On Women's Ordination

A letter written by Orthodox Priest Fr. Alexander Schmemann



Dear Friend:

When you asked me to outline the Orthodox reaction to the idea of women's ordination to the priesthood, I thought at first that to do so would not be too difficult. It is not difficult, indeed, simply to state that the Orthodox Church is against women's priesthood and to enumerate as fully as possible the dogmatical, canonical, and spiritual reasons for that opposition.

On second thought, however, I became convinced that such an answer would be not only useless, but even harmful. Useless, because all such "formal reasons" - scriptural, traditional, canonical - are well known to the advocates of women's ordination, as is also well known our general ecclesiological stand which, depending on their mood and current priorities, our Western Brothers either hail as Orthodoxy's "main" ecumenical contribution or dismiss as archaic, narrow-minded, and irrelevant. Harmful, because true formally, this answer would still vitiate the real Orthodox position by reducing it to a theological context and perspective, alien to the Orthodox mind. For the Orthodox Church has never faced this question, it is for us totally extrinsic, a casus irrealis for which we find no basis, no terms of reference in our Tradition, in the very experience of the Church, and for the discussion of which we are therefore simply not prepared.

Such is then my difficulty. I cannot discuss the problem itself because to do so would necessitate the elucidation of our approach - not to women and to priesthood only - but, above all to God in his Triune Life, to Creation, Fall and Redemption, to the Church and the mystery of her life, to the deification of man and the consummation of all things in Christ. Short of all this it would remain incomprehensible, I am sure, why the ordination of women to priesthood is tantamount for us to a radical and irreparable mutilation of the entire faith, the rejection of the whole Scripture, and, needless to say, the end of all "dialogues." Short of all this my answer will sound like another "conservative" and "traditional" defense of the status quo, of precisely that which many Christians today, having heard it too many times, reject as hypocrisy, lack of openness to God's will, blindness to the world, etc. Obviously enough those who reject Tradition would not listen once more to an argument ex traditione....

But to what will they listen? Our amazement - and the Orthodox reaction is above all that of amazement - is precisely about the change and, to us, incomprehensible hastiness with which the question of women's ordination was, first, accepted as an issue, then quickly reduced to the level of a disciplinary "matter" and finally identified as an issue of policy to be dealt with by a vote! In this strange situation all I can do is to try to convey to you this amazement by briefly enumerating its main "components" as I see and understand them.

The first dimension of our amazement can be termed "ecumenical." The debate on women's ordination reveals something which we have suspected for a long time but which now is confirmed beyond any doubt: the total truly built-in indifference of the Christian West to anything beyond the sphere of its own problematics, of its own experience. I can only repeat here what I have said before: even the so-called "ecumenical movement," notwithstanding its claims to the contrary, has always been, and still is, a purely Western phenomenon, based on Western presuppositions and determined by a specifically Western agenda. This is not "pride" or "arrogance." On the contrary, the Christian West is almost obsessed with a guilt complex and enjoys nothing better than self-criticism and self condemnation. It is rather a total inability to transcend itself, to accept the simple idea that its own experience, problems, thought forms and priorities may not be universal, that they themselves may need to be evaluated and judged in the light of a truly universal, truly "Catholic" experience. Western Christians would almost enthusiastically judge and condemn themselves, but on their own terms, within their own hopelessly "Western" perspective. Thus when they decide -- on the basis of their own possibly limited and fragmented, specifically Western, "cultural situation" -- that they must "repair" injustices made to women, they plan to do it immediately without even asking what the "others" may think about it, and are sincerely amazed and even saddened by lack, on the part of these "others" of ecumenical spirit, sympathy and comprehension.

Personally, I have often enough criticized the historical limitations of the Orthodox mentality not to have the right to say in all sincerity that to me the debate on women's ordination seems to be provincial, deeply marked, and even determined by Western self-centeredness and self-sufficiency, by a naive, almost childish, conviction that every "trend" in the Western culture justifies a radical rethinking of the entire Christian tradition. How many such "trends" we have witnessed during the last decades of our troubled century! How many corresponding "theologies"! The difference this time, however, is that one deals in this particular debate not with a passing intellectual and academic "fad" like "death of God," "secular city," "celebration of life," etc.-- which, after it has produced a couple of ephemeral best-sellers, simply disappears, but with the threat of an irreversible and irreparable act which, if it becomes reality, will produce a new, and this time, I am convinced, final division among Christians, and will signify, at least for the Orthodox, the end of all dialogues.

It is well known that the advocates of women's ordination explain the Scriptural and the traditional exclusion of women from ministry by "cultural conditioning." If Christ did not include women into the Twelve, if the Church for centuries did not include them into priesthood, it is because of "culture" which would have made it impossible and unthinkable then. It is not my purpose to discuss here the theological and exegetical implications of this view as well as its purely historical basis, which incidentally seems to me extremely weak and shaky; what is truly amazing is that while absolutely convinced that they understand past "cultures," the advocates of women's ordination seem to be totally unaware of their own cultural "conditioning" of their own surrender to culture.

How else can one explain their readiness to accept what may prove to be a passing phenomenon and what, at any rate, is a phenomenon barely at its beginning (not to speak of the women's liberation movement, which at present is nothing but search and experimentation) as a sufficient justification for a radical change in the very structure of the Church?

How else, furthermore, are we to explain that this movement is accepted on its own terms, within the perspective of "rights", "justice," "equality," Etc. -- all categories whose ability adequately to express the Christian faith and to be applied as such within the Church is, to say the least, questionable?

The sad truth is that the very idea of women's ordination, as it is presented and discussed today, is the result of too many confusions and reductions. If its root is surrender to "culture", its pattern of development is shaped by a surrender to "clericalism." It is indeed almost entirely dominated by the old "clerical" view of the Church and the double "reduction" interest in it. The reduction on the one hand, of the Church to a "power structure," the reduction on the other hand, of that power structure to clergy. To the alleged "inferiority" of women within the secular power structure, corresponds their "inferiority," i.e., their exclusion from clergy, within the ecclesiastical power structure. To their "liberation" in the secular society must therefore correspond their "liberation," i.e., ordination, in the Church.

But the Church simply cannot be reduced to these categories. As long as we try to measure the ineffable mystery of her life by concepts and ideas a priori alien to her very essence, we entirely mutilate her, and her real power, her glory and beauty, and her transcendent truth simply escape us.

That is why in conclusion of this letter I can only confess, without explaining and justifying this confession by my "proofs." I can confess that the non-ordination of women to priesthood has nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with whatever "inferiority" we can invent or imagine. In the essential reality which alone constitutes the content of our faith and shapes the entire life of the Church, in the reality of the Kingdom of God which is perfect communion, perfect knowledge, perfect love, and ultimately the "deification" of man, there is truly "neither male nor female." More than that, in this reality, of which we are made partakers here and now, we all, men and women, without any distinction, are "Kings and priests," for it is the essential priesthood of the human nature and vocation that Christ has restored to us.

