Psalm 50

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy great mercy;

and according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgression.

Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

For I acknowledge mine iniquity, and my sin is ever before me.

Against thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight,

that thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and prevail when thou dost judge.

For behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and in sins did my mother get me.

But behold, thou lovest truth; the hidden and secret things of thy wisdom hast thou made manifest unto me.

Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Thou shalt make me to hear of joy and gladness, that the bones which thou hast humbled may rejoice.

Turn thy face away from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy spirit from me.

Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and with thy governing spirit establish me.

Then shall I teach transgressors thy ways, and the ungodly shall be converted unto thee.

Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation; my tongue shall sing of thy righteousness.

O Lord, thou shalt open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.

For if thou hadst desired sacrifice, I had given it: but thou delightest not in burnt-offerings.

A sacrifice unto God is a troubled spirit; a heart that is troubled and humbled God will not despise.

Do good, O Lord, in thy good pleasure unto Zion, and let the walls of Jerusalem be built.

Then shalt thou be pleased with a sacrifice of righteousness, with oblation and whole-burnt offerings.

Then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

Thanks to one of the faithful in my parish, Dr Bill Green, now serving abroad for our country (keep him in your prayers, “Theodore”!), a news article came to my attention, “New Orthodox Patriarch Pulls no Punches” (NY Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/10/world/europe/10iht-orthodox10web.html?pagewanted=1&emc=eta1

The article introduces us to the personal style of His Beatitude, Patriarch Kirill, of the Church of Russia. Here is the relevant material for this blog post:

“One of his appointees, the Reverend Vsevolod Chaplin, has proposed creating “Orthodox nightclubs,” where young people would gather for late-night fellowship and discussion. There are even Orthodox bikers, and Patriarch Kirill reminded the crowd in St. Petersburg that he used to ride a motorbike.”

Hey, for a simple priest motoring around on a motorscooter in SoCal, that aint a bad endorsement!

The turmoil is not at all settled, and indeed may yet continue for some time. However, this promises to be a wonderful opportunity for the faithful to grow in their faith. Patience, endurance, faith, ascetical endeavour, and the like are all the only recourse to those who believe. For them, this bad weather will prove to be a door to grace. For those who are in it for the culture or are mere spiritual tourists; they will be like chaff before the foul winds of the human passions which we sense roiling around us.

Among the blessings for me, is the discovery of more rich resources of our Orthodox faith. I have recently become aware of the postings of the blogsite, Ochlophobist, http://ochlophobist.blogspot.com/

Just today, he offered a post which beautifully captures the problem of our Antiochian Orthodox problem in America. We simply do not have a well-rounded spiritual diet, stemming from the experiential gaps in our hierarchy (this does not include Bp JOSEPH, who is a notable exception).  Read Ochlophobist’s post of July 2nd, 2009, introducing Notes on Arab Orthodoxy blog which will orient you and also introduce you to a new blogsite, Arab Orthodoxy, http://araborthodoxy.blogspot.com/  That site has lots of meat and is worth visiting often, by my initial reckoning.

In the meanwhile, may the all merciful Lord send down His blessing!

 Frequently I am asked about how Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism differ. When this question arises, I usually try to orient my reply (short snippet or long discourse, depending on pastoral need) along a rephrased question: What issues have arisen which have alienated Roman Catholics from the ancient and abiding Holy Tradition of the Apostolic churches? As my readers are well aware, the Church of (old) Rome boasts apostolic foundation, looking to the grace-bearing relics and holy tradition of the great chiefs of the apostles, Ss Peter and Paul. However, with the ravages of time bearing down upon the several fault-lines of papism, scholasticism, medievalism, feudalism, reactionary rationalism (anti-modernism), and finally the wholesale collapse of Christian culture in the 18^th through the 20^th centuries, Roman Catholicism bears almost no resemblance to its ancient apostolic heritage.

Protestantism is itself the child of medieval, scholastic Roman Catholicism and carries within its bosom the seeds of its own fractious essence and ultimate demise—as witness the utter intellectual and moral confusion of the old-line denominations and the evangelical flight into emotional enthusiasm, mild new-ageism, or even gnosticism.

Holy Orthodoxy is the only house still standing on the Rock!

