MGOCSM is holding a bible study at Santhosh Baby’s house on January 31. at 6:30 PM. The speaker is Rev. Fr. Sujit Thomas.
The address is 9835 Jeanes Street, Philadelphia, PA 19115.
If you have any questions contact, the MGOCSM Secretary, Rachel David-Melavila.
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The Church, begins Great Lent with the ‘Day of Forgiveness,’ and sets her journey into penitence. And so, kneeling and prostrating, her people look ahead to Kymtho, the great feast of the Light. The service of reconciliation is conducted on Monday, the first day if the GreatLent, at the end of third hour. The Service of Reconciliation or shubqono, stands at the ‘threshold of Great Lent.’ The service marks the actual doorway into Lent, the threshold on the other side of which stands the fullest measure of ascesis that the Church metes out to the whole of her faithful throughout the world. As we stand at the threshold of the fast, we sing of him who stood before the gates of Eden. As we make ready to enter in to this season of preparation, we sing often:
O merciful and compassionate Lord, to You I cry aloud: I am fallen! Have mercy on me! Your grace has shown forth, O Lord, it has shone forth and given light to our souls. Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the season of repentance. Let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light, that having sailed across the great sea of the Fast, we may reach the third-day Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of our souls.
The scene painted by the hymns of the day is one of a great and terrible sorrow. We lament the loss of so great a gift – the gift to be children of God. Our sins have forced us to be exiles from glory. We are in want. No more can we look upon the Lord our God and Maker. As GreatLent begins, we are reminded in language stronger and more direct than ever before of the gravity of our condition in sin:
‘Woe is me, what have I suffered in my misery! I transgressed the commandments of the Master, and now I am deprived of every blessing.’ Then the Savior said: ‘I desire not the loss of the creature which I fashioned, but that he should be saved and come to knowledge of the truth; and when he comes to me I will not cast him out.’
By the transgression of the will of God we threw aside the gift of grace and blessings. However, we have a God who loves us and is abundant in His mercy.
‘I will not cast him out.’ God’s words in this are already the words of salvation. They are words of calling, of beckoning, of reconciliation. But they are also words of directive: ‘when he comes to me….’ God does not take fallen man and, with a divine fiat that would mean little to the longterm well being of humankind, magically place him back into glory from which we ourselves have exiled. God knows that it is our heart that most desperately needs to be healed, needs to be turned away from the desire for its own ends and back to a desire for the heart of God Himself. And so the Savior whispers to us, ‘When you come back to me, I will not cast you out’.
Our prayer must be:
Come, my wretched soul, and weep today over your acts, remembering how once you were stripped naked in Eden and cast out from delight and unending joy.
Lent is beginning, and as the personal tone of the hymns professes, this is to be my Fast, my exile, and my return. I cannot of myself escape from Adam’s condition. But through the Church, I need not suffer alone the whole torment of Adam. ‘Let us love abstinence, that we may not weep as he did outside Paradise, but may enter through the gate.’ Great Lent is also a harbor, a safe port wherein we may suffer our repentance in the surety of divine grace and tender compassion. Thus do we petition the Lord:
O God of all, Lord of mercy, look down compassionately upon my lowliness and do not send me far away from Eden; but may I perceive the glory from which I have fallen, and hasten with lamentations to regain what I have lost
We are called to amend and to change our ways of living, thinking and acting from within the full scope of our lives in Christ. During Lent we are thrust into a forum for change, wherein our greatest aid is the incarnate and resurrected Son of God Himself.
The arena of the virtues has been opened. Let all who wish to struggle for the prize now enter, girding themselves for the noble contest of the Fast; for those that strive lawfully are justly crowned. Taking up the armor of the Cross, let us make war against the enemy. Let us have as our invisible rampart the Faith, prayer as our breastplate, and as our helmet almsgiving; and as our sword let us use fasting that cuts away all evil from our heart. If we do this, we shall receive the true crown from Christ the King of all at the Day of Judgment.
‘Let us use fasting that cuts away all evil from our heart.’ The entrance into Great Lent is made as the entrance into the full fray of the spiritual and physical battle we must each wage on the journey into the Kingdom of God. And though this is a battle we must each wage ourselves, we do not enter into it alone. As an invisible rampart, we have the truth of God revealed in His Son and in all the economy of space and time, borne alive in our hearts through the illumination of baptism. And as a visible rampart we have the Church, though here, too, there is the reality of the invisible. It is within the community of all the faithful, past and present, that we struggle towards resurrection, towards Kymtho. It is amidst our neighbors that we stand in this arena and wage this battle. ‘If we do this, we shall receive the true crown.’ From the usual context of ‘I’ and ‘You’ in which we communicate day by day, Great Lent calls us to stand before the gates of Paradise in solidarity as the great family of humankind, the united children on the one God.
