SS. Cyril &
Methodius
Bulgarian Orthodox
Mission
(web address: www.bocdc.org)
McLean, VA
Holy Ascension
(Thursday, May 28)
Sunday, May 24, 2009
SS Cyril &
Methodius Orthodox Mission
Orthodox Church in
America
Diocese of Washington
and New York
Holy Ascension (Commemorated on Thursday, May
28)
"AND ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN...."
V. Rev. George Florovsky, D.D.
"I ascend unto My Father and your
Father, and to My God, and Your God" (John 20:17).
In these words the Risen Christ described to Mary Magdalene the mystery
of His Resurrection. She had to carry this mysterious message to His disciples,
"as they mourned and wept" (Mark 16:10). The disciples listened to
these glad tidings with fear and amazement, with doubt and mistrust. It was not
Thomas alone who doubted among the Eleven. On the contrary, it appears that
only one of the Eleven did not doubt - St John, the disciple "whom Jesus
loved." He alone grasped the mystery of the empty tomb at once: "and
he saw, and believed" (John 20:8). Even Peter left the sepulcher in
amazement, "wondering at that which was come to pass" (Luke 24:12).
The disciples did not expect the Resurrection. The women did not,
either. They were quite certain that Jesus was dead and rested in the grave,
and they went to the place "where He was laid," with the spices they
had prepared, "that they might come and anoint Him." They had but one
thought: "Who shall roll away the stone from the door of the sepulcher for
us?" (Mark 16:1-3; Luke 24:1). And therefore, on not finding the body, Mary
Magdalene was sorrowful and complained: "They have taken away my Lord, and
I know not where they have laid Him' (John 20:13). On hearing the good news
from the angel, the women fled from the sepulchre in fear and trembling:
"Neither said they anything to any man, for they were afraid" (Mark
16:8). And when they spoke no one believed them, in the same way as no one 'had
believed Mary, who saw the Lord, or the disciples as they walked on their way
into the country, (Mark 16:13), and who recognized Him in the breaking of
bread. "And afterward He appeared unto the Eleven as they sat at meat, and
upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed
not them who had seen Him after He was risen' (Mark 16:1O-14).
From whence comes this "hardness of heart" and hesitation?
Why were their eyes so "holden," why were the disciples so much
afraid of the news, and why did the Easter joy so slowly, and with such
difficulty, enter the Apostles' hearts? Did not they, who were with Him from
the beginning, "from the baptism of John," see all the signs of power
which He performed before the face of the whole people? The lame walked, the
blind saw, the dead were raised, and all infirmities were healed. Did they not
behold, only a week earlier, how He raised by His word Lazarus from the dead,
who had already been in the grave for four days? Why then was it so strange to
them that the Master had arisen Himself? How was it that they came to forget
that which the Lord used to tell them on many occasions, that after suffering
and death He would arise on the third day?
The mystery of the Apostles' "unbelief" is partly disclosed
in the narrative of the Gospel: "But we trusted that it had been He which
should have redeemed Israel," with disillusionment and complaint said the
two disciples to their mysterious Companion on the way to Emmaus(Luke 24:21).
They meant: He was betrayed, condemned to death and crucified. The news of the
Resurrection brought by the women only "astonished" them. They still
wait for an earthly triumph, for an exernal victory. The same temptation
possesses their hearts, which first prevented them from accepting "the
preaching of the Cross" and made them argue every time the Saviour tried
to reveal His mystery to them. "Ought not Christ to have suffered these
things and to enter into His glory?" (Luke 24:26). It was still difficult
to understand this.
He had the power to arise, why did He allow what that
had happened to take place at all? Why did He take upon Himself disgrace, blasphemy
and wounds? In the eyes of all Jerusalem, amidst the vast crowds assembled for
the Great Feast, He was condemned and suffered a shameful death. And now He
enters not into the Holy City, neither to the people which beheld His shame and
death, nor to the High Priests and elders, nor to Pilate - so that He might
make their crime obvious and smite their pride. Instead, He sends His disciples
away to remote Galilee and appears to them there. Even much earlier the
disciples wondered, "How is it that Thou wilt manifest Thyself unto us,
and not unto the world?" (John 14:22). Their wonder continues, and even on
the day of His glorious Ascension the Apostles question the Lord, "Lord,
wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6).
They still did not comprehend the meaning of His Resurrection, they did not
understand what it meant that He was "ascending" to the Father. Their
eyes were opened but later, when "the promise of the Father" had been
fulfilled.
In the Ascension resides the meaning and the fullness of Christ's
Resurrection.
The Lord did not rise in order to return again to the fleshly order of
life, so as to live again and commune with the disciples and the multitudes by
means of preaching and miracles. Now he does not even stay with them, but only
"appears" to them during the forty days, from time to time, and
always in a miraculous and mysterious manner. "He was not always with them
now, as He was before the Resurrection," comments St John Chrysostom.
