Day 1 (Monday)

Jeremiah 31:1-37 (Restoration and a New Covenant)

Since mid-December, we have been reading the book of Leviticus, and last week, we concluded our reading from that book with the rewards that God promised His people for their faithfulness, and the consequences which He promised if they were faithless. We know that they did indeed prove to be faithless, and that after 490 years in the Land of Promise, the Lord delivered them up to the Babylonians, as Nebuchadnezzar sacked the city of Jerusalem and led the survivors captive into Babylon. The last prophet before the Babylonian Captivity was Jeremiah, and he prophesied the coming judgment to the final kings of Judah, and specifically that they would be exiled from the land for 70 years, so that the land would enjoy all the sabbath years that they had failed to observe during their 490 years in the land. Along with judgment, however, he prophesied a return from captivity and a consolation that the Lord would bring to His people after the judgment. We will read that today.

The Joyful Return of the Exiles

31 At that time, says the Lord, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.

2 Thus says the Lord:
The people who survived the sword
found grace in the wilderness;
when Israel sought for rest,
3 the Lord appeared to him from far away.
I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.
4 Again I will build you, and you shall be built,
O virgin Israel!
Again you shall take your tambourines,
and go forth in the dance of the merrymakers.

5 Again you shall plant vineyards
on the mountains of Samaria;
the planters shall plant,
and shall enjoy the fruit.
6 For there shall be a day when sentinels will call
in the hill country of Ephraim:
“Come, let us go up to Zion,
to the Lord our God.”
7 For thus says the Lord:
Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;
proclaim, give praise, and say,
“Save, O Lord, your people,
the remnant of Israel.”

8 See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north,
and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,
among them the blind and the lame,
those with child and those in labor, together;
a great company, they shall return here.

9 With weeping they shall come,
and with consolations I will lead them back,
I will let them walk by brooks of water,
in a straight path in which they shall not stumble;
for I have become a father to Israel,
and Ephraim is my firstborn.

10 Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
and declare it in the coastlands far away;
say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him,
and will keep him as a shepherd a flock.”
11 For the Lord has ransomed Jacob,
and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.

12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord,
over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and over the young of the flock and the herd;
their life shall become like a watered garden,
and they shall never languish again.

13 Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
and the young men and the old shall be merry.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
14 I will give the priests their fill of fatness,
and my people shall be satisfied with my bounty,
says the Lord.

15 Thus says the Lord:
A voice is heard in Ramah,
lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
she refuses to be comforted for her children,
because they are no more.
16 Thus says the Lord:
Keep your voice from weeping,
and your eyes from tears;
for there is a reward for your work,
says the Lord:
they shall come back from the land of the enemy;
17 there is hope for your future,
says the Lord:
your children shall come back to their own country.

18 Indeed I heard Ephraim pleading:
“You disciplined me, and I took the discipline;
I was like a calf untrained.
Bring me back, let me come back,
for you are the Lord my God.
19 For after I had turned away I repented;
and after I was discovered, I struck my thigh;
I was ashamed, and I was dismayed
because I bore the disgrace of my youth.”

20 Is Ephraim my dear son?
Is he the child I delight in?
As often as I speak against him,
I still remember him.
Therefore I am deeply moved for him;
I will surely have mercy on him,
says the Lord.
21 Set up road markers for yourself,
make yourself signposts;
consider well the highway,
the road by which you went.
Return, O virgin Israel,
return to these your cities.
22 How long will you waver,
O faithless daughter?
For the Lord has created a new thing on the earth:
a woman encompasses a man.

23 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its towns when I restore their fortunes:
“The Lord bless you, O abode of righteousness,
O holy hill!”
24 And Judah and all its towns shall live there together, and the farmers and those who wander with their flocks.
25 I will satisfy the weary,
and all who are faint I will replenish.
26 Thereupon I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.

Individual Retribution

27 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humans and the seed of animals. 28 And just as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the Lord. 29 In those days they shall no longer say:

“The parents have eaten sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge.”

30 But all shall die for their own sins; the teeth of everyone who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge.

A New Covenant

31 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

34 No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

35 Thus says the Lord,
who gives the sun for light by day
and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
the Lord of hosts is his name:

36 If this fixed order were ever to cease
from my presence, says the Lord,
then also the offspring of Israel would cease
to be a nation before me forever.

37 Thus says the Lord:

If the heavens above can be measured,
and the foundations of the earth below can be explored,
then I will reject all the offspring of Israel
because of all they have done,

says the Lord.

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out a couple of important points. First, how this prophecy speaks both of the house of Israel, that is, of Ephraim, and also of the house of Judah; both are to be restored. This is striking because the kingdom of Israel, the northern kingdom ruled by the house of Ephraim, had been led away into captivity over a hundred years before, and by this time had been almost entirely lost among the nations. A return of Israel, then, would necessitate an entrance of the nations among whom they were lost into the covenant. Second, we should consider verse 22 above, the prophecy that the Lord will do something new, and a woman will “encompass” a man. Different commentators suggest different ideas, such as the idea that a woman will defend or protect a man, which would certainly be seen as an upending of the natural order. I would suggest, however, that the context, which speaks of the return of Israel and the New Covenant being established, should indicate to us a prophecy both of the pregnancy of the Virgin Mary, and of her ongoing role as the fulfillment and perfection of both Israel and Judah, her role as intercessor and protectress of all Christians, and the upending of the natural order in her and in the Church, in which those who are meek and humble are exalted above even the Angels by God.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 2 (Wednesday)

Akathist Hymn – Stases 3/4

Last time, we read the first half of the Akathist Hymn, and saw the entire narrative of the Lord’s Incarnation, from the Annunciation through to the Feast of the Meeting in the Temple on the 40th Day after His birth. This time, we will see the hymnographer shift gears, and reflect on the entire mystery revealed to us in the Virgin Mary, as she exemplifies the New Creation and the wonder of humanity renewed and united with our Creator.

Akathist Hymn – Excerpts from Third Stanza
Oikos 7

Manifesting himself to us his creatures, the Creator displayed a new creation; he sprang from an unsown womb, preserving it, as it had been, uncorrupted, that we, beholding the miracle, might hymn the Woman, exclaiming:
'Rejoice, flower that does not faint: rejoice, crown of self-restraint.
Rejoice, who project a foreshowing of resurrection glory: rejoice, who reflect the angels' life-story.
Rejoice, tree laden with splendid fruit, which the faithful eat: rejoice, trunk shady with broad leaves, beneath which many retreat.
Rejoice, who give birth to an indicator for those who have gone astray: rejoice, who are pregnant with a liberator for those under an-
other's sway.
Rejoice, petition to the just Assessor: rejoice, remission for many a transgressor.
Rejoice, splendid dress of those stripped of the courage to speak: rejoice, tenderness overcoming all passions.
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride.

Kontakion 8

Νow that we have seen a strange birth, we are estranged from the earth, transferring our minds to heaven: for this is why God on high appeared as a humble mortal, wishing to draw up to the height those who cry to him: "Alleluia!"

Oikos 8

Οn earth below, the un-circumscribed Word was wholly present and was in no way absent from heaven above: for a divine condescension took place, not a change of location, and the bearing of a child by a Virgin filled with God, who heard these words:
'Rejoice, monstrance of God un-confinable: rejoice, entrance of hallowed mystery.
Rejoice, for the faithless a doubtful story: rejoice, for the faithful a doubtless glory.
Rejoice, divinest transportation of him above the Cherubim: rejoice, the finest habitation of him above the Seraphim.
Rejoice, who align opposites in harmony: rejoice, who combine virginity and maternity.
Rejoice, through whom transgression is nullified: rejoice, through whom Paradise is opened wide.
Rejoice, the key to Christ's domain: rejoice, guarantee of eternal gain.
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride.

Kontakion 9

Perceiving the mighty work of your being made man, all angel-kind marveled: for they saw him, who as God is inaccessible, a man accessible to all, dwelling among us, yet hearing on all sides this: 'Alleluia!'

Oikos 9

Quailing before you, God-bearer, eloquent orators we behold as dumb as fishes: for they are at a loss to say how you both remain a virgin and are capable of childbearing: but we, marveling at the mystery, with faith cry:
'Rejoice, of God's wisdom a repository: rejoice, of his providence a depository.
Rejoice, who discover metaphysicians to be blind: rejoice, who uncover rhetoricians as lacking in mind.
Rejoice, because the smart debaters have been made to drivel: rejoice, because the myth-creators have been made to shrivel.
Rejoice, you who rend the webs of the Athenians. Rejoice, you who fill the nets of the Fishermen.
Rejoice, who draw us up from the depth of unknowing: rejoice, who illumine many towards knowing.
Rejoice, for those wishing to be saved a boat, rejoice, a port for those on the sea of life afloat.
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride.

