Good Friday

Waiting is painful. Forgetting is painful. But not knowing which to do is the worse kind of suffering.
- Paulo Coelho

ILLE mi par esse deo uidetur, ille, si fas est, superare diuos,qui sedens aduersus identidem te spectat et audit dulce ridentem, misero quod omnis eripit sensus mihi: nam simul te.
-Catullus, Carmina 51

“This is what is signified by the words Ana l-haqq, “I am God.” People imagine that it is a presumptuous claim, whereas it is really a presumptuous claim to say Ana ‘l-’abd, “I am the slave of God”; and Ana l-haqq, “I am God” is an expression of great humility. The man who says Ana ‘l-’abd, “I am the servant of God” affirms two existences, his own and God’s, but he that says Ana l-haqq, “I am God” has made himself non-existent and has given himself up and says “I am God”, that is, “I am naught, He is all; there is no being but God’s.” This is the extreme of humility and self-abasement.”
- Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi, commentary on Mansur Al-Hallaj

“So you see, Good and Evil have the same face; it all depends on when they cross the path of each individual human being.”
-Paulo Coelho, The Devil and Miss Prynn

Thou hast conquered, O pale Galilean; the world has grown grey from thy breath;
We have drunken of things Lethean, and fed on the fullness of death.
Laurel is green for a season, and love is sweet for a day;
But love grows bitter with treason, and laurel outlives not May.
- Charles Algernon Swinburne

Cum ergo accepisset Jesus acetum, dixit: Consummatum est. Et inclinato capite tradidit spiritum.

- IOHANNES XIX: xxx

Thursday of Mysteries

“When the glorious disciples were enlightened at the washing of their feet before the supper, the impious Judas was darkened by the disease of avarice, and to the lawless judges he betrayed You, the Righteous Judge. Behold, this man because of avarice hanged himself. Flee from the insatiable desire which dared such things against the Master! O Lord Who deals righteously with all, glory to You!”
- Troparion (Plagal Fourth Tone) of Holy Thursday

 

“Knowing that Judas was reflecting upon something that was exalted, Jesus said to him, “Step away from the others and I shall tell you the mysteries of the kingdom. It is possible for you to reach it, but you will grieve a great deal. For someone else will replace you, in order that the twelve may again come to completion with their god.”
- Gospel of Judas

“It is not permitted to hold love, as they are called, in the, or Churches, nor to eat and to spread couches in the house of God.”
- Canon XXVIII, Council of Laodicea

“Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old; you shall take it from the sheep or from the goats.”
-Exodus 12:5

 

“Mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos”

IOHANNES XIII:xxxiv

Agapé

This past Saturday I woke up early after a peculiarly restless sleep anxious about the day ahead. Every first and third Friday the Seattle Johannite community, Holy Paraclete, meets at a local esoteric bookstore for communal prayer and, occasionally, participation in the Eucharist through our friend, Monsignor Scott Rassbach+, of Rose Cross Community in Portland. This time, however, was different and unique. Although the monsignor couldn’t make it to the service, I decided as the narthex leader to try something different from our usual vespers service on account of a special guest coming from out of town and offer them, as a gesture of friendship between our different communities.

Friendship and mutual support is important. Regardless of traditions, we are all being led by the Sacred Flame toward the Godhead in whatever way we imagine it and are all fellow travelers on the spiritual path. I met Pater Craig Williams a number of years ago at the Esoteric Book Conference ,where he was interviewed last year by Occult of Personality. A priest of Ecclesia Gnostica Æterna and adept in Ayurveda and Eastern spirituality, I’ve enjoyed my conversations with him and acknowledge him as a friend and exemplar of what it means to be a modern gnostic. Another guest, friend and soon-to-be deacon of Ecclesia Gnostica was also present, as well as others from different traditions. To say I felt overwhelmed at first would be a gross understatement.

The entire morning I traveled here and there across town to get the things I needed for the ceremony in-between making lunch for my partner and me, ironing the clothes I was going to wear, and packing up my travel bag that I use to bring what I needed to the location. I decided that I would arrive a few hours earlier to clean up the space with my partner, set up what was needed, and then grab a quick drink at a local pub to calm my nerves about an hour and half before Holy Paraclete’s first Agapé Meal.

