Days 12 - 16 (Catch up!)

The good news is that I actually have been taking at least one picture every day.  The bad news is that I don't post every day! Or even every other day :(   So here I am playing catch up.  Click on the photos below to see my short description on my flickr page (http://www.flickr.com/photos/renidemus/)

Day 12 - Burns Library

Day 13 - Saint Gabriel

Day 14 - Siblings

Day 15 - Peek A Boo

[and check out my picasa album of T's siblings' visit!]

Blacks in Boston

Day 16 - Sick

A Stumbling Block and Foolishness

Today is the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. This feast is celebrated on this day in both the East and the West! T and I went to Divine Liturgy today at the Melkite Cathedral in West Roxbury. Although the chant melodies are completely different, and although the language is Greek and Aramaic instead of Slavonic, it was still the Liturgy of Our Father Among the Saints, John Chrysostom, and it was beautiful! The Gospel of today was John's account of the crucifixion: the crowd shouting "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!," Mary at the foot of the cross and being entrusted to the care of the disciple whom Jesus loved, the blood and water flowing from the pierced side of Christ. A sobering passage, so close to the start of the Byzantine liturgical year. The Epistle today was from I Corinthians (1:18-24)--explaining the true significance of this feast. "The message of the cross," St. Paul says, "is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." For "Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom," but, as the priest said today, the cross is a stumbling block to the Jews because they could not accept that their Messiah would be humiliated by suffering the death of a criminal; the Greeks saw it as foolishness because Christ's death is not logical--the Greek philosopher's god had no emotion, no love, and no self-sacrifice. And yet, "to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength." Antiphon Prayer "O Christ God, who were nailed upon the Cross for our sake, purify us from our sins. Strengthen our faith. Fortify our hope. Inflame our hearts with love for your Cross. Make us temples of the Holy Spirit. For You are our Light and our Life and to You we render glory and to your Eternal Father and Your All-Holy, Good, and Life-Creating Spirit, now and always and forever."

We bow in worship before Your Cross, O Master, and we glorify Your Holy Resurrection.

Icon of the Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross

(The Real) Grandparents' Day

Did you know today is the real Grandparents' Day? That is, today is the liturgical Grandparents' day (in the Byzantine rite). Because today is the day after the feast of the Conception of the Theotokos--a day when we remember her parents, Joachim and Anna, grandparents of Jesus. Tradition holds that an angel visited Anna, telling her "the Lord has heard your prayer ,and you shall conceive and bring forth, and your seed shall be spoken of in all the world." To which, she replied, "As the Lord my God lives, I will bring this child as a gift to the Lord my God, and it shall minister unto Him holy things all the days of its life." The icon above shows the meeting of Joachim, who also had been visited by an angel, and Anna. Her robes are billowed out behind her, indicating her hurry to share the wonderful news with her husband, whose feet are firmly set, a fitting foundation for such a family. Their couch (bed) is in the background, along with both their houses, connected by a cloth mantle. This couple's simple "yes" to God changed the course of history forever, bringing into the world the Holy Theotokos, God-bearer. Nationally, grandparents' day was first celebrated in 1973, founded by a woman from West Virginia. It's now celebrated in the U.S. on the first Sunday after Labor day (this year on September 7). September was chosen because it signifies the "autumn" years of our parents' parents. But the funny thing to me is that the Church has already been celebrating grandparents' day (around the same time, even) for thousands of years!

Nativity of the Theotokos

Today we celebrate the birth of the God-bearer, Mary most holy--the woman who's "yes" changed the world. Many "yes's" have changed the world--every time a couple says yes to life, the fabric of the universe is changed by the creation of a new and eternal soul. Think how excited Joachim and Anna must have felt when they found out, nine months before, that they would have a child. I can only imagine how happy Anna must have been to finally hold her daughter, after so many years of waiting. Truly, they were a blessed couple who trusted fervently in God's promise.

Today is also my sister's birthday :)

Domrition of the Theotokos

Blessed Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos! This is one of the Twelve Great Feasts in the Byzantine tradition, and the last feast for Our Lady before the start of the new liturgical year. In fact, I think the Byzantine litrugical year follows Mary on her journey with Christ. The first feast of the year commemorates her birth, on September 8, and the year continues through all her life in relation to Christ. If we can follow Mary on our own journey, we will be close to the Lord, as she was. As far as the "historical" account of Our Lady's dormition (or "falling asleep"), here is an excerpt from byzcath.org regarding such things:

We have no reliable historical documents about how Mary's life came to end. Some say she died in Ephesus where she lived with St. John the Apostle. Our Liturgical texts say she died in Jerusalem. But that is not proven anywhere - it is only popular belief. It is our 'Tradition' and not an article of faith that is equal to the Incarnation or Resurrection of Christ. It just exists in the living memory of the Church, a memory which is especially strong in the Eastern Church. Our emphasis on the 'Dormition' of the Virgin, that is, her passing from life to death to eternal life in Christ parallels our approach to the Resurrection of Christ. Mary is Christ's first and greatest disciple, and as any good disciple, she imitates the Lord and teacher. She knew her own passion ("a sword shall pierce your heart") and, now, death and resurrection. God could not allow the body of the Mother of God, the flesh which had given Christ flesh, to know corruption, so the angels came to bring Mary to heaven with her body. There were witnesses to Christ's Ascension, and it is told in Scripture. There is no proof of Mary's ascent, which we call her Assumption. However, the Church Fathers have always held that this honor was given to Mary, and that now, she is glorified in heaven, in the body.