It is of this priestly life, it is of this ultimate reality, that the Church is both gift and acceptance. And that she may be this, that she may always and everywhere be the gift of the Spirit without any measure or limitations, the Son of God offered himself in a unique sacrifice, and made this unique sacrifice and this unique priesthood the very foundation, indeed the very "form" of the Church.

This priesthood is Christ's, not ours. None of us, man or woman, has any "right" to it; it is emphatically not one of human vocations, analogous, even if superior, to all others. The priest in the Church is not "another" priest, and the sacrifice he offers is not "another" sacrifice. It is forever and only Christ's priesthood and Christ's sacrifice -- for, in the words of our Prayers of Offertory, it is "Thou who offerest and Thou who art offered, it is Thou who receivest and Thou who distributest...." And thus the "institutional" priest in the Church has no "ontology" of his own. It exists only to make Christ himself present, to make this unique Priesthood and this unique Sacrifice the source of the Church's life and the "acquisition" by men of the Holy Spirit. And if the bearer, the icon and the fulfiller of that unique priesthood, is man and not woman, it is because Christ is man and not woman...

Why? This of course is the only important, the only relevant question. The one precisely that no "culture," no "sociology," no "history," and even no "exegesis" can answer. For it can be answered only by theology in the primordial and essential meaning of that word in the Church; as the contemplation and vision of the Truth itself, as communion with the uncreated Divine Light. It is only here, in this purified and restored vision that we might begin to understand why the ineffable mystery of the relationship between God and His Creation, between God and His chosen people, between God and His Church, are "essentially" revealed to us as a nuptial mystery, as fulfillment of a mystical marriage. Why in other terms, Creation itself, the Church herself, man and the world themselves, when contemplated in their ultimate truth and destiny, are revealed to us as Bride, as Woman clothed in sun; why in the very depth of her love and knowledge, of her joy and communion, the Church identifies herself with one Woman, whom she exalts as "more honorable than the Cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim."

Is it this mystery that has to be "understood" by means of our broken and fallen world, which knows and experiences itself only in its brokenness and fragmentation, its tensions and dichotomies and which, as such, is incapable of the ultimate vision? Or is it this vision and this unique experience that must again become to us the "means" of our understanding of the world, the starting point and the very possibility of a truly Divine victory over all that in this world is but human, historical and cultural?

St. Basil the Great

St. Basil the Great was born in Caesarea in Cappadocia in 330 AD. He came from a very holy family. He was one of ten children of St. Basil the Elder and St. Emmelia. His paternal grandmother was St. Macrina the Elder, several of his brothers and sisters are honored among the saints. His elder sister was St. Macrina the Younger, and St. Gregory of Nyssa was his brother.

He attended school in Caesarea, as well as Constantinople and Athens, where he became acquainted with St. Gregory Nazianzen in 352. A little later, he opened a school of oratory in Caesarea and practiced law. Eventually he decided to become a monk and found a monastery in Pontus which he directed for five years. He wrote a famous monastic rule which has proved the most lasting of those in the East. After founding several other monasteries, he was ordained and, in 370, made bishop of Caesaria. In this post until his death in 379, he continued to be a man of vast learning and constant activity, genuine eloquence and immense charity. This earned for him the title of "Great" during his life and Doctor of the Church after his death.

Basil was one of the giants of the early Church. He was responsible for the victory of Nicene orthodoxy over Arianism in the Byzantine East, and the denunciation of Arianism at the Council of Constantinople in 381-82 was in large measure due to his efforts. Basil fought simony, aided the victims of drought and famine, strove for a better clergy, insisted on a rigid clerical discipline, fearlessly denounced evil wherever he detected it, and excommunicated those involved in the widespread prostitution traffic in Cappadocia.

He was learned, accomplished in statesmanship, a man of great personal holiness, and one of the great orators of Christianity.

Corpus Christi – Triumph Over Heresy

An Augustinian prioress, a hermitess and an archdeacon, all living at Liege in the thirteenth century, are the people mainly responsible for the institution of the feast of Corpus Christi.

Although the institution of the Holy Eucharist has been commemorated on Maundy Thursday since Apostolic times, the Church is concerned at this period with the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ which overshadows remembrance of the events of the Last Supper.

The First Petition

Some of the faithful felt that a further day to honour the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar should be established. Notable among these was the prioress of a nunnery in Liege, Blessed Julienne de Retrinnes. She believed she had seen a vision encouraging her to petition the ecclesiastical authorities for such a feast. In 1230 she consulted a number of persons of influence concerning this, among them Jacques Pantalon of Troyes, who was the Archdeacon of Liege, and the Dominican cardinal and Papal Legate, Hugues de Saint Cher.

An office for the feast was composed and Robert, Bishop of Liege, ordered that the feast of Corpus Christi be celebrated throughout his diocese. Fourteen years later on 29 August 1261, Archdeacon Jacques Pantalon was elected Pope, taking the name Urban IV.

Because of the political situation at the time, Urban was never able to establish himself at Rome and lived first at Viterbo and then at Orvieto. It was not a period when the papacy excelled itself.

The Feast Extended

Following the death of Blessed Julienne, a holy recluse named Eve, one of her confidantes, persuaded the then Bishop of Liege, Henri, to petition the Holy See for the feast to be extended to the Universal Church.

Urban IV is said at first to have been uncertain whether to institute the feast, but eventually he agreed. He may have been influenced by the reputed miracle of Bolsena. While his court was at Orvieto in 1264, it was reported that a priest in the nearby city of Bolsena had spilt a drop of the Precious Blood while he was saying Mass. He tried to hide the accident by covering the spot where the Precious Blood had fallen with the corporal.

Suddenly, it is said, the corporal, which is still preserved at Bolsena, was covered with red spots in the shape of a host. Some versions of the story suggest the priest had had doubts about the Real Presence.

Although there is no certainty that this was the reason for the institution of the feast, some say that hearing of this incident, the Pope delayed no longer. The Bull of erection, however, makes no mention of it.

Something else which may have influenced Urban was a desire to counteract the teachings of Berengarius, a writer from about a century earlier who, as Archdeacon of Angers, had attacked the teaching on the Eucharist; he denied transubstantiation and held that Christ’s presence in the Blessed Sacrament was only spiritually conceived.

On 8 September 1264 Urban published a Bull commanding the celebration of the feast on the Thursday after the First Sunday of Pentecost. Thursday has always been consecrated to remembrance of the Holy Eucharist because that was the day of the week on which it was instituted.

St Thomas Aquinas

Urban asked both the Dominican, St Thomas Aquinas and the Franciscan, St Bonadventure to write an office for the new feast. Both did so, but when Bonadventure read Aquinas’s composition, he withdrew his own as being not comparable with that of the Dominican.

