Icon As Scripture

Fascinating lecture entitled “Icon as Scripture” by Archbishop Lazar Puhalo given at Christ the Savior Orthodox Church in Stafford, Virginia:

While visiting Virginia, he gave a lecture to students and faculty at the University of Mary Washington entitled “Models of Reality as Sources of Conflict”:

The Sunday of Orthodoxy: Its Perils and Challenges

The first Sunday in Great Lent is known as the Sunday of Orthodoxy, commemorating the restoration of icons to churches after the Seventh Ecumenical Council. As such, it proclaims the triumph of orthodoxy over heresy.

This year, at Sts Peter and Paul Antiochian Orthodox Church in Potomac, Maryland, the sermon for this feast was given by Dr. Lewis Patsavos, who is is professor of Canon Law at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, Massachusetts. His theme: “The Sunday of Orthodoxy: Its Perils and Challenges.”

This is a challenging sermon. Dr. Patsavos avoids triumphalism and calls us to think seriously about the meaning of Orthodoxy: right belief, right worship and a way of life that glorifies Christ and transforms.

The Church Tour at the Greek Festival

If you’ve never been to a Greek Festival, you’ve got to go! All the yummy Greek food, music and dancing! And, most festivals, if they’re at the site of the local church, will have a church tour available. Here, Fr. Barnabas Powell, pastor of Sts. Raphael, Nicholas and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Cumming, Georgia gives a tour to some non-Orthodox at the Greek Festival:

A Little on Iconography Technique

A new video on advanced iconography technique, beautifully done:

Iconographers Paint a New Dome

The dome of St. Andrew Orthodox Church in Riverside, California is written with icons last weekend:

The “He Who Does Not Sleep” Icon

This is known as the “He Who Does Not Sleep” icon. It sometimes shows the infant Christ with eyes open and sometimes with eyes closed. It is also known as Christ Anapeson or Christ Reclining.

It’s central message is this: God is in control. He has power over life and death. More on the icon can be read here.

A description of this icon by Nick Papas (iconographer) at Saint Michael’s Orthodox Christian Church in Greensburg, Pennsylvania given on August 15, 2010:

Behold he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand… The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and for evermore. (Psalm 121:4-8)

A Look at Icons and Iconographers

Icons are a hallmark of Orthodoxy. Here is a look at icons and iconographers taken from a documentary on the subject. The filming is impressive. Two iconographers are featured in this snip, from different quarters of Orthodoxy:

For further reading:

What We Believe About Icons

The Icon FAQ

No Graven Image by Fr. Jack Sparks

The Theology of Icons (mp3 lecture)

From Matins for Palm Sunday

From Canticle Nine:

The Lord is God and has appeared to us; let us keep the feast together. Come, and with great rejoicing let us magnify Christ with palms and branches, and let us cry aloud: Blessed is He that comes in the Name of the Lord our Saviour.

Why do ye rage, ye heathen? Ye scribes and priests, why do ye imagine vain things, saying: ‘Who is this to whom children cry aloud with palms and branches, Blessed is He that comes in the Name of the Lord our Saviour?’

This is our God, and there is none other like Him; He has found out every righteous way and given it to Israel His beloved; and afterward He has shewn Himself upon earth and lived among men. Blessed is He that comes in the Name of the Lord our Saviour.

O disobedient nation, why do ye set stumbling-blocks upon our path? Your feet are swift to shed the blood of the Master, but He shall rise again, to save all those who cry: Blessed is He that comes in the Name of the Lord our Saviour.

A very great multitude spread their garments in the way, O Lord; others cut down branches from the trees and carried them. Walking before and after Thee, they cried: ‘Hosanna to the Son of David: blessed art Thou who hast come again in the Name of the Lord.’

When Thou wast about to enter the Holy City, O Lord, the multitude carried branches from the trees and sang to Thee, the Master of all. They saw Thee riding on a foal as though upon the cherubim, and they cried: ‘Hosanna in the highest! Blessed art Thou who hast come and shalt come again in the Name of the Lord!

Come forth, ye nations, and come forth, ye peoples: look today upon the King of heaven, who enters Jerusalem seated upon a humble colt as though upon a lofty throne, O unbelieving and adulterous generation of the Jews, draw near and look on Him whom once Isaiah saw: He is come for our sakes in the flesh. See how He weds the New Zion, for she is chaste, and rejects the synagogue that is condemned. As at a marriage pure and undefiled, the pure and innocent children gather and sing praises. Let us also sing with them the hymn of the angels: Hosanna in the highest to Him that has great mercy.