Kontakion 10

Regulator of everything, wishing to save the world, he came hither of his own accord, and, as God, being a shepherd, he appeared like us, for us: and summoning like to like, as God he hears: 'Alleluia!’

Akathist Hymn – Excerpts from Fourth Stanza

Oikos 10

Shelter you are for virgins, Virgin God-bearer, and for all those who have recourse to you: for the Creator of heaven and earth made you, Immaculate One, dwelling in your womb and teaching all to address you thus:
'Rejoice, mainstay of virgin continence: rejoice, gateway to our deliverance.
Rejoice, surveyor of reformed intelligence: rejoice, purveyor of divine excellence.
Rejoice, for you have revived those conceived in disgrace: rejoice, for to those deprived of sense you have given advice.
Rejoice, who destroy the overthrower of rationality: rejoice, who bear the sower of purity.
Rejoice, of a seedless wedding the bridal room: rejoice, who betroth the faithful to the Lord as groom.
Rejoice, good nursemaid of virgin girls: rejoice, the bridesmaid of holy souls.
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride.

Kontakion 11

Trying to match in extent the multitude of your many mercies, every hymn fails: for though we offer to you, holy King, as many strains of song as there are grains of sand, we accomplish nothing worthy of your gifts to those who cry to you: "Alleluia!"

Oikos 11

Unto those in darkness appearing we behold the holy Virgin as a lambent torch: for, kindling the insubstantial light, she leads everyone towards divine knowledge, illumining the mind with dawn's radiance, honored with this utterance:
'Rejoice, gleam of the thought-begetting sun: rejoice, beam of the never-setting moon.
Rejoice, lightning enlightening souls: rejoice, thunder frightening foes.
Rejoice, because you diffuse the light that broadly glows: rejoice, because you effuse the river that broadly flows.
Rejoice, who portray the font's prefigurement: rejoice, who remove our sin's disfigurement.
Rejoice, washing-bowl cleansing the conscience: rejoice, mixing-bowl dispensing enjoyments.
Rejoice, fragrance of Christ's sweet exhalation: rejoice, existence of mystic exultation.
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride.

Kontakion 12

Wishing to grant grace in respect of ancient debts, he who absolves all mankind came, of his own will, to reside with those residing outside his grace: and tearing up the debit sheet he hears on all sides this: 'Alleluia!'

Oikos 12

Your offspring we sing, all praising you, God-bearer, as a living church: for, dwelling in your womb, the Lord, who holds all things in his hand, sanctified, glorified, and taught everyone to cry to you:
'Rejoice, tent of God and Word: rejoice, saint greater than saints.
Rejoice, treasure-chest gilded by the Spirit: rejoice, treasure-house of life inexhaustible.
Rejoice, diadem prized of reverent monarchs: rejoice, honoured pride of deferent hierarchs.
Rejoice, fortification of the church never shaken: rejoice, circumvallation of the kingdom never taken.
Rejoice, through whom trophies are erected: rejoice, through whom enemies are dejected.
Rejoice, cure of my outer skin: rejoice, care for my soul within.
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride.

Kontakion 13

Zealously hymned by all, Mother, who have given birth to the most holy Word of all holy things, accepting the present offering, deliver from every calamity and from future torments of hell all those who cry to you: 'Alleluia!’

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should note that the object of our meditation in these final two stanzas is, as we said, the Incarnation and the Lord’s transformation of the world, with a focus, on the one hand, on the Theotokos as the first-fruit of the New Creation, and on the other, as the prototype of sanctified humanity. In all of this, however, the core point of theology is confessed in Oikos 8: “Οn earth below, the un-circumscribed Word was wholly present and was in no way absent from heaven above: for a divine condescension took place, not a change of location.” The point being that our Lord did not leave heaven to come to earth, that He didn’t travel from one place to another, but that, being God, He entered into His creation, lowering Himself to unite Himself with us, without ever leaving His divinity behind or being absent from His eternal throne at the right hand of the Father. This is the central mystery of the Gospel, and it is by the presence of God with us, enthroned in the Virgin’s womb and in her arms, and in the hearts and lives of all the Faithful in the Church, that He is working salvation for all the creation.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 3 (Friday)

Acts 17:1-15 (Uproar in Thessalonica, Paul & Silas in Beroea)

Last time we saw Paul and Silas in Philippi, as they were beaten and imprisoned following the exorcism of the servant girl, and then were delivered by the Lord through an earthquake, at which point they preached the Gospel to the jailor, and he and all his household were baptized. In the morning, the authorities learned that Paul was a Roman citizen, so they apologized for mistreating him and asked him to leave. This time, we will see Paul and Silas continue their way into Greece.

The Uproar in Thessalonica

17 After Paul and Silas had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three sabbath days argued with them from the scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This is the Messiah, Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you.”

4 Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. 5 But the Jews became jealous, and with the help of some ruffians in the marketplaces they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar. While they were searching for Paul and Silas to bring them out to the assembly, they attacked Jason’s house.

6 When they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some believers before the city authorities, shouting, “These people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also, 7 and Jason has entertained them as guests. They are all acting contrary to the decrees of the emperor, saying that there is another king named Jesus.” 8 The people and the city officials were disturbed when they heard this, 9 and after they had taken bail from Jason and the others, they let them go.

Paul and Silas in Beroea

10 That very night the believers sent Paul and Silas off to Beroea; and when they arrived, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11 These Jews were more receptive than those in Thessalonica, for they welcomed the message very eagerly and examined the scriptures every day to see whether these things were so. 12 Many of them therefore believed, including not a few Greek women and men of high standing.

13 But when the Jews of Thessalonica learned that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Beroea as well, they came there too, to stir up and incite the crowds. 14 Then the believers immediately sent Paul away to the coast, but Silas and Timothy remained behind. 15 Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and after receiving instructions to have Silas and Timothy join him as soon as possible, they left him.

Reading 31 – 402 words

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out that, in Philippi, the synagogue, if it was indeed fully worthy of that word, consisted only of the women of the town, presumably Jewish women married to the veteran Roman soldiers who had been settled in the city, or perhaps their children and grandchildren at this point. In that city, St. Paul and his companions faced little opposition, except for from the pagan authorities themselves, when they cast out the demon from the young woman. In Thessalonica, however, there is a full-fledged synagogue, and the pattern that we saw before in Asia Minor plays out again; St. Paul preaches in the synagogue, and many are interested and believe in the Lord, but others become jealous of St. Paul’s popularity and raise the mob and the civil authorities against him. And once again, when St. Paul moves on to another city, he finds peace and fruitful ministry there for a time, but the leaders of the previous city follow him there and stir up trouble once again. We are seeing, in real time, the separation developing between those who follow Jesus Christ as the Jewish Messiah, and those who reject the Lord. Sadly, this process continues for the subsequent decades and centuries.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 1 (Monday)

Leviticus 26:1-46 ( Rewards for Obedience, Penalties for Disobedience)

Last time, we read the beginning of Leviticus chapter 25, as the Lord commanded His people to observe a sabbath year of rest every seventh year, and a year of jubilee every 50th year. We discussed how this commandment emphasized the Lord’s care for His people (and their trust in Him), as well as His requirement that no one should be allowed to be permanently impoverished, and every blessing that the Lord gave to them was to be shared with the poor and the stranger living among them. This time we will see the blessings that God promises to them when they are faithful, and the penalties for disobedience.

Rewards for Obedience

26 You shall make for yourselves no idols and erect no carved images or pillars, and you shall not place figured stones in your land, to worship at them; for I am the Lord your God. 2 You shall keep my sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

3 If you follow my statutes and keep my commandments and observe them faithfully, 4 I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. 5 Your threshing shall overtake the vintage, and the vintage shall overtake the sowing; you shall eat your bread to the full, and live securely in your land. 6 And I will grant peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and no one shall make you afraid; I will remove dangerous animals from the land, and no sword shall go through your land.

7 You shall give chase to your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. 8 Five of you shall give chase to a hundred, and a hundred of you shall give chase to ten thousand; your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. 9 I will look with favor upon you and make you fruitful and multiply you; and I will maintain my covenant with you. 10 You shall eat old grain long stored, and you shall have to clear out the old to make way for the new.

11 I will place my dwelling in your midst, and I shall not abhor you. 12 And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people. 13 I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be their slaves no more; I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.

Penalties for Disobedience

14 But if you will not obey me, and do not observe all these commandments, 15 if you spurn my statutes, and abhor my ordinances, so that you will not observe all my commandments, and you break my covenant, 16 I in turn will do this to you: I will bring terror on you; consumption and fever that waste the eyes and cause life to pine away. You shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

17 I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down by your enemies; your foes shall rule over you, and you shall flee though no one pursues you. 18 And if in spite of this you will not obey me, I will continue to punish you sevenfold for your sins. 19 I will break your proud glory, and I will make your sky like iron and your earth like copper. 20 Your strength shall be spent to no purpose: your land shall not yield its produce, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit.