And so, forgiveness. The first step in our journey through Lent must be this act of mutual forgiveness, of reconciling ourselves to one another in the context of the holy community in which we shall grow and advance together. If we set out upon the season of inner repentance without beginning here, in an act of fraternal repentance, then we will certainly find ourselves committing sin while singing hymns with our tongues.’ The gate of Paradise will only be more firmly shut. But if this moment of mutual forgiveness is embraced and made real in our lives, then we shall be readily equipped both as individuals and as a community to fight worthily the battle before us. It shall not be we alone in the arena, but we the united Church who stand together in the contest that leads to all the brightness of the third-day Resurrection. And from within this community we will be able to find in our own selves the authentic voice of our genuine individuality, and shall be able to cry out and say:
Cleanse me in the waters of repentance, and through prayer and fasting make me shine with light, for Thou alone art merciful. Abhor me not, O Benefactor of all, supreme in love.
Ashwalan moryo aloho b’tayboothok l’hoosoyo d’hawbai w’shoobqono dahtohai b’hono yawmo qadisho d’ithaw shooroyo d’soomoyeekh qadisho.
Make us worthy, O Lord God, by Your abundant grace, for the remission of sins and the forgiveness of debts on this holy day, which is the beginning of Your Holy Fast.
Prayer
Lord, the voices of our request knocks on the door of Your mercy. Do not discard the needs of those who adore You. The sinful woman prayed to You in tears and received deliverance. Be kind to Your Church at the tears of the priests of Your Church, which you have earned. Lord, we know that we have sinned and that our transgressions are increasing. O Good One, in Your mercy be compassionate and cleanse us from the filth of all unrighteousness.
Evening
St. Luke 4: 1 – 15
Morning
Exodus 32: 30- 35
Hosea 14: 1 – 9
Isaiah 30: 1-4
St. James 1: 12-27
Ephesians 4: 32- 5: 21
St. Matthew 6: 1-6
As an initiate to revive the melodious hymns of our ancient faith, a team of professionals are collecting feedback on what focus of liturgical music from our church the believers would like to see in the future.
Please fill out this survey as this will help them give attention to what the members of our Orthodox Church would like to hear and learn through liturgical music.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1J_Ay5f1BIhRgt0kRlQjSAFIjoB7R3FfYQZQunHeaFDA/edit
As we approach the 2 week countdown to the glorious Resurrection Festival, we are reminded of the few things here in week 6 of the Great and Holy Lent. For today’s meditation we look at St. Luke 19:1 -10, the story of Zacchaeus the tax collector. This is a famous passage read in the liturgy of House Blessing in our church. There are two aspects to which we should turn our focus towards from this passage:
1. Obedience to God
2. Accepting God
Starting off with the first aspect, obedience to God. In verse 5, Jesus says “Zacchaeus come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” We as followers of Christ must realize that this passage is an example of our daily lives. God is asking us every day for us to come down from the tree of the world and let God dwell in our homes, our lives. In verse 6 it says “He came down at once and welcomed Jesus gladly.” How many of us would come down immediately? How many of us would let go of everything we have in our lives to accept God into our lives? The world has made our spirituality so short like Zacchaeus that we must go to the luxury of a tree to see God. But He calls to us everyday; He calls and says “come down for I must stay at your house.” God wants to dwell in us, we are the house He wishes to dwell in.
Secondly, are we willing to accept God? In verse 8, Zacchaeus sees his flaws and promises to do the right thing from now on. When he accepted God, he was able to see his flaws and shortcomings. He thought his life up till then was just perfect. But it was really when Christ entered his house that he realized his flaws. Likewise, we may think we know our lives and our flaws. But in truth, it is only when we accept God in our house, our lives, that we will see our true flaws and mistakes.
The theme for this week is blindness. The blindman was cured when he met Jesus. Correlating the acceptance of God and the blindman meeting Jesus, when we meet Jesus, we must accept him, because then only will we be free of blindness. The world has blinded our spirituality with materialistic ideals. As long as the sunlight shines, one can never see the stars. Likewise, the world has shined its light on our lives so much that we are blinded by luxury and false ideals and we cannot see the truly glory and beauty of God and His grace.
