Byzantine, Texas

[Long Post Warning] What strikes many people as odd on reading the Gospels is that Christ did so many things that one wouldn't associate with a supreme being. Why did he need to be baptized? Why did he have to go to the temple? Why circumcise him while you're at it? Were there two natures so separate that the mortal coil had to be put through its paces even as the divine essence watched passively or pulled the puppet strings? Accepting the idea of a "ransom" could he not have lived and died without running through what would seem to be unnecessary activities? The feast day summary I found answers this better (and with more succinctness) than I can. As Christ wished to fulfil the law and to show His descent according to the flesh from Abraham, He, though not bound by the law, was circumcised on the eighth day (Luke 2.21), and received the sublime name expressive of His office, Jesus, (Saviour). He was, as Saint Paul says, "made under the law", that is, He su...

In protestant circles the person of the pope is cause for dark looks and tin foil theories about his office. I'm sure if Western protestants were more familiar with the patriarchates they'd extend that disdain. Here is an example of the importance of a firm moral authority figure. Several blogs see a turn-around (the renewal they've been waiting for) and I hope that they're right. Madrid, Dec. 31, 2007 ( CWNews.com ) - Nearly 2 million Spaniards gathered in Madrid's Plaza de Colon on Sunday, December 30, for a massive demonstration in support of marriage and family life. The huge demonstration, organized by pro-family groups with strong support from the Catholic hierarchy, was designed to send a positive message of support for family life. But the demonstration was a clear implicit criticism of policies undertaken by the country's Socialist government, including the legal recognition of same-sex marriage and the relaxation of restrictions on abortion. Pope Bened...

Already making a difference in North Texas , here's a video of their works in New York...

These stories used to surprise me, but the longer I pick up religious news sources the less novel this seems. I've read about Buddhist monks throwing things at one another and setting things on fire, Orthodox priests locking each other out of buildings, and of course Catholic monastics acting in belligerence as well. What it tells me most immediately is that the gift of faith is not synonymous with serene pacifism. Even in wondrous places like Mt. Athos fights erupt. There is a disillusion that eventually strikes all converts that the mystery (sacrament) of holy orders is not a reparative that imbues perfection. Parish priests make mistakes, bishops can be flip, and monasticscan break trusts. Bethlehem, Dec. 27, 2007 ( CWNews.com ) - Rival groups of Orthodox clerics clashed inside the basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem on December 27, forcing Palestinian police to restore order. Priests of the Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic churches came to blows during a dispute over the...

With the gift giving done, I'm back to blogging. After reading up on the new commenting features added by blogspot I've opened up commenting to anyone with an " OpenID ." Hopefully it will bring a few more comments. As the new year approaches, my old masters in Systems Engineering gets completed, and my Theology program starts cranking up I'll be posting about the same amount of commentary on news events, but with posts related to my Theology course topics. One can hope that I won't bore the lot of you. I do tend to drop Greek in unnecessarily, but that's more of my hobby in linguistics and etymology combined with a dislike (disdain?) for poor transliteration than anything else. Merry Christmas to all!

If you ever get a chance to watch "Byzantine Christmas" on EWTN do so. The Nativity Compline brought tears to the eyes of the show's hostess and with good reason. I am working on Christmas [gasps], but will probably not post then. Below is a grab-bag of Christmas related links. I post the Slavonic (or local Slavic language) as well as it has been requested in the past; even though I rarely use it at church or home. S’nami Boh, Razumejte jazyci I pokarjajtesja, Jako s’ nami Boh. God is with us, give ear, O you nations; Be humbled for God is with us. Nativity Compline - Part 1 ( Link to the complete recording )

In a moment of celebratory homage to the English and to Mr. Blair, I give a hat tip to The Cafeteria is Closed . Eddie Izzard on the Church of England:

I was happy to see this story in that it points to the actual primary stumbling block to these efforts. The Orthodox, in talking to Rome, have to have a unified hierarchical understanding before they can speak with any clarity on reunion. The Russian Orthodox church is large and is rebuilding from the days of Soviet collusion and oppression. A return to the pentarchy would leave Moscow out, which would be hard for them to swallow. Add in a healthy level of disagreement with Constantinople on a variety of issues and you see a good part of the problem. It is also worth noting that many commentators and Catholic officials are repeating the same thing in summary, "This is becoming less and less an issue of religion as we go on and more an issue of politics." Moscow, Dec. 19, 2007 ( CWNews.com ) - Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexei II believes that the world's Orthodox leaders should settle their internal disputes before proceeding with ecumenical talks with the Catholic Churc...

