The Procession of the Cross

This coming Sunday (the 1st of August by the Church calendar) is the feast of the Procession of the Cross in the Byzantine Rite. It is one of the few occasions in the year when, at the Divine Liturgy, the Trisagion is replaced by the hymn:

Before thy Cross we bow down, O Master, and thy Holy Resurrection we glorify!

This feast has not fallen on a Sunday since I have been Orthodox, and, being part of a small mission parish with a working priest, I have never celebrated this feast in Church. Indeed, despite knowing of its existence in the calendar of the Church, I have never really known what it is about. So, in preparing this Sunday's Liturgy, I thought I would do a little exploration. Here is the explanation of the feast by one Fr S. Janos, taken from my Holy Trinity calendar iPhone app:

In the Greek Chasoslov (Orologion) of 1897 is explained thus the derivation of this feast: "By reason of the sicknesses, often everywhere occurring in August, from of old customarily it was done at Constantinople to carry out the Venerable Wood of the Cross along the roads and streets for the sanctifying of places and for the driving away of sicknesses. On the eve (31 July), carrying it out from the imperial treasury, they placed it upon the holy table of the Great Church (in honour of Saint Sophia – the Wisdom of God). From this feastday up to the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God, making litia throughout all the city, they then placed it forth for all the people to venerate. This also is the Issuing-forth of the Venerable Cross". In the Russian Church this feast is combined also with a remembrance of the Baptism of Rus', on 1 August 988. In the "Account about the making of services in the holy catholic and apostolic great church of the Uspenie-Dormition", compiled in 1627 by order of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Philaret, there is provided suchlike an explanation of the feast: "And on the day of the procession of the Venerable Cross there occurs a church-procession for the sanctification of water and for the enlightenment of the people, throughout all the towns and places". Knowledge of the day of the actual Baptism of Rus' was preserved in the Chronicles of the XVI Century: "The Baptism of Great-prince Vladimir of Kiev and all Rus' was on August 1". In the practice now of the Russian Church, the service of the Lesser Sanctification of Water on 1 August is done either before or after Liturgy. Together with the Blessing of Waters, there is made a Blessing of Honey (i.e. first-honey for the Saviour: "Saviour of the Water", "Saviour Moisture" [apparently in place of the vinegar and gall offered Him on the Cross?]). And from this day the newly harvested honey is blessed and tasted.

While August may no longer be a time particularly associated with various ailments, there is no time that our souls and bodies are not in need of healing, and when due honour is not due to the Saviour and the precious and life-giving Cross on which He died, and now that the Cross has become for Christians a sign of life rather than death, I particularly love the offering of sweet honey as a replacement and even a reparation for the bitter gall.

So I have purchased my honey and I thoroughly look forward to this Sunday, urging as many of you as possible to join in this celebration.

Great and Holy Week

Here are a few photographs and video clips from my parish this Holy Week. We had two servers serving for the first time, along with a choir who did exceptionally well from memory given that the music for various things had been mislaid. This has been the most moving Holy Week that I have ever experienced and it has been in large part due to the dedication of my parish priest and fellow parishioners who, this year, seem to have made a special effort to assist with the various practical preparations for the services. There really has been something of a feel of communal effort and ownership of the liturgies that has been very encouraging.

St Michael at Colossae

Today in the Byzantine Calendar is the commemoration of the miracle of the Holy Archangel Michael at Colossae, being my name day and also the day on which, in 2005, I was made a catechumen.

The story of the miracle is here.

All Saints Who Have Shone Forth in the British Isles

The Sunday after Pentecost is the feast of All Saints, when we commemorate those holy ones of God, both known and unknown, who have shone forth as beacons of the grace of God in their earthly lives. Over time, the custom developed of observing the following Sunday as All Saints of the local church, so for us last Sunday was All Saints Who Have Shone Forth in the Russian Land.

I mentioned this to a friend recently and he was surprised that the observance would be for the Saints of the particular jurisdiction rather than the local Saints. Of course, if our Orthodox situation in the west were canonically ordered, the two would be the same, and it is on this assumption that the arrangement came to be. However, this is not the case in Britain,

Read more...

Football Fans Greet the Resurrection

I have just come across this video. It is footage from a football match in Russia on the evening of Pascha. The fans may have missed Agapé Vespers but they certainly didn't hold back on the joy of the Resurrection as they shouted to one another on opposite sides of the stadium the paschal greeting with its response: Christ is risen! Indeed He is risen!

The Holy Martyrs Timothy and Maura

In preparing the Synaxarion readings for today, I was particularly moved and inspired by this so thought I would share:

On this day, the 3rd of May, Holy Church commemorates the Martyrs Timothy and Maura. The father of Timothy was the village priest in a settlement near Antinoe in the Thebaid and brought up his son in Christian piety.

