us that such continuous prayer with our prayer ropes helps prepare us for opening our hearts to the divine uncreated light of God, which comes from that whole Trinity, to transform us, so that we may kindle the spark of God’s love in our heart into a beacon of hope.
The time-honored Orthodox classic book Unseen Warfare offers good instruction for cultivating this light in prayer from the heart during Great Lent, with our prayer ropes as a kind of generator so to speak. It tells us at the beginning that the externals of worship and even private prayer are not enough. What is needed is submission to God, emptying ourselves in Him. The book tells us how we need “submission not only to God but also to all creatures, for the sake of our love of God; renunciation of all will of our own and perfect obedience to the will of God; and moreover desire for all this and it spractice with a pure heart in the glory of God… This is the law of love, inscribed by the finger of God Himself in the hearts of His true servants! This is the renunciation of ourselves that God demands of us! This is the blessed yoke of Jesus Christ and His burden that is light! This is the submission to God’s will, which our Redeemer and Teacher demands from us both by His word and by His example!” (Nun Christina quotation)
The little prayer, Lord Jesus Christ mercy me, exemplifies all this. The Greek work here for mercy, a verb, is related in its root to healing oil, the kindness of anointing.
What is the history of this book Unseen Warfare, a companion to our preparation for our Lenten expedition? It is improbable but wonderworking in its way. Written originally by a Catholic, it was re-written by St. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain, one of the translators also of the Philokalia. Then it was edited and revised again by St. Theophan the Recluse, one of the great Russian saints of hesychastic or quiet continuous prayer as inner stillness and humility. The book illustrates how the Athonite and Russian Orthodox traditions of continuous prayer meet. This is how Orthodoxy in fulfillment of biblical prophecy forms a new nation across all the nations as Israel, the Church of God.
Across the earth in human history, mightier than the march of armies is the power of an idea whose time has come, the French writer Victor Hugo wrote. But infinitely more powerful than any idea is the Word made flesh, Whose suffering we remember in Great Lent as we move toward the inescapable Resurrection and the light exploding from the tomb that cannot be stopped. Today the Publican remembers this, the Pharisee does not.
There is no greater task before us brothers and sisters than oneness with the uncreated energies. They are divinity touching us and beckon us to participate in God’s activities, beyond which lie His essence, an ineffable mystery of love beyond us but caring. Those uncreated energies, the uncreated light of God also called grace, inflame our heart with love. This sparkling is the natural law in Orthodox Christianity, not fixed and legalistic, but dynamic and transforming. It is articulated in the Jesus prayer that can be on our lips and in our mind and into our heart even in the worst trials.
May we in this leadup to Great Lent feel the great love of God in our heart, pouring forth as the water of Life, from the Holy Ghost, and from Him Who is the Life. Let us remember in this threshold time before Lent how Jesus Christ at the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of his betrayal is said to have sweat blood for us. Metropolitan Antony Khrapovitsky, the first first hierarch of ROCOR, explained that Jesus in the Garden suffered so not because his human nature felt at risk, but because of His great love for all of us His people, and His sadness at our many sins, for all time. He poured out His human heart so it would have broke, but filled with His divinity His compassion shines to us to this day and forever and ever.
Brothers and sisters, let us nurture the spark of God’s love gifted to our heart, humbly yet powerfully, like the Publican. Let us embrace at every moment the short five-word phrase that embraces all the Gospel and fulfills the prophecy of Paul: Lord Jesus Christ, mercy me.
Glory to God for all things!
The Reading from the
Holy Gospel according to Luke,
§89[18:10-14]
The Lord said this parable: ‘Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank Thee that I am not as other men are: extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the publican, standing afar off, would not so much as lift up his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other; for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.’
The Online Orthodoxy Class at St. John’s Russian Orthodox Mission Church in Winfield, Pennsylvania, will begin a study of Church History with the arrival of the Lenten Triodion on the Church calendar.
Beginning Saturday, Feb. 7, God willing we will start discussion of the first part of the first edition of The Orthodox Church by Timothy Ware (later Metropolitan Kallistos Ware). A pdf is attached below, and physical copies can be found used online often, please note that we are using the first edition, which is especially respected for its traditional approach to Orthodoxy. At the time of its writing c. 1960s, Metropolitan Kallistos was a lay scholar in the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.
This reading follows our previous reading-discussions of sections from Genesis, Creation, and Early Man by Hieromonk Seraphim Rose (3rd edition), and The Mystical Theology of the Orthodox Church by Vladimir Lossy.
The Online Orthodoxy class is held usually on Saturdays 10 a.m. to 11. It is open to inquirers, catechumens, and new and longer-term Orthodox Christians alike. For questions, details, and a link, please contact Priest Paul of St. John’s, priestpauls@pm.me.
(Above) Orthodox Christian icon of today’s Gospel reading. (Below) Ancient sycamore tree in Jericho identified with Zacchaeus, at the Russian Orthodox museum there. Nearby another ancient sycamore tree also associated traditionally with Zacchaeus is at a Greek Orthodox Monastery.
Dear Brothers and Sisters, How often every day we may feel that we are lost and need someone to find and rescue us, whether in a snowstorm, in sinful delusions and fears, in the stresses of everyday life, or in the wilderness of our world digital news and conflicts and worldly ares that sweep us along. Then let us hear what our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ says in the Gospel today about the wealthy yet reviled Zacchaeus: “This day is salvation come to this house, in that he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
What we really need, as the Gospel account of Zacchaeus today indicates, is the combination of humility, repentance, and zeal in the Spirit he expressed in seeking out Jesus Christ. This is for us the proper preparation for Great Lent, whose gateway Sundays begin next week.
If we are home due to the snowstorm today, let us dedicate ourselves more energetically and humbly and repentantly in prayer, following the example of this corrupt and despised wealthy “insider,” whose repentance led our Lord to sup with him, changing his life to become the first Christian Bishop of Caesarea.
The Orthodox Church gives Zacchaeus an honored place on her calendar in this gateway to Great Lent, and also remembers ancient sycamore trees identified with his story by tradition in Jericho, one at the Russian Orthodox Christian Museum there, and the other nearby at a Greek Orthodox Monastery. His history applies to each of us.
Zacchaeus was reviled by everyday people because he was an agent of the Roman Empire against his own people, a wealthy tax collector who lived like a parasite off others and took his cut of the income stream before passing it along to colonial rulers. Today we might hasten to compare him to a government bureaucrat. But think of how many more people, starting with ourselves, could stand similarly convicted—enjoying wealth or career and affluent isolation, even if with our immediate family household, at the expense of others, our countrymen, those less fortunate, and the Church.
Let us be converted to a new life in Christ as he was by opening his heart to intuition from God. Little Zachaeus scrambled up a sycamore tree in a crowd, which we can imagine as undignified for a wealthy yet reviled short man. But our Lord spiritually knew him and said He would come to his house. Then Zacchaeus told the Lord how he would give away half his wealth to the poor, and with the rest give back fourfold to each person whom he had wronged. Which of us would be so generous and repentant in alms-giving? Remember that the root meaning of the word free is generosity, related to the word for friend, and recognizing each one of our brothers and sisters in the human race gives us entry to the new race or nation of Christ’s Church open to all. For His New Commandment to us is to love our neighbor more than ourselves, in Christ. By this we become grafted into Israel, the Church, the seed of Abraham fully realized in the New Testament of our Lord.
It is said that the Apostle John late in life would give a simple sermon again and again. “Little children, love one another,” he would say. Simple words uttered with the light of uncreated grace from the Apostle connect hearts with our Lord and His Church, even as Jesus drew Zacchaeus. In our devotion to mission work here from our parish we can participate in this love from Christ, in helping others such as Zacchaeus to feel the right and natural spiritual attraction of our Lord and His Church, for the healing and salvation of their souls.
