On Holy Saturday, we begin the day with the Vespers of Pascha. Christ has been active even though his Body still rests in the sealed tomb. We cannot yet sing “Christ is risen” for to our physical eyes, Christ appears to be dead in the tomb, but our hearts know that Christ is already destroying Death and Hades. Some of the Hymns for this service are set as the voice of Hades…
In a recent post on the struggles of Abbess Thaisia I wrote of a young nun’s struggle to find peace in her calling when there seemed to be no love in those around her. The following comment was left on that post, and I would like to respond to it now. Here’s the comment: I am struggling with much of the same issue in your excerpt posted from Thaisia in regards to discouragement…
“Shall Thy wonders be known in that darkness?” In our culture, the words “faith” and “believe” and “truth” have been hijacked by rational assumptions in ways that limit their meaning and usefulness in a Christian context. According to our rationalist assumptions, to believe (or have faith that) something is true means that you assent to the historical, physical reality of something. To say that something is true is to say that it…