Timothy, from his first years as a youth, served during his father's term in the rank of reader and the keeper of liturgical books. St Timothy read sacred books daily at home. But he read them with special inspiration in church assemblies on Saturdays and Sundays. For his distinct, intelligent, and reverent reading during the divine services St Timothy was respected by Christians. Another obligation of his rank as reader, Timothy considered the writing of sacred books. For Timothy, the writing of sacred books was not only an obligation but also was a hobby. He called the copied books his children, his expensive treasure that he also shared with the Christians of his church community.

Having married a 17 year old maiden, Maura, who came from a prosperous family, he found in her who also had a distinguished Christian education a friend for life, capable of empathising with his moods. She respected the calling of her husband and she empathised with him, inspiring him with what he read in the sacred books in the church. She also liked to read sacred books,

Read more...

Christ is risen!

Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered; let them that hate Him flee from before his face. As smoke vanisheth, so let them vanish, as wax melteth before the fire. So let sinners perish before the face of God, and let the righteous be glad. This is the day which the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad therein!

Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and on those in the tombs bestowing life!

A blessed and Holy Pascha to all!

It was the first Holy Week and Pascha that my parish celebrated in our new church and it was splendid. The joy of the Resurrection permeated the whole affair. We finished at 3 o' clock in the morning and were all surprised that it had been that long because it really didn't seem it. For the first time we were able to process around the church and we had bells that we learnt to ring in something approximating the proper way. We had 64 in the night (the previous highest number being 37), and 16 for the afternoon vigil (up from about 5 in previous years). We had Britons, Russians, Armenians, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Romanians, Cypriots, Moldovans, and Latvians, so it was truly a uniting celebration. The Thursday and Friday services were also very special and I thoroughly look forward to it all again next year, especially Matins of the Twelve Passion Gospels, which we did for the first time this year.

Sadly, I hadn't made arrangements for photographs to be taken. I managed to take a small number on Friday but then left my camera at church. I shall retrieve it next weekend and post what I have.

Please do share how your celebrations went.

Now I shall finish preparations for the first wedding in our new church next Sunday, which should be very special, both for us and for the truly lovely couple, who did a great deal to help at Pascha.

After that, the big special event will be the visit of the Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God to our parish at the end of June. God has really blessed our parish and I'm so pleased to be able to be part of it all.

The Angel cried unto the Lady, full of grace: 'O pure Virgin, rejoice! And again I say, rejoice! for thy Son is risen from the grave on the third day. And He hath raised all the dead.' O ye people, be joyful! Shine, shine, O New Jerusalem, for the glory of the Lord hath arisen upon thee. Dance, now, dance and be glad, O Sion. Be radiant, O pure Theotokos, in the Resurrection of thy Son.

- The zadostoinik of Pascha

The Glorification of St Xenia

Yes, another video treat. This one shows excerpts from the glorification* of St Xenia, the Fool for Christ, in the New York Cathedral of the Sign, in 1978, presided over by His Eminence Metropolitan Philaret.

I do hope that when Blessed Seraphim of Platina is eventually glorified, I may able to be at the services.




*It was privately pointed out to me after the post about St John that some may not understand the term "glorification". It is the equivalent to "canonisation" as used in the Latin church - a term not unknown among Orthodox people. However, "to canonise" literally means "to enter into the canon", so is a procedural term, referring to the entering of a righteous person into the canon of Saints: the Church's calendar, liturgical observances, and so forth. However, these services are about more than that, for by them a Saint's glorification in heaven is proclaimed on earth, and they are an affirmation of the inheritance of the Saints in light in which the righteous person now shares more fully. As such, "glorification" is the term more commonly used in Orthodox circles.

The Glorification of St John

Here is another treat from my bookmarks. It is a video with excerpts from the glorification of St John of Shanghai and San Francisco at the Joy of All Who Sorrow Cathedral, on the 19th of June (2nd July), 1994, presided over by His Eminence Metropolitan Vitaly. Oh, to have been there!

From East to West: part four

Last year, I posted three examples of overlap between the rites of east and west. You may read them here, here, and here.

Well, I have found yet another. Due to this illuminating post by Joseph, I was moved to compare the candle-blessing ceremonies of east and west for the feast of the Encounter of the Lord on the 2nd of February, and was pleasantly surprised by what I discovered.

