Category: Catholic

Hailing The Way, The Truth And The Life — All the deceased will arise at the sound of the trumpet and sing praise to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Resurrector of their bodies. O Father who created Adam from dust, O Son who by your cross delivered Adam’s race from ruin, resurrect me and set me at your right hand, that I might glorify your name!

You do I worship, O Christ our Savior. You are the Resurrector and Savior of all the departed who were baptized in your name and confessed your cross and your death. Blessed is Christ who promised life and resurrection to Adam’s children in the day of His coming. We too shall arise and exalt him along with the saints who have been pleasing to him. Praise to you! By your Resurrection didn’t you grant all the mortal race the hope of life and resurrection? And we offer you praise, for you are the Resurrector of all flesh.

You mortals, exalt and praise Him who by his death emptied the dominion of death and promised all the mortal race life and resurrection. May the soul that has sought refuge in your cross and inherited eternal incorruptible treasure praise and exalt you together with the spirits that number her among your ranks.

Fitting it is to worship the Father who sent us His Only-Begotten Son, who saved our race from death and Satan, and sits at the right hand of His Father entreating his compassion on behalf of all of us.

Saint Ephrem the Syrian

Saint Ephrem, who lived in the 4th century, was one of the first to introduce song into the Church’s public worship as a means of instruction for the faithful.

Courtesy of Holy Myrrh-Bearers Church of Swarthmore.

Hailing The Way

Whoever Wishes To Be Great — Blessed is he who, dwelling, amidst many people, does not turn towards the many, but directs his whole heart to God. Blessed is he who purchases Christ with all his belongings and has, as his only possession, the cross, which he raises on high. Blessed is he who administering his legal possessions extends God’s hand to those who are in need.

Blessed is he who, having authority over the people, by holy and great sacrifices brings Christ to earthly folk Blessed is the one who being a child of the flock, a most perfect nursling, keeps the place of the heavenly Christ.

Blessed is he who, by his pure mind’s forceful movements, beholds the brilliance of the heavenly lights. Blessed is he who honors the Lord by much-toiling hands: and, for many people, this the law of life. All these things fill up the heavenly receptacles in which are stored the fruit of our souls, while every individual virtue leads to a different place. For many are the mansiions pertaining to different lives.

Blessed is he, whom the might Spirit has shown to be poor in passions, whoever leads a life of repentance; who can never get his fill of celestial food; who, by kindness, becomes inheritor of great things; who, by bowels of mercy, draws down God’s great compassion, being a friend of peace and pure in heart; who for the sake of the renowned Christ, has endured many sufferings, and will find great honor. Keep to the way of these people, whichever you prefer.

St. Gregory the Theologian

Courtesy of Holy Myrrh-Bearers Church of Swarthmore.

Whoever Wishes To Be Great

Bede On The Healing Of The Deaf Mute — The deaf-mute, of whose marvelous cure by our Lord we have heard, represents those members of the human race who merit being freed by divine grace from the error brought on by the devil’s deceit. Man became deaf, unable to hear the word of life after, puffed up as he was against God, he listened to the serpent’s deadly words; he was made mute and unable to declare the praises of his Maker from the time when he presumed to have a conversation with his seducer.

Rightly did God close man’s ears from hearing the praises of his Creator along with the angels– whose ears which the unsuspected enemy by his speech had opened to hearing denunciation of this same Creator.

Rightly did God close man’s mouth from proclaiming the praises of his Creator along the angels — that mouth which the proud deceiver had filled with his lies about the forbidden food, in order, as the devil said to improve upon the work of the same Creator.

And alas, the unfortunate rebellion of the human race which sprouted in a corrupt manner at the root, began to spread in a much more corrupt way in shoots from the branches, so that when our Lord dame in the flesh, with the exception of a few of the faithful from among the Jews, almost the entire world, now deaf and mute, was wandering away from recognition and confusion of the truth.

But where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more. Our Lord came to the Sea of Galilee where He knew that there was a disabled person whom He would heal. He came by his benevolent grace to the proud, disordered and inconstant hearts of the nations, since He knew that among them were some who would be receptive to His grace.

St. Bede The Venerable

Courtesy of Holy Myrrh-Bearers Church of Swarthmore.

Sabbath Renewal Saint Gregory Palamas — Another reason why the Sabbath day was blessed is that He who formed this world in six days foresaw that man would turn towards evil and would, as a result, go back to the ground, descend to Hades, and be imprisoned there; and this whole world would grow old and useless beause of man, but would be renewed by God becoming man.