I don't fear long posts as long as they're not my own. :) I do, however, fear long-winded declarations filled with altruisms and easy targets. This is not one of these. By the Mercy of God Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch To the Plenitude of the Church Grace, mercy and peace From the Savior Christ born in Bethlehem Christ is born, glorify Him; Christ comes from heaven, meet Him. Beloved brothers and children in the Lord, It is with great joy that our Church calls us to glorify God for His loving and personal presence on earth in the divine-human hypostasis of Christ Jesus, one of the three persons of the Holy Trinity. What a very Orthodox way of putting that! We must, therefore, examine very carefully the true and life-giving significance of the incarnation of the Son and Word of God. First, it reveals to humanity that God is personal and is made manifest to us as a person, just as He has also created us as persons. Second, it reveals to us th...

My wife read the below article and by some flight of fancy decided to go visit the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal community in Fort Worth. On her way she went to a 7-11 and bought all of their hot dogs then distributed them with our seven and six year olds to the homeless near the friary. That's pretty much my wife in miniature - she decides something ought to be done and it gets done. It's a quite effective trait to have with an often recalcitrant husband. She noted that they were very warm and happy men (as is often the case for men doing such work in my experience) that she hopes to see again soon. Below is one recent article on them, another can be found here . ( Star Telegram ) By TERRY LEE GOODRICH It's 5:55 a.m., and the birds are chirping outside a tiny building behind a church in east Fort Worth. Inside the building, a man with a long beard rings a bell. Nearby, three other men in small rooms rouse themselves from their sleeping bags. No hitting a snooze button ...

Very catchy for those who haven't heard it before. This is what the kids - and I cannot tell a lie, the parents, too - are singing around the house.

Having a hard time of it with my house being flooded and living in a rental until it's repaired. Needed a little pick-me-up. Today, He who holds the whole creation in His hand is born of a virgin. He whose essence none can touch is bound in swaddling-clothes as a mortal man. God who in the beginning fashioned the heavens lies in a manger. He who rained manna on His people in the wilderness is fed on milk from His mother's breast. The Bridegroom of the Church summons the wise men. The Son of the Virgin accepts their gifts. We worship Thy Nativity, O Christ! We worship Thy Nativity, O Christ! We worship Thy Nativity, O Christ! Show us also Thy glorious Theophany!

Lots of posts commenting on news articles by me recently. This one doesn't need much commentary: Santiago, Dec 13, 2007 / 12:00 pm ( CNA ).- A judge in southern Chile sentenced a Catholic priest to recite seven psalms daily for three months as a punishment for illegal parking. Judge Manuel Perez said he issued the sentence after Father Jose Cornejo said he could not pay the usual $100 fine for illegal parking. Father Cornejo said he had parked in front of the school where he works because he lacked the money for public parking, according to the Associated Press. Judge Perez told a Chilean newspaper that his sentencing decision was a tribute to Galileo Galilei, the Renaissance scientist who received a similar three-year sentence for saying the Earth rotates around the sun. The judge ordered a court official who lives near the priest to check daily that the sentence is being fulfilled.

I don't waste much time on proving Christianity. There is a flippancy that puts me in the position of expending a lot of energy while the doubting party can sit amused at my efforts - imagine me pushing a broken down car while he steers. If not flippancy, there is an anger or dismissiveness that pulls historical actions of Christians before me in tribunal fashion to act as defendant. There are simply too many books on the truths about far-fetched anti-Church myths for me to carry around texts on witch trials, the Inquisition, or Galileo. So much appreciation ("Respect." as the current vernacular would have it.) for a man willing to fight the good fight where fools and fanatics love to tread. I'm listening to his debate against a militant anti-religion writer as I type. http://www.dineshdsouza.com/

The Church oppressed is such a strong force. Compare the faith of these poor souls to the faith of the cushy Western mind. It searches for mysticism and gathers up strange oriental practices, allows for relativistic thought, removes Christ from His position and replaces it with a universal call for "niceness." In essence, when man is surrounded by a comfortable bubble-wrap crèche of affluence, air-conditioning, and good traffic laws he forgets the realities of his existence and worries about the transient concerns of personal relationships and TV programming. Geneva ( ENI ). Christians are fleeing Iraq and Christianity risks disappearing from the country, says a senior Baghdad archbishop, reiterating appeals made recently to Western churches to intercede with their governments about the plight of the Iraqis. "We do have the courage of faith, the outpouring of love, but because of the war, you see death and destruction, the manifestation of evil. Our people are lacking ho...