I recommend these two links for further reading, in order to point out key issues of interest to Roman Catholics. The first, a condensation of issues from a more intellectual and moderate point of view, somewhat pro-ecumenist but still from well within our Orthodox frame of thinking, is from the V. Rev. Thomas Hopko, retired dean of St Vladimir’s Seminary, New York:

http://www.svots.edu/Faculty/Thomas-Hopko/Articles/Roman-Presidency-and-Christian-Unity.html/

This article was developed in part by the public invitation to address the question which Pope John Paul II had issued to non-Roman Catholic spiritual leaders, What is the role of the Bishop of Rome? (My words; I cannot locate the exact words used by the pope).

There is another, shorter and more traditional way of addressing the Roman Catholic deviation from Holy Tradition by His Eminence, Metropolitan HIEROTHEOS (Vlachos), of Nafpaktos (Greece). The Metropolitan is well-known for his many publications, easily google-able. My own translation of his brief article is carried in this link:

http://members.cox.net/orthodoxheritage/MOM%2009%202003%20EN.htm

I sincerely pray and hope that all active, disenfranchised, and former Roman Catholics will find help along the holy Way of salvation by these articles. Any such are invited to contact me directly regarding their own struggles, as I, too, grew up a son of the Roman Catholic Church. When I became Orthodox, I did truly return to the faith of my fathers!

There is hope! Christ is risen!

Christina Douglas, in a discussion with me about these new convert issues, mentioned the written comments of one of her acquaintances, a protestant pastor, Gordon Atkinson. After reading his FIRST impression of the Orthodox Divine Liturgy, I had to post it!  So, by way of introducting Orthodoxy 201, here is a “hearer’s” (a specific kind of seeker) impression, well before he (might?) take up Orthodoxy 101!

I present to you Pastor Gordon Atkinson, to whom I render gratitude for his gracious consent for me to publish his article here. My readers must not be in a hurry to read to the Orthodox part. He shows his searching colours in the first section…