21 If you continue hostile to me, and will not obey me, I will continue to plague you sevenfold for your sins. 22 I will let loose wild animals against you, and they shall bereave you of your children and destroy your livestock; they shall make you few in number, and your roads shall be deserted.

23 If in spite of these punishments you have not turned back to me, but continue hostile to me, 24 then I too will continue hostile to you: I myself will strike you sevenfold for your sins. 25 I will bring the sword against you, executing vengeance for the covenant; and if you withdraw within your cities, I will send pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into enemy hands. 26 When I break your staff of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in a single oven, and they shall dole out your bread by weight; and though you eat, you shall not be satisfied.

27 But if, despite this, you disobey me, and continue hostile to me, 28 I will continue hostile to you in fury; I in turn will punish you myself sevenfold for your sins. 29 You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. 30 I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars; I will heap your carcasses on the carcasses of your idols. I will abhor you. 31 I will lay your cities waste, will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your pleasing odors. 32 I will devastate the land, so that your enemies who come to settle in it shall be appalled at it. 33 And you I will scatter among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword against you; your land shall be a desolation, and your cities a waste.

34 Then the land shall enjoy its sabbath years as long as it lies desolate, while you are in the land of your enemies; then the land shall rest, and enjoy its sabbath years. 35 As long as it lies desolate, it shall have the rest it did not have on your sabbaths when you were living on it. 36 And as for those of you who survive, I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; the sound of a driven leaf shall put them to flight, and they shall flee as one flees from the sword, and they shall fall though no one pursues.

37 They shall stumble over one another, as if to escape a sword, though no one pursues; and you shall have no power to stand against your enemies. 38 You shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall devour you. 39 And those of you who survive shall languish in the land of your enemies because of their iniquities; also they shall languish because of the iniquities of their ancestors.

40 But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their ancestors, in that they committed treachery against me and, moreover, that they continued hostile to me— 41 so that I, in turn, continued hostile to them and brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, 42 then will I remember my covenant with Jacob; I will remember also my covenant with Isaac and also my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.

43 For the land shall be deserted by them, and enjoy its sabbath years by lying desolate without them, while they shall make amends for their iniquity, because they dared to spurn my ordinances, and they abhorred my statutes. 44 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not spurn them, or abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and break my covenant with them; for I am the Lord their God; 45 but I will remember in their favor the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, to be their God: I am the Lord.

46 These are the statutes and ordinances and laws that the Lord established between himself and the people of Israel on Mount Sinai through Moses.

Reading 15
1230 words

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out that these prophecies were fulfilled, effectively word for word, in the conquest of first Israel and then Judah by the Assyrian and Babylonian Empires, respectively. They had spent 490 years in Promised Land when Jerusalem was finally sacked, and then they remained in captivity for 70 years, as God says in verses 34 & 35, so that every Sabbath Year that they had neglected and refused would be observed during the period of the exile of the great and powerful of the land. We may see, too, the fulfillment of the promise that God makes in verse 40, that if they confess their sins, God will remember them. We have seen such prayers of confession and repentance in the books of Esther and Daniel, and we know that God brought His people back to Judaea and Jerusalem after the 70 years were completed. But ultimately, it is in His coming in the flesh that His promise is finally fulfilled in full, as He remembers them and comes to dwell with them, to restore them and to save them. We will see this promise made anew next week in an excerpt from the prophecy of Jeremiah.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 2 (Wednesday)

Akathist Hymn – Stases 1 & 2

As we move past the mid-point of Great Lent and approach Holy Week, we will take the next couple weeks to read aloud the Akathist Hymn. As is well known, the Akathist Hymn, so-called because everyone stands, and does not sit, during the exclamation and proclamation of the Stanzas, as attributed to St. Romanos the Melodist, from sometime in the 6th century. We read one Stanza each week, for four weeks, and then on the fifth Friday of Great Lent, we read the entire Akathist Hymn at once. In all of this, we are meditating through the poetry of the Akathist Hymn upon the Incarnation of the Lord, with our focus on the vessel of His Incarnation: His all-holy mother, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary.

Akathist Hymn – First Stanza

Kontakion 1
O Champion General, I your City now inscribe to you triumphant anthems as the tokens of my gratitude, being rescued from the terrors, O Theotokos. Inasmuch as you have power unassailable, from all kinds of perils free me, so that unto you I may cry aloud: Rejoice, O unwedded Bride.

Oikos 1

A prince of the angels was sent from heaven to say to the Theotokos, “Rejoice!” and beholding you, Lord, embodied, he was astounded and halted, and with his bodiless voice stood crying out to her thus:
‘Rejoice, you through whom the Joy will shine forth, Rejoice, through whom the curse is abolished henceforth,
Rejoice, recalling of the fallen Adam: Rejoice, redemption of the tears of Eve.
Rejoice, height hard to climb by mortal surmise: Rejoice, depth hard to plumb for even angelic eyes.
Rejoice, for you are a throne for the King, Rejoice, for you carry the One who carries all things.
Rejoice, star that makes visible the Sun, Rejoice, womb of divine incarnation.
Rejoice, you through whom creation is created afresh: Rejoice, you through whom the Creator as a babe becomes flesh.
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

Kontakion 2

Because the holy Woman perceived herself wholly pure, she boldly addressed Gabriel: 'It seems hard to my spirit to give admittance to the paradox of your utterance: for you foretell pregnancy from a seedless conception, crying: ‘Alleluia.’

Oikos 2

Calling to the ministering angel, the Virgin sought to know unknown knowledge, ‘From a pure womb how can a son be born? Tell me.’ He spoke to her in fear, only crying out:
‘Rejoice, initiate of God’s ineffable deliberation, Rejoice, assurance of men’s silent supplication.
Rejoice, beginning of Christ’s marvels, Rejoice, O crowning of his gospel,
Rejoice, heavenly ladder by which God did descend, Rejoice, bridge leading those from earth to heaven.
Rejoice, wonder who is well-known among angels, Rejoice, wound that is lamented by demons.
Rejoice, for ineffably you gave birth to the Light, Rejoice, for you revealed the mystery to no-one outright.
Rejoice, who surpass the knowledge of the wise, Rejoice, who illuminate the minds of the faithful.
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

Kontakion 3

Divine power of the Most High then overshadowed her untried in marriage, making her conceive: and her fruitful womb he revealed as a pleasant field for all wishing to harvest a yield of salvation through chanting thus: Alleluia.

Oikos 3

Enclosing God within her womb, the Virgin hurried to Elizabeth: the unborn child of the latter, at once recognizing the greeting of the former, rejoiced, and, springing as if singing, cried to the Theotokos:
'Rejoice, vine with unwithering shoot: rejoice, farm with untainted fruit.
Rejoice, you who cultivate the cultivator loving mankind: rejoice, you who grow in your garden the gardener of our life.
Rejoice, arable yielding a bountiful stack of pity: rejoice, table wielding a plentiful stock of mercy.
Rejoice, because you are furbishing a lush pasturage: rejoice, because you are furnishing for souls an anchorage.
Rejoice, accepted incense of mediation: rejoice, the whole world's propitiation.
Rejoice, goodwill of God towards mortals: rejoice, free speech of mortals towards God.
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride.

Kontakion 4

Feeling within himself a whirl of doubtful thoughts, prudent Joseph was disturbed, seeing that you were un-mated and suspecting a secret coupling, Ο Blameless One: but on ascertaining that your conceiving was from the Holy Spirit, he exclaimed: 'Alleluia!’

Akathist Hymn – Second Stanza
Oikos 4

God's incarnate presence the angels sang in hymns, the shepherds heard and, running as though towards a shepherd, they saw him as a blameless lamb pastured in the womb of Mary, and hymning her they declaimed:
'Rejoice, mother of lamb and shepherd: rejoice, fold of sensible sheep.
Rejoice, buttress against invisible predators: rejoice, portress of the gates of paradise.
Rejoice, because heaven exults with earth: rejoice, because earth dances with the heavens.
Rejoice, loquacity of the apostles that cannot be struck dumb: rejoice, audacity of the victorious martyrs that cannot be overcome.
Rejoice, solid fortification of faith: rejoice, lucid indication of grace.
Rejoice, through whom Hades has been stripped bare: rejoice, through whom we have been clothed in glory.
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride.

Kontakion 5

Having seen a star leading to God, wise men followed its brightness, and retaining it as a torch searched with its aid for a mighty king: and when they attained the unattainable, they rejoiced, crying to him: "Alleluia!"

