Gleanings from Orthodox Christian Authors and the Holy Fathers
palm_sunday
3 Entries
It is the children who bring their gift of praise so that the story may expose as unfounded any suspicion of insincerity, in the event that some deliberate evil-doer might say that the singers of praise offered their hymn to the Lord with some artifice and in order to curry favor. For the nature of babes knows not how to devise craftiness, or is it subject to the disease of flattery, but just as the grace of the Spirit sounds in them, so do they proclaim the miracle. Children offer their gift of praise so that they all may be taught in very deed that the grace of the Mystery is comprehended not by those who have a curious turn of mind and are shamelessly inquisitive, but that the knowledge of piety is revealed to those who approach it with an unaffected mind and thoughts unused to evil. St. Photios the Great, Homily on Palm Sunday
Lo, our King, meek and gentle, seated upon an ass With haste hurries to suffer and to cut suffering -- The Word upon the dumb, willing it that rational beings be redeemed. And it was possible to behold the One on the back of the ass Who is on the shoulders of the Cherubim, The One Who once translated Elijah in a fiery chariot, The One Who is poor of His own will, but rich in His nature, The One Who is voluntarily weak, yet granting power To all of those who cry out to Him: "Thou art the blessed One Who comes to call up Adam." St Romanos the Melodist - Vol. II, On the Entry into Jerusalem
Thou hast shown Thy strength in choosing the humble, for it was a sing of poverty For Thee to sit on the ass; but as Glorious, Thou dost shake Zion. The cloaks of the disciples pointed to frugality; But the song of the children and the throng of people was a sing of Thy strength, As they cry out, "Hosanna in the highest," that, Save! Thou Who art on high, save the humbled; Heeding the palm branches, take pity on us, Look upon those who cry out: "Thou art the blessed One Who comest to call up Adam." St Romanos the Melodist - On The Entry into Jerusalem
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