I guess the important thing is that she was the first and best of Christ's disciples, and that she has been honored in a special way in heaven because of her faithful life. Tradition holds that St. Thomas, characteristically absent at Mary's death, wanted to see her body. When they went to her tomb, only flowers filled the place where she was laid. For this reason, Byzantines bring flowers to church on this feast to have them blessed. The Byzantine gospel for the day is from Luke, the story of Lazarus' sisters, Matha and Mary, when Jesus comes to their house. I'm sure you're familiar with it, Martha is hosting--as a good Palestinian woman ought--and Mary is sitting at the feet of the Lord, listening. Jesus tells Martha: "You are anxious and troubled about many things; one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her" (cf Lk 10:32-48). (However, in the gospel of John, Martha's faith in the Lord shines through as she goes to greet the Lord after her brother has died.) It may seem strange to have a gospel about a different Mary on the Feast of the Dormition, but these two sisters clearly demonstrate faithful discipleship, listening to and serving the Lord. Mary, the Theotokos, was the first and best disciple of Christ.

More honorable than the Cherubim and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim who, a virgin, gave birth to God the Word you truly the Theotokos, we magnify!

(click on the pictures for a larger view)

A Page From a Friend

Check out my friend's most recent blog post: Byzantine Catholic Evangelism. Her post and her comments express everything I feel about that church's Website. So beautiful. Psalm 26 Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. ²Prove me, O Lord, and try me; test my heart and mind. ³For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in faithfulness to you.

⁴I do not sit with the worthless, nor do I consort with hypocrites; ⁵I hate the company of evildoers, and will not sit with the wicked.

⁶I wash my hands in innocence, and go around your altar, O Lord, ⁷singing aloud a song of thanksgiving, and telling all your wondrous deeds.

⁸O Lord, I love the house in which you dwell, and the place where your glory abides. ⁹Do not sweep me away with sinners, nor my life with the bloodthirsty, ¹⁰those in whose hands are evil devices, and whose right hands are full of bribes.

¹¹But as for me, I walk in my integrity; redeem me, and be gracious to me. ¹²My foot stands on level ground; in the great congregation I will bless the Lord.

St. Anna

We finally got an icon of St. Anna! We have been meaning to for some time, since T got an icon of St. Thomas for a C'mas present when we were engaged. We have him (St. Thomas) hanging up next to Jesus in our icon corner, and Mary was all alone on the other side... until now!In searching for a St. Anna icon, I wanted to get something that complemented St. Thomas. I wasn't deliberately avoiding Monastery Icons or anything (I know that some people do not prefer the "modern" looking icons on their site--I don't mind so much since I think the "old" looking icons we have now used to look bright and shiny when they were brand new), but I wanted to shop around a bit to see what was out there. I did, however, eventually settle on Monastery Icons' St. Anna, because they had a size that matched St. Thomas' exactly and the image was similar--just a torso with a similar-sized figure. (Click on the pictures for a better image of what they look like.) When we have children, I will get a small icon (probably 3" by 4") of each of their saints and hang them in our icon corner. It will be fun to decide which saint to choose, since many of our children will have more than one saint name, and will have been born on the feast of a saint, and may eventually choose a patron not related to their name (like a confirmation saint). We'll just have to find out! In any case, I'm happy to have an icon of my patron, at long last. You could even say I was married as "Anna" and not "Anne" since Fr. Josef kept calling me Anna. I think his grandmother's name was Anna, which is why it stuck for him. I didn't mind too much, though. T and I used the right names in our vows, and even if Fr. Josef was a bit confused, God understands :D (Also, I do have an icon of St. Michael. T's mom got us one a few months ago. One of the ladies in T's home parish writes icons and she wrote this one of St. Michael (that is, she wrote one icon and copied and reproduced it to sell at the parish gift store). It's beautiful and we have it hanging in our bedroom!)

"A wedding? I love weddings!"