Not for Lightweights
By Gordon Atkinson

Sunday was the 4th of 13 in my sabbatical time. Each of them is precious to me. Each week I will choose a place and a way to worship. I’m not being a tourist. I’m seeking authentic spiritual experiences. I want to worship. I can’t define what I’m doing beyond that. I’m making no plans until a few days before Sunday.
The first two weeks I kept silence with the Quakers. One of the Friends told me their central doctrine was simple: “There is that of God in every person.” Quakers are rather like Buddhists – heavy on method and light on doctrinal statements. Having grown up in the evangelical world, where what one says about Jesus is thought to be so incredibly and insanely important, I have been seeking practice more than doctrine of late. So I enjoyed my time with the Quakers greatly.
The third Sunday I went to Austin to visit Journey: An Imperfect Faith Community. http://www.journeyifc.com/ That’s their name. They rather lay it on the line, don’t they? Rick and David are two of the most delightful, unpretentious, interesting pastors I’ve ever met. Funny, earthy, deep thinking. If you’re used to church with a lot of clear rules and traditional boundaries, Journey will be like a postmodern slap in your face. The mind spins and reels. Everywhere is mismatched furniture, icons, stacks of books, music equipment, Christmas lights, and unexpected things of all kinds. It’s man-cave meets the Upper Room. Once I was there and found a hotdog, in its bun, with a line of mustard on it, that had petrified to the point where I had to bang it on the table to see if it was real or a squeaky dog toy. I really wasn’t sure at first. It was real. I showed it to Rick, who said, “Cool.”
I SO wish I had stolen it and brought it back to my own man-cave, my office at church. I think it would be fine there. I doubt if even bacteria are interested in it now. Seriously, I have the strangest urge to wander though Journey picking things up and taking them home with me. And unless it was a microphone or something they really need, I think they’d be okay with that.
Having spoken there once and been there a number of times, I think I might have stealing privileges. Rick, David, if you see this, just leave a comment and let me know if it’s okay for me to snag some things when I’m there. If that hot dog is still there, I have dibs on it.
Dibs count at Journey. I saw it in their bylaws.
Saturday night Jeanene and I still hadn’t decided where to go. I experienced something common to our culture but new to me. The “Where do you want to go to church – I don’t know where do YOU want to go to church” conversation. I found the Saint Anthony the Great website, http://orthodoxsanantonio.org/ It’s an Orthodox church that has beautiful Byzantine art in the sanctuary.
We decided to go there.
Shelby and Lillian went with us. On the way we warned them that this was going to be different. “They might not have changed their worship service much in a thousand years or so,” I told the girls.
That was an understatement.
Saint Anthony the Great isn’t just old school. It’s “styli and wax tablets” old school. We arrived ten minutes early for worship and the room was already filled with people lighting candles and praying. There was one greeter. I said, “We don’t know what to do.” She handed me a liturgy book and waved us inside.
Pews? We don’t need no stinking pews! Providing seats for worshipers is SO 14th century. Gorgeous Byzantine art, commissioned from a famous artist in Bulgaria. Fully robed priests with censors (those swinging incense thingies). Long, complex readings and chants that went on and on and on. And every one of them packed full of complex, theological ideas. It was like they were ripping raw chunks of theology out of ancient creeds and throwing them by the handfuls into the congregation. And just to make sure it wasn’t too easy for us, everything was read in a monotone voice and at the speed of an auctioneer.
I heard words and phrases I had not heard since seminary. Theotokos, begotten not made, Cherubim and Seraphim borne on their pinions, supplications and oblations. It was an ADD kids nightmare. Robes, scary art, smoking incense, secret doors in the Iconostas popping open and little robed boys coming out with golden candlesticks, chants and singing from a small choir that rolled across the curved ceiling and emerged from the other side of the room where no one was singing. The acoustics were wild. No matter who was speaking, the sound came out of everywhere. There was so much going on I couldn’t keep up with all the things I couldn’t pay attention to.
Lillian was the first to go down. After half an hour of standing, she was done. Jeanene took her over to a pew on the side wall. She slumped against Jeanene’s shoulder and stared at me with this stunned, rather betrayed look on her face.
“How could you have brought us to this insane place?”
Shelby tried to tough it out. We were following along in the 40 page liturgy book that was only an abbreviation of the service we were experiencing. I got lost no less than 10 times. After 50 minutes Shelby leaned over and asked how much longer the service would be. I was trying to keep from locking my knees because my thighs had gotten numb. I showed her the book. We were on page 15. I flipped through the remaining 25 pages to show her how much more there was. Her mouth fell open.
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah. And I think there’s supposed to be a sermon in here somewhere.”
“They haven’t done the SERMON yet? What was that guy doing who said all that stuff about—all that stuff?”
“I don’t know” I said.
“I have to go to the bathroom,” she said. I looked around and saw the door at the back of the sanctuary swinging shut.
And then there was one.
I made it through the entire 1 hour and 50 minutes of worship without sitting down, but my back was sore. Shelby came back toward the end. When it came time for communion I suggested that we not participate because I didn’t know what kind of rules they have for that. We stayed politely at the back. A woman noticed and brought some of the bread to us, bowing respectfully as she offered it. Her gesture of kindness to newcomers who were clearly struggling to understand everything was touching to me.
Okay, so I started crying a little. So what? You would have too, I bet.
After it was over another woman came to speak with us. She said, “I noticed the girls were really struggling with having to stand.”
“Yeah,” I said. “This worship is not for lightweights.”
She laughed and said, “yes,” not the least bit ashamed or apologetic.
So what did I think about my experience at Saint Anthony the Great Orthodox Church?
I LOVED IT. Loved it loved it loved it loved it loved it.
In a day when user-friendly is the byword of everything from churches to software, here was worship that asked something of me. No, DEMANDED something of me.
“You don’t know what Theotokos is? Get a book and read it. You have a hard time standing for 2 hours? Do some sit ups and get yourself into worship shape. It is the Lord our God we worship here, mortal. What made you think you could worship the Eternal one without pain?”
See, I get that. That makes sense to me. I had a hard time following the words of the chants and liturgy, but even my lack of understanding had something to teach me.
“There is so much for you to learn. There is more here than a person could master in a lifetime. THIS IS BIGGER THAN YOU ARE. Your understanding is not central here. These are ancient rites of the church. Stand with us, brother, and you will learn in time. Or go and find your way to an easier place if you must. God bless you on that journey. We understand, but this is
the way we do church.”
I’m going back again on Sunday. I started to write, I’m looking forward to it.” But that’s not right. I’m feeling right about it.
And feeling right is what I’m looking for.