But first let us confess how distracted we are in these latter days from the love of God by the spirit of anti-Christ. That false spirit sets up fun and comfort before sobriety, and delusion rather than attentiveness, to let our mind wander away from our heart. Then the demons work to capture both. Our culture tries to make our devices more attractive than prayers, a trip to Disney World more appealing than Church. We will drop everything for one or the other with sacrifice, but not for the Way Who is Christ, not to help save our souls or others.
Metropolitan Vitaly of ROCOR years ago said, “We have not yet fully understood the enormous consequences of the invention of television. Possessed of a truly magical power of fascination and attraction, and at the same time concealing within itself the terrible poison of corruption.” How much more does this apply to our devices and amusements today. They seek to capture our will, our desire, and by it lead us astray, like some digital farm animal pulled by the equivalent of a nose piercing. But it is a mega-corporation, anti-Christian influencers from a dark place, and deep states doing the pulling, which ultimately comes from the demonas. Lord have mercy! A generation ago a book appeared by a media critic entitled Amusing Ourselves to Death. This is what happens too often today. Such distractions would try to prevent us from being Zacchaeus climbing into the sycamore tree with an instinct and openness for repentance, to see Christ and be seen by Him.
Yet there is hope. We always are seen by Him, of course. The uncreated divine energies of God can open the eyes of our soul.
But we need to open our heart in faith, even if a little at first. Otherwise we run the risk of staying home with other amusements with our devices, enjoying our ill-gotten gains. For even if the profits from our life are due to right service to others, still, that which we have that is more than we need is, as St. Basil the Great noted, robbery from those in need. Like Zacchaeus we need to climb up the Tree of Life that is the Word of God, Jesus Christ.
One of the great saints of our tradition, St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, wrote a homily for Zacchaeus Sunday, and in conclusion let me quote from a part of it.
He wrote: “Publicans” were what they called tax collectors. It was tempting money! The sparkle of gold and silver charms the eyes of Adam’s descendants infected with sinfulness, and where money passes from hand to hand, abuse almost inevitably creeps in. Publicans were for the most part prone to extortion. When extortion becomes a passion it allows itself all manner of coercion and oppression against one’s neighbor. Then the passion of deceit and hypocrisy comes to the aid of the passion of extortion. From this combination comes the tendency towards captiousness, latching onto every trifle under the pretext of relentlessly fulfilling the laws, inventing guilt for the guiltless, exerting every effort to create an appearance of justness to conceal this inhuman oppression and cruelty against one’s neighbors. Because of this behavior publicans were horrible to the people, and held in contempt by moral people. Zacchaeus was a chief publican; his abuses were greater than those of his underlings. There is a reason why the Gospels point out that he was rich! He became rich unrighteously—his sin was extortion. His soul’s illness was filthy lucre and the mercilessness and lack of compassion that comes from it. Because of his serious sins and criminal disposition of soul, Zacchaeus was called “lost”. Not people’s light-minded, often mistaken condemnation called him lost—God Himself pronounced this judgment upon him. Zacchaeus had become a hardened sinner; in order to amass wealth through abuses one has to do so persistently and for a long time.
The reason for Zacchaeus’s sinful life consists in what is also the reason for the sinful lives of many today: following generally accepted behavior, and either ignorance or merely superficial knowledge of God’s Law. Publicans were usually drawn in by the vice of greed, and so was Zacchaeus. The majority of the Judean population contemporary to Jesus was preoccupied almost exclusively with earthly well-being, striving mainly for material enrichment and worldly success. At that time, the Law of God was most often studied according to the letter. Temple services were performed mostly to satisfy ritual practice, and good deeds were performed superficially and coldly, mostly for the sake of appearances and effect upon public opinion. Zacchaeus was also content with this. He lived like everyone else. Even now you often hear people say, “I live like everyone else.” This is a vain justification, a deceptive consolation! The word of God announces and commands something quite different. Enter ye in, it says, at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it (Mt. 7:13–14). The strait gate is the scrupulous, conscientious study of God’s Law in the Scriptures and in life; the narrow way is activity wholly directed by the Gospel commandments.
Zacchaeus was seized by the desire to see the Lord, and he proved the sincerity of his desire with action. The Lord, the seer of hearts accepted his wish, and deigned to visit Zacchaeus in his home. The sinner was enraptured with joy when he saw the Lord coming to him, and the sins became loathsome to the sinner; from love his heart lost its attachment to the fruits of a sinful life and the corruption of riches. Standing before the Lord, the seer of Hearts, Zacchaeus said, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold (Lk. 19:8). In this promise consists the recognition of his sin, repentance, and correction united with great self-denial. Zacchaeus admits his cupidity and resolves to make amends for oppressing his neighbors by rewarding them abundantly. Zacchaeus admits his greed and resolves to cleanse himself, to sanctify his property and his heart with abundant almsgiving. The Lord is quick to accept Zacchaeus’s repentance. The Lord pronounces concerning that sinner who only minutes before was among the ranks of lost outcasts, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham (Lk. 19:9). Zacchaeus was a descendant of Abraham according to the flesh; only by God’s judgment and only because of his good deeds does he become an adopted son of Abraham. The word house can be understood as Zacchaeus’s soul, into which salvation has come after his repentance, which cleansed his soul from sin. The Lord’s words can also relate to Zacchaeus’s family, who, at the example of their head and with his same self-denial entered, as it often happens, into true knowledge of God and a God-pleasing life….
The Holy Gospels can be compared to a mirror. Each of us can see, if we so desire, the state of our soul reflected in them, and find that all-powerful healing offered to us by the all-powerful doctor, God…. The judgment of the Son of Man over people, as we see in the Gospels, is completely different from that of ordinary human beings, who judge their neighbors out of their own righteousness—a righteousness rejected of God and corrupted by sin. The Savior has justified all sinners who received redemption through repentance and faith—although other people condemned them; and to the contrary, He has condemned all those who have rejected redemption by rejecting repentance and faith—although people considered them righteous, and deserving of respect and reward. We have seen today in the Gospel mirror a sinner given to the passion of greed, acting out of this passion by unjust tax collection and a multiplicity of offenses against his neighbor. We have seen this sinner, condemned by people, justified by God for his faith and true repentance. This is a consoling, encouraging scene! And as He faithfully promised, the Savior still abides among us; He still heals our souls wounded by sin. And His Divine ordinance has not passed away: The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. Amen.
So speaks St. Ignatius Brianchaninov to us on this Zacchaeus Sunday. Brothers and Sisters, let us neither let digital distractions nor careerism or both prevent us from finding redemption like little Zacchaeus. Let us run to climb up the Tree of Life to see Jesus Christ that he may dine with us. For Christ is Baptized! In the Jordan!
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Holy Gospel according to Luke,
§94 [19:1-10]
At that time, Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. And he sought to see Jesus, who He was, but could not for the press of the crowd, because he was short in stature. And he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said unto him, ‘Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must abide at thy house.’ And he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying that He had gone to be the guest of a man who was a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood and said unto the Lord, ‘Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore to him fourfold.’ And Jesus said unto him, ‘This day is salvation come to this house, in that he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.’
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Today we arrive at the fulfillment of the repentance we commemorated yesterday at Theophany Eve, namely the baptism of Jesus Christ by the Forerunner John, who had called Israel to repentance in advance of Jesus’ public ministry. Yet Jesus here also most properly Himself baptized the waters of Creation, energizing the water with the uncreated light of the Holy Spirit, and so this day is also known anciently as the Day of Lighs, marking the end of Orthodox Christmas. Today we are called to go forth in our mission work in God’s Creation, both in repentance, and nourishing with God’s help the spark of God’s love in each of our hearts, that we may let our light shine on the road toward Great Lent, and, on the horizon, the glorious Pascha of the Resurrection.
