Undusted Texts

Icon found in Benaki Museum in Athens "The last enemy to be rendered powerless is death."--1 Cor 15:26 On Great and Good Friday, the mother of our parish's founder fell asleep in the Lord, and her funeral was today.  Yet a funeral during Bright Week is less a time of mourning than a triumphal celebration.  It is a common saying that a Christian who falls asleep or else his funeral during Bright Week is taken immediately to Heaven, for it is during that week that all of creation is aglow, radiating the triumphal light of the Resurrection.  Thus the typical hymns of sorrow are replaced with those of victory: "Christ is risen from the dead! Shine in splendor, O New Jerusalem, for the glory of the Lord is risen upon you!"  Indeed, the entire Paschal Canon prayed on the Paschal morn is again prayed at a funeral.  Death is barely acknowledged, for all know that Christ has made him powerless.  He has been crushed and trampled and conquered, with his own...

In celebration of Trinity Sunday in the Western Church today, I decided to write a short post on the history of artistic representation of the Most Holy Trinity, especially in the East. Nowadays, there are many representations of the Trinity showing the Three Persons as an old man (the Father), Jesus Christ, and a dove (the Holy Spirit).  Before these were in vogue, the Trinity was often depicted symbolically (especially in the Western Church) in forms such as a triangle-encased All-Seeing Eye (a symbol adapted and Christianized from ancient Egyptian symbolism that is, sadly, now usually connected with Freemasonry).  In the earliest days of the Church, though, there were no representations of the Trinity apart from the Second Person Incarnate. Eye of God , Mission San Miguel, California (19th century) Why was this?  One main reason was the theological reasoning behind having any images of God in the first place.  The Pentateuch declares that we shall ha...

This is the base page for my series/project on Byzantine psalmody .  Below are links to posts in the series, other posts on sacred music, a list of abbreviations for works I use throughout the series, and links to other Church documents on sacred music. Posts: Why Should I Care About Byzantine Psalmody? (4/12/12) A Quick History and the Notes (4/12/12)  The Ten Basic Neumes (Part 1) (4/22/12) Abbreviations: BM = Byzantine Music in Theory and in Practice by Prof. Savas I. Savas, trans. Nicholas Dufault, Boston: Hercules Press, 1965. BP = Byzantine Prosomia: The Chanter's Companion by Holy Transfiguration Monastery (2005). DMS = De musica sacra et sacra liturgia , Instruction by the Sacred Congregation for Rites (9/3/1958) GMEOC = A Guide to the Music of the Eastern Orthodox Church by N. Lungu, G. Costea, and I. Croitoru, trans. Nicholas K. Apostola, Brookline: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 1984. GTM = Great Theory of Music by Chrysanthos of Madytos, trans. Katy...