We look to celebrating the Bright Resurrection, the Pascha of the Lord, in St Philip’s Church, Tweedsmuir Rd, CARDIFF CF24 2QZ.11:30pm: Midnight Office / Полу́нощница
The Annunciation and the Divine Peace
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
On such a beautiful day, under blue Welsh skies, bathed in sunlight and surrounded by the new green leaves of spring, by blossom and birdsong, it is so easy to forget that in some parts of the world, our brothers and sisters are celebrating this feast of the Annunciation not to the sound of nesting birds and neighbours mowing their lawns, but rather to the sounds of sirens, gunfire and explosions. Yet, wherever there are Orthodox parishes and people, the feast will be celebrated, bringing light and hope to the suffering faithful as they celebrate the conception of the Saviour as the hope of the nations, Who brings light in the darkness, and to Whom we pray for “the peace from above.”
In the Imperial City, the Emperor and Equal to the Apostles, Saint Constantine built the temple of ‘Agia Irini, the Church of the Holy Peace, dedicated not to the Holy Martyr, but to the Divine Peace, for which we pray in every Liturgy.
This feast of the Annunciation inaugurates that Divine Peace, in the reconciliation between fallen humanity and God, and not only between heaven and earth, but even between the heavenly heights and the depths of Hades holding the righteous dead of the Old Covenant, who were held captive there.
In his verse homily on ‘The Descent of the Angel’, the great Syrian Father, Jacob of Sarugh celebrates the Annunciation as the peace treaty made between God and humanity, and between heaven and earth.
In the conversation between God’s ambassador, the Taxiarch Gabriel and the Theotokos as the representative of the entire human race, Mar Jacob sees the restoration of “the peace from above”, that will become Incarnate in the Person of the Saviour, the God-Man, the Theanthropos, who will be the living sign of this reconciliation and the peace treaty that will be signed with His Blood, sealed by His last breath, with the words “It is done!” The earthquake and eclipse of Great Friday, and the tearing of the Veil of the Temple will be the heralds of this peace like no other, even as He descends into Hades and shatters its gates, and the chains and shackles of death, bringing light to those in darkness and raising his ancestors-according-to-the-flesh in his own resurrection.
This peace treaty begins today, as the Theotokos, after listening to the message of the Archangel, gives her consent to the plan and will of God, as she humbly says, “Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.”
Hidden from the eyes of the world, the Prince of Peace came to dwell within her Ever-Virgin womb, and though the Cross, the Invincible Trophy and Weapon of Peace (Kontakion of the Cross) was far off, the new Life hidden within womb of the Mother of God was already the Bridegroom going to His voluntary Passion, as we describe Him in the services of this Holy and Great Week, and the meaning of this Passion, of the Cross, the nails, the spear and death was to establish “the peace from above, and the union of all”, for which we pray in the Litany of Peace.
This “peace from above” is not the cessation of earthly conflict, be it war in Europe, Palestine, the Middle East, or any corner of the world. It is realised in the end of the enmity caused by the rebellion of man against God, the conquest and vanquishing of hell and death, the reconciliation of creation with the Creator, of man with God, and of children with their Heavenly Father.
Though man may fight against man, regime against regime, nation against nation, the reality of this Divine Peace cannot be changed, and when the Risen Saviour appeared to the Apostles, His first words (the deeper meaning perhaps not apparent or obvious) were, “Peace, be with you!”
Even now, as we pray for earthly peace, and for those (including the relatives of our own parishioners) who suffer the losses, pains and vicissitudes of war, let us celebrate the Divine peace-treaty made this day, and contemplate the words of the divinely inspired, Jacob of Sarugh.
The Descent of the Angel
The Watcher had descended while Mary was standing in prayer;
he gave her the greeting which was sent to her from the Most High:
‘Peace to you Mary, blessed one, our Lord is with you;
Blessed are you and blessed is the fruit of your virginity.’
Then when she heard it, she was prudently reflecting
On what might be the cause of this unusual greeting.
The Watcher said: ‘Do not be afraid, O full of mercy,
The Lord has chosen you that in your virginity you might be his Mother.
‘Behold from this time you will solemnly conceive;
you will give birth to the great One whose Kingdom is without end.’
Mary said: ‘How then will what you say happen
Since man has never been known to me, how will I bring forth?’
‘You have announced a Son to me but I am not conscious of marital union;
I have heard of nativity but I see no marriage.’
That moment was full of wonder when Mary was standing,
Conversing in argument with Gabriel.
One humble daughter of poor folk and one angel
Met each other and spoke of a wonderful tale.
A pure virgin and fiery Watcher spoke with wonder:
a discourse which reconciled dwellers of earth and heaven.
One women and the prince of all the hosts
Had made an agreement for the reconciliation of the whole world.
The two had sat between heavenly beings and earthly ones;
they spoke, attended to and made peace for those who were wroth.
Maiden and Watcher met each other and conversed in argument on the matter
Until they abolished the conflict between the Lord and Adam.
That great strife which occurred amidst the trees
came up for discussion, and it all came to an end; there was peace.
An earthly being and heavenly one spoke with love;
the struggle between the two sides ceased, and they were at peace.
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Surrounded by the violence, the madness, and the conflict of the world, may the Divine Peace make its home within our hearts and minds, as we abandon ourselves into the embrace of God’s love, Love which become a Person and was Incarnate in the womb of the Virgin-Mother on this Great Feast, as “the crown of our salvation, and the manifestation of the mystery that was before the ages.”
This mystery is the pre-eternal wonder of God’s ineffable, immeasurable, and sacrificial love: the love that came like the father of the prodigal son, to search for us when we were lost and estranged in spiritual exile, and took on human flesh when a young mother in Nazareth surrendered herself to God’s will, and said “yes” to becoming His instrument of reconciliation and the peace between heaven and earth.