Our Father among the saints Gregory Palamas in a homily for today (as translated by Prof. Christopher Veniamin) speaks of the words heard upon Christ’s baptism: “Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: and lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:16–17).
St. Gregory writes, “Great and exalted, brethren, is the mystery of Christ’s baptism contained in these few words. It is both difficult to contemplate and hard to interpret, and no less difficult to comprehend. But since it pertains especially to our salvation, we are persuaded by Him who urges us to search the Scriptures (John 5:39), and take courage to investigate the power of the mystery, as far as it is accessible to us. Just as in the beginning, after God had said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness’ (Gen. 1:26), when our nature was created in Adam, the life-giving Spirit, who was manifested and given to man by God breathing into him (Gen. 2:7), revealed at once the tri-hypostatic character of the creative divinity to the other creatures, which were brought into existence by the word alone of the Word and made manifest simply by the Father who spoke; so now that our nature was being re-made in Christ, when the Holy Spirit was revealed through His descent from the supracelestial regions upon the Lord being baptized in the Jordan, He disclosed the mystery of the most sublime and all-accomplishing Trinity, which is able to save reasonable creatures.
“…But the perfectly suprasensible angels and archangels, as they are intelligent and rational, have a mind and reason, but no quickening spirit, since they also lack bodies which would need to be animated by such a spirit. Man is the only creature who, in the image of the tri-hypostatic Being, has a mind, reason, and a spirit which gives life to his body, inasmuch as he also has a body which needs to be infused with life. When our nature was re-made in the Jordan, the most sublime and all-accomplishing Trinity was made manifest, as the archetype of the image in our soul. Therefore those who receive Christian baptism after Christ are baptized with three immersions, whereas John baptized with one immersion in the Jordan…. For Christ’s going down into the water and His being underneath it, at the time of His baptism, foreshadowed His descent into Hades; and, accordingly, His coming up from under the water prefigured His resurrection from the dead. As a fitting consequence, when He came up from the water the heavens were immediately opened to Him. For at the time of His descent into Hades, He went under the earth for our sake, and on returning thence, He opened all things both to Himself and to us, not just things on or around the earth, but highest heaven itself, to which afterwards He ascended bodily, ‘whither the forerunner is for us entered’ (Heb. 6:20). Just as He foreshowed the saving passion through the mystical bread and cup, and then handed on this mystery to the faithful to perform for their salvation (1 Cor. 11:25, Luke 22:17–20), so He mystically foretold His descent into Hades and His ascent from there through this baptism of His, and afterwards passed on this sacrament to believers to perform that they may be saved.
“He allowed Himself what was painful and difficult, but bestowed on us communion in His sufferings right from the start through these painless means, causing us, according to the apostle, to be ‘planted together in the likeness of his death’ (Rom. 6:5), that in due time we might also be vouchsafed the promised resurrection. Having a soul and body like ours, which He assumed from us for our sake, by means of this body He underwent the passion, death and burial for us, and showed forth the resurrection from the tomb that this same body might become immortal. He taught us to accomplish the bloodless sacrifice in remembrance of these events, that through it we might reap salvation. With His soul He went down to Hades and returned, making us all partakers in eternal light and life, and in token of this He handed on to us the practice of holy baptism, that through it we might harvest salvation; and indeed that through each of these two mysteries and through both elements, soul and body, we might be initiated into and receive the seeds of incorruptible life. For our whole salvation depends on these two sacraments, as the entire dispensation whereby God became man is summed up in them.
“’The heavens were opened unto him’ (Matt. 3:16). It does not say ‘heaven’ but ‘the heavens were opened unto him,’ meaning all of them, all the upper realms, lest, when you look up at anything in the sky above us, you might suppose there is something higher and more sublime than He who has now been baptized. Rather you should understand and recognize that there is one nature and dominion, which reaches from the space, infinite as itself, around and above the heavens, to the intermediate regions of the universe and our own furthest bounds, filling everything, leaving nothing outside itself, encompassing and embracing all things for their salvation, and extending beyond them all; and this nature is made known ineffably in three united persons. ‘The heavens were opened unto him’ (Matt. 3:16), that He might be manifestly shown to be the one who existed before the heavens, or rather, who was before anything existed, as being with God, as the Word and Son of God, whose Father was not born before Him, and as having a name with the Father, ‘Which is above every name’ and all speech (Phil. 2:9). For when all those earthly and heavenly things which appeared to be between Him and His Father in heaven were torn asunder and thrown to each side, He alone was shown to be united with the Father and the Spirit, as He existed with Them before anything was made…. Christ is seen to have received in the flesh all the immeasurable, limitless power and energy of the divine Spirit. The heavens demonstrated in a practical way that all this power and energy cannot be contained in the whole of creation….
“Everything that happened to Him was for our sake. Therefore through Him the heavens opened for us, and they wait for us to enter with their gates flung wide… Because our human nature, assumed by the Son of God, is considered inseparable from Him, it too ascends to such honour that even after He has been made man, there are three divine persons who are worshipped and bring light, and in whom we believe and are baptized, stripping off the old man through divine baptism, and clothing ourselves in Christ, the New Adam. He made our guilty nature new in Himself by taking it upon Himself from the Virgin’s blood, as was His good pleasure, and justifying it through Himself. He then freed all those born of Him according to the Spirit from the forefathers’ curse and condemnation …. Even the original foundation of the world looked towards this, towards Him who is baptized below as the Son of man, but testified to from above as God’s only beloved Son, for whom and through whom are all things, as the apostle says (cf. Rom. 11:36). Consequently, man was also brought into being in the beginning because of Him, being formed according to God’s image so that one day he might contain his archetype.”
So spoke St. Gregory Palamas. Dear brothers and sisters, as Theophany is the consummation of the Incarnation, so today is the culmination of our Christmas season. Let us go forward with joy in the gift of God of Himself to us, in this manifestation of the Trinity on the River Jordan, from ancient time in human time, including right here and now in God’s beyond-time. God willing, after this service we will go forward to ask our Lord to sanctify the waters of our Susquehanna River as He did the waters of Jordan. Some geologists claim our Susquehanna River is a primordially ancient river, and hydrographers have said that its ultimate headwaters appropriately are in marshes on the grounds of our Holy Trinity Seminary. The identity of the fourth river in Paradise is ambiguous to moderns–some Church Fathers called it the Ganges, and some the Danube, as the rivers of Paradise were scattered with the geography of the world by the Fall and then the Flood. But perhaps that ambiguity also allegorically indicates how after the Fall and expulsion from Paradise yet all the rivers and waters of the earth would be sanctified by our Lord’s baptism to come, mystically pointing to the river flowing from the New Jerusalem of His Church at His Second Coming. So we will go forth for the blessing of our river here now. And we ask our Lord, in the flow of His uncreated energy with the Holy Spirit, to cleanse and enlighten our hearts as well on this Theophany Day. Christ is Born In the Jordan!
St. John’s Warden Nik Teisher reels in the Cross from the Susquehanna River at Lewisburg, with Father Paul and Readers Luke and Nicholas.
Theophany in ancient times was known as the Day of Lights. It is the day familiar to us as marking the Baptism of Christ. But it is also as part of that the manifestation of God, symbolzing the illumination of Creation by the light of Christ. Theophany means God brought to light in Greek. And in the icon of the Feast before us, we see the light of the Holy Spirit, the uncreated light of God, upon Jesus Christ as he receives baptism from John, but all is His shining forth.
On this Theophany Eve we fast to prepare to re-live that moment on the River Jordan, when the river ran backwards, whenspirits and creatures of the river were amazed as depicted in some of the icons of the feast. As the hymn proclaims, the worship of the Trinity was made manifest in the voice of God, and the Spirit in the form of a dove. But as we fast on Theophany Eve, we embody repentance, which is part of this time of year also, marking the end of the Christmas Season, in Russian Sviatki or the holy days, even as we rejoice in our Lord’s sanctification of the waters of Creation, cleansing them and potentially us from the Fall. Only two weeks ahead of us lies the start of the Lenten Triodion preceding Great Lent. So the Church calendar always balances us in the joyful sorrow of our faith, bearing the Cross that is our weapon in our spiritual warfare with God’s grace, and which is also our redemption and consolation in Jesus Christ.
