The Wedge Becomes the Ax

In my previous post I dealt with the idea that the Lutheran teaching on justification maintains continuity with the patristic witness on the topic, specifically focusing on those Fathers of the Church cited by the person to whom I was responding.  In the process of addressing this issue, the following conclusions were brought out:

1. The Orthodox Church, in that its teaching purports to be that of the Fathers, relies on them to elucidate the Scriptural teaching of salvation, including Justification.
     
2. The Orthodox Catholic teaching on Justification - as seen just in the Fathers cited - involves having been justified, being justified, and the hope of being justified in the future.  That is, a) we are justified in Baptism through the transformation of our human nature into the likeness of Christ's human nature, b) we are progressively transformed according to the inner man through faith working through love, growing in likeness to Christ, and c) we hope to be found righteous on the Last Day when we are assessed of the stewardship of our initial baptismal transformation and gift of the Spirit in Baptism. In short, justification in Orthodoxy (and Catholicism) is transformation.
     
3. The Lutheran concept of justification teaches that our fate at the Last Judgment will be determined by the merits of Christ becoming our merits through faith, and that because Christ has earned a declaration of righteousness we will be found righteous on that Day through faith alone.
     
4. The Lutheran concept of justification depends on a slight - but very serious - emendation of the patristic witness: instead of justification conceived as the merits of Christ acquiring transformation for us (viz. the Resurrection in the Spirit), justification is conceived as the merits of Christ themselves being our righteousness.  The transformation belonging to the Resurrection is excluded in every respect from our righteousness before God.  The transformation belonging to the Resurrection is seen as God's free gift to those who believe, the logic being that since faith acquires Christ's merit, what that merit deserves (transformation; surety of being found righteous at the Last Judgment) must come naturally from it.
     
5. The Lutheran departure on the teaching of justification can be seen not only in the description of how one becomes righteous in and of itself, but also in the way in which Lutherans come to different conclusions about the value of works, the means of transformation, and the criteria of our Final Judgment
     
6. The Lutheran position, by departing from the patristic witness, manages to drive a wedge between the work of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit. The wedge can be described as making Christ a Treasury of Merits for our justification, rather than the archetype of our transformation for our justification.  Where there should be a smooth transition from the work of Christ to acquire humanity's ultimate transformation (via the Cross and Resurrection) to the work of the Spirit who impresses the transformitive work of Christ upon us in order to transform us, Lutheranism instead re-orders salvation by inserting a Treasury of Merits between Christ's saving work and the transformation that the Spirit works in us.
     
7. This doctrinal wedge between Christ and the Spirit has resulted in a breach of catholicity among Lutherans.  Whenever faced with an issue of catholicity vs. 16th Century Reformation principle, catholicity is made subservient to the wedge - and is ultimately expendable.

In this article I wish to demonstrate how the Lutheran change in what salvation is (lex credendi) required a change in Christian worship (lex orandi). 

Sharpening the Wedge

When considering the connection between Lutheran justification and Lutheran worship, my mind immediately went to a document from my first year at seminary.  The document is "Luther's Liturgical Criteria and his Reform of The Canon of The Mass" by Bryan Spinks of Churchill College, Cambridge (Grove Books Ltd, June 1982).  In this article Spinks makes the argument that Luther's reform of the Canon of the Mass was misdiagnosed by liturgical scholars as conservative, pruning, and haphazard.  Instead, he argues, Luther's reform of the Roman Canon was radical, intentional, and driven by his firm belief in justification by faith alone.

Spinks writes (pg. 37):

The reason for the new canon [found in Formula Missae and Deutche Messa] is to be found in Luther's doctrine of justification by faith and its relation to the command 'Do this in remembrance of me.' The old canon was in obedience to this command, for throughout it spoke in terms of 'We do.' It was a response to God's action in Christ, seeking by faithful obedience and repetition and intercession, to enter into the sacrifice of Christ. This seems to have been precisely Luther's objection. For Luther, the sacrifice of the cross and the forgiveness of sins were God's gift to man which could only be received with thanksgiving. It could not be actively entered into by man, whether by imitation or by intercession. 'Do this in remembrance of me' was to proclaim again what God had done for man, and Luther seems to have concluded that the most effective way of doing this was by letting God himself speak in the words of institution. Thus Luther's reformed canon replaced 'We do' with 'He has done.' His starting point was 'Dominus Dixit.' As he explained:

' " He sent forth his word, and thus (sic) healed them," not: "He accepted our work, and thus healed us." '

Instead of trying to participate and enter into the sacrifice of Christ by lifting our hearts to the heavenly altar, we stand in awe with Isaiah as Christ speaks to us on earth, granting us pardon, and therefore taking us up into his sacrifice.  In doing this, Luther believed that he had replaced the canon with the gospel; the canon had given up its place at the marriage feast to Christ its master. 

Note that Luther does not object to entering into the sacrifice of Christ, according to Spinks.  What he objects to is entering into that sacrifice by offering our own sacrifice (by imitation or intercession).  According to Spinks, Luther believed that Christ Himself takes us up into His sacrifice through the word of forgiveness. The Sacrament of the Altar is but a visible sign of this word of forgiveness.  By believing the words, "Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins" (Small Catechism) one worthily receives the Sacrament, for it is only by faith that one can receive the merits of Christ that constitute Lutheran justification.  The purpose of the Mass for Luther is to proclaim salvation by faith alone, which necessitates the exclusion of any sacrificial work on our part.

However, the Roman Mass is loaded with sacrificial language.  A cursory reading of the historical development of the Roman Mass will reveal that the thanksgiving that happens in the Mass happens precisely through making an offering (i.e. sacrifice).  For a very long time everyone was expected to present a token offering - viz. bread or wine - to the clergy at the offering procession.  These offerings were tokens of the complete offering of one's self to God in the sacrifice of the Mass.  In the ancient mind there was no sense of thanksgiving without giving it in some tangible, material way.  The spiritual sacrifice of the Mass offered by us is essentially incarnated through the physical offering we make.  Our offering is taken up by Christ and perfected by making it His Offering - even His Body and Blood offered for our salvation once-for-all on the cross, and perpetually present in heaven for our benefit.  Certainly an abuse of this idea arose when people made offerings but then did not follow through with actual participation in the liturgy itself (as in the Private Masses).  Yet the principle of sacrifice in the Mass is as old as the document evidence for the Roman Mass itself.

For Luther to excise sacrificial language from the Canon (as well as the Offertory) does not restore the Roman Mass to an earlier, more pure form.  It does not restore a lost catholicity.  It witnesses to Luther's break with catholicity.  It demonstrates just how new and radical Luther's teaching is.

The Ax

Luther's approach to the Roman Mass can be put this way: What are all of our human works doing in the place where God is trying to give us His completed work of salvation that can only be received by faith and not by works? For Luther the Mass is about the Gospel, and the Gospel is about proclaiming access to a Treasury of Merits that makes all human work unnecessary in view of one's relationship to God now and in the coming Final Judgment.  And this Treasury of Merit can only be owned by putting your faith in it (or more specifically, in Him, for this Treasury of Luther's is Christ).  Therefore the Mass's job is to set forth the object of faith - the incarnate Treasury of Merits - so that it may be received in faith.

But why would this preclude offering a sacrifice?  It does not preclude any sacrificial offering, but simply a propitiatory sacrificial offering.  Consider the Apology of the Augsburg Confession XXIV:19 on the subject:

Moreover, the proximate species of sacrifice are two, and there are no more. One is the propitiatory sacrifice, i.e., a work which makes satisfaction for guilt and punishment, i.e., one that reconciles God, or appeases God's wrath, or which merits the remission of sins for others. The other species is the eucharistic sacrifice, which does not merit the remission of sins or reconciliation, but is rendered by those who have been reconciled, in order that we may give thanks or return gratitude for the remission of sins that has been received, or for other benefits received.

