The All-Comely Joseph as a type of Christ

There is a beautiful and thorough meditation focusing on the all-virtuous Joseph on the Full of Grace and Truth blogspot that I would like to direct everyone’s attention to today.   Please visit http://full-of-grace-and-truth.blogspot.com/2010/03/st-ephraim-syrian-on-joseph-as-type-of.html

Icon courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Boston

St. Andrew of Crete on Palm Sunday

Excerpt from St. Andrew of Crete's Homily on Palm Sunday

"Let us go together to meet Christ on the Mount of Olives. Today he returns from Bethany and proceeds of his own free will toward his holy and blessed passion, to consummate the mystery of our salvation. He who came down from heaven to raise us from the depths of sin, to raise us with himself, we are told in Scripture, above every sovereignty, authority and power, and every other name that can be named, now comes of his own free will to make his journey to Jerusalem. He comes without pomp or ostentation. As the psalmist says: He will not dispute or raise his voice to make it heard in the streets. He will be meek and humble, and he will make his entry in simplicity.

Let us run to accompany him as he hastens toward his passion, and imitate those who met him then, not by covering his path with garments, olive branches or palms, but by doing all we can to prostrate ourselves before him by being humble and by trying to live as he would wish. Then we shall be able to receive the Word at his coming, and God, whom no limits can contain, will be within us.

In his humility Christ entered the dark regions of our fallen world and he is glad that he became so humble for our sake, glad that he came and lived among us and shared in our nature in order to raise us up again to himself. And even though we are told that he has now ascended above the highest heavens - the proof, surely, of his power and godhead - his love for man will never rest until he has raised our earthbound nature from glory to glory, and made it one with his own in heaven.

So let us spread before his feet, not garments or soulless olive branches, which delight the eye for a few hours and then wither, but ourselves, clothed in his grace, or rather, clothed completely in him. We who have been baptized into Christ must ourselves be the garments that we spread before him. Now that the crimson stains of our sins have been washed away in the saving waters of baptism and we have become white as pure wool, let us present the conqueror of death, not with mere branches of palms but with the real rewards of his victory. Let our souls take the place of the welcoming branches as we join today in the children’s holy song: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the king of Israel."

(From: http://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/library_article/97/Palm_Sunday____St._Andrew_of_Crete.html)

On the sisters of Lazarus

For this reason the Lord, who knew what He gave her, said, Mary has chosen the good part. But after a time the things which Martha had done so eagerly in the way of service brought her to that gift of grace. She, too, received divine power in her soul. 

On the Raising of Lazarus

With special thanks to Monachos.net, where this entry is found:

ROMANOS the MELODIST (6th century)

Kontakion on the Raising of St. Lazarus

This kontakion is read on the Saturday of Holy & Righteous Lazarus in the Orthodox Christian tradition

O Christ, Thou who knowest all things,

Thou has asked to learn where the tomb of Lazarus is,

And arriving there, Thou has raised him up on the fourth day,

O All-powerful One,

Taking pity, Merciful One,

On the tears of Mary and Martha.

The Master, checking the lamentations of Mary and Martha,
Immediately stilled them when He raised up their brother.
It was possible, then, to see marvel of marvels,
How the lifeless suddenly was seen to be alive.
For when His voice descended,
It caused the bolts of the gate of Hades
To shake; and it broke down the bars of the door of Death;
And on the fourth day, He raised up the dead; as the Merciful One,
He took pity on
The tears of Mary and Martha.

Let us all, with love, hurry to Bethany to see Christ there,
Weeping for his friend.
For wishing all things to be ordained by law,
He controls all things in His dual nature.
He suffers as son of David; as Son of God,
He redeems the whole world from all the evil of the serpent,
And on the fourth day, He raised up Lazarus, taking pity on
The tears of Mary and Martha.

Together sustained by faith,
The two announced to Christ and God the death
Of their brother, saying,
"Hasten, come, Thou who art always present in all places,
For Lazarus whom Thou dost love is ill: if Thou come near,
Death will vanish, and Thy friend will be saved from corruption,
And the Jews will see that Thou, the Merciful One,
Hast taken pity on
The tears of Mary and Martha."

The Creator of all spoke on behalf of the disciples, saying:
"Friends and companions, our friend has fallen asleep."
He was secretly teaching them in advance,
Because He knows and cares for all things,
"Let us go, then, let us advance and see the unusual tomb,
And let us cause the mourning of Mary and Martha to cease
As I raise up Lazarus from the tomb,
And as the Merciful One take pity on
The tears of Mary and Martha."

