Tag: Christianity

    

Poised on the intersection of divine eternity and human history, the holy ground of Mount Sinai sets the stage for the monumental events of salvation. From God’s revelation of His name in the Burning-but-not-consumed Bush to the reception of the Ten Commandments by Moses and all that ensues as the Hebrew people struggle to follow the way of God to the promised land – the Old Testament revelations of Sinai illumine our own path to God.

Trusting in God, the Hebrew people do well. Putting their own logic ahead of that trust, not so well … A desert is a difficult place where one learns to depend on the grace, the divine help of God. And this is where Sinai’s light shines brightest. For the difficult steps leading to the Holy Summit of Sinai divulge not only the path to God, but its destination– physical union with the divine fire of the Burning Bush. A mystery difficult to contemplate but for the living icon of the Mother of God whose womb – like the Burning Bush – would contain the fire of divinity, some twelve centuries later, without being consumed by it.

With the message of union with God encompassing both Old and New Testaments– what then separates the two? True, the New Testament reveals the trinitarian nature of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, accentuating the meeting point of creation with God in the Person of the Son – but these earthshaking realities were previously indicated on Sinai, very much in the Old Testament …

    

The New Testament opens with the human genealogy of Jesus Christ. Having been born of a Father without a mother before time, He is now born of a mother without a father within time – fully God, fully Man. Thus Jesus, the Son and Anointed of God (Messiah in Hebrew, Christos in Greek), refers to Himself as the “Son of Man,” emphasizing that, notwithstanding His unprecedented miracles, He is fully human. Why is this important? For many reasons, one of which is to demonstrate that we can follow in His footsteps to reject sin and its damages, since He accomplished this as a human Himself. Thus He says I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.

Illustrated by anchorites like St. Mary of Egypt. A Homily by St. Tikhon, Patriarch of MoscowThe life of St. Mary teaches us that there is no sin that could overcome the mercy of God, there is no abyss of dissoluteness that we could not rise from by the grace of God and by taking the path of faith and repentance.

“>Saint Mary of Egypt who took this so much to heart that they went out into the desert to occupy themselves with nothing else, the process is called “purification of soul.” Christian life for Orthodox faithful is not a matter of “going to church,” “going to confession” “fasting” and the like. They worship, confess (which in fact is not a place they go to but therapy for the soul) and fast, but only as the means to an end. Quoting the Bishop of Skopelos on the Sunday of St. John Climacus“>Sunday of Saint John Klimakos, “You can put nothing except fasting foods in your mouth for an entire lifetime and achieve nothing. Fasting is not an end in itself, but the means to an end – sanctity.” As Sinai’s Elder Pavlos would explain, “Fasting is a means provided by the Church for those who wish to go closer to God.”

    

Saint Mary spent forty-eight years in the desert. Where were her toiletries, her vitamins, her medicines, her sugar and coffee? Where did she find a cold drink in the suffocating heat of the Palestinian desert; a stack of blankets to weather its freezing nights? Her recycle bags to carry groceries home from the supermarket? The logistics are unimaginable even to those who think we live a fairly basic lifestyle.

The answer, beyond the perception of this world, is no secret to the wisdom of Orthodox hymnology. As the famous hymn of the Annunciation to the Mother of God points out, “Wherever God wishes – the order of nature is overridden.” Or, in the expression of the original Greek whose grammatical drama allows backwards sentences for effect: Wherever God wishes – is vanquished of nature the order!’

Sinai’s Elder Pavlos of blessed memory had a story to tell on the subject, one which you were not likely to hear for he took the Sinaite custom of hiding one’s spiritual experiences very seriously. Overcome with ascetic zeal, he would hike in the blistering desert for three days at a time without water, without having brought water along even for emergencies … to reach his destination filled with the exhilaration of unmitigated ardor, spiritual and bodily thirst alike quenched by the grace …

* * *

Having taken affront at the abusive powers of sin on the soul, Mary of Egypt throws the entire weight of repentance against the insult by walking into the desert and not coming back. Suddenly seeing what cannot be seen, she realizes that the only thing of value in this life, the only thing that lasts, is going closer to God. Does God live only in the desert then? On the contrary. Given that the purity of God bears no cohabitation with sin, Saint Mary’s self-exile illustrates not how far a Christian must go from civilization to find a cave, but how far one must go from sin to find his soul. Everything one does in this life can, and must be, the means of going closer to God.

Thus the gift of the Old Testament in setting humanity on the path to purification of soul. “On the path,” because despite the emphasis of Mosaic Law on the ritual of purification, there is no purification of soul before the sacrifice of the unblemished Lamb of God on the cross, whose most pure blood alone carries the divine power to purify …

Having begun, then, with the Incarnation (the ‘putting on flesh’) of Christ (who puts on human nature in everything but sin), the New Testament recounts His work as the God-man who saves humans from slavery to death, encouraging their return to the blessedness of life in God for which they were created. The first four chapters are the Evangelia, meaning ‘good news.’ These are four parallel accounts of the life of Jesus, His teachings and miracles, completed by the work of His salvation on the Cross, His resurrection from the dead and finally, return to His Father in Heaven.

Photo by Priestmonk Justin Sinaites     

Christ leaves His followers with the promise of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit who dwells within those who wholeheartedly seek His presence within their hearts and lives. One must want Him, for our God respects our freedom and will not force His love on anyone.

Next we read about the Acts of the Apostles as they carry the good news of Christ into the world following the promised descent of the Holy Spirit. The rest of the New Testament consists of letters from the apostles, mostly Saint Paul, to members of the new faith.

Simultaneously with the inconceivable humility of His birth as an infant, however, Christ exists before all time. In fact, as the ‘Asarkos’ (before putting on flesh) Word of God, He is the Creator of all. Throughout the Old Testament, it is Christ who forms the first humans; who appears in the Burning Bush to acquaint humanity with God; who gives Moses the Ten Commandments on Sinai in order to turn people from the atrocities of paganism; who gives His words to the Prophets to bring humanity back to God – not by force but through the healthy exercise of their free will (the same free will the first humans misused to reject life in God).

As Archbishop Damianos of Sinai has pointed out, being a community of Love, the Holy Trinity created mankind to participate in the blessedness of that Love. Where does free will fit in? To answer a question with a question: Who ever loved by force? To love, people must enjoy the freedom to want to. Their early choice rejected that love (by accepting slanderous thoughts against it). The inevitable result was slavery to sin. But in purifying human nature as the God-man, Christ purifies freedom of will itself via the blessings of the Church founded through His apostles and guarded from human innovation by their successors.

Reversing the mistake of the first humans by rejecting the disparaging thoughts about others that besiege us all, humans can once again genuinely love. The reward of love? Union with God in theosis: the goal of Orthodox Christian life in which our purified energies are united with those of God Himself. Should one desire the definitive image of this human-divine synergy, he need but consider the birth of the bodiless Word of God in the flesh of the Holy Virgin.

“… as the herald of truth, tell me O Gabriel how I shall give birth in the flesh to the bodiless Word…” From the Fourth ode of the Canon sung on the Orthodox feast of the Annunciation. Canons are sacred poems referencing the Old Testament songs whose theological insights richly illumine the New Testament events they foreshadow. The Annunciation Canon is composed entirely of a rhetorical dialogue between the Holy Virgin and the Archangel offering many layers of perception into the ultimate unknowability of the event. Photo by Bruce White.     