So the Cross will plunge into the water at the Great Blessing. St. Gregory Palamas gave a homily about repentance on Theophany Eve, which follows in part. St. Gregory said: [Christopher Veniamin translation]
Water is a means of cleansing, but not for souls. It can remove dirt from those being baptized, but not the grime that comes from sin. For that reason the Healer of souls, the Father of spirits (Heb. 12:9), Christ, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), enters the water before us to be baptized, as we celebrate today in advance. He draws the grace of the all-holy Spirit from above to dwell in the water with Him, so that later when those being baptized as He was enter the water, He is there, clothing them ineffably with His Spirit, attaching Himself to them, and filling them with the grace that purifies and illumines reasonable spirits. And this is what the divine Paul is referring to: “As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27). .. For we are born again (cf. John 3:3–5) and become heavenly sons of God (cf. Rom. 8:14–19, Phil. 2:15, 1 John 3:1–2) instead of earthly beings, eternal instead of transient. God has mystically implanted heavenly grace in our hearts and set the seal of adoption as sons upon us through anointing with this holy chrism, sealing us by means of the all-holy Spirit for the day of redemption (cf. Eph. 4:30), provided we keep this confession firm to the end and fulfil our promise through deeds, though we may renew it through repentance if it drifts a little off course. That is why works of repentance are necessary even after baptism. But if they are absent, the words of our promise to God are not only useless but also condemn us….The Lord Himself asks, “Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). He is the living and true God, and seeks from us truthful promises, and living, not dead faith: for “faith without works is dead” (Jas. 2:26). 9. …As the prodigal son said when he repented, “Lord, I am not worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants” (cf. Luke 15:19)…. The Lord’s Forerunner did not guide men just to the starting point of repentance, which is keeping away from evil things and profitable contrition of heart, but also sought fruits worthy of repentance (Matt. 3:8). What are these? Firstly confession, as practiced by those who came to him at that time. “Then they went out”, it says, “and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins” (Matt. 3:5–6). Next, he looked for righteousness, almsgiving, moderation, love, truthfulness, telling them, “Exact no more than that which is appointed you”, “Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely” (Luke 3:13, 14), and “He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise” (Luke 3:11). “For every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low” (Luke 3:5). What is the hidden meaning of valleys being filled in and mountains being brought low? Exactly what the Lord says plainly, “Every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke 18:14). …
Whereas John baptized so that people would believe in Him who was coming, the Lord transformed John’s baptism through Himself, mystically planting within it through Himself the pre-eternal fount of grace. While John was teaching these things and baptizing those who approached, Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee to the Jordan, to be baptized by John (Matt. 3:13, Mark 1:9, Luke 3:21, cf. John 1:29–31). He did not come on the twelfth day after His birth, as we now keep this feast, rightly choosing to commemorate each year everything accomplished in the course of the dispensation whereby God became man. He came rather when He had reached thirty years of age, as Luke relates (Luke 3:23), seeming to be one of the crowd, with no indication that He was at all different, in simplicity and utter lowliness and obscurity. John, however, knew through the clear vision of the Spirit that He was drawing near, and said to the multitude, “There standeth one among you, whom ye know not, who is after me”, according to His birth and appearance in the flesh, but “was before me” (cf. John 1:26–27, 15), as God, the Word and Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages, and now bearing bodily the fullness of the Godhead (Col. 2:9), “the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose” (Luke 3:16). What else can the shoes of the Word of God be except, obviously, the flesh, which He put on for our sake? The strap of these shoes is the way in which His divinity is joined with His flesh,1119 which is beyond words, and which even the highest man born of woman (cf. Matt. 11:11) is inadequate to analyse and clarify. “He”, says John, “shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire” (Matt. 3:11); fire, that is to say, which is capable of enlightening and punishing, with each one receiving what is appropriate, according to what his disposition merits. We are all His rational field (1 Cor. 3:9), and He has “the winnowing-fan” for that field “in His hand” (Matt. 3:12), meaning the powers who minister to Him and the angels who will serve Him at the coming Judgment, separating the tares from the wheat (cf. Matt. 13:39–42). …And this is what John himself said after these things, “This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received” (John 1:15–16). “Suffer it to be so now”, Jesus tells him, “for thus it becometh us”, meaning “Me”. These words, too, are spoken to John with authority. “Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness” (Matt. 3:15), that is, that I may leave no divine commandment undone, thus perfectly justifying human nature and filling it more visibly with divine and eternal grace. For when I receive baptism at your hands, I shall manifestly draw down upon it from above the Spirit of adoption. John, hearing the Master’s command, “Suffer it to be so”, had nothing to say in reply, and let the Lord be baptized. We shall speak tomorrow of what happened next, for these events belong especially to the appointed feastday. The Spirit comes upon us and departs of His own volition, being of equal might with the Father and the Son.1125 He stays with those who live in repentance, and even if they sin does not leave them, as we have seen from David (2 Sam. 12:1ff, cf. Ps. 51:11), but forsakes those who sin without repenting, as we have found out from Saul (cf. 1 Sam. 16:14). So may we all, clinging throughout our lives to the works, words and thoughts of repentance, have Him always dwelling within us, to give us understanding, care for us, and grant us heavenly salvation, now and for ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Thus says St. Gregory Palamas. Brothers and sisters, let this end of the Christmas Season be for us a beginning in repentance, that the sanctified waters, the Living Water of the Holy Spirit offered us by Jesus Christ, buoy us up and refresh and renew us every day. Let tomorrow’s Theophany then be for us a spiritual deep cleaning of our lives and renewal of our baptismal vows, with the uncreated light of God sparkling the earthly waters. Thus, as missionaries in this mission parish, as St. Seraphim of Sarov whom we commemorated this past week tells us, may we acquire peace in ourselves, that thousands around us may be saved.
St. John’s Russian Orthodox Mission Church, Winfield PA. January 7534/3036
From the end of the Christmas Season and Theophany to the Pre-Lenten Sunday of the Prodigal Son
May this beginning of January on the Church Calendar (January 14 on the civil calendar) be marked, by God’s grace, with new hope and promise, on the edge between the Leave-Taking of the Nativity and the Forefeast of Theophany. We continue with the ancient Orthodox “Christmas Season” running from Christmas through Theophany.
January 1/14 marks the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ, and also the Feast of St. Basil the Great of Caesarea, one of the “Three Hierarchs,” the three great ecumenical teachers of the Church, and the author of one of our early Church Liturgy services. It is also the Orthodox civil new year.
January 2/15 marks also the start of the Forefeast of Theophany and the Feast of another great Saint of our Church, St. Seraphim of Sarov. He famously said, “Acquire the Spirit of Peace and a thousand souls around you will be saved.”
Let us make that a motto for our renewed mission work this new civil year, starting in our own hearts with God’s help and with our further struggle. For later in January come the “Pre-Lenten” Sundays of the Publican and Pharisee (Jan. 19/Feb. 1), and of the Prodigal Son (Jan. 26/Feb. 8).
As Hieromonk Seraphim Rose, the American spiritual son of our patron St. John, put it: “From this day, from this hour, from this minute, let us strive to love God above all, and fulfill His holy will.”
House Blessings
We will be scheduling house blessings this month, starting on Theophany, January 6/19. This is a wonderful time for a “spiritual reboot” of our homes. Please contact Fr. Paul, 570-863-9039 or priestpauls@pm.me.