Although the Papal court celebrated the feast, there is some doubt as to whether the Bull was actually executed elsewhere. Soon after the institution of the feast, the Pope died on 2 October in the same year.

At the Council of Vienne which opened on 16 October 1311, Clement V, the Pope who established the Papal court at Avignon, confirmed Urban’s Bull and made the feast of obligation throughout the Church. His successor John XXII, who became Pope in 1316, promoted the feast as did two later Popes, Martin V and Eugenius IV, who both granted indulgences for it.

Although the feast had an octave from the beginning, it was not celebrated with a vigil; vigils in their original sense having already passed into desuetude. The Papal decree which produced the 1962 Missal abolished the octave of the feast of Corpus Christi along with most other octaves.

The Feast in England

It seems to have taken some time for the feast to be adopted generally, but Corpus Christi was finally observed in England from 1318. The feast quickly became popular here and numerous guilds were established to honour the Blessed Sacrament as it was carried in procession. The custom of carrying the Most Holy Sacrament in procession had been recognised as a part of the ceremonies of the feast from the beginning.

It was the Corpus Christi guilds rather than the clergy which arranged the processions and the miracle play cycles which, in many places, also became a part of the celebration of the feast. The Corpus Christi procession became a major civic event in many medieval towns. Houses along the processional route were decorated with hangings, flowers and lights. Such decoration is still prescribed by the Caeremoniale Episcoporum.

The Council of Trent praised the feast as a triumph over heresy.

Father Adrian Fortescue in his directory of ceremonial, The Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described, explains that the outdoor procession on this feast should be a general one for the whole town, that is to say that every church, whether of seculars or regulars, in each town should join together for the procession.

He has a footnote to the effect that the Caeremoniale Episcoporum has most elaborate directions to prevent quarrelling among the clergy as to precedence in the procession. ‘The Bishop is to settle it, and if anyone is not satisfied he shall be excommunicated.’ Not much doubt about that! Merati (an Italian writer on the liturgy), Fortescue says, ‘writes columns on the same subject. Martinucci (another liturgist) also is very much concerned about this matter.’ The note ends by saying, ‘Fortunately, such foolishness is unlikely to occur in England’!


[Taken from the Latin Mass Society of England & Wales, February 2004 Newsletter.]

The Mystery of The Holy Trinity

The Holy Trinity is one of the great mysteries of the Orthodox Faith. With our finite and limited minds, we are unable to comprehend the Holy Trinity at all, and yet with our hearts, we can believe in the truth of the this mystery. We confess our belief each time we say the Creed , "I believe in One God, the Father almighty,...and in one Lord Jesus Christ...and in the Holy Spirit..." And so, even though it is incomprehensible, the mystery of the Holy Trinity is intertwined throughout the most basic confession of our faith.

The worship of the Trinity is the key element of the Orthodox Faith. If you were to ask a group of people, "What is the essence of true religious belief?" you would get a number of different answers, depending on who you asked. If you were to narrow your questioning down to only those who confessed Christianity, it is most likely that you would get an answer which expressed in some way "to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ". But if you were to ask an Orthodox Christian who was familiar with the services of the Church, "What is the truefaith?" he could immediately answer with the words of the Church. At the end of the Divine Liturgy when we sing "We have found the true faith..." we describe what this "true faith" is "...worshipping the undivided Trinity." Orthodox Christians have known even from the very beginning that in order to truly believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, it is necessary to believe in the Holy Trinity and that in order to worship God "in spirit and in truth," we must worship the Holy Trinity.

What is it that makes this mystery of the Holy Trinity so vital to our Christian belief? In order to answer this question, we must first understand a little about the Holy Trinity. The mystery of the Trinity is that there is One God in three Persons and that each of these Persons is distinct and separate from the others while at the same time all three Persons are indivisibly united. How can something be three separate and distinct things and yet at the same time be only one? This is the mystery of the Trinity.

But the nature of the Trinity is not just an abstract idea, a belief that has no impact on us as Orthodox Christians. St Athanasius said about the incarnation, "God became man so that man might become god." And indeed this is true - when we "put on Christ" at Holy Baptism and as we begin to work out our salvation, we become like God, that is we take on His nature. We give up our own fallen human nature, and in exchange we receive the nature of the God-man Jesus Christ. In order to be saved we must exhibit the mystery of the Holy Trinity in our own lives.

How is such a thing possible? How can we, who are created beings, who are limited, mortal and finite, become like the Holy Trinity - three persons in one essence? Again the Holy Fathers teach us what we must know. We know that there is no salvation outside the Church. In order to be transformed and enter into the life of Christ, we must do so within His Church. The Church is the ark of salvation and we are all gathered into that ark. But there is more to this than just membership in an earthly organization. The Church is much more than that. The Church is the union of all Orthodox Christians into the one mystical Body of Christ. It is in the Church that our true nature as Christians is made manifest. We, who are many, are united into one body (and yet we remain many persons, distinct from one another). This unity of diversity that we find in the mystery of the Church is exactly the same mystery of the unity in diversity of the Holy Trinity. By being members of the Holy Church, we are transformed so that our nature becomes like that of the Holy Trinity.

In the Holy Church, our true nature as a corporate body, a single entity made up of many persons, is made manifest. When we gather together to worship in the public services of the Church, we express this godlike nature. In this we can begin to see the importance of participating in the services of the Church. These services are not just a social gathering, a ritual that we share with those of like mind and belief. The services of the Church are the necessary expression of our godlike nature. By participating in the public worship of the Church we act like God, we confess our belief in the Holy Trinity and we confess our likeness to the Holy Trinity. If we shun the services of the Church, if we do not participate, then we are in effect turning our back on Christ, turning away from the salvation that He provides, denying that we are like Him. It is in the public services of the Church that God does the work of making our nature to be like His. It is only in the Church and in her public and corporate worship that we become like the Holy Trinity.


by Fr. David Moser

The Golden Legend - Ember Days

Tracts for the Times

THE EMBER DAYS.

