Open HOuse 2013 - Orthodox Cathedral of Christ the Saviour
Transcription
Open HOuse 2013 - Orthodox Cathedral of Christ the Saviour
Monthly Calendar http://orthodoxmiami.org/calendar/month_print.php Christ the Saviour Orthodox Cathedral 16601 NW 77th Court, Miami Lakes, FL 33016 MAY 2013 Sunday Apr 28 PALM SUNDAY 8:30 AM Matins 10 AM Liturgy Sunday School Fish Dinner Monday Apr 29 Holy Monday 7 PM Bridegroom Matins Fast Fast: fish, wine, & oil 6 5 Bright Monday PASCHA Noon Agape Vespers Open House Egg Hunt 10 AM Liturgy Youth Outing Fast free 12 St Thomas Sunday Fast free 13 10 AM Liturgy served at Vista Memorial Gardens Tuesday Apr 30 Holy Tuesday Wednesday 1 Thursday 2 Holy Wednesday Saturday 4 Holy Thursday Mystical Supper Holy Friday Holy Saturday Proto-Anastasis 10 AM Liturgy 10 AM Liturgy 7 PM Bridegroom Matins 7 PM Holy Unction 7 PM Twelve Gospels 3 PM Vespers 7 PM Matins 11 PM Paschal Vigil Fast Fast Fast Fast Fast: wine & oil 7 8 9 10 11 9 AM Liturgy Deacon School 10 AM Liturgy Fast free 14 Bright Saturday Bright Friday Bright Thursday Bright Wednesday Bright Tuesday Fast free 15 Fast free 16 Fast free 17 6 PM Vespers Confessions Communion Canon Fast free 18 Fast 5 PM Adult Study 6 PM Vespers Confessions Communion Canon 24 25 10 AM "Gospel of John" the Movie 6:45 PM Choir Fast 19 Friday 3 20 21 22 23 Ss Constantine & Helen 10 AM Liturgy 8:30 AM Matins 10 AM Liturgy Sisterhood Mtg 12 PM En Espanol 7 PM Board Mtg 26 27 28 Fast 29 Memorial Day 30 Fast 31 6 PM Vespers Confessions Communion Canon Jun 1 Mid-Feast 8:30 AM Matins 10 AM Liturgy Veterans Pannikhida 12 PM En Espanol 10 AM Lesser Blessing of Water Fast Fast 5 PM Adult Study 6 PM Vespers Confessions Communion Canon Voice Orthodoxy of Orthodox Cathedral of Christ the Saviour A Word from the Rejoice today…The table is fully laden; feast sumptuously…Enjoy the feast of faith; receive all the riches of loving-kindness. (Paschal Homily of St. John Chrysostom) Dear Parishioners and Friends, Christ is Risen! Indeed, He is Risen! Pascha, the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ, is filled with joy and power. It’s something we feel as we reenter the church that Pascha night from our outdoor procession. It is an energy that is alive and infectious. The Paschal celebration continues then for 40 days. We feast, we sing and say “Christ is Risen,” we celebrate some more, we eat some more, and so on. It is the appropriate victorious fulfillment of the Lenten cycle of fasting, penance, and Holy Week. Is meant to be enjoyed! One of the pitfalls, however, of the Pascal period for many is the tendency toward an internal spiritual letdown. This letdown could be quite troubling, leading to an undoing of the spiritual equilibrium gained during the May 2013 Pastor Great Fast. I call it “the post paschal blues.” If not careful, it could lead toward excess, lack of spiritual activity, no prayer, forgetfulness of God, and the feeding of pride which leads to sin. I love to celebrate Holy Pascha with my family and my parishioners. Far be it from me to put a damper on anyone’s celebration of this most joyous and victorious feast. The homily of St. John Chrysostom encourages us in this direction. Still, it needs to be said that the human spiritual condition is always fragile, always needing regular care and attention. So enjoy and celebrate the Holy Resurrection of our Saviour, Jesus Christ! If anything is worth celebrating - this is! But at the same time, be moderate in behavior and ever-mindful of Who we serve. It is our calling at all times to be “children of the Light and of the Day.” If we properly nurture this thought we can more easily navigate through those post paschal blues, preserving our peace and moving forward in our faith. Yours in the Risen Christ, Fr. Philip Reese Voice of Orthodoxy Contents Orthodox Cathedral of Christ the Saviour 16601 NW 77th Court Miami Lakes, FL 33016 A Word from the Pastor . . . page 1 Dear Abba . . . page 3 Why Is Pascha So Late? ph. (305) 822-0437 fax (305) 822-0842 rectory (305) 825-9541 cel (786) 348-5411 Readers Corner . . . page 4 “Father Arseny: A Cloud of Witnesses” Faith of Our Fathers . . . page 4 St Hesychios of Jerusalesm News . . . page 5 [email protected] Visit our website for news, announcements and changes to our schedule. www.OrthodoxMiami.org On Icons . . . page 6 Announcements . . . page 7 Ancient worship. Ancient teachings. Ancient Christianity . . . Today. Calendar . . . page 8 2 May 2013 Clergy Council Rector Archpriest Philip Reese Senior Steward Gary Popovich Associate Priest Priest Joseph Lucas Secretary Christopher Herbert Hierodeacon Gregory (Burke) Treasurer Jim Shiskin Subdeacons Randolph LaCroix Alexander Dimich Julio Gurrea Carlos Miranda Readers Dionysi Doten Christopher Herbert Stephen Butcher Anthony Allen Assistant Treasurer Alex Pouschine Les Bowser Stephen Butcher Dionysi Doten Susan Simpkins Gerasimos Evanoff Mary Perkins (alt) May 2013 Voice of Orthodoxy Announcements Movie-time at OCCS We will be showing a feature presentation of “Gospel of John” the first full rendition of this Gospel. Thursday, May 16 at 10 AM. Bring your own snacks! In Need of Our Prayers Kathryn LaCroix / Anna McGregor Lidia Brookes / Valentin Jakolenko Fr. George & Mat. Vasilka Gerov Ludmilla & Peter Voinescu Svetlana Roadway / Betty Calvert Hannah Butcher / Nina Moskevich Pentecost Barbecue After Liturgy on June 23 Open HOuse 2013 Agape Vespers at Noon Blessing of Baskets & Meal Kids Egg Hunt Pascha Sunday May 5 May Birthdays Honoriu Filimon 1 Eduardo Ruiz 2 Randolph LaCroix 3 Mary Herbert 6 Anastasiya Mason 6 Steven Shiskin 8 Tanya Loglisci 9 Rdr. Stephen Butcher 9 Karen Budowski 16 Sebastian Cofiño 25 Matushka Debra Reese 26 May Anniversaries Bruce & Ann Ross 13 Timeshare Raffle! 