Day 1 (Monday)
Ecclesiastes 1:1-18
Sunday School registration is happening now, and we will introduce the classes to their teachers on September 26th, with classes beginning on October 3rd. For the weeks between now and then, when we will start the narrative of the Lord’s creation and salvation of all of us once again, we will read from some other texts of Scripture. 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.
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. 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?
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.
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 1:13-25
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.
A Call to Holy Living
13 Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed. 14 Like obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires that you formerly had in ignorance. 15 Instead, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; 16 for it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
17 If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile. 18 You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. 20 He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. 21 Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God.
22 Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. 23 You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For
“All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.”
That word is the good news that was announced to you.
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 last time St. Peter gave a reminder of what a precious thing they had received; this time, with the word “therefore,” he urges them to action, to set aside the things of the world, the “futile ways of their ancestors,” and to hold fast to the Lord and to each other, in faith and hope and love. We should point out that St. Peter is saying precisely that they, being Christians, have been delivered from the vanity and futility that Solomon was lamenting in our Day 1 reading, and is simply urging them to remember that, and to hold fast the word of the Lord, and to lay aside the things of this world.)
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?