We see here how the Apology wishes to divide sacrifices that gain God's favor from sacrifices that render thanksgiving - as if that were possible.  The Apology goes on to make a serious argument against the "ceremony of the Mass" availing ex opera operato.  The Lutheran view formulated here is that the only offering made in the Mass is one of thanksgiving, and that this thanksgiving must come from the heart (faith). Yet the polemic tries to characterize the offering of the Roman Mass as simply an empty work of men that works just because you do it.  I am sure there was some room for criticizing empty ritualism, but the point of the polemic goes beyond that.  The polemic asserts that offering the Mass for the living and the dead is meaningless.  It cannot avail against sins unless one is present to participate in genuine faith, and then the help against sins comes from the eating and drinking in faith, not the offering in the Mass.  For while the Lutherans admit a "real presence" of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Sacrament, they exclude the continual offering of this same Sacrifice (viz. Body and Blood of Christ) for our benefit.  This Sacrifice cannot be sacrificed in our midst, because when it was originally offered that offering was alone sufficient to acquire the merits necessary to save.  (Here save means not only to give entrance into the Church, but also into the heavenly banquet at the Parousia.)

It is as if the Lutherans were to ask, "Why do you need more merits? Christ covered that need. You must be trying to add human works to the equation." The complaint rests on this notion that Christ is not only a Treasury of Merits, but that when He said, "It is finished" He meant that He had acquired all the merits we need to be forgiven and to enter into the coming kingdom now and forever.  Any attempt to offer works, sacrifices, and especially Christ's own offering on the cross cuts against the "it is finished" conception of Christ as an already complete Treasury of Merits for us.  To suggest that Christ's offering is made present and continuously offered in our midst in the sacrifice of the Mass suggests that salvation (as defined above) is not quite settled, and that maybe we do not have enough merits really to be saved yet.

Yet the Roman Mass is not built on the presupposition that Christ is an all-sufficient Treasury of Merits in the Lutheran sense.  The Roman Mass is built on the presupposition that we are taken up into Christ in the unity of the Holy Spirit and presented to God in the most supreme fellowship.  This is accomplished by the only means possible: the self-offering of Christ on the cross.  The offering of the cross is exactly this, that Christ has offered up humanity itself back to God by offering up Himself as the perfect and True Man (Ecce Homo), who offers up His life that it may become the life of the world that had lost its life through sin.  This is the supreme epitome of humanity AND divinity, because it is the pinnacle of love.  The world can be transformed and returned to God by passing from death to life in Christ's death and resurrection.  The sacrifice of the Mass is based on the baptismal experience, and it is the continuation of this baptismal experience until the Parousia.

The Roman Mass is also built on the presupposition that Christ's priesthood is perpetually active in heaven and on earth.  The priesthood held by individual men is a stewardship of Christ's priesthood in our midst.  In the sacrifice of the Mass, not only is our offering taken up into Christ's Offering, but the priesthood in our midst at the altar is revealed as really Christ's own priesthood by that same Offering, wherein Christ perpetually does the sacrificing.  All is taken up into Christ, or better put, Christ is all in all.

Since the Roman Mass does not know of a 'gospel of completed merits' it cannot meet Luther's needs.  The Roman Mass accomplishes what Christ's sacrifice accomplishes, because it is the entire creation taken up into Christ and His offering through the Church.  It is all creation taken up into Christ and returned to God. This includes the dead, for Christ descended to the dead in Hades and brought salvation there, too.  Did He do it by offering merits to those who lacked them, or did He do it by overcoming the very power that imprisoned those there, that is, by transforming death to life? It is the latter, not the former.

Since the Roman Mass is concerned with the Catholic and Orthodox Gospel, and not the Lutheranized gospel of the 16th Century, it has in view that our transformation spans the time of our baptism until our bodily death and even into the General Resurrection.  In this time we may sin, face evil, and we will definitely face all sorts of needs and require every sort of divine help as we sojourn in this life towards the life to come. All of this, too, is taken up into Christ's offering, that it may be transformed into that which will transform us into the likeness of Christ.

Firewood

The fruit of Luther's liturgical reforms can be seen down to the present day.  When I was a Lutheran I was very concerned about keeping traditional Lutheran liturgy alive.  This meant keeping the Lutheranized Mass dressed up in as much of its historical reverence and ceremony as possible.  After all, if you believe that Lutheranism has fixed the problems of the historical liturgy, and therefore returned the Mass to its proper purity, shouldn't you all the more try to maintain catholicity by maintaining all the outward forms, prayers, and ceremonies of that liturgy?  After all, lex orandi, lex credendi and all.

Yet Luther's reforms of the Mass severed the silver cord of catholicity by cutting out the Gospel for a high medieval, reformationed gospel.  The element of catholicity that remains is a belief that Christ's true Body and true Blood are present for the faithful to eat and drink at the Mass.

I have seen at least two directions Lutheran worship has taken based on Luther's reforms of the Mass.  One has been to maintain a Catholic exterior - observing traditional vestments, medieval ceremonies, and the like - in an attempt to establish (the facade) that Lutheranism is the historic Catholic Church gone right. Historicity and catholicity is of the utmost importance among these Lutherans, and they might say that without historicity and catholicity Lutheranism is neither Lutheran nor Catholic but Protestant.  Yet the truth of the matter is that the liturgical evidence is stacked against their claim for catholicity.  Such Lutherans can make their liturgies as solemn, rubrically precise, and ceremonially right as possible, but they will never be catholic, because they lack the Faith that kept all that sacrificial language in the Roman Mass not just since Pope St. Gregory the Great's time, but as far back as the document evidence for the Roman Mass itself exists.  Without this catholic Faith the best Lutheran liturgy can attain to in terms of catholicity is wishful thinking.

The other direction I have seen Lutheran worship take is based directly on Luther's revision of the Gospel. Spinks points out that what traditional elements Luther left in his Mass were for the sake of the weak who would stumble in the faith if too many obvious changes were made.  What Luther insisted on was that his gospel was preached above all, so that the simple people could hear it and believe it.  The modern purveyors of Contemporary Worship in Lutheranism have based their revisions of worship on this model.  The people need to hear the preaching of the Luther-gospel, but they should not be offended by old ceremonies and out-dated customs that have no relevance for the simple, modern man.  Catholicity is not an issue in these churches, because their worship leaders have adequately learned the Lutheran lesson: faith alone in the message is the goal, while ceremonies are to aid the simple people in learning and sincerity toward God.  Catholicity is expendable, because the only history that counts is the writing of the autographs of the New Testament, followed by Luther's interpretation of them, followed by the needs of modern man.

The Contemporary Worship situation is a real threat and problem for the catholic-minded Lutheran.  The only way to preserve catholic-esque worship in many Lutheran congregations is to sell the idea that Lutheranism is supposed to maintain a sense of catholicity, and that this notion of catholicity should be valued, cherished, and defended.  "Liturgical Worship" becomes a necessary part of this battle for catholic identity in the hearts and minds of Lutheran parishioners.  This is why a high interest in "liturgical worship" often leads people out of Lutheranism, because Lutheran Worship is in its essence NOT catholic (as was said above), and the quest for catholicity eventually leads one to the Orthodox or Roman churches where true catholicity comes from in the first place.

Having said all of this about Lutheranism, I cannot help but look at today's post-Vatican II Roman Catholic Church.  Liturgically-speaking there is a lot of confusion going on there.  There is a lot of freedom given to people to do what seems best to them, and not enough oversight.  The Contemporary Worship milieu has infected the faith and piety of that church.  It is an infection from the ground up. I cannot help but wonder what influence the introduction of a new gospel in the 16th Century by a German monk has had on the present liturgical infection Rome experiences today?  I also cannot help but wonder what will happen to that church if its bishops do not do something about the problem soon, before another generation grows up thinking the current way of things is what Christianity is all about.  Liturgical indecency is comparable to bad morals: in a church both have great power to scandalize, and both can drive sincere people right out of the faith.  

Akathist to St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco

In honor of the feast of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco I am placing an akathist to him here on my blog. I found this akathist at Holy Virgin Cathedral in San Francisco.

Information about akathists in general is available at Orthodox Wiki, as well as information about and images of St. John himself.

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AKATHIST HYMN
to Our Father among the Saints
JOHN Archbishop of Shanghai & San Francisco, the Wonderworker

Kontakion 1
Chosen wonderworker and pleaser of Christ, who pourest forth inexhaustible streams of inspiration and a multitude of miracles upon the whole world, we praise thee with love and call out to thee:

Rejoice, O holy hierarch, Father John, speedy helper amid misfortunes!

