Fire Divided for Sharing Gifts

O Lord, the Spirit of Your salvation, which formerly was received by the prophets in fear, now creates a pure heart in Your apostles and renews in our hearts an upright Spirit; for your commandments, O Lord, bring us light and peace.

~Pentecost Matins Canon, Ode 5

From Pentecost Matins arranged by the
Metropolitan Cantor Institute of the
Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh

Getting Drunk with St. Macarius

The Makarian Homilies were attributed to St. Macarius of Egypt, a fourth-century desert father. In the eleventh century they were paraphrased by St. Symeon Metaphrastis. It is this text that appears in the Philokalia.

Like much of Eastern Christian spirituality he considers individual effort (heroic virtue) essential to spiritual perfection: We receive salvation by grace and as a divine gift of the Spirit. But to attain the full measure of virtue we need also to possess faith and love, and to struggle to excercise our free will with integrity. (1)

But, St. Macarius adds that through much prayer and faith, and by turning completely to God, we are able, with the help of the Spirit, to conquer the passions and root out sin (3). This is what distinguishes him from most Eastern Fathers. He emphasizes communion with the Holy Spirit and the need for more than human effort. In fact, he considers asceticism without the joy of the Holy Spirit to be empty:

[The Christian] may have fasted, kept vigils, chanted the Psalms, carried out every ascetic practice and acquired every virtue; but if the mystic working of the Spirit has not been consummated by grace with full consciousness and spiritual peace on the altar of his heart, all his ascetic practice is ineffectual and virtually fruitless, for the joy of the Spirit is not mystically active in his heart. (113)

To bear fruit, according to Macarius, requires participation in the Holy Spirit. He calls the Spirit a heavenly treasure and admonishes his reader to aquire it (87). For those who experience this release of the joy and love of the Holy Spirit, "Sometimes it seems they are in some realm greatly rejoicing and drunk with the inexpressible drunkenness of the mysteries of the Spirit, and then at other times they are full of grief, weeping and lamenting as they intercede for men's salvation." (89)

His descriptions of communion with the Holy Spirit sound very much like my experience in the Charismatic Renewal. I've seen similar emotional and physical reactions to the Spirit at prayer meetings. So, what we see is that such experience is not foreign to Eastern spiritual life. Of course, St. Macarius lived during the golden age of Church history before spontanaety succumbed to institutionalism.

Later, St. Macarius describes that the spirit-filled person at prayer, "...experiences an ineffible and measureless delight; his intellect wholly suspended and ravished, is overwhelmed, and during the time he is in this state he is mindless of every worldly concern. For his thoughts are filled with numberless incomprehensible realities and are taken captive by them. In that hour his soul through prayer becomes one with his prayer and is carried away with it." (91)

Those who have experienced the release of the Holy Spirit in their life know this delight and feeling of being carried away by love. The Charismatic Renewal did not invent this kind of prayer and worship, nor did we borrow it from Protestant Pentecostals--it was part of the undivided Church in the East and West.

What we see today is a rediscovery of refreshing, dynamic, active life in Communion with God the Holy Spirit. To my brothers and sisters in the Eastern Rite, I invite you to enter into joyful communion with the Holy Spirit by following the admonision of St. Macarius of Egypt:

We should eagerly drink spiritual wine and become drunk with a sober-minded drunkenness so that, just as those glutted with ordinary wine become more talkative, we too, brim-full with this spiritual wine, may speak of the divine mysteries. (99)

~David Samuel Thomas

*Quotations from "The Philokalia, Vol III". Palmer, Sherrard, & Ware, ed. trans. London: Faber & Faber, 1984

Spontaneous Prayer in Eastern Spirituality

St. Peter of Damaskos was an Eastern bishop of the eighth century. His writings appear in the Philokalia, an influential compendium of spiritual writings revered in the Orthodox church. In his work on the eight stages of contemplation he mentions yielding to the Holy Spirit when He "interrupts" your normal prayer routine:

When, however, God's grace kindles a sense of deep penitence in the heart, you should allow your intellect to be bathed in tears of compunction, even if this means that your mouth stops reciting psalms and your mind is made captive to what St. Isaac the Syrian calls 'blessed captivity'. For now is the time to harvest, not plant.

He also quotes St. Isaac's description of someone in a state of pure prayer:

Often it happens that a person so concentrates his intellect during prayer that, like Daniel the prophet, he falls unbidden to his knees, his hands outstretched and his eyes gazing at Christ's Cross; his thoughts are changed and his limbs are made weak because of the new thoughts that arise spontaneously in his intellect. (from the Mystic Treatises)

St. Peter adds that "the more habitual these thoughts become, the more the longing for God draws us on to understand and worship the Father ' in Spirit and in truth', as the Lord said. St. Paul also indicates this when he says: 'I would rather speak five words whose meaning I understand than ten thousand words in a strange tongue' (1 Cor. 14:19); and again: 'I wish that men would pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without anger and quarrelling' (1 Tim 2:8)."

