THE TEMPLE

Where heaven and earth are joined

Whenever we have non-Orthodox visitors, I am touched by the look on their faces as they gaze for the first time the sublime, otherworldly, beauty of the interior of our little temple. They are often speechless, just as one would be when seeing a sunset on a warm summer evening. This first glimpse leaves them in a state of silence, as they attempt to process something that seems foreign, yet so familiar. It is as though they have taken a peek into heaven itself, which is really what they are experiencing.

My own first encounter with Orthodoxy took place in the Cathedral of the Holy Virgin, “Joy of All Who Sorrow”, in San Francisco, back in my graduate school days. I remember being overwhelmed, even stunned, by what seemed like a vision of heaven. I came out of the cathedral feeling as though I had just walked into the Old Temple in the Holy City of Jerusalem, and had beheld the Ark itself. The iconostasis did not seem like a barrier between the nave and the altar, but like the veil of the Old Testament temple, shielding me from a holiness that would have been overwhelming, just as was the Ark of the Covenant to the Israelites. Yet this icon screen also seemed to beckon me into the presence of God, like a sign of welcome, affording me a glimpse of God’s Kingdom without laying me low to the ground.

This temple bespoke the truth of the Orthodox teaching that there is no separation between the Church Militant here on earth, and the Church Triumphant in heaven, for here was a place where heaven and earth came together. It was within this temple where the Divine Services gathered mortals, such as myself, and linked us in worship before the Throne of God, joining us to the Cloud of Witnesses, spoken of in the holy scriptures. This truth was exemplified by the icons and frescoes depicting the Cloud of Witnesses, the saints themselves. Their images surrounded me, reminding me that heaven awaits me, and that one day I too can stand before the Father of Lights.

The Orthodox depiction of the saints is a reminder that they stand before us as witnesses, by their lives, to the truth that eternal life is a reality, and that because of Christ’s redemptive act upon the cross, the saints are not dead, but alive, and together we all gaze upon the glory of Christ in the Kingdom of Heaven. The great grace that resides within these depicted saints allows them to embrace the whole world with their love, for they see how we languish in affliction, and they never cease to intercede for us before the Throne of God. They have become our friends in high places, as they await the end of time, when we, too, will stand with them before the Throne of Glory, worshiping the Undivided Trinity.

The saints depicted in the frescoes and icons, having won the good fight, encourage us by their example, and aid us by their prayers, that we, too, become victorious in our battle with the unclean spirits of darkness. Their lives give witness to the importance of living in repentance, and placing Jesus above all else, for it is in Jesus Christ that they have gained eternal life. It is in Jesus Christ that we, like the saints who have gone on before us, have the same promise of immortality. As our friends, they await the day when we will join them, offering their prayers for that end. In gratitude and love, we kiss their holy icons, knowing they are our true friends and family, and that we are united with them as one, in Christ Jesus Our Lord.

With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon

Photos: Interior views of Holy Virgin “Joy of All Who Sorrow” Cathedral, San Francisco, CA., and Protection of the Holy Virgin Church of All-Merciful Saviour Monastery, Vashon Island, WA.

Thursday March 27, 2014

Fourth Week of the Great Lent: Adoration of Cross. Tone six.
Great Lent. By Monastic Charter: Food without Oil
Venerable Benedict of Nursia, abbot (543).
St. Theognostus, metropolitan of Kiev and Moscow (1353).
St. Rostislav-Michael, prince of Kiev (1167).
St. Euschemon, bishop of Lampsacus (9th c.).
Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos of St. Theodore (“Feodorovskaya”) (1613).
Martyr Eustathius and his company at Carrhae, Mesopotamia (741). You can read the life of the saint by clicking on the highlighted name.

The Scripture Readings for the Day

Isaiah 28:14-22

¹⁴Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scornful men,
Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,
¹⁵Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
And with Sheol we are in agreement.
When the overflowing scourge passes through,
It will not come to us,
For we have made lies our refuge,
And under falsehood we have hidden ourselves.”

A Cornerstone in Zion

¹⁶Therefore thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation,
A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;
Whoever believes will not act hastily.
¹⁷Also I will make justice the measuring line,
And righteousness the plummet;
The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
And the waters will overflow the hiding place.
¹⁸Your covenant with death will be annulled,
And your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
When the overflowing scourge passes through,
Then you will be trampled down by it.
¹⁹As often as it goes out it will take you;
For morning by morning it will pass over,
And by day and by night;
It will be a terror just to understand the report.”

²⁰For the bed is too short to stretch out on,
And the covering so narrow that one cannot wrap himself in it.
²¹For the Lord will rise up as at Mount Perazim,
He will be angry as in the Valley of Gibeon—
That He may do His work, His awesome work,
And bring to pass His act, His unusual act.
²²Now therefore, do not be mockers,
Lest your bonds be made strong;
For I have heard from the Lord God of hosts,
A destruction determined even upon the whole earth.

Genesis 10:32-11:9

³²These were the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations; and from these the nations were divided on the earth after the flood.

The Tower of Babel

11 Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. ²And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. ³Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. ⁴And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
⁵But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. ⁶And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. ⁷Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” ⁸So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. ⁹Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

Proverbs 13:19-14:6

¹⁹A desire accomplished is sweet to the soul,
But it is an abomination to fools to depart from evil.

²⁰He who walks with wise men will be wise,
But the companion of fools will be destroyed.

²¹Evil pursues sinners,
But to the righteous, good shall be repaid.

²²A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children,But the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.
²³Much food is in the fallow ground of the poor,
And for lack of justice there is waste.

²⁴He who spares his rod hates his son,
But he who loves him disciplines him promptly.

²⁵The righteous eats to the satisfying of his soul,
But the stomach of the wicked shall be in want.

14 The wise woman builds her house,
But the foolish pulls it down with her hands.

²He who walks in his uprightness fears the Lord,
But he who is perverse in his ways despises Him.

³In the mouth of a fool is a rod of pride,
But the lips of the wise will preserve them.

⁴Where no oxen are, the trough is clean;
But much increase comes by the strength of an ox.

⁵A faithful witness does not lie,
But a false witness will utter lies.

⁶A scoffer seeks wisdom and does not find it,
But knowledge is easy to him who understands.