Pentecost 2010

The weather here in Lincoln, Nebraska USA this morning is absolutely a perfect summer morning. The peonies and poppies are in full bloom, and the roses are just beginning. Petunias purchased for my window boxes a month ago are blooming riotously and the veggies are off to a good start although I have to figure out who and what is eating my pepper plants and some of my herbs, and put a stop to is tuit suite.

Happy Whitsunday, happy Pentecost, happy happy Holy Spirit day to all!

Blessed art Thou, O Christ our God, who hast revealed the fishermen as most wise by sending down upon them the Holy Spirit: through them Thou didst draw the world into Thy net. 0 Lover of Man, Glory to Thee (Troparion).

When the Most High came down and confused the tongues, he divided the nations. But when he distributed the tongues of fire, he called all to unity. Therefore, with one voice, we glorify the All-Holy Spirit! (Kontakion)

The Eastern Churches, Part One

Pope Benedict and Patriarch Bartholomew recite the Creed in unision, and Bartholomew's homily from the Pope's visit to Constantinople in 2006. Here's to the "ONE holy, Catholic and apostolic Church".
Hat tip to The Byzantine Rambler.

None of Our Beeswax

Washington has a bad habit of making murky, contradictory statements that can lead to unnecessary unpleasantness that can last for decades. From Taki's Mag by John Zmirak, who also notes that it is the Eastern Orthodox who are energetically offing each other in Georgia.

QUOTE It’s tragic to see Orthodox Christians killing each other, especially in a region where they were once jointly persecuted by an atheist dictatorship. We should all pray for peace in Georgia. That said, it’s satisfying to see Vladimir Putin resist the irresponsible--indeed, insane--attempt by West to encircle his country with client states--with the goal of joining them all, through NATO, to the U.S. in a war alliance. Make no mistake, if American interventionists had gotten their way and already incorporated Georgia into NATO, we would now be at war with a nuclear-armed Russia. UNQUOTE

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Head Coverings Redux

Having received some attention to the recent post on Veiling the Sacred, I have been doing some more reading on the subject and found a personal account of Christian head covering over at the Orthodox Christian Information Center which rings very true to me. I mean, if covering one's head in church allows us to participate more fully in the life of The Theotokos and makes us more harmonious with our Guardian Angel, what's not to like? The author's experience rings true and resonates with my personal experience. Amen, Elisabet! Now, if wearing a beret could only make me look like the model above ~ wait; it does? At least a little bit? Ah ha! When women realize head coverings are gorgeous, the churches wil be full of them, say what? If purity doesn't do it perhaps vanity will...

Here is an exerpt, but please click on over and read the whole thing.

QUOTE In 1995 I was chrismated Orthodox and was surprised to find myself again the only woman wearing a head-covering in my parish. An Orthodox sister told me, with a nod to my scarf, "We don't have to wear that anymore." I smiled and said, "I know, but I want to." St. Paul had said "ought," not "must." It was my voluntary obedience, even if I didn't understand the "why's." By now I had no intention of giving up the benefits. I felt blessed and protected, feminine, and, paradoxically, confident and free—in the presence of guardian and ministering angels.
In Orthodox worship the angels were even more in evidence. The Divine Liturgy is full of references to the various ranks of angels, emphasizing our participation with them in the joyous worship of the Holy Trinity. St. John Chrysostom (d. A.D. 407), in a sermon at the Feast of the Ascension, spoke both of angels and the veiling of women: "The angels are present hereOpen the eyes of faith and look upon this sight. For if the very air is filled with angels, how much more so the Church! ...Hear the Apostle teaching this, when he bids the women to cover their heads with a veil because of the presence of the angels." UNQUOTE