As the days get closer to the Resurrection, we must first realize that God is asking for us to come down from our tree of comfort. We must be willing to accept God into our house, our life. And finally we must allow God to show us our flaws so that He can guide us to the right path and correct our ways. Like it says in the passage, verse 9, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” We are the lost, we are the misguided. God came for us, so that we too may become heirs in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Let us this Lenten season pray and ask God that He seek and save us. Let us be obedient to God and bring Him into our house. And let us accept God in our lives.
Prayer
O Lord, as there is no leniency in you, we the sinful are sorry. Have mercy upon us in your kindness when the Book of Life is opened and your justice examines our wrong doings, let your mercy plead with your justice and we the guilty, receive forgiveness. O Lord, we confess that we have sinned against you. Have mercy upon us in your kindness. Amen
Evening
St. Luke 16: 19-3
Morning
Leviticus 19: 9 – 18
Daniel 9: 1-11
Acts 16: 1-7
II Corinthians 12: 19-13: 13
St. Luke 17: 1-10
Prayer
O God the word, who for our salvation degraded yourself this way, Allow us to share in your great wisdom, to be capable of dying for the good and un-selfish. Make us ready to honor your glorious Cross, so that each day we may carry it ourselves with courage, and protect all who fear you by the sign of your life giving Cross in order that in purity and holiness we give to you glory and praise and to your Father and to the Holy Spirit for ever and ever.
Evening
St. Matthew 17: 22-27
Morning
St. John 3: 13-21
Before Holy Qurbana
Numbers 21: 4-9
Psalms 34: 1-9
Zechariah 12: 6-14
Holy Qurbana
Acts 15: 22 -33
II Corinthians 9: 1-15
St. John 3: 13-21
Mid lent is the 25th day of the Holy Lent and the Orthodox Tradition considers this day as a feast of extreme importance.
What are the significances of Mid Lent?
What shall we understand from the readings of Mid Lent?
Does this have a bearing to the festival of Easter?
Does this have bearings to following festivals in the Church Calendar?
It seems benevolent to answer these questions.
In the book of Numbers, we read in 21: 4-9 that Israelites complained against the Lord about their plight of tedious walking towards Canaan. It was decided that they shall walk around the Land of Edom and they set out from Mount Hor by the route of Red Sea. The route was long and people lost their patience, perseverance and concentration to reach the Promised Land. As usual they started complaining against the Lord and Moses. They spoke in the line like ‘why were they brought to the desert from Egypt that they die there’. They were deprived of bread and water in the desert and the meager food that they were eating was disgusting to them. Result of this rebellion was that the Lord sending fiery serpents into their midst. The serpents bit many Israelites and several of them died. When quite a few have died, the remaining turned back to Moses again and asked him to pray to the Lord for the people. Moses was moved by the request of the people and he opted to pray for them. Answering Moses’ prayer, the Lord commanded him to make a serpent of bronze and to hang it down from the flag pole. Any one looks at the bronze serpent after having bitten by the fiery serpents was to live and not to die. This is the primary text that the Church has decided to highlight for the Mid Lent.
In the Gospel reading for the Mid Lent, we read from Jn 3: 14-15 that like Moses raised the serpent in the desert, the Son was to be raised. This was for any one, who believes in Him shall live. Clearly the allusion here is to the narrated text above. Now, it would be interesting to look deep into the ideas buried here.
First of all the incidence from the book of Numbers was when the people of Israel walked halfway through their sojourn towards the Promised Land. The Church also has walked halfway to the festival of Salvation, namely Easter, the conquering of death by the Son of Man, Jesus Christ. When we reach half of the Holy Lent, being human, many develop tendencies to complain against the food disciplines or severe and rigorous prayer sessions. Moreover, we can notice that people have an increased tendency to criticize and complain against other people during the Holy Lent. It is in this very context that we need to look into the incidence narrated above from the Old Testament. This text is a check for all of us to seriously scrutinize us and our spiritual discipline that we specially adopt during the Holy Lent.