The rewards are infinite, for the grace of God not only enters within us, but flows from us to our children, assisting them through the difficulties and challenges of their present and future lives – the obligation par excellence of parenthood. Feeding the child with material food comes second to nourishing them with the Holy Spirit … in order for the grace of God to flow ultimately from us to the entire world. What did Saint Seraphim of Sarov say? “Find inner peace, and thousands around you will be saved.”

PART II

It would be difficult indeed to think about the union of human and divine energy without remembering the events of Pentecost. Observing Jewish custom on this day, the apostles were commemorating Moses’ reception of the Commandments on Sinai – the Law of God preparing humanity for reception of the Holy Spirit – when the event suddenly takes place. The Holy Spirit descends in tongues of fire upon each of the apostles, who then begin speaking the foreign languages they will need to carry the good news of Christ’s saving grace to the world.

The Jewish festival of Pentecost having reached its zenith in the Christian one, Apostle Peter proceeds to a summary of the Old Testament prophecies and promises of God that have just been fulfilled before the eyes of thousands.. Beginning with Prophet Joel’s And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh … he proves to the attentive crowd that there can no longer be doubt in anyone’s mind that Jesus is God before the ages.. Indeed, Orthodox Christianity’s great theologian-saints are clear that the words of all the Old Testament prophecies are those of the Pre-incarnate Son and Word of God.

However, Peter stresses that this day’s miracle is not the end of something, but the beginning:

“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For this promise belongs to you and your children and to all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” (Acts 2. 38-39)

PART III

And the heavens and the earth were finished, and the whole world of them.

And God finished on the sixth day his works which he made, and he ceased on

the seventh day from all his works which he made. And God blessed the seventh day

and sanctified it, because in it he ceased from all his works … (Genesis 2.1-3)

In short, the Old Testament recounts the works of Christ before His incarnation as a man, while the New Testament recounts the works of Christ following His incarnation.

Navigating the fathomless depths of Orthodox worship we discover the staggering connection between the two in the services of Holy and Great Saturday, the day that Christ spends in Hades following the ineffable passion of His crucifixion … A day of breathless silence rendered intelligible only within the vision of the sacred hymnology which notes that

“Moses, the great Prophet, mystically prefigured this day saying,

‘And God blessed the seventh day.’

For this is the blessed Sabbath; this is the day of rest,

on which the only-begotten Son of God rested from all His works,

observing the Sabbath rest 1744007792 in the flesh …”

Having rested on the seventh day from the works of Creation that brought everything into being from nothing, Christ rests once more on the seventh day, now in the flesh, from the greatest work of all.

Far beyond the garden of earthly delight where the first humans wore the glory of God as a garment, the salvation offered by the God-man renders His followers gods themselves, fulfilling the text of Psalm 81/82.6: I have said, Ye are gods; and children of the Most High, all of you. This passage is quoted by Christ Himself in John 10.34, clarifying that gods are those who receive the Word of God; the gift of grace bestowed without change to human nature (thus the small ‘g’ appropriate to this text). The earthly garden is infinitely superseded by the kingdom of heaven – God within those who authentically seek and desire Him.   

It was on this same seventh day, the Holy and Great Saturday celebrating Christ’s opening of the kingdom of heaven to mankind, that Archbishop Damianos shared the above observations following the Divine Liturgy at St. Catherine’s. An Orthodox pilgrim listened attentively as though in preparation for the impending moment already arrived for him, the moment when his soul flew from this world to the newly opened kingdom in the joy awaiting every child of the Most High; pilgrims in heart and soul, all of them …

One goes to great lengths to experience the majesties of creation (which the enlightened say are nothing compared to those of the original creation). The traveler returns home with photos and mementos, hoping to retain the inner peace inspired by alpine wildflowers, Mediterranean seas glistening on their way to forever, a glass of claret sparkling in the sunlight on a medieval hilltop surrounded by olives and pomegranates ..

But he cannot. So he returns, again and again, discounting the toils of travel because the experience of peace is so addictive. Understandably, because we were created for it … not for ephemeral joys that is, but for the incomparable peace of God that dwells within, wherever we are, whatever we are doing. This is the gift one brings home not from the airport or the bank or the supermarket, but from the journey deep into the soul that finally confronts the “Why are we here?” whose voice will not be silenced. Fame and fortune, family and friends all have their day in the sun. And the sun can be counted on … but not forever..

The promise held out by God in the Old Testament is made reality in the New.

When all is said and done, it’s not about practicing virtue, but about wanting to. Our objective in seeking the Holy Spirit is not to become divine on our own powers (as attempted by Adam and Eve, resulting in their estrangement from God) – but to become participants in the love of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, through purity of soul. What does the most venerable Orthodox saint then respond to the lowliest monastic who seeks his or her guidance? “Do this – if you want to.”

Thus the dangers, not of having riches, but of enslaving ourselves to them, of devoting ourselves to nothing but the good life of food and drink, health and wealth; or rather, to the delusion that Life consists of nothing higher..

What does the leprous man who has understood the mercy of Christ say to Him? If you will, you can make me clean. What does Christ’s love reflexively respond, even before commanding, Be cleansed ? … “I will!”

While “mercy” might conjure up images of a tyrant needing appeasement, in fact the word “mercy” translates a Greek one meaning charity. As the energy of “divine righteousness” which only loves, God’s “merciful charity” could not be further from the vindictiveness connected to human notions of righteousness. How grossly non-Orthodox translations of the Scriptures have disfigured the humble love of Christ – the Lord and God of all who exclaims on another occasion “Man, who made Me judge or partitioner over you?” With a small vocabulary and no need for spoken fluency, New Testament Greek is not that difficult to learn. A good grammar and the patience to go slowly quickly pay for themselves with priceless new perceptions, not only of the meanings but of the power couched in the words of holy scripture. The kind of perception that transcends understanding … Why? As the Word of God, Christ Himself is present in His words.

Passing through the nave of the church from front to back with the Book of the Evangelia held high, as all liturgists do on Sundays after reading the New Testament announcement of Christ’s Resurrection, Father Pavlos did not try to conceal his elation as he offered the Book to each of the faithful as each pressed forward to venerate it with a grateful kiss. “In the words of His Evangelia, the Word of God Himself comes forth to greet His people,” he would say, “just as you greet beloved visitors to your home!”

Christians similarly cherish the pure will of the Mother of God at the Archangel Gabriel’s announcement that she has been selected to give birth to Christ. How could anyone respond to such a message? Indeed the Holy Virgin evinces bewilderment. Held hostage neither to sin however, nor to the bonds of impoverished human logic, she waits only long enough to understand this to be the will of God before exclaiming, Behold, the handmaid of the Lord! “I will!”

As indicated by a rare Sinai icon depicting the embryo Christ in her womb, it is at this instant – simultaneously with the Virgin’s acceptance – that the Holy Spirit descends in a ray of grace for the infant Christ to take shape in her womb.

Representing the Holy Spirit’s entrance into the heart of every Orthodox Christian who finds his own will in that of Christ, the message of the Annunciation is placed on the Beautiful Gate of Orthodox temples – the central doors opening onto the holy of holies – the altar bearing the body and blood of Christ that sanctify every Orthodox Christian from within.