This renewal was effected when God incarnate descended into Hades through death and declared there on the Sabbath the recall of souls. It was because He foresaw that this would happen on the sabbath that He rightly deemed it the only day worthy to be blessed.

However, although this work was secretly made ready on the seventh day, the Sabbath, everything was clearly brought to light and accomplished when the body had been summoned to immortality through the Lord’s Resurrection on the eighth day.

This is why we call it the Lord’s Day.

As Friday, the day of preparation, stands in relation tot he Sabbath, so is the Sabbath in comparison with Sunday, which is obviously superior to it.

As perfection and reality surpass beginning, pattern, and shadow, so is Sunday more excellent and honorable, because on it the exceedingly blessed work was finished and on it we await the General Resurrection of all the perfect entry of the saints into the divine rest and dissolution of the world into its elements.

Saint Gregory Palamas

Courtesy of Holy Myrrh-Bearers Church of Swarthmore.

Saint Gregory was an archbishop of Thessaloniki in the 14th century. He may be best known today for Hesychasm in which peace is sought through uninterrupted Jesus prayer, which is a major plot device in J.D. Salinger’s Franny and Zooey.

On The Holy Images — In former times God, who is without form or body, could never be depicted. But now when God is seen int he flesh conversing with men, I make an image of the God whom I see. I do not worship matter. I worship the Creator of matter who became matter for my sake, who willed to take His abode in matter; who worked out my salvation through matter.

Never will I cease honoring the matter which wrought my salvation. I honor it, but not as God. How could God be born out of things which have no existence in themselves? God’s body is God becuase it is joined to His person by a union which shall never pass away. The divine nature remains the same; the flesh created in time is quickened by a reason endowed soul. Because of this, I salute all remaining matter wiht reverence, because God has filled it with His grace and power.

Through it my salvation has come to me. Was not the thrice-happy and thrice blessed wood of the Cross matter? What of the life bearing rock, the holy and life-giving tomb, the fountain of our resurrection, was it not matter? Is not the ink in the most holy Gospel-book matter? From it we receive the bread of life.

Are not gold and silver matter? From them we make crosses, patens, chalices.

And over and above all these things is not the Body and Blood of our Lord matter?

Either do away with the honor and veneration these things deserve, or accept the tradition of the Church and the veneration of images.

St. John of Damascus

St. John wrote this during the height of Byzantine iconoclasm — the destruction of icons or images — which occurred during the 8th century. This was soon after Muslims captured what we call the Mideast, where John lived, from the Byzantine Empire. John got along well with the Muslims albeit not so much with Church leaders in Constantinople, or the Byzantine emperor who forged documents with the intent to get him killed. You can read about it here.

Courtesy of Holy Myrrh-Bearers Church of Swarthmore.

On The Holy Images

Readiness To Forgive From St John Chrysostom — Nothing makes us so like God as our readiness to forgive the wicked and wrong-doer. For it is God who has made “the sun to shine on the evil and on the good.”

For this same reason again in everyone of the clauses Jesus commands us to make our prayers together in one voice, saying, “Our Father,” and “thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven,” and “give us the bread, and forgive us our debts,” and “lead us not into temptation,” and “deliver us.” So everywhere he is teaching us to use the plural word that we may not retain so much as a vestige of resentment against our neighbor.

How great a reproof then must they deserve, who, after all this, still do not forgive and even ask God’s vengeance on their enemies. In doing so, they diametrically transgress the command. Meanwhile Christ is seeking in every way possible to hinder our conflicts with one another. For since love is the root of all that is good, by removing from all quarters whatever mars it he brings us together and cements us to each other. For there is not one, not a single one, whether father or mother or friend, who loves us as much as the God who created us.

St. John Chrysostom

Courtesy of Holy Myrrh-Bearers Church of Swarthmore.

Prodigal Son And God’s Mercy — All that God looks for from us is the slightest opening and He forgives a multitude of sins.

There were two brothers, they divided their father’s goods between them. One stayed home while the other went to a foreign country, wasted all he had been given and then could not bear the shame of his poverty. The son who went away represents those who fall after baptism. This is clear from the fact that he is called a son, since no one is called a son unless he is baptized. Also, he lived in his father’s house and took a share of all his father’s goods. Before baptism, no one receives the Father’s goods or enters upon the inheritance. We can therefore take all this as signifying the state of believers.

What does he say after falling into the depths of evil? I will return to my father. The reason the father let him go and did not prevent his departure for a foreign land was so that he might learn well by experience what good things are enjoyed by the one who stays home. For when words not convince us, God often leaves us to learn from the things that happen to us. When the dissolute returned after going to a foreign country and finding out by experience what a great sin it is to leave the father’s house, the father did not remember past injuries but welcomed him with open arms. Why? Because he was a father and not a judge. And there were dances and festivities and banquets and the whole house was full of joy and gladness.