Ikos 1
An angel in the flesh wast thou manifested in these latter times by the grace of God Who ever careth for men. Seeing the beauty of thy virtues, we cry out to thee:

• Rejoice, thou who from earliest childhood wast adorned in piety.
• Rejoice, thou who didst ever live in fear of God and do His holy will.
• Rejoice, thou who didst manifest the grace of God through good deeds done secretly.
• Rejoice, thou who dost hearken to the prayers of those in distress.
• Rejoice, thou who didst hasten, full of love, to save thy neighbors.
• Rejoice, joy to all who fall down before thee with faith.
• Rejoice, O holy hierarch, father John, speedy helper amid misfortunes!

Kontakion 2
Beholding the abundance and variety of thy virtues, O holy Hierarch, we see in thee a living source of God's wonders in our time. Thou dost refresh with thy love and miracles all who cry in faith to God: Alleluia!

Ikos 2
Being filled with love and replete with theology, O divinely wise John, made wise by the knowledge of God and adorned with love for the suffering, teach us also to know the true God in love as we call out to thee in admiration:

• Rejoice, unshakeable stronghold of Orthodox truth.
• Rejoice, precious vessel of the Holy Spirit.
• Rejoice, righteous denouncer of impiety and false doctrine.
• Rejoice, zealous fulfiller of the commandments of God.
• Rejoice, ascetic who didst not allow thyself to rest upon a bed.
• Rejoice, beloved shepherd of the flock of Christ.
• Rejoice, O holy hierarch, Father John, speedy helper amid misfortunes!

Kontakion 3
By the power of the grace of God wast thou manifest as a father to orphans and instructor of the young, raising them in the fear of God and preparing them for the service of God. Wherefore all thy children look to thee with love in gratitude cry out to God: Alleluia!

Ikos 3
Thou shouldst truly be praised from the heavens, and not from earth, O father John, for our words are feeble beside thy deeds. Yet offering to God what we have, we cry out to thee thus:

• Rejoice, thou who didst protect thy children by thine unceasing prayer!
• Rejoice, thou who didst ever guard thy flock with the sign of the Cross.
• Rejoice, thou whose love knew no bounds of country or race.
• Rejoice, bright luminary beloved of all.
• Rejoice, model of unceasing prayer and loving kindness.
• Rejoice, bestower of spiritual consolation upon those in need.
• Rejoice, O holy hierarch, Father John, speedy helper amid misfortunes!

Kontakion 4
Overwhelmed by the tempest of perils, we know not how to praise thee worthily, O Hierarch John. Thou didst travel to the ends of the earth to save thy flock and proclaim the glad tidings of the Gospel to those in darkness. Giving thanks to God for thine apostolic labors we cry out to Him: Alleluia!

Ikos 4
Those near and far have heard of the greatness of thy miracles, which are made manifest by the mercy of God even to our days. And so we also, marveling, cry out in awe:

• Rejoice, enlightener of those in the darkness of unbelief.
• Rejoice, thou who didst lead thy people from the Far East to the West.
• Rejoice, fountain of miracles poured forth by God.
• Rejoice, loving chastiser of those who have gone astray.
• Rejoice, swift consoler of those who repent of their sins.
• Rejoice, guide of those who walk the straight path.
• Rejoice, O holy hierarch, Father John, speedy helper amid misfortunes!

Kontakion 5
Thou wast manifest to be a divinely bestowed light to stop the destructive forces of fallen nature, O holy Hierarch, preserving thy flock on the island of Tubabao from the deadly wind and storm, by thy prayer and the sign of the Cross. Teach us who call upon thee for help, O holy woderworker, to cry out in wonder unto God: Alleluia!

Ikos 5
All who have trusted in thy help in desperate circumstances and adversities have found deliverance, O bold intercessor, before the Throne of God. Wherefore, we trust in thine intercession before God, and cry out to thee:

• Rejoice, thou who dost avert the dangers of the elements.
• Rejoice, thou who by thy prayer deliverest from need.
• Rejoice, inexhaustible giver of bread to the hungry.
• Rejoice, abundant wealth for those who live in poverty.
• Rejoice, consolation for those in sorrow.
• Rejoice, quick uplifting for those who have fallen.
• Rejoice, O holy hierarch, Father John, speedy helper amid misfortunes!

Kontakion 6
Preaching salvation though slow of speech, thou wast shown to be like a new Moses, leading thy people out of the captivity of the godless, O all-blessed John. Deliver us also from bondage to sin and the invisible foe, that, rejoicing, we may cry out to God: Alleluia!

Ikos 6
Shining forth in thy righteousness, thou didst do the impossible and persuade the authorities of this world to have pity on thy flock, O good shepherd. Wherefore, with them we also cry out to thee in thanksgiving:

• Rejoice, good shepherd who didst prepare for thy wandering flock a peaceful haven.
• Rejoice, thou who didst show the greatest care for children and the sick.
• Rejoice, helper of all who call thee with faith.
• Rejoice, for in thy weak body wast the power of God made manifest with abundance.
• Rejoice, thou who foilest the attacks of the unrighteous.
• Rejoice, destroyer of lies and exalter of truth.
• Rejoice, O holy hierarch, Father John, speedy helper amid misfortunes!

Kontakion 7
Desiring to glorify as is meet the ancient saints of the West, of lands which had fallen away from the truth, thou didst revive their veneration in the Orthodox Church, O lover of the saints of the East and the West. With them pray thou today in heaven on behalf of us who chant on earth: Alleluia!

Ikos 7
We see thee as a new chosen one of God, who wast manifest in the latter times as one of the holy Hierarchs of Gaul, exhorting thy flock to preserve the same Orthodox faith that they confessed, and astonishing the peoples of the West by thy holy life. Preserve us, that we too may abide in this Faith, who cry out to thee:

• Rejoice, thou who wast a new Martin by thy miracles and ascetic feats.
• Rejoice, thou who wast a new Germanus by thy confession of the Orthodox faith.
• Rejoice, thou who wast a new Hilary by thy divine theology.
• Rejoice, thou who wast a new Gregory by thy love and glorification of God's saints.
• Rejoice, thou who wast a new Faustus by thy monastic fervor.
• Rejoice, thou who wast a new Caesarius by thy steadfast love for the canons of the Church of God.
• Rejoice, O holy hierarch, Father John, speedy helper amid misfortunes!

Kontakion 8
A strange sight didst thou behold: in the New World thou didst encounter thy former flock in tribulation. Here wast thee called to suffer persecution and by thine patience, righteousness and instruction to guide the flock, and didst erect the church of the Mother of God, the Joy of All Who Sorrow. Now marveling at thy patience and longsuffering, we all cry out to God: Alleluia!

Ikos 8
Giving thyself wholly unto Christ, O laborer of Christ's vineyard, thou knewest no rest even at the end of thy much-suffering life; help us, the unworthy, in our labors as we strive to be faithful to Christ, crying out in praise to thee:

• Rejoice, thou who didst endure unto the end and so didst attain salvation.
• Rejoice, thou who wast deemed worthy to die before the Icon of the Mother of God.
• Rejoice, thou who didst keep thy faith and courage in the midst of unjust persecution.
• Rejoice, thou who didst labor to the end for thy flock and didst repose, seated, as a hierarch.
• Rejoice, thou who didst comfort the flock by being buried among it.
• Rejoice, thou who workest wonders for those who come to thy relics with faith and love.
• Rejoice, O holy hierarch, father John, speedy helper amid misfortunes!

Kontakion 9
All the angelic hosts rejoiced at thy soul's ascent to • the mansions of heaven, marveling at the wonders thou didst perform on earth through the action of the Holy Spirit, to Whom we sing: Alleluia!

Ikos 9
Orators find it impossible to describe thy life of sanctity with their many and eloquent words, O righteous father John, for thou didst become a living dwelling-place for the grace of the ineffable God. Yet, unable to be silent at the wonder revealed to our age of feeble faith, we glorify thee:

• Rejoice, divine palace from whence the counsel of the Good King is given.
• Rejoice, for in thy humble activity thou hadst angels serving with thee.
• Rejoice, thou who didst gain a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
• Rejoice, infirmary wherein every ailment is divinely healed.
• Rejoice, depository wherein thy holy labor of prayer was hidden.
• Rejoice, blessed temple of the Holy Spirit.
• Rejoice, O holy hierarch, father John, speedy helper amid misfortunes!

