Saint Mary of Egypt

St Mary of Egypt

She turned to the East, and raising her eyes to heaven and stretching out her hands, she began to pray in a whisper. One could not hear separate words, so that Zosimas could not understand anything that she said in her prayers. Meanwhile he stood, according to his own accord, all in a flutter, looking at the ground without saying a word. And he swore, calling God to witness, that when at length he thought that her prayer was very long, he took his eyes off the ground and saw that she was raised about a forearm’s distance from the ground and stood praying in the air. When he saw this, even greater terror seized him and he fell on the ground weeping and repeating many times, “Lord have mercy.”

From The Life of our Holy Mother Mary of Egypt (St Nectarios Press, 1992)

Notice the woman in the ragged clothing in the image above. Her feet are not touching the ground! That is St Mary of Egypt. It is from the mosaic of the Last Judgment at the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, on the island of Torcello in the Venetian lagoon. St Mary of Egypt is shown leading the group of resurrected monastic women Saints in prayer. It brings a smile to the face, does it not? That combination of text and image is always fun when it happens.

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Lorica Patricii

I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same
The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this today to me forever
By power of faith, Christ’s incarnation;
His baptism in Jordan river,
His death on Cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spicèd tomb,
His riding up the heavenly way,
His coming at the day of doom
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power
Of the great love of cherubim;
The sweet ‘Well done’ in judgment hour,
The service of the seraphim,
Confessors’ faith, Apostles’ word,
The Patriarchs’ prayers, the prophets’ scrolls,
All good deeds done unto the Lord
And purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the star lit heaven,
The glorious sun’s life giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea
Around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward;
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.

Against the demon snares of sin,
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
The hostile men that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In every place and in all hours,
Against their fierce hostility
I bind to me these holy powers.

Against all Satan’s spells and wiles,
Against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the heart’s idolatry,
Against the wizard’s evil craft,
Against the death wound and the burning,
The choking wave, the poisoned shaft,
Protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
By Whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

Translated by Cecil F. Alexander, 1889.

I really need to dig out the Latin and translate this myself. All that parallelism and rhyming is, aside from being representative of a very Victorian preference for translating metre, indicative that the Latin is not accurately reflected. No doubt some fun bits are missing.

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Life of Saint Coemgen

i. (1) Now it was (foretold) in type and prophecy that there would come a high saint, noble and honourable, in Leinster, namely in Glendalough, to speak particularly, to rescue and repel men from paganism by the preaching of the word of God, for the healing of leper, and blind, and deaf, and lame, and all kinds of sick folk, to raise the dead, to put down the mighty and lift up the wretched, and to drive away plagues and pestilences, to check thieves and crimes and strange monsters, and to instruct all kinds of perverted folk who opposed the will of God. (2) Now Patrick, son of Calpurnius, the chief apostle of Erin, prophesied of this Coemgen thirty years before his birth, and that he would cause a chief city (monastery) to be built in the aforesaid glen, for the refection of companies and strangers, of guests and pilgrims, and that he would bring with him to Glendalough some of the mould and relics of the apostles and righteous men who are at Rome. (3) And it is written in this life that for obtaining remission of sins from God it is the same for any one to visit Rome, and (to visit) the relics and bed of Coemgen, as is customary, with penitence, and humility, and lowliness of heart.

Continue reading “Life of Saint Coemgen”

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Modern Orthodox Saints

Dr Constantine Cavarnos [* see the end of this post for an update], head of the Institute for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studes in Belmont, Massachusetts, has for a number of years been a writer of discernment on matters Orthodox, with a special emphasis on traditional expressions of Orthodoxy in Greek culture. His books are numerous (see those listed on the IBMGS site), and all the ones I’ve read have always been as informative as they are edifying. It’s a rare talent to accomplish the two regularly, but Dr Cavarnos succeeds entirely.

His series on Modern Orthodox Saints is a case in point. The series is 15 volumes (short descriptions here). The first of these that I ever picked up was volume six, on Saint Arsenios of Paros. I’ve appreciated the quality of both the writing and the books ever since. On the quality of the books, it is perhaps sufficient to note that the paper is a thick, smooth, and of a cream colour, obviously acid-free, with sewn bindings in both hardcover and softcover. The softcovers have particularly sturdy cardstock for covers, thicker than is usual. The quality of both the writing and the book production are suitable to the subject matter. The books are well-organized and full of information, but these are not academic treatises. They are more like a cross between biographies and extensive modern hagiographies. As these saints are all relatively recently reposed, some indeed very recently, there were numerous sources available to give accurate detail to their lives, including photographs of the saints and their surroundings, where available. Several of the saints were even interviewed by Dr Cavarnos, and so we benefit from his sharing this primary source material. I cannot recommend them highly enough.

