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Fasts & Feasts

May

6 - Samaritan Woman
13 - Man Born Blind
17 - Ascension
20 - Holy Fathers
27 - Pentecost

Week of the Man Born Blind

May 13-19, 2012
Sixth Week of Pascha

Man Born BlindJohn 9:1-7 - As [Jesus] passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. (ESV)

Touched by Divine Light - St. Ambrose of Milan teaches that the blind man touched by Jesus received more then just his sight. In one instant we see both the power of his divinity and the strength of his holiness. As the divine light, he touched this man and enlightened him. As priest, by an action symbolizing baptism he wrought in him his work of redemption. The only reason for his mixing clay with the saliva and smearing it on the eyes of the blind man was to remind you that he who restored the man to health by anointing his eyes with clay is the very one who fashioned the first man out of clay, and that this clay that is our flesh can receive the light of eternal life through the sacrament of baptism.

You, too, should come to Siloam, that is, to him who was sent by the Father, as he says in the Gospel: “My teaching is not my own; it comes from him who sent me.” Let Christ wash you, and then you will see. (Adapted from Letter 67)

Scripture Readings:

  • Sunday - John 20:11-18, Acts 16:16-34, John 9:1-38
    Monday - Acts 17:1-15, John 11:47-57
    Tuesday - Acts 17:19-28, John 12:19-36
    Wednesday - Acts 18:22-28, John 12:36-47
    Ascension Thursday - Isaiah 2:1-3, Isaiah 62:10-63:9, Zechariah 14:1,4,8-11, Mark 16:9-20, Acts 1:1-12. Luke 24:36-53
    Friday - Acts 19:1-8, John 14:1-11
    Saturday - Acts 20:7-12, John 14:10-21

Christ is Risen! Indeed, He is Risen!

Хрїстóсъ воскрéсе! Воистину воскресе!

Χριστός ἀνέστη! Ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη!

al-Masīḥ qām! Ḥaqqan qām!

¡Cristo ha resucitado! ¡En Verdad ha resucitado!

Foltamadt Krisztus! Valoban Foltamadt!

Hristos a înviat! Adevărat a înviat!

Kristus Prisikėlė! Tikrai Jis Prisikėlė!

 

Melkite Patriarch Gregorios III, “Unprecedented Barbarity: People Say, Enough”

Monday, 14 May 2012 15:06

MELKITE PATRIARCH GREGORIOS III, “UNPRECEDENTED BARBARITY: PEOPLE SAY, ENOUGH”

Damascus 10 May 2012

“We were praying in the cathedral chapel when a strong explosion shattered all the windows. The walls of the nave shuddered as if jolted by a sudden gust of wind; we thought it might be an earthquake.” H.B. Gregorios III Laham, Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and All the East is still incredulous, while describing to MISNA the moments of terror that accompanied the double bombing of the Syrian capital this morning. The Cathedral of Bab Sharqi, at the end of the `Via Recta' that leads to the Chapel of Ananias (a Christian martyr who enabled Saint Paul to recover his sight), is perhaps some two or three kilometres from the site of the explosion which up to now, according to a provisional estimate, has killed at least 55 and injured another 300.

“The television showed images of a huge crater, cars and buildings shattered, blood everywhere. The minibus bringing the children to our school had come that way barely 10 minutes before. It is a miracle that they were not involved,” explains the cleric, President of the Assembly of the Catholic Hierarchy in Syria, condemning “an act of cruelty without precedent in Syria, which has shown the true face of the forces at work behind this absurd propaganda war.” The Patriarch’s voice, shaking with emotion on the day of the worst attack in the country’s recent history, is also raised against the world that “is not listening to the Syrian people’s cries of distress.”

Read more: Melkite Patriarch Gregorios III, “Unprecedented Barbarity: People Say, Enough”

 

Final Report of the Assembly of the Catholic Hierarchy in Syria

Monday, 30 April 2012 17:44

Maronite Archbishopric of Aleppo 25 April 2012

The Assembly of the Catholic Hierarchy in Syria held its regular springtime meeting at Aleppo in the headquarters of the Maronite Archbishop on 25 April 2012, chaired by its President, Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregorios III. Also taking part were Syrian Catholic Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III (Younan), Archbishop Mario Zenari, Papal Nuncio to Syria and Catholic bishops in Syria.

The Fathers reviewed the situation in Syria in the light of current painful events. They discussed pastoral problems relating to the life and social mission of the Church in the harsh conditions experienced by some regions of the country. They issued the following report:

1.       We stand shoulder to shoulder with our Syrian people, in seeking a dignified life, national unity, solidarity among all the various social, religious and national constituent groups; in pursuing the widespread, effective reform process that has to be undertaken on the ground, in political, social and cultural spheres and service, through co-ordinating the efforts of all Syrians – government, parties, constructive opposition, specialists – in the framework of national unity and active participation in national dialogue (absolutely indispensable for any reform and without which it would remain but a vain hope), recognizing that this is the best way to escape the cycle of violence and repression. The State has called for dialogue and we invite all national parties at home and abroad to build a new multi-party democratic Syria. We also encourage everyone to participate fully in free and fair elections for the National Assembly on 7 May next, to express the popular will.

Read more: Final Report of the Assembly of the Catholic Hierarchy in Syria

   

More Articles...

Death to Life

It is the day of Resurrection, all people, let us be enlightened by it. The Passover is the Lord’s Passover, since Christ, our God, has brought us from death to life and from earth to heaven. Therefore, we sing the hymn of victory: * Christ is risen from the dead * trampling down Death by death * and to those in the tombs bestowing life.

From Pascha Matins 

Wisdom from the Church Fathers

For to despise the present age, not to love transitory things, unreservedly to stretch out the mind in humility to God and our neighbor, to preserve patience against offered insults and, with patience guarded, to repel the pain of malice from the heart, to give one's property to the poor, not to covet that of others, to esteem the friend in God, on God's account to love even those who are hostile, to mourn at the affliction of a neighbor, not to exult in the death of one who is an enemy, this is the new creature whom the Master of the nations seeks with watchful eye amid the other disciples, saying:"If, then, any be in Christ a new creature, the old things are passed away. Behold all things are made new" (2 Cor. 5:17). 

St. Gregory the Great
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