The Agapé Meal is a ceremony dating back to the earliest ages of the Christian movement and although the Council of Laeodicea effectively marked the end of the practice of the agapé feasts in the transition of Christian worship from home to the adapted Hellenic temples and other buildings granted to Christians for worship and congregation some fifty years earlier by the Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus Augustus by declaring, “no one holding any office in the Church, be he cleric or layman, who are invited to an agapé feast, may take away their portions, for this is to cast reproach on the ecclesiastical order[1].” Although it can be certain many still met in the context of their own families and extended friends, this development also marked the codification – or rather separation – between clergy and the laity.

Although eucharistic in appearance, the agapé is principally communal in nature, best described by His Grace, +Mar Timotheos of New South Wales: “[The Agape Meal] a prayerful feast shared in community.. [and] a time for a whole household to come together and give thanks… you can think of [it] as a bridge. It bridges the domestic, mundane reality of the meal with the sacred time of liturgy – so it has a flavour that is somewhat liturgical and somewhat casual. As the liturgy proclaims: there is no separation between these things – but it’s easy to think of sacredness as only being at church or in meditation. Agape is a way to remind ourselves that truly ‘there is nothing mundane in the holy’.”

The above description is precisely what I felt last Saturday in the presence of good friends and spiritual partners. In spite of our many different backgrounds, experiences and even personal practices, we were able to come together, sit at the same table, pray and enjoy our company in a mindful manner. The conversations were delightful and I was overjoyed by the entirety of the experience in spite of my initial anxieties. Waking up the next morning, I felt inspired – the first time in a number of weeks due to personal life stressors – and motivated to move past the things I’ve been letting hold me back to some degree and try out new things.

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[1] Canon 27, Laeodicea

Review of Tony Silvia’s “Sanctuary of the Sacred Flame”

After two years of hard work, Father Anthony Silvia + brings to us an amazing primer in Johannite spirituality in his Sanctuary of the Sacred Flame bringing to light the foundational practices of the Apostolic Johannite Church for all to see including the Logos Liturgy and the ceremony of the Agape Feast.

The Apostolic Johannite Church is a world-wide network of communities united by the pursuit of gnosis and the communal celebration of the Divine. In Sanctuary of the Sacred Flame, Father “Tony” explains the significance of the central spiritual practices of the AJC after many years of personal practice, explores traditional devotionals in an applicable and approachable way, all the while maintaining his own sincere sense of humility and humor.

This text, following six years on the heels of Monsignor Jordan Stratford’s+ Living Gnosticism and three years on the heels of Father Donald Donato’s+ dutiful translation of The Levitikon: the Gospels According to the Primitive Church, is a foundational text for anyone looking to begin their own personal practice in the tradition of the disciples of the Divine Beloved and includes practices innovated by members of this community in the modern age.

Sanctuary of the Sacred Flame is sure to be a text I will myself refer to in the future as I undergo the seminary program toward priesthood in the AJC and am proud to  suggest to anyone looking for a change of pace in their spiritual practices. My only complaint is that it is a little light on ‘in depth’ philosophy, but it makes up for it in the depth of experience of all the practitioners whose work contributed to the creation of such an amazing text.

Lenten Meditation: Water

 

God calls us, even now, reminding us that there is no better moment than the present to begin seeking to remember our divine origins and that we have at this very moment an opportunity that we can freely take advantage of to deepen our knowledge and embody the nature of the Christ. In practicing mindfulness, we can start to see through the watery illusions which we have put about us and start remembering who we were.

The image of water as a concrete means of purification is self-explanatory, however water as a means of spiritual purification, dare I say atonement, and is one of the foundational mysteries of Christian belief – that is Baptism. The outward washing with water symbolizes an inward cleansing of the soul and is practiced to this day by many people of a variety of different faiths. In joining the symbolic path of Christ during Lent, we must wash away the accretions of falsehood from our field of perception so that we may come to better know our divine natures and be recognized for our own inherent divinity (cif. John 9:12, I Cor. 13:12).

As one who may have had more than a passing familiarity with the mystery traditions of the Greeks as well as the Egyptians in addition to his own Jewish heritage, the usage of water in purification rites would have been very clear to Jesus however, during the Lenten season, it is also into the waters that we must descend in order to die to our old ways of viewing the world and become reborn and regenerated in order to gain a more comprehensive idea of “whereto we speed ”.

