In you, O woman full of grace, all creation exults!

Hail Mary! You are full of grace,
above all women blest:
th'eternal God you brought to birth
and nursed him at your breast;
what Eva lost, you have restored,
you crushed the serpent's head;
in you, Theotokos most pure,
we joy, who once were dead.

You brought to us God's holy Word,
obedient to God's will;
and, as your Son was sacrificed,
you wept upon the hill.
Now we obey that holy Word,
presenting bread and wine;
we join in that same Sacrifice,
transcending space and time.

Of Mary's steadfast faith we sing,
with joyful hearts and minds.
In her, in glory now enthroned,
the Church its image finds.
And so, with her and all the Saints,
in Christ we rise again;
up to the highest heavn's we soar,
and there, in glory, reign!

Words: copyright (c) Michael Astley 2002
Tune: Kingsfold (I heard the Voice of Jesus)

This is my very first. Until about five minutes ago, the penultimate line of the first verse read "In you, with soul from sin preserved", which is a little too 1854 for me now. (I had a very different outlook on things three years ago).

Ecce Agnus Dei

All hail the Sacred Body
of Christ our Lord and God;
come, join the Mystic Banquet
and drink his Precious Blood.
The angel-hosts are circling
around his altar-throne;
we lift our hearts to heaven
and make their songs our own.

Christ's holy Incarnation
commands our thankful praise:
in humble celebration
this Sacrifice we raise.
And, Father, as we proffer
our lowly bread and wine,
return them to your faithful
as mystic Food divine.

The death and Resurrection,
th'Ascension of your Son
are present here among us,
which have the vict'ry won.
We praise you, Father, for your gift:
the fruit of Mary's womb.
We now approach this table
as in the upper-room.

Sustainer of creation,
O Spirit, now descend!
Dear Father, now accept the praise
we offer without end.
O Feast of our Redemption!
O Sacrifice adored!
The living and departed
in communion with Our Lord!

Words: copyright (c) Michael Astley 2004
Tune: Ellacombe (The Day of Resurrection)

Posted by special request. :-) I must say, I'm very flattered.

I have only written three hymns (one of which contains theology that I'm no not entirely sure about - perhaps some tweaking is in order). The inspiration doesn't come too very frequently. As with the previous one, feel free to use it with acknowledgement.

...for the Trinity has saved us

God beyond all human praising,
offer we our worship here.
On your splendour we are gazing
now with faihful hearts sincere.
Persons Three and yet One Lord:
ever worshipped and adored!

God, whose love so understated
is the source of every grace,
who, from dust of earth created,
through that love, the human race:
may our hearts with you be one,
gained by your eternal Son.

God, who took our flesh and being
in the womb of Mary blest,
may we, on your Body feeding,
with the blessed Saints at rest,
through your death and rising fair,
in the heavenly Banquet share.

God, who hovered o'er the waters,
bringing life to barren space,
fill your Church in every quarter,
with your sev'nfold gifts of grace.
Fire our our hearts with love and peace:
may all schism and conflict cease.

Hear our prayer, receive our praises,
reaching you through Heaven's Gate.
From the hearts of Saints and angels
let the hymn now resonate:
"Praise to God, the One-in-Three,
now and through eternity!"

Words: copyright (c) 2002, Michael Astley
Tune: All Saints (Who are these like Stars Appearing?)

I write this a few years back and we sang it as the Offertory hymn at the Mass today. I hope I am not too bold in presuming that anybody may wish to use it, but if anybody does, please feel free to do so, with the necessary acknowldegement. (Copyright protected and all).

We're using another of mine on Thursday for Corpus Christi.

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us

The Incarnation of Christ, then, is God's supreme act of deliverance, restoring us to communion with himself. But what would have happened if there had never been a fall? Would God have chosen to become man, even if man had never sinned? Should the Incarnation be regarded simply as God's response to the predicament of fallen man, or is it in some way part of the eternal purpose of God? Should we look behind the fall, and see God's act of becoming man as the fulfilment of man's true destiny?