Theophany Fasting and Services
We are in a no-fasting period through Saturday Jan. 4/17, then fasting with wine and olive oil permitted on Sunday, Theophany Eve, Jan. 5/18. Then we return to a “regular” post-Christmas fasting schedule.
Royal Hours, Friday Jan. 3/16, 9 a.m. Great Blessing of the Waters Indoors, following Divine Liturgy on Sunday Morning, Jan. 5/18 Vespers and Matins for Theophany Eve, 5:30 p.m., Jan. 5/18 Divine Liturgy for Theophany, 10 a.m. Monday, Jan. 6/19 (Hours 9:40).
Regular Services and Other Events
Regular Services this weekend will continue as usual with Vigil on Saturdays at 4:30 p.m., and Divine Liturgy on Sundays at 10 a.m. (Hours 9:40).
Please join our weekly online Orthodoxy Class at 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturday, bucknell.zoom.us/my/kentigern/, and our Bible Study at the Bucknell University bookstore Sundays at 2:30 p.m. (These events are co-sponsored with the Bucknell University Orthodox Christian community, with Fr. Paul being also Orthodox Christian Chaplain at Bucknell.)
Prison Ministry
Our mission prison ministry at the Muncy SCI is scheduled to begin Monday morning Jan. 26. This first regular Orthodox Christian gathering is being promoted by the Prison’s Chaplain’s office as the “Christian Psychology Book Club” featuring Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov. The 90-minute gathering will begin with the Orthodox Thanksgiving Akathist and then go into discussion of the opening few chapters of the novel, which is a psychological and philosophical and deeply Orthodox book in the Russian Orthodox tradition, and perhaps the most acclaimed novel in world literature. Gatherings will continue weekly, God willing. Priest Paul and Reader Richard have been getting clearances. If you’re interested, please be in touch.
Film Festival
The Brotherhood of St. Alfred the Great and members of the Bible Study have been brainstorming about a film series this coming spring and summer. The series would feature Orthodox Christian-related films (ranging from Tarkovsky to the new St. Moses the Black film etc.), which could be shown at multiple locations–outside on our property in good weather, at the Campus Theatre, and also at Bucknell’s campus. This could generate some good attention for our mission and missionary work.
Brotherhood News
The Brotherhood’s retreat at Skeeter’s garnered ideas for a kayak trip, gun-safety/instruction workshop, and family game night. In addition, we hope to move forward with plans for more processions at downtown festivals in the area during 2026.
Sisterhood News
Thanks to our Sisterhood of St. Olga of Alaska for work in decorating our Temple for Christmas and also in organizing Nativity Season coffee hours and our “Christmas Eve Wassail.” Please keep watch for upcoming news of a Sisterhood Retreat.
Prayer for the Sick
Please include prayers for Innocent and John in nursing home, Mary and Magdalene who have medical situations hindering their attendance at worship, and for the health of all those mentioned in our Prayers for the Sick in Liturgy and in our messenger group chat. May the Lord give good strength and quick healing! If you’re interested in helping with visits to the sick and shut-ins, please be in touch.
Prayers for our Recently Enlightened New Members and Our Catechumens
Please continue to pray daily for our catechumens Zachary, Camron, James, Scott, Ryan, Aaron, and also for our recently baptized Cuthbert and Nicholas, that the Lord will give them good strength in the faith.
Dome and Beautification Updates
The Dome installation was delayed again due to our installer’s schedule. He says now we are “top of his list” for spring. He plans to be back in Pennsylvania the end of March and ready to move on it as soon as we have forecasts for a couple days with moderate temperatures. This will enable him to do sealing outside, which will simply the process. Our next project after this will focus on construction of the design by architect Andrew Gould for our permanent iconostasis, God willing. Glory to God!
“New Year” Reminders on Church Dress, Confession, Traveling
A few reminders for this “new year” season of special services, as mentioned previously:
–Please dress respectfully for Church services. As articulated by Fr. Claude, supported by Fr. George, and reiterated by me and also on our website: Men should wear long pants and long-sleeved shirts, women long skirts or dresses below the knees with shoulders covered, and women should wear head coverings at services but especially when coming up for communion.
–Attending Vigil, at least Vespers, is part of preparation for Holy Communion. If you cannot attend, then please see Father Paul for a blessing early Sunday before taking Communion.
–Confession should be at least once each major fasting session (four times a year) but preferably more frequently (once every two months is a good rule of thumb, or more often if you have committed any sin that would be an obstruction to receiving communion—if in doubt, partake of this healing Mystery of the Church!). Contact Father Paul, priestpauls@pm.me.
–If you will be absent for a good cause and visiting another Church, please receive Father Paul’s blessing in advance; other Priests appreciate knowing that your “home” parish Priest has blessed you to receive elsewhere as a visitor (and that you are prepared). This is proper “protocol,” together with then emailing or calling in advance where you will visit to alert the Priest there. This etiquette highlights how receiving is a blessed gift and not a given, for all of us. Glory to God!
Here below is the text of an adaptation of the famous “Optina 500” prayers (from Optina Monastery in Russia) to life in the world in America. Please consult Father Paul for guidance.
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Morning prayer:
(these prayers can be found in complete form in prayer books or online, as the introductory prayers used in many services, and are also given in full below under Small Compline/Evening Prayer)
“Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God have mercy on us.”
O Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth…
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal… x3 with bows
Glory to the Father… Both now…
Most Holy Trinity have mercy on us, Lord be gracious to our sins, Master pardon our transgressions, Holy One visit and heal our infirmities for Thy name’s sake.
Lord have mercy x3 Glory…. Both now…
Lord’s Prayer, ending with:
“Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers…”
Prayer Rope Prayers: (3 groups in the morning and 2 in the evening, or other combinations of 5 x100 per day)
First group of 100. One hundred prayers with prayer rope, on each knot: Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. Make the sign of the Cross with your right hand as you say the prayer standing if possible. A full prostration every ten prayers, or in whatever combination works well, 10 prostrations per 100 prayer-rope prayers. At each prostration, cross yourself as you say the Jesus Prayer.
After this, the following Prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos:
My Most Holy Lady Theotokos, by thy holy and all-powerful entreaties dispel from me, thy humble, wretched servant, despondency, forgetfulness, folly, carelessness, and all impure, evil, and blasphemous thoughts out of my wretched heart and my darkened mind. And quench the flame of my passions, for I am poor and wretched, and deliver me from my many cruel memories and deeds, and free me from all evil actions: for blessed art thou by all generations, and glorified is thy most honourable name unto the ages of ages. Amen.
At the end of this prayer a full prostration.
Second group. Then again as above with the first group.
Third group. Then again as above with the first group.
Fourth group. One hundred prayers on the rope consisting of “Most Holy Theotokos save me.”
One prostration for each ten, saying the same. Then the prayer: My Most Holy Lady Theotokos from above, followed by a prostration.
Fifth group: As above with the first group.
Scripture reading daily: One chapter of the Gospel each day
Evening prayer: Small Compline (simple version without extra Akathist/Canon, see text below)
Senior Reader: Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us.
Reader: Amen. Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee.
O Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, Who art everywhere present and fillest all things, Treasury of good things and Giver of life: Come and dwell in us, and cleanse us of all impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. (Thrice)
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O Most Holy Trinity, have mercy on us. O Lord, blot out our sins. O Master, pardon our iniquities. O Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities for Thy name’s sake.
Lord have mercy. Thrice.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Our Father, Who art in the Heavens, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Senior Reader: O Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us.
Reader: Amen.
Lord have mercy. Twelve times.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O come, let us worship God our King.
O come, let us worship and fall down before Christ our King and God.
O come, let us worship and fall down before Christ Himself, our King and God.