Are you asking, “Is this what he gets for his wickedness?” Not for his wickedness but for his return home; not for sin, but for repentance; not for evil, but for being converted. What is more, when the elder son was angry at this the father gently won him over saying: You were always with me, but he was lost and has been found; he was dead and has come back to life.

“When someone who was lost has to be saved it is not the time for passing judgment but only for mercy and forgiveness,” said the father.

Courtesy of Holy Myrrh-Bearers Church of Swarthmore.

Humility Is The Mark Of A Sinner — In the case of the Pharisee who was praying, the things he said were true. Since he was saying them out of pride and the tax collector was telling his sins with humility the confession of sins of the last were more pleasing to God than the acknowledgment of the almsgiving of the first. It is more difficult to confess one’s sins than one’s righteousness.

God looks on the one who carries a heavy burden. The tax collector therefore appeared to Him to have more to bear than the Pharisee had. He went down more justified than the Pharisee did only because of the fact he was humble. If this Pharisee had been sinful his prayer would have added iniquity to iniquity, the the Lord purified the tax collector of his iniquity .

If just by praying, the Pharisees’s prayer provoked God’s wrath, then as a result of that provocation, the prayer of the tax collector proved all the more potent.

St. Ephrem the Syrian

The stern Pharisee, who in his self pride not only boasted of himself but also discredited the tax collector in the presence of God, made his justice void by being guilty of pride.

Instead of the Pharisee, the tax collector went down justified, because he had given glory to God, the Holy One.

He did not dare lift his eyes but sought only to plead for mercy. He accused himself by his posture, by striking his breast, and by entertaining no other motive except propitiation. Be on your guard, therefore, and bear in mind this example of severe loss sustained through arrogance.

The one guilty of insolent behavior suffered the loss of his justice and forfeited his reward by his bold self-reliance. He was judged inferior to a humble man and a sinner because in his self-exaltation he did not await the judgment of God but pronounced it himself. Never place yourself above anyone, not even great sinners. Humility often saves a sinner who has committed many terrible transgressions.

St. Basil the Great

Courtesy of Holy Myrrh-Bearers Church of Swarthmore.

Humility Is The Mark Of A Sinner

Welcome Christ In Your Heart And Homes — The Lord, who already welcomed Zacchaeus in his heart was now ready to be welcomed by him in his house. He said, “Zacchaeus, hurry up and come down, since I have to stay in your house.”

Zacchaeus thought it was a marvelous piece of good luck to see Christ. While imagining it was a marvelous piece ofgood luck quite beyond words to see him passing by, he was suddenly found worthy to have him in his house. Grace is poured out, and faith starts working through love.

Christ, who was already dwelling in Zacchaeus’s heart, is welcomed into his house.

Zacchaeus says to Christ, “Lord, half my goods I give to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone of anything, I am paying back four times over.” It is as if he were saying, “The reason I am keeping back half for myself is not in order to have it, but to have something from which to pay people back.”

There you are. That is really what welcoming Jesus means, welcoming him into your heart. Christ was already there. He was in Zacchaeus and spoke through him. The apostle says this is what it means “For Christ to dwell by faith in your hearts” (Eph 3:17)

St. Augustine

Courtesy of Holy Myrrh-Bearers Church of Swarthmore.

True Light Of Revelation To The Gentiles — The Evangelist commemorates the prophet’s words: “Beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light.”

In what darkness?

Certainly in the profound error of ignorance.

What great light did they see?

The light concerning which it is written: He was the true light that illumines everyone who comes into this world.”

This was the light about which the just man Simeon in the Gospel declared, A light of revelation to the Gentiles and glory for your people Israel.”

That light had arisen according to what David had announced, saying a light has arisen in the darkness to the upright of heart. Also, Isaiah demonstrated that light about to come for the enlightenment of the Church when he said: “Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.”

Concerning that light also Daniel noted, “It reveals the profound and hidden things, knowing those things ward are in darkness and light is with it,” that is the Son with the Father for even as the Father is light, so too is the Son light.

And David also speaks in the psalm: “In your light shall we see light,” for the Father is seen in the Son, as the Lord tells us in the Gospel “Who sees me, sees the Father.”

From the true light, indeed, the true light proceeded, and from the invisible, the visible.

“He is the image of the invisible God,” as the apostle notes.

Saint Chromatius

Courtesy of Holy Myrrh Bearers Church in Swarthmore, Pa.