Oikos 5

In the hands of the Virgin, sons of the Chaldaeans saw him who with his hands made men: and sensing him to be their Master, even though he had taken on the form of a servant, they hastened to honour him with their gifts and to cry to the Blessed Woman:
'Rejoice, mother of an unsetting star: rejoice, dawn of a mystic day.
Rejoice, who extinguish the furnace of duplicity: rejoice, who illumine the initiates of the Trinity.
Rejoice, who depose from rule an inhuman tyrant: rejoice, who expose to view Christ, our mankind-loving Lord.
Rejoice, who liberate us from the pagan religion: rejoice, who extricate us from the clay of burdens.
Rejoice, who quench the worship of fire: rejoice, who deliver us from the flame of passions.
Rejoice, leader of the faithful towards piety: rejoice, breeder, in all people, of gaiety.
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride.

Kontakion 6

Journeying back to Babylon, having become god-bearing heralds, the wise men fulfilled your oracle, proclaiming you to everyone as the Christ, abandoning Herod as horrid, for he did not know how to chant: 'Alleluia!'

Oikos 6

Κindling in Egypt the light of truth, you banished the darkness of falsehood: for, Saviour, the idols of that land, unable to withstand your strength, collapsed: and those who were delivered from them cried to the God-bearer:
'Rejoice, restitution of humans: rejoice, destitution of demons.
Rejoice, who patrol the ambages of trickery: rejoice, who control the images' treachery.
Rejoice, sea slaughtering the Pharaoh of the mind: rejoice, rock watering those thirsty for life.
Rejoice, pillar of fire, guiding those in darkness: rejoice, canopy of the world, broader than a cloud.
Rejoice, substitutor of Manna as food: rejoice, distributor of what is holy and good.
Rejoice, promised land: rejoice, from whom flow honey and milk.
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride.

Kontakion 7

Lord, when Symeon was about to begone from this present deceitful eon, you were given to him as an infant, but you were recognized by him even as perfect God: wherefore he was astonished at your ineffable wisdom, crying: 'Alleluia!’

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out how this hymn sums up, in the two stanzas that we read today, the entirety of the Lord’s life on earth until He was twelve years old, beginning with the Annunciation and concluding with His time in the Temple that during that Passover pilgrimage when He remained in Jerusalem, discoursing with the teachers of the Law in the Temple, while His mother and Joseph the Betrothed began to return home without Him. We see, too, the way in which our meditation upon the person of the Virgin Mary functions for us as a confession of the Lord’s Incarnation, of His divinity and humanity that met and united in her womb without confusion, without change, without division & without separation, as the Council of Chalcedon proclaimed. What the Council proclaims in theological terms, then, we reflect upon in poetic and iconographic terms, meditating upon our God Who has come to us and saved us even as we keep the Fast and prepare to celebrate His Resurrection.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 3 (Friday)

Acts 16:16-40 (Paul & Silas in Prison)

Last time, we saw Paul and Silas, accompanied by Timothy, reach the far west of Asia Minor and then cross over to Europe, coming to Macedonia, to the city of Philippi. There they met and baptized a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple, who invited them to stay in her home with her household. They agreed, and were tending the new Church in the city for a time; we will see what happened next this week.

Paul and Silas in Prison

16 One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. 17 While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.” 18 She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.

19 But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. 20 When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, “These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews 21 and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe.”

22 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. 23 After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. 24 Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. 27 When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped.

28 But Paul shouted in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29 The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them outside and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They answered, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

32 They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. 34 He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.

35 When morning came, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” 36 And the jailer reported the message to Paul, saying, “The magistrates sent word to let you go; therefore come out now and go in peace.” 37 But Paul replied, “They have beaten us in public, un-condemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and now are they going to discharge us in secret? Certainly not! Let them come and take us out themselves.”

38 The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens; 39 so they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city. 40 After leaving the prison they went to Lydia’s home; and when they had seen and encouraged the brothers and sisters there, they departed.

Reading 30 – 603 words

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should note how Paul and Silas conduct themselves in the prison. We must understand that this prison was most assuredly a deeply unpleasant place, as it was the place where they put people with no rights, non-citizens who were effectively non-persons. Nonetheless, in that place, we see Paul and Silas praying and singing hymns to the Lord, giving us an example of what the Lord commanded in Matthew 5:12, that we should “rejoice and be glad” when we are reviled and persecuted, and indeed that we should “be of good cheer” when we have tribulation in the world, because the Lord has “overcome the world (John 16:33).)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 1 (Monday)

Leviticus 25:1-38 (Sabbath Year, Year of Jubilee)

Last time we finished our reading from the Holiness Code, from Leviticus chapters 17 through 22, seeing the commandments that the Lord gave to the children of Israel, to the priests, and even to non-Israelites living among them. We had already read chapters 23 & 24, which gave guidelines for the great annual pilgrimage festivals to the Lord. We will continue from that point now talking about the other elements of the calendar, the 7th and 50th years, in which God would grant rest to the people, to the livestock, and to the land itself.

The Sabbatical Year

25 The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying: 2 Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land shall observe a sabbath for the Lord. 3 Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather in their yield; 4 but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of complete rest for the land, a sabbath for the Lord: you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. 5 You shall not reap the aftergrowth of your harvest or gather the grapes of your unpruned vine: it shall be a year of complete rest for the land. 6 You may eat what the land yields during its sabbath—you, your male and female slaves, your hired and your bound laborers who live with you; 7 for your livestock also, and for the wild animals in your land all its yield shall be for food.

The Year of Jubilee

8 You shall count off seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the period of seven weeks of years gives forty-nine years. 9 Then you shall have the trumpet sounded loud; on the tenth day of the seventh month—on the day of atonement—you shall have the trumpet sounded throughout all your land. 10 And you shall hallow the fiftieth year and you shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you: you shall return, every one of you, to your property and every one of you to your family. 11 That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you: you shall not sow, or reap the aftergrowth, or harvest the unpruned vines. 12 For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you: you shall eat only what the field itself produces.

13 In this year of jubilee you shall return, every one of you, to your property. 14 When you make a sale to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not cheat one another. 15 When you buy from your neighbor, you shall pay only for the number of years since the jubilee; the seller shall charge you only for the remaining crop years. 16 If the years are more, you shall increase the price, and if the years are fewer, you shall diminish the price; for it is a certain number of harvests that are being sold to you. 17 You shall not cheat one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the Lord your God.

18 You shall observe my statutes and faithfully keep my ordinances, so that you may live on the land securely. 19 The land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live on it securely. 20 Should you ask, “What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we may not sow or gather in our crop?” 21 I will order my blessing for you in the sixth year, so that it will yield a crop for three years. 22 When you sow in the eighth year, you will be eating from the old crop; until the ninth year, when its produce comes in, you shall eat the old. 23 The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; with me you are but aliens and tenants. 24 Throughout the land that you hold, you shall provide for the redemption of the land.

25 If anyone of your kin falls into difficulty and sells a piece of property, then the next of kin shall come and redeem what the relative has sold. 26 If the person has no one to redeem it, but then prospers and finds sufficient means to do so, 27 the years since its sale shall be computed and the difference shall be refunded to the person to whom it was sold, and the property shall be returned. 28 But if there are not sufficient means to recover it, what was sold shall remain with the purchaser until the year of jubilee; in the jubilee it shall be released, and the property shall be returned.

29 If anyone sells a dwelling house in a walled city, it may be redeemed until a year has elapsed since its sale; the right of redemption shall be one year. 30 If it is not redeemed before a full year has elapsed, a house that is in a walled city shall pass in perpetuity to the purchaser, throughout the generations; it shall not be released in the jubilee. 31 But houses in villages that have no walls around them shall be classed as open country; they may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the jubilee. 32 As for the cities of the Levites, the Levites shall forever have the right of redemption of the houses in the cities belonging to them. 33 Such property as may be redeemed from the Levites—houses sold in a city belonging to them—shall be released in the jubilee; because the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the people of Israel. 34 But the open land around their cities may not be sold; for that is their possession for all time.

35 If any of your kin fall into difficulty and become dependent on you, you shall support them; they shall live with you as though resident aliens. 36 Do not take interest in advance or otherwise make a profit from them, but fear your God; let them live with you. 37 You shall not lend them your money at interest taken in advance, or provide them food at a profit. 38 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, to be your God.