With limited space, the depiction on the altar gates is typically limited to images of the Archangel and Holy Virgin whose stances exude the unprecedented gravity of this moment for mankind – the juncture of Old and New Testaments enacted within the womb of a Pure Maiden. A juncture contingent not only upon the Virgin’s response, but upon our own when called to embrace God’s plan of salvation on behalf of our own soul. For Christ wishes to be born within every soul brought into being by His love; a calling to whose magnitude we must respond – and do – whether through action, or the tragedy of inaction.

    

Wrapped about in clouds of seclusion from the world and its travails, a Byzantine monastery perched on a crag overlooking the Aegean preserves the apprehension of these phenomena by a devout woodcarver, himself long lost to the centuries. Well aware that Byzantine iconography functions neither as art nor historical representation, he understood its testimony to the kingdom of heaven, to the grace that acts on creation not just exteriorly, but from within Spirit-bearing souls.

Unwilling, as a result, to omit the ray from the iconography that manifests the synergy of divine energies with human love, the woodworker solved his dilemma by skillfully carving the ray of grace into the decorations of the surrounding woodcarving, exactly where it would have been painted had space allowed for a complete icon…

These are the teachings preserved without change until today only by Orthodox Christianity’s vigilance for the Truth of God; the vigilance of a nameless soul carving the Light of Christ into the fabric of a monastery sequestered by the ages on a nameless headland … where it shines undimmed upon the ages.

What unites Old and New Testaments then? What else but the sacrificial love outside time yet within it, of the bodiless yet incarnate Son of God, whose limitless generosity unites the courage and daring of those who truly want “the good life” … with its ineffable blessings.

“A Night to Remember” is an award-winning 1958 black-and-white movie about the sinking of the Titanic.

On that fateful night in 1912, the ship held 2,224 passengers.

The lifeboats had room for approximately 1,178. One of the film’s most moving elements is the women-and-children-first ethos that largely guided their loading.

That in a life-threatening situation women and children should be saved first is not a written law, now or then. It’s based on the chivalric value that the strong should protect the vulnerable; that women, the bearers and nurturers of new life, deserve special cherishing; that should the men and fathers die, those who come after may know that their lives were a sacrifice.

In one especially poignant scene, a couple, the parents of three young children who are obviously deeply in love, face off over the lifeboat. “I can’t leave you here, Robert,” the wife says quietly. “I’m not going, Robert.”

Robert levels his gaze and speaks with the utmost tenderness and the utmost clarity. “My dear, I never expected to ask you to obey me — but this time I must.”

They exchange a look that says, “We may very well never see one another again but our union, and the children, have been the joy of my life.” And then Robert kisses them goodbye, tells the children to look after their mother, waves cheerily, and turns away, stricken, only then allowing himself tears.

In a similar show of courage, the ship’s band take up their instruments and continue playing to the last — music soothes the nerves, they know — and so they, too, stay at their work-of-mercy watch till the waters close in.

Then there’s Mr. Guggenheim, who, as the ship perilously lists, calls for his impeccably attired valet, removes his unsightly life vest, and dons black tie and tails.

“We are dressed now in our best,” he informs his friends, “and are prepared to go down like gentlemen. If anything should happen to me, I should like my wife to know that I behaved decently.”

In the confusion, some heard, “Women and children only;” others, “Women and children first.” 

Thus J. Bruce Ismay, chairman of the White Star line under which the Titanic launched, climbed near the end of the loading process into an almost empty lifeboat, was rescued, and afterward was so mercilessly — and as it turned out, unfairly — shamed in the media for his putative cowardice that he became a lifelong recluse.

Fast forward 112 years to today when biological male athletes regularly pummel, kick, shove aside, outrun, outswim, out-lift, and outbox their female competitors.

Holding their trophies triumphantly aloft, they’re then hailed by much of the culture as brave and radical trailblazers.

What happened? Would a contemporary audience even see the nobility; the code of honor; the sublime ideals of men, notwithstanding their other faults and failings, bred by culture and education almost instantly in a crisis to lay down their lives?

Or would Mr. Guggenheim rather be recast as a vile colonizer, Robert a man-splainer, his wife a downtrodden puppet, and the plucky orchestra milquetoasts unable to exercise the appropriate “self-care?”

C.S. Lewis foresaw the situation well in his long 1943 essay “The Abolition of Man.” His focus was education, and his thesis was that humankind depends on a bedrock of traditions, ideals, and beliefs that he called the “Tao.”

All the world’s great religions and philosophies — chief among them the Christian Gospels — agree on them. They include Duties to Parents, Elders, and Ancestors, Duties to Children and Posterity, The Law of Good Faith and Veracity, The Law of Mercy, and the Law of Magnanimity.

Below, above, or outside the Tao we cannot go. “It is the sole source of all value judgments. If it is rejected, all value is rejected.”

Moreover, the Tao cannot be applied piecemeal. “If the pursuit of scientific knowledge is a real value, then so is conjugal fidelity.” You can’t purport to want to save the planet, and at the same time promote abortion.

As it stands, says Lewis, an education that fails to instill objective values produces “men without chests”: without hearts, without emotions, guided solely by intellect and instinct.

And there is no guarantee that men guided solely by instinct and intellect will be benevolent.

For The Law of General Beneficence is itself part of the Tao.

Let’s not forget that the men of the Titanic, being significantly stronger than either women or children, could easily have elbowed them all aside, left them to drown, and filled the lifeboats first themselves.

What happens when the restraining hand of traditional, objective values, whereby men would rather die than be seen — and to know themselves — as cheaters and bullies and cowards, is entirely removed?

What happens when the strong have killed off all the weak and the vulnerable? When power inevitably becomes ever more concentrated in the hands of the few? When the life-giving procreative urge between men and women has been so thoroughly degraded that our culture becomes one of death?

Such a state of affairs leads inexorably to the abolition of man: man as an ideal, man as a species.

No need to despair: the gates of hell shall not prevail against Christ’s Church. But a 2025 citizen of the world can hardly read Lewis’ essay and fail to shudder with recognition.

“We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings to be fruitful.”

The disgraced former cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, removed from the clerical state in 2019 after revelations of credible allegations of sexual abuse of minors and misconduct against adults, has died in Missouri. He was 94.

McCarrick’s attorney confirmed his death April 4 to OSV News. According to multiple sources, he died April 3.

McCarrick was once one of the most powerful clerics in the Catholic Church, serving as the archbishop of Newark, N.J., from 1986 to 2000 and archbishop of Washington from 2001 to 2006. In June 2018, McCarrick was removed from ministry at the direction of the Vatican due to a credible allegation of sexual abuse of a teenager investigated by the Archdiocese of New York.

It was eventually revealed that McCarrick had been the subject of sexual abuse allegations spanning the decades of his high-profile clerical career, prompting an extensive Vatican investigation.

Allegations that McCarrick had sexually abused both adult and child victims over decades marked the start of a new chapter in the Catholic Church’s clerical abuse crisis, and led to his resignation from the College of Cardinals a month later.