For the Ancient Egyptian religions, water or mw played an important role in the lives of the sacral duties of their priesthoods so much so that an entire clerical class, w’b nswt or purification priests,  were in charge of preparing ritual space but were not allowed to enter the sanctuary where the Divine Image was kept. An interesting parallel here might be to consider the role of John the Baptist in the desert preparing the way for Jesus as the embodiment and instructor of embodying God. Also, interestingly, although the Hebrew letter mem (מ) is believed to be graphically related to the Egyptian n-water ripple this represents only the letter, “n”, the Sefer HaBahir which may be dated to the first century, informs us, “Do not read Mem, but Mayim (water).”

So, what do we find in water? Biologically, the human fetus is suspended in the waters of the womb for nine months before birth and upon exiting the womb encounters a deserted wasteland of pure potentiality but first, the first impetus of many of us at birth is to cry at the cold world we’ve been thrust into before being picked up and placed into the loving arms of our first parent whose voice we quickly learn to recognize and whose heartbeat we already know. On a spiritual nature, we already have the capacity to listen to the heartbeat of God and hear our First Parent or Protogenetiera (cf. Eugnostos the Blessed) speaking Her Wisdom into us (cf. proverbs 8:22-8:31, Wisdom 7:25-7:26) continually fostering our connection to the Sacred Flame.

Water is also emblematic of emotion, specifically connection to our emotions, and is ruled by the Moon as countless folk-legends attest. The first step in our purification then must be to be attentive to our own moods and the their waxing and waning cycles and direct our focus and offer our experiences, through blood, sweat and tears, where we might find “true life through intelligence and love ” and fulfill the great commandment given by Christ to us, that through understanding our own selves and purifying our own fluctuations, we may be able to love one another in such a way as He had loved us, even unto the watery depths.

______________________________________________________________

[1] “Je suis descendu du Ciel? Est-ce parce qu’il a habité avec les Grecs, qu’il vient ainsi converser avec nous? Que de commun ce qu’il a appris des Égyptiens, et ce que nos pères nous ont appris?” Palaprat, B.R. Lévitikon: ou Exposé des principes fondamentaux de la doctrine des chrétiens-catholiques-primitifs: suivi de leurs évangiles, d’un extrait de la Table d’or… et précédé du statut sur le gouvernement de l’Eglise et la hiérarchie lévitique

[2] “Μέχρι τοῦ βαπτίσματος οὖν ἡ Εἱμαρμένη, φασίν, ἀληθής· μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο οὐκέτι ἀληθεύουσιν οἱ ἀστρο 4.78.2 λόγοι. Ἔστιν δὲ οὐ τὸ λουτρὸν μόνον τὸ ἐλευθεροῦν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ γνῶσις, τίνες ἦμεν, τί γεγόναμεν· ποῦ ἦμεν, ἢ ποῦ ἐνεβλήθημεν· ποῦ σπεύδομεν, πόθεν λυτρούμεθα· τί γέννησις, τί ἀναγέννησις.” ΕΚ ΤΩΝ ΘΕΟΔΟΤΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΤΗΣ ΑΝΑΤΟΛΙΚΗΣ ΚΑΛΟΥΜΕΝΗΣ ΔΙΔΑΣΚΑΛΙΑΣ ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΥΣ ΟΥΑΛΕΝΤΙΝΟΥ ΧΡΟΝΟΥΣ ΕΠΙΤΟΜΑΙ, Clement of Alexandria

[3] Kaplan, Aryeh (ed.), Bahir

[4] Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie, Eliphas Levi

Dust in the Wind

 

Today, Ash Wednesday, marks another return to the liturgical season of Lent, a period oftentimes associated with fasting, self-denial, and penance in many churches. For many post-restoration Gnostics, however, the meaning of this season shifts from one of denial and self-deprecation to an opportunity for engaging in deeper, more attentive, inner contemplation and meditation. Though the external symbols may appear the same, the penitential mood of this season has more in common with alerting us toward our true natures and our frequent inability to remember who we are and “whereto we speed[1]”, as opposed to attaching ourselves to guilt.

Scripture reminds us that we are in fact extensions of the eternal Godhead; immortal, incorrupt, made in the image of eternity[2]. Yet, due to the vast temporal distance from the initial moment of Creation, it is difficult for us to remember this truth and instead wander around in a more or less amnesiac state either bemoaning the gift that has been given us or, conversely, reveling mindlessly in temporal delights without pausing for a moment to recognize that material pleasures are fleeting and not intrinsically meaningful.