When the heard these words, the apostles
As with one voice cried out to the Lord,
"Sleep exists for man for his safety
And not at all for his destruction."
And so He spoke to them openly: "He is dead.
As mortal I am away from him; but as God, I know all things.
If we truly arrive at the opportune time,
I shall resurrect the dead, and cause to cease
The tears of Mary and Martha."

They all, then, arrived together,
When Mary and her sister came to meet them, crying bitterly,
"Lord, where wert Thou? For he whom Thou lovest has departed,
And lo, he is not here."
As they cried out these words, He, himself, wept.
But he asked, "Where is the tomb of my friend? Now
I am going to release him from the chains of Hades,
Since as the only lover of mankind, I take pity on
The tears of Mary and Martha."

When they arrived at the tomb,
He who is in the bosom of His Father, called out:
"Thou hast sent me into the world
That I might bring life to the dead.
I have come, then, to raise up Lazarus
And to reveal to the Jews that I am going to arise from my tomb
On the third day, I who after the fourth day resurrect my friend And now
take pity on
The tears of Mary and Martha."

In order that He might bring an end to the mourning of Martha,
The Savior of all spoke to her and addressed
These divine words to her:
"I exist as the Light of the world
And the resurrection of all from the dead;
It was for this end that I appeared in order to resurrect Adam
And the descendants of Adam
And on the fourth day to resurrect Lazarus
Taking pity, as a Merciful One, on
The tears of Mary and Martha."

When the command was given with a nod of His head,
Hades was made to totter,
And also the power of Death and the arrogance of the Devil.
With the sound of His voice,
He raised up from the depths of the earth
The one who was four days dead.
When they saw this, Abraham and all the righteous cried out:
"Now, take courage, since the resurrection of all has come.
He has delivered from the bonds of death
The one whom He loves, as He, the Merciful One, takes pity on
The tears of Mary and Martha."

Hades, now a prisoner, sees himself despoiled of this Lazarus,
Whom a short time ago he held enchained below;
For when the King of angels came against him,
The strength of demons was destroyed;
And the serpent who trails over the earth on his stomach,
Now, pierced in the mouth by the Wooden Spear, appears as dead.
But Adam rejoices when he sees Christ,
In His goodness, take pity on
The tears of Mary and Martha.

Rising from the tomb, the friend reveals his eyes
And hands bound by a cloth;
They release him — those who have their hearts
Bound by the ill will of slander,
Those who, as they plug up their ears like the adder,
Prepare their hands for most wicked slaughter,
That they may pour out
The harmless and innocent blood of the One
Who raises up the dead, and checks
The tears of Mary and Martha.

Having heard the words of the children,
Which came from pure hearts and innocent lips,
They were all filled with fear
Saying to one another, "Who is this man?"
O madness and complete stupidity!
A short time ago they saw raised from the dead
A corpse who had become fetid,
And they do not know who resurrected him,
And who destroyed with His voice the power of Hades,
And in accord with His merciful nature checked
The tears of Mary and Martha!

O Thy unspeakable compassion, all merciful Jesus!
Who didst consent to come for me and to me,
How didst Thou calmly ride upon the ass
And advance into the city of God-slayers?
Foreseeing their terrible lack of faith, Thou didst command them
To release the bonds of Lazarus, that they might see
The One whom in a short time they wish to put to death
With no pity for
The tears of Mary and Martha.

O Savior, all came with palms on the occasion of Thy arrival,
Crying, "Hosanna!" to Thee,
Now all of us bring hymns to Thee out of piteous mouths,
As we wave the branches of our spirit and cry out:
"O Thou, truly among those on high, save the world
Which Thou hast created, Lord,
And blot out our sins, just as formerly Thou hast dried
The tears of Mary and Martha.

O Lover of mankind, the Holy Church holds a high festival,
Faithfully calling together her children;
It meets Thee with palms and spreads out garments of joy
So that, with Thy disciples and with Thy friend,
Thou mayest advance and legislate a deep peace for Thy servants,
And release them from oppression, as formerly Thou hast checked
The tears of Mary and Martha.

Incline Thy ear, O God of the universe, and hear our prayers,
And snatch us from the bonds of death,
For our enemies who always surround us, visibly and invisibly,
Threaten to have us put to death, and besides,
To deprive us of our faith.
Arise, and quickly let all be destroyed and let them know
That Thou art our God and dost pity us as Thou didst have pity on
The tears of Mary and Martha.