Psalm 50
Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy; and according to the multitude of Thy compassions blot out my transgression. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know mine iniquity, and my sin is ever before me. Against Thee only have I sinned and done this evil before Thee, that Thou mightest be justified in Thy words, and prevail when Thou art judged. For behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and in sins did my mother bear me. For behold, Thou hast loved truth; the hidden and secret things of Thy wisdom hast Thou made manifest unto me. Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be made clean; Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow. Thou shalt make me to hear joy and gladness; the bones that be humbled, they shall rejoice. Turn Thy face away from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Thy presence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation, and with Thy governing Spirit establish me. I shall teach transgressors Thy ways, and the ungodly shall turn back unto Thee. Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, Thou God of my salvation; my tongue shall rejoice in Thy righteousness. O Lord, Thou shalt open my lips, and my mouth shall declare Thy praise. For if Thou hadst desired sacrifice, I had given it; with whole-burnt offerings Thou shalt not be pleased. A sacrifice unto God is a broken spirit; a heart that is broken and humbled God will not despise. Do good, O Lord, in Thy good pleasure unto Zion, and let the walls of Jerusalem be builded. Then shalt Thou be pleased with a sacrifice of righteousness, with oblation and whole-burnt offerings. Then shall they offer bullocks upon Thine altar.
Psalm 69
O God, be attentive unto helping me; O Lord, make haste to help me. Let them be shamed and confounded that seek after my soul. Let them be turned back and brought to shame that desire evils against me. Let them be turned back straightway in shame that say unto me: Well done! Well done! Let them be glad and rejoice in Thee all that seek after Thee, O God, and let them that love Thy salvation say continually: The Lord be magnified. But as for me, I am poor and needy; O God come unto mine aid. My helper and my deliverer art Thou, O Lord; make no long tarrying.
Psalm 142
O Lord, hear my prayer; give ear unto my supplication in Thy truth; hearken unto me in Thy righteousness. And enter not into judgment with Thy servant, for in Thy sight shall no man living be justified. For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath humbled my life down to the earth. He hath sat me in darkness as those that have been long dead, and my spirit within me is become despondent; within me my heart is troubled. I remembered days of old, I meditated on all Thy works, I pondered on the creations of Thy hands. I stretched forth my hands unto Thee; my soul thirsteth after Thee like a waterless land. Quickly hear me, O Lord; my spirit hath fainted away. Turn not Thy face away from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. Cause me to hear Thy mercy in the morning; for in Thee have I put my hope. Cause me to know, O Lord, the way wherein I should walk; for unto Thee have I lifted up my soul. Rescue me from mine enemies, O Lord; unto Thee have I fled for refuge. Teach me to do Thy will, for Thou art my God. Thy good Spirit shall lead me in the land of uprightness; for Thy name’s sake, O Lord, shalt Thou quicken me. In Thy righteousness shalt Thou bring my soul out of affliction, and in Thy mercy shalt Thou utterly destroy mine enemies. And Thou shalt cut off all them that afflict my soul, for I am Thy servant.
The Doxology
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace and good will among men. We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we worship Thee, we glorify Thee, we give thanks to Thee for Thy great glory. O Lord, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty; O Lord, the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ; and O Holy Spirit. O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, that takest away the sin of the world; have mercy on us; Thou that takest away the sins of the world, receive our prayer; Thou that sittest at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us. For Thou only art holy; Thou only art the Lord, O Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father. Amen. Every night will I bless Thee, and I will praise Thy Name forever, yea, forever and ever. Lord, thou hast been our refuge in generation and generation. I said: O Lord, have mercy on me, heal my soul, for I have sinned against Thee. O Lord, unto Thee have I fled for refuge, teach me to do Thy will, for Thou art my God. For in Thee is the fountain of life, in Thy light shall we see light. O continue Thy mercy unto them that know Thee. Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this night without sin. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, the God of our Fathers, and praised and glorified is Thy name unto the ages. Amen. Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we have hoped in Thee. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, teach me Thy statutes.. Blessed art Thou, O Master, give me understanding of Thy statutes. Blessed art Thou, O Holy One, enlighten me by Thy statutes. O Lord, Thy mercy endureth forever; disdain not the works of Thy hands. To Thee is due praise, to Thee is due a song, to Thee glory is due, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
The Symbol of Faith
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten, begotten of the Father before all ages; Light of Light, true God of true God; begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father, by Whom all things were made; Who for us men and for our salvation came down from the heavens, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man; And was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried; And arose again on the third day according to the Scriptures; And ascended into the heavens, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father; And shall come again, with glory, to judge both the living and the dead; Whose kingdom shall have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of life; Who proceedeth from the Father; Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; Who spake by the prophets. In One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead, And the life of the age to come. Amen.
Then:
It is truly meet to bless thee, the Theotokos, ever blessed and most blameless, and Mother of our God. More honorable than the Cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim, who without corruption gavest birth to God the Word, the very Theotokos, thee do we magnify.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. Thrice.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O Most Holy Trinity, have mercy on us. O Lord, blot out our sins. O Master, pardon our iniquities. O Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities for Thy name’s sake.
Lord have mercy. Thrice.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Our Father, Who art in the Heavens, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Senior Reader: O Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us.
Reader: Amen.
If the temple be dedicated to the Lord or to the Theotokos, the troparion of the temple is said first, then the troparion of the day (see below), then “O God of our Fathers…”, etc.
If the temple be dedicated to a saint, the troparion of the day is said first, then the troparion of the temple, then “O God of our fathers…”, etc. See the question about Patrons, if you are unsure about which troparion to use here. If need be, you could simply omit the troparion for the temple, and use only the troparia given here.
Lo, thy care for thy flock in its sojourn/ prefigured the supplications which thou dost ever offer up for the whole world./ Thus do we believe, having come to know thy love,/ O holy hierarch and wonderworker John./ Wholly sanctified by God/ through the ministry of the all-pure Mysteries/ and thyself ever strengthened thereby,/ thou didst hasten to the suffering,/ O most gladsome Healer.// Hasten now also to the aid of us who honour thee with all our heart.
On Sunday night:
Supreme Commanders of the Heavenly Hosts, we unworthy ones implore you that by your supplications ye will encircle us with the shelter of the wings of your immaterial glory, and guard us who fall down before you and fervently cry: Deliver us from dangers since ye are the Marshals of the Hosts on high.
On Monday night:
The memory of the righteous is celebrated with hymns of praise, but the Lord’s testimony is sufficient for thee, O Forerunner; for thou hast proved to be even more venerable than the prophets since thou wast granted to baptize in the running waters Him Whom they proclaimed. Wherefore, having contested for the truth, thou didst rejoice to announce the good tidings even to those in Hades; that God hath appeared in the flesh, taking away the sin of the world and granting us great mercy.
On Tuesday night:
Save, O Lord, Thy people, and bless Thine inheritance; grant Thou unto Orthodox Christians victory over enemies; and by the power of Thy Cross do Thou preserve Thy commonwealth.·
On Wednesday night:
O holy Apostles, intercede with the merciful God, that He grant unto our souls forgiveness of offenses.
And to St. Nicholas, Fourth Tone:
The truth of things hath revealed thee to thy flock as a rule of faith, an icon of meekness and a teacher of temperance; therefore thou hast achieved the heights by humility, riches by poverty. O Father and Hierarch Nicholas, intercede with Christ God that our souls be saved.
On Thursday night:
Save, O Lord, Thy people, and bless Thine inheritance; grant Thou unto Orthodox Christians victory over enemies; and by the power of Thy Cross do Thou preserve Thy commonwealth.
Troparion of the patron of the Temple is sung here, unless it is a feast of the Lord or of the Theotokos.
Troparion for our Patron
Lo, thy care for thy flock in its sojourn/ prefigured the supplications which thou dost ever offer up for the whole world./ Thus do we believe, having come to know thy love,/ O holy hierarch and wonderworker John./ Wholly sanctified by God/ through the ministry of the all-pure Mysteries/ and thyself ever strengthened thereby,/ thou didst hasten to the suffering,/ O most gladsome Healer.// Hasten now also to the aid of us who honour thee with all our heart.