Both eastern and western rites have five prayers of blessing of the candles. Here is the second prayer from the Roman Rite:

O Lord, holy Father, almighty everlasting God, Who hast created all things out of nothing, and Who through the labour of bees at thy command hast caused this fluid to come to the perfection of wax, and Who, on this day, didst fulfil the request of the Just Symeon, we humbly beseech Thee, that Thou wouldest vouchsafe to bless and sanctify these candles prepared for the service of man, and for the health of their bodies and souls, whether by land or sea, through the invocation of thy holy Name, and through the intercession of St Mary, Ever-Virgin, whose festival is this day devoutly celebrated, and through the prayers of all thy Saints; and that from thy holy heaven, and from the seat of thy majesty, Thou wouldest hear the voice of this thy people, who desire in thy honour to bear them in their hands, and to praise and exalt Thee; and that Thou wouldest be propitious unto all who call upon Thee, whom Thou has redeemed with the precious blood of thy Son. Who with Thee and the Holy Spirit liveth in glory, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

It is a rather beautful prayer, I think. Now compare it to the first prayer of blessing from the Byzantine Rite:

O Holy Master, Father Almighty, O Pre-eternal God, Who, at thy command, madest all things out of nothingness, and Who, only by thinking it broughtest this creation to the perfect Light, and Who hast fulfilled the petition of the Righteous Symeon on this present day: we humbly pray that Thou be pleased to bless and sanctify these candles, which have been prepared beforehand at the request of the people, for the health of soul and body, whether they be on land or on the waters, at the invocaton of thy most holy Name, and by the prayers of the Blessed and Ever-Virgin Mary, whose feast we now reverently celebrate, and by the prayers of all thy Saints. And from thy holy heaven, hearken unto the voices of these, thy people, who reverently desire to carry them, and, singing hymns, to glorify Thee; and from the throne of thy majesty, be merciful unto all crying out unto Thee, whom Thou hast purchased with the precious blood of thy Son, with Whom Thou art blessed, together with thy Most-holy, Good, and Life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

This is quite obviously the same prayer. I find this to be quite interesting in and of itself, but there's more. Here, for example, is the third prayer of blessing from the Roman Rite:

Almighty everlasting God, Who as on this day wast pleased that thine Only-Begotten One should be presented in thy holy temple, and received in the arms of St Symeon, we humbly beseech thy mercy that Thou wouldest vouchsafe to bless, and sanctify, and kindle with the light of thy heavenly benediction these candles, which we thy servants desire to take up and carry in honour of thy Name, to the end that, by offering them to Thee our Lord God, and being inflamed by the holy fire of thy most sweet brightness, we may be found worthy to be presented in the holy temple of thy glory. Through the same thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.

Compare this to the second prayer of blessing of the Byzatine Rite:

O Almighty, Pre-eternal God, Who on this day didst lay thine Only-Begotten Son in the arms of the Holy Symeon in thy holy temple, we call upon thy deep compassion: do Thou bless and sanctify these candles which we, thy servants, receive and desire to carry for the majesty of thy Name, and be pleased to light them with the light of thy heavenly blessing, that we who are offering them unto Thee, our Lord God, meetly enflamed with thy sweetest love, through a holy fire, may be counted worthy also to stand in the Temple of thy glory. For Thou art our God, and unto Thee do we send up glory: to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Sprit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

This raises some interesing questions. How did these same prayers end up in both rites? On the one hand, it should seem fairly unremarkable. After all, eastern and western rites have many traits in common due to their common origins. Many of the readings at the western paschal vigil and the old eastern paschal vigil are the same, as a prime example.

However, something does not seem to quite fit. The two prayers above state an explicit desire to carry the candles. In the Roman Rite, this is a clear reference to what immediately follows the blessing of the candles, where the people carry them, lit, in procession. As Joseph points out, this symbolises or actualises our participation in the event and mystery which the feast calls us to celebrate: the presentation of Christ in the temple. However, no such procession exists in the Byzantine Rite, yet the prayers refer to the people carrying the candles. How do we explain this?

Is the presence of these prayers in both east and west indicative of their antiquity? Or is it more likely that they migrated into the Byzantine Rite due to a later cross-fertilisation of the rites? We have seen this happen in the other direction with the tone 2 Sunday Matins stikheron finding its way into the Sarum ceremonies for Easter Day, so it is possible, and it would certainly explain the references to a non-existent procession. While it is not implausible that the procession did once exist in the Byzantine east and fell into disuse at some point, this line of thought raises another question, which is that of the timing of this ceremony. In the Byzantine Rite, most liturgical actions of this sort are to be inserted near the end of the Divine Liturgy. They customarily take place after the Prayer Below the Ambo and before the threefold "Blessed be the Name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore". This is true of the blessing of grapes at Transfiguration, herbs at Dormition, and of water at Theophany, among other things. This is even the place for the insertion of processions, such as the moleben procession on the patronal festival of a parish or monastery. Yet the rubrics stipulate that the blessing of candles is to take place, not at this point, but after the Sixth Hour and before the Divine Liturgy, which is precisely the position called for in the Roman Rite. Thus it is quite uncharacteristic of the Byzantine liturgical tradition.