Let us try to forget disagreements, arguments, conflicts, the negative memories of the past, and struggle to love and forgive, however hard that may be, so that we may aspire to “the peace from above”, however difficult our struggle may be.
We must pray continually, seeking to continually forgive, continually asking for forgiveness, confessing our weakness and insufficiency, and creating (by humility) a place within our hearts for that peace to make its sacred home.
Unless we at least try to do this, this feast and all it represents will have no meaning, resonance or spiritual significance in our lives.
Amen.
Parish News: Third Week of Great Lent
Dear brothers and sisters,
After what looked liked what would be a rather low attendance for our Liturgy for the Sunday of St Gregory Palamas, we ended up with sixty worshippers, including our children.
However, the attendance number for our Annual General Meeting, following Liturgy, was extremely disappointing.
We need to understand that it is our duty to support parish meetings, and to be part of discussions of parish life. This is an expression of being a stake-holder in the parish, and a sign that parish memberships is taken seriously and has obligations and responsibilities.
We understand that it is simply not possible for all parishioners to attend, due to work and family commitments, but when an annual meeting draws little more than a dozen individuals, plus the committee, we clearly need to reflect on what it means to belong to an Orthodox parish.
Our meetings should be a true reflection of our parish, with both young and not-so-young, and our broad mix of parishioners from across the Orthodox world and here in the UK. I Very much hope that our next parish meeting will be rather more representative of our community!
During the meeting, there were some welcome suggestions regarding developments in parish life, and we will seek to implement them: including a moleben for the parish and special collection for the building fund on the first Sunday of the month, and a monthly Saturday vespers – though I would like to see this extend the first and third Saturdays, if we are able to cover the cost of hiring St Philip’s.
Some of you will remember that we used to celebrate Saturday vespers on most weekends in Nazareth House, when we had unhindered use of the church, and set up on Saturdays.
As proposing parishioners rightly observed, the service for the eve of the Lord’s Day and feasts have a very special and very different atmosphere to the morning Liturgy.
At the moment, we are only able to celebrate vespers in the Oratory Church on the eve of feasts, and at a time that is impractical for most parishioners. So, we hope that a Saturday evening vespers, hopefully expanding to the vigil service, will find broad support.
We very much look forward to gathering for vespers, and will seek to arrange the use of St Philip’s.
We are happy that, at the moment, we are able to have a weekday evening service, in Nazareth House, though this is compline, rather than vespers. During Great Lent, and other fasting periods, this is Great Compline, with a supplicatory canon to the Mother of God.
A monthly moleben for the parish will be a welcome prayerful reminder of our need to work together, spiritually and materially, for the development of the parish.
We have continued to have a weekly moleben in the Oratory at 15:00 on Fridays, but will replace these with the Divine Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts, during Lent. Anyone communing should fast from 09:00 at the latest. Our first Cardiff Pre-Sanctified Liturgy will be this Friday at the usual service time of 15:00.
If anyone is able to travel to Llanelli, the Pre-Sanctified Liturgy is also celebrated there, but at 18:30 on Wednesdays. Fasting should be from 12:30 at the latest.
Next Saturday, the Divine Liturgy will be celebrated in the Chapel of St Lawrence, in Warminster at 10:30, serving our Cardiff parishioners in the West of England. Confessions will be heard before the service, and in the general memorial service for the departed, after the service, we will remember the late Archimandrite Barnabas on the thirtieth anniversary of his repose. Saturday will be St David’s day according to the Church calendar: a worthy day of repose for our late Tâd Barnabas. Memory eternal!
We look forward to welcoming Father Paul and a group of pilgrims who will visit St David’s on Saturday, before joining us for Sunday Liturgy in Tremorfa. I have unfortunately received no concrete times regarding their service in St David’s, but will share, should specifics be forthcoming.
Saturday 21 March, will see the hierarchical celebration of the Mystery of Holy Unction (Soborovanie) in the London Cathedral at 14:00. Again, any parishioners able to offer a spare seat to a non-driver are encouraged to car-share.
The last Saturday of the month, 28 March, will see the celebration of the Divine Liturgy in Cheltenham, starting at 10:00, in Prestbury United Reformed Church.
Returning to Cardiff matters, discussions in our AGM highlighted the generally poor response to Joanna’s request for assistance setting up St Philip’s for Sunday Liturgy.
This has resulted in our starosta arriving up to several hours before Liturgy to set up the church. This is an unreasonable lack of sharing of duties. We cannot take it for granted that the building will miraculously be ready for worship.
The same presumption has come to characterise the lunch table after Liturgy, with a quite unreasonable shouldering of the responsibility for hospitality falling on very few ladies. Again, this responsibility needs to be fairly shared, and we need to share the responsibility of not only sharing food with one another, but welcoming our stream if guests.
In general, we each need to ask the questions, “What can I do for the parish?” and “What can my talents and abilities bring to our community?”
Can you bake a cake or a pie? Do the washing up? Bring flowers? Give an hour to set up church for Liturgy? Serve in the sanctuary? Sing on the kliros? Give lifts to those without transport?
There are a myriad ways in which the community can be supported, and aided. Let’s take time to find ways to offer ourselves and build the parish.
We continue to ask your prayers for Anastasia and Tomasz, who are travelling, and for the sick servants of God, Pavel and Diamantis, and for God’s help for Joseph during officer training whilst feeling viral and under the weather.
Asking your forgiveness, for Christ’s sake.
May God bless you.
Hieromonk Mark
Parish News – Second Week of Great Lent
First Sunday of Lent
Dear brothers and sisters, greetings as we follow the sombre, penitential days of the first week of the Fast and the Great Canon of Repentance with today’s joyful celebration of the restoration of the holy icons and the Triumph of Orthodoxy.