Kontakion 10
Desiring to save the world, the Savior of all hath sent unto us a new saint and through him hath called us forth from the dark abyss of sin. Hearing this call to repentance, we, the unworthy ones, in turn cry out to God: Alleluia!

Ikos 10
THou art a wall sheltering us from adversity, O father John, for through thy heavenly intercessions are we delivered from the attacks of demonic passions and from afflictions which beset us on earth. Before thy firm support of prayer, we cry with faith:

• Rejoice, sight to those who are blind.
• Rejoice, thou who by the power of prayer givest life to those on their bed of death.
• Rejoice, thou who with divine wisdom dost enlighten those in confusion and doubt.
• Rejoice, refreshing water to those perishing in the heat of sorrow.
• Rejoice, loving father to the orphaned and abandoned.
• Rejoice, holy teacher of those who seek the Truth.
• Rejoice, O holy hierarch, Father John, speedy helper amid misfortunes!

Kontakion 11
In thought, word and deed thy life was a hymn to the Most Holy Trinity, O most blessed John. For with much wisdom didst thou explain the precepts of the true Faith, teaching us to sing with faith, hope and love to the one God in Trinity: Alleluia!

Ikos 11
We see thee as a radiant lamp of Orthodoxy for those in the darkness of ignorance, O good shepherd of the flock of Christ. Thus, even after thy repose, thou dost reveal the Truth to those ignorant thereof, illumining the souls of the faithful, who cry out to thee such things as these:

• Rejoice, thou who with divine wisdom dost enlighten those who languish in unbelief.
• Rejoice, rainbow of quiet joys for the meek.
• Rejoice, thunder to those obstinate in sin.
• Rejoice, lightning burning up heresies.
• Rejoice, downpour of the dogmas of Orthodoxy.
• Rejoice, dew of the thought of God.
• Rejoice, O holy hierarch, Father John, speedy helper amid misfortunes!

Kontakion 12
With reverence and thanksgiving do we receive the grace that hath been poured out upon thee by God, O most lauded father John. Glorifying the wonders of a holy hierarch who once walked among us, we cry out to God: Alleluia!

Ikos 12
Singing praise unto God, the heavenly choir of saints rejoiceth that He hath not forsaken the fallen and faithless world, but hath manifested His almighty power in thee, his meek and humble servant. O blessed John, with all the saints we greet thee and give honor to thee:

• Rejoice, new star of righteousness which hath shone forth in heaven.
• Rejoice, new prophet who wast sent before the final reign of evil.
• Rejoice, thou who like Jonah dost warn all of the wages of sin.
• Rejoice, thou who like the Baptist John calleth all to prayer and repentance.
• Rejoice, thou who like Paul endured much for the sake of the Gospel and the preaching of the Faith.
• Rejoice, new apostle whose miracles instill in us faith and awe.
• Rejoice, O holy hierarch, Father John, speedy helper amid misfortunes!

Kontakion 13
0 all-radiant and most wondrous God-pleaser, holy hierarch John, consolation for all who sorrow, accept this, our offering of prayer, that through thy prayers to our Lord we may be delivered from fiery Gehenna and by thy God-pleasing intercession we may chant forever unto God: Alleluia!

This Kontakion is recited thrice, whereupon Ikos 1 and Kontakion 1 are repeated.

Ikos 1
An angel in the flesh wast thou manifested in these latter times by the grace of God Who ever careth for men. Seeing the beauty of thy virtues, we cry out to thee:

• Rejoice, thou who from earliest childhood wast adorned in piety.
• Rejoice, thou who didst ever live in fear of God and do His holy will.
• Rejoice, thou who didst manifest the grace of God through good deeds done secretly.
• Rejoice, thou who dost hearken to the prayers of those in distress.
• Rejoice, thou who didst hasten, full of love, to save thy neighbors.
• Rejoice, joy to all who fall down before thee with faith.
• Rejoice, O holy hierarch, father John, speedy helper amid misfortunes!

Kontakion 1
Chosen wonderworker and pleaser of Christ, who pourest forth inexhaustible streams of inspiration and a multitude of miracles upon the whole world, we praise thee with love and call out to thee: Rejoice, O holy hierarch, Father John, speedy helper amid misfortunes!

Abusing the Thief

I've been reading up on the topic of Christian initiation. At the moment I am thoroughly enjoying Christian Initiation: Baptism in the Medieval West by J.D.C. Fisher (SPCK, 1965). What's great about this book is that he focuses on the liturgical evidence in order to determine what was really going on. He is mostly successful in letting the data speak for itself, without importing a predetermined viewpoint. Senn, in his compendium on Liturgy, tends to mix his Protestant bias (or is it a Kavanagh bias?) into the data. I have found little of that in Fisher's work (which Senn relies on in his own book).

It is amazing how the initiation rite that we identify today as Baptism-Confirmation-Eucharist continued in Rome unbroken well into the middle ages. I would also include the historic catechumenate before Baptism, too, since Rome maintained its basic form even after the majority of catechumens transitioned from adults to infants. I was taught in seminary that this disappeared much earlier - that what was medieval was bad, corrupt, and askew. The evidence shows a great deal of consistency in Rome for the first 1000 years regarding the basic structure of initiation.

In Milan, Gaul and Germany, though, something seemed to happen that is hard to account. There is a gap in the data between the patristic age and the medieval age in Milan. At the time of Ambrose there was in Milan a definite baptism-confirmation-eucharist form to the initiation rite (using our modern distinctions for these). This included an anointing after Baptism that was associated with Baptism itself, and a separate anointing associated with the seven-fold grace of the Holy Spirit. 300+ years later in Milan and the surrounding area, from when the next data set is available, the confirmation portion seemed either a) to disappear or b) now to be associated with the unction that immediately followed the actual Baptism or c) both. This practice is also found in various areas of Gaul and Germany about the same time. When Charlemagne tried to have the provinces adopt the practices of Rome, in some of those locations lacking what we might call the Confirmation rite by the bishop, some tacked it on the end - after the newly baptized were communed -- actually an entire week after. Those locales where the "Confirmation rite" was identified now with the anointing after the Baptism by the presbyter seemed not to think anything was missing from their rite. However, at least as regards the data surrounding Milan, it is clear to us something did disappear. This may have happened due to political upheaval, war, bishops becoming corrupt and/or inaccessible, etc. Whatever the reason, enough time elapsed where some locales did not practice a "Confirmation rite" with Baptism distinct from the post-Baptismal anointing.

So of course, when these places are asked to adopt the liturgical practices of Rome, and a greater awareness of the liturgical differences among provinces makes its way around, debate ensues. And of course someone has to play the Thief on the Cross card:

Amalarius admits that he has heard the question asked "whether without the laying on of the bishop's hand a baptized person can possess the kingdom of heaven. The thief who on the cross confessed the Lord, and heard him say, To-day thou shalt be with me in paradise, did not receive the imposition of the hand, although we believe him to have been baptized on the cross in his own blood" (Fisher, p.69)

Why is it that anytime someone wants to escape an established practice the Thief on the Cross is the great proof that fill in the blank is unnecessary for salvation? Good grief this has been going on a long time. Then it was, "Well, the thief didn't receive the imposition of hands (or even anointing with Chrism, for that matter) by a bishop. It must be dispensible." Today it's, "Well, the thief didn't do any good works, but Christ accepted him" (even though he defended Christ against the malefaction of the other thief). Or, "Well, the thief on the cross wasn't baptized" (but we forget today what it means to be baptized in blood). Or, "The thief didn't have to confess his sins, didn't have to receive communion, didn't this, didn't that, etc."

It's amazing how long this sort of faulty logic has been going on.