Secondly, the serpent that Moses raised was made of bronze, an alloy made of fusing copper and zinc. Now, copper and zinc have some significance to be noted. Copper is a shining soft metal and in its purity it is very delicate and flexible too, whereas zinc has a dull color and is hard and inflexible but also is easily breakable. These are contrasting characteristics. We can compare these with divine and human traits. God is shining in His purity, and He is very delicate and flexible, eagerly waiting for humans to turn back from their evil ways. Humans in their sinful state are very much rigid, inflexible and therefore, breakable into decay. These contrasting characteristics of metals were fused to make an alloy called bronze and similarly Jesus is made of, namely a total union between divine and human. It is to this God-human that we all will have to look for salvation. King and Prophet David proclaims that the ones, who looked at Him were enlightened and there faces were not ashamed either (cf. Ps 34:5).
On the other hand, the evil that came into the midst of children of Israel was death infused through fiery serpents. In the Garden of Eden, death was infused by a serpent. In order to kill death that was caused by the serpent, God the Son took upon Himself the image of sinful humans. Now when God become human, He looked like a human through and through. Anyone with a snake bite, who looked upon this God become human, lived. St. John the Theologian in his fourth Gospel says that the Son of Man was elevated in the desert for people to believe in Him. Any one who looked upon the bronze serpent has done that with faith that he shall live. Here this act of looking is understood as believing in Jesus Christ though in the writings of St. John. It is for looking unto the Son of Man and believing in Him that the cross is elevated in the midst of the Church during the Mid Lent!
The cross that the Church elevates in her midst at Mid Lent is the cross that will be used for burial of the Lord on Good Friday, for the resurrection on Easter and for His ascension after 40 days from Easter. In short, the cross that is elevated in the midst of the Church and in the midst of the Holy Lent will remain actively in the Church for 65 days. This cross is the sacramental and sacrificial presence of Jesus Christ, the God Incarnate, in the midst of the Holy Lent.
It needs to be answered one more question here. Is venerating this cross idol worship? The answer from an Orthodox perspective is an outright no. In Ten Commandments, it is written that one shall not make any image of anything, living or non living, to make an idol. One shall not worship any idols (cf. Ex 20 and Deut 5). Had the Church had been using the image of a serpent, this tradition could have been depicted as idol worship. The Orthodox Church is not using any idols of any humans or serpents or any other living or non living thing. It is using the empty cross alone. What the cross is depicting is that which signifies the meaning of this great tradition. This cross is depicting none but the God become human. Let us emphasize the concept, the cross portraying the incarnate God. No one can say that this cross is the idol of Jesus Christ. It was the tool of abomination in the past and now that has become the symbol of victory for the ones, who believe in Him (cf. I Cor 1:18). St. Paul was keen to draw attention to the meaning of cross and Gal 6:14 is the highlight of all that he wants to say, namely, his praise is solely in the Holy Cross. This praise, this adoration and this veneration is that the Church is offering to the Holy Cross during these 65 days. This exactly is the very reason for all of us to kiss this cross first, when we come into the Church until the Holy Week. All clergy and servants at the Holy Altar shall kiss this cross until the feast of ascension, for this cross is to be kept in the Holy Altar room after Easter. The Church incenses this cross from Mid Lent until the feast of ascension and the idea there behind is also nothing but the same said above.
Finally there is another tradition associated with the feast of Mid Lent. The name of King Abgar the Black is alluded as well during the readings and songs for the Mid Lent. The tradition says that Abgar the King had an ailment and he wanted Jesus to heal him. Also it was the time that he heard that the Jews were seeking to kill Jesus. The offer from Abgar was that Jesus leaves Jerusalem and lives safely in Edessa or Uraha, which is called Sanli Urfa in present day Eastern Turkey. Interestingly this has happened 25 days before the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, the tradition says. Jesus declined the offer from Abgar to run away from Jerusalem and live in Edessa for He had to accomplish something important, but sent back a towel with His face imprinted upon it miraculously through the Royal Emissary. Later after three years from resurrection St. Thaddeus, other wise called St. Addai, went to Edessa to preach the Gospel and King Abgar became a Christian. Since the communication between Jesus and Abgar the Black happened 25 days before the feast of Resurrection, this tradition also took a place in the Mid Lent calendar. What ever be the veracity of this incidence, one shall note that even a gentile King like the Abgar looked at Jesus with faith to get healed from his ailments or weaknesses and he also got healed. This is the lesson that we too have to take from this legend. Ergo, let all of us get healed from the one who is elevated in the midst of the Church, namely, Jesus Christ!
Praise be to Thee, O Lord, who by Thy own will became the blessed sacrifice on the Cross for our sake. Blessed is Thy sacrificial death which is the fragrance of incense for the whole world and which had cleansed Thy Holy Church from the defilement of sin, from un-holy sacrifices and worthless and wicked deeds. O Christ, our King, by Thy Blood we are saved from death and all other punishments.