In July 2018, The New York Times detailed allegations that McCarrick abused two seminarians in the 1980s that resulted in abuse settlements from the Diocese of Metuchen, New Jersey, and a separate allegation from the first child McCarrick baptized, who detailed instances of abuse over 20 years, beginning when the boy was 11.

The public allegations led to revelations that McCarrick had been accused over the years of sexual misconduct involving adults, including against seminarians and young priests, some of which had resulted in legal settlements between dioceses and victims.

At the time he was removed from ministry, then-Cardinal McCarrick maintained his innocence and said he did not have recollection of the alleged abuse.

In July 2018, Pope Francis accepted McCarrick’s resignation from the College of Cardinals and suspended him from public ministry. The pope ordered him to a “life of prayer and penance” until the accusations against him were examined in a canonical trial.

In October 2018, the Vatican said a preliminary investigation into an allegation against then-Archbishop McCarrick had already occurred, and the results would be combined with a further study of documents.

Pope Francis confirmed McCarrick’s removal from the priesthood in February 2019 after he was found guilty of “solicitation in the sacrament of confession and sins against the Sixth Commandment with minors and with adults, with the aggravating factor of the abuse of power.”

In November 2020, the Vatican issued an extensive report on McCarrick that detailed his rise through church ranks despite the repeated rumors, anonymous letters, allegations and even settlements with alleged victims.

The report revealed that the former prelate “was able to rise up the Catholic hierarchical structure based on personal contacts, protestations of his innocence and a lack of church officials reporting and investigating accusations,” according to a Catholic News Service report on its contents.

In a statement issued Friday, Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, where McCarrick served for 14 years, said he was “keenly aware of the trauma” the news of McCarrick’s death may “reignite” for his victims.

“Having listened to many survivors, I recognize the deep pain and betrayal they have endured,” the statement said. “I continue to offer my prayers in support as they navigate their journey toward healing.”

McCarrick had faced sexual abuse-related charges in Massachusetts and Wisconsin filed in July 2021 and April 2023, respectively. In August 2023, a Massachusetts judge dismissed one of the cases, deeming the former cardinal unable to stand trial after receiving a medical report from prosecutors which agreed with the earlier defense report that McCarrick was suffering from dementia. Last year, a Wisconsin judge followed suit and suspended the case there.

McCarrick was ordained a priest in 1958 for the Archdiocese of New York by Cardinal Francis J. Spellman. He became an auxiliary bishop of New York in 1977 under Cardinal Terence J. Cooke, for whom McCarrick had served as a personal secretary. In 1982, McCarrick was installed as the first bishop of the newly created Diocese of Metuchen, New Jersey, and in 1986, he became archbishop of Newark, New Jersey.

In January 2001, then-Archbishop McCarrick was installed as archbishop of Washington and was elevated by Pope St. John Paul II the next month to the rank of cardinal. In 2006, then-Cardinal McCarrick turned 75, and, as required by canon law, he resigned as archbishop of Washington, but continued to fundraise and socialize with church and political power brokers.

He was succeeded in Washington by Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl, who resigned from the role in 2018 amid the McCarrick scandal and scrutiny of his own handling of clerical abuse allegations as described in the Pennsylvania grand jury report.

At the time of his death, McCarrick was reportedly living at the Vianney Renewal Center in Dittmer, Missouri, which the Archdiocese of St. Louis describes as “a residential faith community for priests and brothers who wish to live their vocation at its core of prayer and fraternity” operated by the Servants of the Paraclete.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

For Carlos Farfan, spending 24 hours with the Lord began at 3:30 a.m. on March 28 with morning prayer at his home. By 8 a.m., he arrived at St. Rose of Lima Church in Maywood, where he attended daily Mass and was first in line to receive the sacrament of reconciliation.

After confession, Farfan stayed to pray for his family and planned to return with his wife later in the afternoon.

“I feel so thankful to God for these moments,” he said. “Being in front of the Lord brings me so much inner peace that I cannot describe.”

Farfan was one of the many local Catholics who turned out for the March 28-29 “24 Hours For the Lord,” a prayer initiative organized as part of the 2025 “Jubilee of Hope” Holy Year declared by Pope Francis.  

More than 20 churches, roughly one in each of the LA Archdiocese’s deaneries, stayed open for 24 consecutive hours of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and reconciliation, only occasionally interrupted by Mass or group prayer.  

The idea of opening churches for “24 Hours for the Lord” was first introduced by Francis in 2014.

Parishioners like Farfan said they were eager to make the most of the prayer marathon. Gabriela Rosas of St. Rose of Lima in Maywood came to the parish Friday night with her son, Adrian de Jesus Martinez, 28, who has Down syndrome. Rosas said the pair had been to adoration the day before, but when they saw the announcement for the 24-hour event, they decided to come again.

“My son enjoys coming to Mass and praying,” she said. As a family, they sat quietly together, praying in peace. 

After speaking to Angelus, as they gathered their belongings, they walked to the altar together. Kneeling in front of the Eucharist, Rosas’ son made the sign of the cross and shouted, “Jesus,” his voice echoing across the church. 

Theresa Anderson, a parishioner at St. John of God Church in Norwalk, attended the “24 Hours” event at Holy Family Church in Artesia, which partnered with St. Peter Chanel Church in Hawaiian Gardens to split the 24 hours. Anderson, who attended with her husband, said a pamphlet promoting the event was “a sign to finally go to confession.”

“My last confession was when I moved to America in 2012, so I finally told my husband, ‘Let’s do it,’ ” she said.

Anderson grew up Catholic, but said she lost her way “because I got too busy with life and the kids.”

“Life is difficult,” she said. “I see a lot of people dying and being prepared, so I said to myself, if I die, I might as well go to confession. If God decides to take me, I want to be ready and prepared.”

Reaching those who’ve been away from the Church was a key aspect of the “24 Hours for the Lord” event, said lead organizer Father Parker Sandoval, vice chancellor and senior director of ministerial services for the archdiocese.

“There really is something about the church being open 24 hours for you that grabs people who otherwise would not show up,” said Sandoval, who helped hear confessions from 9 p.m. to midnight at Incarnation Church in Glendale. “A church literally being open for 24 hours signifies that, yes, the Church is here for you because Jesus is waiting for you so he can show you his mercy. And that really is the bottom line.”

Father Fredy Rosales, the pastor at Presentation of Mary Church in South LA, was surprised by the big turnout at his deanery’s corresponding parish, St. John Chrysostom Church in Inglewood, especially the long lines for reconciliation.

After hearing normally scheduled confessions at Presentation Friday afternoon, he headed to St. John Chrysostom. More than 100 people were inside, including some Presentation parishioners who’d walked the nearly seven miles from the parish in a spirit of pilgrimage. Rosales heard confessions for more than four hours into the early hours of the morning. 

Part of the “spiritual hunger” Rosales says he’s seen has to do with “people wanting to be heard.” So that Friday night, he encouraged penitents to take their time in recounting their sins, and not to feel in a hurry.

“It was a moment of spiritual renewal at a time when people seem to have a greater hunger for God,” Rosales said. “People I didn’t know would stop me outside the church. They were very grateful, saying they’d never seen anything like this.”

Holy Family Church in Artesia hosted the “24 Hours for the Lord” for the first time and Father John Cordero, the pastor, said a handful of priests from across the deanery helped and expressed his gratitude for how the event turned out.