[Number 14]

IN reading the Epistles of St. Paul we cannot but observe how earnestly he presses upon those to whom he was writing, the duty of praying for a blessing on himself and his ministry. We not only find his request contained in general terms (1 Thess. v. 25.), "Brethren, pray for us;" but when he feels he stands in need of any particular support, he mentions it as an especial subject of prayer for the Churches. For instance, in writing to the Romans, at a time when he was looking forward to trouble from Jewish unbelievers, he says to them, (c. xv. 30.) "Strive together with me in your prayers to GOD for me, that I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judaea;" and in Phil. i. l9. he expresses a confidence that the very opposition he was meeting with would, through the intercession of the Saints, be turned into a good to himself. "I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer." It is the same when he has any object at heart, which he desires to see accomplished. He longs much for the spread of the Gospel, and therefore, in 2 Thess. iii. 1. he says, "Finally, Brethren, pray for us, that the word of GOD may have free course and be glorified." And feeling his own weakness to discharge the sacred trust committed to him, he asks the Ephesians (c. vi. 15. 19.) to make supplication in his behalf, "that utterance might be given unto him, that he might open his mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the Gospel." I shall mention but one passage more, that in 2 Cor. i. 11.; for here not only the duty of praying for their Apostle is pressed upon the people, but they are bidden to do so for the express purpose that they might also join in expressing thanks that their prayer had been graciously heard. "Ye also helping together by prayer for us, that, for the gift bestowed on us by the means of many persons, thanks may be given by many on our behalf" (Compare Col. ii. 4. Heb. xiii. 19. Philem. 22.)

These texts show clearly, that it is the Christian’s duty to pray at all times for the Ministers of the Gospel. There are other texts which teach that supplication ought particularly to be made for them at the time of their Ordination. We find, that, when our LORD was about to send forth His twelve Apostles to preach His kingdom, "He went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to GOD." (Luke vi. 12.) And when one of those Apostles had by transgression fallen from his Ministry, the whole Church united in supplication to GOD, that He would shew whom He had chosen to succeed him. (Acts i. 24, 25.) The same is observable in the Ordination of the first Deacons, where it is said, (Acts vi. 6.) the multitude set them before the Apostles, and "when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them." Again, when Paul and Barnabas are sent forth on their special mission, "the Church fasted and prayed" for them. (Acts xiii. 3.) And St. Paul in turn observed the same practice, when he ordained Elders in the Churches where he had preached. "They prayed with fasting, and commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed." Acts xiv. 23.

In conformity to this Apostolical custom, the Church of England views with peculiar solemnity the times at which her Ministers are ordained; and invites all her members to join, at these sacred seasons, in prayer and fasting in their behalf. It is the object of these pages to bring this subject especially before the reader’s notice; for the observance of this ordinance of the Church has fallen so generally into disuse, that few comparatively feel the value of it; and some perhaps are not even aware of its existence. To those who may be in this case, I would say briefly that the Ordination Sundays occur four times a year, and that the days of fasting, or Ember Days, (as they are called,) are in the week immediately before those respective Sundays. These days are as follows; the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday after the first Sunday in Lent; after the Feast of Pentecost; after Sept. 14; after Dec. 13; as may be seen by referring to the Prayer-Book. And particular prayers are ordered during the whole of the weeks, in which these days occur; that the Bishops may make a wise and faithful choice, and that those who are to be called to the Ministry, may especially be blessed with GOD’S grace and heavenly benediction.

That such a practice is good and right in itself, and could not fail to produce a large benefit, cannot be doubted by those, who believe that prayer is the appointed channel whereby GOD is pleased to send mercies on mankind. He that feels the truth of "Ask, and it shall be given you," cannot deny, that he is losing a great privilege, whenever he neglects this duty. And if there is any Order of men who more especially need the help of others’ supplications, it is that of those, who are called to the high office of ministering the Word of Life to their fellow-creatures, and of being labourers together with their Divine Master in bringing men to salvation. I would go further than this, and say, that if there is any time when the Ministers of the Gospel more particularly call for the prayers of the Church, it is at these seasons of Ordination. Whether we consider the solemn office which the Bishops are performing, or the solemn vows which the Priests and Deacons are taking on themselves, we must allow that it is an occasion of the greatest importance. Here are a number of men going forth for the great work of winning back to CHRIST souls which have gone astray from the right path, and of fighting in the first ranks against the world, the flesh, and the devil; and in most cases going forth young and inexperienced in their work, not knowing (for who can know till he has tried?) the dangers and difficulties which beset them. Surely it is the duty of every Christian to give them what help he can, and send them forth strengthened for the labours of their journey.

I doubt not that there are many in this kingdom, who are in the habit of making supplication to GOD for their Ministers; many who join heartily in the several prayers of the Church services, where mention is made of them, as well as remember them in their private devotions. And some of these may ask, of what advantage it is to appoint particular days for such intercession. They may say, "we pray daily for the Clergy, and not unfrequently for those who are just entering their Ministerial life, Why should one day be fixed upon as better than another for this purpose? Let each do as he finds opportunity." I would answer, first, that as it was the custom of the Apostles to set apart the times of Ordination for especial prayer, as well as the regulation of our own Church, it is no longer a matter of indifference to us whether we adopt this method or not. The example of the one, and the injunction of the other, mark plainly for us what we ought to do. But, secondly, there will be advantages to ourselves in taking the course so recommended; I would mention one or two which appear to be of importance.

1. When men have been at all careless and indifferent about any duty, (and how few are there who can say that they have not been careless in this matter?) it is very useful to have some settled way for beginning it aright. What has long been put off from time to time is seldom properly attended to, if we leave the performance of it to any chance opportunity that may be offered. The convenient season will seldom come, or at least will not come to us in so profitable a way. For setting apart a particular occasion for solemn prayer, brings with it more seriousness and attention, and makes us think far more of the value of the blessing for which we ask.

2. And, secondly, I would remind all those who value the promises of the Bible, that there is an especial blessing promised to united prayer. Our LORD says, (Matt. viii. 19.) "If two of you shall agree on earth, as touching any thing they shall ask, it shall be done for them of MY FATHER which is in Heaven." And when a good is sought for all, all ought to be seeking for it, and "striving together," that it may be obtained. Now this could not be done, except days were appointed, which all may know of as a standing Ordinance; and to be able to join together in spirit, however far apart they are in body. We might thus not only in all parts of this kingdom, but in distant lands, wherever our brethren are residing, unite in sending up supplications, which our common FATHER would not fail to hear and answer abundantly. And when engaged in prayer we should have the great comfort and support of knowing that we are not
single, but that others are perhaps mentioning what we are leaving out; and that others have more earnestness and devotion than we feel in ourselves.

Should this paper fall into the hands of any who have never before heard or thought seriously of this Institution, it may be useful to offer a few hints for its better observance. Let each consecrate the days as much as possible to prayer and holy meditation, adding to them religious Fasting, if health permit. The true end of fasting is beautifully expressed in the Collect for the first Sunday in Lent; "using such abstinence, that our Flesh being subdued to the Spirit, we may ever obey our LORD’S godly motions in righteousness and true holiness." It is to give the mind liberty and ability to consider and reflect while it is actually engaged in Divine service, or preparing for some solemn part of it; to humble ourselves before GOD under a sense of our sins, and the misery to which they expose us; to deprecate his anger, and to supplicate His mercy and favour. [1] We must use it in the same spirit in which Daniel did, when he set himself to pray for pardon for his own and his brethren’s sins, and sought "the LORD GOD with prayer and supplication, and fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes." Dan. ix. 3.

