Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the Name of the Lord.
This coming Saturday at St Thomas School, we will begin the fifth and final volume in the series that we use for the classes. We will start on , and that’s a subject which has many connections to each and every one of us. So, if you’ve been thinking about attending St Thomas School on a regular basis, this would be a great weekend to take that step. Just stop by Christ the Lightgiver Bookstore, pick up a copy of Volume V of Orthodox Christianity, and join us at 4pm on Saturday.
Our Calendar
Fasting Days
Wednesday, November 6, and Friday, November 8
Daily Services
Monday, November 4-Friday, November 8
Orthros 5am;
Vespers 5pm
(Due to Father Aidan’s teaching schedule, starting this Tuesday evening, September 24, he will not be able to serve Daily Vespers on Tuesday and Thursday evening until mid-December; the services will simply be read privately. Also, please don’t forget that since life in our parish community can be pretty busy, sometimes the starting times for the daily services has to be shifted. So, if you know ahead of time that you will be attending a particular service, it’s always a good idea to send Father Aidan a note at fraidan@austin.rr.com to confirm when the service will actually begin.)
Wednesday, November 6
Fall Theological Seminar 7pm in the parish house, in Georgetown, and in Harker Heights. We will be discussing Chapters 14-18, pgs 157-205
Thursday, November 7
Choir Practice 7pm
Saturday, November 9
St Thomas School 4pm Michael Ruse will lead the discussion for the first two chapters of Volume V, pgs 11-46,
Great Vespers with the Jesus Prayer 6pm
Sunday, November 10
8th Sunday of St Luke
Orthros 8am
Divine Liturgy 10am
Akathist to the Mother of God of the Inexhaustible Cup Noon
Community Meal Noon
This Week at St. Thomas School
Chapter 1: Sacraments in the Orthodox Understanding
A 12th century German mystic, woman saint, and doctor of the Western Church wrote:
“The light which I see thus is not spatial, but it is far, far brighter than a cloud which carries the sun. I can measure neither height, nor length, nor breadth in it; and I call it "the reflection of the living Light." And as the sun, the moon, and the stars appear in water, so writings, sermons, virtues, and certain human actions take form for me and gleam.”
This Western mystic from the Rhineland was the nun, Hildegard von Bingen. She called her experience an umbra viventis lucis (a shade of living light in Latin). Her vision not only sounds very much like the teaching on glorification and illumination spoken of by the Eastern Church Fathers and experienced by modern Orthodox saints, but it also gives us a way of looking at what sacraments are and how they work within us in the Orthodox Church.
From the understanding of the Orthodox Church, we receive the sacraments as a “living light” that direct us toward becoming more like the Holy Trinity, as Metropolitan Hilarion explains at the end of this chapter. The difference between scholasticism and hesychasm or “the path of deification” is directional. Who is infusing who with what?
This truth of becoming united with God is not easy to calculate or to analyze like weather patterns, personality tests, data charts or even advanced metaphysical inquiry. It is not only the truth of it, but also the beauty of Light that surpasses rational thought, although our minds too are integrated with Jesus Christ. Just as light passes through a small window of a church on a Sunday morning and children try to grab the single ray beaming down and keep it, so too is our own reasoning limited when we try to capture the sacraments into our own hands in this way. Often times the result of humanistic reasoning is to make pictures appear differently than what they are by manipulating and connecting points that are not meant to be connected. Our humanistic categories rearrange icons with different pigments, lines, and shadings with a goal toward unity. But what kind of icon would we create? All forms of sacraments, especially those outlined in the Great Book of Needs, connect us to the Holy Trinity and all the saints.
The Eucharist gives birth to and connects to most of the sacraments. Metropolitan Hilarion reminds us of keeping the mindset that sacraments are interconnected, not isolated events. It’s preferable, overall, to be thankful and marvel at the mysteries rather than to dissect them with rigorous methods. The implication is that the long-term effects of such a scholastic or abstract mindset even in some Orthodox circles could have detrimental fallouts in the faith of Christians. In the development of the Western Church, there were scholarly men who tried to approach theology, including “sacramentals,” the cross, grace, salvation and Jesus Christ, the Godman from this kind of primarily metaphysical and rational explanation with sincere faith. The major scholastic characters in Europe were Anselm, Abelard, and Aquinas. The long-lasting scholastic approach of Latin theology, Metropolitan seems to suggest, is one of the reasons why the Byzantines did not make such distinctions between “sacramentals” and sacraments.