Reading 13
993 words

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out that there are effectively three points contained in the Sabbath Year and the Year of Jubilee presented here. The first is that God will care for His people in these times of rest; they are ordained for them as a reminder that all things that they have are God's gift to them, and that it is the Lord Who cares for them. We see this especially in verses 18-24. The second point is that God is forbidding the permanent impoverishment of anyone in the land; the land that God gives to each family for their inheritance is to be returned to them every 50 years. The third point is an extension – as the Lord says, we will always have the poor with us, but among the people of God, there are always to be these built-in measures to ensure that they are cared for.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 2 (Wednesday)

Saint Theophan the Recluse – The Path of Prayer – Sermon 4-2

Last time, we saw St. Theophan speak of how, with all the effort that we put into prayer, it is a simple fact that our prayer will not bear fruit if we are not attending to the virtues, to the necessary realities of the life we are called to live in Christ. We cannot live in any way that we want, with no attention to or repentance for our sins, and then expect somehow to even be able to hold to the disciplines of prayer that he recommends. Even if we somehow could, all our efforts during prayer would be undone by our way of life. As he concludes this sermon, then, he will provide specific guidance in how we should live our lives.

Saint Theophan the Recluse – Sermon 4 – A Life of Prayer – 2

All this I am bring back to your memory, so that none of you should think that simply because you labour in prayer, that is enough. It is not. We must be eager to care for all things and to perfect ourselves in every good work.

It is true that we cannot succeed in works without prayer. But works must be practiced in addition to prayer – and with the support of prayer. We must even pray for success in prayer. In practice, the work of prayer is as essential as the work of good actions.

To achieve all this, we must take pains over everything, and demonstrate continual diligence. It is the same as with a clock. When the clock goes well, it shows the correct time. For this, every little wheel and every other inside part must be whole, correctly positioned, and properly interconnected. It is the same with the internal mechanisms of our soul: like the hand of a clock, the aim of our spirit can be pointed to the right or wrong place. It is right when it points straight to God, and this is when all the parts of the soul are whole and are correctly oriented, so to speak, each performing their proper task.

But exactly what kind of good works are needed to support a life of prayer? What sort of prayerfully active life should the Christian arrange for himself? I will tell you this not in my own words, but in the words of Saint Demitrius of Rostov, who gives the following very concise instructions. I beg you to attend to this:

1. “Having risen from sleep,” he says, “let your first thought be of God, your first word and prayer directed to God, creator and sustainer of your life, who has forever the power to kill or bring to life, to strike or to heal, to save or to let perish”
2. “Prostrate yourself and give thanks to God, who has wakened you from sleep, and has not allowed you to perish in your lawlessness, but patiently awaits your return.

3. Make a turn to the better, by saying with the psalmist: ‘I remembered the works of the Lord’ (Psalm 76:11), for the good Way to heaven cannot be properly trodden except by those who begin each day well.
4. From early morning, be a Seraphim in prayer, a Cherubim in action, and an Angel in attitude.
5. From this point in life onwards, waste no time, but attend only to what is necessary.

6. In all your actions, all your words, all your deliberations, keep your mind in God: do not have anything in mind but Christ, so that no other image may touch your clean heart except the pure image of Christ, your God and Saviour.
7. Arouse yourself to the love of God by every possible means, especially by repeating to yourself with the psalmist: ‘My heart grew hot within me, and in my meditation a fire was kindled” (Psalm 38:4).

8. If you wish to love God unceasingly, look on his presence continually with your inner eye, and for His sake abandon every evil deed, word, and thought. For this reason you must do everything honestly, speak honestly, and think honestly, humbly, and in awe of the Son.

9. Meekness should go together with praise, humility and honesty.
10. A quiet and humble word should be truthful and useful, but when you are silent, think over the words you are going to say. An idle or harmful word should never pass your lips.
11. If you laugh, laugh always with a smile, and not too often.

12. Be watchful in yourself against rage, arrogance, and argumentativeness. If you are angry, control yourself.
13. Be always moderate in food and drink.
14. Be generous in all things, and God will bless you while people will praise you.
15. Death is the end of all things, so it should be always in your prayers.”
You can see from this what a steady life is prescribed for the Christian man of prayer.

* * *

It is true that these rules speak mostly of prayer, of mindful and heartfelt approaches to God, but a number of other virtues are also mentioned. Without these particular virtues prayer cannot be sustained. This is something everyone will discover for himself in practice – if only he starts practicing prayer in the right way. How can you start to pray if you are burdened by lack of self control, if you are confused by anger or annoyance, if you are not at peace with someone, or if you are absentminded with worries and distractions?

If none of these exist in you, then their opposite virtues will be present. This is why Saint John Lestvichnik says – when speaking about prayer – that it is both the mother and the daughter of virtue.

* * *

Some of you, when you hear this, may think: “That is so much to expect of us! What a difficult and heavy burden! Where can we find the time and the strength for all this?”

Take courage, brothers! What is needed is not so very much. Just one thing is necessary: fervour towards God, with the desire that one’s soul be saved by Him.

By nature, there is much good in the soul. The difficulty is that it becomes overlaid with so much that is bad. As soon as fervour to please God and for salvation is born in the soul, all its natural goodness will collect around this fervour, and much that is good will appear in the soul. Then this fervour – strengthened by God’s blessing and reinforced by this dormant goodness – will begin to develop other good qualities and enrich itself. Step by step, it will grow.

This fervour contains the seed of true prayer in itself. At first, it is nourished by our natural goodness. Then it begins to be nourished by the goodness we have acquired. So it will grow in strength, and will start to praise God, and – as it increases in its growth – it will begin to sing to Him with a varied and blessedly prayerful song in the heart.

May the Lord help you to achieve this. Amen.

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out how the virtues that St. Theophan is talking about, and which he quotes St. Demitrius talking about, are twofold. First, in forsaking evil deeds, and second, in doing the acts of mercy and kindness and repentance. Effectively, we are reminded here that, while prayer is the essential work of the Christian life, prayer in truth is part and parcel all the good things to which the Lord calls us. The reminder is valuable and necessary, and especially appropriate in the midst of the Great Forty Day Fast.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 3 (Friday)

Acts 16:1-15 (Timothy Joins Paul & Silas, Paul Called to Macedonia, Conversion of Lydia)

Last time we saw the conclusion of the Apostolic Council in Jerusalem, and the letter that they sent to the Church at Antioch, directing that the Gentile Christians should be treated as non-Israelites living among the people of God, and should be expected only to observe the elements of the Torah that applied to them, which is to say, abstention from idolatry, eating blood, and sexual immorality. We also saw St. Paul leave once again to visit the Churches in Syria and Cilicia, accompanied by Silas, who seems to be one of the 70 Apostles of the Lord. This time, we will see how his journey proceeds.

Timothy Joins Paul and Silas

16 Paul went on also to Derbe and to Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer; but his father was a Greek. 2 He was well spoken of by the believers in Lystra and Iconium. 3 Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him; and he took him and had him circumcised because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they went from town to town, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in numbers daily.

Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia

6 They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; 8 so, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

The Conversion of Lydia

11 We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. 13 On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. 14 A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. 15 When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us.

Reading 29 – 403 words

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out how, in the course of this passage, St. Paul travels the entire length of Asia Minor, from Cilicia in the far south-east to the passage over to Macedonia in the far northwest. He should also note this first appearance of St. Timothy, and how St. Paul handled his particular situation. St. Timothy might have laid claim to be either a Gentile Christian or a Jew, as his mother was a Hebrew, faithful to the God of Israel, while his father was a Greek. But St. Paul treats him as a Jew, and has him circumcised; this is an important point for how the decision of the Council of Jerusalem is to be read. It does not dispense with the Torah completely; it distinguishes between the people of Israel and the other nations whom God is drawing to Himself. Paul’s handling of Timothy’s situation is helpful in understanding this. Finally, we should note that here, for the first time, we see the Gospel being preached in what we now call Europe; Paul has crossed over from Asia into the Balkans, and for many of us, this moment is the beginning of our own families’ life in the Christian Faith.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 1 (Monday)

Leviticus 20:1-10, 22-27; 21:1-17; 21-24 (Holiness Code 3 – Penalties for Violations of Holiness, Holiness of Priests)

Last time we saw the commandments that God gave to the children of Israel in particular about what they were to do to set themselves apart as holy unto Him. It involved many things that we have seen before, with what was basically a recapitulation of the Ten Commandments, and further details about how to tend a field or an orchard and how to treat non-Israelites living among them. This time, we will see the penalties for idolatry, eating blood, and sexual immorality, and then will see some of the particular requirements established for the priests.

Penalties for Violations of Holiness

20 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 Say further to the people of Israel:

Any of the people of Israel, or of the aliens who reside in Israel, who give any of their offspring to Molech shall be put to death; the people of the land shall stone them to death. 3 I myself will set my face against them, and will cut them off from the people, because they have given of their offspring to Molech, defiling my sanctuary and profaning my holy name. 4 And if the people of the land should ever close their eyes to them, when they give of their offspring to Molech, and do not put them to death, 5 I myself will set my face against them and against their family, and will cut them off from among their people, them and all who follow them in prostituting themselves to Molech.

