Most Holy Theotokos intercede for us!

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

The place of Fr. Seraphim Rose in the Orthodox Church


Blessed Father Seraphim Rose, Monk (+2 September 1981)

Those who Thy glory shall attain,
How wondrously Thy grace doth train!
O God unseen, how very near
Art Thou, their vows and prayers to hear.

Far from the only home they love
They lift their hearts and hands above,
And greet their mansions in the sky,
With many a tear and longing sigh.

Since death to Thee must shew the way,
Their flesh with toils and fasts they slay,
And long for that dear hour to come
When death shall call their spirits home.

By torments swift, and sudden pain,
The Martyrs heavenly glory gain,
But these, to make their crown secure,
A daily, lingering death endure.

+ All laud to God the Father be;
All praise, Eternal Son, to Thee;
All glory, as is ever meet,
To God the Holy Paraclete. Amen.

--Tua beandos gloria, Vesperal hymn for the Common of Abbots, Hermits, and Monks, from the Breviary. The English translation may be a bit contrived in order to fit into rhyme, but the point is understood.

++++++++++++

The Orthodox world, being what it is, has conflicting opinions of Fr. Seraphim. Besides what may be the majority of Orthodox with views in the middle of the road, there are, of course, the extremists. On one hand, you have the malicious revilers, those who call him a gnostic or even, very bizaarely, a Nestorian. On the other hand, you have the eager beaver cleavers who hang onto every word he wrote and don't seem to get any farther than that. Obviously, Father Seraphim means many things to many people--perhaps too many things to too many people. For this reason, along with the imminent end of the world (which we've been expecting for 2,000 years, by the way--not to disparage those who believe the end is near, the world is certainly not rushing toward a blessed utopia), I think that Fr. Seraphim will not be glorified on earth before the meek inherit it.

If, however, Fr Seraphim is glorified, I wonder what the Eastern Rite service texts will look like. (The Western Rite texts will probably be the same as for a Confessor or Monk with perhaps a proper Collect.) I must say, though, that not all liturgical texts for saints really do justice to the saint, if that's a way to put it.

For example, the ROCOR akathist to St. John of Kronstadt reads more like an apologia for right-wing Russian politics than a witness to St. John's holiness, his love of the poor, his dedication to priestly service. I would love to see a translation of the Moscow Patriarchate version for comparison purposes. St. John Maximovitch's akathist, which, if I'm not mistaken, was written by Fr. Seraphim Rose, is also not very--I don't know--appealing, something I could read over and over again. (It's sort of fit into a mold, if you will.) This could be a problem with Byzantine Rite liturgics in the first place--there are just too many things one has to put into a service--unlike the Western Rite where one can't put in as much as one would like. Byzantine liturgics vary widely in their content and quality and Western liturgics vary only ever so slightly.

I could imagine Fr. Seraphim being venerated as some kind of visionary or teacher. Of course, one of his main attractions is that he is a white-bread American convert to Orthodoxy, like so many of us, and, indeed, I think a case could be made that he displayed what I would consider the most worthy attributes of American culture, together with the true Orthodox monastic spirit.

It's interesting that, as much as his own writings get promoted so often (like "Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future"), he was more of a translater than a writer--and a very skilled translator at that, being able to read a Russian text and record the English translation on a cassette tape. And, even as a writer, he was more of a relayer or redacter of patristic teaching, especially 18-19th century Russian patristic teaching which is NOT different essentially from ancient patristic teaching, it's just for a different age with different issues.

More than these things, however, I think of Fr. Seraphim as an example of repentance. Personal repentance is too often swept under the rug in the lives of and liturgical services for saints, in my opinion, which is too bad because we are living in an age in need of repentance (what age wasn't?). More investigation should, of course, be done into the circumstances and fruits of his repentance, if this is possible. However, I'm not sure how much real academic research can be done at this point, since Fr. Seraphim already has a kind of mythic aura around him. The historical record is obscured by the legend of Father Seraphim and also by the debacle between Fr. Herman and the Church Abroad after Fr. Seraphim died.

Thus, investigatory committees that look at eye-witness testimonies and writings will probably never be able to reveal his sanctity to everyone's satisfaction. That's why I think that, if Fr. Seraphim is to be venerated more widely and glorified, God will reveal his holiness in some way.

Even though Orthodoxy does not require miracles of its saints, miracles serve as a means of dispelling doubts, as well as increasing love for the saint. A miracle worked through a saint's prayers builds a very strong and special relationship between the saint and the person or persons for whom the saint worked the miracle.

I'm not sure, but right now at 1 a.m., I can only think of 2 American saints--St. Herman of Alaska and St. John of San Francisco, both Wonderworkers in their earthly lives--who have worked miracles after death. The others were glorified for their holy lives, their martyrdom, their selflessness and zeal for spreading the Word of God, which is, of course, good enough reason for venerating them.

So, even if Fr. Seraphim works no miracles, one cannot deny him his zeal, his selflessness, the sacrifices he made and the pains he endured for the sake of Christ. Not to mention what appears to be a victory over many, many temptations and sins. Perhaps this will come to light, or perhaps God is saving it for the real, heavenly life, I don't know. I do know, however, that Fr. Seraphim's books--those he wrote and those he translated, are making a big impact on Orthodox Christians throughout the world, especially in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. This is very good because his writings are Orthodox and traditional. Also, his veneration is spreading in America. Many have visited his grave and several different Orthodox clergymen have concelebrated at the anniveraries of his repose. I hope that knowledge of his work and sanctity will grow even more so that it will be possible for people to get to know and love Fr. Seraphim. In my view, he appeals to a lot of people for various reasons. It's just hard to see through the clouds of denunciation, hyper-enthusiasm, and the way Fr. Seraphim's life and works have been used to justify so many agendas of lesser folk. All those things hide his real qualities, in my opinion.

