Christ is risen!
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He is risen indeed!
Using adventure and community to challenge young people to continually say "yes" to God
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Isn't that why we gather every Sunday (first day of the week) and not once a year as per the catholic tradition which in reality has no exact date when Jesus resurrected. I guess is easier to conform to man made traditions that are guesstimates than keeping it simple; i.e. Biblically speaking, we celebrate Jesus resurrection every Sunday and not once a year on a date that was not intended for us to know (just like Jesus b-day). Anyway, as is the Biblical costume - Jesus is risen and Christians celebrate that awesome event every Sunday! Stop pluralism!
🤘👍👌😇😈🤔🙄😜😬
For the sake of the Truth,
DAL
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Kristus är uppstånden!
Never heard it before, but I like it. Thanks for introducing me to something new.
I actually enjoyed it very much.
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Isn't that why we gather every Sunday (first day of the week) and not once a year as per the catholic tradition which in reality has no exact date when Jesus resurrected.
Please check your facts before posting about others. Catholics recognize every Sunday as a celebration of the resurrection as well. I know of no Christian group that celebrates the resurrection only once a year. This appears to be slander Catholics weekend. I do wish people would stick to logic and facts if they need to speak.
[quote]
1166 “By a tradition handed down from the apostles which took its origin from the very day of Christ’s Resurrection, the Church celebrates the Paschal mystery every seventh day, which day is appropriately called the Lord’s Day or Sunday.” The day of Christ’s Resurrection is both the first day of the week, the memorial of the first day of creation, and the “eighth day,” on which Christ after his “rest” on the great sabbath inaugurates the “day that the Lord has made,” the “day that knows no evening.” The Lord’s Supper is its center, for there the whole community of the faithful encounters the risen Lord who invites them to his banquet: (1343)
The Lord’s day, the day of Resurrection, the day of Christians, is our day. It is called the Lord’s day because on it the Lord rose victorious to the Father. If pagans call it the “day of the sun,” we willingly agree, for today the light of the world is raised, today is revealed the sun of justice with healing in his rays.
1167 Sunday is the pre-eminent day for the liturgical assembly, when the faithful gather “to listen to the word of God and take part in the Eucharist, thus calling to mind the Passion, Resurrection, and glory of the Lord Jesus, and giving thanks to God who ‘has begotten them again, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead’ unto a living hope”:
When we ponder, O Christ, the marvels accomplished on this day, the Sunday of your holy resurrection, we say: “Blessed is Sunday, for on it began creation … the world’s salvation … the renewal of the human race.… On Sunday heaven and earth rejoiced and the whole universe was filled with light. Blessed is Sunday, for on it were opened the gates of paradise so that Adam and all the exiles might enter it without fear.
Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Ed. (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 2000), 302.So why Easter too? Because, like the Orthodox and most churches using a lectionary, every year we run through the entire life of Christ. In Eastern churches you will find the major events of Jesus life - all celebrated as feasts during the year - in order in the iconstasis. Why? Because Christ and the Gospel is central to our worship.
The feast of the Resurrection of Jesus, called Pascha (Easter), is the greatest of the feasts of the Eastern Orthodox Church (and of the Eastern Catholic Churches of the Byzantine Rite), and as such is called the "feast of feasts". In addition, there are other days of great importance in the life of the Church: the Twelve Great Feasts (Greek: Δωδεκάορτον).
Eight great feasts in honor of Jesus Christ, and four great feasts honoring the Virgin Mary — the Theotokos — comprise The Twelve Great Feasts.[1]
- 21 September [O.S. 8 September], the Nativity of the Theotokos
- 27 September [O.S. 14 September], the Exaltation of the Cross
- 4 December [O.S. 21 November], the Presentation of the Theotokos
- 7 January [O.S. 25 December], the Nativity of Christ/Christmas
- 19 January [O.S. 6 January], the Baptism of Christ — Theophany, also called Epiphany
- 15 February [O.S. 2 February], the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple
- 7 April [O.S. 25 March], the Annunciation
- The Sunday before Pascha (Easter) — the Entry into Jerusalem or Flowery/Willow/Palm Sunday
- Forty Days after Pascha (Easter) — the Ascension of Christ
- Fifty Days after Pascha (Easter) — Pentecost
- 19 August [O.S. 6 August], the Transfiguration
- 28 August [O.S. 15 August], the Dormition (Falling Asleep) of the Theotokos
which in reality has no exact date when Jesus resurrected.
