Category Archives: Holy Resurrection Parish Events

St. Ephrem the Syrian and Lent

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This Wednesday, tomorrow already, we will discuss St. Ephrem the Syrian in our Wednesday educational meeting.  St. Ephrem is an important saint for many reasons, not the least of which is the Lenten prayer repeated so frequently throughout Lent:

O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power, and idle talk, but grant, rather, the spirit of chastity humility, patience, and love to Thy servant.  Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own transgressions, and not to judge my brother, for blessed art Thou unto the ages of ages.

Many of us, however, may not know much about St. Ephrem.  We will discuss more and look at one of his Hymns on Paradise on Wednesday, but for those of you who cannot join us, let me share just a little.  He was born likely around or shortly after the turn of the fourth century to Christian parents.  He served as a deacon in Nisibis but near the end of his life, had to flee to Edessa along with other Christians, when the Byzantine Empire had to cede Nisibis to the Persian Empire after the pagan Emperor Julian was defeated by the Persians.  Ephrem was known for his writings, especially his hymns, as well as organizing charitable work during a famine in Edessa near the end of his life.  Those interested in learning more about him are welcome to join us tomorrow evening at 7:30 at Caribou Coffee, just south of 25th Street and 13th Avenue.

Orthodox Christians Enter Lent with Forgiveness Vespers

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Today, Orthodox Christians around the world entered into Lent.  Western Christians have been in Lent for some time.  Most years, Western Christian Easter does not align with Eastern Christian Easter (called Pascha, the Greek word for Passover).  This year is one such year and so the Lents do not align either.  This year, in fact, the East and the West are quite far apart.  There are historical, theological reasons for the different calendars, which could be summarized as: the Orthodox still calculate Pascha/Easter in keeping with how Jews calculate Passover and Pope Gregory XII changed to the modern “Gregorian” calendar, which Protestants also accepted.

Eastern Christian practice begins Lent in the evening with Forgiveness Vespers (at some parishes, observed in the afternoon), because liturgically, the day begins in the evening.  Those familiar with Ash Wednesday might be surprised to learn that Orthodox do not hold that service but instead a Forgiveness Vespers.  This vespers contains a penitential feel and during the service, the liturgical colors are changed from gold to a dark purple.  At the conclusion of the service, those present ask forgiveness of one another, individually.  This includes the clergy asking forgiveness from each and every parishioner present.  Some traditional Paschal/Easter hymns are then sung as well, as a foretaste of what’s to come at the end of Lent.

Although Orthodox Christians may be known for the restrictive fasting they are called to do during Lent, forgiveness is at the heart of Lent.  May God forgive us all!

Orthodox Christians Bless Red River in Fargo

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Normally at this time of year, if the Red River Valley hears of anything regarding Orthodox Christianity and blessing water, it is a report from some faraway place like Russia or Greece.  What many might not know is that right here in Fargo, our small community has been blessing the Red River for the past few years.  Here is are a few photos from this event.  We blessing near the dike, where the current runs quickly enough that there is open water even in sub-zero temperatures.  No jumps in after the cross here, though, both because of temperatures and because of the current.  I toss and retrieve the cross myself.  Here are a few photos, courtesy Erik Hjelle:

Church News at the International and Parish Level

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This is just a quick post for the weekend to update our readers about some events locally and abroad.  At the international level, many of you may already know that Patriarch Ignatius IV, Patriarch of Antioch, recently died in a hospital in Beirut.  May his memory be eternal!

http://oca.org/news/headline-news/metropolitan-tikhon-sends-condolences-on-repose-of-patriarch-ignatius-iv-of

Locally, here at our parish, we had a wonderful St. Nicholas celebration.  Larry Carcoana has provided us with some pictures he took and so I share a couple of them here:  Both the chapel and the meeting room were full.  The pictures from the meeting room were taken late in the evening, so some people had already left, but they show that conversations lingered on.  Additionally, many conversations lingered on within the hallway/foyer area.  A special thank you to all the visitors from Trinity Bible College in Ellendale, ND, as well as from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fargo and Fargo-Moorhead more generally.  Your presence was both an honor and a joy!

Jesus’ Birth and the Bible

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I have already mentioned that Wednesday evening, one of the short talks will discuss fasting.  That talk will be given by Larry Carcoana, our vice president and a founding member of our parish.  A related talk will be a synopsis of the life of St. Nicholas, given by our choir director, Jason Kuntz.  Both talks should be good and helpful as reflections on this time of year, prior to Christmas.