The subjects for Prayer on the Ember days will be the Church of GOD of which we are members; especially those who are called to bear office in the same; and of these, more particularly those who are either ordaining or being ordained. But our Petitions need not stop with these. These are seasons, in which every Minister should be remembered before the throne of grace, in which every Bishop, Priest, and Deacon, claims the prayers of the People. We may ask for them, that their doctrine may be sound and pure, and may come to the hearts of their hearers; that they may diligently labour in their several spheres of action, for the glory of GOD and the good of mankind; above all, that they may themselves lead holy lives, such as are consistent with their high profession. And, because we are so much more earnest in prayer when we are asking for particular things, and those which we feel to need ourselves, we may make especial mention of our own Clergyman, and our own Bishop, praying that the light, which shines on them, may be reflected on our own neighbourhood. For the same reason, if we happen to know of any trouble or trial, to which the Sacred Ministry near us is exposed, we may mention this also. Additional subjects of meditation will arise according to the particular Ember days which we are celebrating. In those in Lent we shall have more particularly before us our LORD’S example of prayer and fasting, and ask for His Ministers, that they may be like Him, in retiring from the world, and overcoming worldly snares and temptations. In those in Whitsun-week, we shall remember our SAVIOUR’S words, that His disciples would fast when He was taken from them, think much of the HOLY SP1RIT, which is vouchsafed to them to supply His absence, and implore GOD that on us in our day this precious Blessing may be given abundantly. And again in those in Advent, we shall reflect on the near approach of the anniversary of our LORD’S birth, reflect on His forerunner, the self-denying Baptist, who was filled with the Holy Ghost from His mother’s womb, and pray that the "ministers and stewards of His mysteries may like him prepare the way for CHRIST’S second coming.

The times in which we live will furnish additional ground for supplication. We cannot but see, that there is a great struggle going on between good and evil; and that, while we trust true Religion is increasing, it cannot be denied that Infidelity and Opposition to lawful authority, whether of GOD or man, is in creasing likewise. And, especially, as regards our own Church, we cannot shut our eyes to the fact, that she has many and powerful enemies, both visible and invisible, and that wicked spirits and wicked men are seeking to undermine and overthrow her. The thought of these evils on all sides will naturally lead us to Him, who alone can protect us from them.

These remarks are written, in the hope that those who read will ask themselves honestly, whether they have not been guilty of neglecting the proper observance of the Ember days; and whether the revival of the primitive custom of keeping them might not be attended with a great national blessing; whether it might not be a means under God of averting the dangers which surround us. Many are now lamenting that we have in some respects lost sight of that "godly discipline," which the Church orders for the good of her members. But ought we not to seek a restoration of what is lost, as well as lament for it; and seriously set ourselves to the most effectual way of gaining what we need? And again, many are crying out against the faults of the Church; but have any a right to do so, till they themselves have tried every means in their power of amending what they feel to be an evil? And can we say, that we have tried every means, as long as an Institution like that of which I have been speaking, so edifying, and so likely to gain a blessing, is so generally neglected?

FOOTNOTE

[l] Nelson’s Festivals and Fasts, p. 358.

The Difference the Holy Spirit Makes

by Fr. Roger J. Landry

Fifty-three days ago, the apostles were all gathered together in the Upper Room. Jesus washed their feet and instructed them about true service. He gave them his body and blood for the first time. He ordained them priests so that through them, He could give us that same body and blood. He prayed for them to His Father, prayed that they might be one, that the Father would protect them from the Evil one, that they might be consecrated in the truth, and that all those who would hear the Gospel through their lips might be one, too. But what happened when they left the room? They all went out and abandoned the Lord — right after Mass, right after receiving the Lord Jesus within, right after their priestly ordination! Judas sold Jesus, valuing him less than thirty pieces of silver. All eleven apostles ran away from the garden terrified. Peter, for whom the Lord had prayed personally, denied even knowing Jesus. All but St. John were still hiding the next day as Love personified was being tortured and killed upon a Cross. Jesus had prepared them for three years about what would happen to Him and what they were called to do, but none of that preparation, none of Jesus' prayers, not even the sacrament of the Eucharist, sufficed to keep them faithful. Something was missing.

Today we see the Apostles return to the same Upper Room. Jesus has ascended to heaven, and so the apostles huddle around his mother for nine days to learn from her about Jesus, to learn from her how to pray, to learn from her how to say yes to God. This time they leave the Upper Room and begin to preach the Gospel fearlessly. Three thousand people were converted that first day. The same apostles who had scattered like frightened children in the Garden were now gathering God's children together for Christ. The same Peter who denied even knowing Jesus in order to keep himself warm by the courtyard fire, was now on fire confessing that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah, the Son of the Living God. The disciples who were too ashamed to appear at the foot of the Cross now boldly and proudly proclaimed God's love seen by Christ's death on that Cross. What was different? Surely Mary's example had helped them. Doubtless the resurrection of Jesus from the dead had filled them with joy and given them a certain confidence. But what could have made these people turn from chickens to shepherds, from cowards to willing martyrs, so soon? The answer is what and whom we celebrate today: the Holy Spirit.

On Pentecost Sunday, the Holy Spirit worked a miracle in each of the apostles, and through them, in the whole Church. As the apostles were huddled together around Mary in the Upper Room fifty days after Jesus rose from the dead, suddenly from heaven there was the sound like the rush of a driving wind that filled the entire upper room. Tongues of fire came down and rested upon each of them and all were filled with the Holy Spirit. THIS was the difference. They received the Holy Spirit's help boldly to proclaim Jesus. The Holy Spirit came down upon them as tongues of fire — tongues because they were to speak, fire because they were to speak with the passion of burning love. And they responded. Jesus had promised that the Holy Spirit he would send would teach them all things, lead them to all truth, remind them of everything he had taught them, and prove the world wrong about sin, holiness and judgment. Then, moved by the Holy Spirit, they began to fulfill this mission. The Acts of the Apostles had begun.

Well, the Acts of the Apostles continues down to our own day. God wants to write new chapters, with each of us — and that includes you — playing an important role. The wind is still blowing. The fire of the Holy Spirit still burns. Each of us, however, needs to let the Holy Spirit in to do his work. Each of us has to allow the Holy Spirit to bring about a similar miracle in us. Too often we are more like the Apostles on Holy Thursday than on Pentecost Sunday. We come to Mass, Jesus prays for us, he feeds us with his flesh and blood, but when we leave the upper room, we basically leave Him behind, giving in to various denials, perhaps for comfort like Peter, perhaps out of fear like all the rest. We know what our mission is — to give witness to the whole world that Jesus is the Savior, that he is the truth worth living for and worth dying for — but how many times have we failed in that mission, and how many times have we failed even to TRY to fulfill it? Proclaiming the Gospel today is surely not easy; so many reject Christ and his teachings and the Church he founded. But when we look back to what the first disciples encountered — when first the Jewish leaders and eventually the Roman authorities were trying to kill them for proclaiming the Gospel, and when the culture was even more imbued by practices contrary to the Gospel than it is now — we find great reason for hope. For if the Holy Spirit could work such wonders with those coarse fishermen and tax collectors, then surely he can do similarly great things through us if we allow him. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we, too, can turn from cowards to heroes, from apostates to apostles, from sinners to saints. The key is allowing the Holy Spirit to act.