During this time of introspection, we are called to make a conscious effort toward remembering our own unique divinity and the divinity we share with the whole of Creation. Far from being a period of denial, Lent is an opportunity for radical engagement with ourselves and the world around us, an exercise to see things as the Godhead intended them to be. By saturating our experiences with meaning, we are able to rediscover the original moment of Creation as continually unfolding around us at all times, in all places and in all things.

The liturgical season of Lent is concrete marker for us to focus on what is ultimately an abstract process that each of us are going through individually in our spiritual process. By infusing this season with meaning, we encounter other markers along the way that can help us better focus our wandering minds. Ash Wednesday changes from penance and the negative religious mood of self-denial to being marked for stronger spiritual training [3]and casting off those things hindering our process and making us mentally and spiritually more capable of putting our experiences into a wider perspective as Jesus did in casting aside the temptations of using his messianic mission for worldly ends instead of offering an example for experiencing and exercising our free will[4].

Echoing my post from the previous year, the primary importance of Lent is to help us grow in our experience toward the divine in whatever form we may honor it. The goal is complete transformation and is unique to each and every one of us and there is no external litmus test for success or failure, only the intent and the rewards of being able to slowly see things as they are and receive being open to experience of our own dynamic divine nature.

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[1] Excerpta ex Theodoto

[2] Wisdom 2:23

[3] Asceticism (from the Greek: ἄσκησις, áskēsis, “exercise” or “training”).

[4] Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13

Spiritual Architecture

On December 26th, the Eve of the Feast of John the Beloved Disciple, the Monsignor Scott Rassbach+ arrived with members of Rose Cross Community in Portland to celebrate mass with Seattle’s Holy Paraclete Community, a mission of the Apostolic Johannite Church. This feast is of particular importance to the world wide Johannite community which describes itself as a spiritual tradition carried in part through the initiatory tradition of John the Baptist, exemplified in the relationship between Christ and the Apostle John. The service itself was well attended for this small community that was granted last year to Monsignor Scott+ and me by His Eminence, +Mar Iohannes IV and His Grace, +Mar Thomas, with people from a wide variety of religious backgrounds – a fine example of the acceptance of diversity that epitomizes this tradition and sets it apart in many ways.

Following the Gospel reading, Monsignor Scott+ announced that our small community had been elevated from its status as a mission community to that of a narthex. In the Apostolic Johannite Church, our communities fall into one of three primary categories: a mission is group of members that meet irregularly and are ministered to by visiting Johannite clergy; a narthex is a local study group under the direction of a lay or clerical leader; and a parish, is a fully functioning body of the Apostolic Johannite Church with regular clergy and services. This news was followed with a wonderful impromptu sermon on the nature of a narthex in the context of the AJC and in history, Eucharist, and our group meeting at a local restaurant for food and fellowship following the service.

In the week following the service, I have been given much to think about as the current lay-leader of Holy Paraclete Community in light of Monsignor Scott’s+ homily and there is doubtless more to think about as I undergo formation in my studies with Saint Raphael the Archangel Seminary on my process toward ordination to the priesthood. Formation, itself, is an interesting terminology to use in this context. As someone with a background in the plastic arts, a fervent love for Sculpey, and an appreciation for ancient and modern architecture I find myself thinking about the development of this community and myself with the same enthusiasm and reluctance as an artist or architect seeking to build something that will outlast the temporal here and now and grow and develop into something that I pray will last years beyond my physical life been extinguished. The whole process, in many ways, can be considered the building of architecture of spirit that is at once deeply personal and communal in nature.

Following the death of Jesus, the disciples traveled throughout the world scattered like seeds in the wind yet each carrying a blueprint of what the master builder had left them for creating a new society. Some, like James, stayed in Jerusalem and continued working on their own personal spiritual development with the community they had known there, while others started laying the foundation for new communities around the Mediterranean and as far away as India. Nearly all of them met violent ends at the hands of the civil and religious authorities of the time except for one, John, who according to holy tradition, was exiled to Patmos off the coast of modern day Turkey and lived to an old age and dying in Ephesus. Saint Paul, the only apostle to have not physically been present during the life of Jesus, mentions of John that he along with Peter in Rome and James who remained in Jerusalem, was one of the pillars of the Church (cf Galations 2:9).