Before Thy voluntary Passion, Christ our God, Thou hast given to all men an assurance of the general resurrection; for at Bethany Thou hast raised by Thine almighty power Lazarus who was four days dead, and as Giver of Light, O Saviour, Thou hast made the blind to see. With Thy disciples Thou hast entered the Holy City, seated upon the foal of an ass as though upon the cherubim, and so Thou hast fulfilled the preaching of the prophets. The children of the Hebrews with palms and branches came to meet Thee. Therefore we also, bearing palms and olive branches, cry aloud to Thee in thanksgiving: Hosanna in the highest; blessed is He that comes in the Name of the Lord.

Texts for the Commemoration of St. Patrick

Commemoration of our Father among the Saints Patrick

The Enlightener of the Irish Land

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AT  VESPERS

At “Lord, I have cried…”, these stichera, in Tone I-

Rejoice, ye hills and groves of the Irish land! Leap up, ye lakes and rivers! For, lo! through the grace of God blessing and strengthening have come upon you from on high, for your Enlightener and spiritual father cometh unto you: Patrick, glorious among hierarchs, zealot of the Orthodox Faith, chosen by God for the apostolate.

To the newly-enlightened Christians the holy Patrick crieth out: Attend, 0 my spiritual children: I have begotten you, as saith the Gospel; I have betrothed you as a bride to Christ God. Stand fast, therefore, in the Faith, and confess it fearlessly; be not afraid

of the opposition of the pagans, that God may manifest Himself unto you as a great Helper and Protector!

Great is thy faith, 0 holy hierarch Patrick; for, lo! having left thy homeland and lands enlightened by Christ, thou didst journey to a land languishing in heathen darkness, bearing the Gospel of Christ unto the lost; and thou didst not depart therefrom until thou didst convert the whole land to the Orthodox Faith. Wherefore, we praise thee as is meet.

Glory…. in Tone VIII-

Who can describe the pangs and struggles which thou didst endure, O Patrick, in preaching the Word of God unto them that sat in pagan darkness? Who can give account of the tears which thou didst shed at night, praying in the solitude of the wilderness, fending off the fear of wild beasts and the assaults of the demons by the power of the Cross of Christ. which thou didst plant triumphantly over all the Irish land?

Now & ever…: Theotokion, or this Stavrotheotokion, in the same tone-

“What is this sight which mine eyes behold, 0 Master: Thou Who sustainest all creation, lifted up upon the Tree, dost die, granting life unto all,” the Mother of God said, weeping, when she beheld the God and man Who had shone forth from her ineffably raised upon the Cross.

At the Aposticha, Glory…., in Tone II

Loving the heavenly homeland and desiring to attain thereunto, thou didst forsake thy native land on earth; and in a foreign land thou didst beget new people in the Spirit, showing thyself to be a true father to them, and crying aloud unto the Lord: Here am I, and the children whom Thou hast given me!

Now & ever… : Theotokion, or this Stavrotheotokion, in the same tone -

When the unblemished Ewe-lamb beheld her Lamb led to the slaughter as a man of His own will, weeping, she said: “O Christ, wilt Thou now leave me childless who gaveth Thee birth? What Is this Thou hast done, 0 Deliverer of all? Yet I hymn and glorify Thine extreme goodness which transcendeth comprehension and recounting, 0 Lover of mankind!’

Troparion, in Tone III-

• Holy hierarch Patrick wonderworker equal to the apostles, Enlightener of the Irish land: entreat the merciful God, that He grant our souls remission of transgressions!

AT MATINS

Canon of the holy hierarch, the acrostic whereof is: “The seal of thine apostolate is the Irish people,” in Tone IV-

Ode I

Irmos: To Thee do I raise a hymn, 0 Lord my God; for Thou didst lead Thy people out of the bondage of Egypt, and didst cover the chariots and might of Pharaoh in the Red Sea.

O preacher equal to the apostles, with divinely inspired discourse and a life which confirmed thy words thou didst lead the people of Ireland out of the darkness of paganism into the light or the Christian Faith, as Moses led the children or Israel out of Egypt.

Manfully opposing the heresy of Pelagius, thou didst manifest the power of the grace of Christ to the people, enlightening kings and princes and men of every age and station, leading them into the fold of the Church.