6 If any turn to mediums and wizards, prostituting themselves to them, I will set my face against them, and will cut them off from the people. 7 Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am the Lord your God. 8 Keep my statutes, and observe them; I am the Lord; I sanctify you. 9 All who curse father or mother shall be put to death; having cursed father or mother, their blood is upon them.

10 If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death.

…then details are given of other adulterous and forbidden relationships that are met with the same penalty…

22 You shall keep all my statutes and all my ordinances, and observe them, so that the land to which I bring you to settle in may not vomit you out. 23 You shall not follow the practices of the nation that I am driving out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them. 24 But I have said to you: You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God; I have separated you from the peoples. 25 You shall therefore make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; you shall not bring abomination on yourselves by animal or by bird or by anything with which the ground teems, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean. 26 You shall be holy to me; for I the Lord am holy, and I have separated you from the other peoples to be mine.

27 A man or a woman who is a medium or a wizard shall be put to death; they shall be stoned to death, their blood is upon them.

The Holiness of Priests

21 The Lord said to Moses: Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them:

No one shall defile himself for a dead person among his relatives, 2 except for his nearest kin: his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother; 3 likewise, for a virgin sister, close to him because she has had no husband, he may defile himself for her. 4 But he shall not defile himself as a husband among his people and so profane himself. 5 They shall not make bald spots upon their heads, or shave off the edges of their beards, or make any gashes in their flesh. 6 They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God; for they offer the Lord’s offerings by fire, the food of their God; therefore they shall be holy. 7 They shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled; neither shall they marry a woman divorced from her husband. For they are holy to their God, 8 and you shall treat them as holy, since they offer the food of your God; they shall be holy to you, for I the Lord, I who sanctify you, am holy. 9 When the daughter of a priest profanes herself through prostitution, she profanes her father; she shall be burned to death.

10 The priest who is exalted above his fellows, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and who has been consecrated to wear the vestments, shall not dishevel his hair, nor tear his vestments. 11 He shall not go where there is a dead body; he shall not defile himself even for his father or mother. 12 He shall not go outside the sanctuary and thus profane the sanctuary of his God; for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the Lord. 13 He shall marry only a woman who is a virgin. 14 A widow, or a divorced woman, or a woman who has been defiled, a prostitute, these he shall not marry. He shall marry a virgin of his own kin, 15 that he may not profane his offspring among his kin; for I am the Lord; I sanctify him.

16 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 17 Speak to Aaron and say: No one of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the food of his God.

…then various sorts of blemishes are listed…

21 No descendant of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to offer the Lord’s offerings by fire; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the food of his God. 22 He may eat the food of his God, of the most holy as well as of the holy. 23 But he shall not come near the curtain or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not profane my sanctuaries; for I am the Lord; I sanctify them. 24 Thus Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel.

Chapter 22 speaks of the use of the offerings, that they are to be treated as holy, and that only unblemished offerings are to be given, and that newborn animals are not to be sacrificed until they are a little older, and that they are never to be sacrificed together with their mothers.

Reading 10 – Holiness Code 3
1053 words

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader can point out first how strange a coincidence that our reading this week last year was about the medium to whom King Saul turned when he wanted to speak with Samuel; we talked then the sort of blood-soaked, corrupted rituals were involved in calling up a spirit. But more generally, we should recognize how this passage shows us two things. First, in the Holiness Code over the last two weeks, we saw the commandments that God had given to the people of Israel and those non-Israelites who lived among them, but we didn't see what the people were supposed to do if they found someone among them practicing these things. That is what we see this week; the people are commanded not to endure such behavior among them, lest they be vomited out together with the sinners. Second, we should note how the standards and requirements are higher for the priests than for the people at large; this point helps us to understand why the people of Israel themselves are held to a higher standard than the nations at large. It is not necessarily a question of sin or morality (although in some cases it is), but more generally it is a matter of being set apart, of dwelling near to or coming directly into the presence of God. Those who do so are to behave differently; even if a loved one dies, they are not to grieve in the way that others do, because they are holy to the Lord. The details, once again, are not quite the same, but we see in the Church that the Clergy are held to a higher standard than the people at large, because they, too, are set apart as holy to the Lord.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 2 (Wednesday)

Saint Theophan the Recluse – The Path of Prayer – Sermon 4-1

As we move more deeply into Great Lent, it is good that we should read something regarding the spiritual effort of prayer in which we are engaged. For the last three years, we have read three of four little sermons preached by St. Theophan the Recluse on the subject of prayer, and this year, we will read the last. These four sermons were published in the little book “The Path of Prayer” by Praxis Press, translated by Esther Williams. St. Theophan will provide us with an introduction himself, connecting this sermon to the prior three.

Saint Theophan the Recluse – A Life of Prayer – 1

I have no spoken to you about techniques of prayer three times:

1. About the method of reciting prayers with attention.
2. About the method of ascending to God with mind and heart in accord.
3. And about the method of standing constantly in the presence of God with burning spirit.

In order that everyone can take part in the blessing of prayer to the measure of his capacity, the Lord has showed us different steps and different kinds of prayer. Because the work of prayer is a great labour, it is, as I said earlier, the proof of the life of the spirit, as well as its food. Because of this, above all else, we should strive for perfection in prayer.

I have described to you briefly how you can succeed in different kinds of prayer. Now I want to add to that a reminder, and also a warning, for it is difficult and even almost impossible to succeed in prayer if one does not at the same time strive for other virtues.

If we compare prayer to a perfume, and the soul to a flask, it becomes clear that just as it is impossible to store a perfume in a flask that is full of holes, so, in a soul which lacks may of the virtues and which is therefore not whole, it is impossible to preserve the perfume of prayer.

If we compare a man of prayer to the structure of the body, we can learn the following lesson: just as – for example – a man with only one leg cannot walk, even if the rest of his body is in good health, so a man who is not active in good works cannot come near to God, nor can he reach Him in prayer. Penetrate to the heart of the apostolic teachings, and you will see that they never speak of prayer alone. It is always accompanied by good works. For example, listen how the Apostle Paul summons the Christian to the spiritual struggle and arms him with all the weapons of God.

Examine what these weapons are. The Christian must:
– Gird his loins with Truth and put on the breastplate of Righteousness
– His feet must be shod with the Truth of the gospel of Peace.
– His shield is Faith.
– His helmet is Hope.
– His sword is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:14-17)
These are your weapons!

Only as a result of all this has he established his warrior in prayer, as in a fortress, about whom he says: “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:18).

It is only by prayer – of course – that all the enemies can be overcome. But before we can be strong in prayer, we must succeed in Faith, in Hope, and in Knowledge of the Truth, in Truthfulness – and in everything else.

In another place the same apostle, investing the soul with wedding garments, as if it were the bride of Christ, says:
“Put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, forgiveness of one another, love, peace…and the Word of Christ…in wisdom” (Colossians 3:12-16a).
Then, like a crowning virtue, he puts prayer at the head:
“…teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, with hymns and spiritual songs, singing – with grace in your hearts – unto God” (Colossians 3:16b)

In many other places in the Word of God, prayer is placed in absolute interdependence with all good works, regarded as their queen to whom all of them minister, and who calls them all to follow her. Better still, she is known as their fragrant blossom. As the blossom – in order to catch the eye – must stand out from leaf and branch, trunk and root, so prayer, the blossom of the soul, surpasses its entourage of virtues and good works, as if they were its roots. Faith is its trunk, Charity forms the branches, and spiritual and physical labours are its leaves.

When such a tree is rooted in our soul, it will blossom with prayer all day long, filling the whole temple within us with its fragrance.

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out how the virtues that St. Theophan mentions dovetail with what we have been reading from the Holiness Code in Leviticus. Righteousness and virtue is not simply a matter of abstaining from sin (although it is certainly that) but of active faithfulness to God, in loving our neighbor as ourselves, generosity to those in need, and all the other virtues that we see in both the Old and the New Testament. We cannot simply pray, and then live in whatever way we wish; we must actively follow the Lord, taking up our Cross, and walking in the newness of life to which He calls us.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 3 (Friday)

Acts 15:22-41 (Council’s Letter to Gentile Christians, Paul & Barnabas Separate)

Last time we saw the Apostolic Council in Jerusalem address the question of whether Gentile Christians needed to be circumcised and follow every detail of the Torah, the Law of Moses, in order to be partakers of the Eucharist. We saw Peter bear witness to what had happened in the house of Cornelius the Centurion, when the Holy Spirit fell upon all the Gentiles gathered there even before they had been baptized, and we saw Paul and Barnabas bear witness to all that the Lord had done in the Churches they had established and ministered to throughout Cyprus, Asia Minor, and Syria. Then we saw James the brother of the Lord speak the decision of the council, that Gentile Faithful are only to be held to the three points of Leviticus 17 & 18, to abstain from idolatry, eating of blood, and sexual immorality. This time, we will see the Jerusalem Council prepare a message to send to the Church in Antioch and throughout the Church in all the world.