As the community that established around Peter became known for its dogged dedication to creating a new temporal society and the church of James in Jerusalem worked gently to bridge the gaps in philosophical and theological disagreements between the Christians and the Jews, the vision of John was nearly entirely spiritual – free from the confines extremes of Jewish religious law and attachment to physical establishment of a new religious community. All three visions of these apostles however, form the supports upon which rest the ethical, moral and philosophical axis of the living church to this very day using the blue prints of Jesus.

By the time of the writing of the Gospel of John, it’s generally acknowledged that the Christian community had been expelled from participation in the synagogues and temple establishment and so most, in particular non-Jewish converts to Christianity, began meeting in the atria of the houses of sympathetic patrons who may or may not themselves have been converts while those who were interested would often wait outside the open area before gaining admittance to the mysterious Christian church. This place, which in Roman architecture of the time was called the fauces, in modern architecture a mud-room, would become the basis of the narthex as these communities would grow and become independent buildings of worship.

From a spiritual perspective, the narthex remains a mudroom of sorts. Separated from the nave of the church, it is the place where day to day business can be discussed, local gossip and profound observations exchanged, and where newcomers are welcomed. It’s also where we ourselves are at our least focused and meditative and mired in the concerns of the world but where we are reminded of our hope for spiritual purification. In many ancient churches then as now, the narthex would often include a baptismal font so that infants or adults could be baptized there before entering the nave, and to remind other believers of their baptisms as they gathered to worship. As a place of penance, the narthex is at once symbolic of the desert through which the ancient Hebrews wandered with Moses, the outskirts of society where John the Baptist cried like a voice in the deserts, and the wasteland where Jesus meditated for forty days and was tried and tempered. It’s also an oasis, a place of refreshment and hospitality. Then as now, hospitality is the highest law among desert nomads in the Near East and any weary traveler who found their way to an oasis would be greeted hospitably and given aid as they continued their journey. Everyone, regardless of rank or status, must pass through the narthex before entering the nave – the Holy of Holies – of the church.

As the lay leader of Holy Paraclete Community, a narthex of the Apostolic Johannite Church, I hope this community embodies what it means to be a place of similar welcome and hospitality, rest and refreshment, information and cordial chatter. Myself, I hope also to be tested and reminded about my own moral and spiritual deficiencies whereby I can better see what I need to work on in my own process of spiritual purification and development as well as better learn what I need to learn to be of aid and hospitality to those whom I meet wherever I may be. As a Johannite, I hope it is here that I cannot so much come to be loved as to better learn how to love, not be known so much as know, not so much receive as give, and in dying to old behaviors be reborn daily with my community in the light of holy gnōsis.

To Pneuma Hagion

Thursday morning while scrolling around on Facebook, I noticed that the acclaimed author and witch Sorita D’Este had posted an interesting competition offering participants the opportunity to win a signed copy of The Cosmic Shekinah that she had co-authored with David Rankine.

The terms of the contest were to write a short poem, no more than nine lines long, containing all of the following words: wisdom, dove, goddess & tree. The contributor who had the most ‘likes’ by the midnight the next night would be the winner. The competition was pretty intense with over a dozen participants and some really great devotional poems, however by midnight Greenwich time, the competition had closed and I had the most ‘likes’ and so was declared the winner.

Once again, I want to extend a special thanks to those who ‘liked’ my poem as well as the inspiration I gained from reading the poetry submitted by other participants. In particular, I would like to thank Sorita D’Este for coming up with this contest in the first place and for The Cosmic Shekinah which I’m sure will help me in my studies and personal devotions.

Without any further ado, for my readers here who may not be on Facebook or who haven’t heard about my participation in the contest, here is my poem:

 

To Pneuma Hagion

Holy Mother from above,
Divinely radiant, heavenly dove;
Who in wisdom doth abide,
Draw us closer, by and by.
Where at the root of that sacred tree;
Sublime pillar of divinity;
We may hear our Mother speaking,
Goddess, whose knowledge we are seeking.

 

‘Eve and the Tree of Knowledge’ by Cristina Acosta, Oil; 22kt gold, sterling silver and copper metal leaf; antique ceramic mosaic tile with 24k gold glazes; on vintage wood.