To do so, we first have to get to know know the Holy Spirit. There's an episode in the life of St. Paul when he was at Ephesus and met some people who said they were disciples. Paul asked them: "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?" They, who had only received John's baptism of repentance, replied, "No, we have NOT EVEN HEARD THAT THERE IS a Holy Spirit" (Acts 19:2). Many Catholics today might well say the same statement. In the mind and hearts of many disciples, the Holy Spirit is the GREAT UNKNOWN. That has to change if we're going to change and if our Church and world are going to change. What do we know about the Holy Spirit? We know much more than we think we do:

a) He overshadowed Mary at the Annunciation and helped her to conceive virginally within her the Eternal Son of God (Mt 1:18-20).

b) He filled St. Elizabeth and helped her and the embryonic John the Baptist recognize Christ in Mary's womb (Lk 1:41).

c) He filled Zechariah and helped him to prophecy about mission of John the Baptist, his Son (Lk 1:67).

d) He came down upon Jesus like a dove at Jesus' baptism (Lk 3:22) and then led him into the desert (Lk 4:1).

e) Throughout his public ministry, Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit (Lk 10:21).

f) Jesus promised that the Father would give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him (Lk 11:13).

g) Jesus said it was in fact advantageous for him to leave them and go to the Father, because then, and only then, would he and the Father send the Holy Spirit (Jn 16:7, 15:26, 14:26). How great a gift must the Holy Spirit be if Jesus (who cannot deceive us) told us it was better for him to go!

h) Jesus also described very clearly what the Holy Spirit would do: He would teach us all things (Jn 14:26), would help us in a moment of trial to know what we ought to say (Lk 12:12), would remind us of everything he had commanded us (Jn 14:26), would convict the world concerning sin, judgment and holiness (Jn 16:8).

i) The Holy Spirit inspired the writers of Sacred Scripture and is the principle author of every book of the Bible.

But the Holy Spirit is not just someone we should KNOW ABOUT, but someone we should know intimately and personally, as we know a friend. We encounter him first in prayer. We cannot pray without his help. St. Paul tells us that we cannot even say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:3). Because we are children of God, God the Father sent the Holy Spirit into our hearts so that we might cry out, "Abba, Father!" in prayer (Rom 8:15). St. Paul tells us that "the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words" (Rom 8:26).

But we encounter and get to know the Holy Spirit most intimately in each of the Sacraments, although sometimes we don't give him all the credit he deserves. In each of these, we receive his help as he tries to conform us ever more so that we might be other Christ's in the midst of the world.

a) John the Baptist had said that Jesus would one day baptize not just with water but with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Mt 3:11). That's what happens in the sacrament of baptism. We beg the Father to send the Holy Spirit into the water of the font to make it holy so that it may make others holy. Baptism makes us temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19) and the Holy Spirit, through baptism, makes us children of God.

b) In Confirmation, the bishop anoints us with oil and says, "Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit," in which we're changed for life by the Holy Spirit and given the graces we need to be real witnesses of Christ. We receive in Confirmation what the apostles on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit's help so that we might proclaim Christ's Gospel. That proclamation is a joint effort with the Holy Spirit. As St. Peter says in the Acts of the Apostles: "We are witnesses to these things, together with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 5:32)

c) In the sacrament of penance, the Holy Spirit, which Jesus gave to his first priests on Easter Sunday evening to forgive (cf. Jn 20:31) fulfills His mission in the absolution, which the priest begins, "God, the Father of Heaven, through the death and resurrection of his Son, has sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins." The Holy Spirit is sent so that we might once again become an immaculate temple of God and a fully restored son and daughter of the eternal Father.

d) In the Eucharist, we pray to the Father, "Let your Spirit come upon these gifts to make them holy, so that they may become the body and blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ." Later, we ask him to send the Holy Spirit to make us one, "Grant that we, who are nourished by his body and blood, may be filled with His Holy Spirit, and become one body, one spirit in Christ."

e) In the sacrament of anointing, when the sick person is anointed with oil, the priest says, "Through this holy anointing, may the Lord in his mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit."

f) In Holy Matrimony, the Holy Spirit is the one who unites spouses in love, just as the Holy Spirit is the unity between the Father and the Son.

g) Finally, in Holy Orders, the Holy Spirit is called down to sanctify the priests in the prayer of consecration, to make them in reality what Christ calls them to be.

h) The point of all the sacraments is to make us holy, to make us radiate with God's
own life, and to bring us to heaven. That is the the great mission of the Holy Spirit.

"We never even knew that there was a Holy Spirit." To the extent that any of us feels still unfulfilled in the Christian life, it is because we have not yet allowed the Holy Spirit full reign in our lives by responding to the Gift of Holy Spirit with the same 100% docility as Mary did at the Annunciation, as the Apostles did on Pentecost Sunday. This Pentecost is the chance for us to thank the Father and the Son for the gift of the Holy Spirit, to pray like the first apostles did surrounded by Mary, and to respond docilely to all his promptings. When we remain in the state of grace, we are temples of the Holy Spirit, which is a reality that should astound us: God the Holy Spirit lives inside of us. The Holy Spirit blows within us. The Holy Spirit burns within us. But we have to let that flame grow into a bonfire.

The same Holy Spirit who filled the apostles on Pentecost is about to come down here in this Church. We are in the midst of the Upper Room, where Jesus himself gives us his body and blood, where the Holy Spirit himself comes down. If we wish to leave this Upper Room and carry out our mission as the Apostles of our own day, let us beg the Holy Spirit to fill us with tongues of fire, so that with passion, love and great courage, we might bring the Gospel out to our world which so desperately needs to embrace it.

Come, Holy Spirit, Fill the Hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love!

A Pentecost Story - excepted from The Church's Year of Grace, by Fr. Pius Parsch

Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Fr. Pius Parsch.

"And when the days of Pentecost were drawing to a close, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a violent wind coming, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them parted tongues as of fire, which settled upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in foreign tongues, even as the Holy Spirit prompted them to speak" (Acts 2, 1-4).