He concludes that singing hymns is a remedy for weakness, but "the experiences of rapture mark the perfection of the intellect."

Here is an example of the charismatic and liturgical working together in the spiritual life of the Eastern church. If you are sensitive to the action of the Holy Spirit, then don't be surprised if He interrupts your regularly scheduled prayer rule. Don't be afraid to fall on your knees, lift holy hands, and even pray in tongues. Here are two eastern saints, Peter of Damaskos and Isaac the Syrian, who testify to this reality.

*Quotations from "The Philokalia, Vol III". Palmer, Sherrard, & Ware, ed. trans. London: Faber & Faber, 1984

Spontaneous Vocal Worship in the Eastern Rite?

As long-time readers know I spent 12 years in the Eastern Orthodox church and was a tonsured Reader in the Antiochian Arrchdiocese.

I still frequent Eastern Rite Catholic parishes now that I am in communion with St. Peter's successor in Rome. My home parish in the Latin Rite is officially Charismatic and encourages spontaneous vocal worship, and yes, "speaking in tongues", during Mass. There are liturgically appropriate times for such expression, known among the Church Fathers as "jubilatio".

Today I was musing about how such expression would work in the Byzantine Rite.

The Divine Liturgy in the Eastern churches has less flexibility and is treated as a museum treasure that should never be altered. Of course, one finds variations between Russians, Greeks, Antiochians, Serbs, and Romanians but nothing to convene a council about. Then you get the ultra-orthodox who only do the Liturgy in Church Slavonic or Greek and consider English as an inferior language for worship. But I digress...

There are two parts of the Divine Liturgy where I most often feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. So, maybe I'm biased about where He would inspire the faithful to break out in spontanous worship and glossolalia.

The first place is during the Trisagion. Right after the Little Entrance, when the priest comes out with the Gospel and declares "Wisdom, be attentive" the faithful sing "Come let us worship and fall down before Christ..." But where is the worship? Where is the falling down? Sounds like an invitation to DO something.

Next is the Trisagion hymn: Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us (three times). Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen. Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.

HERE is the place where I imagine singing in tongues, shouting praises to God, vocal declarations of worship like I find in my Charismatic parish. What happens after? The priest declares "Dynamis" or "Again with fervor" and the faithful sing one more time "Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us."

Okay, I can hear a collective groan from the Byzantine liturgists, but if you consider this seriously, it appropriately enhances what is happening at that point in the Divine Liturgy. What if people are distracted? Well, the next thing said is "Let us be attentive", so everything is brought back into order. Did the Holy Spirit set it up that way?

At the beginning of the Anaphora, right after the priest tells the faithful to lift up their hearts,"We lift them up unto the Lord" is the reply, then the celebrant commands "Let us give thanks to the Lord", with the response "It is proper and right".

Here we go again! More time to worship in the Spirit. Hearts (and for some, hands) are already lifted, why not praise the Lord with angelic tongues. This naturally leads to the next part of the Liturgy, what the Latins call the Sanctus, where we join the angels in singing "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of Sabbaoth..." Totally appropriate in timing and order.

I don't claim any historic precedent for these musings. We know that spontanous expression did happen in the early Church, but with the establishment of organized Liturgy the freedom faded. I am not proposing that Orthodox and Eastern Catholics modify their Liturgies to accomodate such innovations.

My point is that IF spontaneous worship and speaking in tongues were to happen in a Byzantine Divine Liturgy, this is where I imagine it.

July Arrives!

July is dedicated to the Precious Blood of Jesus.

Precious Blood,Ocean of Divine Mercy: Flow upon us.
Precious Blood,Most pure Offering:Procure us every Grace!
Precious Blood,Hope and Refuge of sinners: Atone for us!
Precious Blood,Delight of holy souls:Draw us! Amen.
~St. Catherine of Siena


The Holy Father's Prayer Intention for July are:

Christians in the Middle East -- That Christians in the Middle East may live their faith in complete freedom and become instruments of reconciliation and peace.

Humanity Reconciled -- Through the witness of the faithful, may the Church be the seed and soil of a humanity reconciled to be God's one true family on earth.

