Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel

 

Kontakion in the Fourth Tone

As thou beholdest the glory of God in Heaven, and on earth dost bestow grace from on high, O leader of Angels, wise Gabriel, minister of the glory of God, and divine defender of the world, save and keep my son, I cry to thee: Be thyself his helper, and no one can be against him.

Gabriel is the great Messenger of God. He brought news to Daniel in Babylon; he brought the news of John the Forerunner's impending birth to Zacharias in the temple; he brought the news of Christ's impending birth to the Theotokos; he announced the birth of Christ to the shepherds; he was the young man clad in white who sat on the stone and announced the resurrection to the women disciples of the Lord; and is believed to be the angel who will sopund the trumpet heralding Christ's return in the Last Days. Tradition holds that he announced the birth of the Theotokos to her parents, too. Gabriel brings Good News whenever he shows up!

In iconography, Gabriel always "wears blue or white and he holds either a lily (representing the Theotokos), a trumpet, a shining lantern, a branch from Paradise presented to him by the Theotokos, or a spear in his right hand and often a mirror—made of jasper and with a Χ (the first letter of Christ (Χριστος) in Greek)—in his left hand." He doesn't carry a sword; he is the angel who is charged with proclaiming salvation to mankind not war.

There are a number of feast days for the Archangel Gabriel on the Church's calendar: 26 March which is the day after the Annunciation, today (13 July) and 8 November, the day all the Archangels are feasted. Since I have an angel living with me, I try to remember all his feast days!

A blessed feast day of the 
Archangel Gabriel to my son! 
God grant him many more years!!

Relevant Reading

The Prologue from Ochrid

OCA - Feasts & Saints: Archangel Gabriel

LOL! Good Advice!

A female minister while studying the book of Ruth said to the single women: "While waiting on your Boaz don't settle for any of his relatives: Lyingaz, Cheatingaz, Goodfornothingaz, Poaz, Lockedupaz, Lazyaz, Brokeaz, or his third cousin Beatyoaz. He also needs to respect yoaz!"

Holla!

God have mercy on me, a sinner!

Relevant Reading
The Book of Ruth

Interview with Metropolitan Kallistos Ware

Evangelical magazine interviews Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware)A recent interview with His Eminence, Metropolitan Kallistos [Ware], is now available online.

Lord have mercy on me, a sinner.

For Gabriel...

Crazy joy, when I see the eyes of my baby boy
I pledge to you, I will always do
Everything I can
Show you how to be a man
Dignity, integrity, honor an
An' I don't mind if you lose, long as you came with it
An' you can cry, ain't no shame it it
It didn't work out with me an' your [dad]
But yo, push come to shove
You was conceived in love
So if the world attacks, and you slide off track
Remember one fact, I got your back

Lord have mercy on me, a sinner.

A Good Name

A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
   and favour is better than silver or gold.
The rich and the poor have this in common:
   the Lord is the maker of them all.
The clever see danger and hide;
   but the simple go on, and suffer for it.
The reward for humility and fear of the Lord
   is riches and honour and life.
Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse;
   the cautious will keep far from them.
Train children in the right way,
   and when old, they will not stray.
The rich rules over the poor,
   and the borrower is the slave of the lender.
Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity,
   and the rod of anger will fail.
Those who are generous are blessed,
   for they share their bread with the poor.
Drive out a scoffer, and strife goes out;
   quarrelling and abuse will cease.
Those who love a pure heart and are gracious in speech
   will have the king as a friend.
The eyes of the Lord keep watch over knowledge,
   but he overthrows the words of the faithless.
The lazy person says, ‘There is a lion outside!
   I shall be killed in the streets!’
The mouth of a loose woman is a deep pit;
   he with whom the Lord is angry falls into it.
Folly is bound up in the heart of a boy,
   but the rod of discipline drives it far away.
Oppressing the poor in order to enrich oneself,
   and giving to the rich, will lead only to loss. 
Proverbs 22

Lord have mercy on me, a sinner.

Phish Food & New Martyrs: An Update

For the past few days I have been without air conditioning. This might not be a problem but I live in North Carolina and the summers here are sweltering to say the very least. It hasn't been that bad though, especially at night. Nights have been quite comfortable with the fans going and the windows open. In fact, yesterday was the hottest so far and God was good enough to send a lovely thunderboomer my way. The temp outside dropped about 20 degrees in an hour or so and inside it got down to comfortable (I keep the thermostat at about 76-77). I was downright chilly!! Today there wasn't a thunderstorm so I decided I could eat ice cream for supper. Ben & Jerry's Phish Food. Chocolate ice cream, marshmallow and caramel swirls and little fudge fish. Yum!