Pentecost (Whitsunday), with Christmas and Easter, ranks among the great feasts of Christianity. It commemorates not only the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and Disciples, but also the fruits and effects of that event: the completion of the work of redemption, the fullness of grace for the Church and its children, and the gift of faith for all nations.

After Jesus had ascended to heaven from Mt. Olivet, the apostles and disciples returned to the Holy City. They remained together in the Upper Room or Cenacle, the place where Jesus had appeared to them and which may well be called the first Christian church. About a hundred and twenty persons were assembled there. They chose Matthias as an apostle in place of the unhappy Judas; they prayed and waited for the Paraclete.

Ten days had passed, it was Sunday, the seventh Sunday after the resurrection. At about nine o'clock in the morning, as they were together praying fervently, the Holy Spirit descended upon them. Note how all the great theophanies in Christ's life occurred during the course of prayer. After His baptism, for instance, when Jesus was praying the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove; likewise, it was during prayer at night that the transfiguration took place on Tabor. Surely too it was while Mary was praying that Gabriel delivered his message, and the Holy Spirit overshadowed her. Pentecost followed precedent. The small community of Christians had prepared themselves through prayer for the coming of the Paraclete. The same is true at Mass today, every day; through prayer we ready our souls for the advent of the Spirit.

The descent upon the apostles was internal and invisible in nature although accompanied by certain visible phenomena. There came a mighty roar, like the onrush of a violent wind. It came suddenly, from heaven; but unlike storms that strike a structure from without, this one penetrated and filled the room where the disciples were gathered. Therefore it was not a natural wind, it was a miracle peculiar to the occasion. A second visible sign consisted in tongues of fire that descended upon each one present. These fiery tongues gave visible evidence that the Holy Spirit had descended upon them.

Today at Mass, particularly at holy Communion, the power of the Holy Spirit will come down upon us; fiery tongues will not be seen, but invisible tongues of fire will not be absent. There was still another external manifestation of the Holy Spirit; the apostles and disciples were enabled to speak various languages.

After the roar of the wind many of Jerusalem's pilgrims hurried to the Cenacle. Pentecost was one of the three festivals which obliged all Jews to be present in Jerusalem. Jews from distant lands, and Jewish converts from paganism too, attended these feasts. As a result, a colorful crowd speaking a variety of languages surrounded the house. Now the apostles, who so shortly before had hid in fear behind locked doors, came forth and courageously walked among the multitude speaking to each in his native tongue. It was indeed amazing! Galileans, and multilingual?

But the malicious too were present; they had the answer. Nothing marvelous at all! Those Galileans were simply drunk, and their drunken babble sounded like a foreign language! Peter showed no hesitation in answering the charge. None of their number, he said, were intoxicated; it was but nine o'clock in the morning, and at that hour men usually are sober. What the multitude saw was, in fact, the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy: In those days (of the Messiah), God will pour forth His Spirit upon men and they will prophesy. . . . Then the apostle pointed his words more directly against the accusers: they had killed Jesus, had nailed Him to the Cross; but God had awakened Him and after His departure to heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit.
The pilgrims who had heard Peter give this first pentecostal sermon "were pierced to the heart and said: Brethren, what shall we do? But Peter said to them: Repent and be baptized; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Three thousand responded.

One final question: why the miracle of tongues? In answer, recall the story regarding the tower of Babel. Puffed up by pride, men attempted to build a tower that would touch the heavens. To punish their sin, God confused their speech. Sin causes confusion and division. Now Christ came to gather all men into His Church and thereby to unite them to Himself. This should result in creating but one family of nations again. To this blessed state the miracle of tongues points.
Yes, even we as individuals have a gift of tongues which all men can understand. It is the gift of love infused into us by the Holy Spirit. Love unites, love is a common language, by means of love we can speak to all nations.

Pentecost—Festival of the Arrival of the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete

http://pbs1928.blogspot.com/2007/05/pentecostfestival-of-arrival-of-holy.html


A devotion starter, from Dr. Peter Toon.

From where do we get this word "Pentecost"?


It is in the Jewish Calendar the fiftieth day (Greek, pentekostos) after the presentation of the first harvested sheaf of the barley harvest—that is, the fiftieth day from the first Sunday after Passover (cf. Leviticus 23:15ff.) Amongst Jewish people it was known as the "feast of weeks" (cf. Exodus 34:22a; Deuteronomy 16:10), and also as "the day of the first-fruits" (Numbers 28:26; Exodus 23:16a) because it was the day when "the first-fruits of the wheat harvest" (Exodus 34:22a) were presented to God. In later Judaism it also was reckoned to be the anniversary of the giving of the Law at Mt Sinai (a deduction from the chronological note in Exodus 19:1).

Coming out of Jewish roots, the early Christian Church gladly incorporated the fact of the season of Pentecost into its own Calendar because it was, significantly, at the festival-- fifty days after the Resurrection of Jesus on Easter Day--that the Holy Spirit as the Paraclete of Jesus (see John 14-16) descended upon the assembled disciples and the mission of the Church in and to the world truly began. For details of the events concerning Jesus in the fifty days from the Resurrection to the Day of Pentecost, Christians turn to the final chapters of all the Four Gospel, to 1 Corinthians 15 and to Acts 1. Here they read about various appearances of the resurrected Lord to his disciples, leading up to his final appearance on the fortieth day, which became his Ascension; then they learn that during the final ten days the disciples met together to choose a replacement for Judas Iscariot, to engage in sustained, unified prayer and to wait for the promise of Jesus that he would send the Holy Spirit to them. It is in Acts 2 that what occurred on the Day of Pentecost, the arrival of the Holy Spiirt, is described in vivid but restrained terms.

So within the Christian Calendar there is, after the all-important Festival Day of Easter Sunday, what has been called "the great Fifty Days" which climaxes on the Day of Pentecost (later called "Whitsuntide" in the western Church because of the use of white baptismal robes).However, there is within these special fifty days a most important, indeed a unique Day, the Day of the Ascension of the resurrected Lord Jesus. So the Jewish fifty becomes--because of Jesus the Jewish Messiah--the Christian forty plus ten, making fifty. And the fortieth day is a most important focal point, for the regular and remarable visits or/appearances of Jesus to his disciples ceased on that very day, and, it is, as such, the last of the great festivals of the Lord Jesus, for his appearance became his Ascension into heaven (thus Birth, Epiphany, Baptism, Transfiguration, Resurrection and Ascension).

The descent of the Holy Spirit, sent by God the Father in the Name and at the Request of the Exalted Lord Jesus, was a unique moment in human history and of God's saving activity in the world, and, therefore, it is not surprising that various extraordinary phenomena proclaimed that Arrival. The three supernatural signs were: a sound, a sight and strange speech. The sound was like the blowing of a violent wind; the sight was of what seemed to be tongues of fire, which separated and rested upon each one present; and the speech was the speaking in languages that were recognized by the visitors from all parts of the Roman Empire, present in Jerusalem for the feast. The experience was more than real and it was so because the new era of the presence with the disciples of the Holy Spirit as the Paraclete of Jesus had begun—the Spirit of power (wind), of purity (fire) and of universality (many languages) was indwelling and resting upon chosen human beings.

