Great Lent began for Orthodox Christians last night with Forgiveness Vespers followed by the Rite of Forgiveness. My friend Rod Dreher has an essay on his blog at Beliefnet.com about his first experience with this Rite<http://blog.beliefnet.com/crunchycon/2008/03/forgiveness-vespers.html>, last night at St Seraphim Cathedral in Dallas.
Tonight we will offer the first quarter of the Canon of St Andrew, a 9-part hymn written by St Andrew of Crete around 720 AD, based on the 9 biblical "songs" (from Moses by the Red Sea, to the Virgin Mary's "My soul magnifies the Lord"). My book "First Fruits of Prayer"<http://www.amazon.com/First-Fruits-Prayer-Forty-Day-Journey/dp/1557254699>provides the translation (by Bp Kallistos Ware and Mother Mary) from the Lenten Triodion, as well as a phrase-by-phrase commentary on this profound work. The Canon is constructed just about entirely from scripture, evidence of St Andrew's constant and deep meditation on the Bible. Yet it gives wholly new insights, because St Andrew speaks from a Christian tradition outside European Christianity, one which continued to study the Scriptures and write about them in the original Greek of the New Testament. It is an eye-opening work, and I hope that you who want to know more will find a copy on Amazon or elsewhere. "First Fruits of Prayer" is divided into 40 readings for study during Lent or any time. In many Orthodox churches, the hymn is divided into quarters and offered on the first four nights of Lent (starting tonight) and offered in complete form on the Thursday night of teh fifth week (April 10), but check local listings. Another great hymn of the early church that we get to encounter beginning this week is the Akathist Hymn of St Romanos the Melodist, written around 420 AD by a deacon from Syria. The subject of this hymn is the Annunciation and the Incarnation of Christ in Mary's womb, so the hymn is offered during this time because the feast of the Annunciation, March 25, falls during Lent. In most churches, it is offered on the Friday nights of Great Lent. My most recent book, "The Lost Gospel of Mary: The Mother of Jesus in Three Ancient Texts"<http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Gospel-Mary-Mother-Ancient/dp/1557255369/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205162970&sr=1-1>includes my translation of the Akathist Hymn (I call it the "Annunciation Hymn" since most non-Orthodox aren't familiar with the term "akathist;" an akathist is a particular form of hymn devised by St Romanos, and this one is his best known.) You'll find my translation of the Akathist (Annunciation) Hymn<http://www.frederica.com/writings/the-akathist-annunciation-hymn-of-st-romanos.html>on my website here, together with phrase-by-phrase explanatory footnotes. It is another very beautiful work of the early church, and likewise drenched in Scripture. You'll probably want to buy the book all the same, though, to read the introduction to this hymn; also, the book contains a new translation, footnotes and introduction to the earliest story about the Virgin Mary (when it was discovered by European Christians in the 16th century it was given the Latin name "Protevangelium of James," but the story comes from the 2nd century and possibly much earlier). The third text included in the "Lost Gospel" book is a prayer to the Virgin Mary which was found on a scrap of papyrus in Egypt, dated to 250 AD -- the earliest prayer to her. It is still used in both Roman Catholic and Orthodox services. We chanted it last night at Forgiveness Vespers, "Under your compassion we take refuge, Theotokos..." You can see a photo of the papyrus<http://www.frederica.com/gallery/places-and-things/>on my website; scroll to the bottom of the page. by the way, my email address has changed from [EMAIL PROTECTED] to [EMAIL PROTECTED] I had had that aol address since 1994! I am hanging onto it, and mail sent there will be forwarded to me here, but you might want to update your address book all the same. Please note that the new one, at gmail, includes "MG" at the end; not just [EMAIL PROTECTED] but [EMAIL PROTECTED] I am sure I am missing some emails, and whoever has " [EMAIL PROTECTED]" is getting some interesting if confusing mail. ******** Frederica Mathewes-Green www.frederica.com
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