We were a thin on numbers, which was surprising, given that it was the culmination of the first week of the Fast and such an important day on the Church calendar, but were celebrated joyfully and fully, with the synodikon of Orthodoxy following the Liturgy.
During this Lenten season, the Liturgy of St Basil is celebrated on Sundays, with its considerably longer priestly prayers, and extended settings of sacred chant. As there are generally more faithful to confess during the fast, may we prompt you not to leave confession till late in the Hours, so that both Father Mark and I are able to celebrate the whole Liturgy in this sacred season.
Thanks to all who contributed to the daytime and evening services with the Great Canon, last week. Our students were dedicated in their reading, and also in working on our media presence, sharing scenes from the week’s Lenten parish life.
In the coming week, the Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts will be celebrated in Llanelli at 18:30, on Wednesday. This is essentially a vesperal Liturgy in which an additional Lamb, consecrated on Sunday is broken and distributed in Holy Communion. This ancient Liturgy of St Gregory the Dialogist, Pope of Old Rome, replaces the Divine Liturgy on Lenten weekdays. Anyone communing should fast from noon at the latest.
In Cardiff, we will chant Great Compline in Nazareth House at 18:00 on Thursday, and I will hear confessions. This order of compline is celebrated during the Fast and on the eves of Nativity, Theophany and Annunciation, and has considerably more Psalms and hymns than Small Compline – and will give our young brothers plenty of reading to share!
On Friday, we will celebrate a service to the Lord’s Divine Passion in the Oratory Church at 15:00, and will use the new Lenten vestments which arrived from Ukraine, last week, and were blessed by Father Mark before Sunday’s Liturgy. We also look forward to using new Lenten analoy covers sent by Joanna’s mother, from Poland. I will be available to hear confessions both before and after this Passion service.
Next Sunday, we will return to St Philip’s, now replete with a lovely, large kitchen. We will be reorienting our worship to avoid entering next to the altar, turning our set-up by 90 degrees and hopefully finding this arrangement much more conducive to worship.
May I remind you that our next Sunday Liturgy will be followed by our annual general meeting, so there will be no shared trapeza, and you are asked to bring a personal packed lunch.
At mid-Lent, on the Sunday of the Cross, we will mark the thirtieth anniversary of the death of Archimandrite Barnabas, the great pioneer of Orthodox mission in Wales, and look forward to Father Luke joining us for the Divine Liturgy and a post Liturgy memorial for this greatly loved figure, who reconciled Welshness and Orthodoxy – proving that there is nothing antithetical about them, but rather an essential spiritual harmony, in the footsteps of our great Welsh Saints.
We look forward to the hierarchically led Rite of Holy Unction (soborovanie) the following weekend – on Saturday 21 March – with the mysterion for the Southern part of Britain being celebrated in the cathedral at 14:00. Please offer spare car places to fellow parishioners if you are able to head to Chiswick for this important occasion.
We ask your prayers for matushka Alla, Anastasia and Tomasz, who are travelling (matushka returning from the USA on Tuesday and Anastasia and Tomasz affected by military action in Iran), and for the sick servant of God, Diamantis.
Asking your forgiveness, for Christ’s sake.
May God bless you.
Hieromonk Mark
Parish News – Sunday 15 February
Dear brothers and sisters,
Greetings for the feast of the Meeting of the Lord: the culmination of four days of prayer and services in Cardiff and our Wessex mission in Warminster.
Our Thursday and Friday services have become a set part of our weekly routine, with our Thursday celebration of compline framing the chanting of an akathist in which we alternate languages to ensure a balance of worship in Slavonic as well as English. We do the same on Friday, when a moleben is offered in the Oratory, before a relic of the Precious Cross, which is venerated at the end of our service.
Apart from the first week of Lent, our Thursday evening prayers during the Great Fast will change to devotions to the Lord’s Saving Passion, with the akathist of repentance chanted during confessions afterwards.
As mentioned in last week’s newsletter, we would like to repeat the daily reading of the complete Psalter during the Fast, but so far only one person has expressed interest, which is disappointing given the success of the last few years. If interested, please message me asap.
It was a joy to be in Warminster, yesterday, after an absence of several months, and to celebrate the Liturgy in the lovely chapel of St Lawrence, in which the service was bathed on glorious sunlight, shining through the stained glass. As in Cheltenham, our Wessex Liturgies are customarily graced with blue skies and clear, sunny weather, whatever the season. I hope and pray that we will have the blessing of worshipping in the chapel for many years to come.
Having the Meeting of the Lord fall on a Sunday was a special blessing, and today’s Liturgy felt festal and joyous, with a welcome car-load of visitors from Cheltenham.
Many thanks to our singers, servers, sisterhood and team of volunteers for setting up and packing away. Your labours and help are greatly appreciated.
As announced, this comingSaturday will see our monthly Cheltenham Liturgy in Prestbury United Reformation Church at 10:00, followed by a bring and share lunch.
Consumption of meat ends today, and the coming week allows dairy food, eggs and fish throughout the week, with Sunday being the last day before the Fast. As it is Forgiveness Sunday, our Liturgy will be followed by vespers with the rite of mutual forgiveness.
Looking forward to March, our annual parish meeting will be on Sunday 8 March. If you wish to add items to the agenda, please contact Fr Mark Fisher.
Having discussed the implementation of an annual household parish membership contribution (normal practice in ROCOR parishes, and established by our by-laws) of £60 per year /£5 per month, Father Mark will bring membership forms next week. This is to establish formal membership of the parish and inclusion on the electoral roll, and is a standard feature of Orthodox parish life, despite not previously having been implemented in our own community.
The listed members of baptised parishioners of 18 years and above, who have been parishioners for a minimum of six months, and are in good spiritual standing, are qualified to vote in parish business, and to stand for office when elections are held. Subscription is – of course – a matter of personal choice, but only subscribed parishioners may vote, and may not formally subscribe to membership of another parish.
