Author: seraphimholland

Sunday before Theophany. John’s, Christ’s and our baptism explained.

On the Sunday before Theophany we read from the beginning of the Gospel of Mark 2 important prophesies regarding the ministry of Jesus Christ, and regarding the ministry of John the Baptist. The “baptism of John”, and of Christ, and our own is explained, and the admonition of St John: “Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight”, which applies to each one of us, all the time, is explained. There is a very important nuance of meaning that is missed by too many Christians. Our life must be a continual attempt to obey this admonition, and without our effort to do so, we cannot be saved, while, on the other hand, our success in fulfilling this command does not determine if we are saved either. This is the old faith vs. works argument, which, for those who were not raised in the church, can be very confusing. It is actually quite easy to understand (after you have understood it!). Our baptism, and all that God does to give us His grace, enables us to become perfected and to know Him. We are responsible for trying, and only because of His help, we will succeed. Overall, if our life is an effort to fulfill this commandment, we will be saved.

Life of St Seraphim of Sarov – cartoon version in Russian

On my namesday, a little cartoon about St Seraphim, in Russian. I cannot read it, but it looks very sweet.

This looks like it would be great to show to kids. I would love to know what it says (if there is something wrong, please comment)

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I am come to save Adam, the first-fashioned man. Explanation of Prefestal Theophany Kontakion

In the streams of the Jordan today /
the Lord cried to John: /
Be not afraid to baptize Me, /
for, I am come to save Adam, //
the first-fashioned man.

This Kontakion is sung at each of the Royal Hours of Theophany. As in all of our hymns, it has “facts” in it that usually based on the scriptural record, but the meaning is much deeper than facts. Let us feel the great consolation that this hymn promises …

Whereby we cross the flowing stream of life.

This troparion is sung at each of the Royal Hours of Theophany.

It describes an event which is a “type” or foreshadowing of baptism. Many Theophany hymns describe the many types of baptism in the Old Testament. A “type” is an event or thing which foreshadows or “points to” a future event or thing.

A good rule of thumb regarding typology is that the more types there are for a given thing, the more important it is. There are many types for baptism, the cross and the resurrection, for example.

The dividing of the River Jordan when it was struck by the mantle of Elisha is an obvious type of baptism, since it evokes the memory of the dividing of the Red sea, which is perhaps the quintessential and most important type of baptism in the Old Testament.

This event has a nuance to it that the dividing of the Red Sea does not have. …

Quiet and healing for the soul. Monday Moleben and Akathist

Last night I arrived early at church to prepare for the regular Monday Moleben with Akathist, and to await the arrival of someone for an appointment. We have served a Moleben each week for a long time, with prayer for a long list of names – all of our parish members, our parish “sort of” members, friends from other local parishes and a long list of people on our public prayer list, who have requested prayer.

It is one of the most important things I do. It is also often quite hard to do. This is because of me; anything in which the soul feels heavy and does not want to do something is because of us. Let’s be honest here. We all have weak faith, and the best we can do if we want to eventually have real, warm and perfect faith is to be like the son in the parable who at first said he would not go into the field to work, but later repented, and went to work. Our Lord tells us that he did the will of his father, and not the other son who said he would go, but did not.

This parable has always been a great comfort to me. It tells me that I can receive a blessing even from imperfect obedience, and that the most important part of obedience is not what we say or feel, but what we do. This describes a lot of stuff that I do, or, often, describes the way I start to do things. …