To this hypothetical question it is not possible for us, in our present situation, to give any final answer. Living as we do under the conditions of the fall, we cannot clearly imagine what God's relation to mankind would have been, had the fall never occurred. Christian writers have therefore in most cases limited their discussion of the Incarnation to the context of man's fallen state. But there are a few who have ventured to take a wider view, most notably St Isaac the Syrian and St Maximus the Confessor in the East, and Duns Scotus in the West. The Incarnation, says St Isaac, is the most blessed and joyful thing that could possibly have happened to the human race. Can it be right, then, to assign as cause for this joyful happening something which might never have occurred, and indeed ought never to have done so? Surely, St Isaac urges, God's taking of our humanity is not to be understood as an act of restoration, not only as a response to man's sin, but also more fundamentally as an act of love, an expression of God's own nature. Even had there been no fall, God in his own limitless, outgoing love would still have chosen to identify himself with his creation by becoming man. - Bishop Kallistos Ware (The Orthodox Way)

Wow!

This concept had never entered my consciousness before my journey on Northern Trains on my way into work this morning.

Just how prevalent is this idea (which actually works so well)?

I am gradually finding that ideas that I have held for so long are actually either confirmed, contextualised or appended to in Orthodoxy or by Orthodox thinkers. The beginning of this was the journey towards perfection, understanding of the fall and ancestral sin, which just made things begin to fit into place. Second was the understanding of evil in the world, which echoed exactly what I had believed for some time, and now thirdly is this wonderful idea about the Incarnation, which had never crossed my mind before, but which resonates so, so well.

It also takes care of that section of the text of the Exultet, with which I had always had difficulty:

O happy fault! O necessary sin of Adam, which gained for us so great a Redeemer!

Thank you, Bishop Kallistos.

Mike?

Why?

Would somebody please explain to me why it is that there are people who walk this earth, who feel that it is acceptable to call me Mike? I have never introduced myself as Mike, and I refer to myself as Michael, for that is my name, and I really do not think it at all unreasonable to expect to be called by my name, instead of some ridiculous abbreviation, born out of sheer laziness and extreme rudeness.

Does anybody else have a similar problem?

The Fellowship of Ss Alban and Sergius returns

Well it appears that the reason that I received no reply from them, and why many of the links failed, is because I was using a link to their old website (on which there is no indication that the site has been superseded by an updated site).

The new site has the same appearance, but is clearly kept up to date. I am seriously tempted by this conference in August.

Cheese and wine?

I turned 21 last June, and after much indecisiveness about how to celebrate the day, decided on an evening if cheese, wine, music and frivolity with a few friends at home.

Everyone had a marvellous time and it was the best birthday do I've ever had, not being a great fan of parties. I'm thinking of doing the same again this year. I have also made a very good friend through this blog, whose birthday is two days after my own, and I am trying to persuade him to come along, although getting the time off work may prove difficult for him.

I think I will go ahead and do this actually. Having made my own birthday cards and letterheaded paper on Microsoft Publisher, I'm sure I can produce some rather lovely invitations. (If only Microsoft's speling and grammer cheker were as good as its Publishing software!)

Oooo! A new project. What fun!

The fullness of all Truth

Come, Holy Spirit: fill the hearts of your faithful,
and kindle in them the fire of your love.

'I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. (John 16: 12-15).

This comforted me when I came across it. I had been questioning lately whether this is something that I want to do, especially as things are going so well at my current church. I am really struggling with the issues that will accompany leaving, and these are only the ones that I have thought of.

However, the text quoted above reminded me of the original reason I started out on this journey an has strengthened my resolve to continue it. I shall have to pick up the pieces at the time, and prepare as best I can for that, but I cannot compromise on this. Unfortunately, though I love my church and the people there, it is not an island and does not stand alone, but is in full communion with a wider church that embraces all that I cannot be part of.

This something that I must do. I think that another visit to my Orthodox priest to talk these things through is in order. As a former Anglican himself, he has been in a similar position, but much more so, as he was a priest of the Church of England before his conversion. I find this very comforting, as I do not have to explain my position in great detail before explaining my feelings: that foundational understanding is already there.