Then, Sunday night through Thursday night (if simple service):
O God of our fathers, Who ever dealest with us according to Thy kindness, do not withdraw Thy mercy from us, but through their intercessions guide our life in peace.
Adorned in the blood of Thy martyrs throughout all the world, as in purple and fine linen, Thy Church, through them, doth cry unto Thee, O Christ God: Send down Thy compassions upon Thy people; grant to Thy community, and to our souls great mercy.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
With the saints give rest, O Christ, to the souls of Thy servants, where there is neither sickness, nor sorrow, nor sighing, but life everlasting.
Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Through the intercessions, O Lord, of all the saints and the Theotokos, grant us Thy peace, and have mercy on us, as Thou alone art compassionate.
On Friday night:
O Apostles, Martyrs, and Prophets, Venerable and Righteous Ones; ye that have accomplished a good labor and kept the Faith, that have boldness before the Savior; O Good Ones, intercede for us, we pray, that our souls be saved.
Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
With the saints give rest, O Christ, to the souls of Thy servants, where there is neither sickness, nor sorrow, nor sighing, but life everlasting.
Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
To Thee, O Lord, the Planter of creation, the world doth offer the God-bearing martyrs as the first-fruits of nature. By their intercessions preserve Thy Church, Thy commonwealth, in profound peace, through the Theotokos, O Greatly-merciful One.
On Saturday at Compline, the troparion and Kontakion of the Resurrection in the occurring tone are read, if available. If not, available, then use the weekday version above.
IT SHOULD BE KNOWN: that from the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, and during all of the Holy Great Lent, on all Saturdays at Compline the Kontakion of the Resurrection is not read, but rather the one from the Triodion (except the fifth week of Lent), as also during the Holy Pentecost season on all days, the Kontakion from the Pentecostarion is read, until the Sunday of All Saints. If there occur on Sunday a feast of the Lord, only the Kontakion of the feast is read. But if there be a feast of the Theotokos, or one of the saints that have a Polyeleos, or a great doxology, the Kontakion of the Resurrection is read, but that of the occurring feast or saint is omitted.
Reader: Lord, have mercy. Forty times.
Thou Who at all times and at every hour, in heaven and on earth, art worshipped and glorified, O Christ God, Who art long-suffering, plenteous in mercy, most compassionate, Who lovest the righteous and hast mercy on sinners, Who callest all to salvation through the promise of good things to come: Receive, O Lord, our prayers at this hour, and guide our life toward Thy commandments. Sanctify our souls, make chaste our bodies, correct our thoughts, purify our intentions, and deliver us from every sorrow, evil and pain. Compass us about with Thy holy angels, that, guarded and guided by their array, we may attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of Thine unapproachable glory; for blessed art Thou unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Lord have mercy. Thrice.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
More honorable than the Cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim; who without corruption gavest birth to God the Word, the very Theotokos, thee do we magnify.
Senior Reader: Through the prayers of our holy fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us.
Reader: Amen.
On Sunday nights during Great Lent, the prayer of St. Ephrem is said here.
Then in any case:
The Supplicatory Prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos
O undefiled, untainted, uncorrupted, most pure, chaste Virgin, Thou Bride of God and Sovereign Lady, who didst unite the Word of God to mankind through thy most glorious birth giving, and hast linked the apostate nature of our race with the heavenly; who art the only hope of the hopeless, and the helper of the struggling, the ever-ready protection of them that hasten unto thee, and the refuge of all Christians: Do not shrink with loathing from me a sinner, defiled, who with polluted thoughts, words, and deeds have made myself utterly unprofitable, and through slothfulness of mind have become a slave to the pleasures of life. But as the Mother of God Who loveth mankind, show thy love for mankind and mercifully have compassion upon me a sinner and prodigal, and accept my supplication, which is offered to thee out of my defiled mouth; and making use of thy motherly boldness, entreat thy Son and our Master and Lord that He may be pleased to open for me the bowels of His lovingkindness and graciousness to mankind, and, disregarding my numberless offenses, will turn me back to repentance, and show me to be a tried worker of His precepts. And be thou ever present unto me as merciful, compassionate and well disposed; in the present life be thou a fervent intercessor and helper, repelling the assaults of adversaries and guiding me to salvation, and at the time of my departure taking care of my miserable soul, and driving far away from it the dark countenances of the evil demons; lastly, at the dreadful day of judgment delivering me from torment eternal and showing me to be an heir of the ineffable glory of thy Son and our God; all of which may I attain, O my Sovereign Lady, most holy Theotokos, in virtue of thine intercession and protection, through the grace and love to mankind of thine only begotten Son, our Lord and God and Savior, Jesus Christ, to Whom is due all glory, honor and worship, together with His unoriginate Father, and His Most Holy and good and life creating Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
A Prayer to our Lord Jesus Christ, by Antiochus the monk
And grant unto us, O Master, in the coming sleep, rest for body and soul, and preserve us from the gloomy slumber of sin, and from every dark and nocturnal sensuality. Subdue the impulses of passions, extinguish the fiery darts of the evil one that are cunningly hurled against us, assuage the rebellions of our flesh, and every earthly and fleshly subtlety of ours lull to sleep. And grant unto us, O God, a watchful mind, chaste thought, a sober heart, a sleep gentle and free from every satanic illusion. Raise us up at the time of prayer firmly grounded in Thy precepts and keeping steadfastly within us the memory of Thy judgments. All the night long grant us a doxology, that we may hymn and bless and glorify Thy most honorable and majestic name: of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Most glorious, Ever-Virgin, Mother of Christ God, present our prayer to thy Son and our God, that through thee, He may save our souls.
My hope is the Father, my refuge is the Son, my protection is the Holy Spirit: O Holy Trinity, glory to Thee.
Choir: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Lord, have mercy. Thrice.
O Lord, bless.
Senior Reader (Facing the East, rather than facing the people): O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, for the sake of the prayers of Thy most pure Mother, our holy and God-bearing fathers, and all the saints, have mercy on us and save us, for Thou art good and the Lover of mankind.
Choir: Amen.
Senior Reader: Remit, pardon, forgive, O God, our offenses, both voluntary and involuntary, in deed and word, in knowledge and ignorance, by day and by night, in mind and thought; forgive us all things, for Thou art good and the Lover of mankind.
Choir: Amen.
Senior Reader: O Lord, Lover of mankind, forgive them that hate and wrong us. Do good to them that do good. Grant our brethren and kindred their saving petitions and life eternal; visit the infirm and grant them healing. Guide those at sea. Journey with them that travel. Help Orthodox Christians to struggle. To them that serve and are kind to us grant remissions of sins. On them that have charged us, the unworthy, to pray for them, have mercy according to Thy great mercy. Remember, O Lord, our fathers and brethren departed before us, and grant them rest where the light of Thy countenance shall visit them. Remember, O Lord, our brethren in captivity, and deliver them from every misfortune. Remember, O Lord, those that bear fruit and do good works in Thy holy churches, and grant them their saving petitions and life eternal. Remember also, O Lord, us Thy lowly and sinful and unworthy servants, and enlighten our minds with the light of Thy knowledge, and guide us in the way of Thy commandments; through the intercessions of our most pure Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, and of all Thy saints, for blessed art Thou unto the ages of ages.
Choir: Amen.
Choir: Lord, have mercy. Thrice.
Senior Reader: Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us. Amen.
An homily from St. John’s Russian Orthodox Mission Church in Winfield, PA, for the Sunday after Nativity, 7534/2026, by Priest Paul Siewers. (Russian icon above of the Flight to Egypt; the Righteous James the Brother of the Lord is the figure on the left.)
Today is the fifth of the Orthodox 12 days of Christmas, during which the Church focuses on aspects of the early life of Jesus Christ, through Theophany Eve, which will be a week from today.
