Mercy me
"That the whole day may be made perfect, holy, peaceful and sinless, let us ask of the Lord." -The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrystostomos, petitions
That's St. John Chrystostomos. He wrote the Divine Liturgy of Orthodox Service, and that particular petition is my favorite. Immediately following it, we pray for the Lord's mercy, and then for "an angel of peace, a faithful guide, a guardian of our souls and bodies, let us ask of the Lord." These two petitions come about halfway through regular liturgy, and for some reason, I meditate upon them most often.
Orthodox liturgy is meant to be meditative. Many parts of the service repeat each other, and for much of the service we stand, sing, and move through fluid metanias and motions to bring our entire being into harmony with the prayers. It's really one of the most peaceful and beautiful parts of my week, and I miss it when I don't get the chance to go.
I often meditate upon this particular petition. The concept of praying each day for a peaceful, holy, sinless and perfect day is quite powerful. What is a perfect day? How can one truly be sinless? How can we be holy? Isn't it the nature of man to be as far from perfect as possible? Its an impossibility, completely unattainable as a human being, and yet we pray for it nonetheless. The second petition, regarding the angel of peace, acknowledges our fallability and is a plea for help, to guard both our soul and our body, one permanent and one so delicately impermanent.
An impermanent creation can never be perfect; it will always be destroyed; however, this is untrue as long as its perfect nature is that of impermanence. I believe this is the core behind these two petitions - the hope for the impossible, the acknowledgement of the impossible - it really just comes down to an acknowledgement of hope. In my toughest times I don't always wish for my life to be holy, peaceful or sinless - I just want perfect. Every day, I must remember, to petition for my angel, my faithful guide, and the guardian of my soul and body. I can hope and pray, but I clearly am not meant to do it alone.
Let us be attentive.
Anyway. Enough introspective reverie. I could and would (and some would say, should) spend all day meditating upon each individual line of the liturgy, but I have things to do, unfortunately. Work, school, and the like. Cooking, especially - lots and lots and LOTS of cooking.
The days have warmed up and I've enjoyed taking Snowy out for her walks. I never thought I'd love something as much as I love that dog. I find myself doing the dreaded "Mommy-gab" where I say "Wanna see pictures of my baby?" and whip out a brag book if someone so much as hints they may be interested. Heck, all they have to do is ask, "What time is it?" and I say "No clue, check out my dog!" But what can I do? She's cute, for pete's sakes. She has a little nose and dainty little paws and a curly tail and satellite dish ears. She sheds like crazy and can't fetch, and loses bladder control when she's really excited. She doesn't bark too frequently, but she does attach herself to you like velcro if she likes you enough. Usually only takes about 3 visits. She's pretty easy.
We should all be so eager with our love.
That's St. John Chrystostomos. He wrote the Divine Liturgy of Orthodox Service, and that particular petition is my favorite. Immediately following it, we pray for the Lord's mercy, and then for "an angel of peace, a faithful guide, a guardian of our souls and bodies, let us ask of the Lord." These two petitions come about halfway through regular liturgy, and for some reason, I meditate upon them most often.
Orthodox liturgy is meant to be meditative. Many parts of the service repeat each other, and for much of the service we stand, sing, and move through fluid metanias and motions to bring our entire being into harmony with the prayers. It's really one of the most peaceful and beautiful parts of my week, and I miss it when I don't get the chance to go.
I often meditate upon this particular petition. The concept of praying each day for a peaceful, holy, sinless and perfect day is quite powerful. What is a perfect day? How can one truly be sinless? How can we be holy? Isn't it the nature of man to be as far from perfect as possible? Its an impossibility, completely unattainable as a human being, and yet we pray for it nonetheless. The second petition, regarding the angel of peace, acknowledges our fallability and is a plea for help, to guard both our soul and our body, one permanent and one so delicately impermanent.
An impermanent creation can never be perfect; it will always be destroyed; however, this is untrue as long as its perfect nature is that of impermanence. I believe this is the core behind these two petitions - the hope for the impossible, the acknowledgement of the impossible - it really just comes down to an acknowledgement of hope. In my toughest times I don't always wish for my life to be holy, peaceful or sinless - I just want perfect. Every day, I must remember, to petition for my angel, my faithful guide, and the guardian of my soul and body. I can hope and pray, but I clearly am not meant to do it alone.
Let us be attentive.
Anyway. Enough introspective reverie. I could and would (and some would say, should) spend all day meditating upon each individual line of the liturgy, but I have things to do, unfortunately. Work, school, and the like. Cooking, especially - lots and lots and LOTS of cooking.
The days have warmed up and I've enjoyed taking Snowy out for her walks. I never thought I'd love something as much as I love that dog. I find myself doing the dreaded "Mommy-gab" where I say "Wanna see pictures of my baby?" and whip out a brag book if someone so much as hints they may be interested. Heck, all they have to do is ask, "What time is it?" and I say "No clue, check out my dog!" But what can I do? She's cute, for pete's sakes. She has a little nose and dainty little paws and a curly tail and satellite dish ears. She sheds like crazy and can't fetch, and loses bladder control when she's really excited. She doesn't bark too frequently, but she does attach herself to you like velcro if she likes you enough. Usually only takes about 3 visits. She's pretty easy.
We should all be so eager with our love.
posted by The Semi-Pro Chef at Tuesday, May 01, 2007
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