The Paschal Canon by St. John Damascene (8th century) is an amazing mediation on the Resurrection of our Lord, and is (together with the Paschal Stichera) the heart of the Paschal services. This is a short reflection on the content and meaning of Ode I of this canon.
Thomas Sunday. Homilies and Questions and Answers.
SYNOPSIS:Of all the resurrection stories, perhaps the one concerning St Thomas is the one we can most relate to. He is the “common man”, who was later able to do uncommon things. We are just like him, so our path of life must also be like his, which is the Christian life in microcosm. He, like us, was a complex indivicdual, believing, then faint of heart, couargeous, then full of fear. The one thing that he did that we must do to be saved is to endure, and “believe in the midst of our unbelief”. If we do this, we are not far away from the supernatural exploits of St Thomas, the Apostle
This is one of several homilies offered.
Sunday of Pascha Agape Vespers. Paschal instructions
Lots of instructions about Pascha and Bright week, covering fasting, O Heavenly King, the Paschal hours, making sure we pray and not just eat sausage, and lots of other stuff. In Text, Audio available.
Bright Thursday. The Encounter with Nicodemus. Two homilies.
A new homily about the encounter of Jesus with Nicodemus, which is an exegesis of the entire passage.
Another homily on this encounter is available also:
The story of Nicodemus meeting with Christ is our story. We are Nicodemus, and Peter, and Mary Magdalene, and Thomas, and the Blind man, and the Paralytic, and all the rest, whom we have read about or will read about in this season; for them and us, illumination comes over time, and always with great effort and waiting on our part.
There is a constant theme throughout this Paschal period, up to and including Pentecost. It is the sure and certain aspect of everyone?s life ? we come to an understanding of holy things slowly, and only if we struggle and endure. …
Bright Monday: Important truths are rarely said absolutely unambiguously. “No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him”, and “Make straight the way of the lord.”
The effect of the incarnation and the absolute necessity for a moral life is declared inn the Gospel for Bright Monday. As is the usual case, profound truths about the Christian life are stated, but not with absolute clarity. The fullness of the meaning of Scripture is not apparent to the casual observer, but only to those who struggle foe righteousness. We look at the whole passage, but particularly the two phrases: “No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him”, and “Make straight the way of the Lord.”
Rocking “Christ is risen” troparion from Africa
‘I am not in favor of changing our tradition regarding musical instruments (and if I could, I would create a virus that destroyed every organ in every Orthodox church), but I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE AN EXCEPTION HERE: Christ is risen troparion, sung with drums, in Africa. Note the priest conducting! It starts out conventionally, then really gets your feet tapping!
Tra-deeeeee-shun!
Pictures of some of our Holy Week traditions *peculiar* to St Nicholas
Pictures and Video from Holy Week, Pascha
Pictures and video from Holy Week, Pascha, at St Nicholas, 2011
The Sunamite woman, Abraham and Ezekiel proclaim the resurrection Holy Saturday Liturgy 2 Kings 4:8-37 Genesis 22:1-18 Ezekiel 37:1-14
We proclaim the resurrection every week in the scriptures read in matins on Sunday. The resurrection is also declared in a hidden way in the OT. On this Holy Saturday, after we have read the Gospel of Matthew in front of the tomb which proclaims the resurrection, let us see how three of the readings we have recently read from the OT proclaim it in a mystical and beautiful way, with examples including Abraham, Ezekiel, and the Sunamite woman.
Homily before the shroud. Three reactions to Christ: hate, love, indifference.
he readings of the narrative of the passion of our Lord give us an understanding of the character of our Lord and our our character. I found, and I am sure many of you found this as well, that last night and this morning as Father was reading, as the Lord stood before Pilate, that my heart was often cold, and my mind wandered. The words from St Ephrem the Syrian really resonate: “All creation was in fear and trembling when the King of Heaven, the Savior, suffered, while we sinners, for whom the Only immortal was given up ever treat this with contempt” What follows is a short discussion of the responses to our Lord during His passion, and at all times: devotion, hatred, and indifference. By Deacon Nicholas Park.