My personal suspicion is that this ceremony is a later interpolation into the Byzantine Rite. It is only in the west that the feast came to be commonly known as Candlemass and the ceremonies surrounding the candles do not quite seem to fit when transferred into eastern practice. I am, of course, willing to be corrected by those who know more about the development of these things but here are my own thoughts, open to scrutiny and comment.

Holy Theophany

I learnt something really interesting when putting together the services for Christmas. I looked at the Synaxarion reading and thought it was truly beautiful.

In a week's time, on the 6th of January by the Church calendar, we shall be celebrating the feast of Theophany, or, literally, the Manifestation of God. It seems that this was originally THE big feast of the revelation of God to mankind. It was on this day that Christians celebrated the Nativity of the Second Person of the Trinity, the manifestation of the Saviour to the Gentiles in the persons of the Magi, the sanctification of the waters by the Baptism of Christ in the Jordan, and the revelation of the Trinity at the same event, along with the precursor of the Kingdom in the miracle at Cana. In the Church of Alexandria, it was also the celebration of the divine providence in the feeding of the five thousand.

That seems a great deal to cram into one date but my focus is on the Nativity of Christ, and it is the reason for the choice of this date that I find fascinating. The first Genesis creation account tells us that it was on the sixth day of creation that God made man. Yet, though our first parents, sin and death came into the world and distorted the image of God in man. January is the first month of the year, and the Nativity of Christ was celebrated on the 6th day of the first month of the year. I find this a powerful expression of the fulfilment of the old in the new, and the fact that what was being celebrated was the bringing of life and salvation by of the God-Man Jesus Christ: the New Adam.

Now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.

- 1st Corinthians 15:20-22

I find this truly beautiful and really wish that we still celebrated the Nativity of Christ on the 6th of January. Indeed, the Armenian church still does so.

According to the Synaxarion, it was only at the end of the fourth century that the Church of Constantinople, and later the other eastern churches, divided the observances of Theophany between two dates, transferring the Nativity of Christ and the commemoration of the Magi to the 25th of December. This was to bring eastern practice more in line with the liturgical celebrations of the Church of Rome, which had earlier adopted the 25th of December as the date for the Nativity in order to highlight Christ as the fulfilment of all things, and to have his Nativity supersede the local pagan celebration of the Unconquered Sun. This left the East with the celebration of the Baptism and revelation of the Trinity on the 6th of January, so that we have the beautiful tropar for the day:

When Thou wast baptised in the Jordan, O Lord, the worship of the Trinity was made maifest; for the voice of the Father bore witness to Thee, calling Thee his beloved Son. And the Spirit in the form of a dove confirmed the certainty of the word. O Christ our God, Who hast appeared and hast enlightened the world, glory be to Thee!

- Theophany tropar, tone 1

In the Church of Rome, the liturgical observation of these various manifestations of God to the world developed over time into a season of revelation, beginning with the Nativity of Christ on the 25th of December, and concluding with the Presentation of Christ in the Temple (Candlemass) on the 2nd of February, and this is what we still have in our Orthodox Western Rite today. The 6th of January was kept Epiphany - the revelation to the gentiles - and the series of Sundays folowing commemorated the miracle at Cana, the feeding of the five thousand, the Transfiguration, among others.

I find this development really quite interesting, and it shows just how important it is for us to hear the Synaxarion readings for the various observances of the Church, and to understand the significance of this time of year with regard to what God has done for us and our salvation. I hope that we can more fully take part in the mysteries of grace, appreciative of the sanctifying power of physical elements through the Incarnation and Revelation of the Son of God.


The blessing of the waters at Great Vespers of Theophany

All of Creation Rejoices

O Full of Grace, all creation rejoiceth in thee! The angelic hosts sing thy praises with all mankind: thou hallowed temple, noetical paradise, and the glory of all virgins. Of thee was God made flesh - our God before all ages - and became a child. Of thy body a throne He made; He made thy womb more spacious than the heavens. All creation rejoiceth in thee, O Full of Grace: glory be to Thee!

- Zadostoinik from the Anaphora of St Basil

Ian's comment on a recent post reminded me of the reason for my choice of the new blog title. It is simply that the hymn from which it comes is among my favourite hymns of the Church, and a version of it may be found here. What I find most moving is the reference to the womb of the Mother of God having been made "more spacious than the heavens". The eternal God, the divine Logos, the Ancient of Days, Who in his divine essence is invisible, boundless, unimaginable, indescribable, in every way completely beyond our abilities of perception and beyond the limitations of created space and time - this uncircumscribable God whom the heavens could not contain - was contained within the womb of a young girl by the power of the Holy Spirit and through her willing obedience to the will of God. I find this absolutely mind-blowing and the expression "more spacious than the heavens" sums this up perfectly.

