The True Vine…

Christ the True Vine (Athens 16th Century)

Contemplation from The Prologue of Ohrid~

To contemplate the Lord Jesus as the Vine:

“I am the true Vine” St. John 15:1

1. As the Vine from which sprouted numerous fruitful branches in the images of the saints;

2. As the Vine Who with His sap, His blood, waters and feeds all the branches on Himself;

3. As the Vine from Whom the Divine Church branched out on earth and in the heavens;

4. As the Vine from Whom, even I should not separate the branch of my life.

Justin Martyr to Trypho the Jew…

St Justin the Martyr

One of  these, I think, I must now mention, because it will help to give you a better understanding of Jesus, whom we acknowledge as Christ the Son of God, who was crucified, arose from the dead, ascended into heaven and will come to judge every person who ever lived, even back to Adam himself.  You certainly know that when the tabernacle of testimony was carried off by the enemies who inhabited the region of Ashdod, and a dreadfully incurable plague had broken out among them, they decided to place the tabernacle upon a cart to which they yoked cows that had recently borne calves, in order to determine whether they had been plagued by God’s power because of the tabernacle, and whether it was God’s will that it be returned to the place from which they had taken it.  In the execution of this plan, the cows, without any human guidance, proceeded not to the place from where the tabernacle had been taken but to the farm of a man named Hoshea (the same name as his whose name was change to Jesus [Joshua], as was said above, and who led your people into the promised land and distributed it among them by lot.).  When the cows came to this farm, they halted.  Thus it was shown to you that they were guided by the powerful name [of Jesus], just as the survivors among your people who fled Egypt were guided into the promised land by him whose name was changed from Hoshea to Jesus [Joshua].

~Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho the Jew (132:4), as quoted in “Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture”

hat tip: Daily Dynamis~Church Fathers Wisdom

For a long time St Anna was childless…

The prayer of Sts Joachim and Anna
Monastery of Daphni (Attica), 11th c.

Commemorated on December 9

St Anna, the mother of the Virgin Mary, was the youngest daughter of the priest Nathan from Bethlehem, descended from the tribe of Levi. She married St Joachim (September 9), who was a native of Galilee.

For a long time St Anna was childless, but after twenty years, through the fervent prayer of both spouses, an angel of the Lord announced to them that they would be the parents of a daughter, Who would bring blessings to the whole human race.The Orthodox Church does not accept the teaching that the Mother of God was exempted from the consequences of ancestral sin (death, corruption, sin, etc.) at the moment of her conception by virtue of the future merits of Her Son. Only Christ was born perfectly holy and sinless, as St Ambrose of Milan teaches in Chapter Two of his Commentary on Luke.The Holy Virgin was like everyone else in Her mortality, and in being subject to temptation, although She committed no personal sins. She was not a deified creature removed from the rest of humanity. If this were the case, She would not have been truly human, and the nature that Christ took from Her would not have been truly human either. If Christ does not truly share our human nature, then the possibility of our salvation is in doubt.

The Conception of the Virgin Mary by St Anna took place at Jerusalem. The many icons depicting the Conception by St Anna show the Most Holy Theotokos trampling the serpent underfoot.

“In the icon Sts Joachim and Anna are usually depicted with hands folded in prayer; their eyes are also directed upward and they contemplate the Mother of God, Who stands in the air with outstretched hands; under Her feet is an orb encircled by a serpent (symbolizing the devil), which strives to conquer all the universe by its power.”

There are also icons in which St Anna holds the Most Holy Virgin on her left arm as an infant. On St Anna’s face is a look of reverence. A large ancient icon, painted on canvas, is located in the village of Minkovetsa in the Dubensk district of Volhynia diocese. From ancient times this Feast was especially venerated by pregnant women in Russia.

What must I do…

Yelena Cherkasova- The Righteous Soul Enters Heaven -undated

“What must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Love the Lord thy God will all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” “This do, and thou shalt live.”

He Who Is…

“As far as we can reach, He Who Is, and God, are the special names of His Essence; and of these especially He Who Is, not only because when He spoke to Moses in the mount, and Moses asked what His Name was, this was what He called Himself, bidding him say to the people ‘I Am has sent me’ (Ex. 3:14), but also because we find that this Name is the more strictly appropriate.”

~St. Gregory the Theologian

Evidence from Lucian of Samosata…

hat tip: Ancient Evidence for Jesus from Non-Christian Sources (Orthodox Christianity)

excerpt:

Lucian of Samosata (A.D. 125 – after A.D. 180) wrote that early Christians worshiped Jesus and lived according to his teaching.

Lucian of Samosata was a second century Greek satirist. In one of his works, he wrote of the early Christians as follows:

The Christians . . . worship a man to this day–the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account. . . . [It] was impressed on them by their original lawgiver that they are all brothers, from the moment that they are converted, and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws.{27}

Although Lucian is jesting here at the early Christians, he does make some significant comments about their founder. For instance, he says the Christians worshipped a man, “who introduced their novel rites.” And though this man’s followers clearly thought quite highly of Him, He so angered many of His contemporaries with His teaching that He “was crucified on that account.”