As announced, the Holy Unction (Soborovanie) will be celebrated in the cathedral on Saturday 21 March, at 14:00, and we hope that car-sharing will maximise the number of parishioners able to attend and participate in the hierarchical celebration of the Holy Mystery.
We ask your prayers for Olga’s aunt Alla, as she returns to Odessa; for matushka Alla on her professional travels; and for our starosta, Joanna, as she travels with family. Prayers are also asked for the health of Metropolitans Arseny and Tychikos, Vesna (a Lazarica parishioner), Despina and Pavel, for the spiritual health of Simone, and the spiritual protection of Helen (non-O).
Wishing you a good preparation for the Great Fast during this maslenitsa week, and asking your forgiveness, for Christ’s sake.
May God bless you.
Hieromonk Mark
Parish News: Meatfare Week – 9th February
Dear brothers and sisters,
As the days grow longer and the first flowers of the year grace our gardens, parks, and the countryside around us, the Church calendar takes us closer and closer to the beginning of the Lent: the Great Fast.
After a fast free week, this week sees the last week of meat, ending with Meatfare Sunday, before cheesefare week. This Wednesday and Friday remain fasting days, but eggs and dairy food are permitted throughout the following week.
On this coming memorial Saturday, which is also both the feast of St Brigid and forefeast of the Meeting of the Lord, the Hours and Divine Liturgy will be celebrated in the Chapel of St Lawrence in Warminster at 10:30.
Before then, we will celebrate Small Compline with an akathist in Nazareth House at 18:00 on Thursday, with the opportunity for confessions, and will chant our customary Friday afternoon moleben in the Oratory Church at 15:00. As usual I will, again, be available to hear confessions.
Liturgy for Sunday of the Last Judgment (Meatfare) and the feast of the Meeting of the Lord will, again, be in Tremorfa Community Hall, as it will be some weeks before St Philip’s will be useable for Liturgy.
Many thanks to those who helped move things from the church to the hall yesterday. Our new faithful were certainly kept busy. It was a joy to welcome Olga back to the kliros after her recent virus, and our choir were in fine voice for our celebration of not only the Sunday of the Prodigal Son, but also the commemoration of the New Confessors and Martyrs of our Church.
Our next Cheltenham Liturgy will be celebrated in Prestbury on Saturday 21 February, the Saturday of “All of the venerable (monastic) fathers and mothers lit up with great deeds”, and we shall no doubt enjoy maslenitsa and plenty of pancakes that day.
Those who subscribe to our WhatsApp, will have read that the diocese has announced that soborovanie (Holy Unction) will be celebrated in our London Cathedral on Saturday 21 March at 14:00, and will return to onlybeing celebrated in a hierarchical sobor, this year, with Bishop Irenei heading those of us who have been blessed to concelebrate this Holy Mystery. The anointing may be received by all baptised Orthodox Christians above the age of seven years, who have confessed and been blessed to partake of the Holy Mystery. We hope that by car-sharing, as many parishioners as possible may be able to participate, and there will also be a northern celebration in the parish of St Elizabeth the New-Martyr in Wallasey on Wednesday 25 February. Soborovanie will NOT be celebrated in parishes during Holy Week, given that ROCOR ordinarily maintains the tradition of it being a hierarchical rite.
Looking forward to the first week of Great Lent, through necessity (Work is likely to be continuing in St Philip’s), compline with the Great Canon of Repentance will be anticipated, earlier in the day, being chanted in the Oratory Church at 15:00 on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. I hope that Friday will see the celebration of the Divine Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified, and I will confirm this once I have spoken to Father Sebastian regarding timing. I hope that a few of us may keep the Saturday of St Theodore – the first Saturday of the Fast – by joining the Liturgy in Lazarica, together with Cheltenham parishioners.
Once Lent begins, I hope that we will repeat the daily reading of the entire Psalter as in previous years, with twenty readers reading a kathisma each every day, so that the entire Psalter is offered to the Lord every twent four hours. Please let me know if you are able to be part of this prayerful offering.
In the meantime, I hope that parishioners are considering spiritual reading for the Great Fast and ensuring they have profitable and soul enriching books at hand.
Asking you forgiveness for Christ’s sake.
May God bless you.
In Christ – Hieromonk Mark
Christ is Born! Nativity Greetings.
Dear brothers and sisters: Christ is Born!
As we celebrate the feast of the Lord’s Nativity, we contemplate the Lord’s birth in the darkness of the night, and like the shepherds and magi, as they draw near to the new-born Saviour, we are surrounded by great darkness, though it is a spiritual and moral blackness that envelops us in our lives.
As I reflected in my homily, the icon of the Nativity shows the Infant Lord and His manger before a gaping black hole, a cosmic spiritual void and mouth of hell… the entrance to the depths of spiritual darkness, devoid of God and hope.
Darkness surrounds the Nativity, and in the icon, we see both shepherds and wise men journeying through the night: the former arriving from the near locality and the latter ending a longer and more perilous journey.
For us it is not the darkness of the night sky, in which the magi watched the stars, or the physical darkness of the Judaean night in which the shepherds watched for wild animals or thieves, guarding their flock by the comforting defence of their nighttime fire, but spiritual-darkness, uncertainty and fear that surrounds us.
Not wolves and lions, but a myriad of spiritual dangers and forces wait to attack us on every side, and we face so many pressures, worries and anxieties in everyday life. But, though we may not be able to change the exterior spiritual darkness of our confused world, it is for each us to decide whether to be watchful and vigilant, to seek the Light of the World, new-born and laid in the manger, or to abandon ourselves to the danger-filled blackness of the spiritual night.