It's almost a pity that we only ever hear it on the Sundays of Great Lent and on the feast of St Basil. Of course, the other times of year that we serve the Divine Liturgy of St Basil the Great are Christmas (depending on which day the feast falls), and the old Paschal vigil on Great and Holy Saturday. On both occasions, the zadostoinik is replaced with one proper to the day. Roll on Lent!

I also love the "All of Creation Rejoices" icon of the Synaxis of the Mother of God (above), and can safely place it among the icons that most elevate my heart. Perhaps this ought to be next on my list of "nice things to get". There are a number of versions of this but among my favourites is a rather lovely one by Nikolai Tsai, and which can be viewed on his website.

Does anybody have any favourite settings to this hymn? I'd be very interested to learn some new ones.

Happy Christmas!

Christ is born: glorify Him! Christ descends from heaven: welcome Him! Christ is now on earth: O be jubilant! Sing unto the Lord, the whole earth, and sing praises to Him with joy, O all people, for He has been glorified.

- Irmos of the First Ode of the Matins Canon for Christmas

A happy and blessed Christmas to all!

The Liturgy of Saint James

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, the Trinal and only light of Godhead, existing, one essence in Trinity, and undivided. The Trinity is the one Almighty God, whose glory the heavens relate, and the earth is his power, and the sea his might, and every sentient and intelligent creature heraldeth his greatness. For to Him belongeth all glory, honour, dominion, greatness, and majesty, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

With these words the ancient Eucharistic liturgy of Jerusalem is begun. The Divine Liturgy of the Holy and Glorious Apostle James, the Brother of God and First Hierarch of Jerusalem is served on the Feast of St James (23rd October) and on the Sunday after Christmas. It is customary in the Byzantine kalendar, on the days following certain feasts, to observe lesser commemorations of the other holy ones somehow involved in the events of the feast. Tradition tells us that St James was with the Saviour, the Mother of God, and St Joseph as they fled into Egypt,

Read more...

New Church in Wallasey - part 2

Taking up the Cross of Christ, thou didst pass from royal glory to the glory of heaven, praying for thine enemies, O Holy Martyr Princess Elisabeth, and with the Martyr Barbara, thou didst find everlasting joy; therefore pray ye on behalf of our souls! - Troparion, tone 4

Hello, friends!

Please forgive my absence from the blogosphere over the past few weeks. I have been very busy with church stuff in the run-up to our move into the new church. There were practical matters to do with the building and lots of fun to do with things musical and liturgical. It all paid off. We had a splendid and blessed day on Saturday, with parishioners, friends, and visitors coming from Chester, Manchester, Oldham, Liverpool, Southport, and Stonyhurst, in addition to the local residents and visitors from the other local churches, and members of the local council, who came for various parts of the day.

It was really a joyous time in the life of our parish, and now that there is a little more canonical normality than only a few years ago, we were able to welcome Fr Pancratios of the Constantinople patriarchate and Fr Gregory of the Antiochian church, to concelebrate. Father Paul preached a very moving sermon about the life of St Elisabeth and our need to follow in her footsteps in giving of our time, our love, and our resources for others, especially in a time when the world teaches us to climb over everybody in order to get what we want. Daniel from St Aidan's gave up his day to be with us, for which I personally am very grateful because he was a great help. The Cross-procession went exceptionally well.


The building is still being worked on. The iconostas has yet to be finished and the floor sealed but we're slowly getting there. That should all be finished by this week. There are some photographs on the diocesan gallery. Please ignore the ones of the fat reader. :-)

Now we just have to prepare for the visitation of the relics of St Elisabeth on the 1st of August. What a marvellous way to start life in a new church!

Holy New-Martyr Elisabeth, pray to God for us!

Patronal Festival

In that meekness, humility, and love, which made their abode in thy soul, thou didst diligently minister to the suffering, O holy Passion-bearer Princess Elisabeth, and with faith didst endure suffering and death for Christ with the Martyr Barbara. With her do thou pray for all that honour thee with love! - Troparion, tone 2

The 18th (5th) of July is the feast of St Elisabeth the New Martyr, whose relics are currently in the UK. It will indeed be a blessing to have her relics here for her feast.

It is also the patronal festival of my parish, and the day when we plan to move into our new church. To mark the occasion, we are planning a full day of events to which all are welcome.