Commemorations this Month:

+Blessed Junipero Serra (1)
+Sts. Cosmas & Damian (1-Eastern Rite)
+St. Thomas (3)
+St. Maria Goretti (6)
+St. Benedict (11)
+Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel (13-ER)
+Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha (14)
+St. Vladimir of Kiev (15-ER)
+Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (16)
+St. Elias [Prophet Elijah] (20-ER)
+St. Mary Magdalene (22)
+St. Panteleimon (27-ER)
+St. Macrina (19-ER)
+St. Christina (24-ER)
+St. Ignatius of Loyola (31)

Unless You Become as a child...

A child is dependent, open, simple, trusting, playful, sensitive, emotional, blunt, truthful, and compassionate.

They don't know barriers and rarely doubt.

When they fail, they try again. Failure just means that a skill still needs to be learned.

When they fall, they may cry, but quickly brush themsleves off and keep on playing.

Play is their work--a spontaneous extension of self. It is serious business that recieves full attention.

Ordinary things are gateways to adventure. They turn cardboard boxes into spaceships and race cars.

They desire independence, but aren't afraid to ask for help when needed.

They learn by doing, by experiencing, taking risks and making mistakes.

They embrace the present moment, living in the NOW.

They make friends easily--with others, grasshoppers, stray dogs, and their imagination.

They avoid things that steal their joy.

They eat when hungry and sleep when tired.

They speak as if everything they say will come to pass.

~David Samuel Thomas

Conformity to the Sacred Heart

Salvation is this deification or conformity to the Sacred Heart. No soul which is deformed, that is, which is unlike to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, shall enter the Kingdom of God. No soul can live eternally which is not in union with God. And no soul which is not conformed to the Sacred Heart can be united with God. Therefore conformity to the Sacred Heart is the vital condition of our salvation.

~Cardinal Henry Edward, The Glories of the Sacred Heart (1876)

Pentecost Vigil Podcast

Pentecost Vigil at Christ the King Catholic Church in Ann Arbor, Michigan was incredible this year. What a wonderful time of praise, worship, encouragement, and best of all, the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Fr. Ed Fride's homily was a rallying call to boldly proclaim the message of Pentecost and stop apologizing for being Charismatic.

Now that the sermon is online, I recommend it to everyone who wants to know about what the Holy Spirit has been doing in the Catholic Church. It's almost an hour long, but is time well spent. You can listen or download the message here...

http://ctkcc.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=489322

It's June

June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The feast of the Sacred Heart is on June 19 with the Immaculate Heart of Mary on the 2oth.

The Holy Father's Prayer Intentions for the month are for:

Foreign Debt Relief -- That international efforts to help poorer nations bring prompt, concrete results to relieve the crushing burden of foreign debt.
The Church in Areas of Violence -- That local Church communities serving areas torn by violence may be supported through the love and help offered by Catholics around the world.

Commemorations
St. Justin the Martyr (1)
St. Ephrem the Syrian (9)
Solemnity of the Most Holy Body & Blood of Christ (14)
Sts. Thomas More & John Fisher (22)
Birth of St. John the Baptist (24)
St. Cyril of Alexandria (27)
Sts. Peter & Paul (29)
First Martyrs of Rome (30)

**Eastern Rite Catholics begin the Apostles Fast on June 8 and continue fasting until the 28th, the eve of the feast of Sts. Peter & Paul.

Drink of the Spirit

In prayer one drinks the wine that gladdens a man's heart, the intoxicating wine of the Spirit that drowns all memory of the pleasures of the flesh. It drenches anew the arid recesses of the conscience, stimulates digestion of the meats of good works, fills the faculties of the soul with a robust faith, a solid hope, a love that is living and true; it enriches all the actions of our life.

~St. Bernard of Clairvaux, On the Song of Songs 18:5

More from the Holy Father on Pentecost

Without [the Holy Spirit] what would the Church be reduced to? Certainly it would be a great historical movement, a complex and solid social institution, perhaps even a type of humanitarian agency. In truth many regard the Church in this way because they observe it from outside the viewpoint of the faith. Yet in reality, its true nature and its real historic presence has ceaselessly been guided and formed by the Spirit and the Lord.

~Pope Benedict XVI, Pentecost 2009

B16 - Pentecost 2009

God’s Spirit, wherever it enters, quashes fear; it helps us recognize and feel that we are in the hands of an Omnipotent love; whatever happens His infinite love will never abandon us.

The witness of the martyrs shows us this, the courage of the confessors of faith, the intrepid zeal of the missionaries, the frank nature of the preachers, the example of all of the saints, some even adolescent and children. The very existence of the Church shows us this, which, despite the limits and fault of man, continues its journey on the oceans of history, blown onwards by the breath of God and animated by his purifying fire.

With this faith and joyous hope we repeat today through the intercession of Mary: "Send your Spirit Oh Lord, and renew the face of the earth!".

~Pope Benedict XVI, Pentecost Sermon 2009