Although Lucian does not mention his name, he is clearly referring to Jesus. But what did Jesus teach to arouse such wrath? According to Lucian, he taught that all men are brothers from the moment of their conversion. That’s harmless enough. But what did this conversion involve? It involved denying the Greek gods, worshipping Jesus, and living according to His teachings. It’s not too difficult to imagine someone being killed for teaching that. Though Lucian doesn’t say so explicitly, the Christian denial of other gods combined with their worship of Jesus implies the belief that Jesus was more than human. Since they denied other gods in order to worship Him, they apparently thought Jesus a greater God than any that Greece had to offer!

converted to servants of the Faith…

Saint Gregory the Illuminator/Գրիգոր Լուսաւորիչ

REFLECTION

Marvelous changes occur daily in the destiny of men-in the present, as in times past. Those humiliated for the sake of God’s righteousness are raised to great heights, and the blasphemers of the Faith are converted to servants of the Faith. King Tiridates threw St. Gregory into a deep pit. The saint spent fourteen years in that pit, forgotten by the entire world, but not by God. Who among men could have thought that the greatest light of the Armenian people was to be found in the darkness of a pit? And who would have ever thought that the powerful and tyrannical King Tiridates would one day save the life of that same Gregory, whom he had condemned to death, and would help him more than the rest of the whole world could help him? After fourteen years, God revealed Gregory as still alive. Gregory then miraculously healed the insane king. King Tiridates, the unrestrained persecutor of Christ, was baptized and became the greatest zealot for the Christian Faith! It could be said that, with God’s help, Gregory and Tiridates were both drawn out of the pit of darkness-Gregory a physical one, and Tiridates a spiritual one. Oh, the infinite wisdom of God in governing the destinies of men! The formerly wild and passionate Tiridates was softened and ennobled so much by repentance and the Christian Faith, that he came to resemble St. Gregory more than his old, unrepentant self.

hat tip: The Prologue of Ohrid

extol the power of the mystery!

People of God, holy nation, sacred gathering! Let us revere our paternal memory; let us extol the power of the mystery! Each of us, in the measure given by grace, let us offer a worthy gift for the present feast. Fathers—a prosperous lineage; mothers—fine children; the unbearing—the not- bearing of sin; virgins—a twofold prudence, of soul and of body; betrothed—praiseworthy abstinence. If anyone of you be a father, let him imitate the father of the Virgin; and if anyone be without child—let them make harvest of fruitful prayer, cultivating a life pleasing to God. The mother, feeding her children, let her rejoice together with Anna, raising her Child, given to her in infertility through prayer. She that is barren, not having given birth, lacking the blessing of a child, let her come with faith to the God-given Offshoot of Anna and offer there her barrenness. The virgin, living blamelessly, let her be a mother by discourse, adorning by word the elegance of soul. For a betrothed—let her offer mental sacrifice from the fruits of prayer. All together rich and poor, lads and maidens, old and young (Ps 48:2, 148:12), priests and Levites—let all together keep the feast in honor of the Maiden, the Mother of God and the Prophetess: from Her hath issued forth the Prophet, foretold of by Moses, Christ God and Truth (Dt 18:15). Amen.

~St. Andrew of Crete on the Nativity of the Theotokos

hat tip: Sunday Bulletin of Holy Theophany Orthodox Church

anger and peace…

Christ the Teacher – icon

All men want peace but they do not know how to attain it. Paissy the Great, having lost his temper, begged the Lord to deliver him from irritability. The Lord appeared to him and said: “Paissy, if you do not wish to get angry, desire nothing, neither criticize, nor hate any man, and you will have no anger.

hat tip: Holy Fathers on Facebook

There is nothing in this world uglier…

… than ingratitude, nothing more insulting or soul-destroying. What can be uglier than when a man suppresses and conceals a good work done to him? And what is uglier than when a man returns mercilessness for mercy, faithlessness for faithfulness, dishonor for honor and mockery for good? Such ingratitude draws a black cloud between the ungrateful on the one hand and the most pure Eye from heaven – that is light without the admixture of darkness, and goodness without the admixture of evil – on the other.

…. In this world, gratitude receives its true, divine radiance, and ingratitude its destructive ugliness, only in man – only in the human race. No single other living creature in the world is capable of such gratitude or ingratitude as man. The most grateful man is the closest to perfection. His gratitude to all God’s creatures around him makes him the finest citizen of this star-studded universe. Gratitude towards men makes him the first citizen of human society; gratitude towards the Creator of the universe and towards men makes him a worthy citizen of the Kingdom of God.

In order to save the human race from the humiliation of ingratitude, the Lord Jesus frequently raised public thanksgiving and praise to God. The apostles did the same thing, constantly “praising God”, and blessing Him, not only for His goodness to them personally but also towards others. “I cease not to give thanks for you”, writes the Apostle Paul to the faithful in Ephesus, teaching them at the same time to the thankful “for all things… in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”. In the same way, the Church of God, following the apostles’ example, constantly raises thanks and praise to the living God, and constantly reminds the faithful never to forget, and never to cease praising God for all that He sends them. There is never a divine service that the Church begins without the words: “Blessed is our God…” or “Blessed is the Kingdom…”, nor one that does not end with “Glory to Thee, O Christ our God and our Hope, glory to Thee!” The church does this so that unceasing thoughts, hymns and prayers of thanksgiving to God should be deeply imprinted on the souls of the faithful, so that each should be able to say of himself, with the Psalmist: “His praise shall ever be in my mouth.”

~St. Nikolai of Zica

hat tip: Sunday Bulletin of Holy Theophany Orthodox Church