The plan is to begin at 10 o' clock in the morning with the Lesser Blessing of the Waters, followed by the Hours and Divine Liturgy. If the weather permits, we shall have a Cross Procession, which is a traditional act of worship for patronal festivals, which involves processing around the outside of the church three times, making four stations, forming the points of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross around the building. All the while, hymns will be sung and prayers offered for the church, the parish, the town, and the departed, while the people are blessed with holy water and the icon of St Elisabeth.

We shall then take a break for lunch (bring and share), then watch some videos of the life of St Elisabeth and the work of the nuns of St Elisabeth's Convent in Minsk. Some of you will probably know the nuns as some of them travel around Europe in a van, selling their wares - icons, vestments, other liturgical accoutrements - and they come to Britain usually twice each year.

We then plan to close the day's events with Vespers at half past three in the afternoon.

There is a flyer here.

I do hope some of you are able to come.

O Thou Who didst proclaim that even if thy disciples were silent, the very stones would cry out, so also grant that this holy house may proclaim Thee and draw all who dwell in this town and county to worship Thee in spirit and in truth. Inflame our hearts with love for Thee that we may offer to Thee ourselves and all Thou hast given us to the glory of thy holy Name. We fervently entreat Thee, O merciful One, hearken and have mercy!

- petition for the founding of a new church, from Augmented Litany at the Divine Liturgy

The Conception of the Mother of God

And, behold, an angel of the Lord stood by, saying: Anna, Anna, the Lord hath heard thy prayer, and thou shalt conceive, and shall bring forth; and thy seed shall be spoken of in all the world. - from the Protoevangelium of St James
The feast of the Conception of the Mother of God is perhaps one of the most poorly understood feasts of the Church. This falls on the 8th of December on the Western Rites and on the 9th of December in the Byzantine Kalendar. In either case, it falls approximately nine months before the Nativity of the Mother of God in September. Each year we celebrate this feast and each year somebody asks what it is all about. That people have a yearning to learn more about this part of the Christian Mystery is, of course, encouraging, but it does reveal that it is one of the feasts that is not as readily understood as others.

My suspicion is that this may be particularly true among western converts to Orthodoxy. Many of us who have come to Orthodoxy from western traditions have known of the later Latin teaching of the immaculate conception of the Mother of God, which states:

...the doctrine which asserts that the Blessed Virgin Mary, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God, and in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the human race, was preserved free from every stain of original sin is a doctrine revealed by God and, for this reason, must be firmly and constantly believed by all the faithful.

Constitution Ineffabilis Dei, 1854

Whether we come from traditions where this was affirmed or repudiated, we have been affected by it, whether by overenthusastically embracing it or by overzealously throwing out the proverbial baby along with the bathwater.

Yes, we may remember from our days of exploring Orthodoxy that our understanding of ancestral sin is different from the Latin teaching of original sin, and that this means that the Conception of the Mother of God was, in this respect, just like the conception of any other human being. She was conceived in innocence, as indeed we all are, and her freedom from the guilt of sin at the moment of her conception is unremarkable in that respect*. We may know in our heads that this renders the teaching on the immaculate conception meaningless, for it is the solution to a problem that doesn't exist. We may also understand that because we do not believe that the sin of our first parents means that all human beings are deprived of a supernatural grace from the first moment of our conception, the angelic salutation of the Mother of God as being "full of grace" poses no doctrinal problem for us. We do not need to ponder on what is unique to her that could make this so because there is nothing in the nature of man that precludes this.

So where does this leave us?

Well, as a new convert from Anglicanism, I wasn't quite sure. I would get asked the question of my Anglo-Catholic friends, 'If her conception wasn't immaculate, then what was so special about it? Why celebrate it as a feast?' and I would usually not have an answer. Sometimes this was asked out of genuine curiosity. At other times it was asked in an attempt to highlight what they saw as an inconsistency between Orthodox teaching and Orthodox liturgical practice. The argument was that the existence of the feast in the Orthodox kalendar is evidence that we did once celebrate the immaculate conception but later changed for some reason, perhaps in relation to the disdain with which Blessed Augustine of Hippo is held in some quarters of Orthodoxy, and that we are now left with a meaningless feast as a result.

The sad truth is that this is simply evidence of just how much damage has been done by this teaching of the immaculate conception. The actual meaning of the celebration of the Conception of the Mother of God has been overshadowed to such a great extent that it has almost entirely departed from the consciousness of many Christians, who are left unable to see the point of the feast without this later teaching, and who, as a result, perceive that they have to choose between the two extremes of a) fully embracing the immaculate conception and the original sin on which it is based, and b) reacting vehemently against this teaching and refusing to celebrate the feast at all! Neither of these is acceptable to the Orthodox mind.