6 7 Voice of Orthodoxy On Icons: The Resurrection of the Lord by Gerasimos Evanoff The Resurrection of the Lord is completely represented in the Byzantine icon known as the “ Descent into Hades,” which has been used since ancient times. The type of icon showing Christ rising up out of the tomb in victory was not developed and used until after the influence from the Western Renaissance painters. The actual moment of the Resurrection is not mentioned in the Holy Gospels. The elements we see in the icon of the Descent into Hades are described in the apocryphal gospels, and are found in Old Testament prophecies. There are also accounts for the theme of the Resurrection found in Acts 2:3132 , and Ephesians 4:9-10 and 1 Peter 3:18-19. In our icon we see Christ triumphant. He has garments of glowing white or shades of gold, a change in the colors from those depicting His earthly life, letting us know that a definite change has occurred in Him. He is surrounded by a large halo called DOXA (glory) or mandorla, in shades of blue with rays of May 2013 light originating from His body. It represents His transfigured body and the neve-ending light of the age to come. In His hands and feet are the marks of the Crucifixion. Beneath The Lords feet is death, represented by a figure bound in chains. The doors of Hades lay in the form of a cross: “He will brake the gates of brass and cut the bars of iron asunder” Psalm 106 /107:16. Below is the black abyss of Hades. In His right hand He is pulling Adam up out of death depicting our bodily Resurrection. In some icons He is pulling up Eve and in some He will be holding a cross, which is no longer an instrument of death but of life. Sometimes the destruction of death is also represented with broken chains, scattered nails and keys in the dark abyss. On the sides of the icon are two groups of persons. On the left we see King David and King Solomon with their crowns, and St. John the Forerunner. On the right we see Moses with the Ten Commandment tablets, and various saints. They all recognize Christ and point Him out to all. He is the One they had prophesied about: CHRIST IS RISEN! May 2013 Voice of Orthodoxy Dear Abba Dear Abba, why are celebrating Pascha so late this year? Answer: The calculation used for the Feast of Pascha dates to the First Ecumenical Council in AD 325. In the early Church, there were various local calculations for Pascha. In Asia Minor, Christians celebrated the feast on the same day as Jews celebrated their Passover—the 15th day of the month of Nisan (according to the Semitic lunar calendar). But in other places, this practice was seen as controversial because it was believed that Pascha should always be celebrated on a Sunday, which does not occur with the Jewish Passover. Those Christians who followed the Jewish date were called Quartidecimens (because they began their vigil on the eve of the feast, the 14th). In the second and third centuries, there began a movement to eradicate this tradition in favor of the Sunday-only calculation. The debate continued into the fourth century, finally being addressed at the Nicea. The 318 bishops gathered at the First Ecumenical Council agreed upon the following calculation: Pascha will be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox (March 21 at that time). To further systemize this calculation, the Church of Alexandria, a city renowned for its astronomers, adopted a 19-year cycle. The dates of Pascha were calculated according to certain astronomical data, and set to repeat at the end of each cycle. This cycle was eventually adopted by the Orthodox Church. The Church of Rome at times followed the same cycle as the eastern churches, but eventually opted for their own calcuation, an 84year cycle. The 19-year cycle, called the Paschalion, was originally calculated using the Julian calendar, in use since the time of Julius Caesar. However, a defect in the way time is measured means that the Julian calendar shifts forward one day every 134 years. Since the fourth century, the Vernal Equinox on the Julian calendar has moved 13 days ahead of March 21, which means that the dates on which Pascha fall are much later in the year. In AD 1582, Pope Gregory XIII initiated a calendar reform in the Roman Catholic Church, resulting in the Gregorian calendar. The defect in calculation was corrected, and the calendar was reset to its original sequence. The Vernal Equinox again fell on March 21. Subsequently, the new Roman ecclesiastical calendar was adopted as the civil calendar in most nations. Today, the Orthodox Church observes