And the immediate effect of the Spirit's presence in and upon the disciples was to cause them to engage enthusiastically and heartily in evangelism and mission to the many Jewish pilgrims in the city of Jerusalem at that time. The Gospel of the Father concerning his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, was proclaimed in many languages at various points by the disciples and then it was proclaimed to all in one place (probably the Temple precincts) very publicly in the language all understood by Peter, the leader of the apostles. Converts were made and they were baptized in water for the remission of their sins. The Christian Church was now truly up and running, with a mission to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

And the nature of the kingdom (saving reign) of God known in the Church is declared to be—in the best senses—multi-racial, multi-national, and multi-lingual. Further, the curse of Babel was reversed. At Babel (see Genesis 11:1-9) languages were confused and peoples scattered. In Jerusalem the language barrier is supernaturally overcome as a sign that in Christ all the nations and people will be gathered together in Christ, when finally the ingathered, new people of God is "from every nation, tribe, people and language" (Rev 7:9).

For people entering the Church in repentance, faith and by Baptism after this first amazing Day of Pentecost, the gift of the Spirit from the exalted Lord Jesus was (and is) very much present, available and ready to be given in fullness, not only to bring everlasting life and virtuous, graceful living ,but also for empowerment in worship, witness and service. We recall that there are fruit and gifts of the Spirit and both are available from the Head of the Body!

By the arrival of the Holy Spirit, the emerging Church came to know truly that the LORD our God is truly the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Three Persons and One, a Trinity in Unity and a Unity in Trinity. Thus Trinity Sunday immediately follows Pentecost or Whitsunday.

Conclusion: An excellent poem/hymn by John Keble contrasts the descent of God to Moses at Mt Sinai and his descent upon the waiting disciples in Jerusalem—"When God of old came down from heaven…" And for praying about the Holy Spirit as the author of renewal in the Church, and in the baptized believer, Charles Wesley's " O Thou whom camest from above, the pure celestial fire to impart…" is wonderful.

St. Vincent of Lerins

(click link above ↑ to view Homily by Fr. James Thornton, From Made Perfect in Faith )(Etna, CA: Center for Traditionalist Orthodox Studies, 2006), pp. 146-151. This superb book of homilies is highly recommended! Posted on 29 Sep, 2006 (n.s.).


A leading theologian of the Church of Gaul in the 5th century, St. Vincent settled in the island monastery of Lerins off the southern coast of France in order that "avoiding the concourse and crowds of cities... I can follow without distraction the Psalmist's admonition, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Here he wrote his celebrated Commonitorium, a "Reminder," where he wrote down "those things which I have truthfully received from the holy Fathers ," which they "have handed down to us and committed to our keeping." Among these things is the celebrated definition of orthodoxy as quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus: that which has been believed in the Church "everywhere, always, by everyone." St. Vincent lived in an age of great historical uncertainty; barbarian tribes were a constant menace and although four hundred years of Christian tradition had already passed, the foundations of the faith had been only recently clarified by decisions made in the Ecumenical Councils--the Council of Nicea (325), the Council of Constantinople (381) and the Council of Ephesus (431). It is, therefore, not surprising that St. Vincent was so concerned to preserve the authority of Christian tradition. This is not to say that he was opposed to progress or doctrinal development; each age must face its won particular problems and develop a Christian response in answer to them. "But it must be progress in the proper sense of the word, and not a change in faith. Progress means that each thing grows within itself, whereas change implies that one thing is transformed into another .... The growth of religion in the soul should be like the growth of the body, which in the course of year develops and unfolds, yet remains the same as it was."

"In ancient times, our forefathers sowed the seeds of the wheat of faith in that field which is the Church. It would be quite unjust and improper if we, their descendents, gathered, instead of the genuine truth of wheat, the false tares of error. On the contrary, it is logically correct that the beginning and the end be in agreement, that we reap from the planting of the wheat of doctrine the harvest of the wheat of dogma. In this way, none of the Characteristics of the seed is changed, although something evolved in the course of time from those first seeds and has now expanded under careful cultivation. What may be added is merely appearance, beauty, and distinction, but the proper nature of each kind remains."

His defense of the traditions of the Fathers and his condemnation of innovation and novelty in the Church are as appropriate today as they were in his time:

"The Church of Christ, zealous and cautious guardian of the dogmas deposited with it, never changes any phase of them. It does not diminish them or add to them; it neither trims what seems necessary, nor grafts things superfluous; it neither gives up its own nor usurps what does not belong to it. But it devotes all its diligence to one aim: to treat tradition faithfully and wisely; to nurse and polish what from old times may have remained unshaped and unfinished; to consolidate and to strengthen what already was clear · and plain; and to guard what already was confirmed and defined. After all, what have the councils brought forth in their decrees but that what' before was believed plainly and simply might from now on be believed more diligently; that what before was preached rather unconcernedly might be preached from now on more eagerly."

FEAST OF THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST

The Feast of the Ascension of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ is celebrated each year on the fortieth day after the Great and Holy Feast of Pascha (Easter). Since the date of Pascha changes each year, the date of the Feast of the Ascension changes. The Feast is always celebrated on a Thursday.

The Feast itself commemorates when, on the fortieth day after His Resurrection, Jesus led His disciples to the Mount of Olives, and after blessing them and asking them to wait for the fulfillment of the promise of the Holy Spirit, He ascended into heaven.

Biblical StoryThe story of the Ascension of our Lord, celebrated as one of the Twelve Great Feasts of the Church, is found in the book of the Acts of the Apostles 1:3-11. It is also mentioned in the Gospels of Mark (16:19) and Luke (24:50-53). The moment of the Ascension is told in one sentence: "He was lifted up before their eyes in a cloud which took Him from their sight" (Acts 1:9).

Christ made His last appearance on earth, forty days after His Resurrection from the dead. The Acts of the Apostles states that the disciples were in Jerusalem. Jesus appeared before them and commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the "Promise of the Father". He stated, "You shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now" (Acts 1:5).

After Jesus gave these instructions, He led the disciples to the Mount of Olives. Here, He commissioned them to be His witnesses "in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8). It is also at this time that the disciples were directed by Christ to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19). Jesus also told them that He would be with them always, "even to the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20).

As the disciples watched, Jesus lifted up His hands, blessed them, and then was taken up out of their sight (Luke 24:51; Acts 1:9). Two angels appeared to them and asked them why they were gazing into heaven. Then one of the angels said, "This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen Him going into heaven" (Acts 1:11).