So where does this leave people who are coming from such backgrounds into Orthodoxy, and are faced with what appears to be an inconsistency between our belief and practice? It is not unreasonable that they may also wonder about this and ask similar questions to those posed by my Anglo-Catholic friends.

What follows is my own attempt at answering those questions.

At the very basis of Christian teaching is the understanding that nature, as we perceive and experience it today, is fallen. It is still inherently good as we are told in the creation story but it suffers from the effects of the fall. Nowhere is this more in evidence than in the state of mankind. We experience the effects of the fall in perceptible and unimaginable ways. We die, suffer from ailments, experience pain, hunger, and other discomfort. Some have chemical imbalances causing psychological problems. Our passions are also disordered so that many of us struggle with things that, properly, are a wholesome part of our existence and even theosis: food, properly a source of nourishment and enjoyment, is a temptation in many to overeat or undereat, often with deadly consequences; there are inclinations of the sexual passions to acts outside of the procreative marriage bond; there are inclinations and temptations to misdirect our emotions of anger and so forth, often to the point of violence and murder. These are all effects of the fall that affect us all in different ways and to different degrees. They are all ways in which mankind today is separated from complete theosis, from the full participation in the light, love, splendour, holiness, and life-creating energies of the Holy Trinity.


The Ascended Christ, taking our restored human nature back to the bosom of the Father.

The hope that we have in Christianity is the Incarnation. God became man. He fully took on the human nature in the Person of Jesus Christ, and, in that flesh, shared in our struggles, our sufferings, and grief. He had a physical body, just like ours, and felt pain and hunger and, ultimately, shared in our death. Having released the bonds of those righteous ones in Hades who had died before the Incarnation, He also conquered all those elements of the fall in his glorious Resurrection, while still in our flesh - still fully possessing the human nature. In the Ascension, He took that redeemed and restored human nature back into heaven, once again opening the way for us to follow and this we do, by being grafted into his Body, the Church, through Baptism, and being nourished by his Body and Blood, and through participation in the grace-filled life of the Church.

The post-Resurrection Body of Christ was still human, but what we are called to be rather than what we are. He was truly, physically present, but the Gospels tell us of characteristics that we know ourselves not to have. He appeared, seemingly from nowhere, and just as easily vanished from sight. He even showed the brilliance of what our deified bodies are to be at the Transfiguration on Tabor. We see evidence of this in some cases in the lives of the Saints, as they have, in their advanced states of theosis, even during their earthly lives in some cases, physical characteristics beyond what is the common fallen state of mankind. We hear of healing miracles, incorruptible relics, relics that give a sweet aroma, levitation, and even resurrection from the dead! The Saints truly participate in the energies of God and overcome these effects of the fall. Such is the call of all of us and this is at the very heart of the Christian Faith and, indeed, of our entire lives as Christian people.

Another effect of this fallennesss is barrenness. That the ability to procreate becomes diminished or even ceases in men and women, often after a certain age, is a sign of the separation of mankind from participation in the life-giving energies of God. Yet in the childless, elderly couple, the righteous Joachim and Anna, we see a foretaste, a foreshadowing, of the great Mystery of the Resurrection of Christ. Even before Christ is born, we see something of the effects of his conquering the fall, when the barrenness of his grandmother, the righteous Anna is overcome when the Mother of the Redeemer comes into existence in her life-bearing womb.

It is this that we celebrate on the feast of the Conception of the Mother of God. At different times, through repeated renewal of covenants, and in various ways, God revealed something of Himself to his people of various lands, tribes, and backgrounds. He spoke through prophets, sages, and bards for hundreds, even thousands of years, and, after all of this prophecy and prayer, and hopeful expectation, in the Conception of the Mother of God, we have the first sign of the coming of the One Who Is, Who comes to save us from the fall, from peril, and from death, and Who comes to give life. We see this same glimpse of Christ's triumph over lifelessness in the person of the Holy Forerunner and Baptist John, the last in the line of the prophets before Christ, through whose conception, (celebrated on the 23rd of September), the barren womb of St Elisabeth was opened. It is partly for this reason that it is the Mother of God and the Forerunner who are usually depicted on the Deisis icon.


Deisis triptych by the hand of Aidan Hart.

As with most feasts in the Orthodox Church, the best expression of the meaning of the Conception lies in the prayers and hymns of the feast itself, and is immediately recognisable as part of the restoring, healing, paschal Mystery of Christ.

This is clear from the hymns of the feast in the Byzantine Rite:

Today the bonds of barrenness are broken: God has heard the prayers of Joachim and Anna. He has promised them beyond all their hopes, to bear the Maiden of God by whom the Uncircumscribed One was born as mortal man, Who commanded an angel to cry unto her: Rejoice, O thou who art Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee!