One of the reasons we went to visit Seattle when we did was because our good friends M and K were getting married (to each other. We weren't going to wedding-hop!). T and M have known each other since they were little boys, and M was one of our groomsmen at our wedding. When M and K started dating and we met K, we knew these two were perfect together. M had asked T to be one of his groomsmen. What a joy it was to share in their wedding day! (Also, they're Byzantine and it was GREAT to attend a Byzantine wedding!) We went to the wedding rehearsal and dinner on Friday, which was quite enjoyable. Fr. Joseph, who officiated at our wedding, also married M and K, and it was very good to see him again. He is such a proficient priest and he's done so many weddings the rehearsal went very smoothly (despite the fact that there was a couple missing from the wedding party). His deacon, Michael, was also there and was a big help (as always!). I wasn't in the wedding (which was fine), so I was just there to take pictures (see album below). It was lots of fun to see a wedding rehearsal from the "outside," as it were. It brought back many memories of my wedding rehearsal, and the few other weddings I've been in. It reminded me of how a bride feels on that beautiful day before the beautiful day. I loved seeing M and K smile at each other. I could see their eyes say, "This is it." There were a few funny moments, too. M and K, for the first part of the rehearsal, were sitting at the end of the front pews across the aisle from one another. After going over the vows, Father told everyone to sit down where they had been before, but K says, "Can't M and I sit together?" I remember asking that SAME question at our wedding rehearsal, and I heard the same pleading meekness in her voice, "Please Father?" Father looked at hear with a twinkle in his eye (after all, he IS a romantic at heart!) and told all six of the groomsmen to move down to make room for the bride on the groom's side. It was cute :) At the rehearsal dinner, there was a good conversation with Fr. Joseph and Deacon Michael about the superiority of Maker's Mark, a very fine bourbon, which is Fr. Joseph's favorite and (after Father's influence) Deacon Michael's favorite too. K's younger cousin, the flower girl, was absolutely enthralled by Father in his impressive black and purple Byzantine regalia. Father loves children, and it was a new experience for me (with no children of my own yet) to see him interact with this sweet little girl. Then, in response to a remark about the weather, Father mentioned he would be rather warm the day of the wedding, what with all the layers he's wearing. K piped up, "Well, I'll be wearing quite a few layers too, Father." But Fr. Joseph put his finger over his lips and said, smiling, "Oh, shhhh. That's supposed to be a surprise." And I could have sworn that he winked at her and M :) On the day of the wedding, although I would be sitting with T's family in the pews (yes, we took up more than one), I got ready early and left with T and his brother E (also in the wedding party). It was a good thing I did, too, because the pianist (who was playing music before the wedding, since Byzantine liturgies have no accompaniment) and I hit it off big time, and she and I were both able to help out with little odd jobs around the church before the big moment. I even helped put pew bows together :) Despite a small problem with the microphones for Fr. Joseph and Deacon Michael (which they discarded half way through the Liturgy), the wedding was simply lovely. A Byzantine Crowning is a beautiful ritual--the bride and groom are crowned King and Queen of their own, newly formed Domestic Church. M and K did get to sit together after the vows (and the six groomsmen were very courteous). Their wedding icons were written by M's mom and were gorgeous. Likewise, the reception was loads of fun. Although I felt a bit lonely at first having to sit without T (I was with the family, though, so really it was ok), I had good conversations with both the pianist (it was GREAT getting to know you, dear!) and one of T's good friends who married one of my good friends last summer. We are struggling with some similar issues and it was very edifying to connect on that particular score. Praise God for such good people :) M and his brother P even did some Irish step dancing, which was a rare treat. Did you know they were international competitors? All in all, a fabulous time of friends, family, love, and laughter. After the newly weds drove off and the reception party dissipated, T and I a several friends went to hang out at Red Robin (yummy!) for a long night of MORE laughter and friends and family. Life is good.

Mike & Kayleen 2008

...I told my cousin the other day that every wedding T and I attend is, in a very small way, "our" wedding, too. It's not possessive or anything, but every time we're blessed by attending the celebration of one couple's union before God, T and I can renew our own commitment to each other and ask God, once again, for the strength to be a good example of His love in the world. It's true that I love weddings (drinks all around!), especially weddings where the couple is so well suited for each other, where the liturgy is beautiful and deeply meaningful, and most especially where it is so clear the Lord is present in all these things.

Sunday of the Man Born Blind

Yesterday, Byzantines celebrated the Sunday of the Man Born Blind. I'm sure you are familiar with the story:

As Jesus passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. John 9:1-7

On a Website for the Byzantine church in America, there is a beautiful adaptation of St. Ambrose of Milan on this story: St. Ambrose of Milan teaches that the blind man touched by Jesus received more then just his sight. In one instant we see both the power of his divinity and the strength of his holiness. As the divine light, he touched this man and enlightened him. As priest, by an action symbolizing baptism he wrought in him his work of redemption. The only reason for his mixing clay with the saliva and smearing it on the eyes of the blind man was to remind you that he who restored the man to health by anointing his eyes with clay is the very one who fashioned the first man out of clay, and that this clay that is our flesh can receive the light of eternal life through the sacrament of baptism.

You, too, should come to Siloam, that is, to him who was sent by the Father, as he says in the Gospel: “My teaching is not my own; it comes from him who sent me.” Let Christ wash you, and then you will see. (Adapted from Letter 67)

This just appealed to me today. Thought I'd share it.