It is established that the Thief on the Cross had faith, because he showed his faith by his prayer and defense of Christ. It is established that Christ accepted him. These are wonderful, positive, incontrovertible facts. But that does not mean Christ did not give us a Baptism of water and the Spirit. That doesn't mean that Christ didn't give us the remembrance of His Pascha in the Eucharist. That doesn't mean that what the Apostles established on Christ's authority (which authority is that of the Father, for the Father sent the Son, and the Son sent the Apostles as the Father sent Him) isn't given to us to keep and treasure and receive for our salvation. All it means is that Christ alone is the judge in exceptional situations, and that He accepts repentance. But that does not mean He sanctions negligence. The thief's situation applies to us only when we become like the thief: crucified with Christ, confessing Him before the Church (symbolized by the Blessed Virgin and St. John the Apostle) and the world (symbolized by the other thief, the Pharisees, and the Romans).

If you notice - the thief was not interested in how little he could get by with from Christ. He did not hold back. Though before him hung a dying man seemingly without power or hope, the thief saw the Savior and the coming Kingdom of God and asked to be a part of it. And Christ gave it to him.

What does Christ give us when we ask this of Him? When we do not hold back but become fools in the world and believe and come to Christ, what does Christ give us? He catches us up to the thief, first. He says, take your cross and follow Me. He gives us the cross in Baptism. He gives us death so that we, too, can become citizens of Paradise through rebirth by water and the Holy Spirit. He makes us kings and priests unto our God in His Kingdom. This is what He gave to the thief: Baptism.

But unlike the thief, we are still in the world (though not of the world). The thief's body was buried, his soul passed to rest in Paradise. But you and I have not experienced this yet. We have not suddenly encountered Christ at the eleventh hour and been invited into the vineyard for our denarius. We are called at other times in our life: the ninth, sixth, maybe third or first. And in this, though, Christ does not withhold Paradise from us, but rather seeks to communicate it to us in the Church - the fullness of Him who fills all in all (Eph. 1). We who are in the world are given the Holy Spirit in the Church, that the Paradise in which the thief was granted to rest at the close of his eleventh hour may rest in our hearts and souls, and transform us into the likeness of our homeland and our King, so that whether we live or die, we are Christ's. Today is the day of salvation, as it was for the thief.

So let us not ask if this or that is really necessary for our salvation. Let's not minimize. Let's not enter this mentality into our discussions about what should or should not be done. Rather rejoice! For in every mystery of the Church we find Christ. Rejoice! Christ is all in all, the Church is His fullness, and we are made one flesh and one blood with Him. All things are new, including us. The thief points us to the fullness that only comes from Christ, and that means for us the thief points us to the Church, and the Church is fullness.

Obviously, in the context of liturgical rites, we wish to be careful not to lose anything that should not be lost. I would assume those in Milan, Gaul, and Germany in the eighth and ninth centuries didn't think they had lost anything. But the answer then and now should not be, "Is it really necessary?" Rather it should be, "Where does this come from? Why haven't we had this before? Does this change transmute the rite into something different? Is this really something different or not? Is Christ magnified? Is love impinged? Are the weak scandalized? And so forth. But let's not ask, "Is this necessary for salvation?" Because this question is Pandora's Box. You cannot just take a peek. Once asked it replicates like a virus. In asking we presume to make relative the active and present eschatological kingdom of Christ in our midst, manipulating and painting it whatever color we wish, whittling it down, deforming it into something else. But really it is not the active and present Kingdom of Christ that we are reducing, reforming, ruining, but it is ourselves.

The Future is Now

Imagine if Christ had already returned in glory, the scenes of judgment have come and gone, and the reign of Christ was seen all around us. Imagine if this is where you were right now. This future is the Christian's invisible present, for the kingdom of heaven is within you (Lk 17:21). In this we gather in the Lord's Supper, and from this we live under the cross in the world, which is perishing and passing away.

Surprise

I was surprised by his Grace, the Rt Rev Bishop MARK of Toledo and the Midwest to be tonsured a Reader and elevated as a Subdeacon this past Sunday. I am not worthy, and I am thankful that God makes His servants worthy to stand before Him and serve Him.

I say "surprised" because there was not advanced notification. (This has been hard for some people to understand.) It seemed good to his Grace at the time he spoke with me to do this, which happened to be the evening before the tonsuring and elevation. Glory to God for His mercy toward sinners!

Below is the prayer of chirothesis (ordination to minor orders) used to make a Reader (first) and then a Subdeacon (second) in the Antiochian Archdiocese of North America:

The Reader:

Bishop: O Lord who enlightenest all created beings with the light of thy wonders, and knowest the intent of every man before it is formed, and strengthenest those who are desirous of serving thee: Do thou, the same Lord, array in thy fair and spotless vesture this thy servant (NAME), who desireth to become a Reader before thy holy mysteries, that he may be illuminated, and that attaining unto the age to come he may receive the incorruptible crown of life, and rejoice with Thine elect in bliss everlasting. For blessed is thy name and glorified is thy Kingdom of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages, Amen.

The Subdeacon:

Bishop: O Lord our God, who, through one and the same Holy Spirit distributing gifts of grace to each one of those whom thou hast chosen, hast given to thy Church diverse Orders; who, through Thine inscrutable providence hast appointed degrees of ministry therein, for the service of thy holy and immaculate mysteries; and who, through Thine ineffable foreknowledge, hast ordained this thy servant (NAME) to be worthy to serve in thy Holy Church: Do thou, the same Lord, preserve him uncondemned in all things. And grant that he may love the beauty of thy house, stand before the doors of thy Holy Temple and kindle the lamps in the Tabernacle of thy glory. And make him thy perfect servant in the time of thy Second Coming, that he may receive the recompense of those who are well-pleasing in thy sight. For Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory, of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages, Amen.

The full rite for each can be found at the Antiochian Archdiocese Web site. Each is linked above.

Not Idolatry, but Ark-eology

Not too long ago I ran across a comment on a random blog complaining about the Orthodox and idolatry. They featured a picture of an iconostasis with a platytera behind it. The platytera is the icon of Our Lady of the Sign. In the particular picture featured the portion of the icon featuring Christ on the Virgin's lap was obscured, which led the commentators to think the Orthodox were worshiping the Virgin Mary.

I note this here, because when I was a Lutheran I thought just the same thing: idolatry. I saw an Orthodox Church that had only the Virgin featured - lacking the Christ Child in her lap. This is non-canonical. However, the Theotokos' placement behind the altar, whether in the canonical fashion or the non-canonical, makes a particular confession of faith. Lutheran onlookers (like myself those years ago) shudder and wonder how a huge icon of the Theotokos directly behind the altar, center-stage, could be anything but a confusion of who we are there to worship.

Yet the Orthodox Church places the platytera there to emphasize a particular theological truth - one that I learned from one of my seminary professors as a Lutheran. The Virgin Mary is the fulfillment of the Ark of the Covenant. In seminary it was even pointed out that her movements following the Annunciation follow the likeness of the Ark of the Covenant's movements in the Old Testament.

The Ark of the Covenant was covered with the mercy seat, the Throne of God flanked by cherubs. It was kept in the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle. Upon this mercy seat the blood of atonement was sprinkled once a year by the High Priest for the forgiveness of sins for the people of Israel. The Ark of the Covenant contained within it Aaron's staff which had budded, the jar of manna that came down from heaven, and the tablets of the Ten Commandments.

The Virgin Mary fulfills this Ark. She is the one in whom the Word of God dwelt, in whom the True Manna came down from heaven and remained. She is the one who, though a Virgin, was made to bud with Life Himself, fulfilling Aaron's staff. She is the one upon whose lap the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob sat enthroned for our salvation.

Thus the Orthodox Church rightly confesses her to be Theotokos, and rightly places her holy icon at the center behind the iconostasis. She is the True Ark of the Covenant with its mercy seat, upon whose lap and from whose womb we find the Lord Jesus seated as True Man for our salvation. So the placement of her icon - canonically or uncanonically - confesses the same truth: that God has appeared in the Flesh, and has fulfilled the Old Testament's shadow with the Light of His coming. We enjoy the reality of that coming now, gathered around the Eucharist, around our Lord Jesus who unites all in Himself, with His Father and the Holy Spirit ever reigning. Amen.

