Leo the Great (ca 400-461, pope from 440) is best known for dissuading Attila the Hun from sacking Rome.  Theologically he is much more significant for having authored the Tome of Leo, a tract that influenced the outcome of the Council of Chalcedon. 

Since we are still very much in the Christmas season, it's appropriate to read a bit of one of his Nativity sermons.  The citation is Sermo 1 in Nativitate Domini, 1-3:  PL 54, 190-193.

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Dearly beloved, today our Savior is born; let us rejoice.  Sadness should have no place on the birthday of life.  The fear of death has been swallowed up; life brings us joy with the promise of eternal happiness. 

No one is shut out from this joy; all share the same reason for rejoicing.  Our Lord, victor over sin and death, finding no man free from sin, came to free us all.  Let the saint rejoice as he sees the palm of victory at hand.  Let the sinner be glad as he receives the offer of forgiveness.  Let the pagan take courage as he is summoned to life. 

In the fullness of time, chosen in the unfathomable depths of God's wisdom, the Son of God took for himself our common humanity in order to reconcile it with its creator.  He came to overthrow the devil, the origin of death, in that very nature by which he had overthrown mankind...

Christian, remember your dignity, and now that you share in God's own nature, do not return by sin to your former base condition.  Bear in mind who is your head and and of whose body you are a member.  Do not forget that you have been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the light of God's kingdom.

Today's feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe reminds us that her veneration is not restricted to Mexican Roman Catholics.  Replicas of her image can now be seen throughout the United States, both in predominantly Anglo Catholic parishes and in non-Catholic (especially Episcopal) churches. 

Mexico is not a culturally homogeneous nation, and its religious mosaic includes a number of Eastern Orthodox Christians.   Their liturgy includes an akathist--a long hymn--honoring the Virgin, or the Theotokos (God-Bearer), as she is often referred to by Eastern Christians.  Part of this is reproduced below; click here for the full text.  I also include a video showing scenes from Mexican Orthodox life.





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From the Akathist to Our Lady of Guadalupe

The peoples of Mesoamerica saw a most Divine Light when they gazed upon Thy sacred and miraculous image inscribed by the Finger of God upon the tilma of Juan Diego.  They recognized in  it their salvation at last and liberation from the darkness of enslavement to the cunning Serpent of old and they cried with grateful love amidst tears:
Rejoice, Most Immaculate Messenger from on High!
Rejoice, Great Sign that appeared in Heaven and in our midst!
Rejoice, Woman shining with the Brightness of Thy Son and our Lord!
Rejoice, Lady crushing the Serpent of old beneath thy feet!
Rejoice, Victor over evil!
Rejoice, Queen of Heaven and Earth!
Rejoice, unfailing Intercessor for those lost in darkness!
Rejoice, Star of the Sea bringing us to the harbor of safety!
Rejoice, Defender of children!
Rejoice, Protector of such as are of the Kingdom of Heaven!
Rejoice, Standing with the moon at Thy feet!
Rejoice, with hands enfolded in prayer to God on our behalf!
Rejoice, O Lady from Heaven, Virgin-Mother clothed with the Sun!

For today's commemoration of Thomas Merton, we look at how he engaged with the thought of St Maximos the Confessor.  This can be found in his lecture notes for a course in ascetic theology given to the novices of Gethsemani Abbey, Merton's monastic community.  The excerpt deals with how Maximos addresses theoria physike, a stage in the contemplative journey in which the practitioner makes an effort to sense the divine presence in the created universe.  It is found in Merton and Hesychasm, Bernadette Dieker and Jonathan Montaldo, eds., Fons Vitae, 2003, pp 434-435.