"He came and again disappeared, thus leading them on to higher
conceptions. He no longer permitted them to continue in their former
relationship toward Him, but took effectual measures to secure these two
objects: That the fact of His Resurrection should be believed, and that He
Himself should be ever after apprehended to be greater than man." There
was something new and unusual in His person (cf. John 21:1-14). As St John
Chrysostom says, "It was not an open presence, but a certain testimony of
the fact that He was present." That is why the disciples were confused and
frightened. Christ arose not in the same way as those who were restored to life
before Him. Theirs was a resurrection for a time, and they returned to life in
the same body, which was subject to death and corruption - returned to the
previous mode of life. But Christ arose for ever, unto eternity. He arose in a
body of glory, immortal and incorruptible. He arose, never to die, for "He
clothed the mortal in the splendor of incorruption." His glorified Body
was already exempt from the fleshly order of existence. "It is sown in
corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised
in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural
body, it is raised a spiritual body" (I Cor. 15:42-44). This mysterious
transformation of human bodies, of which St Paul was speaking in the case of
our Lord, had been accomplished in three days. Christ's work on earth was
accomplished. He had suffered, was dead and buried, and now rose to a higher
mode of existence. By His Resurrection He abolished and destroyed death,
abolished the law of corruption, "and raised with Himself the whole race
of Adam." Christ has risen, and now "no dead are left in the
grave" (cf. The Easter Sermon of St John Chrysostom). And now He ascends
to the Father, yet He does not "go away," but abides with the
faithful for ever (cf. The Kontakion of Ascension). For He raises the very
earth with Him to heaven, and even higher than any heaven. God's power, in the
phrase of St John Chrysostom, "manifests itself not only in the
Resurrection, but in something much stronger." For "He was received
up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God" (Mark 16:19).
And with Christ, man's nature ascends also.
"We who seemed unworthy of the earth, are now raised to
heaven," says St John Chrysostom. "We who were unworthy of earthly
dominion have been raised to the Kingdom on high, have ascended higher than
heaven, have came to occupy the King's throne, and the same nature from which
the angels guarded Paradise, stopped not until it ascended to the throne of the
Lord." By His Ascension the Lord not only opened to man the entrance to
heaven, not only appeared before the face of God on our behalf and for our
sake, but likewise "transferred man" to the high places. "He
honored them He loved by putting them close to the Father." God quickened
and raised us together with Christ, as St Paul says, "and made us sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephes. 2:6). Heaven received
the inhabitants of the earth. "The First fruits of them that slept"
sits now on high, and in Him all creation is summed up and bound together. "The
earth rejoices in mystery, and the heavens are filled with joy."
"The terrible ascent...." Terror-stricken and trembling stand
the angelic hosts, contemplating the Ascension of Christ. And trembling they
ask each other, "What is this vision? One who is man in appearance ascends
in His body higher than the heavens, as God."
Thus the Office for the Feast of the Ascension depicts the mystery in a
poetical language. As on the day of Christ's Nativity the earth was astonished
on beholding God in the flesh, so now the Heavens do tremble and cry out.
"The Lord of Hosts, Who reigns over all, Who is Himself the head 'Of all,
Who is preeminent in all things, Who has reinstated creation in its former
order - He is the King of Glory." And the heavenly doors are opened:
"Open, Oh heavenly gates, and receive God in the flesh." It is an
open allusion to Psalms 24:7-10, now prophetically interpreted. "Lift up
your heads, Oh ye gates, and be lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King
of Glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and
mighty...." St Chrysostom says, "Now the angels have received that for
which they have long waited, the archangels see that for which they have long
thirsted. They have seen our nature shining on the King's throne, glistening
with glory and eternal beauty.... Therefore they descend in order to see the
unusual and marvelous vision: Man appearing in heaven."
The Ascension is the token of Pentecost, the sign of its coming,
"The Lord has ascended to heaven and will send the Comforter to the world'
For the Holy Spirit was not yet in the world, until Jesus was
glorified. And the Lord Himself told the disciples, "If I go not away, the
Comforter will not come unto you" (John 16:7). The gifts of the Spirit are
"gifts of reconciliation," a seal of an accomplished salvation and of
the ultimate reunion of the world with God. And this was accomplished only in
the Ascension. "And one saw miracles follow miracles," says St John
Chrysostom, "ten days prior to this our nature ascended to the King's
throne, while today the Holy Ghost has descended on to our nature." The
joy of the Ascension lies in the promise of the Spirit.' "Thou didst give
joy to Thy disciples by a promise of the Holy Spirit." The victory of
Christ is wrought in us by the power of the Holy Spirit.
