Day 1 (Monday)
Ecclesiastes 1:1-18; 2:1-11 (Reflections of a Royal Philosopher, Futility of Seeking Wisdom, Futility of Self-Indulgence)
As we begin the new Ecclesiastical Year and prepare to return to the book of Genesis and the great narrative of our Lord’s work of salvation for us, in which this year we will be reading the account of Noah and his family in the great Flood, we will pause for a few weeks first to read a very different sort of book. For today, we will look at the beginning of the book of Ecclesiastes, a book of wisdom written by David’s son Solomon toward the end of his life. He is reflecting on his life, and the lives of those around him, and considering the value of the many things that human beings are concerned about, and what they all amount to in the end.
Reflections of a Royal Philosopher
1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,
vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
3 What does man gain by all the toil
at which he toils under the sun?
4 A generation goes, and a generation comes,
but the earth remains for ever.
5 The sun rises and the sun goes down,
and hastens to the place where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south,
and goes round to the north;
round and round goes the wind,
and on its circuits the wind returns.
7 All streams run to the sea,
but the sea is not full;
to the place where the streams flow,
there they flow again.
8 All things are full of weariness;
a man cannot utter it;
the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
nor the ear filled with hearing.
9 What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done;
and there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there a thing of which it is said,
“See, this is new”?
It has been already,
in the ages before us.
11 There is no remembrance of former things,
nor will there be any remembrance
of later things yet to happen
among those who come after.
The Futility of Seeking Wisdom
12 I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 And I applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven; it is an unhappy business that God has given to the sons of men to be busy with. 14 I have seen everything that is done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.
15 What is crooked cannot be made straight,
and what is lacking cannot be numbered.
16 I said to myself, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 And I applied my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.
18 For in much wisdom is much vexation,
and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.
The Futility of Self-Indulgence
2 I said to myself, “Come now, I will make a test of pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity. 2 I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” 3 I searched with my mind how to cheer my body with wine—my mind still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven during the few days of their life. 4 I made great works; I built houses and planted vineyards for myself; 5 I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. 6 I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house; I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. 8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces; I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, man’s delight.
9 So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem; also my wisdom remained with me. 10 And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them; I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. 11 Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
681 words
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader should point out that Solomon isn’t telling us what DOES matter, here; he is simply reflecting on all the things that he has seen people, including himself, chase after, and how pointless it all has proven to be. It’s important that we understand that he is NOT telling us that all the things that he tried were good; on the contrary, he is saying that he tried everything that SEEMED good, and found that it led only to vanity. He did and tried everything that his eyes desired…and it got him exactly nowhere. This book suggests that perhaps we need to come to understand that everything we think is so important will come to nothing, in the end; this helps us ultimately to understand that what Christ is calling us to…this is truly life in the face of death, hope in the face of vanity, as we will see on Day 2.)
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?
6) “What is the a) literal, b) allegorical, c) moral/ethical, d) anagogical/eschatological meaning of this text? (Think of these questions as a mountain which we can ascend, or as layers of meaning upon which we can reflect. Oftentimes, as we reflect upon a text in this way, we may find that the anagogical reading, in which we see the text as revealing the glory of God and His kingdom in a deeper manner, sheds new insights on the lower levels of interpretation.)
Day 2 (Wednesday)
Hymns from the Feast of the Elevation of the Holy Cross
Today for our selection from Church Tradition, we’ll be looking at some of the hymns from the great Feast of the Church that we celebrate on September 14th, the Elevation of the Precious and Holy Cross. This feast commemorates both the finding of the Cross by St. Helen, and its recovery and return to Jerusalem in 627, after its seizure by the Persians a decade before. The feast of the Cross is a Strict Fast, and functions almost like mini celebration of the themes of Holy Week, all distilled into a single feast day, in the fall. Note that the Old Testament readings for this feast are Exodus 15:22 – 16:1, when Moses casts a tree into the bitter waters and they become sweet; Proverbs 3:11-18, with guidance to not despise the instruction or the correction of the Lord, and Isaiah 60:11-16, with the glory of Lebanon, the cypress, the pine and the cedar coming together to glorify the Holy Place of the Lord, and to show that the Lord saves us, and the God of Israel delivers us.
1st Hymn of the Kekragaria
The Cross is exalted now * and it invites all creation * to praise the immaculate * Passion of the Lord who was lifted up on it. * For when He slew thereon * him who had murdered us, * He gave life again to us the dead, * and made us beautiful, * and He granted us to be citizens * of heaven, as Compassionate, * due to His exceeding benevolence. * Therefore let us greatly * rejoice as we exalt His holy name, * and let us magnify His divine * extreme condescension to us.
