Newsletter January 31, 2024

On Frequent Holy Communion, Part One

Until the 1970s, the Orthodox did not practice frequent Communion for many reasons, including the liturgical stagnation caused by a long history of continuous persecution. Education ceased and ignorance prevailed, so the prevailing concept was to limit participation in the holy things to a few times a year, such as great feasts. The believers were convinced that man is not worthy to partake of this fearful mystery.

There is no doubt that this conviction among the believers stemmed from their intense reverence for the divine mystery and the realization that they were sinners. The personal piety that the believers had in the last century or so contributed to their conviction that they were unworthy. This prompted the believers to prepare with utmost seriousness to participate in the Holy Sacrament. Since the believers cannot carry out such preparation continuously, they refrained from approaching the holy chalice, rather than approaching when they were not properly prepared.

…

The new teaching gave all attention to the theological aspect of frequent Communion, citing its necessity, based on the theology of the Eucharist and the texts of the Divine Liturgy which declare that the sacrifice is offered for the sake of everyone present. Living a life of repentance was neglected, and now we see crowds coming forward to receive Communion at every liturgy, even though the vast majority of them do not practice the sacrament of Confession at all, even once a year.

There is a necessary distinction between theoretical teaching and the practical methods to apply this teaching in the person’s life. Having knowledge of something does not mean living it on an existential level. Knowing, for example, what the Bible says about forgiveness does not mean that I have practiced forgiveness. The same applies to all other virtues. I must then gradually train myself until I reach the level of Christian forgiveness.

Read the entire article:
part 1: https://www.antiochian.org/regulararticle/1909

In this time after the Feast of Theophany and before Great Lent (1/6 – 3/18) we bring the Holy Water newly blessed during Theophany services to each of our homes and celebrate the service of the Theophany Home Blessing. I would love to celebrate it at everyone’s home (catechumens included!) this year.

As I am still working a secular job, weekday evenings are the prefered time. Please contact me via phone or email to schedule a time. Also, while I appreciate everyone’s hospitality, I would ask that there be no food. We can celebrate the service and then have a visit over a cup of tea (or other refreshment).

For the celebration of the service, I simply need a small space near your icons. I will bring everything required with me. If you would like to light a candle and carry it around during the blessing that would be great. The service is simple: we will say the few prayers and a litany, and then we will walk through the home and bless each room with the Holy Water.

Please remember that our full calendar continues to be available at our parish web site. Here is a link:
https://stjfc.org/Pages/Calendar/calendar.php

Full schedule:
https://stjfc.org/Pages/Ministries/Prosphora/Docs/prosphora sched 2024 web.pdf

Full schedule:
https://stjfc.org/Pages/Ministries/Altar/Docs/epistle readers for 2024.pdf

Epistle: ST. PAUL’S FIRST LETTER TO TIMOTHY 4:9-15

Timothy, my son, the saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and suffer reproach, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. Command and teach these things. Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Till I come, attend to the public reading of scripture, to preaching, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophetic utterance when the council of elders laid their hands upon you. Practice these duties, devote yourself to them, so that all may see your progress.

Gospel: LUKE 19:1-10

At that time, Jesus was passing through Jericho. And there was a man named Zacchaios; he was a chief collector, and rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not, on account of the crowd, because he was small of stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaios, make haste and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” So he made haste and came down, and received him joyfully. And when they saw it they all murmured, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” And Zacchaios stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any one of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Adorning the Epiphaneia of the King

Fr. Lawrence Farley

The feast whose season we now in is called “Theophany” or (in many places) “Epiphany”. This latter is not so much an English word as it is a transliteration of a Greek word, epiphaneia. It is often rendered “appearance” in the English versions, though this rendering can be misleading. One can have a small or insignificant appearance. For example, a person can have a brief cameo appearance in a movie (such as Alfred Hitchcock famously did in his movies), appearances so brief and insignificant as to be missed by inattentive eyes.

But there is no such thing as an insignificant epiphaneia. The word is cognate with the verb epiphaino, meaning to shine forth brilliantly (compare its use in Acts 27:20 where it describes the sun and stars). In secular literature at the time of St. Paul, it was used of the glory of the visiting emperor. The arrival of the emperor (in Greek, his parousia) at a city was the occasion for him manifesting his glory and appearing in all his power. He arrived with chariots and horses, with slaves and a glorious retinue, with the sound of trumpets and the waving of banners. At that time he displayed himself and entered the city noisily, his arrival and presence there were celebrated with feasting and the bestowal of favours. All present strained to catch a glimpse of him in his golden robes and shining splendour.

…

Note that this event which the Church calls the epiphaneia of the Messianic King was attended by no such worldly pomp as attended a worldly imperial epiphaneia. When the world’s true King came, He came in humility.

What does all this mean for us? It means that we celebrate and adorn our King’s epiphaneia not as the world celebrates the epiphaneia of the mighty, but in a way consistent with our King. In the world, when the rich and powerful reveal themselves and manifest their glory, it is celebrated and adorned with pomp and adulation. All dress in evening gowns and tuxedos, and travel in limousines to lavish parties where the rich are praised with speeches and showered with compliments. All return home afterward, rewarded and well-fed, having made the rich and powerful, the celebrities and CEOs, secure and smug in their position and their self-righteousness. That is how the world adorns the epiphaneia of the kings and Kardashians.

…

This is what St. Paul meant when he instructed us that we should give ourselves to lowly tasks (Romans 12:16). Instead of asking ourselves, “Is this task in keeping with my position and dignity?”, we should rather ask, “Does this task need doing?”, and if it does, we should do it—quietly, simply, and without fanfare. If our work merits praise, the Lord will bestow it upon us on the Last Day.

When the Lord waded into the Jordan and stood among sinners, and when He knelt at the feet of each of His disciples doing the work of a slave, He liberated us all from suffocating concern with our own precious dignity. We never stand taller than when we kneel with the King. Slavery to Him is our perfect freedom. It is how we adorn His epiphaneia.

Read the entire article:
https://nootherfoundation.ca/adorning-the-epiphaneia-of-the-king