I assume that you realize that there is no intent to celebrate a precise anniversary dates. Rather the key points of the liturgical year are based upon appropriate symbolic dates that would be meaningful to pre-literate people in an agrarian society. The purpose is to insure that average Christians pre-universal literacy and pre-printing press can keep the life of Jesus in their mind ... and use Jesus' life as the guide for their own. The second aspect in determining the liturgical calendar was continuity with the Jewish traditions as originally the Christian celebrations were added to Jewish worship rather than separated from it ... all of which changed drastically in the late first century.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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Happy Easter - please enjoy the resurrection icons
Today we will look again at the “Major Festivals” icon type. These commonly have the Resurrection type in the center, surrounded by icons for each of the major church festivals. Commonly there are usually twelve festivals shown with the central Resurrection image, but some examples, like this one, show sixteen:
(Courtesy of Zoetmulder Ikonen: http://www.russianicons.net)
First, let’s look at the central Resurrection type, which in this form is quite common in icons by the 19th century:
(Courtesy of Zoetmulder Ikonen: http://www.russianicons.net)
At the top is the title, Voskresenie Khristovo, “The Resurrection of Christ.”
This Resurrection type includes several scenes. Let’s look more closely:
Here we see the Repentant Thief, called Rakh in Russia, as he comes to the Gates of Paradise. There he is stopped by a cherub (Russians use the plural “cherubim” for the singular) with a flaming sword; but when Rakh shows his cross, the angel allows him to enter. At left we see Rakh inside Paradise, conversing with the Old Testament persons Enoch and the Prophet Elijah.
Here the Zhenui Mironositsui — the “Myrhh-bearing Women — Come to the tomb and see an angel sitting upon the stone that has been rolled away from the entrance.
Here “the Lord” has commanded the angels to bind Satan.
Here Jesus appears after his resurrection to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias.
It was common in late icons of the Resurrection to include both the “Western” and the traditional Eastern forms of the Resurrection. Here is the “Western” form, Jesus in a mandorla of light above his tomb.
Here is the earlier Resurrection type, called “The Descent into Hades.” Jesus, having broken down the Gates of Hades, grasps the old Testament Patriarch Adam by the hand as Eve and other Old Testament figures are freed from Hades and begin their ascent to the Gates of Paradise. Hades is commonly pictured in later icons such as this one as a great beast with mouth wide open, an image borrowed from Western Europe.
I have already discussed the surrounding feast day icons in a previous posting, so now let’s move on to a variation on the Major Festivals Icon:
(Courtesy of Zoetmulder Ikonen: http://www.russianicons.ne
As you can see, the painter has added a sequence of additional images from the “Passion of Christ” cycle around the central Resurrection image. And he has abbreviated the Resurrection type, not only leaving out the appearance of Jesus to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, but also leaving out the Thief Rakh (Rakh Razboinik) outside the Gate of Paradise, but he has nonetheless shown Enoch and Elijah within. You will notice other omissions as well.
Here is a closer look:
And now let’s look at the “Passion” images, each identified by inscription:
The inscriptions on this top four (left to right) are:
1. “The Mystic Supper,” known as the “Last Supper” in Western Europe.