In other news, today is my Name Day!

My patron saint is St Elizabeth Feodorovna Grand Duchess of Russia and New Martyr of the Communist Yoke. St Elizabeth was the granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England the wife of Grand Duke Sergei of Russia. She was raised Lutheran but converted to Orthodoxy after marrying Sergei and attending the Orthodox services with her husband in Russia. She wrote to her family:

"I am sure God's blessing will accompany my act which I do with such fervent belief, with the feeling that I may become a better Christian and be one step nearer to God." Explaining the reasons for her decision, she writes in a letter: "Above all one's conscience must be pure and true... many will -- I know -- scream about (it), yet I feel it brings me nearer to God... You tell me that the outer brilliance of the church charmed me... in that you are mistaken -- nothing in the outer signs attracted me -- no -- the service, the service, the outer signs are only to remind us of the inner things."

And I feel the same way. The Church is a wonderful place to be. I never feel better than when I have attended liturgy (except, perhaps, after confession). What is truly wonderful is that no matter where I am, if I attend an Orthodox church, I will know what the service is--be it in Russian, Greek or even Southern-accented English! LOL! I can be absorbed by the worship and know God...As much as I can know this Infinite and Incredible Lord of ours. His presence is always palpable in the services of the Orthodox Church and all I can do is sing to Him, "Holy, Holy Holy!"

St Elizabeth is also a paragon of forgiveness which is something I know I need to practice regularly. When her husband was assassinated, she gathered together the parts of his body and prayed over them, then visited his confessed murderer in prison and asked his forgiveness for whatever they had done to cause him to want the Grand Duke's death. She gave him a gospel and begged him to repent and then left the prison.

I am nowhere near that point in my life. One of my constant prayers is that I would be able to more closely emulate her in this way.

She left Russian Royal society after the death of her husband and became a monastic, but she did not withdraw from the world entirely. She founded a convent dedicated to serving the poor and sick of Moscow which is extant in Moscow to this day. A few years after this, the Bolsheviks forcibly removed her and the rest of the imperial family from Moscow and she was eventually martyred. Her remains were transported to the convent of St Mary Magdalene of Gethemane in Israel where they are to this day.
 
Anyway...I read about St Elizabeth during my investigation of the Church and I feel a special kinship with her and with St Ruth because, among other reasons, both of them were converts to the Faith of God. The Lord has had me camped out in the Book of Ruth for several years now and I never cease to be amazed at the amount of wisdom that can be found in that little book.

Conversion is something that must happen daily. Hourly, almost. I must grow in faith, zeal, knowledge, love, sanctification, holiness, and joy every day of my life into eternity. I cannot give others something I do not have and my chosen patrons, Holy God-pleasers, Elizabeth and Ruth by their examples prove this to me. All too often I have been more a convert of the world than of Christ.Hopefully with their help and fervent prayers I will become more like them and eventually truly be able to reflect the glory of God in my life.

Pray to God for me, O saints Elizabeth and Ruth, well-pleasing to God, for I readily recommend myself to you, who are the speedy helper and intercessors for my soul. Amen. 

Rejoice, lamb burning with the love of God;
   rejoice, handmaid of Christ the Lord!
Rejoice, scroll whereon the Holy Spirit inscribed the Christian virtues;
   rejoice, divinely wise princess and new martyr!
Rejoice, daughter who forsook they father’s house and turned to Holy Orthodoxy;
Rejoice, vessel wherein the wine of gladness
   and the oil of healing are mingled together;
   rejoice, upholder of the traditions of piety!
Rejoice, treasure-house of compassion;
   rejoice, radiant star resplendent with heavenly glory!

Lord have mercy on me, a sinner.

Relevant Reading
Blog Post: St Elizabeth the New Martyr
Book of Ruth
Martha and Mary Convent of Moscow
Akathist to St Elizabeth the New Martyr

Apropos of Yesterdays' Post

“I was regretting the past and fearing the future.

Suddenly God was speaking: 

“My name is I Am.”

I waited and God continued:

“When you live in the past, with its mistakes and regrets, 

it is hard. I am not there.

My name is not I was.

When you live in the future, with its problems and fears, 

it is hard. I am not there.

My name is not I will be.

When you live in this moment, it is not hard. I am here.

My name is I Am.”