Let us, who are dead because of our sins, and who dwell in the tomb
Because of our knowledge of evil,
Imitate the sisters of faithful Lazarus as we cry to Christ
With tears, in faith and in love:
"Save us, Thou who didst will to become man.
And resurrect us from the tomb of our sins, Thou, alone immortal,
Through the prayers of Thy friend, Lazarus,
Whom Thou didst raise up, O Lord, in checking
The tears of Mary and Martha."

Let us depart the mere material world, which is always in a state of flux,
And hasten to meet Christ the Savior in Bethany.
Let us then dine with Him
And with his friend Lazarus and the apostles
So that we may, by their prayers, be delivered from our past sins.
If we cleanse every stain from our hearts, we shall see perfectly
His divine resurrection, which He offered to us when He took away
The tears of Mary and Martha.

Lenten labors set the foundation

Having purified the soul beforehand by repentance and good deeds, and with faith in the Crucified, having closed the bodily eyes, immerse the mind within the heart, in which place cry out with the invocation of our Lord Jesus Christ; and, to the measure of one's zeal and warmth of spirit toward the Beloved, a man finds in the invoked name a delight which awakens the desire to seek higher illumination. 

How prayer works

Another excerpt from Wounded by Love, The Life and the Wisdom of Elder Porphyrios

Prayer for others which is made gently and with deep love is selfless and has great spiritual benefit.  It brings grace to the person who prays and also to the person for whom he is praying.  When you have a great love and this love moves you to prayer, then the waves of love are transmitted and affect the person for whom you are praying and you create around him a shield of protection and you influence him, you lead him towards what is good.  When He sees your efforts, God bestows His grace abundantly on both you and on the person you are praying for.  But we must die to ourselves.  Do you understand?

You get upset when others are unwell, whereas what you should do is devote yourself to prayer so that what is desired comes about through the grace of God.  With your own wisdom, you tell others what should be done, when that is not necessarily the best thing.  The secret is to be found elsewhere, and not in what we say or suggest to others.  The secret lies in our devotion, our prayer to God for what is best for our brethren to come about through the grace of God.  That is the best.  What we are unable to do will be done through His grace. 

On prayer and how to pray

One of my all-time favorite spiritual books is Wounded by Love, the Life and the Wisdom of Elder Porphyrios.  The content of this book, I’ve found, is a balm for the soul.  Most Orthodox Christian bookstores carry it; if you are looking for a copy and cannot find it, write to me and I’ll help you source one, if desired.  Here is an excerpt, starting on page 116, where you can read further if you have a copy at home:

 We shouldn’t blackmail God with our prayers.  We shouldn’t ask God to release us from something, from an illness, for example, or to solve our problems, but we should ask for strength and support from Him to bear what we have to bear.  Just as He knocks discretely at the door of our soul, so we should ask discretely for what we desire and if the Lord does not respond, we should cease to ask.  When God does not give us something that we ask for insistently, then He has His reasons.  God, too, has His ‘secrets.’  Since we believe in His good providence, since we believe that He knows everything about our lives and that He always desires what is good, why should we not trust Him?  Let us pray naturally and gently, without forcing ourself and without passion.  We know that past, present, and future are all known, open and laid bare before God.  As St. Paul says, Before him no creature is hidden, but all are open and laid bare to His eyes.  We should not insist; such persistence does harm instead of good.  We shouldn’t continue relentlessly in order to acquire what we want; rather we should leave things to the will of God.  Because the more we pursue something, the more it runs away from us.  So what is required is patience, faith and composure.  And if we forget it, the Lord never forgets; and if it is for our good, He will give us what we require when we require it.

In our prayer we should ask only for the salvation of our soul.  Didn’t the Lord say, Seek first the Kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you?  Easily, without the slightest difficulty, Christ can give us what we want.  And remember the secret.  The secret is not to think about asking for the specific thing at all.  The secret is to ask for your union with Christ with utter selflessness, without saying, ‘give me this,’ or ‘give me that.’  It suffices to say, “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.”  God has no need to be informed by us about our various needs.  He knows them all incomparably better than we do and He gives us His love.  What is important is for us to respond to this love with prayer and with the keeping of His commandments.  We should ask for the will of God to be done.  That is what is in our best interest and the safest thing for us and for those for whom we pray.  Christ will give us everything abundantly.  When there is even a trace of egotism, nothing happens.