Through this darkness, the Lord calls out to us, “Fear not!” and it is the Incarnate Saviour, Himself, who has become the messenger/angelos that brings the tidings of joy and true peace, possible in the hearts of the faithful, even in the most terrifying, violent and threatening of times.
It is the Saviour Himself who has become the day-star from on high, guiding us through perils and dangers, and dispelling the fearful shadows for those who seek Him and rejoice in His birth.
Knowing that He remains Emmanuel – God-with-us – we are called to rise up and hasten to Him, to bow down and worship Him, and like the shepherds and magi, to put aside everything that previously seemed important and pressing.
The magi left behind all that was familiar, secure and comfortable, in order to seek Truth, willing to face risks and dangers to arrive at the place where they would find that Truth and offer Him their gifts as they bowed down and worshipped Him.
The shepherds willingly left the light and security of the fireside and the protection of the sheep-fold to stumble through the darkness to search for the Light of the World.
Like them both, we must struggle through the night to bring not only the gifts we have, however great and noble, or more likely poor and humble, as well as our anxieties, problems and fears, and to forget the darkness and danger that surrounds us as we behold the Saviour and long-awaited Messiah, and contemplate the wonderful fulfilment of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.” Let us then heed the words of the Apostle Paul to the Ephesians and, despite the darkness of the world, “live as children of light.”
Amen.
A Homily On The Lord’s Descent Into the Jordan
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Dear brothers and sisters, greetings as we celebrate the Baptism of Our Lord, and God, and Saviour, Jesus Christ!
The celebration of the Lord’s Baptism, is central not only to our Christian year, but to the very fabric of our Orthodox spirituality, and our understanding and experience of God’s immanence through His sanctification of creation and the gift of His grace.
Whilst the focus of the Christian west on the Lord’s Cross and passion constantly overlooks His baptism, we Orthodox Christians joyfully and enthusiastically celebrate the Theophany in the Jordan as a crucial act in the Saviour’s redemptive work, and which the Church Fathers saw as central to the economy of salvation.
Whilst the Lord’s Cross and passion is the altar of His sacrifice, His descent into the Jordan and baptism by John, is the mystery by which humanity is reclothed in the robe of glory, which Adam wore of old, but lost through his rebelliousness and disobedience.
Theophany is Christ’s baptismal calling to us, through which both individual Christians and their corporate totality, the Church, are betrothed to Christ the Bridegroom, Who mercifully deigned to come to find that which was lost.
St Jacob of Sarug uses Adam’s name and person to represent the whole human race, and in his surviving homily on the Lord’s baptism, He poetically places words into the Saviour’s mouth, as He speaks to John of His baptism being crucial to His descent, incarnation and redemptive mission.
“Our Lord said, “I am not lacking, but in one thing: the recovery of Adam who was lost by me is sought by me.
Allow me to descend to seek Adam, the fair image, and when I shall find him, the whole of my desire will be fulfilled…
In this recovery my desire will come to perfection,
because Adam is needed by me to enter into his inheritance.
Therefore, allow me to descend to cleanse the image that has become faded…”
We are struck with the fact that the Creator’s immovable and unfading love for humanity is such that it impels Him to search and to save.
Having created Adam and Eve as not only the apex of creation, but as the primary recipients of His absolute and all-perfect love, that love demands that humanity is cleansed, and that the divine image and likeness is restored in God’s lost sons and daughters.
How daring to suggest that even though He lacks nothing, the divine will of salvation is manifested in the Saviour’s voluntary “need” to seek the lost, to restore the inheritance of eternal life to his fallen children.
Christ’s descent into the Jordan is an integral part of this restoration of Adam (humanity), and a foreshadowing of His descent into Hades.
This is reflected in the hymns of the feast, in which water is the symbol of spiritual chaos and a place of unrestrained forces, and darkness that mirrors Hades.
In ode four, the second canon of matins speaks of this, and significantly celebrates Christ’s descent into Jordan as not only for the deliverance of humanity, but for the redemption of ALL creation.
“That He might bring His own back to the life-giving pastures of paradise, the Word of God falleth upon the lairs of the dragons, and destroying their manifold snares, he assaileth him who hath bruised all mankind, and, imprisoning him, delivereth creation.”
As He is immersed in the Jordan, in a reversal of the normal spiritual operation of baptism, Christ Himself sanctifies the waters, as they are cleansed by Him, and He establishes the Baptismal Mystery as the rebirth and regeneration of those who follow Him, in the establishment of spiritual order and harmony and the subjugation of chaos and lawlessness.
Just as Christ came down from heaven at the Annunciation, to enter the womb of the Mother of God, so by His descent, the waters of Jordan, become a womb in which humanity is born anew through baptism in the Name of the Trinity, Which is gloriously made manifest as the Only-Begotten Son ascends from the waters, the confirmatory voice of the Father is heard from heaven, and the Holy Spirit descends in the likeness of a dove.
In the verbal iconography of his metrical homily, St Jacob portrays Christ speaking of fallen humanity:
“I am making them enter into the moist womb, so that it will conceive them / and give them the new birth without birth pangs.”
Through the consecration of the Jordan through the Lord’s descent into its waters, the font becomes the spiritual womb in which new life in Him is conceived, as we the faithful are reborn as a new-creation through our joining to Him: in our descent into His death and our ascent in the power of His Resurrection.
Even before the great commission, in which the Lord charged the Apostles to preach to all nations, baptising them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, our baptism was established and sanctified by His own baptism for our sake, and for our salvation.
As St John Chrysostom reminds us, a significant difference between the baptism of John and that established by the Lord in His consecrating entry into the waters, is that the Jordan calls us not only to a baptism of repentance, but to baptism of new life in Christ.
As the third ode of the canon tells us,
“The Master draweth to Himself the divinely fashioned nature of man, which had been overcome by the tyranny of greed; and He restoreth mortal men, granting them a new birth, and accomplishing thereby a mighty work; for He is come to cleanse our nature.”