“It’s a beautiful experience to see people going to confession,” especially those who haven’t gone in years — “some even in decades,” he said. “If the pope calls for another one, we would be more than happy to host it again.”

Showing up to church at midnight meant a lot to 15-year-old Gerardo Reyes. He and his family were among those at St. Emydius Church in Lynwood, which partnered with St. Rose of Lima to split the 24 hours.

“We came to confess, and it’s a great time to reflect, to fully commit to the Lord, and to grow in faith,” Reyes said.

Sandoval believes the rousing success should prompt the archdiocese to consider making the event an annual one.

“I believe that parishes could reimagine penance services in this format,” Sandoval said. “Could we foster this spirit of collaboration and cooperation among parishes for “24 hours for the Lord” such that everybody shows up, including the nonregulars? I think that is something the Holy Spirit might be prompting us to consider.

“The fact that we were able to assemble a team of confessors for 24 hours at each location was really incredible. So the priests deserve a shout out on this one.”

Editor-in-Chief Pablo Kay and Associate Editor Mike Cisneros contributed to this story.

Burmese Archbishop Marco Tin Win of Mandalay said that despite the suffering caused by the deadly earthquake, the people of Myanmar are clinging to hope in God’s mercy.

In an interview published April 3 with Fides, the news agency of the Dicastery for Evangelization, Archbishop Win said that the suffering of his people has brought them closer to God and that “today, our people have hope in God’s mercy, in the certainty of his love.”

“There is a divine message that transcends our human intelligence and understanding,” he said. “Our only way is to entrust ourselves to his merciful love and reaffirm our hope in God’s plan of salvation,” he said.

The epicenter of the 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Mandalay, the country’s second largest city, March 28, destroying roads, buildings and religious sites. According to the governing military junta, as of April 3, the death toll stood at 3,145, with 4,589 others wounded and 221 still missing.

The earthquake struck at a time of uncertainty due to the ongoing civil war between resistance groups and Myanmar’s governing military junta, which overthrew the previous democratically elected government in 2021.

Resistance groups, according to several reports, have accused the military-led government of continuing its bombing of rebel-controlled areas and not prioritizing relief efforts. While it had rejected initial calls for a pause in military operations from resistance groups, the government declared a ceasefire from April 3-22, The Associated Press reported.

However, according to AP, the military government warned it would take “necessary” action if resistance groups trained new recruits or launched an attack.

Archbishop Win told Fides that as soon as the earthquake began, the city’s priests and religious “raised the alarm and brought people to safety” in churches, monasteries and the local seminary.

“We made sure no one was injured. We encouraged and comforted frightened children and people on the streets. Many sought refuge in the church complexes that are still accessible. With our modest means, we share water, food and shelter with them while we await further external assistance,” he said.

The archbishop also said three of the 40 churches in the Archdiocese of Mandalay collapsed, while others “all have minor or major cracks.”

“About 25 churches are no longer suitable for the safe celebration of services. The intermediate seminary in the city of Mandalay is also severely damaged, and the minor seminary in Pyin Oo Lwin has cracks in its building structure,” the Burmese archbishop said.

According to Mission Newswire, the news service of the Salesian Missions, the St. John Paul II Chapel belonging to the Salesian community in Mandalay “suffered extensive damage, with its facade and parts of the walls collapsing.”

Two parishioners praying at the chapel, as well as a young boy, were injured, while the Salesian-run building housing street children “sustained significant damage.”

As the community continues to assess the damage, the Salesian Missions launched an emergency appeal for donations to provide emergency assistance to those in need.

Archbishop Win told Fides he saw how the tragic earthquake in Myanmar has united people “regardless of ethnicity, faith, or social class” and that witnessing the solidarity and charity toward one another was “a beautiful sign.”

“It consoles us to see that the entire church does not abandon us, neither nationally nor universally,” he said. “Even the pope prays for us and gives us comfort and hope. Easter is just around the corner: we are in God’s hands and will rise with Christ. In the year of the Jubilee, we renew our hope in Christ.”

A 64-year-old woman was convicted Friday of standing near an abortion clinic in southern England and holding a sign saying “Here to talk, if you want.”

The case provides further evidence of an erosion of freedom of expression in the United Kingdom, which has recently become a diplomatic issue with the United States.

During the 2024 incident that was brought before the court, Livia Tossici-Bolt was standing silently holding the sign and having “consensual conversations” with people passing by, according to her legal team. However, she was within what is called a “buffer zone,” which criminalizes the “influencing” of people within 150 meters (about 500 feet) of an abortion clinic in the U.K.

Earlier this week, an office of the U.S. State Department said it is “concerned about freedom of expression” in the U.K. and that it is monitoring Tossici-Bolt’s case. In February, U.S. Vice President JD Vance publicly expressed concern about a similar verdict, the criminal prosecution of Adam Smith-Connor for merely standing outside an abortion clinic bowing his head in silent prayer.

On April 4 the Poole Magistrates’ Court on the south coast of England found Tossici-Bolt guilty, issued a “conditional discharge,” and ordered her to pay prosecution costs of £20,000 (about $26,000).

ADF International, the advocacy group that has acted for both defendants, said in a statement: “Despite finding as a fact that ‘the sign made no reference to pregnancy, abortion, or religious matters,’ and hearing evidence from one council officer that ‘he did not witness her intimidating or harassing any individual,’ District Judge [Orla] Austin ruled that council officers had a reasonable belief that Tossici-Bolt was in violation of the Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPO).”

It added that the person issuing the fine had included in his assessment of whether Tossici-Bolt was breaching the buffer zone an awareness of her “pro-life views” and the sign she was holding.

“This is a dark day for Great Britain,” Tossici-Bolt said. “I was not protesting and did not harass or obstruct anyone. All I did was offer consensual conversation in a public place, as is my basic right, and yet the court found me guilty. Freedom of expression is in a state of crisis in the U.K.”

She added that she will “consider all legal options” and vowed to continue “fighting for free speech.”

While awaiting the verdict, Tossici-Bolt has continued pro-life work and participated in vigils for the 40 Days for Life campaign, which has gone ahead during Lent, although situated outside the buffer zones in order to comply with the law.

The incidents took place in localized “buffer zones” imposed using PSPOs, which were originally introduced to prevent antisocial behavior. The zones were later introduced to abortion clinics nationwide on Oct. 31, 2024.

However, the scope in U.K. law is unclear. When pro-life activist Isabel Vaughan-Spruce was arrested for standing silently in mental prayer within a buffer zone, in videoed interactions that went viral on social media, she was later given a payout for wrongful arrest.

“As many parliamentarians pointed out before the introduction of Section 9 of the Public Order Act, a prohibition on ‘influencing’ within the buffer zones is an impermissibly unclear requirement,” said Jeremiah Igunnubole, a barrister and legal counsel for ADF International, speaking before Friday’s verdict. “The rule of law requires clarity, predictability, and foreseeability so that citizens understand which activities are likely to incur criminal liability.”

“We saw in the case of Isabel Vaughan-Spruce that silent prayer was not considered by Birmingham Magistrates’ Court to constitute an offense. Yet in Adam Smith-Connor’s case, Poole Magistrates’ Court found him guilty for precisely the same conduct — a verdict he will be appealing with our support in July,” Igunnubole continued. “Criminal law should not depend on your postcode. More importantly, it should not depend on what beliefs you hold, no matter how controversial those beliefs are considered to be by the authorities.”