Liturgical Vestments VI: the Subdeacon

Continuing a series I began last September but fell away from, I would like to take up again the vestments of sacred ministers in the Orthodox Catholic Church. Having explored various vestments used throughout, and having then further narrowed the discussion to the Priest and Deacon, I will continue by examining the Subdeacon. OrthodoxWiki.org has a basic article explaining the role of the Subdeacon in the Orthodox Catholic Church; Wikipedia has a fuller explanation. Both articles seem to draw upon Slavic practices. The actual details of a Subdeacon's ordination, vestments, and service within the scope of Orthodox praxis are decided by one's Bishop.

To review the previous posts on this topic, click the Vestments category at the end of the post.

EDIT: Since this page receives the greatest amount of visitors out of all my posts, I thought I would update it. Last updated 17 January 2014


Eastern Rite

The Subdeacon is the highest of the minor orders of the Church, which are blessed with a different classification of ordination than that of the major clerical orders of Deacon, Priest, or Bishop. The distinction between the two classes of ordination may best be seen in the location of their ordination: the major orders receive ordination in the context of the Divine Liturgy of the Eucharist, while the minor orders receive their ordination outside of the Eucharistic context.

Other names for the Subdeacon are Hypodeacon or (in the Antiochian tradition) Deacon of the Lights. As this last name suggests, the Subdeacon has general responsibility for the care and lighting of the lamps in the church that he serves, as well as the candles of the Bishop when present.

The Subdeacon's role is an attendant to the Bishop. He looks after the Bishop's dikirotrikera and vestments, and generally provides the Bishop with all he needs during the Divine Services. When the Bishop is not present the Subdeacon serves in the altar with the servers.

The Bishop's Kairon with the Rt. Rev. Bishop ANTHONY (Michaels), Bishop of Toledo and the Midwest. Taken at St. John Chrysostom Antiochian Orthodox Church on 18 December 2011. This image may not be shared without express written permission.

There are no instructions for the Subdeacon to say vesting prayers for himself. The Subdeacon vests in the following:

1. Sticharion - This vestment is known as the alb in the West (meaning 'white thing'); it is a variation of the baptismal garment. Its ornamentation beyond that of the simple white garment is an indication of the role of angelic service the wearer performs as a servant in the altar of God.
    
2. Orarion - This vestment is tied around the waist, up over the shoulders (forming an X-shaped cross in back), and with the ends hanging down in front, tucked under the section around his waist.

Below are two examples of Subdeacon's vestments. The purple set I ordered from Katia Ogan. She does excellent work, and I certainly recommend her. The white set is one she is currently selling at the time I am writing this.

You will notice a slight variation in the length of the orarion. The white orarion is clearly shorter than the purple. In the Russian tradition the standard orarion is half as long as the standard Greek or Antiochian orarion. The Russians grant the use of the double-orarion as an award to recognized Deacons. The Russian Subdeacon's orarion is simply a single-orarion, while the Greek/Antiochian orarion is comparable in length to the double-orarion.

However, even in the Greek/Antiochian use there can be a distinction between the make of a Deacon's and Subdeacon's orarion. The Subdeacon's orarion can be slightly thinner, and adorned with only three crosses. It is very common, though, for Subdeacons to simply acquire a Deacon's set of vestments but omit the cuffs.



Western Rite

The Subdeacon in the Western Rite is more or less an assistant to the Deacon. At High Mass he reads the Epistle, holds the Gospel Book during its reading, and assists the Deacon with the preparation of the Oblations.

The Subdeacon vests with the following, saying the appropriate prayers:

1. Amice - "Place upon me, O Lord, the helmet of salvation, that I may withstand the assaults of the devil."
2. Alb - "Purify me, O Lord, and cleanse my heart, that being made white in the Blood of the Lamb I may come to eternal joy."
3. Cincture - "Gird me, O Lord, with the girdle of purity, and quench in my loins the fire of lust, that with the virtues of continence and chastity I may abide in Thee."
4. Maniple - "May I deserve, O Lord, to bear the maniple of weeping and sorrow, in order that I may joyfully reap the reward of my labors."
5. Tunicle - Clothe me, O Lord, with the tunic of favors and the garment of joys.

During the Creed at Solemn Mass, celebrated at Holy Incarnation Antiochian Orthodox Church on 10 June 2012. The tunicle features one horizontal bar, while the dalmatic features two. The same pattern is followed on the front of the vestment. Image may not be shared without express written permission.

Also, a vestment-like item worn by the Subdeacon during the Eucharist is the Humeral Veil. The Subdeacon uses a humeral veil when carrying the chalice, paten, or other sacred vessels, which should be touched only by the Deacon or another person in major orders. Catholic Encyclopedia has an informative article about the origin and use of this "vestment."

The Subdeacon wears the humeral veil and holds the paten aloft during the first portion of the Mass of the Faithful. Taken at Holy Incarnation Antiochian Orthodox Church on 10 June 2012. Image may not be shared without express written permission.

Church Music from the Future

I was reading an article on the Antiochian Web site entitled, "Authentic Church Music." One thing that struck me was the following:

Our Patriarch Ignatius IV commenting in his book The Resurrection and Modern Man on the Apocalyptic verse "Behold, I make all things new" emphasizes that God comes into the world from the future.[1] So, too, should our music, and iconography be made new from generation to generation, not in the sense of radical innovation or novelty, but new according to the renewal of the Holy Spirit in the Church. We must trust that the Holy Spirit will reveal the mind of the Church in every generation and in every nation as the faithful apply the great commission not only to the spread of the Orthodox faith in thought, word and deed, but also in Christian art.

Here Fr. John Finley refers to the eschatological nature of the Church and that which makes the Church truly Catholic. If the Church and everything about her as sacrament of the kingdom is determined by the in-breaking of the future reign, the eschatological kingdom, establishing it's rule in all the here-and-nows of history (through the cross, through the Eucharist), then her music must also be included.

Having come once from a Contemporary Worship / baby-boomer surfer party themed background, it is refreshing to find this belief, this expectation, this self-awareness. It is the eschatological outlook and self-understanding of the Church that drew me to her in the first place (there may be other things, but they all coalesce into this matrix). That liturgical music should so naturally find its home in this eschatological self-understanding brings me a comfort I've never known. Why? Because it is one of many things I've searched for without being able ever to describe it with words.

Some accused converts like me of becoming Orthodox just for smells and bells. No, I became Orthodox because I wanted to be a part of that eschatological in-breaking of Christ's kingdom that I saw so clearly in Holy Orthodoxy. I went and I saw and I believed (and I read Scripture and believed with certainty!) Did the music charm me? No. The theology behind the music and everything else did, because it is true, it is the shining brilliance of knowing the One who is True and Truth Himself through His cross and resurrection.

I know that there are many others out there like I used to be, people who are still Lutheran that are looking for this culture of the eschatological kingdom that breaks in to here-and-now as they battle it out against the threat of the spiritual erosion of the world's anti-sanctification into what should be holy ground. I can only pray they will one day see what my foolish heart was undeservedly blessed to see.

Here is some more from Fr. John Finley:

Just as an authentic icon makes visible for us, the invisible Kingdom of God, so too, authentic Church music makes audible for us the inaudible song of the angels around the throne of God.

And just as an icon of Christ or the Theotokos differs in style from nation to nation, and from one century to the next, so too, a musical setting of a hymn to Christ or to His mother differs in style from nation to nation and from one century to the next.

Because we respect the tradition of the Church, and because we know that no culture or no era stands in isolation from another in Church History, we seek to develop Church art in a living continuity with the past, realizing however, that the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church to which we are united, is not simply the Church of the past, but also of the present and of the future.

Read the entire article...

Christos ist Auferstanden!

Christ is risen from the dead trampling down death by death and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.

Christ is risen!
Indeed He is risen!

Christos ist auferstanden!
Sicherlich ist auferstanden!

Harisutosu fukkatsu!
Jitsu-ni fukkatsu!

This last one is a version from Japanese, while the one previous is German, and I think we all recognize the English. I have some doubts about the common translation flying around for the Japanese, which is often rendered "Harisutosu," a rendering I cannot find in any Japanese dictionary. (It might be a way of transliterating "Christos" from some other language.) Rather, Christ is normally rendered as "Kirisuto" with "fukkatsu" referring to reviving or restoring.

