Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.
-Reading from I Corinthians 10 for the Great Blessing of Water, Eve of Theophany
Last weekend I drove a visiting priest to San Francisco, from where he was going to return to his home across the world the following day. But before I dropped him off at the church where he would serve that evening, he asked if we might stop by Holy Virgin Cathedral, where the relics of St. John the Wonderworker reside. I was quite happy to do that!
Every time I visit there, I feel more comfortable and more deeply blessed, but so far, not less overwhelmed by the size of the space, especially the height of the cathedral, and the numerous icons covering the walls and also freestanding around. The names are all in Cyrillic, so there are many who remain unidentified to me, though this time I recognized more of the saints just from having got to know them better elsewhere.
When I tried to get a picture of my companion as he stood praying next to St. John’s casket (he is somewhat hidden behind a palm), I realized that I could include the whole of one of the stained glass crosses in my picture. Later he and I discussed the used of stained glass in Orthodox churches, and I made note of how in the image we were looking at, there were no human figures, so no saints were cut in pieces, as it were, by leaded lines. He liked these examples of stained glass. I guess I still am not used to them.
It was timely that I came away with that picture, because today was our commemoration of the Procession of the Honorable Wood of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord.
“The origin of this Feast is explained in the Greek Horologion of 1897: ‘Because of the illnesses which occur during the month of August, it was customary at Constantinople to carry the Precious Wood of the Cross in procession throughout the city for its sanctification, and to deliver it from sickness.'”
A service for the Blessing of Water was held this evening, the hymns all about healing; and our rector reminded us that though we may tend to seek medical care when we are ill, we ought always to pray first, especially for the healing of our sin-sick souls.
Today is also the beginning of the Dormition Fast, by which we prepare our hearts to imitate the life of the Mother of our Lord, and we make ready to remember her death, on August 15th. The consideration of her example, and the shortness of our own lives, also help put us in a condition of receptiveness to the healing power of the Holy Spirit.
The Lord is my Light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
A prayer from tonight’s service:
O Lord our God, Who art great in counsel and wondrous in deeds; Fashioner of all creation, Who preservest Thy covenant and Thy mercy for those who love Thee and keep Thy commandments; Who receivest the compunctionate tears of all who are in need. For this reason Thou camest in the form of a servant, being not afraid of our image, but granting true health to the body and saying, “Behold, you who have become healed; sin no more!” And with clay Thou madest the eyes whole, having commanded them to be washed, at a word making them to rejoice in the light, putting to confusion the floods of passions caused by the enemies and drying up the bitter sea of this life, subduing the floods of sweet things heavy to bear: As the same King, O Lover of mankind, Who hast granted us to clothe ourselves with the garment of snowy brightness, by water and the Spirit, send down upon us Thy blessing by the partaking of and sprinkling with these waters, washing away the filth of passions.
Though it was a small crowd this evening for Vespers, two babies and a toddler were among our number. It is a great joy and encouragement to have a lot of babies in the parish at this time; I can think of five right off the bat who are still infants, plus several toddlers.
Of course the older children are beloved, but there is something special about the littlest ones, who look around curiously, and whom we get to know as we watch them “grow in wisdom and stature” from week to week. Our rector mentioned at the beginning of his homily last week, how wonderful it is to hear baby sounds in the church. He chose a moment when the baby noises were quiet and happy enough that he could be heard over them.
When we came into the church this evening, the infant baptismal font was set up in the middle, but inside was a big tub containing water to be blessed during the service, not for a baptism, but because it is the midpoint between Pascha and Pentecost, when this event always happens– as it always does at Theophany, when we celebrate Christ’s baptism.
The middle of the days has come,
beginning with the Savior’s Resurrection,
and sealed by the holy Pentecost.
The first and the last glisten with splendor.
We rejoice in the union of both feasts,
as we draw near to the Lord’s Ascension:
the sign of our coming glorification.
The toddler toddled, and one little girl crawled around, or was carried by her mother from icon to icon, where she reached out eagerly to touch the faces of the saints. The choir sang the Vespers service; it was a quiet and mild evening, but the sun had not gone down. The youngest baby present had been baptized only this week; she lay sleeping in her mother’s arms. After the blessing of the water, the priest walked all around the church sprinkling the icons and us. Then we drank.
One line read out from the choir was from Isaiah 55, “Ho, everyone that thirsts, Come to the water!” And we remembered the Gospel story from Sunday, about the healing of the Paralytic, and the water of the Pool of Bethesda that an angel would stir from time to time, giving it healing properties.
This prayer, based on another event in the life of Christ, expresses the tone of the evening’s service, and our joy:
Thou didst come to the Temple, O Wisdom of God,
in the middle of the feast
to teach and edify the Jews, the Scribes, and the Pharisees.
“Let him who thirsts come to Me and drink the water of life!
He will never thirst again!
Whoever believes in Me, streams of living water shall flow from him.”
How great is Thy goodness and Thy compassion!
Glory to Thee, O Christ our God!
It is the first day of the liturgical year for many Orthodox Christians. In church we sang the Akathist Hymn of Thanksgiving, “Glory to God for All Things.” Following, because our rector had decided for several reasons to do a water blessing today, we continued to sing the hymns and psalms and prayers of that service. The giant urn such as we also use on Theophany was in the middle of the church; afterward we drank some of the water out of punch cups. All this thanksgiving and praise and infilling made for a very rich morning.
While we were singing inside the little old church,
right outside the anemones were in full bloom,
glorifying God in their own lovely way.
Gladsome Lights 