Tossici-Bolt on ‘surreal situation’

In a statement Tossici-Bolt issued to CNA before the Friday verdict, she said: “The whole situation feels surreal. I have never before been prosecuted or stood trial and I would have never expected to be put before the courts for standing peacefully in a public space and offering a consensual conversation.”

“I firmly believe that in a free and democratic society, nobody should be criminalized for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression, which is protected in both domestic and international law,” she added. “The whole situation feels bizarrely Orwellian, but I am at peace and trusting God with the verdict.”

“On the day with which my prosecution is related, I did not engage in any pro-life activity. I merely offered a consensual conversation to anyone that wanted to have a chat with me. Many did,” she continued.

“It was a lovely example of society at its best — there were many people I spoke with who felt very lonely and who needed to know there was somebody who cares for them. An offer to speak, in a free society, should never be redefined as constituting harassment or intimidation,” Tossici-Bolt concluded.

Is. 43:16–21 / Ps. 126:1–6 / Phil. 3:8–14 / Jn. 8:1–11

The liturgy this Lent has shown us the God of the Exodus. He is a mighty and gracious God, who out of faithfulness to his covenant has done “great things” for his people, as today’s Psalm puts it.

But the “things of long ago,” Isaiah tells us in today’s First Reading, are nothing compared to the “something new” that he will do in the future. Today’s First Reading and Psalm look back to the marvelous deeds of the Exodus.

Both see in the Exodus a pattern and prophecy of the future, when God will restore the fortunes of his people fallen in sin. The readings today look forward to a still greater Exodus, when God will gather in the exiled tribes of Israel, which had been scattered to the four winds, the ends of the earth.

The new Exodus that Israel waited and hoped for has come in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Like the adulterous woman in today’s Gospel, all have been spared by the Lord’s compassion. All have heard his words of forgiveness, his urging to repentance, to be sinners no more.

Like Paul in today’s Epistle, Christ has taken possession of every one, claimed each as a child of our heavenly Father. In the Church, God has formed a people for himself to announce his praise, just as Isaiah said he would.

And as Isaiah promised, he has given his “chosen people” living waters to drink in the desert wastelands of the world (see John 7:37-39). But our God is ever a God of the future, not of the past.

We are to live with hopeful hearts, “forgetting what lies behind but straining forward to what lies ahead,” as Paul tells us. His salvation, Paul says, is power in the present, “the power of his resurrection.”

We are to live awaiting a still greater and final Exodus, pursuing “the goal, the prize of God’s upward calling,” striving in faith to attain the last new thing God promises — “the resurrection of the dead.”

Jerusalem, April 4, 2025

Photo: spc.rs     

The Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, who has been on pilgrimage to the Holy Land since Patriarchs of Jerusalem and Serbia meet in the Holy LandHis Holiness Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia arrived in the Holy Land yesterday morning for a pilgrimage to the many holy sites there.

“>March 31, was awarded the Patriarchate of Jerusalem’s highest Church award on Wednesday.

His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem Jerusalem and Serbian Patriarchs concelebrate Presanctified Liturgy at Holy Sepulchre (+VIDEOS)The primates were joined by other hierarchs and clerics from both Churches. The service was celebrated at the chapel erected specifically on the site of Golgotha.

“>concelebrated the Presanctified Liturgy that morning with his guest, His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia, at the Golgotha chapel in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

According to a report from the Serbian Church, Pat. Porfirije is the first Local Church primate in history other than the Patriarch of Jerusalem to celebrate the Liturgy at Golgotha.

Photo: spc.rs     

And after the concelebrated service, Pat. Theophilos decorated Pat. Porfirije with the highest decoration of the Jerusalem patriarchate—the Order of the Grand Cross—emphasizing that his visit has gladdened the Brotherhood of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the faithful who are being tested by war.

“Allow me to award Your Holiness with the Order of the Grand Cross with a prayerful wish that our God grant you and the pious Serbian people strength from on high to continue the sublime mission of serving the whole Church to the glory of the Triune God,” Pat. Theophilos said.

The Serbian primate expressed his gratitude, emphasizing the important role of Jerusalem:

The Church of Jerusalem is the center, source, and homeland of all Christians and all mankind throughout history, for it is the Mother of all Churches. Here, the Church, the Body of Christ, was established, which is not of this world, but is present and alive within us, through the divine Eucharist, by which we become united in the body and blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and together in Christ as brethren.

“I will cherish [this award[ as a sign of love, blessing of the Jerusalem Church and support for my modest work as the leader of the Church of St. Sava,” Pat. Porfirije continued.

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Liechtenstein scenery   

The Principality of Liechtenstein is a European microstate between Austria and Switzerland. With an area of only sixty-two square miles and a population of about 40,000, Liechtenstein is ranked among the richest countries in the world, which, in addition to the financial sector, has highly developed industry (including microelectronics) and agriculture. It does not have its own currency; its official currency is the Swiss franc. The principality’s borders are guarded by the Swiss police, and goods transfer is controlled by the Swiss customs. Liechtenstein (like Switzerland) is not a member of the EU, so there may be problems regulated by local legislation when moving goods from the EU.

Paschal service at St. Laurence’s Church in Schaan     

Although the Roman Catholic Church (which has the status of the national church) is rather strong in Liechtenstein, it is hard for the microstate to oppose the powerful European liberalism, with its imposition of same-sex “unions”, abortions and the like. Unfortunately, laws that violate the foundations of the Biblical teaching on marriage and the sanctity of life have become commonplace in the principality, as in many other countries of the “Old World”. In 2023, the Catholic Archbishop Wolfgang Haas, who had actively protested the promotion of the so-called rainbow “equality”, was replaced by Bishop Benno Elbs from Feldkirch (Austria) as interim Administrator of the Archdiocese of Vaduz. The latter shares Pope Francis’ position on the possibility of “blessing” same-sex “couples”. However, thanks to the native Lichtensteinians’ conservatism and their negative attitude towards external influence, it can be assumed that despite legislative innovations, there will be no significant changes in people’s daily lives—at least in the near future.

Kirill Georgievich Deisha But in a situation where the principality’s largest denomination having destroyed the once-solid foundation of the Biblical teaching on the family, is building its “new” home on the shifting sands of anti-Christian liberalism, it’s little wonder that locals are becoming increasingly indifferent to the Catholic faith. In the light of weakening Catholicism and a general decline in spirituality, it is very encouraging to see the steady development of Orthodox Christianity in Liechtenstein. During my short trip to this picturesque land, I managed to talk with somebody who currently represents the interests of local Orthodox Christians before the country’s authorities. Kirill Georgievich Deisha, who had worked in the educational system for many years before retiring, is also known for his writings on the history of Orthodox Christianity in Liechtenstein. He found out that the first Orthodox services in the principality were celebrated about eighty years ago, shortly after the end of World War II, for Russian refugees who had made up their residence in these parts. A Russian priest from Zurich (Switzerland) served here at that time.

