St. Romanos on the Second Coming

How great and of what kind
is the mourning of the condemned in the hour of judgment
(And indeed I have been set down as chief of the condemned).
When they see the Judge seated, fearful and exalted on His throne,
And when they behold the lines of the righteous and the saints shining in joy
And the sinners in dejection and eternal punishment,
They will cry out and show vain penitence.
Would that in the world we might show the fruit of repentance
And find the grace of mercy and forgiveness, O most just Judge.

St. Romanos the Melodist, Kontakion on the Second Coming

He has lifted me to the heavens

He has lifted me to the Heavens; you He has put to flight;
For the rest of time I share the throne, I am no longer subject to you.
He took my body that He might make it new;
He will make it immortal and cause it to share His throne.
I shall reign with Him, for I have been resurrected with Him.
No longer are you my master; but I rule over you.
My pledge of surety is now on high,
But you are trampled on below by those who cry,
`Where, O Death, is your victory, or where your strength?
God has destroyed your strength
Through the Resurrection.’

St. Romanos the Melodist – Kontakion on the Resurrection III

St. Romanos on the Ascension

He Who descended to earth, as He alone knew how,
Rising up from it (again as He knew how),
He took the ones whom He loved, and gathering them together,
He led them to a high mountain
In order that, when they had their minds and sensibilities on the height,
They might forget all lowly things.
And so, when they were led up to the Mount of Olives,
They formed a circle around the Benefactor,
As Luke, one of the initiates, narrates in full.
The Lord, raising His hands like wings–
Just as the eagle covers the nest of young birds which she warms–
Spoke to the nestlings: “I have sheltered you from all evil
Since I loved you and you loved Me.
I am not separated from you;
I am with you, and no one is against you.

St. Romanos the Melodist, Kontakion on the Ascension

St. Romanos on the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Did not the faithful Sarah, long ago,
before her son Isaac was born,
desire to give birth, even though she was sterile?
She received the Lord in human form, along with two archangels;
And His word to her on this occasion was:
“You, Sarah, will have a child,”
Now, rejoicing, she cries to the world:
The barren woman gives birth to the Mother of God
And the nurse of our Life.

St. Romanos the Melodist, Kontakion on the Nativity of the Virgin Mary

St. Romanos on St. Andrew

Be strong in Me;
and you, too, Andrew;
just as you were the first to find Me, you were found by me;
so find the one who has wandered;
Do not forget your first skill;
from it I shall educate you for this new art.
Formerly, naked into the deep sea, now naked into life;
Formerly, hunting with a fishing-rod, now taught to fish with the cross;
Formerly, you used a worm as bait;
now I order you to hunt with My flesh.
I alone know what is in the heart.

St. Romanos the Melodist, Kontakion on the Mission of the Apostles

Let us now gaze on Christ crucified

That we may be healed from sin, let us now gaze on Christ crucified; for as Moses, says He, lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believes in Him may not perish, but have everlasting life. Just as they who looked on that serpent perished not by the serpent’s bites, so they who look in faith on Christ’s death are healed from the bites of sins. But those were healed from death to temporal life; while here He says, that they may have everlasting life. Now there is this difference between the figurative image and the real thing: the figure procured temporal life; the reality, of which that was the figure, procures eternal life.

St. Augustine of Hippo, Tractate XII.9 on the Gospel of John

The Tree of my eternal salvation

This cross is the tree of my eternal salvation, nourishing and delighting me. I take root in its roots, I am extended in its branches, I am delighted by its dews, I am fertilized by its spirit as by a delightful breeze. In my tent I am shaded by its shade, and fleeing the excessive heat I find this refuge moist with dew. Its flowers are my flowers; I am wholly delighted by its fruits and I feast unrestrainedly on its fruits, which are reserved for me always. This is my nourishment when I am hungry, my fountain when I am thirsty, my covering when I am stripped, for my leaves are no longer fig leaves but the breath of life.

This is my safeguard when I fear God, my support when I falter, my prize when I enter combat, and my trophy when I triumph. This is my narrow path, my steep way. This is the ladder of Jacob, the way of angels, at the summit of which the Lord is truly established.

This is my tree, wide as the firmament, which extends from earth to the heavens, with its immortal trunk established between heaven and earth; it is the pillar of the universe, the support of the whole world, the joint of the world holding together the variety of human nature and riveted by the invisible bolts of the Spirit, so that it may remain fastened to the divinity and impossible to detach. Its top touches the highest heavens, its roots are planted in the earth and in the midst its giant arms embrace the ever present breaths of air. It is wholly in all things and in all places.

Pseudo-Hippolytus, Paschal Homily

A Holy Trunk

The Devil speaks:
Now then, Hades, mourn
    and I join in unison with you in wailing.
Let us lament as we see
    the tree which we planted
Changed into a holy trunk.
Robbers, murderers, tax gatherers, harlots,
Rest beneath it, and make nests
In its branches
    in order that they might gather
The fruit of sweetness
    from the supposedly sterile wood.
For they cling to the cross as the tree of life.

St. Romanos the Melodist

A child at the Easter Vigil

When I was a child, the Easter Vigil was a profound event for me. I didn’t know what was going on, but I did know they were doing everything I liked. They were playing with fire. They were playing with water. They were singing things I didn’t understand. He was blowing on the water! He was splashing the water on people! The air was full of smoke. It was dark and it was scary. It was everything that I loved.

Tom Shepard in Children, Liturgy, and Music

Three Days

For three days Esther fasted and Judith kept vigil, the exiles came home to Jerusalem and the Hebrews marched to the waters of Marah. For three days darkness afflicted the Egyptians, Hezekiah lay mortally ill, Jonah was entombed in the belly of a fish, and Paul waited in blindness.

On the third day Abraham offered up his firstborn son, God came down in fire and wind upon Sinai, the boy Jesus was found in “his Father’s house,” and the man Jesus “performed the first of his signs at Cana of Galilee.” Echoing the words of Hosea, Jesus announced the three-day passover of his death, rest, and resurrection.

The Paschal Triduum, the “Three Days of Passover” are for us days of death, rest, and resurrection. We march to the waters of baptism. We keep watch for light and for liberation. For three days we climb Mount Moriah, Mount Sinai, Mount Golgotha. Those who were lost are found, and those who were exiled come home.

Peter Mazar – Keeping Lent, Triduum, and Eastertime