The Dogma is the Drama

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Just before the beginning of Great Lent, I was thumbing through my library wondering again what would be the best thing to read in this season of the fast. It is a good and pious practice during the forty days of fasting not only to increase prayers and attendance to church services but to practice some form of media fast and engage instead in one good spiritual book that will help one reflect on the life of Christ and repent of sinful habits. It was then that I came across an article which highlighted the book or rather set of plays that C.S. Lewis frequently read during Lent. This and the name Dorothy Sayers both caught my attention. Sayers is popular for her saying that “the dogma is the drama”; i.e., contrary to popular opinion that learning right doctrine is for dull and doltish people who like dusty libraries and don’t know how to have a good time, the dogma of the Church, relating first and foremost to the identity and work of Jesus Christ as He reveals the worship of the All-Holy Trinity, is rather for those who wish to engage in the greatest of all dramas.

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Orthodox Byzantine Music Concert in Montreal, April 20

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2013LentenConcert I don’t usually use this blog to advertise upcoming events, but I thought that since some of my subscribers might be local to Quebec, it would be good to hear in advance about an opportunity our little Boston Byzantine Choir of St. Mary Orthodox Church in Cambridge has had to go international (well, okay, just across the border to Canada, but French Canada at least). Announcing a Lenten musical pilgrimage concert entitled From Adam to Christ: A Story of Rebellion to Redemption featuring our own choir and the parish choir of St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church of Montreal. The concert will take place in two weeks on the Saturday before the Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt, April 20, 7:00 pm, at St. George’s, so if you are local, plan on swinging by to hear some extraordinary and otherworldly music. Click on the flier pictured left for more detailed information and stay tuned for at least one blog post from me in retrospect of the event. I can’t imagine visiting a world class city like Montreal and not having something to say about it!

Hasten to the Tomb!

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I had been planning it all week, but like all difficult things, when the time came to actually carry it out, I was lingering in the throes of early morning drowsiness. I have been trying for years to attend the Western Easter Vigil Service that I format every year for the parish where I am employed as an administrator. But for the last several years, the Eastern and the Western calendars have been in sync, and I would never miss a drop of Orthodox Holy Week, especially as I usually lead the service on the morning of Great and Holy Saturday.

But this year I had my opportunity, and I determined to seize it. Continue reading →

Abundantly Weeping

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ManOn 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

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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 →

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

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Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name,
And they’re always glad you came…

This theme song from the great American sit-com Cheers is more than an opening for a TV show. It is an expression for a nation overworked and undernourished by the food of community life. We all long for a place to rest where the familiar faces and time-honored routine settles around us like a warm, inviting bear hug. We long for such an experience and expect to find it in places like the church, but all too often our local church suffers from the same coldness and isolation as the world. Continue reading →

Chesterton Saved My Life

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Through a series of rather fortunate and providential events, I have been asked to speak at the upcoming American Chesterton Society’s National Convention. Yes, you will see little old me if you scroll down past the doctors, professors, and journalists and get to the very bottom. My first thought was, “Whew, dead last, right before everyone goes home, so maybe only the real die-hards will be left to love me no matter what I say.” But then I see that I speak right before Mass and a closing banquet. So much for winging it. Continue reading →