"On high is His body, here below with us is His Spirit. And so we
have His token on high, that is His body, which He received from us, and here
below we have His Spirit with us. Heaven received the Holy Body, and the earth
accepted the Holy Spirit. Christ came and sent the Spirit. He ascended, and
with Him our body ascended also" St John Chrysostom). The revelation of
the Holy Trinity was completed. Now the Spirit Comforter is poured forth on all flesh.
"Hence comes foreknowledge of the future, understanding of mysteries,
apprehension of what is hidden, distribution of good gifts, the heavenly
citizenship, a place in the chorus of angels, joy without end, abiding in God,
the being made like to God, and, highest of all, ,the being made God!" (St
Basil, On the Holy Spirit, IX). Beginning with the Apostles, and through communion
with them - by an unbroken succession - Grace is spread to all believers.
Through renewal and glorification in the Ascended Christ, man's nature became
receptive of the spirit. "And unto the world He gives quickening forces
through His human body," says Bishop Theophanes. "He holds it
completely in Himself and penetrates it with His strength, out of Himself; and
He likewise draws the angels to Himself through the spirit of man, giving them
space for action and thus making them blessed." All this is done through
the Church, which is "the Body of Christ;" that is, His
"fullness" (Ephesians 1:23). "The Church is the fulfillment of
Christ," continues Bishop Theophanes, "perhaps in the same way as the
tree is the fulfillment of the seed. That which is contained in the seed in a
contracted form receives its development in the tree."
The very existence of the Church is the fruit of the Ascension. It is
in the Church that man's nature is truly ascended to the Divine heights.
"And gave Him to be Head over all things" (Ephesians 1:22). St John
Chrysostom comments: "Amazing! Look again, whither He has raised the
Church. As though He were lifting it up by some engine, He has raised it up to
a vast height, and set it on yonder throne; for where the Head is, there is the
body also. There is no interval of separation between the Head and the body;
for were there a separation, then would the one no longer be a body, nor would
the other any longer be a Head." The whole race of men is to follow
Christ, even in His ultimate exaltation, "to follow in His train."
Within the Church, through an acquisition of the Spirit in the fellowship of
Sacraments, the Ascension continues still, and will continue until the measure
is full. "Only then shall the Head be filled up, when the body is rendered
perfect, when we are knit together and united," concludes St John
Chrysostom.
The Ascension is a sign and token of the Second Coming. "This same
Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as
ye have seen Him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11).
The mystery of God's Providence will be accomplished in the Return of
the Risen Lord. In the fulfillment of time, Christ's kingly power will be
revealed and spread over the whole of faithful mankind. Christ bequeathes the
Kingdom to the whole of the faithful. "And I appoint unto you a Kingdom as
My Father has appointed unto me. That ye may eat and drink at My table in My
Kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Luke
22:29-30). Those who followed Him faithfully will sit with Him on their thrones
on the day of His coming. "To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with
Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His
throne" (Rev. 3:21). Salvation will be consummated in the Glory.
"Conceive to yourself the throne, the royal throne, conceive the immensity
of the privilege. This, at least if we chose, might more avail to startle us,
yea, even than hell itself" (St John Chrysostom).
We should tremble more at the thought of that abundant Glory which is
appointed unto the redeemed, than at the thought of the eternal darkness.
"Think near Whom Thy Head is seated...." Or rather, Who is the Head.
In very truth, "wondrous and terrible is Thy divine ascension from the
mountain, 0 Giver of Life." A terrible and wondrous height is the King's
throne. In face of this height all flesh stands silent, in awe and trembling.
"He has Himself descended to the lowest depths of humiliation, and raised
up man to the height of exaltation."
Saints
Commemorated Today
6th SUNDAY OF PASCHA — Tone 5. Blind Man. Ven.
Simeon the Stylite (the Younger) of the Wonderful Mountain (596). Ven. Nikita
the Stylite, Wonderworker of PereyaslavlÕ—Zalesskii (786). Martyrs
Meletius Stratelates, Stephen, John, and 1,218 soldiers, with women and
children, including Serapion the Egyptian, Callinicus the Magician, Theodore,
Faustus, the women: Marciana, Susanna, and Palladia, two children: Cyriacus and
Christian, and twelve Tribunes—Faustus, Festus, Marcellus, Theodore,
Meletius, Sergius, Marcellinus, Felix, Photinus, Theodoriscus, Mercurius, and
Didymus, all of whom suffered in Galatia (138-161). St. Vincent of Lˇrins.
May
Their Memory Be Eternal
The newly departed servant Alexander; Archbishop
GREGORY; Priests Peter, Ishmael, Leo, Homer, Victor, and Thomas; Readers John,
Philemon, John, and Robert Michael; Sophia, Shafik, Michael, Steven, Christo,
Radka, Anna, Dale, Mary, Carmel, Thomas, Vasili, Mary Ellen, Andrew, Irene,
Stamatia, Peter, Vera, George, Marianthe, Panaigioti, Christophor, Rada, &
Julia.