The third talk will be given by me and will briefly look at the relationship between Jesus’ birth and the Scriptures (primarily the “Old” Testament) in our Christmas hymnography.  I won’t cover the talk here, now, but I thought I would take a moment to highlight it because it is an aspect of Jesus’ life that we often forget about.

It is easy to see how one can forget about it, what with elves living in the frozen north and making toys and flying reindeer.  Those are very fanciful characters!  Yet, we also often forget about the connection even in explicitly Christian settings, and that is the more troubling.  I think we’ve long since known a person may be an atheist and yet celebrate Christmas in some sort of way (just focus on “Santa”–forget it means “saint”–try not to shoot flying deer for dinner, and have presents under a tree–again making sure not to interpret the tree’s symbolism beyond “spring’s around the corner”).  What we might not as readily realize is that we can too easily show up at church for a Christmas pageant and leave with little more than a reminder that the New Testament mentions that he was born.  More likely, we remember how the kids behaved up there.  You know, little “Jimmy” was picking his nose and sally dropped “the baby Jesus.”  Those moments are good and not to be dismissed, but if not taken any deeper, distract from a central reality:  Jesus’ birth, according to the early Church, was something spoken about already in the Scriptures.  God had already placed the events in Scriptures–from Bethlehem being mentioned by the prophet Micah to Jesus being the Sun of Righteousness mentioned by Malachi.

Of course, Jews in late antiquity thought Christians were crazy to read such things into the Scriptures.  Christians, on the other hand, believed Jesus was the Christ and as such, the key that unlocked the proper reading of the Scriptures.  In that way, what we celebrate on Christmas is nothing less than an eternally willed desire on God’s part to unite humanity to himself in a very special way.  Because of our sins, that union also bring healing, but even had we not sinned, that union would bring about a fuller expression of what it means to be human.

As we journey forward in the Nativity Fast (or Advent, if you will), let us not forget that we are journeying to a scene of God’s love for us.  For Jesus came into the world because he the Son of God incarnate, the Way to union with God the Father and in response to our sins, he is the crucified and risen one.  That is who we celebrate.

 

Fasting Before Christmas

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This week, on December 5th, we will have a vespers followed by an open house of sorts to the community.  I don’t know how many visitors we’ll get, but for us, December 6th is the feast day of our patron, St. Nicholas.  We are named in honor of a Feast (Holy Resurrection–as in Pascha, or “Easter” as it is known to many) but, as is common in the Russian tradition, a parish named after a feast is also granted a patron.  Vespers begins at 7pm, and refreshments follow.  Following refreshments, three very short little talks will be given, one on the real life of the real St. Nicholas (hint: he’s NOT a fat elf with flying reindeer), one on fasting in the Orthodox Church, and one on our Eastern Christian hymnography for Christmas.

I think the fasting talk will be quite appropriate.  The idea that we shouldn’t just live a gluttonous life from Thanksgiving until December 25, or maybe January 1st, will seem to be a unique concept (unfortunately) to many Americans.  Nonetheless, there are Americans out there looking for a spiritual alternative.  I recently ran across this essay that seemed to be yearning for something similar (and, hey, she mentions the Peanuts Christmas special, so how I could I not link to her post?):

http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/faith-and-values/civil-religion/pamela-dolan/unplug-from-christmas-stress-not-from-the-holiday/article_d5abd1fe-3b0c-11e2-a109-001a4bcf6878.html

Of course, we’re not Protestant Episcopalians and, of course, we’re in no danger of ordaining women, etc., but I think Pastor Dolan’s efforts to bring a different perspective to the Advent Season is a good one.  Likewise, I think a reflection on fasting and the real St. Nicholas can help in this regard as well.  St. Nicholas was known for his generosity and love but also for his asceticism.  The three ought to go together.  See, generosity without the others is merely playing the victim.  Love without the others is misguided and can become selfishness.  Asceticism without the others is legalism and possibly self-pity.  St. Nicholas is a reminder to us that they all go together, that Christmas is a feast for which we ought to fast and prepare.

For those of you needing a quick primer on St. Nicholas himself, start here:

http://orthodoxwiki.org/Nicholas_of_Myra

Parish News: Memory Eternal and an Assembly

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This past week, our parish was saddened by the loss of Dragalub Petrovic, a Serbian immigrant who was a regular face at our Divine Liturgies throughout the last several years.  Dragalub unexpectedly fell asleep in the Lord Thursday morning.  He will be buried in Serbia.  Please keep Mara and the entire Petrovic family in your prayers.

 

On another note, today is the diocesan assembly and as of late last night, Jason (our choir director) and I are in attendance.

