Tag: Pentecost

The longing to kneel – The Vespers of Pentecost (the kneeling prayers) 

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A particular element of Pentecost is the serving of Vespers of Pentecost and Kneeling prayers immediately following the Divine Liturgy. Yet given our circumstances (being a Church that takes a bit of work to get to  for a majority of our members), serving the full Vespers is not a practical option- as such we simplify the service, sing a number of the Pentecost Vespers hymns and read the “Kneeling prayers“. These prayers mark the  beginning of  a new cycle in the Church and our pilgrimage through time and history in what is generally called“ordinary time.” As Fr. Alexander Schmemann beautifully notes in describing this movement  “

It is evening again, and the night approaches, during which temptations and failures await us, when, more than anything else, we need Divine help, that presence and power of the Holy Spirit, who has already revealed to us the joyful End, who now will help us in our effort towards fulfillment and salvation”.

This “need” for “Divine help…presence and power of the Holy Spirit” compels us to kneel in supplication, for  ourselves, all creation, and even those who have fallen asleep in death.

There are three beautiful prayers read, that plead for the Lord’s assistance in helping and teaching us to follow the true path in “the dark and difficult night of our earthly existence.” The last prayer being set apart for all those who have departed this life before us, recognising that it is by the Holy Spirit “the giver of Life” that we love and know love; something not even death can separate us from, either in this age, or in the age to come. 

Indeed there is a peculiar joy of being able to kneel in prayer again; in solidarity of those who in every generation humbled themselves by kneeling in prayer for us. for in this  “we are strengthened by the words of the Disciples, who revealed the glory of the Benefactor and God of all. Let us bend our knees and hearts with them. since we are strengthened by the Holy Spirit, bowing down in faith to worship the Savior of our souls!  (Tone 3 Aposticha – Vespers of Pentecost) 

How could this not be something we long for.

Pascha, Ascension and Pentecost – A “trinity of feasts”

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We are in the twilight of this blessed season of light and life. Our joyful proclamation  “Christ is Risen!” ends as we celebrate the “leavetaking of Pascha”, and is replaced with both wonder, as we witness the Lord of Glory ascending into heaven to be seated at the right hand of the Father, and hope, as we are called to wait and “tarry…until you are endued with power from on high.” (Lk 24:39) on the blessed feast of Pentecost.

Indeed over the next 15 days or so we are called to reflect upon something of a “trinity of feasts” (Pascha, the Ascension, and Pentecost) – an unofficial yet apt description of the whole economy and working out of the Lord’s saving plan for us, revealed seamlessly in our services over the span of a few weeks.

We are called to joyfully reflect upon the eternal Pascha, of a God who liberates humanity from the ravages of death, by transforming death into life – by His death. We are called to reflect upon the Lord’s Ascension, with jubilation as our very human nature (flesh and blood) is reconciled and sat the right hand of the Father in the kingdom of heaven;  and we are called to radiantly reflect upon His promise for Pentecost, that He will not leave us orphans or as a flock without a shepherd, as we wait in anticipation for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the“Comforter”  (Jn. 14:16) who “will guide you into all truth” (Jn. 13:3).

Of course this kind of perspective is a bit of a paradox (like many things in our faith) challenging our understanding of a logical progression of time and events (how can the past, future and present be considered uniquely, yet conveying unity?) Yet in many ways this “trinity of feasts” bears resemblance to the paradox of the Holy Trinity itself; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – One God (Homoousios ὁμοούσιος), in Three Persons (Hypóstasis ὑπόστασις). Unconfused distinction, in total unity, the source and substance of boundless love and communion.

Indeed, like the understanding of the Holy Trinity, our understanding of what this “trinity of feasts” reveals is the same – the witness of the Lord’s boundless love and communion for us, as experienced through faith. Faith in a God who has acted to save humanity eternally from sin and death. Faith in a God who ascends to “prepare a place” for us (John 14:2-3)  that we might truly become “communicants of life eternal”; and faith, in which we are constantly being transformed by the abiding presence of He “who is everywhere present and filling all things”. 

It is in this all that we are given an opportunity to understand simultaneously (in a manner), what the Lord has done for us (the past -His eternal Pascha shared with humanity in baptism), will do for us (the future – His eternal Ascension, and glorification of our humanity –Theosis), and is doing for us (the present – His eternal Pentecost, lived out in our Chrismation). Truly the witness of  His boundless love and communion.

It is truly a blessing that in these 15 days or so, we can be by faith be immersed in this “trinity of feasts” – Pascha, Ascension, and Pentecost  – the gift of divine love received; the promise of  divine love hoped for; and the participation of a divine love poured out on all flesh; “Now and ever and unto the ages of ages”. Amen! 