The Council’s Letter to Gentile Believers

22 Then the apostles and the elders, with the consent of the whole church, decided to choose men from among their members and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leaders among the brothers, 23 with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the believers of Gentile origin in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. 24 Since we have heard that certain persons who have gone out from us, though with no instructions from us, have said things to disturb you and have unsettled your minds, 25 we have decided unanimously to choose representatives and send them to you, along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

27 “We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. 28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose on you no further burden than these essentials: 29 that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”

30 So they were sent off and went down to Antioch. When they gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. 31 When its members read it, they rejoiced at the exhortation. 32 Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers. 33 After they had been there for some time, they were sent off in peace by the believers to those who had sent them. 35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, and there, with many others, they taught and proclaimed the word of the Lord.

Paul and Barnabas Separate

36 After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Come, let us return and visit the believers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” 37 Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. 38 But Paul decided not to take with them one who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not accompanied them in the work. 39 The disagreement became so sharp that they parted company; Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. 40 But Paul chose Silas and set out, the believers commending him to the grace of the Lord. 41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

Reading 28 – 440 words 

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out the enormity of the statement that the Council in Jerusalem makes in verse 28: “For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.” They assert that they are sending through the decision of the Holy Spirit, as well as their own, in making this ruling about what Gentile Christians are required to do. There are two elements of this that are notable. The first is that the Church claims the authority of the Holy Spirit with their decision. The second, however, is that they are not claiming that the Holy Spirit backs THEIR decision, but that they have discerned and received the decision of the Holy Spirit. This was what we saw happen in the council when the critical testimony was that of St. Peter, describing the Gentile Pentecost, as the Holy Spirit descended upon men who had been neither circumcised nor baptized, and of St. Paul, describing the mighty works that God had done among the Gentile Churches in Asia Minor. The Council read the Scriptures, and recognized what God had done in the Churches, and then submitted to it. This is the principle that we see in subsequent councils. They do not MAKE decisions or CREATE theology, but they UPHOLD the truth delivered once for all to the Apostles, and witnessed and maintained by the working of the Holy Spirit in the Church from that day to this.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 1 (Monday)

Leviticus 19:1-4, 9-18, 20-37 (Holiness Code 2: Ritual & Moral Holiness)

Last time we read the first part of what is called the Holiness Code, from Leviticus 17 & 18, as God commanded the children of Israel AND the non-Israelites living among them to abstain from idolatry, from eating blood, and from sexual immorality. This time, we will see what are the distinct and particular commandments that God gives to the children of Israel themselves.

Ritual and Moral Holiness

19 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

2 Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. 3 You shall each revere your mother and father, and you shall keep my sabbaths: I am the Lord your God. 4 Do not turn to idols or make cast images for yourselves: I am the Lord your God.

…Instructions for when to eat a sacrifice, no later than the 3rd day…

9 When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien: I am the Lord your God.

11 You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; and you shall not lie to one another. 12 And you shall not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God: I am the Lord.

13 You shall not defraud your neighbor; you shall not steal; and you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a laborer until morning. 14 You shall not revile the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind; you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.

15 You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor. 16 You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not profit by the blood of your neighbor: I am the Lord.

17 You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself. 18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

…Instructions not to mix breeds, seeds, or cloth, and rules regarding female slaves…

23 When you come into the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, then you shall regard their fruit as forbidden; three years it shall be forbidden to you, it must not be eaten. 24 In the fourth year all their fruit shall be set apart for rejoicing in the Lord. 25 But in the fifth year you may eat of their fruit, that their yield may be increased for you: I am the Lord your God.

26 You shall not eat anything with its blood. You shall not practice augury or witchcraft. 27 You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard. 28 You shall not make any gashes in your flesh for the dead or tattoo any marks upon you: I am the Lord.

29 Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, that the land not become prostituted and full of depravity. 30 You shall keep my sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

31 Do not turn to mediums or wizards; do not seek them out, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.

32 You shall rise before the aged, and defer to the old; and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.

33 When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. 34 The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

35 You shall not cheat in measuring length, weight, or quantity. 36 You shall have honest balances, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 37 You shall keep all my statutes and all my ordinances, and observe them: I am the Lord.

Reading 9 – Holiness Code 2
764 words

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out how, on the one hand, what the Lord says to Israel specifically here is largely an expansion of the essential principles from last week, that the people of God and anyone living among them are to abstain from idolatry, from eating blood, and from sexual immorality, and might point out how the prohibition against eating blood in verse 26 is connected with witchcraft, augury, necromancy and wizardry in subsequent verses, as such “arts” are based upon the violent taking of the life of another to gain power. On the other hand, the Leader can point out how much more specific these instructions for the people of Israel themselves are; they are to be an example and a guide to the non-Israelites living among them of what this righteous way of living looks like, but the particular details are not explicitly imposed on the non-Israelites. This dynamic continues to exist within the Church; not everything in the Torah is explicitly imposed upon us Christians, but the essential point and lesson of all of it remains important for us.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 2 (Wednesday)

Synodikon of Orthodoxy

On the Sunday of Orthodoxy (which we will observe at the end of this week), at the end of the Divine Liturgy we make a procession around the Church and sing the Apolytikion of the Sunday of Orthodoxy, which is also the Apolytikion for the Icon of Christ the Master. At each of the four sides of the Church, we stop to pray petitions for the living, for the departed, and for all the Faithful. Once we return to the Church, we read the following, a part of the proclamation of the 7th Ecumenical Council which restored the Icons to the Churches, in celebration of the triumph of Orthodoxy after the period of Iconoclasm. What we read on the Sunday of Orthodoxy is only an excerpt of a text which was larger to begin with, and to which was added a rejection of many of the heresies which troubled the Church in the subsequent centuries. We will read a little bit more of the context here, however, taken from the following website:

https://www.andronicus-athanasia.org/synodikon_seventh__ecumenical_council.html

And referencing itself the fuller text from the minutes of the 7th Ecumenical Council, which may be read here:

https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3819.htm

The Decision of the 7th Ecumenical Council

The holy, great, and Ecumenical Council, which, by the grace of God and the will of the pious and Christ-loving Emperors, Constantine and Irene, his mother, was gathered together for the second time at Nicaea, the illustrious metropolis of Bithynia, in the holy church of God which is named Sophia, having followed the tradition of the Catholic Church, has defined as follows:

Christ our Lord, who has bestowed upon us the light of the knowledge of himself, and has redeemed us from the darkness of idolatrous madness, having espoused to himself the Holy Catholic Church without spot or defect, promised that he would so preserve her: and gave his word to this effect to his holy disciples when he said Lo! I am with you always, even unto the end of the world which promise he made, not only to them, but to us also who should believe in his name through their word.

However, some, not considering of this gift, and have, through the temptation of the wily enemy, fallen from the orthodox faith, withdrawing from the traditions of the Catholic Church. They have erred from the truth and… following profane men and led astray by their carnal sense, have calumniated the Church of Christ our God, which he has espoused to himself, and have failed to distinguish between holy and profane, styling the images of our Lord and of his Saints by the same name as the statues of diabolical idols.

Seeing such things, our Lord God, unwilling to behold his people corrupted by a plague, has called us, zealous, godly bishops from every quarter, together, bringing them here to confirm the traditions of the Catholic Church by common decree, according to the will of our princes, Constantine and Irene.

Therefore we, diligently making a thorough examination and analysis, following the trend of the truth, neither diminish nor add anything,, but preserve unchanged all things which pertain to the Catholic Church by following the Six Ecumenical Councils, especially that which met in this illustrious metropolis of Nicaea, that gathered together in the God-protected Royal City.

And then they quote the Creed of Nicaea & Constantinople which we recite every Sunday.

Therefore: We detest and anathematize Arius and all who share of his absurd opinion; We detest and anathematize Macedonius, and those who follow him, who are styled "Foes of the Spirit."

Moreover, we confess that the Holy Lady, Mary, is properly and truly the Mother of God, because she was the Mother after the flesh of One Person of the Holy Trinity, that Christ our God, as the Council of Ephesus defined when it cast out of the Church the impious Nestorius and those with him, because he taught that there were two Persons in Christ.