Our very human nature should be changed by the Mystery of Baptism, and our post-baptismal self should be that of a person radically changed by our mystical descent into Christ’s death, and our ascent in the power of His resurrection, which later sealed the inner meaning of this Holy Mystery, as He went to His voluntary passion.
We should each have put off the old man, to be reclothed in glory, having “put on Christ”, and this glorious Theophany should call us to reflect upon whether this is truly the spiritual reality of our lives, particularly for those who were baptised in infancy and are unable to remember life before their baptism.
As those betrothed to Christ through baptism, and as children of His resurrection, do we really seek to live as a new creation, with lives spiritually and morally set apart from the fallenness, brokenness and dysfunctionalism of the world?
If we find ourselves lacking, then enlivened, fortified and raised up by this glorious Theophany, we must rouse ourselves to action, repentance and newness of life – blessed and set aright as we share in God’s sanctifying grace, partaking of the Holy Water blessed upon this feast, mindful that at its sanctification, we have prayed…
“That these waters may be sanctified by the power, effectual operation and descent of the Holy Spirit…
That there may descend upon thse waters the cleansing operation of the super-substantional Trinity…
That He will endue them with the grace of redemption, the blessing of Jordan, the might, operation, and descent of the Holy Spirit…
That the Lord God will send down the blessing of Jordan and sanctify these waters…
That this water may be unto the bestowing of sanctification; unto the remission of sins; unto the healing of soul and body: and unto every expedient service…
That this water may be a fountain welling forth unto life eternal…
For those who shall draw of it and take of it unto the sanctification of their homes…
That it may be for the purification of the souls and bodies of all those who, with faith, shall draw and partake of it…
That He will graciously enable us to perfect sanctification by participation in these waters, through the invisible manifestation of the Holy Spirit, let us pray to the Lord.”
Take heed to the last petition!
We are not idle bystanders, but are called to be participators in this feast; to not be onlookers, but to spiritually stand on the banks of the Jordan as we enter into the cosmic spiritual renewal to which the Church calls us each and every year.
Let us be in awe, that the Creator of the land, the rivers and seas, the sun, moon and stars, of the angelic hosts and the race of men should humble Himself beneath the hands of the Forerunner for the healing, restoration and raising up of each of us.
Let us be in awe, that the worship of the Trinity should be made manifest in the glorious Theophany of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit together.
Let us fall down in humility, penitence and the fear of God, filled with awe that in this feast we have truly seen that “God is the Lord,and hath revealed Himself to us!” calling us to rush to the renewal of Jordan in our temples and parishes and partake of His Grace!
With the fear of God and Faith draw near!
Amen!
The Canon to St Basil the Great
The Canon to St Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappodocia
Ode I, Irmos: Come, ye people, let us chant a hymn to Christ God, Who divided the sea and guided the people whom He had led forth from the bondage of Egypt, for He hath been glorified.
Hierarch of Christ, Basil, pray to God for us.
It hath been fitting that thy voice come unto those desiring to sing thy praises, O father Basil. Accepting their entreaty, grant us grace in abundance.
Hierarch of Christ, Basil, pray to God for us.
Thou didst tread the difficult path of the virtues, and didst attain unto the smooth and pleasant entry to heaven, O Basil, and hast shown thyself to be a model for all.
Hierarch of Christ, Basil, pray to God for us.
By thy desire for the love of wisdom thou didst suppress the uprising of the passions which tormenteth the flesh; wherefore, thou dwellest in the incorrupt mansions of heaven, O father Basil.
Hierarch of Christ, Basil, pray to God for us.
With the sword of the Spirit thou didst right profitably cut down the passions of both soul and body, O Basil; and thou didst bring thyself to the Master as a sacrifice.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As an initiate of the ineffable mysteries, O sacred father Basil, thou didst manifestly instruct the Church of Christ in His mysteries and hast shone upon us the light of the Trinity.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Who can fittingly describe thy conceiving, which is beyond words? For thou hast given birth in the flesh to God Who hath shown Himself to be our Saviour and Lord, O most pure one.
Ode III, Irmos: Establish us in thee, O Lord Who hast slain sin by the Tree, and plant the fear of Thee in the hearts of us who hymn Thee.
Hierarch of Christ, Basil, pray to God for us.
Thy memorial hath arrived and shone forth at the same time as the nativity of Christ, the ineffable mystery whereof thou didst manifestly reveal by thy teachings.
Hierarch of Christ, Basil, pray to God for us.
Made steadfast in the fear of God, in that it is the beginning of wisdom, thou didst soar aloft in the highest love of wisdom, O Basil.
Hierarch of Christ, Basil, pray to God for us.
Full of all instruction, O Basil, thou wast shown to be a light unto the world, not only that which is below and is trodden upon by our feet, but that which is more sublime.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
O all-wise Basil, thou hast shown activity to be the entry into vision most divine, and by activity thou didst enter therein; and thou hast manifestly taught the understanding of all that existeth.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Without seed thou didst conceive in thy womb, and didst ineffably give birth to God incarnate, upon Whom the hosts of heaven dare not gaze, O pure Ever-virgin.
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Sessional Hymn, Tone VIII, Spec. Mel. “Of the Wisdom…”: Having learned the wisdom of the Word and set aside the writings of the law, thou didst proclaim to all the word of grace, and by thy words thou didst erase the tablets of men’s souls, and thereon didst inscribe divine doctrines. Wherefore, passing through the darkness, a cloud protecting thy body, thou didst shine forth in the Spirit, O holy hierarch Basil. Entreat Christ God, that He grant remission of sins unto those who with faith honor thy holy memory.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Repeat the Sessional Hymn
Ode IV, Irmos: I have heard report of Thy dispensation, O Lord, and have glorified Thee Who alone lovest mankind.