Evening
St. Matthew 20: 1-16
Morning
Numbers 28: 1-8
I Samuel 21: 1- 9
Acts 14: 8 – 22
I Corinthians 16: 13-24
St. Matthew 11: 25-12: 8
Annunciation to the Virgin is one of the most important feasts in the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, so important that the Holy Qurbana must be held on this day even if March 25th also happens to be Good Friday! (The Holy Liturgy is otherwise prohibited on Good Friday since the Church celebrates the death of Christ; in fact, the altar is stripped of all altar vessels and covered in black on Good Friday.)
Six months after John the Forerunner’s conception, the Archangel Gabriel was sent by God to Nazareth, a town of Galilee, unto Mary the Virgin, who had come forth from the Temple a mature maiden (see Nov. 21). According to the tradition handed down by the Fathers, she had been betrothed to Joseph four months. On coming to Joseph’s house, the Archangel declared: “Rejoice, thou Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.” After some consideration, and turmoil of soul, and fear because of this greeting, the Virgin, when she had finally obtained full assurance concerning God’s unsearchable condescension and the ineffable dispensation that was to take place through her, and believing that all things are possible to the Most High, answered in humility: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.” And at this, the Holy Spirit came upon her, and the power of the Most high overshadowed her all-blameless womb, and the Son and Word of God, Who existed before the ages, was conceived past speech and understanding, and became flesh in her immaculate body (Luke 1:26-38). Her humility blessed her to be the God-bearer. Her womb carried the One whom even the heavens and earth could not contain. Her life, even though it was one of pain and suffering, became a blessing to others, because of her humility. One of the hymns in the Church portrays her as the highest example of humility: “In whom indeed shall I dwell but in the gentle and humble? He looked upon her and dwelt in her who was humble among the children of men; for none was ever so humble as Mary, and it is manifest that none was ever so exalted as she was” (Aarum uyarthappettillithu pol athinaal spashtam Mariyame pol aarum thaazthappettittilla).
Bearing in her womb the Uncontainable One, the blessed Virgin went with haste from Nazareth to the hill country of Judea, where Zacharias had his dwelling; for she desired to find Elizabeth her kinswoman and rejoice together with her, because, as she had learned from the Archangel, Elizabeth had conceived in her old age. Furthermore, she wished to tell her of the great things that the Mighty One had been well-pleased to bring to pass in her, and she greeted Elizabeth and drew nigh to her. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, she felt her six-month-old babe, Saint John the Baptist, prophesied of the dawning of the spiritual Sun. Immediately, the aged Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and recognized her as the Mother of her Lord, and with a great voice blessed her and the Fruit that she held within herself. The Virgin also, moved by a supernatural rejoicing in the spirit, glorified her God and Savior, saying: “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior,” and the rest, as the divine Luke hath recorded (1:39-55)
“Shlomo, Peace be unto thee,”
Said Gabriel,
“Our Lord is with thee;
Blessed art thou among women. [Luke 1.28]
I have left Him above, but found Him with thee.
He Whom you are bearing,
Who bears the whole creation.”
We are reminded today to follow the path obediently taken up by the God-bearer. We all are called to be God-bearers. We are called to bring Christ into this world which is so in need of His love, and carry Him with us wherever we go, whether it is in our homes, schools, work or parishes. But it is only if we repent and let go of our ego that we can allow Christ to dwell in us, like in the Virgin. Elder Paisios who is known for his ascetic life and gentle manner, once said, “Ask for repentance in your prayer and nothing else, neither for divine lights, nor miracles, nor prophecies, nor spiritual gifts – nothing but repentance. Repentance will bring you humility, humility will bring you the Grace of God, and God will have in His Grace everything you need for your salvation, or anything you might need to help another soul” (The Epistles of Elder Paisios). If we call upon the Lord, He will answer. “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool” (Isaiah 1:18). May this Lenten journey be one that helps us put our ‘self’ aside, leaving room for Christ to dwell in us, leading us to a humble life similar to one shown to us by the Mother of God – a life that allows us to bring Christ into today’s world.
Prayer: Lord, grant me the humility to put myself aside and humble myself before you and those around me. Help me put my ego away and submit myself to become a God-bearer. Grant me a humble heart that will allow you to use my life as an instrument to bring Christ into this world. Teach me to submit my life to praise the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.