Hmm... What to wear to the Order of St. Ignatius dinner?

Ever since a visiting teen at church told my wife she had a nice ass, I have not participated in events where multiple Antiochian parishes gather. This year however, I did cross the threshold at the regional Parish Life Conference. It was being held at a hotel not far from my home and was a great opportunity to attend nightly compline services.

Upon entering the conference area I was delighted to see displayed within the foyer book tables by Eighth Day Books and a monastery. So I was excited at the idea of returning with my checkbook.

The next day, I got home from work, put on a clean t-shirt and took my kids to see the books, the nun, and all the black cassocks. My arrival inadvertently but happily corresponded with the Order of St. Ignatius dinner. I was the only person wearing a band t-shirt. No, no... I was the only person wearing any t-shirt. The same goes for construction boots. I regret I was not able to help maintain the pristine ambiance an Order dinner demands but I was glad to contribute something of my own; a contrast with a particular beauty, however intangible, a contrast we need yet one that some rage against to protect feelings of "image" and exclusivity.

If you own a punk band shirt, chances are, your lifestyle will not result in the type of income required to be invited to an Order of St. Ignatius dinner for such an event is a celebration of not being one of the hoi polloi. Let them celebrate, and be thankful that we have people who can give to the Church and to worthy charities out of their wealth. But at the same time, if you would like to lend support by cheering them on from the wine bar in the foyer, I recommend creating the kind of juxtaposition such an event screams for. Let your freak flag fly, Antiochians.

The Ancients on Friendship- Cicero

Let this, then, be laid down as the first law of friendship, that we should ask from friends, and do for friends, only what is good. But do not let us wait to be asked either: let there be ever an eager readiness, and an absence of hesitation. Let us have the courage to give advice with candor. In friendship, let the influence of friends who give good advice be paramount; and let this influence be used to enforce advice not only in plain-spoken terms, but sometimes, if the case demands it, with sharpness; and when so used, let it be obeyed.

Plain speaking is a cause of trouble, if the result of it is resentment, which is poison of friendship; but compliance is really the cause of much more trouble, because by indulging his faults it lets a friend plunge into headlong ruin. But the man who is most to blame is he who resents plain speaking and allows flattery to egg him on to his ruin.

It is virtue, virtue, which both creates and preserves friendship. On it depends harmony of interest, permanence, fidelity. When Virtue has reared her head and shewn the light of her countenance, and seen and recognized the same light in another, she gravitates towards it, and in her turn welcomes that which the other has to shew; and from it springs up a flame which you may call love or friendship as you please.

Cicero. Letters of Marcus Tullius Cicero: With His Treatises On Friendship And Old Age. Trans. Evelyn Shirley Shuckburgh, William Melmoth. Harvard Classics Volume 9, Collier, 1909. 25, 39, 42.

The Ancients on Friendship- Jesus ben Sirach

When you gain friends, gain them through testing, And do not trust them hastily.
For there are friends who are such when it suits them, But they will not stand by you in time of trouble.
And there are friends who change into enemies, And tell of the quarrel to your disgrace.
And there are friends who sit at your table, But they will not stand by you in time of trouble.
Faithful friends are a sturdy shelter: whoever finds one has found a treasure.
Faithful friends are beyond price; No amount can balance their worth.
Faithful friends are life saving medicine, And those who fear the lord will find them.
Those who fear the Lord direct their friendship aright, For as they are, so are their neighbors also.

...Do not abandon old friends, for new ones can not equal them.
A new friend is like a new wine; when it has aged, you can drink it with pleasure.

-Wisdom of Sirach 6:7, 9:10

Spiritual lessons from an Antiochian ikon

This morning Fr. Elia Khalife posted his third newsletter on the Antioch Centre website. It was anticipated this newsletter would also include information on re-discovered liturgical material... elements of prayers and debheh long forgotten in Antioch. If more detail on that is forthcoming perhaps I will post it here.

I paraphrase here some passages from Fr. Elia's article on the Trilingual Icon of Kaftun (from the ancient Monastery of the Dormition of the Theotokos in Kaftun, Lebanon) portraying the Theophany and adorned with Greek, Syriac, and Arabic...