But to draw some boundaries around what is and isn’t a sacrament is necessary and helpful for those in the Orthodox Church to discuss. The Orthodox Church understands that the mysteries are wide and many, like an umbrella of light that gives us strength in all points and needs of our daily life. Join us this Saturday at 4:00 p.m. to learn about the sacramental understanding of Orthodoxy.
Coming Up
From our brothers and sisters at St. Sophia’s in Dripping Springs: We invite you to an informal social gathering, picnic, and fundraiser at St. Sophia Orthodox Church in Dripping Springs on Saturday, November 9 from 3 to 6 pm (see attached flyer for details and a map). We will be serving chicken wings, sausage, sides, dessert, wine, beer, and possibly even a tasting of mead made by our own members! There will be washer tossing, live and recorded music (we have a PA system, so bring an instrument!), and tours of the church. Food and drink will be available by donation. You are also welcome to bring an item to offer for a "potluck" silent auction that will close at 6 pm. We would love to have you join us for a casual autumn afternoon in Dripping Springs. An email reply indicating whether you plan to attend (and how many of you will be coming!) would help us greatly with food preparation. (512) 829-1539 Facebook: @StSophia.DrippingSprings.
On Friday, November 15, we will begin the Nativity Fast. This Fast is divided into two periods: The first is November 15th through December 19th when the traditional fasting discipline (no meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, fish, wine, and olive oil) is observed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with a blessing for wine and olive oil (some also permit fish) on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and for fish, wine, and olive oil on Saturdays and Sundays. The second is the period of the Forefeast, December 20th through 24th, when the traditional fasting discipline is observed Monday through Friday, with a blessing for wine and olive oil on Saturday and Sunday. Many American Orthodox Christians also take a break from the fast on Thanksgiving Day (the emphasis there being on the word ‘day’), but if you need to modify the fast in any way, please speak to your spiritual father as soon as possible.
If you haven’t yet had an opportunity to have a Stewardship Visit, the final make-up sessions will be on Sunday, November 3, and Sunday, November 10. We then need to have all the cards turned in by Sunday, November 17. That way the Finance Folks can make any adjustments that are necessary to the 2020 Budget. If you have misplaced your Commitment Card, you can get one of those from Nick Crown, or you can simply send that information to Father Aidan. Please go ahead and get all that taken care of because on Monday, November 18, we don’t want you to wake up with that reminder email in your inbox.
On Thursday, November 21, we will celebrate the Feast of the Entrance of the Mother of God into the Temple. We will serve Great Vespers on Wednesday, November 20 at 7pm, and then, on the day of the feast, we will offer Orthros at 5am and Divine Liturgy at 7am. The Feast of the Entrance is a beautiful celebration of the Most Holy Theotokos, so please plan on joining us during those services.
We will be serving the Nativity Paraclesis on most Wednesday evenings during the Fast. There will be four opportunities to participate in this lovely service, so we should all be able to make at least one of those. We will offer the service on November 27 (which will be Thanksgiving Eve and a wonderful way to start that holiday) and on December 4, 11, and 18.
As you begin your holiday shopping, don’t forget about Christ The Lightgiver Bookstore. The bookstore has lots of great gift items in addition to a wide selection of books and icons. The store is open every Sunday during Fellowship Hour, but you can always get in touch with our hard-working manager, Stephanie Crown, and ask a question or place an order during the week.
Every year, we have a presentation from the Williamson County Children’s Advocacy Center about how to recognize and prevent child abuse. It’s not a fun topic, but for families and godparents and parish communities, it’s an extremely important topic. This year’s program will be on Sunday, November 24; it will take place during Fellowship Hour; it will be presented in the common room of the parish house, so plan on taking forty-five minutes out of your Sunday to learn more about how we can spot and deal with this great evil.
Our Moment of Grace and Courtesy
Subdeacon Vladimir, our iconographer, has told us that our icons will last much, much longer if we will only touch or kiss the outer frame of the image. So, when you are reverencing the icons on the iconostasis or the front wall of the nave, just touch or kiss the image along the red line that runs along the outer frame--our grandchildren and great grandchildren will thank you.
This coming Sunday, November 10, we will have a final Community Meal for 2019. We will eat together in the Long Hall and put together our Quarterly Liturgy List, so plan on hanging around after the Divine Services.
an unworthy priest
aidan