Upcoming St. Nicholas Day Celebration

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October 28th, 2012

For Immediate Release

 

Saint Nicholas Day to be celebrated at local Orthodox Church

Popular Saint of Eastern Orthodox Christian Church has a rich real-life story and is held up as an example for modern holiday reflections on giving and charity.

 

Fargo, ND—Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church of Fargo will celebrate Saint Nicholas Day on Wednesday, December 5th with a Vespers service followed by refreshments and brief presentations.  All events are free and open to the public.

The event will be held at the Pastoral Center and Chapel of the Roman Catholic Archdiocesan Offices in south Fargo (5201 Bishops Boulevard) beginning at 7:00 p.m.

 

December 6th is the feast day in the Eastern Orthodox Christian Church for St. Nicholas, deemed the “Wonderworker and Archbishop of Myra in Lycia.”  It is commonly understood that the persona of “Santa Claus” has its origins with the life of this saint.  According to the Orthodox liturgical cycle, a Vespers is served the evening prior to the feast day.

 

1—Christmas Hymnography in Eastern Orthodoxy—Presented by Rev. Dr. Oliver Herbel

Choral pieces commemorating the Nativity in the Orthodox Church may sound quite different than the Christmas Carols to which we are probably accustomed.  The music, which in some cases dates back to the 9th century, is nonetheless poignant and rich with meaning and relevance to the holiday season.

 

2—Holiday Fasting in Orthodoxy—Presented by Mr. Lawrence Carcoana

Fasting during “the holidays” would seem out of place to most of us used to special holiday dainties served during this season of celebration.  The Nativity Fast is one of the four major fasts observed each year in the Orthodox Church.  The purpose of this practice will be explained.

 

3—The Life of St. Nicholas—Mr. Jason A. Kuntz, Holy Resurrection Choir Director

A special reading to summarize the life and work of St. Nicholas will be shared.

 

The congregation of the Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church in Fargo is extending a warm invitation to all to attend this traditional event.  Experience the spirituality and atmosphere of the Holidays in Orthodox spirit and make this your Christmas-season tradition!

Christ is Risen! An Upcoming Bright Week Lecture

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Christ is risen!

As noted in the previous post, yesterday was Pascha for us Orthodox Christians, the day on which we celebrate the triumph of Life over death!

This makes this week “Bright Week,” and makes an upcoming paper of mine at NDSU’s Science and Religion Lunch Seminary on Tuesday all the more important.  You may see that listed here:

http://www.tri-college.org/tcu_calendar_of_campus_events/

More information on the SRLS may be found here:

http://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~cope/SRLS/

The working title of my paper is: “Neither Inherently Guilty Nor Secular: Eastern Christian Anthropology in Dialogue with Christian and Post-Christian West. “  The title itself needs work, I admit.  To clarify, by noting that Orthodoxy is not “secular,” I do not imply that Orthodoxy is against all forms of separation of Church and State.  I do clarify in the paper that I am picking up on the term “secular” and “secular humanism” from its past polemical context, in which it is linked to atheism and materialistic evolution.  The “inherently guilty,” is a reference to the general Western conception of fallen humanity as guilty for Adam’s fall.  Eastern Christian anthropology overlaps with both in some ways while also being distinct in some ways.  This paper is a modest attempt to discuss some of this.  There may be no better time to discuss humanity’s calling from an Orthodox perspective than on Bright Week.  This is a public event and all are welcome to attend.

A Short Reflection for the New Testament Readings for the Vespers of Holy (Good) Friday

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Although this is a vespers service, the Bible readings are not just from the Old Testament (which is normally the biblical readings that are chanted when biblical readings are prescribed for vespers).  We also read from 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:2 and a composite Gospel readings from Matthew and Luke.  In the epistle reading, we are reminded that “the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”  Indeed, this was shown even as Jesus died on the Cross, for when he died, some of the tombs were opened!

In the Gospel reading for this service, we learn not only of Judas’ fate, but also of the anti-Christian argument popular soon after Jesus death, that his disciples stole his body.  In this way, the Gospel serves as a small window into the disputes and divisions amongst the Jews at the time concerning Jesus and “the Way,” as Christianity was initially known (according to the Book of Acts).  We also hear of the graciousness and love of God, however, for we encounter the two thieves, just as Psalms 1 and 2 open the Psalms by speaking of the “two ways.”  One may either repent and be at the right hand of Christ, or curse, ignore, and/or reject him and find oneself on the left.  Yet, here in the Gospel, we are reminded that no matter how long one has been on the “wrong path,” one may yet cross over and take the new path, “the Way” of Christ.