The Orthodox Way

This arrived in today's post. I hope to make a start this evening. I also have The Incarnate God and S. Cyril of Jerusalem's Lectures on the Christian Sacraments on order. I've seen part of the Orthodox worship and fellowship, and part of a priest's domestic life. Now I'm delving a little more into the theology, which is a love of mine, even if I don't do it particularly well. (sigh).

I am thinking of also investing in The Orthodox Church. Is there anything else that anybody has found helpful or thinks that I might?

Many thanks.

Coming out - part the second

I posted some weeks ago that I had concerns about the reactions of some of my friends to my thoughts. After the joy of Pascha, I could keep quiet no longer and so I have begun to be more open with some of those closer to me. This has gone down rather well, although I am aware that not everybody is best pleased. I have good, supportive friends, who, although may not respect my choice, respect my right to make that choice. This is a great relief to me, although I don't suppose I genuinely expected any less from my friends.

I am still concerned about my involvement with the culture that exists within the Church of England, and howI would be affected by a separation from that culture. I suppose only time will tell what happens.

I wait, praying for patience.

Flowery Language

Is there a concise way to say something? Can extra adjectives be deleted? Can the briskest, most pointed prose be boiled down one more time to a more refined level? Then it's not Orthodox worship. If there's a longer way to say something, the Orthodox will find it. In Orthodox worship, more is always more, in every area including prayer. When the priest or deacon intones, "Let us complete our prayer to the Lord," expect to still be standing there fifteen minutes later.

This made me chuckle. It also hit home because that is exactly what I am like. God has given us the richness and beauty of language. It is only right that we use it in our praise of him and as part of the sanctification of our everyday lives. I am firmly opposed to the dumbing down mentality that brought us the BBC report about Pope John Paul II, as he lay in state, wearing 'crimson robes and his white pope's hat'.

I love flowery language, especially when it is used effectively to carry its meaning in a beautiful way. Language is an art, not merely a form of communication. I am glad that I am moving towards a church that embraces this.

Trampling down death by death!

Absolutely wonderful!

Following from my last post, I arrived at the church yesterday (which is in the priest's house), at about 10 past 12 in the afternoon, just in time to catch the beginning of the Liturgy of S. Basil, which was absolutely amazing. There were only four of us plus the priest, but the wonder of it was overwhelming, with the strewing of flowers and the blessing of figs and dates. I was very nervous at first, having arrived later than planned and so not having been introduced to anybody first, but one of the ladies introduced herself to me during the liturgy and asked a few questions. We spoke later on. This liturgy finished at 10 minutes past 2 and then we prepared for the Baptism at 3, which was a wonderfully joyous occasion, with a remarkably well-behaved baby. There was a little get-together in the house afterwards, during which I got to talking with a few people. I helped Father to prepare the church for the evening, which provided a perfect opportunity for us to talk about my thoughts and his in more detail. I then had a look at some of the evening's music with Matushka (who is still adjusting to being called this).

The reading of the Acts of the Apostles began at 9.30, and was sung in English by the sub-deacon and a cantor, alternating chapters, with one chapter done in Slavonic by a member of the church. There was then Matins, which got about 25 people, and which I ended up helping the choir of two with, and then there was another service at about 11.30, which culminated with an outdoor, candlelit procession and proclamation of the Gospel. The Liturgy of S. John Chrysostom followed, which I also helped with the music for. At about 1.30, I had to sit down and by 1.45 I was falling asleep, and so gave up and retired to bed. I was fetched by Father's 8 yr old daughter at half past two, to be informed that I was missing the food, which news got me promptly out of bed and to the kitchen.

It was simply marvellous, even if I am now extremely tired. I think that if there were any doubts, these have been erased by my experience of last evening.

On top of all of the above was the warmth and love, and total lack of any sort of inhibition that was there. This was the place where, in one room, were Russians, Ukranians, Lithuanians, Romanians and Britons, all conversing and worshipping together, where a 16 yr old young man was quite happy to sit on his father's lap when there were no seats available, and to hug his father (not an embarrassed masculine "hug" with a pat on the back, but an actual loving embrace), in front of everyone, with no qualms whatsoever. There was no pretence, no obsession with how people interpreted others' actions. People just felt, and physically expressed what they felt. It was wonderful!

I can't wait to go back.