After over thirty years, in the late 1970s, Greek migrant workers began to come to Liechtenstein, and the first Orthodox community was established for them under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in 1983. Thirteen years later, in 1996, a Serbian parish appeared in the principality. In 2008, the Orthodox joined together to form an association open to all jurisdictions.

At present, the Pan-Orthodox Association is headed by a committee consisting of Liechtenstein citizens of Russian, Greek, Serbian and Ukrainian origin. Kirill Deisha, as the founder of the Association, emphasizes that the reputation of Orthodoxy is highest when there is no division by jurisdictions and national “ghettos”.

“Events in world politics or national prejudices should not overshadow the Divine light the Orthodox Christian faith shines with,” says Kirill Georgievich. “It is easier for us laypeople to maintain unity here on a small scale than on a global level, where relations between the Patriarchates have become more complicated in recent years. We should not forget that our prayer is ‘for the peace of the whole world, for the welfare of the Holy Churches of God, and for the union of all.’”

According to Kirill Deisha, the distinctive feature of Orthodox life in Liechtenstein is that each community retains its jurisdictional affiliation, but at the same time the Pan–Orthodox Association has a coordinating role: to represent Orthodox residents in accordance with civil law and maintain contacts with the country’s authorities.

As a rule, the faithful from Liechtenstein attend the Liturgy in one of the churches in nearby cities and towns of Austria or Switzerland (transport links are very good). Several times a year, clergy from these cities and towns travel to serve in Liechtenstein, bless houses, baptize children, visit the sick, etc. The Pan-Orthodox Association makes arrangements with the authorities for all clergy’s visits and resolves material issues related to them. Currently, priests of the Patriarchates of Constantinople, Serbia and Romania serve in Liechtenstein. Representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate have not visited since at least 2022.

St. Peter’s Chapel, Obergass, Schaan     

Services are celebrated in church buildings provided free of charge by the State or local communities. There are currently three such churches: the historic St. Peter’s Chapel (founded in the fifth century—that is, before the Great Schism), St. John’s Church (Johanneskirche on Schaanerstrasse in Vaduz), and the Cathedral Church of St. Laurence in Schaan—Paschal services and weddings are usually held there. The faithful celebrate church feasts according to their traditions and calendars: for example, the Serbs on the old calendar, and the Greeks on the new calendar. This is convenient for migrants from Orthodox countries accustomed to the calendars of their Local Churches.

St. John’s Church on Schaanerstrasse in Vaduz     

Orthodox Christians normally pray at the Lutheran church, Johanneskirche. Its interior can be changed to bring it closer to that of an Orthodox church. Before the service, analogions with icons and candlestands with sand are placed inside the church. The moveable iconostasis, installed to the right of the entrance, is moved close to the altar, and the benches are slightly shifted. Of course, the architecture of the building is not altered, but the blessing of Orthodox Christian prayer transforms people, regardless of where it is performed. The most important thing is that people have the desire and time to pray, confess and receive Communion.

At the Orthodox service at St. John’s Church   

The usual interior of St. John’s Church     

The last census conducted in 2020 found that 574 Orthodox Christians (citizens or those with permanent residence permits) live in Liechtenstein—22.5 percent more than in 2010. These figures do not include temporary Orthodox Christian workers or refugees of the current Russian-Ukrainian war. According to some information, around 1,000 refugees from Ukraine have found shelter in Liechtenstein. Most of them are either Orthodox or Uniates (Greek Catholics). It is no coincidence that since 2022, a Greek Catholic preacher from Italy has been visiting Liechtenstein regularly, intending to gather the Uniates under his wing. However, he faced unexpected opposition from the Roman Catholic clergy, who have great respect for the Orthodox. However, after the change of hierarch, the Uniates gained access to the Catholic churches in Liechtenstein with the support of the above-mentioned Bishop Benno Elbs.

St. Laurence’s Church in Schaan The Uniates do not show off their identity, sometimes posing as “Ukrainian Orthodox”.

“I even had to write a refutation to a local newspaper regarding this,” Kirill Deisha recalls. “Some journalists published a report about Uniates under the heading, ‘Orthodox Christians Celebrating Pascha.’”

“On the whole, Orthodox Ukrainians from our community are quite satisfied with the organization of church life here,” Kirill Georgievich continues. “However, after the outbreak of the war several people suddenly declared that they were leaving us. But there were no serious conflicts. I believe about three of them joined the Uniates, although before that they had always identified themselves as Orthodox.”

According to Deisha, so far the Association has no plans to acquire ownership of any premises for celebrating services. There is reason to assume that the authorities would be opposed to it, and many locals may object to the purchase of land by “foreigners”. We should also take into account the high costs of maintaining such premises.

Schaan-Vaduz Train Station     

“The Catholic churches here belong to the state, which maintains them. We don’t need such expenses,” Kirill Georgievich is convinced. “In addition, if a law on the status of faiths in Liechtenstein is passed (it is currently being considered in Parliament), we will be able to gain access to unused churches (and there are many of them). We will also have the opportunity to organize classes on the Basics of Orthodoxy in schools, although it is implemented in practice if there are at least six Orthodox students. By the way, formal recognition of our religious organization is possible provided that at least 200 Orthodox believers live in the country. We will not reach this figure by counting the Greeks, the Serbs or the Russians separately. Our unity is reflected in the name—Christlich-Orthodoxe Religionsgemeinschaft im Fürstentum Liechtenstein (‘the Orthodox Christian Community in the Principality of Liechtenstein’). I really hope that despite all the global cataclysms, the community will remain in its current composition, with people of different nationalities—Russians, Ukrainians, Serbs, Greeks and Romanians. Our unity—the absence of national and jurisdictional divisions and our steadfastness in upholding our faith and Christian principles—brings us a lot of good, including in relations with the state and society.”

  

The fifth week of Great Lent stands out among the other weeks due to two special services.

On Wednesday evening, the Matins for Thursday is celebrated with the reading of the Great Canon

“>Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete and the Venerable Mary of EgyptCovered by the cloak, the ascetic turned to Zosimas: “Why do you want to speak with me, a sinful woman? What did you wish to learn from me, you who have not shrunk from such great labors?””>life of St. Mary of Egypt—a service known as “The Standing of St. Mary of EgyptThe reading of the Great Penitential Canon of St. Andrew of Crete is the main feature of this Matins service. This practice originated around the ninth century and its history is as follows.”>The Standing of Mary.” This is the final special penitential service of Great Lent.

On Friday, however, the Lenten mood lifts temporarily. The Church begins the celebration of the Praise of the Most Holy Theotokos (Saturday of the Akathist). Unlike the somber and introspective “Standing of Mary,” this is a festive and joyful feast.

Many of the hymns from the Saturday of the Akathist are also found in the service of the Feast of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos, as the two feasts are historically connected.

    

The Service of the Praise of the Most Holy Theotokos begins with Vespers, which, in practice, is celebrated on Friday morning. During the evening psalms “Lord, I have cried,” festal stichera from the Annunciation are added.

The very first sticheron of this set sets the tone and thematic direction for all the others that follow.

“Revealing to thee the pre-eternal counsel, Gabriel came and stood before thee, O Maid; and greeting thee, he said, ‘Rejoice, thou earth that has not been sown; rejoice, thou burning bush that remains unconsumed; rejoice, thou unsearchable depth; rejoice, thou bridge that leads to heaven, and ladder raised on high that Jacob saw; rejoice thou divine jar of manna; rejoice thou deliverance from the curse; rejoice, thou restoration of Adam, the Lord is with thee’.”¹

    

The remaining stichera are also taken from the service of the Annunciation.