This Little Light of Mine

As I’m sure we’re all well aware, the season of Advent is quickly approaching. Last weekend, we experienced the feast day of one of my personal favorite saints, Saint Martin of Tours, whose feast in many ways represents the culmination of the octave of All Saints and All Souls day. From the late 4th Century to the Middle Ages, a period of fasting beginning on the day after St. Martin’s Day, November 11. This fast period lasted 40 days, and was, therefore, called “Quadragesima Sancti Martini”, which means in Latin “the forty days of St. Martin.” As times and history would have it, this period of fasting would later develop into the four Sundays of Advent familiar to many in the Western Churches.

Personally, around Saint Martin’s feast day, I start mentally preparing myself for the Christmas season and coming up with personal meditations and reflections as we begin to approach the darkest half of the year which, paradoxically, is also the time of year where the light of the Sun is symbolically reborn and begins to grow and wax once again. For anyone whose read Frazer or Joseph Campbell or has familiarity with contemporary neo-Paganism, the symbolism of the Christ Child being born around Winter Solstice and bringing light into the world is not a terribly novel idea, but it’s that mythic cycle that we can use to help ourselves to illuminate the depths of our own spiritual experiences in a cyclical way.

Last year I experienced a particularly deep and profound spiritual Advent season by intentionally participating in a local parish’s celebration of the season and also deepening my friendship with many at Hagia Sophia community as well as my own relationship with members of my community in the Apostolic Johannite Church. During this period, I thought about and sketched out some notes for a more family or individual based Advent celebration for members of the greater Gnostic community to follow at home since many lack regular access to churches and temples. Inspired by the idea of the Four Luminaries of the Secret Book of John as guardians of the macrocosmic Christ Consciousness, I put together this ritual that can be performed individually or as a small group for people wanting to participate meaningfully in the Advent Season.

Maybe my presentation here is a little premature, but it is my hope that those who wish to participate with me in this might also be inspired by the meditations I will be writing about this season using the readings suggested.

Emmanuel, icon written by Betsy Porter
egg tempera, shell gold, and gold leaf on shaped panel, 9.5 x 12.5 inches, 2007
photograph by Richard Anderson

Advent Wreath Service

The family or group gathers around the wreath (which is not yet lit).

Leader:

The One has brought forth the One, then One, and these Three are but One: the + Father, +the Word and +the Thought.

Lord, open my lips.

People:            And my mouth shall proclaim Your praise.

Leader:           O God, make speed to save me.

People:            O Lord, make haste to help me.

Leader:           Glory be to God, whose grace and mercy be upon us forever.

All                       Amen.

A member of the community comes to the altar or wherever the Advent wreath is placed and gives the Leader a candle or other source of fire.

Leader

I have cast fire upon the world, and see, I am guarding it until it blazes.

Leader:

“For from the light, which is the Christ, and the indestructibility, through the gift of the Spirit the four lights appeared from the divine Self-Begotten. He expected that they might attend him. And the three are Will, Thought, and Life. And the four powers are Understanding, Grace, Perception, and Prudence.

On the appropriate Sunday, the candles are lit and the following names are intoned as the candles are lit.

First Sunday

And grace belongs to the light-aeon Armozel, which is the first angel. And there are three other aeons with this aeon: Grace, Truth, and Form.

Second Sunday

And the second light is Oriel, who has been placed over the second aeon. And there are three other aeons with him: conception, perception, and memory.

Third Sunday

And the third light is Daveithai, who has been placed over the third aeon. And there are three other aeons with him: understanding, love, and idea.

Fourth Sunday

And the fourth aeon was placed over the fourth light Eleleth. And there are three other aeons with him: Perfection, Peace, and Wisdom.

After each reading, the Leader concludes with the following from the Apocryphon of John.

Leader

These are the lights which attend the divine Self-Begotten, and these are the twelve aeons which attend the son of the mighty one, the Self-Begotten, the Christ, through the will and the gift of the invisible Spirit. And the twelve aeons belong to the son of the Self-Begotten. And all things were established by the will of the Holy Spirit through the Self-Begotten Christ.”

Phos Hilaron (said together)

O gracious Light, pure brightness of the ever-living Father in heaven, O Christ, holy and blessed! Now as we come to the setting of the sun, and our eyes behold the vesper light, we sing your praises, O God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You are worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices, O Son of God, O Giver of life, and to be glorified through all the worlds.

