The Morning After Easter – Sham el Nessim (a Repost)

Posted on Monday, May 6, 2013 by Mendicant Monk

Seems we are not the first to think of a Bright (Easter) Monday pinic.

Orthodox Easter, otherwise known as Pascha, was this weekend. This means that much of Christendom celebrated Easter after a Holy Week that led us to a final, triumphant service, beginning just before midnight on Saturday and ending around three in the morning. While this may seem daunting, I assure you – staying awake is not an issue. How can you doze off when a priest periodically comes into the congregation and with joy shouts “Christ is Risen!” to which you respond “Indeed, He is Risen!”.

As is the duty of those who call themselves Christians, the challenge is moving from Pascha into the week after. From celebration into the ordinary. From Sunday into Monday. It is easier to do this in some places than in others, and Egypt is one of those places where the Monday after Easter is Sham el Nessim – a national holiday.

So today I am…

View original post 537 more words

The Never Ending Day

Posted on Sunday, May 5, 2013 by Mendicant Monk

Great & Holy Pascha 2013

Time in this fallen world is often experienced as something we need to use up or even kill in our never-ending pursuit of pleasure and cessation from work. But the irony is that for however long or hard we work, leisure time, that supposed reward at the end of a day’s labor, ever seeks to elude us. Especially in America, we can never seem to work long enough or hard enough to reach it, if pleasure really is the goal we should be seeking at all.

The Epicurean philosophers and their modern Madison Avenue ad agencies bid us to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. The Lord Jesus Christ bids us, rather paradoxically, to take up our cross and die with him. And no one in the history of the world who has taken the Lord’s advice over the Epicureans has ever been sorry for it, for our crucifixion always ends, as His, in resurrection. Continue reading →

A Church that Sings

Posted on Friday, May 3, 2013 by Mendicant Monk

Great and Holy Friday, 2013

One of the struggles I had when I first became Orthodox was discovering within the Church a tradition of congregational singing not unlike what I grew up with in the Protestant Church. What one often finds in a typical Orthodox Church either here or abroad is that the entire service is sung by a choir, either amateur or professional, that performs pieces from a place removed, either in a choir loft or off to the side. The unconscious message this sends, especially if they are singing from the loft, is that the rest of the people in the nave are off the hook, and that their work consists merely of silent prayer in their respective place. Continue reading →

Act Now While Divine Services Last!

Posted on Saturday, April 27, 2013 by Mendicant Monk

For those of you in my faithful readership who have yet to experience an Orthodox Christian Holy Week, now is your chance. At an Orthodox parish near you, begins a week of services unlike any you have experienced anywhere else on the planet. If you are local to Boston, you are cordially invited to attend all of the services our parish offers. If you can only do one, come to either Saturday morning Liturgy or late Saturday night, early Sunday morning for the Feast of Feasts, GREAT AND HOLY PASCHA.

Worse case scenario, if you are unable to appear hypostatically (in person), you can at least listen to a youtube channel created that has much of the key music or the ever-mellifluous Ancient Faith Radio. WARNING: Once you have gone to one service, you won’t be able to stop, so clear your schedule for God because He deserves your praise more than baseball games, concerts, or that addicting TV series. Let the divine drama begin!

Abundantly Weeping

Posted on Tuesday, March 19, 2013 by Mendicant Monk

On this Clean Tuesday of the first week of Great & Holy Lent, I would like to share with you three things that have helped me in the work of repentance. The first two are quotes from my favorite writers, both of which make me choke up whenever I remember them. The last is a sermon I delivered a few years back on the liturgical anniversary of this day. It speaks mostly of the Canon of St. Andrew which the Church gives us as an aid for compunction. Continue reading →

Much Depends on Dinner

Posted on Saturday, March 16, 2013 by Mendicant Monk

Now that we Orthodox Christians have finally entered the season of Great and Holy Lent alongside of our Western brothers and sisters, it is appropriate for us all to go deeper within, repent of our sins, and seek the Lord more fervently that we may be ready to celebrate his all glorious resurrection at Great and Holy Pascha (Easter). The West celebrates Easter in only a few weeks on March 31, while we Orthodox will not break our fast until May 5, six full weeks later!

And while we are on the subject of fasting… A few weeks ago, as I was planning what to say at the start of Lent in this blog, I was thinking especially of a choice, juicy opinion that I have been nursing for some time but has never seen the light of publication or even been hinted at in my other writings. Please forgive me. Though I have just greatly tantalized your interest, I must confess that the service tonight on the Eve of Forgiveness Sunday derailed my original intent, and I must speak of something more mundane but much more fundamental. Continue reading →

Learning ALL the Verses

Posted on Sunday, January 6, 2013 by Mendicant Monk

I am always a bit ashamed in traveling to Russia and other places in the world that I come from a country where shared folk singing is not as strong as in other cultures. That is until I consider the great American and British tradition of carol singing around Christmas time. Continue reading →

Edible Ecumenical Dialogue

Posted on Friday, January 4, 2013 by Mendicant Monk

Three King’s Bread

I have always loved this time of year between the two Christmases (New Style and Old Style) which falls for West during the twelve days of Christmas right before Epiphany on January 6. Unlike those in America who might feel that the lights have all been extinguished and it is time to go back to business as usual, I feel like the party is just getting started and not only for the Orthodox Christians who might be known for their extensive pre- and post-festive extravaganzas.

Continue reading →

The Magic of the First Snowfall

Image

Happy New Year and glory be to God for a first snowfall in Boston. The snow is not so much to cause too much back strain to shovel, yet just enough for the kid’s to have endless hours of enjoyment: skating, snowmen, and sledding have already transpired in the first 24 hours. Looking forward to more adventures in this winter wonderland…

Wonderland Outside Our Front Porch

Canceling Christmas

Posted on Friday, December 21, 2012 by Mendicant Monk

There are many great classic Christmas specials I remember growing up. Most of them now are available on DVD or on some form of online streaming. I introduced my own children recently to one of my favorites, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. In this particular story, there is a scene in which a distressed Santa Claus makes an announcement to all of his North Pole staff that due to inclement weather, Christmas this year would have to be cancelled. Of course, Rudolph with his nose so bright, saves the day and gets Santa to put his game face back on, but the thought that someone, even of Santa’s caliber, had the authority to cancel such an extraordinary feast sent shivers down my prepubescent spine. Continue reading →