Here is the list of volumes:
1: St. Cosmas Aitolos
2: St. Macarios of Corinth
3: St. Nicodemos the Hagiorite
4: St. Nikephoros of Chios
5: St. Seraphim of Sarov
6: St. Arsenios of Paros
7: St. Nectarios of Aegina
8: St. Savvas the New
9: St. Methodia of Kimolos
10: Saints Raphael, Nicholas and Irene of Lesvos
11: Blessed Elder Philotheos ZeArirvakos
12: Blessed Hermit Philaretos of the Holy Mountain
13: Blessed Elder Gabriel Dionysiatis
14: Blessed Elder Iakovos of Epiros, Elder Joseph the
        Hesychast, and Mother Stavritsa the Missionary
15: Saint Athanasios Parios

The Modern Orthodox Saints volumes are all available from the Institute itself. One may also find the volumes at Saint Nectarios Press. I’ve only had good experiences with both. Saint Nectarios Press offers a large selection of Lives of Saints, some of them very inexpensive indeed, ranging from thick books to pamphlets of a few pages.

While it may seem thoroughly medieval of me, I thoroughly enjoy reading the lives of the saints. I recommend stocking up on them.

* Update on Dr Constantine Cavarnos:
Dr Cavarnos, in the last year of his life, moved to and became a monk at St Anthony’s Monastery in Arizona. He was tonsured a Monk of the Great Schema. Schemamonk Constantine reposed there on the third of March, 2011.

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Logos Septuagint

Reader Kent has left a very helpful comment. Logos is producing an electronic edition of the Göttingen Septuaginta! There is a pre-pub special sale on for this resource, more than 50% off the retail price. All the currently available Göttingen Septuaginta volumes are included. The only page samples are page images from the printed volumes, but it sounds like the Logos editon is fully electronic, including both the text and the apparatus, with the Greek morphologically tagged. What an excellent resource! I shall have to pinch some pennies to pick this one up!

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Lessons from the River Nile

Do you know that the origin of this river derived from drops of water which fell as rain, accumulated, and became a river?

Could not we learn that any major project might start with a simple thing, perhaps an idea? It is said in proverbs that “the longest journey begins with a step.”

The first sin started with a simple sitting with the serpent. Perhaps the biggest fight begins with a word.

We can learn from the Nile that the soft drip of water, if it fell orderly and continually on a rock or mountain, it can carve a way in it: an important lesson on patience and perseverance.

This water carries the clay from the mountains of Ethiopia. At the first sight, it looks unclear, but it contains the silt which causes the fertility of Egypt and covers its sand with silt.

This muddy water sings with the Bride in the Song of Songs, “I am dark, but lovely” (Song 1.5). In spite of such murkiness, this water carries in it good sweetness to its drinker, as the sweetness of the lives of Augustine and Moses the Black, which appeared after their repentance.

Before the cutting of the channel of the Nile, the water was flowin on the sides, making swamps. But, later, its channel has deepened, bit by bit, and water became stable.

This give us an idea on the grading in the spiritual life, and the patience of the soul until it reaches its stability after a while. We are not to judge those who are in the “swamps” stage and have not yet reached the deep and stable channel.

We must also praise the two banks of the river between which the river runs. They are not two barriers which limit its freedom, but they are two protectors for its safekeeping. Like the Commandments, they do not restrict, but protect freedom.

It is a long journey the Nile has made until it reached us, giving its riches to the countries it passed: Ethiopia, Nubia, Sudan, Egypt, and all the surrounding deserts. This teaches us to give or make good to whoever we pass by.

Pope Shenouda III, Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria. Words of Spiritual Benefit, saying 101 (with a little editing of the translation from me).

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A mystery

From a blue scrap of paper on which I scribbled something in red ink, which then went through the wash, and was found finally by yours truly in the dryer:

[illegible] last part of sacrifice — water washes away the blood from the altar’s side, a sign of the erasing of the sin.

Hmm. The reference is the part that is illegible! Now I don’t remember where the washing away of the blood from the altar was described. I don’t think it’s Biblical. A search doesn’t reveal it. Maybe in the Septuagint? It was more likely a chance encounter in the either the Mishnah, Tosefta, or Babylonian Talmud. Or maybe somewhere else. (Sigh.)

I really have to remember to check all my pockets before doing the wash. That’s disappointing.