On Friday evening, in practice (though according to the Typikon it is appointed for 10 p.m.), Matins is celebrated with Great Doxology. The distinguishing feature of this service is the reading of the Akathist to the Theotokos. This is the only day in the liturgical calendar when the Typikon prescribes the reading of an Akathist. More details on this will follow below.

Notably, the Akathist is not read in one continuous block, as we are used to, but is divided into four parts, which are interspersed throughout the Matins service.

The Matins begins as usual: with the two-psalm introduction, followed by the Six Psalms, then the Great Litany. After this, “God is the Lord” is sung with verses, and the Troparion of the Feast is chanted melodiously:

“Today is the crown of our salvation and the manifestation of the mystery that is from all eternity. The Son of God becomes Son of the Virgin, and Gabriel announces the good tidings of grace. Therefore let us also join him and cry aloud to the Theotokos: Rejoice thou who art full of grace: the Lord in with thee.”²

    

At this point in the service, the Royal Doors are opened, and the clergy come out from the altar into the center of the church, where the icon of the Praise of the Theotokos or another venerated image of Her is placed. The priest censes the church, after which the choir chants the first kontakion of the Akathist:

“To Thee, the Champion Leader, we Thy servants dedicate a feast of victory…”

Then the clergy read the first section of the Akathist—from the first ikos to the fourth kontakion. Afterward, the choir repeats the kontakion “To Thee, the Champion Leader,” and the clergy return to the altar.

Following this, a kathisma (portion of the Psalter) is read, and the second part of the Akathist is chanted—from the fourth ikos to the seventh kontakion. After each part, the clergy again return to the altar.

Next, Psalm 50 (Have mercy on me, O God) is read, and the Canon begins. This canon is also dedicated to the Theotokos, offering special praise for Her role in giving birth to the Divine Child.

The canon was composed by Saint Joseph the Hymnographer and features an acrostic—where the first letters of the troparia in the Greek original form a phrase:

“Rejoice, dwelling place of joy, to Thee alone it is fitting to rejoice. Joseph.”

The first and third odes of the canon are read, after which the third section of the Akathist is chanted—from the seventh ikos to the tenth kontakion. The canon then continues up to the sixth ode, after which the final portion of the Akathist is read—from the tenth ikos to the conclusion.

The Matins service then proceeds as usual: the festal praises (praise stichera) are sung, followed by the Great Doxology, and the remainder of the service according to tradition.

On Saturday morning, the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is celebrated.

Now let us turn to the history and significance of the Akathist hymn itself.

The term “ἀκάθιστος ὕμνος” in Greek literally means a “hymn during which one does not sit.” According to the Church Typikon, there is only one official Akathist that is prescribed for liturgical use: the Akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos, chanted during the Feast of Her Praise. The Typikon does not prescribe the use of any other Akathists within the Divine Services.

In form, the Akathist is similar to the ancient kontakion and consists of an introduction (called a prooimion, or “koukoulion”—meaning “hood,” as it ‘covers’ or introduces the following strophes) and 24 stanzas. The shorter strophes are called kontakia, the longer ones ikoi. In Greek tradition, all stanzas are often referred to simply as ikoi.

Each ikos contains a series of “Chairetismoi”—greetings or praises beginning with the word “Χαῖρε” (Rejoice).

The kontakia conclude with the refrain “Alleluia,” while the ikoi end with “Rejoice, O Bride Unwedded!”

Later on, many other Akathists were composed in imitation of this original hymn—though not all of them reached the same level of theological depth or literary quality.

As for the authorship and date of composition, scholarly opinions vary. Most likely, the core of the Akathist was composed no later than the first half of the sixth century. Many researchers attribute the main body of the hymn to St. Romanos the Melodist, a great hymnographer of the early Church.

The chairetismoi (the series of “Rejoice” greetings) were likely added later, probably by Patriarch Sergius of Constantinople in the 620s, during the time of the siege of Constantinople.

The first kontakion of the Akathist—“To Thee, the Champion Leader”—was most likely not part of the original hymn, but an independent thanksgiving troparion composed in 626 AD to commemorate the deliverance of Constantinople from the Avars and Slavs.

In terms of theme, the Akathist is a poetic and theological meditation on the Incarnation—particularly the Annunciation and the Nativity of Christ—emphasizing throughout the central and salvific role of the Most Holy Theotokos in these sacred events.

Why, then, is the Akathist hymn chanted specifically on the Saturday of the fifth week of Great Lent?

Originally, judging by its content, the Akathist was sung on the Feast of the Synaxis of the Theotokos (January 8), and later, on the Feast of the Annunciation. For a long time, it was firmly associated with that feast.

However, in 628, close to the date of the Annunciation, peace negotiations were held between Emperor Heraclius and the Persians, marking a Byzantine victory. The chanting of the Akathist, in this context, took on a celebratory and thanksgiving character.

At the same time, there was already a tradition in Constantinople of holding all-night vigils from Friday to Saturday in honor of the Mother of God. Gradually, the Akathist hymn became established as part of this Lenten Saturday vigil, and so its regular place in the liturgical calendar became the Saturday of the fifth week of Great Lent.

Thus, the fifth week of Great Lent concludes with a joyful glorification of the Most Holy Theotokos in the form of the Akathist hymn.

On the Sunday of St. Mary of EgyptThis week of Great Lent, the Church celebrates the memory of St. Mary of Egypt. The story of St. Mary is the story of a repentant harlot. Why does the Church find this story so important? Why does the whole Orthodox world remember this woman?

“>Sunday of the fifth week, we return to the life and spiritual struggle of St. Mary of Egypt, commemorating her one more time. Additionally, some hymns of that day refer to the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.

Church hymnography draws a symbolic connection between the Lazarus of the parable and Lazarus, the friend of Christ, whose resurrection we will soon commemorate. As the sixth week of Great Lent begins, the Church begins the pre-feast of Lazarus Saturday and the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem.

Throughout the week, the hymns narrate, in chronological sequence, the story of Lazarus:

He falls ill,

He dies,

Christ sets out to raise him,

He is buried,

And finally, he is resurrected.

Thus, the Church calls us to begin the journey with Christ toward His Passion, preparing our hearts for Holy Week and the glory of the Resurrection.

The following sources (in Russian) were used:

1. “Akathist.” Orthodox Encyclopedia, vol. 1, pp. 371–381. Accessed at: https://www.pravenc.ru/text/акафист.html.

2. Debolsky, Archpriest G. S. The Liturgical Days of the Orthodox Catholic Eastern Church. St. Petersburg, 1846.

3. Mansvetov, I. D. On the Fasts of the Orthodox Eastern Church. Moscow, 1886.

4. Karabinov, I. The Lenten Triodion: A Historical Overview of Its Structure, Content, Redactions, and Slavic Translations. Chapter 3: Redactions and Slavic Translations of the Lenten Triodion. Moscow: Ikhthios, 2004.

5. Kashkin, A. Liturgics. Part 2: The Lenten and Festal Triodia. Saratov, 2017.