What, therefore, shall we that commemorate the holy Patrick say? Shall we praise his apostolic zeal? Shall we marvel at the tribulations and threats which he endured? Shall we hymn his labours and struggles and the depths of his humility? Let us then glorify God Who gaveth His power to His chosen one to accomplish all of these things.

Theotokion: The rod of Aaron, which put forth leaves, and the unburnt bush prefigured thee. 0 unwedded Bride, Virgin Mother of God, who served for the incarnation of the pre-eternal Word.

Ode III

Irmos: O Christ God, Thou confirmation of them that hope in Thee: confirm us in the Orthodox Faith, for Thou art the Lover of mankind.

With much patience thou didst acquire the virtues, confirming the word of thy preaching by thy deeds, unto the glory of God.

Enduring bodily affliction, all manner of temptations and abasement, O Patrick, thou didst unceasingly labour in the field of Christ, neither departing nor becoming troubled, but being made steadfast in the Faith and in trust in the aid of God.

Thou gavest neither slumber to thine eye-lids nor rest to thy body, 0 holy hierarch, tirelessly traversing the mountains and vales of the Irish land, planting the true Faith and instructing the newly-converted people.

Theotokion: O Mistress, thou art the joy and consolation of the struggling and the ever-sounding voice of the apostles. Grant that we, the poor and wretched, may instead of gifts worthy of thee offer thee heartfelt hymnody.

Sedalen, in Tone VII-

O lover of the sacred Scriptures, eagerly didst thou learn the Word or God, giving drink unto thy soul from that divine well-spring and nurturing thine understanding with heavenly wisdom. Wherefore, thou midst transmit to thy disciples the divinely-revealed Truth which thou didst seal in thy writings.

Glory…, Now & ever: Theotokion-

O Mother of God and Mother of Christians, take pity on thy children; for even though we sin, in repentance do we cry out: Leave us not orphans, but stretch forth thy hands to us, guiding us to the path of salvation.

Stavrotheotokion -

Preserved ever by the Cross of thy Son, 0 Virgin, we escape the assaults of the demons. Wherefore. hymning thee as is meet, we glorify thee, 0 most hymned Mother of God.

Ode IV

Irmos:   Proclaiming the advent of Thine appearance on earth, 0 Christ God, with gladness the prophet cried out: Glory to Thy power, 0 Lord!

Likening thyself to a hart upon the mountains of spices, thou didst go round the mountains and hills, erecting churches and instructing Christians in the Orthodox Faith; and retiring to desolate places thou didst make unceasing supplications, that thy new flock be saved.

Having forsaken the sin-loving world from thy youth and been nurtured in the monasteries of the glorious Martin and his disciples, and tarried many years in study, thou didst humbly accept the pastoral staff, exclaiming: Glory to Thy power, 0 Lord!

Thou didst summon the sheep of thy pasture with the voice of the Gospel. and didst lead them to the courts of the Church, showing thyself to be a true shepherd who layeth down his life for his sheep.

Theotokion:   O blessed Mother of God, we offer thee the angel’s salutation: Rejoice. 0 thou that art full of grace, the Lord Is with thee!

Ode V

Irmos:   Glory to Thee! Glory to Thee, 0 Jesus Son of God, Who hast shone forth the light, hast illumined the morn, and shown forth the day!

With the light of the teaching of Christ didst thou illumine the Irish land, 0 Patrick. rejoicing in thy newly chosen flock and rendering glory unto God.

Thou didst open the noetic eyes of them that before were blinded with unbelief and languished in the darkness of ignorance; and thou didst move them to glorify Christ the Saviour with all the faithful.

Insatiably didst thou preach the Orthodox Faith. standing and teaching in season and out of season, weeping copiously and crying out to Christ God Who rendered thee aid: Glory to Thy  power. 0 Son of God!

Theotokion:   O Mary Mother of God, who shone forth the Sun of righteousness upon the world and dispelled the darkness: drive away the night of wicked belief from the world!

Ode VI

Irmos:   Prefiguring the three-day burial, the Prophet Jonah, praying in the midst of the whale, cried out: Deliver me from corruption, O Jesus. King of the heavenly hosts!

When offended, thou didst not protest; and when abased, thou didst humble thyself, showing thyself to be a model for thy disciples. Wherefore, the Lord hath exalted thee, O Patrick.

Battling against the deceptive wiles of the devil, thou didst not fear the threats of the impious sorcerers, fearlessly preaching and crying aloud: Deliver me from their snares, O Jesus. King of the heavenly hosts!