Scripture Reading

After the reading

Reader: The Word of the Lord

All: Thanks be to God

The Peace

Leader: The peace of the Lord be with you

All: And also with you

All may exchange the peace

Leader: The Lord be with you

All: And also with you

Leader:  Let us pray

The Lord’s Prayer

Prayer of Witness

Leader

O Lord our God, let us never be removed from the Gnosis which is our innermost nature. Fill us with strength and with the grace which you have bestowed upon us to that we may carry the light to those in ignorance, to our brothers and sisters, daughters and sons. Therefore I believe and I bear witness. I go to Life and to light.

All                   Amen.

Final Blessing

Leader:          The Lord bless us and keep us.

All                   Amen.

Leader           The Lord make his face to shine upon us and be gracious to us.

All                      Amen.

Leader            The Lord lift up his countenance upon us and give us peace. ALL                     Amen.

Leader:           Let us bless the Lord.

People:            Thanks be to God.

Put out the candle or candles

Here are suggested readings for the weeks of Advent. Alternately, one could use the vesper readings from June Singer’s A Gnostic Book of Hours.

First Week

Sunday Matthew 25:1-13

Monday Isaiah 1:16-18

Tuesday Isaiah 60:1-3

Wednesday Psalm 43: 3-5

Thursday Isaiah 58:6-9

Friday 1 John 2:8-11

Saturday 1 John 3:1-2

 

Second Week

Sunday Isaiah 40:1-5

Monday Revelation 1:7-8

Tuesday Matthew 22:41-45

Wednesday Hosea 11:3-4

Thursday Psalm 130

Friday Micah 6:6-8

Saturday Jeremiah 14:8-9

 

Third Week

Sunday Isaiah 9:6-7

Monday Isaiah 7:10-14

Tuesday Isaiah 11:1-6

Wednesday Isaiah 40:10-11

Thursday Isaiah 52:7

Friday Jeremiah 33:14-16

Saturday Malachi 3:1-2

 

Fourth Week

Sunday John 3:16-21

Monday Luke 1:1-25

Tuesday Luke 1:26-38

Wednesday Luke 1:39-56

Thursday Luke 1:57-66

Friday Luke 1:67-80

Dec. 24 Matthew 1:18-25

Reflection on Pentecost

The Feast of Pentecost which happened yesterday, marks the end of the Paschal cycle and the half of the liturgical calendar dedicated to the Christ and the beginning of the year of the Church in Western Church calendar. Amongst some contemporary Gnostics, however, Pentecost also marks the beginning of the half of the year dedicated to the Sophia – Holy Wisdom. In archetypal language, one could view the two halves of the year as being indicative of the masculine and feminine or supernal and immanent aspects of Godhead.

In classical Gnosticism, the Sophia was held to be the syzygy of Jesus Christ (i.e. the Bride of Christ), and Holy Spirit of the Trinity and in the Nag Hammadi texts she is considered to be lowest Aeon, or anthropic expression of the emanation of the light of God. Following the Feast of the Ascension, that takes place roughly a week prior to Pentecost commemorating the Light of the Christ being withdrawn back up into the Pleroma (Fullness), it at Pentecost that we are reminded of God’s continuing eminence in the world through the activity of the Holy Spirit as promised by Jesus before his ascension:

“Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father.And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.If ye shall ask anything in my name, that will I do. If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth: whom the world cannot receive; for it beholdeth him not, neither knoweth him: ye know him; for he abideth with you, and shall be in you.” (John 14:11-17)

After the ascension and at Pentecost, as promised, the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles in a magnificent display:

 “And when the day of Pentecost was now come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them tongues parting asunder, like as of fire; and it sat upon each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:1-4)

In the Greek text, the name used to indicate the Holy Spirit is Paraclete, literally “advocate” as one would have during a legal trial, hardly a comforting image as one would imagine and definitely a presage of things to come in the early centuries of the Christian movement. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descends blazing fire and inspiring (inspiriting?!) the apostles to continue the works which Christ had commanded as part of the Great Commission.

How this relates to the Sophia is that we are assured through attention to Holy Wisdom we are able to overcome the difficulties of our transitory life and can be rest assured that God continually abides in us as we continue to follow the precepts not only given by Christ through scripture, but through continual abiding in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Far from being a onetime affair limited to an historical point in time, Pentecost is a continual event marking the continuity of Gods covenant with all humanity and us with one another so long as we remember that most holy commandment: “love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” (John 13:14).