Those Who Are In Need of Prayer
Priests Milorad, Photius, Anthony, and Joseph; Presbyteras
Marie, Miriam, Barbara, Artemis, & Marie; Matthew, Theresa, Catherine, &
Bojanka,
Archimandrite Melchisedek (Pleska)
to be Consecrated Bishop of Pittsburgh June
27, 2009
PITTSBURGH, PA [OCA
Communications] -- On Saturday, June 27, 2009, His Beatitude, Metropolitan
Jonah and the members of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in
America will consecrate Archimandrite Melchisedek (Pleska) Bishop of Pittsburgh
and the Diocese of Western Pennsylvania.
The rite of consecration will take place at a Hierarchical
Divine Liturgy at St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Allison Park, PA, beginning
at 8:30 AM. On Friday evening, June 26, the Rite of Nomination and Proclamation
will take place at the cathedral at 7:00 PM, immediately before Vespers.
Archimandrite Melchisedek was born Thomas Alexander Pleska,
in Dayton OH, August 20, 1942. His father, Alexander Peter Pleska, was born in
Byelo-Russia near Brest-Litovsk, and immigrated with his parents to the US in
1925. His mother Johanna (Eugenia Stachuk) Pleska was born in Cleveland, Ohio,
of Ukrainian immigrant parents, and baptized in St. Theodosius Cathedral.
At the time he was growing up in Dayton there was no
Orthodox parish present, and he and his sister received their Christian
formation in local Protestant parishes and taken to the "Russian"
Church in Cleveland for important Holy Days, and other visits. It was as an
adult that Fr. Melchisedek describes himself as becoming a member in the
Orthodox Church at Christ the Saviour Church in Cincinnati, OH, under the
pastorship of Fr. Daniel Rentel.
After High School, Thomas Pleska first attended the
University of Michigan School of Music and then Miami University in Oxford, OH,
where he completed a BA with a
major in Philosophy, with aspirations to eventually receive a doctorate and
teach. After graduating he entered the business world, first in a stock
brokerage and later in real estate.
In the early 1980s, he made the decision to take a Master of Divinity
degree at St. Vladimir's Seminary. During his studies, under the deanship of
Protopresbyter John Meyendorff, Thomas was encouraged to consider ordination.
Through several encounters with monastic spiritual fathers, including Elder
Dionysios of the Simono-Petras Monastery on Mount Athos and Archimandrite
Dimitry Egouroff, a monk of Old Valaam, he also made the decision to take the
monastic tonsure after ordination.
Thomas Pleska was ordained to the Diaconate in 1985, on the feast of the
Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple, November 21, by His Grace, Bishop
Job. In 1986, on the Feast of the Annunciation, March 25, he was ordained to
the Priesthood by His Beatitude, Metropolitan Theodosius.
In the Fall of 1986, Fr. Thomas accepted the position of
Instructor of Dogmatic Theology at St. Tikhon's Seminary. During his time
teaching at St. Tikhon's, he served as chaplain at the Holy Myrrhbearers
Women's Monastery in Otego NY, and as interim pastor at the Churches of the
Holy Trinity in Pottstown, PA, St. Michael in Old Forge, PA, and St. Basil in
Simpson, PA. It was also at this time that he made his acquaintance with the
Elder Sophrony and his monastery in Essex, England. From 1989 to 1998 Fr. Thomas served as rector of Saints
Peter and Paul Church in Meriden, CT.
In 1998, Fr. Thomas traveled to Greece where he served first
at the Monastery of the Holy Cross, an international women's community in
Thebes. In 2003, he was transferred to serve as chaplain at the women's
monastery of St. George the Great Martyr and to serve his own brotherhood at
the Monastery of the Dormition of the Theotokos in Petras. In 2004, he was tonsured to the Great
Schema, taking the name Melchisedek, and raised to the rank of Archimandrite.
On April 2, 2009, Archimandrite Melchisedek was elected
Bishop of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania by the Holy Synod of Bishops of
the Orthodox Church in America. He returned to the US during Great Lent 2009 to
celebrate Holy Week and Pascha in parishes of the Diocese of Western
Pennsylvania. Since returning to
the US and taking up residence at the Western Pennsylvania Diocesan Center, Fr.
Melchisedek has begun familiarizing himself with diocesan parishes and
institutions and taking on administrative duties in the diocese.
-
Upcoming Services -
Services at SS Cyril & Methodius begin at 2:00
Services at St. George begin at 12:15
June 6 – Memorial
Saturday, @ St. George (This is a Saturday service).
June 7 – Pentecost,
@ SS Cyril & Methodius
June 14 – Synaxis of
All Saints, @ St. George
June 21 – Synaxis of
Saints of North America, @ St. Mark (River
Road)
June 28 – SS Peter
and Paul, @ St. George