I got our priest to give the Japanese a try as a Paschal greeting this year. He loved the idea. He also wanted to include the German. He said that about 1/4 Americans have some German ancestry. Also, it seems fitting given the number of formerly Lutheran families in the parish. This Saturday our parish received a family of four (now former) Lutherans by Chrismation. (I only learned that they were from a Lutheran background just the other day.)

We spent the entire week in Fort Wayne so we could attend the liturgical services of Holy Week. We purchased the Archdiocese's liturgical book for The Services of Great and Holy Week and Pascha, edited and arranged by V. Rev. Fr. Joseph Rahal. It seems that much of the work for this book was done by Fr. Joseph when he was priest at our parish some years ago - or so I'm told.

Holy Week was wonderful and we didn't want it to come to an end.

One thing was striking last night, after coming back to Defiance tired and happy from such a wonderful week: When the day was drawing to a close I suddenly looked to my Holy Week liturgical book and felt a hollow feeling in my stomach. I had gotten quite used to being able to open that book and review what tomorrow had in store for me. Now the book has to be written as I go.

Christos Anesti!
Alithos Anesti!

The Nativity of Our Lord

We just returned from the Nativity Liturgy at St. John Chrysostom in Fort Wayne. Thankfully the weather forecasters were a bit off in their predictions. We were supposed to have freezing rain about the time of the Liturgy, but instead God granted us clear and safe roads going and returning.

The Liturgy was beautiful. This is our first Christmas at St. John Chrysostom. Last year we were rather displaced with me being a catastrophic mess and bad weather. We had not found St. John Chrysostom yet. It was sad to be unable to celebrate Christmas at church last year. This year all things are new, though. We are newly Sealed and were able to celebrate Christ's nativity as one should: by worshiping the Son of God who lowered Himself beneath all other people in order to raise all people up to His level (as Fr. Anthony preached today), which takes place ever so wonderfully in the communion of Christ's Holy Body and Precious Blood in the unity of the Holy Spirit. For us it has truly been a celebration of Christ's Mass this year.

However, this Christmas is a little stranger than past Christmases, too. We are the only ones in our family - maybe in all of Defiance - who are Orthodox. Our families are great toward us, but there is sometimes an air of uncomfortableness. It's because we don't fit in the same way we used to fit. I imagine that it seems as if we've chosen something that seems strange and a bit extreme to our Protestant relatives. There are certain passages in the Gospel that stick out for me anew now that I am Orthodox, and if you're Orthodox you might guess which ones they are.

However, I offer myself (and anyone else in my shoes) this encouragement: Orthodoxy alone in the world knows both the joy of God's gift of redemption in Christ AND the warfare of the Christian life AND the ecclesial reality of Christ's kingdom on earth (I'm sure I could throw in a few more ANDs in there, too). My introduction into a more serious Christianity was maybe twelve years ago, and it was like basic training conducted in a battle zone. Now that I'm in Orthodoxy it is apparent that the true nature of the warfare is not only known, but it has been engaged with a consistent vision, a single multifaceted gaze piercing eschatologically through the sands of history, arming the saints in the Holy Spirit, healing the wounded with the Blood of Christ, and carrying on the victory of the Cross by the grace of our God who is glorious in His saints and calls us to share in His own glory.

I am a lazy man and tempted kick back in the face of God's goodness and condescension. May He forgive me and teach me to engage the activity of the life He has given me in Christ.

Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace, good will among men.
We praise Thee, we bless Thee,
we worship Thee, we glorify Thee,
we give thanks to Thee for Thy great glory.

O Lord, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty;
O Lord, the Only-Begotten Son, Jesus Christ; and O Holy Spirit.
O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,
that takest away the sin of the world, have mercy on us;
Thou that takest away the sins of the world, receive our prayer;
Thou that sittest at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us.
For Thou only art holy,
Thou only art the Lord, O Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father. Amen.

Every day will I bless Thee and I will praise Thy name forever, yea forever and ever.

Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin.

Blessed art Thou, O Lord, the God of our fathers,
and praised and glorified is Thy name unto the ages. Amen.

Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us according as we have hoped in Thee.

Blessed art Thou, O Lord, teach me Thy statutes.
Blessed art Thou, O Lord, teach me Thy statutes.
Blessed art Thou, O Lord, teach me Thy statutes.

Lord, Thou hast been our refuge in generation and generation.

I said: O Lord, have mercy on me, heal my soul, for I have sinned against Thee.

O Lord, unto Thee have I fled for refuge, teach me to do Thy will, for Thou art my God;

For in Thee is the fountain of life, in Thy light shall we see light.

O continue Thy mercy unto them that know Thee.

Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.

Chrismated!

"On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.' But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified." - St. John 7:37-39

“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you." - St. John 14:15-17

My family and I were received into the one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church by Chrismation on Saturday, 19 December 2009 at St. John Chrysostom Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana. We received the Holy Eucharist for the first time at the Divine Liturgy celebrated the same day.

Glory to Thee, O God.
Glory to Thee, O God.
Glory to Thee, O God.

God has been very gracious to us. A year ago our world was falling apart all around us. Yet, as blessed King Hezekiah prayed famously in the canticle Ego dixi, "it was for my own peace that I had great bitterness; but You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back" [Isaiah 38:17]. No one chooses his own cross, but God lays it upon a man that He may redeem him from futility and beating the air [1 Cor. 9:26] and bring him into the blessedness of His Kingdom, where dust and ashes are healed and raised to become partakers of the Divine Nature [2 Pet. 2:4], through Him who humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross [Phil. 2:8]. We are exceedingly thankful for being grafted into the Fullness of Him who fills all in all [Eph. 2:23].

In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. — Ephesians 2:13-14

Friends and Sponsors

We were also blessed to have many friends in attendance. Rev. Fr. Anthony Michaels is the priest of St. John Chrysostom. We are thankful for his priestly care and friendship toward us. He arranged and directed the Chrismation and Divine Liturgy. Rev. Fr. John Fenton of Holy Incarnation Antiochian Orthodox Church of Lincoln Park, Michigan anointed us with Holy Chrism, and Rev. Fr. Gregory Hogg of Holy Cross Antiochian Orthodox Church of Dorr, Michigan assisted with the sponge of warm water.





Fr. Gregory has honored our family by serving as my daughter's sponsor,



and Fr. Fenton likewise as our son's sponsor.

He was an unwilling participant in the pictures. We were lucky to pull him out from under the chairs. My son, not Fr. Fenton. :-)

I cannot say how grateful and thankful I am for Anastasia Theodoridis. She has been a pure gift from God throughout my entire journey to Holy Orthodoxy. I am humbled to have such a sweet lady as my Godmother.



I think the same should be said for Rosemarie Lieffering, whose benevolence toward my wife and our family has been amazing. Emily is unbelievably blessed to have Rosemarie as her Godmother.



James Childs and I have known each other since college and seminary. He and Sarah made us really happy by standing with us as we were sealed.



Lutherans No More — In the Church Restored

Nearly everyone who traveled to celebrate this day with us is a former-Lutheran. Fr. Gregory, Fr. Fenton, James, and I are all formerly Lutheran pastors. Having now come into Holy Orthodoxy, this seems like a lifetime ago or like having woken long ago from a strange dream. Be that as it may, I think we all still carry this past with us in one way or another. Like any dream its presence is evermore fleeting; the incorporation it has in your fibers is washed out more and more in the fullness of the Today we wish not to waste nor its rest fail to obtain (Heb. 4). Yet it is still there and always shall be.