Troparion for the Conception of the Mother of God, tone 4

Let the heavens rejoice this day, for Anna has conceived the Theotokos through God's dispensation, for she has brought forth the one who is to bear the ineffable Word!

Kontakion for the Conception of the Mother of God, tone 4

By no means is this unique to the east. From the western Divine Office, here is the final psalm appointed to be sung at first Vespers on this feast. Note its joy:

Praise the Lord, you children! Praise the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore. From sunrise to sunset may the Lord’s name be praised. The Lord is supreme over all the nations; his glory is beyond the heavens. Who is like the Lord our God, Who makes his home on high, yet watches over the humble things in heaven and on earth? He raises the poor from the earth and lifts the needy from the dunghill, to seat him with princes, with the rulers of his people. He settles the barren woman in a home as a happy mother with her children.

Psalm 112

It seems quite unlikely that this psalm was chosen by coincidence. See also this excerpt from the Mass of the feast:

Let us celebrate this day
whereon piously we say
Mary was conceived.
Begotten is the mother maid,
conceived, created, channel made,
or pardon to the world.
Adam's primeval banishment
and Joachim's own discontent
there find a remedy.

from the Sequence at the Mass for the Conception of the Mother of God.

So it seems to me that the hymns and prayers of the feast in both east and west are replete with the theology of the Conception of the Mother of God as the first foretaste - a prelude - of the great bountines of the Lord's restorative and healing grace of which we can all partake. This is what the Church has celebrated since the establishment of this feast, long before the departure of the west into exploring ways around the problems caused by its understanding of original sin. This feast is a celebration of the grace, love, and bountiful mercy of God, and, without the need for recourse to late doctrinal developments that serve merely to obscure its meaning, Christians have great cause for celebration, prayer, and thankfulness on this day.

Let us all rejoice and praise the Lord, keeping holy day in honour of the Virgin Mary, for whose Conception the Angels are joyful, and glorify the Son of God!

- the office/introit for the Conception of the Mother of God

*For those unfamiliar with this distinction, Father Gregory Hallam offers this very good elucidation.

Pentecostal assistance required

I have just prayed Vespers for the Feast of the Ascension. As I was about to start, I picked up the Festal Menaion so I would have all of the necessaries to hand, and realised that the Ascension wasn't actually in there. It finally dawned on me that Ascension would be in the Pentecostarion instead because it falls during the Paschal season but I neither have nor can afford it at the moment. Anyway, I was glad to find that my fairly recent investment in a copy of the General Menaion, (a sort of fill-in-the gaps book for when you don't have the proper texts for specific feasts and saints), paid off, as it has commons for feasts of the Lord, so I just used those instead and adapted the text (mid-chant) where it invited me to. That seemed to work well enough. I'm sure God heard my prayer.

However, Pentecost is just around the corner, and the General Menaion does not have commons for feasts of the Holy Spirit. Is anybody able to help me by pointing me in the direction of the texts online? Thank you.

(Alternatively, you could buy me a copy of the Pentecostarion!)

From East to West: part three

Not my own effort this time but here is a comparison done by Father Deacon Benjamin over at his blog.

From East to West: part two

In the Sarum Use of the Orthodox Roman Rite, before the Mass of Easter Day, the Holy Things are returned from the Sepulchre, where they have been since Maundy Thursday, to the High Altar. Once this is done, the rubrics require all the bells to be rung together in a clash, and two antiphons to be sung, of which the second is this:

Now let the Jews declare how the soldiers who guarded the sepulchre lost the King when the stone was placed, wherefore they kept not the Rock of righteousness; let them either produce Him buried, or adore Him rising, saying with us: Alleluia! Alelluia!

Christ is removed from the tomb and once again returned to the place of honour in the Church, and this calls those faithful of the Old Covenant to either acknowledge and affirm that it is fulfilled in the Risen Christ or to produce evidence to the contrary.

Compare this to the second resurrectional stikheron of Sunday Matins in tone two, from the Byzantine Rite:

Let the Jews say how the soldiers who kept watch lost the King. Why did the stone not keep the Rock of life? Either give up the buried corpse or worship the Risen One, saying with us: Glory to the magnitude of thy compassions, O our Saviour! Glory to Thee!

At some point in the development of our services, it is clear that there was some borrowing from the one for the use of the other. Our services are replete with this sort of ritual overlap and this shows that the same Faith is expressed in the different rites of the Church, and that their development was not independent of each other. I hope to post a number of examples of this sort of overlap as I encounter them or as they come to mind, firstly, because I find it quite exciting and, secondly, because I think that it is important for people to see that the Western Rite is not something foreign and alien to Orthodoxy but is very much a part of our heritage as Orthodox Christians. Many thanks to Hieromonk Aidan for bringing this to public attention.