— Helen Mellincost



Lord have mercy on me a sinner.

Waiting For Godot

I think the theme of my life lately has been finding contentment. Contentment in what I have, in who I am, in where I find myself at various and sundry times. Too often lately I have found that I am not content and this leads to all sorts of difficulties. I do the wrong thing or don't do the right thing (which are not the same). I depend on the wrong person or mistrust someone I should place my trust in and just generally end up making huge mistakes to my own detriment.

I'm not quite sure what it is I should do but I seem to be waiting for something to happen that will be a big blinking sign that says "DO THIS RIGHT NOW" The problem with that sort of thing is that it never happens.

~sigh~ I know what I am trying to say but it isn't coming out quite right tonight.

I know God said, "Be content" and "Wait on me" but I swear neither of those commands are my forte. Then again, that might be the issue right there.

Vladimir and Estragon are still standing under that tree. They have no idea who Godot is or when he is coming, but they have stayed under the tree (at least for the duration of the play). They however, wait in vain. Godot never comes. Christ, however, has never left me. Perhaps I can take a lesson from Vladimir and Estragon and just wait until I notice He is right here with me.

Lord have mercy on me, a sinner.

Relevant Reading
Waiting for Godot
Interview with Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica

Signposts

Sometimes we see a signpost for the direction God wishes us to take and it is scary.

Lord have mercy on me a sinner.

Relevant Reading
Ruth 2
Isaiah 54

Come to the Dark Side! We have Cookies!

I had this conversation a little while ago that stuck in my head. A good friend of mine said, "No offense but your church is boring." I laughed it off at the time but it stayed with me. I mean, I love my church and have a very hard time seeing the pageantry and beauty of the liturgy as boring.

Another good friend told me, "Your church is rooted in Greek paganism. All the icons, just imitations of Egyptian art. Especially the ones of Mary. They are just like the paintings of Isis and Horus." I found this laughable too since I've done the research and those accusations are simply not true.

I ran into the spouse of a friend in the mall who said, "If we had known you were going to leave the church we would have come to see you to help you through that crisis." What crisis? Leave the church? Really?


I wonder how they would feel if I told them my thoughts about their church, one I went to and consider myself well out of?  If I told them I do consider myself blessed to finally be in a Church that worships God without thought of how entertaining it might be to someone who is not part of the Church. The Church was never meant to be "seeker sensitive" after all. Originally, it took three years to become a Christian because people had to know they might die, and die painfully, for their faith. Services weren't looking for folks. Folks were looking for the services! Why should I go somewhere that looks and sounds exactly the same as the place I left to look for God?

I don't feel the need to remove them from their chosen church and I try my level best not to poke fun at it (although it is difficult when the sillier doctrines are discussed). I try to just let it be. I do not need to be saved out of the Church which was founded by Christ through the original Apostles (and there were only 12 of them and ALL of them came from Israel and ALL of them lived and died 2000 years ago. Just sayin'.) I do not need the Nicene Creed explained to me although I do wish someone would use sola scriptura to explain sola scriptura (can't be done). I follow the faith of the Fathers. I do not need anymore than that.

I believe, in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things, visible and invisible.

And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten, begotten of the Father before all ages. Light of Light; true God of true God; begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father; by Whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man. And He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried. And the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead; whose Kingdom shall have no end.

And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of life, Who proceeds from the Father; Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.

In one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

This is our God, Who took thought for and established His beloved inheritance, the holy Church, setting her foundation in Paradise, comforting with His true word our forefathers who fell through disobedience. This is our God, Who, directing us to His promise of salvation, left Himself not without witness, but foretold the coming salvation, first through the forefathers and prophets, and by many images gave a lively description of it. This is our God, Who by the prophets of old often spoke to the fathers, and in these latter days spoke to us by His Son, by Whom time was created; Who declared the goodwill of the Father towards us, disclosed the mysteries of heaven, confirmed the truth of the Gospel through the power of the Holy Spirit, sent His apostles through the whole world to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom, and confirmed it by various powers and miracles.
This is the faith of the Apostles! This is the faith of the Fathers! This is the Orthodox faith! This faith has established the universe!

I usually put quotes from the Fathers in italics but I did not here because I. Say. This. Too.

Just a thought.

Lord have mercy on me a sinner.

Relevant Reading
Sunday of Orthodoxy
Triumph of Orthodoxy
Anathemas of the Sunday of Orthodoxy
Orthodoxy & Heterodoxy: the Podcast
For the Life of the World: the Podcast