Having endured sorrow, imprisonment and bitter enslavement in thy youth, when thou wast made captive, 0 Patrick, thou didst receive freedom when the Lord spake unto thee, and didst cry out: Glory to Thee, O Jesus, King of the heavenly hosts!

Theotokion:    Thou art the helper of the oppressed; thou art the liberation of captives; for thy Son and our God doth ever accept thine entreaties, 0 Ever~virgin Mistress.

Kontakion, in Tone IV-

Thou wast shown to be a true fisher of men, for, spreading out the nets of the good news of the Gospel, thou didst draw the heathen into the kingdom of Christ, enlightening with baptism them that languished in the darkness of idolatry, and making them children of the living God. Wherefore, we beseech thee, 0 holy hierarch Patrick our Father: Intercede in behalf of us who honour thy holy memory.

Ode VII

Irmos:   Once in Babylon the children of Abraham trampled down the flame of the furnace, crying out in hymns: 0 God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!

0 holy hierarch Patrick, beholder of divinely revealed visions, thou didst follow the voice of God which summoned thee and sent thee to convert a new people to the true Faith.

Receiving the angelic habit in thy youth, thou wast zealous in planting the monastic life in the newly-enlightened land, founding many monastic communities, in every place, and chanting unto the Lord:  O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!

In thee doth the Irish land boast, 0 Patrick, and it honours thy memory; and we also, [who are from the East,] do earnestly call upon thee in our prayers, thanking the Lord for thee and crying out: Blessed art Thou, 0 God!

Theotokion:   Accept now the entreaties of thy servants, O all-immaculate Lady, as of old thou didst hearken unto the supplications of them that had recourse unto thee; for yesterday, today and in the age to come, thou art shown to be our only merciful helper.

Ode VIII

Irmos:   Christ the King did the captive children confess in the furnace, saying with a loud voice: O all ye works of the Lord, bless the Lord!

Thou wast shown to be a good sower, having grown a fertile meadow for Christ, O holy hierarch Patrick, teaching the newly-illumined people of Ireland to cry out: O all ye works of the Lord, bless the Lord!

Having laid the firm foundation of the Faith of Christ. thou didst erect churches and monastic habitations without number, and didst exhort them that struggled there to cry:  O all ye works of the Lord, bless the Lord!

Thou didst ordain priests of God and didst dispatch them over all the land to exercise their ministry that they might confirm in the Faith which thou didst preach the newly-enlightened people, who cried out in thanksgiving: O all ye works of the Lord, bless the Lord!

Theotokion:   Render vain the errors of other religions and the arrogance of heresy, and establish the faithful in the Truth, O Mistress, mystically teaching them to hymn God in the Orthodox manner.

Ode IX

Irmos:  O pure Mother of God, our boast, who wast born of mortals and gavest birth unto the Creator: we magnify thee as her who is Mistress of all created beings.

Celebrating thine annual commemoration, and praising thine apostolic labours, assembling from the East and from the West we magnify thee with one soul.

Thou didst offer Christ thy youth as a sacrifice, and didst serve Him until thou hadst grown old, O holy hierarch, emulating the apostles and imitating the venerable Saints. Wherefore, we magnify thee with loud voice.

Thou didst hallow the groves and hills of the Irish land with thy prayer, and didst bedew the newly-planted meadow of Christ with copious tears, that it might grow and bring forth fruit an hundredfold. Wherefore, after God, we magnify thy labours and zeal.

Theotokion:   Withdraw not thy care from Ireland or any Christian land, O Mother of God, entreating thy divine Son, with the holy Patrick, that He have mercy and save them that unceasingly magnify thee.

Exapostilarion-

Having illumined the heathen night with the light of Christ, O holy Father Patrick, thou now abidest in never-waning light, gazing upon the Sun of righteousness, and praying unceasingly, that the noetic light of Orthodoxy shine forth in all the world.

Theotokion-   O all-immaculate Mother of God, thou ray of the Sun of righteousness which everlastingly dost cast the Light of the threefold Sun into the darkness: illumine thou our souls!

Composed in Slavonic by Valeria Hoecke, New York, in the 1970s.  Blessed for use in the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad by the Synod of Bishops. Texts courtesy of Fr. Ambrose.

The Theology of Icons

Our Lady of the Sign (18th century)

Iconographer David Mastroberte explains the theology of icons in this lecture given February 8, 2010 at Christ the Savior Orthodox Church in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The lecture is in mp3 format and lasts about 50 minutes.