Today we commemorate the Righteous David the King, Joseph the Betrothed, and James the Brother of the Lord. They all relate to the early life of Jesus.
King David, His ancestor according to the flesh, marks Jesus as fulfilling the royal line of Israel, Joseph the Betrothed is Jesus’ stepfather and early protector in his human family, and James is Jesus’ stepbrother who represents how Israel, fulfilled in the coming of Jesus Christ, became the Church. For James was the first Bishop of Jerusalem.
These three figures in Jesus’ family according to the flesh are also representatives of the blossoming forth of the Orthodox Church as Israel at Christmas time.
King David in his repentance for his grave sins and crimes prefigures Confession, and in fact he is mentioned in our prayers because of this. James the Brother of the Lord according to Tradition authored the earliest form of the Divine Liturgy, still used sometimes by the Church. As a Bishop who according to tradition was called by our Lord in a vision, James also was a prototype of the mystery of ordination in the Church. Joseph the Betrothed prefigured marriage in the Church. For while he was Mary’s betrothed and not her actual husband, in the betrothal and in his chaste role as protector of the Theotokos and the baby Jesus, Joseph prefigured central aspects of Christian marriage. James in his Epistle in the Bible supported Holy Unction, another mystery. King David is recorded in Scripture as being anointed three times, prefiguring the mystery of Chrismation, for the anointings symbolized consecration and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, foreshadowing the ultimate fulfillment of the Davidic covenant in Jesus Christ. The Apostles according to Church Tradition were baptized by Jesus, and so James likely was as well, representing the new Christian mystery of baptism also.
James appropriately authored the Epistle of James in the New Testament, which bears testimony to the need for works alongside faith, and so refutes aspects of Protestantism. Likewise, James’ situation as Bishop of Jerusalem presiding over the apostolic Council of Jerusalem refutes false aspects of Catholic ecclesiology. And the Protoevangelium of James attributed to him upholds traditions of the life of the Theotokos important to the traditions of the Church.
So in all these ways these figures from Jesus’ family represented foreshadowing or first sprouts of the mysteries, teachings, and ecclesiology of our Orthodox Church, which became Israel fulfilled starting at the original Christmas time.
Today’s Gospel reading relates this Christmas season to another dimension, that of the persecution of the Church by Herod who attempted to kill all the young boys in the Bethlehem area to extinguish the light of Christ. Such persecution is also seen in the martyrdom of James the brother of the Lord, who was plunged to his death from the roof the Temple by the Jewish religious leaders who had rejected Christ, motivated in part by James’ success at bringing many Jews into the Church in her first years.
Yet there is another layer to our Gospel account of the flight into Egypt found in Church tradition as well, which likewise relates this season’s account of Jesus’ early years to His Crucifixion and Resurrection. When Mary and Egypt and the baby Jesus, and other family members, fled to Egypt, tradition says they were waylaid by thieves seeking to rob them. One of the thieves stood up for them and vigorously told the others to leave them alone, which they did. That young thief, according to Church Tradition, later was one of the thieves crucified alongside Jesus Christ at Golgotha. He is known to the Russian Church as Saint Rakh, or the Wise Thief. He pled to our Lord to remember Him in His kingdom, as we remember at each Liturgy. Our Lord said, “Today you will be with Me in Paradise.” It is because of this that we have the diagonal foot rest on the Orthodox Cross, reminding us of how we participate in the Crucifixion with the Wise Thief, God willing, asking for Jesus Christ’s help, that we may participate in His Resurrection also.
The hymns of the Church describe how “in a moment” the Wise Thief found Paradise, how he “stole Paradise,” and how he recognized “the hidden God” on the Cross beside him. In Russa, the figure of St. Rakh became common on the northern door of the iconostasis. There, the image of the Wise Thief personified the gateway to Paradise, his likeness facing out toward the wilderness of human life as on Golgotha. His image backed on panels of northern pine from the forest of the Russian lands, adjoined Paradise in a sense as the Holy of Holies, the Altar, from whence comes Christ’s Body and Blood in the Eucharist. A 17th-century icon from the Solovetsky Monastery in Russia shows the Wise Thief at the gate to Paradise, guarded on the right by a Seraphim angel, much like the position of the thief on the north gate of the iconostasis. On the icon with the Wise Thief, Christ is at the gate in a mandorla or heavenly circle. The Wise Thief stands in Paradise with the symbol of the three-barred Cross amid the plants of Paradise, guided by the Angel toward the advancing Christ returning from the Harrowing of Hell. Fittingly, the setting of this icon in the Solovetsky Monastery became infamous in the twentieth century as the prototype prison camp of the Gulag Archipelago, in which many faithful lost their lives under atheist-communist rule. The icon depicts a portal to freedom more powerful than even the worst tyranny.
So commemorations in our service today, together with the Gospel Reading, link us from the Christmas season all the way to the Orthodox Cross and iconography, and the modern persecutions of the Church. That’s the deep interconnectivity of our Church Tradition.
Like the Wise Thief, King David, Joseph the Betrothed, and James the Brother of the Lord were righteous because they in the end made right choices, despite various degrees of rocky histories. Joseph the Betrothed, a humble carpenter, was the least so in that he led a pious life and agreed to be the older guardian chastely of the young Virgin Mary. But he was, according to Tradition, and as depicted in iconography, tempted of the Devil nonetheless. Joseph’s steadfastness made him a witness to the realization of Jesus Christ as Fully God and Fully Man, the Church’s unassailable answer to all ancient and modern heresies, from Deism to Atheism to Islam.
David, the author of most of the Psalter, including Psalm 50, a key Psalm in Orthodox Christian services, lent his name to a title of Jesus Christ as the “Son of David,” the King of Kings. So God made allowance for penitence. James the Brother of the Lord, Joseph’s son by his deceased wife, also a descendant of David, may initially not have been in the 12 Apostles, as even Jesus’ own family had their doubts about Who He is. Yet he chose to be faithful and was chosen by our Lord to be the first Bishop of His Church in Jerusalem. According to tradition he was with the baby Jesus and family on the flight to Egypt as well.
Like all these figures remembered from our service today, related to the family life of our Lord, we today as a Church family can learn at this season of new birth to choose faith and to distance ourselves from our passions. There is no such thing as a pride parade in Orthodox Christianity and there is no such thing as a humility parade either, which would be a contradiction in terms. Rather, we must learn like the Righteous of old in the earliest days of the Church not to identify ourselves with our passions. This Christmas season, let us experience more of emptying ourselves in the light from the new birth of Jesus Christ in our hearts. In a sense we can feel Christ born within us, but more properly as the Orthodox hymn tells, we have put on Christ, in the sense of dwelling within Him. For Christ is not a kind of toy within our heart, but rather, as the Bible tells us, in Him we live and move and have our being.
When we realize this from our heart, we then can really let our light shine in Christ’s new commandment, loving our neighbor more than ourselves, because of our whole-hearted and whole-bodied love of Christ. May we experience Him born once again amid our Church family today, and may the Righteous David, Joseph, and James from Our Lord’s family help inspire and pray for us, together with St. Rakh the Wise Thief. For they are part of our family, too.
Christ is Born! Glorify Him!
***
The Reading from theHoly Gospel according to Matthew,
§4[2:13-23]
When the wise men departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, ‘Arise, and take the young Child and His mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.’ When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed into Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, ‘Out of Egypt have I called My Son.’ Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth and slew all the children who were in Bethlehem and in all the region thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, ‘In Ramah was there a voice heard, lamentation and weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and would not be comforted, because they are no more.’ But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, ‘Arise, and take the young Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel, for they are dead who sought the young Child’s life.’ And he arose and took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus reigned in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither. Notwithstanding, being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee. And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets: ‘He shall be called a Nazarene.’