This is not so bad. We've taken some lumps. We tried and failed in various ways. We've played out our idealism for Christianity (which seems silly now compared to the real thing). And we have been taught to desire our Lord Jesus Christ above all things. For this I am grateful to have once been a Lutheran. But the road of Lutheranism ends at the Church - or perhaps just before it. Lutheranism does not retain the faith once delivered to the Apostles, but merely some of it. The same is true of its practice and its dogma. The Church God instituted through Christ in the Spirit - the Church of Peter and Paul, of Ignatius, of Irenaeus, of Athanasius, of John Chrysostom, of Augustine, of John Cassian, of John of Damascus, and of saints innumerable down to this very day - is found in its fullness in what the world calls the Eastern Orthodox Church. Our longing was kindled among the Lutherans, and it is fulfilled in Holy Orthodoxy. And by God's grace it will be consummated at the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The separation of the two in my mind and heart - i.e. Lutheranism from the desire for the fullness of our Lord Jesus Christ - was hard to go through. I think I'm safe in saying it was for all four of us in our own ways. Speaking for myself, there were lots of temptations along the way to devalue Christ's call into participation in His fullness. Putting off Christ in His fullness always seemed necessary and excusable because I had some other work that I was doing for Him. Sometimes I was plain willful and refused to allow Christ's pleading to have an effect on me. Sometimes I was lazy and fearful and gave in to paralyzation.

But then at some point I realized something dreadful: that I could undo all of this – by searing my conscience with a hot iron I could close off my soul to Christ in just this one way. Then I wouldn't have to deal with all this stuff anymore. It was a temptation to fool myself into thinking that I could or should control and contain Christ by force of will, limiting Him to those chambers of my being that I had decorated for Lutheranism. This is the reverse of the blessed Virgin. While God had made her to contain in her womb the uncontainable God through her acquiescence, I was tempted for a moment to try to contain Christ as a prisoner through my desperation for dominance and subservience to fear. These are not of God, of course, but of the Evil One. And as such, of course, giving into this would mean a kind of spiritual death, a willing movement backward from redemption into the company of fire-bound spirits.

This kind of temptation is like trying to blow out only part of a match. Usually you blow, only to snuff the fire out completely, leaving you without light. But sometimes you can blow out part of the fire on a match-stick. Then the part that remains quickly burns towards your fingers and you are quickly burned before the fire departs. And lost in this futile struggle is the point of it all: the fire struck on the match-stick was supposed to be kindled, so as to provide illumination and warmth.

God forbid that we should try to extinguish the work of Christ in our hearts! Some people have suggested that there is something brave or courageous about what we have done in leaving ministry, synod, and all the rest. Nothing could be further from the truth. Speaking for myself, I simply refused to sear myself with that hot iron. I was faced, then, with the experience of the Living God who holds me in His hands, rather than me holding Him compact in my mind and security. The Living God seems unpredictable to the man who prefers a religion mediated by his own will, and it is this feeling of unpredictability that was so different and maybe scary. I believe, though, it is not that the Lord is unpredictable, but that He loves like a flaming fire, jealous to save man and bring him into union and fullness, into goodness and Life, into conversion and wholeness. I know I was not courageous. I was simply blessed to be destroyed by God's mercy, that I might be saved and healed and redeemed and hallowed by His love for mankind. And today God has granted my family and I to become participants in the fullness of Jesus Christ our Lord, that Body with such a diversity of members, that one pure Bride of Christ that shall remain with her Lord unto the ages of ages.

We are not the last to take up the spiritual exodus from the Lutherans. There will be more and more, and this story will play out again and again and again. Each story will be as unique as the persons involved, but the exodus is the same exodus for us all. And as each of us who have entered through those blessed and hallowed and joyous gates will tell you, though the exodus comes to an end, the journeying continues every day until our Master appears and says to His faithful, "Come you blessed of My Father; receive the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." May the Lord grant us to be found on His right side through His great mercy, and not on the left.

Psalm 23/24
Of David. A psalm.

1 The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;

2 for he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the waters.

3 Who may ascend the hill of the LORD ?
Who may stand in his holy place?

4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to an idol
or swear by what is false.

5 He will receive blessing from the LORD
and vindication from God his Savior.

6 Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek your face, O God of Jacob.
Selah

7 Lift up your heads, O you gates;
be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.

8 Who is this King of glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
the LORD mighty in battle.

9 Lift up your heads, O you gates;
lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.

10 Who is he, this King of glory?
The LORD Almighty—
he is the King of glory.
Selah

Liturgical Vestments V: the Deacon

The next clerical Order I'd like to dwell on is that of the Deacon, whose ministry is a symbol of the ministering angels. The OrthoWiki Web site has a basic article explaining the role of the deacon.

Eastern Rite

The deacon will vest during the Liturgy of Preparation with the priest after the Entrance Prayers. However, the deacon may not don his vestments without first receiving the blessing of the bishop or priest under whom he serves. The priest and deacon together face toward the east, with their sticharia in hand, and make three metanias while praying each time, "O God, cleanse me a sinner." Then the deacon approaches the priest for his blessing to vest, standing with the vestments in his right hand and says, "Master, bless the Sticharion and Orarion." The priest says, "Blessed is our God now and always and unto ages of ages." The deacons says, "Amen," kisses the priest's right hand, and withdraws to the diaconicon to vest (i.e. to the place where vestments, books, and other related items for use in the Divine Liturgy are kept).

The deacon's vestments are:

1. Sticharion - Kissing the cross on the sticharion he says: My soul shall rejoice in the Lord, for He has clothed me with a robe of salvation and covered me with a tunic of happiness; He has crowned me as a bridegroom and adorned me with jewels as a bride (Isaiah 61:10).


2. Orarion - The deacon says nothing while donning the Orarion.


3. Epimanikia - This vestment points to the fact that the hands serve in the Liturgy are actually Christ's hands, who alone is the Servant of God who suffered for our salvation. The deacon wears the epimanikia under his sticharion, while the priest wears his over the sticharion. When donning the cuffs, on the right hand, the deacon prays, Your right hand, + Lord, is made glorious in might; your right hand, Lord, has crushed the enemies; and in the fullness of your glory, You have routed the adversary (Ex. 15:6-7). The left hand, Your hands + have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding and I shall learn your commandments (Ps. 118/119:73).

When the deacon finishes vesting he goes to the Prothesis and prepares the sacred vessels by placing the diskos (paten) on the left, the chalice on the right, and the other implements also.

When both have finished vesting they wash their hands saying, "I will wash my hands in innocency; so will I compass Thine altar, O Lord, That I may make the voice of thanksgiving to be heard, and tell of all Thy wondrous works. Lord, I love the habitation of Thy house, and the place where Thy glory dwelleth. Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with men of blood; In whose hands is craftiness, and their right hand is full of bribes. But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity; redeem me, and be gracious unto me. My foot standeth in an even place; in the congregations will I bless the Lord (Ps. 26:6-12)."

Western Rite

The deacon will vest with the priest and any assistants as outlined for the Western Rite priest. The prayers that he says are nearly identical to that of the priests:

1. Amice - "Place upon me, O Lord, the helmet of salvation, that I may withstand the assaults of the devil."


2. Alb - "Purify me, O Lord, and cleanse my heart, that being made white in the Blood of the Lamb I may come to eternal joy."


3. Cincture - "Gird me, O Lord, with the girdle of purity, and quench in my loins the fire of lust, that with the virtues of continence and chastity I may abide in Thee."


4. Stole - "Restore unto me, O Lord, the state of immortality, which was lost through the sin of my first parents; and although I am unworthy to approach Thy sacred mysteries, nevertheless grant unto me eternal joy."


5. Maniple - This is a band of cloth, of the same style and width as the stole. It is worn over the left arm. The link provided is to a Wikipedia article, which mainly treats it under Roman Catholic use, but a picture or two is found there. The deacon prays as he vests with it, "May I deserve, O Lord, to bear the maniple of weeping and sorrow, in order that I may joyfully reap the reward of my labors."


6. Dalmatic - "Lord, endow me with the garment of salvation, the vestment of joy, and with the dalmatic of justice ever encompass me. Amen."

The deacon's stole, as with that of the priest, is not worn outside of service in the Mass or receiving the Eucharist.

For me the role of the deacon in the Church is somewhat a minor fascination. Coming from an American Lutheran background there was no place for actual deacons. Historically among Lutherans they were seen as pastors who took a secondary role in a church. Among the Lutherans of the LCMS a deacon was either a layman-elder in the congregation, or he was someone licensed to carry out pastoral duties (preaching or consecrating the Lord's Supper) apart from ordination.

Now that I'm converting to Holy Orthodoxy it is interesting to consider and observe the natural place of deacons in the Catholic Church. Suffice to say that it is very well-pleasing to me. God is glorious in His Church.