2. “The Lord Washes of the Feet of the Disciples”
3. “The Prayer of the Cup of our Lord”
4. “The Betrayal by Judas of our Lord”
Here are the two middle images on the right:
5. “The Bringing to Pilate of our Lord”
6. “The Placing of the Crown of Thorns”
Here are the bottom images:
7. “The Carrying of the Cross of our Lord”
8. “The Crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ”
9. “The Removal from the Cross of our Lord”
10. The Placing in the Tomb of our Lord”
And here are the images in the center of the left side:
11. “The Bringing to Caiaphas of our Lord”
12. “The Scourging at the Pillar of our Lord”
Let’s take a quick look (well, maybe not so quick) at another “Major Festivals” variant image:
(Courtesy of Zoetmulder Ikonen: http://www.russianicons.net)
We can see that the central Resurrection image is very similar to the first we examined:
Let’s look at individual scenes again. First, here is Rakh at the Gate of Paradise and inside Paradise with Enoch and Elijah:
And here is the scene of the Myrrh-Bearing Women (Mary Magdalene, Salome, and the other Mary) seeing the angel at the tomb. But notice that just to the right of the women is an additional scene found in some examples. The inscription tells us what it is:
“Peter Comes to the Tomb and Sees the Linen Clothes Lying.” It is Peter entering the tomb of Jesus and finding the empty linen graveclothes:
Below the Myrrh-Bearing Women, we see the scene identified by inscription as “The Lord Commands the Angels to Bind Satan and to Beat Him Mercilessly”:
Here is this icon’s version of the “Descent into Hades.” Jesus, standing on the fallen Gates of Hades, grasps Adam by the hand as Eve bows, and behind her stand the Old Testament righteous women Rachel and Sarah:
And here is a look at the “Jesus Appears to his Disciples at the Sea of Tiberias” scene. We see the apostles John and James (Iakov) in the boat, and Peter has jumped into the sea to get quickly to Jesus on the shore:
Finally, we will end today’s discussion with a look at four of the bottom images in the third “Major Festivals” icon variant. Perhaps you noticed that they do not seem to fit with the rest in the outer border. You are right; they do not. They were probably added at the request of the customer who ordered the icon. Let’s take a closer look (and no doubt you are glad that we are finally near the end of this posting):
First, here is the image at bottom left. You probably recognize him as one of the most popular of Russian saints. His title inscription at left reads Svyatuiy Nikolae Chu[dotvorets] — “Holy Nicholas the Wonderworker.” And by the way, the little guy at lower left is one of the Four Evangelists in the outer corners of this icon (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John); this one is Mark:
Yes, we have finally reached the last images. Here they are:
The two saints at left are identified by title inscriptions as
1. Svyatuiy Svyashchenomuchenik Kharlampiy — “Holy Priest-Martyr Kharlampy” (Kharalampios)
2. Svyatuiy Veliko Muchenik Ioann Voin’ — “Holy Great Martyr John the Warrior”
The third image is a well-known Marian icon:
3. Pecherskiya Presvyatuiya Bogoroditsui — “The Pecherskaya Most Holy Mother of God.” She is shown with saints Antoniy Pecherskiy and Feodosiy (Theodosius) Pecherskiy standing beside her.
4. Svyatuiy Prepodobnuiy Sergiy Radonezhskiy Chudotvorets –“Holy Venerable Sergiy of Radonezh, Wonderworker.” Sergiy is another of the most popular Russian saints. He is shown here standing at the tomb of his mother Maria and father Kirill, both of whom became monastics. They had asked him to wait to become a monk until they had both died.
I could talk in much greater detail about the icons shown here, but even the most enthusiastic readers of information on icons can only endure so much at a given time.
Now you can lean back, rest your eyes, perhaps sip a nice cup of herbal tea, and wonder why you ever got involved with icons and their interpretation.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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Thank you for the lesson, MJ. I am awe struck by the presentation the icons give.
Joseph F. Sollenberger, Jr.
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Yes! He is risen indeed!
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I am so thankful that God has set me free in Christ. His perfect sacrifice covers me, a vile disgusting sin-sick repentant sinner overjoyed that what I could not do for myself - ever - Jesus did on the Cross to reclaim and own one such as me - forever.
Glory be to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit forever and ever, amen.
May He give us courage, strength, perseverance and joy to live like one reborn and reclaimed for God's Kingdom and His Glory!
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Happy Easter Friends !!
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Ja, han är sannerligen uppstånden!
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Thanks, MJ. [:)]
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Happy Easter! He's risen indeed!
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" ... as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead - who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification." Ro 4:24, 25
Instead of Artificial Intelligence, I prefer to continue to rely on Divine Intelligence instructing my Natural Dullness (Ps 32:8, John 16:13a)
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Uh hu 😁
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Thanks, MJ.
Seconded.
And a blessed Easter Season to all!
“The trouble is that everyone talks about reforming others and no one thinks about reforming himself.” St. Peter of Alcántara
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