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Divinity

As men, for fear the stars should sleep and nod
        And trip at night, have spheres suppli’d;
As if a star were duller than a clod,
        Which knows his way without a guide:

Just so the other heav’n they also serve,
        Divinity’s transcendent sky:
Which with the edge of wit they cut and carve.
        Reason triumphs, and faith lies by.

Could not that wisdom, which first broacht the wine,
        Have thicken’d it with definitions?
And jagg’d his seamless coat, had that been fine,
        With curious questions and divisions?

But all the doctrine, which he taught and gave,
        Was clear as heav’n, from whence it came.
At least those beams of truth, which only save,
        Surpass in brightness any flame.

Love God, and love your neighbor. Watch and pray.
        Do as ye would be done unto.
O dark instructions; ev’n as dark as day!
        Who can these Gordion knots undo?

But he doth bid us take his blood for wine.
        Bid what he please; yet I am sure,
To take and taste what he doth there design,
        Is all that saves, and not obscure.

Then burn thy Epicycles, foolish man;
        Break all thy spheres, and save thy head.
Faith needs no staff of flesh, but stoutly can
        To heav’n alone both go, and lead.

George Herbert. 1633.

Herbert, like Rossetti, brings to the table a particularly Jacobean duality of light and dark, wisdom and foolishness. While this can certainly be drawn out from the canonical Scriptures themselves, Herbert’s seems here to have an extra edge, doesn’t it? There’s something more going on, particularly in the last stanza, where Herbert is effectively telling us that maps of the material world, the planets mapped by Ptolemaic epicycle tables and the Earth by globes, are irrelevant, and, by connotation, the material world itself is irrelevant. Faith goes to heaven and leads there. Yet the body and world remain, requiring some sort of spiritual journey. Is there a hint of visionary journeys here? It is very slight, if so—sub rosa, one might say. It is intriguing to think that just a few decades after John Dee’s wild blend of alchemy-magic-astrology-etc we have the display of a more orthodox sort of mysticism, quite obviously Christian, yet still bearing this strong tendency towards duality and, what?, amaterialism? immaterialism? And that this dualism is found over two centuries later expressed in strikingly similar manner by Christina Rossetti. There’s a striking continuity there, however inexplicable in terms of origins and transmission it might be.

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Great Horologion List of Saints

One of the first books that I bought on my path to conversion to the Orthodox Church was Holy Transfiguration Monastery’s beautifully bound edition of The Great Horologion. This is essentially a Book of Hours designed for use at monastic services. I primarily bought it for the numerous lives of saints included in the volume. Even more numerous than the short lives given in the volume is the index of Saints and commemorations given in the end of the volume, with the dates on which these are commemorated in the Holy Church. There are 5,208 separate entries.

I typed up the list of these saints and their commemoration dates several years ago, and forgot about it until a comment from Aaron just this evening. Thinking it would take only a few minutes to make it presentable, I of course ended up spending three hours formatting the lists for two separate files, one listing the Saints alphabetically, the other listing by date of commemoration. Each file is 48 pages, for the printing-inclined. They’re also searchable. Please inform me of any typographical errors. I found quite a few this evening, but I’ll bet there are more.

I hope others will enjoy the list and find it useful.

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Ephrem the Syrian on the Scriptures

The basic structure of Ephrem’s understanding of the interpretation of Scripture may be summarized along the following lines. Scripture possesses two kinds of meaning, the outer historical meaning, and the inner spiritual meaning, ‘the hidden power’ as Ephrem sometimes calls it. These two coexist as intimately as do the humanity and divinity in the incarnate Christ. Ephrem’s belief in the presence of the ‘hidden power’ could be said to correspond to the traditional doctrine of the divine inspiration of the Scriptures.

The inner meaning, or ‘hidden power’, is as objectively present in Scripture as is the outer historical meaning. But whether its presence is actually perceived by the reader or hearer of Scripture is another matter, for this inner meaning can only be perceived by the inner eye, and the light by which that eye operates is the light of faith. That light is always available, but the individual inner eye can at will shut this out, or dim it. Whether a person makes any use of this inner mode of vision in the first place, and then, the extent to which she or he does so, is thus ultimately a matter of free choice, the exercise of free will. Put in different terms, the extent to which an individual can see with this inner eye will depend on the extent to which he or she is open to the continuing inspiration of the Holy Spirit. To appreciate the inspiration of the biblical text the reader must himself be open to the inspiration of the Spirit.

Sebastian Brock. The Luminous Eye: The Spiritual World Vision of Saint Ephrem the Syrian (Cistercian Publications, 1992), page 162

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