Sunday, November 26, 2006

A Good Rumor

In honor of a good rumor I heard recently, I'm posting this icon as a commemoration. As you may know, if you've been reading this blog from it's beginning, "Einsiedeln" or "Orthodox Tidings," as it was first called and still named on the Web address, is dedicated to my patron saint, St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco. I heard from a fellow parishioner yesterday that a friend of mine who makes candles for our church and several others, is building a chapel dedicated to St. John on her property. I've helped here work on another chapel in the past. When this is done, the count will be at four, not including the plans for a chapel to St. Nectarius, God-willing. I haven't called her yet to ask if this rumor was true, but, true or no, even the idea of building a church for St. John deserves a little commemoration.

Ethiopian Orthodox Liturgical Snippit


This is a excerpt from a liturgy which was held in the Ethiopian Orthodox (Oriental) Monastery Church in Jerusalem. I'm not sure, off the top of my head, if the Ethiopians have only 1 site in the Holy City. I think they have at least two. I'm classifying their monastery on the "roof" of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre with the succession of chpaels and small rooms which appear to be in a narrow stairway. (I mean, the area is small, one room per level, with stairs in between and some beautiful iconography on the walls.) If any of you dear readers have had the blessing of going on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, you might remember the entrance to the Holy Sepulchre. To the right of that are the crosses people carry in processions on the Via Dolorosa and further to the right is a doorway leading into the Ethiopian church. I was able to visit it once (sometimes it's closed) and was greeted by a monk (can't recognize him as one of the clergy here, but I think I remember seeing him on TV), but it's an amazing place, as you can see. I have yet to make it to an Ethiopian liturgy, but it's high on my list.

Unfortunately, this video is too short. Being a liturgical maximalist, I would much prefer to see the four-hour long Sunday morning service, but until then this little bit will have to suffice.

Friday, November 24, 2006

What constitutes traditional Catholicism?


Altar of St. Columba Antiochian Orthodox Church in Lafeyette, Colorado. A Western Rite parish.


I hope that ye few, but hopefully faithful, readers of this humble blog will take a moment to view the film of the Traditional Roman Catholic Latin Mass featured in the last post. It is a good liturgical specimen of a bygone era. It displays some things sorely lacking in modern church liturgies (Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox). These things are:

1. Reverence. Above all for God, then for the Altar and the Sacrament, and also for the priest and the work that he does, as well as reverence for the mass itself.

2. Divine splendor. This is seen in the vestments of the priest which are festal and shine even in a black and white film. Such is also shone in the ecclesiastical chant (read Gregorian in this case) and in the skillfulness and attention of the choir and the clergy in chanting and carrying out their duties, including processing, censing, etc. Also, this is reflected in the dress of the congregation and in their attentive and prayerful demeanor.

3. Piety. Love for God. Love for neighbor. Keeping the commandments of Christ. Liturgically, piety is shown in prayer and devotion, and in the orderliness and grace of the clerical and congregational actions and chanting.

These are three of the most important things which modern liturgical celebrations lack. And I don't think I would be wrong in saying that such reverence, divine splendor, and piety were perpetuated at church, in seminary, and at home through a culture concerned with these things. Now this culture has been destroyed. And, as the Psalmist says, "if the foundations are destroyed, what shall the righteous do?" It is a sad phenomenon that an understanding once held by all church-goers in common is now only held by a few individuals. And, as we also see with other issues, when a common understanding is lost or discarded, it is next to impossible to regain.

I once recently visited a Web site of a traditionalist Roman Catholic (possibly SSPX) Benedictine monastery. I saw pictures of their church inside and was a bit shocked by how un-Benedictine it was. It was down-right gaudy--replete with hideous angelic statuary and an excess of candles. I'm not sure what that community used for music, whether it was straight Gregorian chant or a mix with more operatic settings such as those in the mass film below. Anyway, I was left to question what this group thought most worth preserving in their tradition. Perhaps they had reverence, piety, and divine splendor in their worship, but do they know that all these things can be affected, to the point that they become fake? And after that, what are they left with but their gaudy decorations and Zippadee doo-da liturgical settings? Wouldn't it be better to have architecture, decoration, and musical forms which reflect piety, reverence, and divine splendor more than just what happens to be fashionable or look and sound "nice"?

Liturgical abuses of our modern era should be a warning to us all. We need to take more seriously what we put into our liturgical celebrations not only for what we hope to get out of them, but so that good liturgical celebrations--done in reverence, piety and divine splendor--may be there for our children and all those who will seek God in the future. If we do not take heed and do our part, no matter what our station, liturgy as it should be, as worship of God, will vanish from the earth, and we will be left with what passes for liturgy in many circles--an action for the worship of man. This is the prevailing trend. Let no one think that he or his church is safe. The enemy has already declared war and the first victims have been slain.

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Traditional Latin Roman Catholic Mass

It's a lengthy video, but, as it is a Paschal Mass and narrated by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, it's well worth watching and, since it has Gregorian Chant, it's worth listening to, too.

With special thanks to Gillibrand at Catholic Church Conservation, who had posted it earlier. Thanks!

Orthodox Divine Office Forum

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

The Coolest Pontifical Pic Ever



The Catholicoi (plural of Catholicos) of Malankara (Syrian) Orthodox Church of South India, founded by the Apostle Thomas. Catholicos Basileos Marthoma Didymus I sits at left on the throne and Catholicos-designate Paulos Mar Militheos is seated next to him.

from Ben's Western Orthodoxy blog. Thanks Ben!

Rejoice, O Virgin Mother of God, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, for thou hast born the Savior of our souls.