Here is the link to “The Macedonian Call”:

http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles-2009/Reardon-The-Macedonian-Call.php

Read on…  the inquirer’s question is in black font; my reply is in blue.

Inquirer:

I accept prayer to the saints in Heaven in that we are asking the saints to pray to God for us; just as we would ask someone on earth to pray for us.  Invoking the saints beyond seeking their intercession to the Throne of Glory on our behalf is, according to Orthodox literature I’ve come across, blasphemous.

Fr Patrick:

This last sentence is a gross overstatement from our Orthodox point of view.  Our communion with the departed is very familiar and deeply personal and varies from person to person and from local church to local church.  I like to express it in the following way:

The saints are those who have been cured.  We who struggle in the pursuit of purification from the passions (the disordered state of the soul from sin) invoke the saints due to their “boldness” (parresia, “freedom of speech”) before God in their intercessory prayers.  However, due to the fact that all of the saints, including the Mother of God herself, are human beings all born under the exactly same conditions as we, our relationship with the Saints is one of reverence, but not worship.  Worship belongs to God alone.

>

> But then I come across something such as the below which is taken from a Confessional Lutheran website entitled ‘Wittenberg Trail’.  Please, I very much seek your insight into this:

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> ” I’d encourage them [a person looking to the East]to look exactly at what the Orthodox DO in the invocation of the saints. They will tell you what they have been indoctrinated in: we’re only asking Mary to pray to God for us. But the Orthodox do more than this. I cite from the Antiochian Service Book, page 130:

‘O all-holy Lady Theotokos, light of my darkened soul, my hope, my shelter, my refuge, my consolation and my joy; I thank thee that thou hast permitted me, unworthy though I be, to partake of the immaculate body and precious blood of thy Son. O thou who didst bring forth the true Light, give the light of understanding to the eyes of my heart; O thou who didst bear the Fountain of Immortality, quicken me who am dead in sin. O compassionate Mother of the merciful God, have mercy upon me and grant me humility and contrition of heart, and humbleness of mind, and deliverance from bondage to evil thoughts. And permit me, unto my last breath, to receive, without condemnation, the sanctification of these Holy Mysteries, unto the healing of both body and soul. Grant me tears of repentance and of confession, that I may hymn thee and glorify thee all the days of my life. For blessed and glorified art thou unto all the ages. Amen.’

We Orthodox see nothing sinister in this prayer.  We do not, as implied above, assign to her a divine status.  Everything in this prayer stems from her status as “full of grace” (Gospel of Luke, ch. 2) and the true Mother of the Eternal Logos according to His human nature.  One way to view this effectively is to see Mary as the Mother in the household of the Church.  As such, she has great effectiveness in guiding our path to holiness in the Lord.  She can, by her prayers, not by any independent agency which one might ascribe to her, “quicken me who am dead in sin,” and so on.  It is important to stress this, as it is frequently misunderstood by non-Orthodox who read prayers such as this out of context.  I invite you to read the entire service of Prayers after Holy Communion, found in any Orthodox prayer-book.

The concluding doxology to her is also appropriate, as testified to by the fact that the living God, the Son, Himself was born of her (how could the all-pure and all-holy God be born from anyone of less standing?).

The problem is not the Orthodox view, quite traditional and apostolic, but rather the Latin excesses which infected the Protestants.  I most strongly recommend a specific book, The Orthodox Veneration of the Mother of God, by Bishop (St) John (Maximovitch), of Shanghai and San Francisco.  That slim volume will address all the usual issues with regard to the Theotokos (“Birth-giver of God,” a canonical term, authorized by the 3^rd Oecumenical Synod held in Ephesus, A.D. 431).

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This seems like a prayer directed exactly towards the Blessed Mother and not so much for her to pray to the Father on our behalf.?.

Sure it is.  Now you see that we Orthodox have no problem addressing the saints themselves.  The best way to see how this works out in practice is to attend Orthodox services and bear witness for yourself as to the efficacy of such a rich and multi-textured spiritual way of life.

Thank you again for your time.

With a sigh toward the Lord for my and your salvation, I remain

an unworthy presbyter, +Patrick