07.30.09
Upbeat Orthodox Music
I like an eclectic variety of music, and usually play songs in “random” mode. I can get a little tired of a particular sound if I try to listen to one group’s CD straight through. On my Orthodox playlist, the Kenyan Orthodox Church Swahili/Greek mix of traditional music provides such a nice pick-me-up variation of some of the heavier sounding music. There’s one of the slower samples available at St. Romanos Records.
07.27.09
The Eyes of All Look to Thee With Hope
This is a beautiful CD from then Abbot, now Metropolitan Jonah’s former monastery. It was recorded at the monastery, and conveys a peaceful, prayerful tone, much like the Valaam CD’s do. From the inside cover,
The collection on this CD represents many of the different styles of music that we sing at the monastery: Valaam and Byzantine-style chant as well as some music which I [Monk Martin] have composed to meet the needs of our community. As Orthodoxy moves form being an immigrant religion in this country towards an indigenous expression of the ancient Christian Faith, it is natural and necessary for such a progression to include the development of music native to our hearts. Monastics have often been the initiators of such creativity. As Fr. Alexander Schmemann once said regarding liturgical development: “The absence of such development would be the sign of a fatal sclerosis.”
It is our monastery’s vision that a uniquely American chant will gradually develop, growing up from the seeds of our inherited traditions. As they take root in American soil, this chant will become an organic hybrid of different influences from our own folk melodies and harmonies, rooted in the traditions of oiur ancestors and drawing from the springs of the memorable melodies of the Carpatho-Rus’ and the timeless and other-worldly modalities of western Gregorian chant and its eastern counterpart, Byzantine chant.
My hope is that the medium of this “American chant” will impel us to worship in spirit and truth from the depths of our hearts and enable us to pray the prayers and sing the rich texts of our ancient faith with the same honest fervor today as when the words were first composed.
07.25.09
Beyond Being II
For if all the branches of knowledge belong to things that have being, and if their limits have reference to the existing world, then that which is beyond all Being must also be transcendent above all knowledge. (The Divine Names, Rolt translation, CCEL p. 59)
Everything above this is all gloriously positive, but this sentence seems a nonsequitur, or at least not the only option. Why does Being have to be confined to the existing world? Why can’t there be eternal beings, and finite beings? The eternal One in Three is of course above the finite created ones. But can’t we all belong to the classification of Being? I suppose I am advocating a hierarchy of Being, The One uncreated Source, then heavenly beings alternating with created humans (more honorable than the Cherubim), animals, plants, then inorganic matter. Yet the Divine is other than the created in a way that makes putting them in the same chain inappropriate. God is certainly above created beings, but why is it wrong to say that the Divine Being is above created beings in the following way, but editing out the word “Being” (leaving “Super-Essential” alone for now)?
5. But if It is greater than all Reason and all knowledge, and hath Its firm abode altogether beyond Mind and Being, and circumscribes, compacts, embraces and anticipates all things8787παντῶν . . . προληπτική—i.e. contains them eternally before their creation.// <
“The name Elijah (the Lord’s strength) given to the infant defined his whole life. From the years of his youth he dedicated himself to the One God, settled in the wilderness and spent his whole life in strict fasting, meditation and prayer.” (oca.org)
I’ve been thinking lately about the significance of names, and today’s commemoration of the Holy, Glorious Prophet Elijah motivated me to explore the subject further. Wikipedia has this to say about names,
In the ancient world, particularly in the ancient near-east (Israel, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Persia) names were thought to be extremely powerful and to act, in some ways, as a separate manifestation of a person or deity.[4] This viewpoint is responsible both for the reluctance to use the proper name of God in Hebrew writing or speech, as well as the common understanding in ancient magic that magical rituals had to be carried out “in [someone's] name”. By invoking a god or spirit by name, one was thought to be able to summon that spirit’s power for some kind of miracle or magic (see Luke 9:49, in which the disciples claim to have seen a man driving out demons using the name of Jesus.) This understanding passed into later religious tradition, for example the stipulation in Catholic exorcism that the demon cannot be expelled until the exorcist has forced it to give up its name, at which point the name may be used in a stern command which will drive the demon away.
Biblical names
In the Old Testament, the names of individuals are meaningful; for example, Adam is named after the “earth” (Adam) from which he was created. (Genesis 2)
A change of name indicates a change of status. For example, the patriarch Abram and his wife Sarai are renamed “Abraham” and “Sarah” when they are told they will be the father and mother of many nations (Genesis 17:4, 17:15). Simon was renamed Peter when he was given the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. (Matthew 16).
Throughout the Bible, characters are given names at birth that reflect something of significance or describe the course of their lives. For example: Solomon meant peace, and the king with that name was the first whose reign was without warfare. Likewise, Joseph named his firstborn son Manasseh (Hebrew: “causing to forget”) as a gesture of forgiveness to his brothers for selling him into slavery.
Biblical Jewish people did not have surnames which was passed from generation to generation. However, they were typically known as the child of their father. For example: דוד בן ישי (David ben Yishay) meaning, David, son of Jesse. In a sense, they used their fathers’ first names as their own last names, a practice done by most Muslims today.
I don’t believe that a name is a separate manifestation of someone, but rather that it summons or defines a relationship with the person. I wonder if “relationship” is a way to understand energies. If someone calls my name, in addition to identifying me as a specific person, they are validating my existence and place in their life. This can be done to good or not so good effect. When as a small boy, Samuel was called by the Lord, a more intimate relationship was initiated. But if someone’s name comes up indicating that they are to be sent off to a concentration camp for example, somewhere along the line, a relationship went bad. Either way, the calling of a name draws the named and the namer into closer proximity. It is a powerful thing.
