The Jerusalem Above

Christ went down alone to battle Hades, He came up taking with Him many spoils of victory. -Synaxarion of Holy Pascha Anastasis Icon, Chora Church, Constantinople Sometimes it is when life seems at its lowest, when the pain of the present circumstances seems most unbearable, when hope seems most fully to have died out, that life springs unexpectedly from the grave. Sometimes we find that it is only by staying present within life's uncertainties that we are able to push through to the joy that waits on the other side of suffering. That was surely the experience that the Apostles had while Jesus lay in the grave. Even more than that, imagine the suffering that Mary endured watching Jesus being taken down from the Cross and laid in a tomb. Mary's suffering was perhaps twice what the Apostles experienced; her son and her God died on the Cross on Holy Friday. Icons of the lamentation over Christ's body show his mother as a woman completely undone by her sorrow. ...

O Jesus, You grieve: a token of mortal essence. Your friend You revive: a token of divine potence. - Synaxarion for Lazarus Saturday On the Saturday before Holy Week, the Orthodox Church celebrates an event of particular significance. Jesus' resurrection of his friend Lazarus, who had been dead for four days, serves as a prelude to his own resurrection. The narrative from the Gospel of John serves as one of the clearest examples who Christ is: completely God, and completely man. The Gospel reading for this day ( John 11:1-45 ) begins by telling us a little bit about who Lazarus is. He is the brother of Mary and Martha. Mary is the woman who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his words while Martha busied herself with the cleaning and cooking. They are from the city of Bethany, which the Gospel reading tells us is about two miles away from Jerusalem. If you go to the Holy Lands today, you will find the city of Bethany to the east of Jerusalem. It is home to the Holy...