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Theoria physike is then:
a) Reception of the mysterious, silent revelation of God in His cosmos and in its oikonomia [stewardship of all things, the structure of God's dispensation of the cosmos, God's providence and judgement], as well as in our own lives. 

b) It is the knowledge of God that is natural to man, with God's help (grace).  But note it is not "natural" in the modern sense, [that is], clearly distinct from and opposed to "supernatural".  It is natural in the sense that it is what God intended for man in creating him.  It is proper to him as a son of God, was his when in paradise, is proper to him as a brother of the angels.  We must be restored first of all to this "natural" contemplation of the cosmos before we can rise to perfect theologia.

c)  This contemplation is demanded by the cosmos itself and by history.  If man cannot know creatures by this spiritual gnosis, they will be frustrated by their end.  If man cannot spiritually penetrate the meaning of the oikonomia, it runs the risk of being frustrated and souls will be lost.

d) Hence theoria physike is a most important part of man's cooperation in the spiritualization and restoration of the cosmos.  It is by theoria that man helps Christ to redeem the logoi of things and restore them in Himself.

e) This theoria is inseparable from love and from a truly spiritual conduct of life.  Man not only must see the inner meaning of things, but he must regulate his entire life and his use of time and of created beings according to the mysterious norms hidden in things by the Creator, or rather uttered by the Creator Himself in the bosom of His Creation.

f) The vision of theoria physike is essentially sophianic.  Man by theoria is able to untie the hidden wisdom of God in things with the hidden light of wisdom in himself.  The meeting and marriage of these two brings about a resplendent clarity within man himself, and this clarity is the presence of Divine Wisdom fully recognized and active in him.  Thus man becomes a mirror of the divine glory, and is resplendent with divine truth not only in his mind but in his life.  He is filled with the light of wisdom which shines forth in him, and thus God is glorified in him.  At the same time he exercises a spiritualizing influence in the world by the work of his hands which is in accord with the creative wisdom of God in things and in history.

For today's Thanksgiving holiday we have a recording of the  Akathist of Thanksgiving.  An akathist is a long Orthodox hymn.  It consists of thirteen parts, each made up of a kontakion followed by an ikos.  These are varieties of Orthodox hymnody.  The text of the Akathist of Thanksgiving was written by Protopresbyter Gregory Petrov, a Russian Orthodox priest who died in 1940 after being swept up into one of Stalin's gulags.  The text can be found here.

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Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the death of CS Lewis, we have an excerpt from Chris Jensen's fascinating article "Shine as the Sun:  CS Lewis and the Doctrine of Deification", which appeared in Road to Emmaus (8:2; #29).  Click here to access the complete essay. 

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Deification, then, is bound up with Lewis' abiding appreciation of myth and poetry.  Although Lewis' love for myth is most often remembered in terms of how he saw pagan myths prefiguring the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (eg. Balder, Adonis, or Bacchus, the myths which later became "fact" in the Second Person of the Trinity), it's equally true that Lewis saw in mythology a type of our resurrected life as well.  Human participation in God, Lewis says, is something that the poets and the mythologies know all about.  In "The Weight of Glory", we are told that one of the reasons Lewis placed such high value on myth and poetry was because he saw in them an intimation of our divine destiny.  In the lovely falsehoods told in countless stories and poems, humans get married to gods, or west winds blow right into human souls.  These may be false as history, but they may be quite near the truth as prophecy insofar as one day humans may pass beyond nature into the source of beauty and power itself, eating at the tree of life and drinking from the fountain of joy.

William Temple (1881-1944) was the son of Archbishop of Canterbury Frederick Temple.  He held his father's position for the last two years of his life.  Before that, he had a most distinguished career in academia and the Church of England.  After  taking a first-class degree from Balliol College, Oxford, he held a fellowship at that university and was ordained before being named headmaster of Repton.  From there he was successively Bishop of Manchester, Archbishop of York, and Archbishop of Canterbury. 

He is perhaps best known for his work in social reform and ecumenism, but he was also one of the leading Anglican theologians of the twentieth century.  This is clearly seen in Nature, Man, and God, the Gifford Lectures delivered from 1932 to 1934.  Lecture XIX:  The Sacramental Universe expresses quite well his "high" view of the sacraments. 