Hierarch of Christ, Basil, pray to God for us.
As the Church of Christ is adorned like a bride by His nativity, so is it also adorned by thy memorial, O most blessed one.
Hierarch of Christ, Basil, pray to God for us.
Doing battle for God, thou wast shown to be invincible, O Basil, making all subject to His precepts.
Hierarch of Christ, Basil, pray to God for us.
Thou hast been given to the Church by God as a firm rampart and bulwark, O most blessed Basil.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
O father Basil, thou hast been shown to be a scythe cutting down the adversary, and a fire consuming falsehood.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
We beseech thee, O pure one who didst conceive God without seed: Pray thou ever for thy servants.
Ode V, Irmos: O Lord, Bestower of light and Creator of the ages: guide us in the light of Thy commandments, for we know none other God than Thee.
Hierarch of Christ, Basil, pray to God for us.
Today the Church doth truly introduce a twofold feast: that of the Master Who hath appeared on earth as a babe, and the memorial of His wise and thrice-blessed servant.
Hierarch of Christ, Basil, pray to God for us.
Christ, the Light unapproachable, resting in thee, O venerable one, hath shown thee to be a radiant lamp unto the world; wherefore, we hymn thy memory, O Basil.
Hierarch of Christ, Basil, pray to God for us.
The Genesis described by Moses on Sinai amid great darkness hast thou described for all, giving utterance from the storehouses of divine wisdom, O all-blessed Basil.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Neither Moses the law-giver, nor Joseph, the chief of pharaoh’s granaries, who lived before the law, were like unto thee; for thou, O Basil, didst show thyself to break the Flesh of God.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
To thee, who gavest birth to Christ, the Creator of all, do we cry: Rejoice, O pure one! Rejoice, O thou who hast shone forth upon us the Light! Rejoice, O thou who didst contain the uncontainable God!
Ode VI, Irmos: The great abyss of sin encompasseth me, and, emulating the prophet, I cry to thee: Lead me up from corruption, O Lord!
Hierarch of Christ, Basil, pray to God for us.
Thou didst abundantly feed the souls of the poor tormented by starvation, O Basil, and didst fill the hearts of the hungry with all divine gladness.
Hierarch of Christ, Basil, pray to God for us.
Thou didst richly feed the hungry with heavenly food; for thy discourse is angelic bread, O Basil, and thou becamest an excellent issuer of the grain thereof.
Hierarch of Christ, Basil, pray to God for us.
Like a bee thou didst industriously gather honey from the flowers of all the virtues, O Basil, and as a wise man thou art blessed therein.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Thou didst yearn to depart this world and to live with God; wherefore, forsaking things inconstant and corrupt, O most blessed Basil, as a wise man thou hast acquired things which are abiding.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Save thy servants from misfortunes, O Theotokos, for after God it is to thee that we flee as to an impregnable rampart and intercession.
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Kontakion, Tone IV, Spec. Mel. “Thou hast appeared today…”: Thou hast been shown to be the unshakable foundation of the Church, bestowing upon all men a dominion which cannot be taken away, and sealing them with thy precepts, O venerable Basil who revealest heavenly things!
Ikos: Basil the Great, the cup of chastity, the mouth of wisdom, the foundation of doctrines, shineth forth noetically upon all. Come ye, therefore, and let us stand in the house of God, gazing upon him with fervour, adorning ourselves with his miracles, having been illumined with the splendour of his life, and been cooled by his pure spirit, emulating his faith, ardour and humility, whereby he became a habitation of the essence of God; and, crying aloud unto him, let us chant: O venerable Basil who revealest heavenly things!
Ode VII, Irmos: When the golden image was worshipped on the plain of Dura, Thy three youths spurned the ungodly command, and, cast into the midst of the fire, bedewed, they sang: Blessed art Thou, O God of our fathers!
Hierarch of Christ, Basil, pray to God for us.
The Son is the image of the Father, and the Spirit is the image of the Son; and thou, O Basil, art the pure reflection of the Spirit and the abode of the whole Trinity. Blessed is thy memory, and those who glorify it are themselves glorified!
Hierarch of Christ, Basil, pray to God for us.
Having plunged thy mind into the unfathomable depths of God and gathered precious pearls of understanding, thou didst fill the world with wisdom, and didst teach it to cry: Blessed art Thou, O God of our fathers!
Hierarch of Christ, Basil, pray to God for us.
O the single inspiration of mind of the sacred twain! For, united in divine desire, Basil was in Gregory, and Gregory in Basil, like a single soul, inseparable, in two bodies. Entreat Christ now in behalf of your flock.
Hierarch of Christ, Basil, pray to God for us.
The father of orphans and defender of widows, the riches of the poor, the consolation of the sick, the guidance of the wealthy, the staff of old age and instruction of youth, and the rule of virtue for monastics wast thou shown to be, O Basil.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Having purified thy mind of all filthy defilement, O Basil, thou didst examine spiritual things with the Spirit Whom thou didst desire; wherefore, hymning the Trinity, with boldness thou hast cried out: Blessed art Thou, O God of our fathers!
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
On Mount Sinai Moses foresaw as a bush which burned with fire thee who received, without being consumed, the unbearable Effulgence of the ineffable Essence, Who united Himself to the coarseness of the flesh, He being One of the holy Hypostases.
Ode VIII, Irmos: God the Word, Who in His ineffable wisdom created all things and brought them out of oblivion into existence, do ye bless as Lord, O ye works, and exalt supremely for all ages!
Hierarch of Christ, Basil, pray to God for us.
O ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord Who, in His ineffable providence, hath given Basil to the world as a light of piety and clarion of theology!
Hierarch of Christ, Basil, pray to God for us.
O ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord Who, in His rich activity, made His abode within the wise Basil, and through Him piously gave utterance to theology.
Hierarch of Christ, Basil, pray to God for us.
Delighting in thy divine discourses, O Basil, and revelling unceasingly in thy memory, we cry aloud: Bless the Lord, ye works of the Lord!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
O Basil, thou hast emitted thy discourses upon the world like brilliant rays which by light instruct all to worship the single Essence of the Trinity, crying: Bless the Lord, ye works of the Lord!
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord, the timeless Word of God, Who issued forth from the Father before time began, and shone forth from the Virgin in latter times.
Ode IX, Irmos: Thee do we magnify, O blessed and most pure Theotokos, who through thy virginal womb ineffably didst make God incarnate, the Luminary Who shone forth before the sun and hath come to us in the flesh.
Hierarch of Christ, Basil, pray to God for us.
O Basil, like a sheep faithful to Christ, the Chief Shepherd, thou didst follow His life-bearing steps; for thou didst expose thy soul to the tyrant, O most blessed father, valiantly braving danger for the sake of the Church.
Hierarch of Christ, Basil, pray to God for us.
Beholding the most sacred unity of the Church of Christ, which was adorned by thine episcopate, O wise one, the tyrannical destroyer of all fell as though struck by a bolt of thunder; for he was unable to endure the radiance of the Spirit which was within thee, O Basil.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
O Basil, thou wast vouchsafed an apostolic see, a place in the choir of the athletes of Christ, the tabernacle of the patriarchs, the delight of the righteous and the joy of the prophets; for thou wast a servant of the Theotokos and an initiate of the mysteries of the Trinity.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
The Lord Who alone covereth the chambers with waters, Who restraineth the sea and drieth up the depths, and Who received flesh of thee, O pure one, doth hasten from Bethlehem to the Jordan, to be baptised in the flesh.
St. Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, Troparion, Tone I: Thy sound hath gone forth into all the earth, which hath received thy discourse, whereby thou didst divinely teach and make clear the nature of things, and didst adorn the ways of men. O venerable father, thou royal priesthood, entreat Christ God, that our souls be saved.
On the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ
Troparion, Tone I: O Jesus, Who in the highest dost sit with Thine unoriginate Father and the divine Spirit upon a fiery throne, thou wast well-pleased to be born on earth of Thy Mother, a Maiden who knew not man; wherefore, thou wast circumcised as a babe eight days of age. Glory to Thine all-good counsel! Glory to Thy dispensation! Glory to Thy condescension, O Thou Who alone lovest mankind!
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
As we celebrate the eighth-day circumcision of the Infant Saviour, we see His merciful willingness to suffer for us, even as a new born child whose innocent blood is shed in His self-emptying and self-denying humility.
Thus, we behold not only the reality that the Only-Begotten Word has been made man, clothing Himself in human flesh, born in Bethlehem and laid in the manger, but we see that within the first days of His earthly life, He willed to be subjected to pain and the shedding of blood – a fore-shadowing of His Cross and Passion, even though His earthly birth was so few days ago.
He suffered even in His infancy precisely because He chose to become incarnate – showing that His flesh and blood, and human nature are not an illusion and mere semblance of humanity, but that as the New Adam, He is truly clothed in Adam’s flesh, by which – as Lamb of God – He will redeem us by that same precious blood, restoring His image in the first-parents and the subsequent generations of those who follow Him.
Moreover, as the seed of Abraham, whom He not only created, but called from Ur and promised that he would become the father of a multitude, He conforms Himself to the circumcision that He Himself, as Yahweh the Lord, demanded of Abraham and his descendants.
The God-man, subjects Himself to the Law which He, Himself has given!
The Saviour Who will be obedient to the death of the Cross, is obedient to the Covenant He Himself established with the great patriarch, of whom He would later say, “Before Abraham was, I am.”
What paradoxes we see.
He Who created Adam and Eve, lies as a helpless Child to be circumcised with the shedding of blood and the pain of fleshly suffering.
He Who visited Abraham at the Oak of Mamre and promised him a son, not only becomes his child in the flesh, but subjects Himself to the sign of His human descent from the father of the covenant.
He Who spoke to Moses from the Burning Bush, and gave him the Law upon Sinai is now speechless as a babe – the Eternal Logos without words in the silence of submission to the Law.
He Whom Ezekiel saw borne upon the heavenly chariot-throne, seated upon the four-faced cherubim, and the wheels-within-wheels, full of eyes, is now circumscribed within the body of an eight day old child, borne in the arms of Joseph, a vulnerable baby before the knife of circumcision.
Just as the Incarnation itself is a scandal to the impious and infidels of the world, so this circumcision is also a scandal to the world, but its shocking reality is a demonstrative sign of God’s condescending and limitless love, and a challenge to modern day Docetism – that heresy which denies the Incarnation, reducing the Lord to a spiritual being with the mere appearance of a human being, nothing more than spectral avatar, whose flesh is nothing more than a symbol.
No! This feast shouts loudly that Christ’s humanity is real, as He bleeds human blood, just as He would on Golgotha.
It also challenges the sickly, saccharine, Victorian “Away in a manger”sentimentalisation of the Incarnation and Nativity, by contrasting it the with the vocation of the Word made flesh, Who came to be a sacrificial Lamb and sheep for the slaughter, and with the spiritual violence of Golgotha, the conquering of hell and the victory of the Cross.
The real baby who bleeds on the eighth day, will grow up to be the Redeemer of mankind Who bleeds upon the Cross, shattering the gates of Hades and opening the gates of heaven not only to the children of Abraham, but to all of the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, as heirs of paradise and children of the promise.
With the circumcision of the Infant Saviour, and the shedding of His blood, the journey of redemption and the Way of the Cross begins.
O Jesus, how precious is Thy blood!
Amen.