Washington DC, Dec 11, 2007 / 10:39 am ( CNA ).- The U.S. bishops have withdrawn their positive review of the fantasy film, “The Golden Compass”, which opened in the United States last weekend. The movie, which brought in $26.1 million in its full opening weekend, is based on a series of children’s books by British author and outspoken atheist Philip Pullman. Director Harry Forbes and staff reviewer John Mulderig of the Office for Film and Broadcasting for the USCCB gave the controversial film a positive review, which was subsequently used to market it to dioceses across the United States. However, it must be noted that the advertisers created an ad which misrepresented Harry Forbes’ review by quoting it out of context. No reason was given by the USCCB for the withdraw of the review.

Broadcast 167 - An Eastern Monk Experiences the Tridentine Mass. Guest: Abbot Nicholas, Holy Resurrection Monastery, Newberry Springs, CA Also Monks Cell 15: "Christ Without the Church" (Father Maximos). And a phone call from Katie the ByzanTEEN: "Monastic Life on Campus" You hear quite often about Novus Order vs. Tridentine and on occasion the Divine Liturgy vs. the mass in adumbration. How often do you hear about the older Roman rite, the current rite, and the divine liturgy discussed together with discourse on ad orientem, the organic nature of liturgy, and the isolation of priests as a result of post Vatican II changes. I remembered reading about the organic nature of liturgy in a book by Pope Benedict XVI, but as I'm not at home I couldn't pull it off the shelf. As luck would have it, his thoughts are encapsulated in a review of his found here when he was prefect of Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. A great deal of this was right, and yet l...

If you don't already, I advise you to look at Byzantine Ramblings. I quite like the video he embedded here . O Virgin Pure (Αγνή Παρθένε) by St. Nectarios. It is quite beloved. Our men's choir sang it just last month. Go take a listen.

THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE ORTHODOX PRAYER ROPE AND ITS IMPORTANCE TO OUR SPIRITUAL LIFE I enjoyed this quick overview of the use of various materials to count prayers and build regimented monastic practices around them. I've been looking for a way to include it into our home practices, but have found it a little difficult. This gives me some ideas. If it works I'll post on it. Maybe 3 led prayers, 3 prostrations, and then seven in silence (divide by 10)? In monasteries, this is how the rite of the Jesus Prayer is conducted by the monks each night. The Abbot stands ahead of the Monks, each with prayer rope in hand. The Abbot then recites the Prayer three times out loud. Then the monks, crossing themselves and reciting the prayer as they make the Sign of the Cross, make 30 prostrations down to the floor. Then the remaining 70 prayers are said in silence. This is repeated, in all, ten times to make up the daily 300 prostrations and 700 prayers - in reality 1,000 Jesus Pray...

MOSCOW, December 7, 2007 ( LifeSiteNews,com ) - Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II exhorted European countries to retain their Christian heritage or risk fading into oblivion as nations. "Modern Europe will not create a new post-Christian culture and civilization but will simply vanish from history," Alexy II said at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow on Wednesday evening. " Losing their Christian roots, the people of Europe will sign their own death warrant, " he added. The Catholic Church and several other EU countries, notably Poland, Italy and Germany, have been lobbying European Union leaders to state and include Europe's Christian roots in the EU constitution. Alexy II has been very active in Russia and internationally in defense of Christianity and traditional morality. At a Kremlin meeting with President Vladimir Putin in November he called for tighter controls over the content of Russian TV and radio broadcasts, saying they were promoting ...

My old kung fu sigung (grandmaster) used to come down from New York to teach seminars and ended particularly sneaky or deadly moves with "you do this....no can defend! Ha ha ha! (painful whining in the background by beset upon individual)" This video reminded me of that.