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Now a sacrament, as understood by those who prize sacraments most highly, is an instance of a very definitive and special relationship of spirit and matter.  We have already distinguished it from mere conventional symbolism such as we find in ordinary speech or (more accurately) in nomenclature.  We have also pointed to the less marked distinction which separates it from the essential symbolism of poetry.  It is a spiritual utilization of a material object whereby a spiritual result is effected.  Its operation is not independent of symbolism or or of the psychological processes set in motion by symbols; but its operation and effectiveness does not consist in these.  Indeed many of those who set special store by the sacramental mode of worship value it because of their belief that the efficacy of the sacramental rite is totally independent of any conscious apprehension or other form of spiritual experience at that time.  When faith exists as a struggle to believe in spite of empirical and temperamental pressure to unbelief, when the whole life of feeling is dead, when nothing is left but stark loyalty to God as He is dimly and waveringly apprehended to be--then the sheer objectivity, even the express materialism, of a sacrament gives it a value that nothing else can have.  And when faith revives its ardour, and feeling is once more aglow, when the activity of prayers spoken and praises sung is again a natural expression of devotion, the rite which is believed to have retained its efficacy when all else failed becomes a focus of grateful adoration to the God who therein offered grace--that is, His love in action--to a soul that could receive Him in no other way.  All turns, of course, on the conviction that in the sacrament God acts, fulfilling His own promise.  This distinguishes the sacrament from magic, of which the essence is that man through the rite puts compulsion on the god, while it also endows the sacrament with the virtue and potency which magic falsely claims to offer.

His All-Holiness Bartholomew, Ecumenical Patriarch and worldwide leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church, speaks out frequently on ecological issues, pointing out the connections between the environment and Christian theology.  He has in fact been nicknamed the "Green Patriarch" for his outspoken pronouncements on this issue.  An example is found in his article "The World as Sacrament of Creation", a few paragraphs of which
are reproduced below.  Click here for the complete essay. 






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...It is unfortunate that we lead our life without noticing the environmental concert that is playing out before our eyes and ears.  In this orchestra, each minute detail plays a critical role.  Nothing can be removed without the entire symphony being affected.  No tree, animal or fish can be removed without the entire picture being distorted, if not destroyed...

...In order to achieve this sacramental vision of creation, human beings are called to practice a spirituality of thanksgiving and self-discipline.  In theological terms, we are called to be "eucharistic" and "ascetic" beings.  In theis way, the Orthodox Church reminds us that creation is not simply our possession or property, but rather a gift from God the Creator, a gift of wonder and beauty.  From the moment of creation, this world was offered by God as a gift to be returned in gratitude and love.

This is precisely how the Orthodox spiritual way avoids the problem of the world's domination by humanity.  For if this world is a sacred mystery, then this in itself precludes any attempt at mastery by human beings.  Indeed, the mastery or exploitative control of the world's resources is identified more with Adam's "original sin" than with God's wonderful gift.  It is the result of selfishness and greed, which arise from alienation from God and an abandonment of the sacramental worldview.  Sin separated the sacred from the secular, dismissing the latter to the domain of evil and surrendering it as prey to exploitation.

Beyond a "eucharistic" spirituality, we are also called to practice an "ascetic ethos," namely self-restraint and self-control, so that we no longer willfully consume every fruit, but instead manifest a sense of frugality from some things for the sake of valuing all things.  Then, we shall learn to care for plants and animals, for trees and rivers, for mountains and seas, for all human beings and the world.  Then, we shall be instruments of peace and life, not tools of violence and death.  Then, everything will assume its divine purpose, as God originally intended the world.

...If the earth is sacred, then our relationship with the natural environment is sacramental.  The "sin of Adam" is precisely his refusal to receive the world as a gift of communion with God and with the rest of creation.  St Paul clearly emphasizes the consequences of the Fall, claiming that "from the beginning till now, the entire creation, which as we know has been groaning in pain" (Rom 8:22), also "waits with eager longing this revelation by the children of God." (Rom 8:19)

However, far too long have we focused--as churches and as theologians--on the notion of sin as a rupture in individual relations with each other or with God.  The environmental crisis reminds us of the cosmic consequences of sin, which are more than merely social or narrowly spiritual.  Every act of pollution is an offense against God as creator.  Repentance implies a radical change of ways and worldview.  Some fifteen years ago, at a conference in Santa Barbara, we declared:

To commit a crime against the natural world is a sin.  To cause species to become extinct and destroy the biological diversity of God's creation; to degrade the integrity of the earth by causing climate change; to strip the earth of its natural forests or destroy its wetlands; to contaminate the earth's waters--all of these are sins.