A Pentecostal heritage for the Archdiocese of Canada – Altar feast of Holy Trinity Sobor. 

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Although there were various versions of Orthodox communities in Winnipeg prior to the arrival of St. Tikhon (at that time the ruling Orthodox archbishop for North America), none of them lasted beyond the charismatic pastors that either founded or served them. In 1904 when St. Tikhon was making a visit to Canada, he set into motion the establishment of a parish that would serve Orthodox Christians regardless if they be from  Bucovina, Galicia and Carpatho-Russia (Trans-Carpathia), then in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The following year, St. Tikhon returned to consecrate the newly built Church at the corner of McGregor and Manitoba Ave. in Winnipeg’s North End. This new community was given to the patronage of the Holy Trinity, and its feast day was to be Pentecost. 

There is something very providential in this. As the Apotoalic witness and proclamation of the Jesus Christ’s saving victory over sin and death, spread from that first Pentecost throughout the whole world; The witness of this same proclamation spread from Holy Trinity Sobor,  through all of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and eventually the whole of Canada, as Holy Trinity became Episcopal seat for Canadian bishops for the better part of a century (the seat moved few times until 1970 when it was formally moved to Montreal and then Ottawa in 1987). 

With the amalgamation of the Mission of the Lifegiving Springs of the Theotokos in 2016, St. Tikhon’s vision of what Orthodoxy could be in North America was truly manifested at this historic Church. The presence of a Slavic community, and an English speaking community serving together has truly been a blessing, that in many respects has exceeded expectations. Although they are challenges that have to be navigated now and again, the willingness to commit to this unprecedented arrangement, has revealed time and time again that what binds a community is first and foremost the same thing that bound the early Church as it spread from the blessed first Pentecost -that “on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” (Mt. 16:18)

Although Holy Trinity Sobor is no longer the Episcopal  see for the Archdiocese of Canada, and there are much larger Orthodox Churches across Canada, there is nonetheless something profound.  That so much of what now exists across the prairies and country (including our own St. Nicholas) has the DNA of that first Pentecost and Holy Trinity woven into their life. Truly a Pentecostal heritage. May the Lord confirm the clergy and faithful of the Holy Trinity with many blessed years! 

The Icon of St. Tihkon holding Holy Trinity Sobor (the very Church he founded)

40 days that feel like eternity 

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Master of the Rabbula Gospels, The Ascension, 586

Following the scriptural pattern, we are in the last week of this 40 day Paschal season. The question that is often asked, is what is the significance of 40 days being used throughout scripture? Well, without getting into biblical numerology (which if I am being honest is a little beyond me), this time stamp of 40 days is the actualisation of a completed act or event that is presented symbolically, yet in the context of reality.  

Whether it be Noah in the Ark, or Moses on mount Sinai, or the Lord fasting in the wilderness (and many more examples), this 40 day period actualises His saving, correcting, illumining, and redeeming work for humanity; and although 40 days might be more symbolic in its presentation, it nonetheless expresses something that is anything by symbolic – time. Although Divine is timeless, eternal and complete, the Lord condescends to the limits of time, that we might participate in the timelessness of the Kingdom of Heaven – the actualisation of His saving victory over sin and death. It is a paradox (like many things in our faith), that St. Paul compels us to consider;  “Behold, now is the acceptable time” -that 24hr cycle we experience – “behold, now is the day of salvation” -the timelessness of God’s victory and presence that is offered to us to not only consider, but participate in. (2 Cor. 2:6)

For almost 40 days, we have been given this “acceptable time”  in which the proclamation of “Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!” has loudly sounded; and indeed the Lord’s Pascha is a timeless and eternal victory that is shared with us (every Sunday is a little Pascha). Yet this season ends with His glorious Ascension – actualising the completion of God’s redemptive work (thus the 40 days). What now lies before us is the opportunity to enter into that redemptive work and the eternity of the Lord’s love –  the “day of salvation” in the feast of the Ascension and our anticipation of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. 

When the Lord ascends to heaven (Mk. 16:19, Lk. 24:50-53, Act. 1:9-11) humanity (flesh and blood) is restored and glorified in the Kingdom of heaven, and that which is temporal (our nature), is reconciled as eternal and timeless. Truly we witness the actualisation of Lord’s saving work as witnessed in time, and those 40 days of light and life -experienced in time -now stretch into eternity. But we know the story doesn’t end there for us; for on that “last day, that great day of the feast” (Jn. 7:37) the day of Pentecost, we who are rooted in time, are blessed to sanctify it, by the grace of the Holy Spirit.

For as the Lord says “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. “If you love Me, keep My commandments.  And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth”  (Jn. 14:12-17). Truly, these 40 days of light and life, by God’s grace can feel like eternity.