Vatican City, Dec 6, 2007 / 12:22 pm ( CNA ).- Today the Vatican announced the appointment of two Ruthenian bishops in the United States: Bishop William Skurla and Msgr. Gerald Dino. Ruthenian Catholics, under the Byzantine Eastern Rite, come from region of present-day Slovakia and Ukraine, and came into communion with Rome in 1646. Bishop William C. Skurla of the eparchy of Van Nuys will shepherd the eparchy of Passaic. His new eparchy will consist of 21,808 Catholics and 81 priests. Eparchies are the rough equivalent of a diocese in the Roman rite. Bishop Skurla was appointed as the third bishop of Van Nuys and will now succeed Bishop Andrew Pataki who recently resigned. Msgr. Gerald N. Dino has been appointed as the head of the eparchy of Van Nuys. The current administrator of the eparchy of Passaic and pastor of the Church of St. George in Linden, New Jersey was born in 1940 in Binghamton, NY and was ordained in 1965. He will serve 2,862 Catholics and 24 priests. And from anoth...

A quote from Touchstone's Mere Comments blog: A happy St. Nicholas day to any of you observing the day. I am curious if anyone has observed it and how. Anyone grow up in a family that had St. Nicholas customs? For me, he was a shadowy figure behind the American Santa Claus, and he didn't come 'round till Christmas eve. Apparently, the story goes, the real Nicholas, bishop of Myra, punched Arius at the council, and was denied Communion for three days as a punishment. But Arius, well, what shall we say about the heresy of Arius that hasn't already been said? (Anyone have a traditional Dec. 6 recipe for punch?)

New website launched: http://papalvisit.cua.edu/

Today is the feastday St. Sabbas (note the rather striking hesychastian schema habit in red above) . After shopping around for a hagiography that is not too long, but gets the high points I chose the below from the Catholic Encyclopedia and added some explanatory notes. The Orthodox Wiki also has some good information. Hermit, born at Mutalaska near Caesarea in Cappadocia, 439; died in his laura (semi-eremitical Palestine-area monastery of which none are said to exist any longer) 5 December, 532. He entered a Basilian monastery at the age of eight, came to Jerusalem in 456, lived five years in a cavern as a disciple of St. Euthymius (miracle-worker and abbot) , and, after spending some time in various monasteries, founded (483) the Laura Mar Sabe (restored in 1840) in the gorges of the Cedron, southeast of Jerusalem. Because some of his monks opposed his rule and demanded a priest as their abbot, Patriarch Salustius of Jerusalem ordained him in 491 and appointed archimandrite (from ...

Recently I had a conversation about church collections. My thought was that as we move from a cash-centric society to a "plastic" people we can assume that the collect funds will continue to go down. As putting credit card readers in wicker baskets is not an option, what can be done to combat the decline? The Antiochian Orthodox have a program called " To Tithe is to Share " which targets educating children about the merits of tithing. It ends in May and I'd like to see what results they provide after they've made their review. In my reckoning the answer is electronic funds transfer (EFT). Provide people with a method of paying monthly "without thinking" by filling out a form at the parish. Commit parishioners to a certain amount (can we expect people to give their 10%?) and allow clergy to worry less about the week-to-week "numbers". Another answer is to target specific projects and ask for funds based on each. The obvious problem is tha...

Istanbul, Dec. 3, 2007 ( CWNews.com ) - Cardinal Walter Kasper led a high-level Vatican delegation to Istanbul to join Patriarch Bartholomew I in celebrating the feast of St. Andrew, the patron of the Constantinople see, on November 30. Following what has become an annual tradition, the secretary of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity brought the greetings of the Pope to the Constantinople patriarchate. (Patriarch Bartholomew has sent his own delegation to Rome each year, to join the Pope in celebrating the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul on June 29.) This year Cardinal Kasper brought the Orthodox prelate a signed copy of the Pope's newly published encyclical, Spe Salvi. In his message to Patriarch Bartholomew, the Holy Father recalled his trip to Turkey last year, when he himself joined in the ceremonies for the feast of St. Andrew in Constantinople. The Pontiff also welcomed the progress achieved during an October meeting of the joint Catholic-Orthodox theological commission,...