With the Fathers of that council, we confess that he who was incarnate of the immaculate Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary has two natures, recognizing him as perfect God and perfect man, and as promulgated by Council of Chalcedon. Thereby expelling from the Divine Atrium as blasphemers: Eutyches and Dioscorus; and placing in the same category Severus, Peter and a number of others, blaspheming in divers fashions.

Moreover, with these we anathematize the fables of Origen, Evagrius, and Didymus, in accordance with the decision of the Fifth Council held at Constantinople.

We affirm that in Christ there be two wills and two operations according to the reality of each nature, as also the Sixth Council, held at Constantinople, taught, casting out Sergius, Honorius, Cyrus, Pyrrhus, Macarius, and those who agree with them, and all those who are unwilling to be reverent.

To make our confession short:
We keep unchanged all the traditions of the Church handed down to us, whether written to verbally. One of which is the making of holy images consistent with history of the Gospel, a tradition useful in many respects, especially in demonstrating that the Incarnation of the Word of God as real, not a phantasm, for these have mutual indications and mutual significations.

We, therefore, following the royal pathway and the divinely inspired authority of our Holy Fathers and the traditions of the Catholic Church, in which we all know that the Holy Spirit dwells, define with all certitude and accuracy that:

Just as the figure of the precious and life-giving Cross, so also the venerable and holy images in painting, mosaic, and other fit materials, should be in the holy temples of God, as well as in houses and by the wayside, on the sacred vessels, on vestments, on hangings, and in paintings, and that these holy icons set forth the figure of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ, of our Most Pure Lady, the Mother of God, of the honorable Angels, of all Saints and of all pious people.

For the more frequently as they are seen in artistic representation, the more readily men are lifted up to the memory of their prototypes and to a longing after them.

And these icons should be given due salutation and honorable reverence, not that true worship of faith such as pertains to the divine nature alone, but to these, as to the figure of the precious and life-giving Cross, to the Book of the Gospels, and to other holy objects, incense and lights may be offered, according to ancient pious custom, as the honor paid to the image passes on to that which the image represents so that who reveres the image reveres in it the subject represented thereby, strengthening the teaching of our holy Fathers, that is the tradition of the Catholic Church, which from one end of the earth to the other has received the Gospel.

Holding fast the traditions we have received, we thus follow Paul, who spoke in Christ, the whole divine Apostolic company, and the holy Fathers, and we sing prophetically the triumphal hymns of the Church: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion; Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Rejoice and be glad with all thy heart. The Lord has taken away from you the oppression of your adversaries; you are redeemed from the hand of your enemies. The Lord is a King in the midst of you; you shalt not see evil any more, and peace be unto you forever. (Zephaniah 3:14-15)”

To those who dare to think, teach, or, as wicked heretics, spurn the traditions of the Church, by inventing some novelty or by reject something that the Church has received, (whether the Book of the Gospels, the image of the cross, the holy icons, the holy relics of a martyr), or by evilly and sharply, to devise anything subversive of the lawful traditions of the Catholic Church, or by turning to common use the sacred vessels, or the venerable monasteries: We command that, if they be Bishops or Clerics, they be deposed, or if religious or laity, they be cut off from communion.

The Holy Council cried out:

So we all believe!
We all are so minded!
We all give our consent and have signed.

And then they continued with this acclamation, which we repeat each Sunday of Orthodoxy:

Synodikon of Orthodoxy

As the prophets beheld, as the Apostles have taught, as the Church has received, as the teachers have dogmatized, as the universe has agreed, as grace has illumined, as truth has revealed, as falsehood has been dispelled, as wisdom has presented, as Christ has triumphed; this we believe, this we declare, this we preach:

Christ our true God, and His saints we honor in words, in writings, in thoughts, in sacrifices, in temples, in icons, on the one hand bowing down and worshipping Christ as God and Master, on the other hand honoring the saints as true servants of the Master of all, and offering to them due veneration.

This is the Faith of the Apostles!
This is the Faith of the Fathers!
This is the Faith of the Orthodox!
This is the Faith which has established the Universe!

Therefore with fraternal and filial love we praise the heralds of the faith, those who with glory and honor have struggled for the faith, and we say: for the champions of Orthodoxy, faithful emperors, most-holy patriarchs, hierarchs, teachers, martyrs and confessors: may their memory be eternal.

Let us beseech God that we may be instructed and strengthened by the trials and struggles of these saints, which they endured for the Faith even unto death, and by their teachings, entreating that we may to the end imitate their godly life. May we be deemed worthy of obtaining our requests through the mercy and grace of the great and First Hierarch, Christ our God, through the intercessions of our glorious Lady, the Theotokos and ever-Virgin Mary, the divine Angels and all the saints.

And then we sing the Great Prokeimenon:
What God is so great as our God? You are God, Who alone work wonders!

1459 words

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out that this text summarizes the decisions of all seven Ecumenical Councils, emphasizing throughout the centrality of the Incarnation, of God become Man, of our Lord Jesus Christ. But especially he should point out how the central point “on the one hand bowing down and worshipping Christ as God and Master, on the other hand honoring the saints as true servants of the Master of all, and offering to them due veneration” mirrors the words of the Church of Smyrna from the Martyrdom of Polycarp last week: “For Him indeed, as being the Son of God, we adore; but the martyrs, as disciples and followers of the Lord, we worthily love on account of their extraordinary affection towards their own King and Master, of whom may we also be made companions and fellow disciples!” This common thread is a helpful indication of the continuity of the Faith across the centuries, and an assurance that the Faith that we hold is indeed the Faith of the Apostles.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 3 (Friday)

Acts 15:1-21 (Council at Jerusalem)

Last time we saw Paul and Barnabas make their way back to Antioch in Syria from their first missionary journey, which took them through Cyprus and up into Asia Minor, where they preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ in several cities that had not yet heard it, and established Churches there, both on the Anatolian plateau, and in some of the coastal cities. Many of those whom they had baptized and established in the Faith were non-Israelites, and they had not required them to be circumcised, and had nonetheless admitted them to the Eucharistic celebrations of the nascent Churches in those places. This time, we will see this approach attacked, and the controversy will be resolved in a way that we recognize.

The Council at Jerusalem

15 Then certain individuals came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and the elders.

3 So they were sent on their way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, they reported the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the believers.4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them. 5 But some believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and said, “It is necessary for them to be circumcised and ordered to keep the law of Moses.”

6 The apostles and the elders met together to consider this matter. 7 After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “My brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that I should be the one through whom the Gentiles would hear the message of the good news and become believers.”

8 “And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us; 9 and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us. 10 Now therefore why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? 11 On the contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”

12 The whole assembly kept silence, and listened to Barnabas and Paul as they told of all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the Gentiles. 13 After they finished speaking, James replied, “My brothers, listen to me. 14 Simeon has related how God first looked favorably on the Gentiles, to take from among them a people for his name. 15 This agrees with the words of the prophets, as it is written,

16 ‘After this I will return,
and I will rebuild the dwelling of David, which has fallen;
from its ruins I will rebuild it,
and I will set it up,
17 so that all other peoples may seek the Lord— even all the Gentiles over whom my name has been called.
Thus says the Lord, who has been making these things 18 known from long ago.’

19 Therefore I have reached the decision that we should not trouble those Gentiles who are turning to God, 20 but we should write to them to abstain only from things polluted by idols and from fornication and from whatever has been strangled and from blood. 21 For in every city, for generations past, Moses has had those who proclaim him, for he has been read aloud every sabbath in the synagogues.”

Reading 27 – 541 words

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out how what St. James, the brother of the Lord (which is to say, that he is the son of Joseph the Betrothed, and therefore the stepbrother of our Lord Jesus Christ – we hear in 1 Corinthians 15:7 that the Lord appeared to James after His resurrection and that James’ faithfulness to Christ began at that moment) has to say on this matter. First, it is notable that he is the one to give the decision, as he is the bishop of Jerusalem, and is therefore presiding over the council even though he is not one of the apostles. Second, it is notable that Peter bears witness of what had happened with Cornelius, and that Paul and Barnabas also bear witness of what they had done and seen in their time preaching. Third, the decision is striking, as it is effectively a Torah ruling. James is saying that the “Gentile” Christians should be considered to be non-Israelites dwelling among the people of God, and therefore are not subject to every detail of the Torah, but simply to the points of the Holiness Code that we have been reading. They are, in short, to abstain from idolatry, from eating blood, and from sexual immorality. The reference to eating strangled things would involve BOTH eating blood and idolatry, as this was a way in which pagan sacrifices might be killed. This ruling is still the essential approach to the Old Testament for us Christians. We are not obligated to follow every detail of the Law given to Israel, but we are to dwell in the tents of Israel, as it were, to abstain from those things that are evil, and to walk in the light of the Lord, drawing from the details that are not binding upon us principles for how to live.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?