fixed feast days on two different calendars. For those on the “New Calendar,” the feastdays correspond to the modern civil calendar (so Christmas, for example, falls on December 25). For those on the “Old Calendar,” feastdays follow the original Julian dates (so Christmas is 13 days ahead, on January 7, although this date is also December 25, just calculated differently). Russia, Serbia, Jerusalem and Mount Athos follow the Julian calendar; while Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Antioch follow the Gregorian calendar. Yet, when it comes to the most importantfeast of the year—the Holy Pascha—All these Orthodox lands have continued to follow the original Julian date as a sign of our unity. One question that constantly comes up in modern times is whether the Jewish Passover affects our Paschal calendar. According to fourth century canons, Pascha is not to be celebrated “with the Jews.” This was a rebuttal of the Quartodecimen practice. But once the 19-year Paschalion was adopted, the Church has not taken Passover into consideration. During Byzantine times, we know that the Passover sometimes fell after the Christian Pascha. But as the Julian calendar shifted ahead, this eventually became an impossibility. In time, this led to a spiritual interpretation of the fact that the Pascha falls after the Passover: the Jewish feast is the prophecy and prefigurement, and came first; but the Christian feast commemorates the fulfillment of prophecy and the coming of the Truth. If you have a question for “Ask Abba,” email it to [email protected] 3 Voice of Orthodoxy May 2013 Readers Corner Father Arseny: A Cloud of Witnesses Translated by Vera Bouteneff (SVS Press, 2001) This second volume to the life and sayings of Father Arseny is a wonderful edition to the first volume. Father Arseny Streltzof speaks to the depths of the modern, restless heart, introducing us to the riches of the Orthodox Christian spiritual life. The strength of his faith in the face of Communism is a Faith of our “On the Holy Pascha” by St Hesychios of Jerusalem It is a sacred and royal trumpet that calls us again to this spiritual theater, the Paschal celebration in the Church. This trumpet was filled with sounds in Bethlehem, because it was there that God was born as man. Bethlehem was the beginning. But this trumpet was fired, reached its full blast in Zion, Jerusalem. Because it was in Jerusalem that the Cross was raised and the Resurrection took place. The Cross was the hummer and the Resurrection the anvil. It is impossible to everyone to speak worthily of its beauty, to describe its wondrous splendor, to recount the divine kingdom which emerges from it, to touch it and to explore it. This paschal trumpet invites us to revisit the grave which gives birth to life, the sepulcher of corruption which becomes the bearer of incorruption, the three-day rest which puts the Bridegroom to sleep, and the bridal chamber from which the bride emerges uncorrupted after the marriage. It tells us that the grave guards one who is dead,but the earth is shaken by Him who is God. The body says that He is dead, but the miracle cries out that He is God. The burial testifies that He is dead, but the resurrection demonstrates that He is God. The tears of the women confess Him to be dead, but the words of the angels confess Him to be God. Joseph prepares His internment as dead, but He who is interred as man is God who denudes and abolishes death. The soldiers guard Him as dead, but the 4 testament to all, and proof that the age of the martyrs is never-ending. This translation is accessible, and the material is suited for both novices and experts. “Father Arseny: A Cloud of Witnesses” is available at the Orthodox Book Center at Christ the Saviour Cathedral. Fathers guards of the gates of Hades encounter Him and shrivel with fear. Who then is this dead God, is He two or one? No He is not two, but one, man and God, God and man. You cannot speak of Him as this one and that one, i.e. as one person and another person, nor as another thing in another person, nor another thing through another person. This One is “God the Word who became incarnate,” became man, and conjoined by His will in a manner ineffable and these (human) things with those (divine) things. To Him belong both the flesh and the Godhead – the flesh which He offered in order to accomplish the sufferings, and the Godhead which He used in order to achieve the signs and miracles. As it is illegitimate to sever the flesh from the Word, so it is necessary to conjoin the sufferings with the miracles. Because, He who “descended into Hades”is also the one who freed the dead as God. How else would the angels minister at the grave? How else would they appear to the women “dressed in white”as representatives of the bridegroom? How else would they say, “Do you seek Jesus who was crucified? He is not here. He is risen as He had fore-announced it?” Heaven, then, is His “place,” and there you should send the “ointments.” “He is Risen” by Himself. We did not raise Him. We only “rolled” the stone for your sake. The grace was empty before we came down to it. He is risen as He himself had foreannounced it.