ORTHODOXY AND BEAUTY
Orthodoxy and Beauty are Inseparable
Orthodox Christianity attracted me from my very first encounter with the magnificence of its churches and the grandeur of her divine services. Having grown up amid the natural beauty of Northern Idaho, with mountains and lakes that could take our breath away, I'd previously found inspiration primarily in the world of nature.
Orthodoxy and beauty are inseparable because God and beauty are inseparable. The beauty of a sunset is a reflection of our Creator, just as is the interior of a temple reflects our experience with this Creator God. We humans were formed as physical beings, placed in a material world and invited to commune with our Creator. The majesty and beauty of the created world inspires us to an awareness of God's presence.
A bouquet of flowers placed in our icon corner has an internal affect on us. Created in God's image, we in turn become creators. The beauty that comes from the artist's brush or the poet's voice, is an act of a creator. Taking our creative instincts into the realm of the spiritual unites us with God and connects us to the eternal. This is why an artist or a poet can experience the eternal when creating something of beauty.
God is the Creator of heaven and earth and is present through His creative energies. The material world, being good, is an important means through which God expresses Himself. It is through God's created beauty that we are drawn into a relationship that is meant to be eternal and through which Divine Revelation can transform our nature. Then creation is completed and the created is united to the Creator.
Love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Orthodoxy and beauty are inseparable because God and beauty are inseparable. The beauty of a sunset is a reflection of our Creator, just as is the interior of a temple reflects our experience with this Creator God. We humans were formed as physical beings, placed in a material world and invited to commune with our Creator. The majesty and beauty of the created world inspires us to an awareness of God's presence.
A bouquet of flowers placed in our icon corner has an internal affect on us. Created in God's image, we in turn become creators. The beauty that comes from the artist's brush or the poet's voice, is an act of a creator. Taking our creative instincts into the realm of the spiritual unites us with God and connects us to the eternal. This is why an artist or a poet can experience the eternal when creating something of beauty.
God is the Creator of heaven and earth and is present through His creative energies. The material world, being good, is an important means through which God expresses Himself. It is through God's created beauty that we are drawn into a relationship that is meant to be eternal and through which Divine Revelation can transform our nature. Then creation is completed and the created is united to the Creator.
Love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Tuesday September 24, 2013 / September 11, 2013
14th Week after Pentecost. Tone four.
Afterfeast of the Nativity of the Theotokos.Translation of the relics of Venerables Sergius and Herman of Valaam.
Venerable Theodora of Alexandria (490).
Hieromartyrs Nicholas and Victor priests (1918).
Hieromartyr Carp priest (1937).
Venerable Silouan, elder of Mt. Athos (1938).
Hieromartyr Nicholas diacon (1942).
Martyrs Demetrius, his wife Euanthia, and their son Demetrian at Skepsis on the Hellespont (1st c.).
Martyrs Diodorus, Didymus, and Diomedes of Laodicea (4th c.).
Martyr Ia of Persia and 9,000 Martyrs with her (363).
Venerable Euphrosynus the Cook of Alexandria (9th c.).
Weeping Kazan Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, of "Kaplunovka" (1689).
Martyrs Serapion, Cronides (Hieronides), and Leontius of Alexandria (237).
Venerable Paphnutius the Confessor, bishop in the Egyptian Thebaid (4th c.).
Holy Martyr Theodora of Vasta in the Peloponnesus.
Venerable Elias the Cave-dweller, of Calabria (960).
Canonization (1978) of St. Xenia of St. Petersburg (18th c.).
Venerable Deiniol, abbot of Bangor, bishop in Wales (584) (Celtic & British).
You can read the life of the saint by clicking on the highlighted name.
THANKS to all of you who have been able to contribute towards the support of the monastery. These difficult times of economic hardship have impacted the monastery, and those of you who have been able to donate, have been our lifeline. May God bless you for your generosity, and kindness.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Abbot Tryphon
Donations can be made directly to the monastery through PayPal, or you may send donations to:
All-Merciful Saviour Monastery
PO Box 2420
Vashon Island, WA 98070-2420 USA
The Scripture Readings for the Day
2 Corinthians 12:20-13:2
20 For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults; 21 lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and I shall mourn for many who have sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness, fornication, and lewdness which they have practiced.
Coming with Authority
13 This will be the third time I am coming to you. “By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.” 2 I have told you before, and foretell as if I were present the second time, and now being absent I write to those who have sinned before, and to all the rest, that if I come again I will not spare—
Mark 4:24-34
24 Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. 25 For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”
The Parable of the Growing Seed
26 And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, 27 and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. 28 For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. 29 But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
30 Then He said, “To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? 31 It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; 32 but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade.”
Jesus’ Use of Parables
33 And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. 34 But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.
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