Christ is Risen! 

This coming Sunday is yet another beautiful Gospel account of Christ's active ministry of healing and salvation, as we read about the healing the blind man.  As we continue to enjoy the wonderful Sunday themes during the Paschal season it is easy to forget something though. Amidst all these joyful Sundays we can easy gloss over the saints are being celebrated. This coming Sunday we celebrate St. Vincent of Lerins who was a staunch defender of the Orthodox faith in the 5th century. Many of you probably know him for his famous quote about the centrality of continuing in the faith that has been believed 'everywhere, always, and by all'.

St. Vincent clearly highlights the importance of following the Christian faith received from Christ, passed on to His Apostles, and continued down to the present day through the Church. This reality not only safeguards us against straying from the normative Christian path but it reminds us that we are not alone in this pandemic and struggle. We are connected to the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. Our Christian faith, rooted in the person of Jesus Christ, allows those past and present Christians to be one in the Body of Christ. In this time of ongoing isolation and anxiety, we can take refuge in knowing that we are connected to millions and millions of Christians throughout the ages and even in our present day.

As evidence that we are not alone, I wanted to share that our own Metropolitan Gerasimos has been sharing videos each week to the faithful within our metropolis. This coming Saturday (5/23) at 12:30pm the Metropolitan will be conducting a service for those who have passed away or are afflicted by COVID-19 and you can submit names to be prayed for at this service. Likewise, Archbishop Elpidophoros has posted many videos to reach out to the faithful across all America. The Archdiocese has also created a COVID-19 relief fund for those that have been impacted financially by the pandemic to receive up to $2,500. These are just a few small examples that we are truly not alone and that the Church is always here for us in whatever situation we face.

I pray that you continue to be uplifted by the reality that the Church is with you and that our good Lord continue to shine His loving face upon you.

In Christ,
Dn. Steve

"As the physician of the sick and the suffering, and as the helper of the faithful who hope in You, O gracious Lord, who wills that all humanity be saved, from Your throne of majesty, look upon us with mercy; hear our voice out of the depths, as we cry to You saying: We all entreat You, free us from the threat of this pandemic, O God most compassionate."

This beautiful hymn is the first troparia in a newly compiled supplication service for us as we continue the battle against the coronavirus. This service was compiled by Metropolitan Cyril of Rhodes and translated by Fr. Seraphim Dedes who founded the AGES initiative which is an excellent source of liturgical music and texts translations into English. This supplication service comes to us in as we plod forward in enduring the coronavirus and its widespread affects.

"Earnestly we pray, O our Savior very merciful: Straight away avert the spread of the disease, for we know no other God and Lord except for You. Holy Trinity, our God, have mercy on us and save us."

Throughout the service, amazing hymns are interspersed with an entreaty that the Holy Trinity, our God, may have mercy on us and save us from this despised illness.

"Fear of the pandemic has gripped the hearts of all of Your servants, O compassionate Lord and God. Quickly come and save us, we earnestly entreat You, invoking Your great mercy, Savior most merciful."

The service recognizes that not only are we afflicted by the direct body threat that COVID inflicts but also that fear is constantly attacking us. The very air and atmosphere of our lives have been polluted by fear from the disease and powerfully gives us petitions to plead to our Savior to deliver us from this constant anxiety, mental anguish, and spiritual leach.

"Having borne the Redeemer of humanity, Virgin most pure, ineffably, entreat Him to inhibit the spread of the pandemic that has plagued the entire world; and with your motherly grace,  give us your calming comfort."

"Haralambos the Martyr is known for combating the plague. O Lord, by his prayers rescue us from it, and we shall sing, glorifying your mighty power, O God."

"Join the Theotokos, all you arrays of angelic powers, honored Forerunner of the Lord, holy Twelve Apostles and all the Saints together, and pray for our salvation, and intercede for us"

Hymns are dedicated to have the entire body of the Church, the Church triumphant prays for us the Church militant in during this dark time. For we are all one the body of Christ, His Church, and we as a spiritual community throughout the ages all support each other through our oneness in our Savior.

"O compassionate Lord and God, as an inexhaustible sea of tender love, please do not allow humanity to languish and perish from contagious disease"

And most of all, we cast ourselves at the feet of our Lord's 'inexhaustible sea of tender love'. The Lord our God, who is fully human like us, who underwent horrid sufferings throughout his life, can relate and knows the pain and sorrow each and everyone one of us feels. Jesus weeps at the suffering we experience and has true empathetic compassion. His compassion isn't theoretical or distant, but it is so close to us because He experienced the human condition of suffering yet without sin. It is through His love, true experienced self sacrificial love, that we can take comfort to rest in Him and find the peace which surpasses all our suffering, hardship, and fear.

Dn. Steve