2nd Hymn of the Liti
The Tree of true life was planted in the place of the skull ⁄ and upon it, eternal King, You have worked salvation in the midst of the earth! ⁄ Exalted today, it sanctifies the ends of the world, ⁄ angels in heaven greatly rejoice ⁄ and men upon earth make glad, ⁄ crying aloud with David and saying: ⁄ Exalt the Lord our God and worship at His footstool, ⁄⁄ for He is holy and grants the world great mercy!
3rd Hymn of the Aposticha
Rejoice, you are the guide for the blind, * and the physician of the sick, O most precious Cross, * and also the resurrection * of all who died, lifting up * all of us who had succumbed to corruption. * Corruption has been destroyed, and incorruptibility * through you has blossomed, and we mortals were deified, * and the Slanderer has been utterly stricken down. * Seeing you lifted up today * in the hands of the Hierarchs, * we in turn now exalt Him who was exalted by means of you, * and bowing before you * we adore you, and great mercy we draw abundantly.
Mid-Ode Kathisma
Of old the tree in the garden stripped us naked, * and by its taste did the enemy bring in death. * Now the tree of the Cross, which for all mankind is bearing * the garment of life, was planted upon the earth, * and therefore is all the world filled with every joy. * As we see it exalted now, let us, O peoples, cry aloud * together unto God in faith: * Full of glory is Your house, O Lord.
From Ode 9 of the Canon
Eating the tree’s forbidden fruit once * in Paradise brought death to the human race. * But through the Cross, today death has no effect, * because the curse that fell on the entire human race through mother Eve * was undone by the Offspring of the all pure Mother of God, who now is by all the hosts of heaven magnified.
2nd Hymn of the Praises (Ainoi)
What a paradoxal miracle! * The Cross that held the Most High * like a grape cluster full of life * is observed by all to be * exalted from the earth today: * the Cross, through which we have all been drawn to God, * and by which death was completely swallowed up. * O immaculate Tree, * whereby we again enjoy the deathless food * that was in Eden of old, * and Christ we glorify.
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader should point out how the Cross is the tool by which the Lord has healed the vanity and brokenness that Solomon is lamenting in our Day 1 reading. Our nature is healed, the world is being restored, and we have a way to live that is not vain, but is filled with the joy and glory of the Lord. It still lies in not being consumed by the cares and pleasures of this world, but we can now see what it is that we hope for, where for Solomon, this was clearly a vague and uncertain thing.)
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)
1 Peter 2:1-17 (Living Stone & Chosen People, Live as Servants of God)
Last time we began the general Epistle of St. Peter to the Churches in Asia Minor (the ancient heartland of the Church that was in what is now modern Turkey). He was talking to them about how the promise they have been given, which they receive even in the face of persecution, is the fulfillment of what the prophets had foretold, the precious thing that all the righteous of the Old Testament had longed for, in order to encourage them to remain faithful when they were suffering for the Lord. Having received that promise, he urged them to lay aside the desires and fears of this vain world and to become holy. Here he will continue to develop this theme, and get specific about the sins they need to leave behind.
The Living Stone and a Chosen People
2 So put away all malice and all guile and insincerity and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn babes, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation; 3 for you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.
4 Come to him, to that living stone, rejected by men but in God’s sight chosen and precious; 5 and like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in scripture:
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious,
and he who believes in him will not be put to shame.”
7 To you therefore who believe, he is precious, but for those who do not believe,
“The very stone which the builders rejected
has become the head of the corner,”
8 and
“A stone that will make men stumble,
a rock that will make them fall”;
for they stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were no people but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy but now you have received mercy.
Live as Servants of God
11 Beloved, I beseech you as aliens and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh that wage war against your soul. 12 Maintain good conduct among the Gentiles, so that in case they speak against you as wrongdoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right. 15 For it is God’s will that by doing right you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. 16 Live as free men, yet without using your freedom as a pretext for evil; but live as servants of God. 17 Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
Reading 2
401 words
Discussion Questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader should point out that St. Peter is telling the Christians that, even though they are being rejected by their neighbors, they have been made the people of God, which is far better. He is also urging them to live as Christ commanded them, so that their neighbors, and even their enemies, will see how they live and give glory to God. For advanced conversations, you can urge a reflection on what it means to “live as free people, yet without using your freedom as a pretext for evil, but live as servants of God” (verse 16)…especially in the light of what we saw from Solomon about what freedom to do whatever he wanted actually led to, and how St. Peter is urging his listeners to a very different way. Not the way that leads to vanity, but the way that seems vain and weak to the world, but is in fact the power of God for salvation and transformation…which is to say, the way of the Cross.
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?
6) “What is the a) literal, b) allegorical, c) moral/ethical, d) anagogical/eschatological meaning of this text? (Think of these questions as a mountain which we can ascend, or as layers of meaning upon which we can reflect. Oftentimes, as we reflect upon a text in this way, we may find that the anagogical reading, in which we see the text as revealing the glory of God and His kingdom in a deeper manner, sheds new insights on the lower levels of interpretation.)
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