This use of all three languages on the icon suggests to us the strong possibility that the residents and monks of Kaftun were familiar with each of these languages enough to understand such an icon. When one considers just how difficult each one of these languages is, to imagine that all three of them were used at the same time and in the same place is truly remarkable, and witnesses to the great heritage of the Antiochian Church and the work still required to uncover that heritage.

"It is important for us to remember that we are part of the Living Tradition, and that our witness is for the person Christ Jesus, rather than a specific text. While we must always try to repeat the letter of the text, we must also remember what Jesus Christ and the Apostle Paul have said, that the letter kills, while the Spirit gives life (John 6:63 and 2 Cor. 3:6). When Christ asked the lawyer, ‘How do you read?’ (Luke 10:26), He showed us that the Law is written in hearts and minds, as much as in words and books.

...the painter of the icon did not quote the Bible word for word, but creatively and artistically combined different Bible verses to communicate Jesus Christ to those looking on the icon in prayer. We must similarly familiarize ourselves with the Bible and works of the Fathers in order to both remain faithful to the Holy Tradition, and reproduce that Tradition in each unique circumstance that presents itself to us in our own lives.

I recommend downloading the newsletter. He includes beautiful photos and news of his fascinating work. www.antiochcentre.net/newsletter.php

Fr. Elia referenced this Trilingual Icon in a 2006 article in Parole de l’Orient, where he includes the following footnote:

I would like also to bring to attention to the recent and extremely important discovery of the ancient and wonderful frescoes in the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus near the Monastery of the Theotokos in Kaftun. A project was set up to reveal and preserve these frescoes hidden under plaster. These frescoes contain a number of inscriptions in Greek, Syriac Chalcedonian, and Arabic. -Elia Khalifeh, “A project on the Antiochian Chalcedonian Orthodox manuscripts: Syriac, Arabic, CPA and Greek” Parole de l’Orrient 31 (2006) 1-9.

With some searching I found photos from Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus (taken by Mat Immerzeel) on Medievalart.org. Indeed, the saints are depicted in Byzantine style while their names are written in Syriac. Yacob (St. James, second from left) is clear, and on the far left is most likely Phillip, though part of his name is cropped out (notice the beardless face).

The Ancients on Friendship- Buddha

A true friend, the one with whom a man may safely associate, will always stick closely to the right way, will worry secretly about his friend’s welfare, will console him and misfortune, will offer him a helping hand when he needs it, will keep his secrets, and will always give him good advice.

It is very difficult to find a friend like this, and, therefore, one should try a very hard to be a friend at like this. As the sun warms of the fruitful earth, so a good friend shines in society because of his good deeds.

The Teaching of Buddha. Tokyo: Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai, 2003.

The Ancients on Friendship

So dear a thing is a good friend, that times and places are loved on his account. For as bodies that are luminous spread their radiance to the neighbouring places, so also friends leave a grace of their own in the places to which they have come. And oftentimes in the absence of friends, as we have stood on those places, we have wept, and remembering the days which we passed together, have sighed. It is not possible to represent by speech, how great a pleasure the presence of friends affords. But those only know, who have experience. From friends we may both ask a favour, and receive one without suspicion.

For, in good truth, a friend is more to be desired than the light; I speak of a true one. And wonder not: for it were better for us that the sun should be extinguished, than that we should be deprived of friends. It is better to live in darkness, than to be without friends. And I will tell you why. Because many who see the sun are in darkness, but they can never be even in tribulation, who abound in friends. I speak of spiritual friends, who prefer nothing to friendship. Such was Paul, who would willingly have given his own soul, even though not asked, nay would have plunged into hell for them- With so ardent a disposition ought we to love. And where is it possible that such a one should be found? Nay, it is not possible because we have not the will, since if we were willing it is abundantly possible.

Saint John Chrysostom. "The Homilies of S. John Chrysostom on the Epistles of St. Paul the Apostle to the Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians." Trans. J. H. Parker. Library of Fathers of the Holy Catholic Church Volume 14. Harvard University, 1843. 354, 355.

Justin Martyr

O Justin, teacher of divine knowledge, thou didst shine with the rays of true philosophy and wast wisely armed against the enemy. Confessing the truth thou didst contend with the martyrs: with them ever entreat Christ our God to save our souls.

Pray unto God for us, Oh Holy Saint Justin, well pleasing to God, for I turn to thee who art the speedy helper and intercessor for our souls.