Similarly, the meaning of the name can summon a person to live up to it, as in Elijah’s case. One could get into determinism, but I don’t think a person’s will is overridden. However, a “drawing towards” is inevitable, if the meaning is understood. I am open to the possibility that a name has influence, even if the bearer doesn’t understand it’s meaning. Though with understanding, and willing participation, I would imagine the influence is greater. Less mystically, a person probably wants to understand the significance of their own name, and that is a beginning step towards fuller fulfillment.
Some may not want to grow into their name. But even rejecting a meaning requires that one has a certain intimacy with the meaning. There is intimacy in conflict. Ignorance, neglect, and disuse provides the most distance. Remembrance of people’s names allows us to draw near to them, at least through prayer.
07.10.09
Fr. Seraphim Rose on the Intercession of the Saints
“I warned him about going astray spiritually, and told him a little about us and Archbishop John, and told him to go to Vladika John’s Sepulchre and to ask his help to find the right way. He said: “Why should I ask someone else when I can talk to God?” I replied: “Because he’s closer to God than you are and can help you.” I invited him to visit us and gave him the last two Orthodox Words I had: on Andreyev, and the 1978 Pilgrimage. He thanked me and left.” (Father Seraphim Rose, His Life and Works, p. 870)
07.02.09
The Divine Liturgy of Sarum
I didn’t realize that there was another Western Rite Liturgy approved for use in the Orthodox Church, besides the one approved by St. Tikhon. Kevin Edgecomb of Biblicalia had explained the history of the Sarum Rite in my post on Western Saints, which was inspired by Fr. Seraphim Rose’s continuing St. John Maximovich’s investigation of Orthodoxy in the west. Death Bredon, an Anglican, has explained in the comments of the post, “Dr. Farrell on the state of Orthodoxy and the Anglican Continuum”, on Energetic Procession that the Western Rite Liturgy used by the Antiochian Archdiocese is based on St. Tikhon’s tweaking of a later version of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, but John, again of Ad Orientem (which is newly added to my blogroll), on the same comment thread, has provided this link to
The Divine Liturgy of Sarum:
Usus Cascadae
Authorized for use within
The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.
By His Grace Archbishop Hilarion.
I am not an expert on the Liturgy, but I have mixed feelings about the above Rite. I do not doubt its Orthodoxy (per His Grace), but for me it brings to mind some baggage, emotional or not. It would be better to hear or see it, than to just read it, but the introductory hymn reads sort of sing-songy and not very serious. I also wonder if they use Gregorian Chant, which I do not have an affinity for. I prefer the basso profundo of Russian choral music, or now even the Byzantine chant, which can sometimes sound a little too moany, but still has the nice bass drone to ground it.
“Holy, Holy, Holy” brings back good memories, as does “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent”. The latter is the only hymn that I’ve heard in an Eastern Rite service that I recognize from my Protestant background.
I would be glad to have the “Little Doxology” added to the Liturgy as it is included in this Sarum Rite. Usually it’s said at the Eastern Matins or Compline.
It seems that they skipped the three Antiphons though. I would very much miss Bless the Lord Oh My Soul, Praise the Lord, and The Beatitudes.
I would also miss the hymns surrounding the epiclesis (the Anaphora), and the Priest actually mentioning the gifts by name, “Make this Bread the precious Body of thy Christ…” and “Make this wine the precious Blood of thy Christ”. I like a lot of what is said instead, but I would want to include what isn’t said too. And DB thinks the Sarum Rite Liturgy is already too long!
I guess most converts struggle with what to do with their western roots, but it seems to me that since Christ was from the Middle East, that the Eastern Rites preserve more of what Fr. Seraphim Rose refers to as the “savor of Orthodoxy” (from Fr. Seraphim Rose, His Life and Works), though he was open to finding that savor in the west. This doesn’t explain my affinity for the Russian Rite, but maybe it’s savor is from the fact that Russia was evangelized before the Schism. The west has a lot more baggage to deal with, and I’m inclined to start over with a consistently Orthodox historical Liturgy than trying to fix what went wrong. Plus I tend to think that there were differences in the Latins who evangelized the west, even before the Schism. But I don’t want to be alienated from anything that can be called orthodox in the west either. I trust Metropolitan Jonah to sort it all out. He seems to be pretty strong on maintaining the Orthodox Faith, while being loving and appreciative of the west as well. He gives me the most peace about maintaining the proper balance.
Sister Vassa Larin
Coincidentally, I became acquainted with Sister Vassa Larin’s work in two different places yesterday. First at Mind in the Heart, which contains her talk on how Orthodox have always benefited from “unorthodox” education. And next on a podcast from the St. Vladimir Seminary Liturgical Symposium in honor of Fr. Alexander Schmemann, which was one of the podcasts George downloaded for me to listen to on my trip to and from Holy Archangels Monastery in Kendalia last Saturday. I just got to Dr. Sister Vassa’s podcast yesterday, which was fortunate due to my almost simultaneous introduction to her.
In the Fr. Schmemann talk, she presents a very interesting balance between monastic life and parish life, albeit in contrast to what she brings out from Fr. Schmemann’s Journal in particular. I have not quite finished listening to it yet, but wanted to go ahead and recommend both talks to you.
