September: Day 13: Teaching 2: Feast of the Consecration of the Church of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

September: Day 13: Teaching 2: 
Feast of the Consecration of the Church of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
 
(The Meaning of the Feast)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. This feast is seemingly insignificant, judging by the fact that in a series of other ecclesiastical feasts it is not distinguished by any solemnity. But meanwhile, in its inner significance it can stand on a par with the most important feasts.

II. a) Indeed, what do we celebrate on this day? The renewal of a temple, no more; but what temple? The temple in the name of the Resurrection of Christ. And the Resurrection of Christ is the foundation of Christianity. "If Christ has not risen, our faith is vain." But the resurrection of Christ is the pledge of our resurrection, the pledge of eternal life and eternal blessedness. Christ rose from the dead, became the firstfruits of those who died. Without the Resurrection of Christ we have no hope of eternal life, and without the hope of eternal life, what is man? An absurd and most unfortunate creature. Indeed, the last worm has its own definite purpose in the chain of creation and its share of happiness, because, no matter how insignificant and weak it is, it finds full satisfaction of its small needs and fully enjoys its life until the beak of a bird or the foot of a man puts an end to it. But what is man with his higher spiritual needs, which find no satisfaction here on earth, with his ideals, which find no fulfillment, with his passions, which he abhors, which torment him, and which he either satisfies with curses, or fights against, not knowing why, only according to an incomprehensible and irresistible demand of his spirit, fights until exhaustion of strength without any hope of winning a decisive victory, fights until he falls in this fruitless struggle, broken and tormented? What is man, eternally striving for heaven and continually falling into the mud, wandering in the darkness of doubts and riddles, eternally dissatisfied, an unhappy martyr, if not of his own passions, then of the vanity of other people? What is he without hope of eternity? An absurd and unhappy product of the senseless play of the blind forces of nature. If Christ did not rise, then not only can we say with the Apostle, as Christians, that we are the most wretched of all men, but we can also add, as human beings in general, that we are the most wretched of all creatures. Therefore, the Resurrection is not only the foundation of Christianity, but also the foundation of humanity. Such is the dogmatic meaning of this feast.

b) No less important is its historical significance. When and on what occasion was the Jerusalem temple consecrated in the name of the Resurrection of Christ? It was consecrated by the Holy Emperor Constantine in the 4th century after three hundred years of persecution of the Christian Church, consecrated publicly, with the greatest solemnity, for the first time since the Church breathed freely and was proclaimed dominant in the then worldwide Roman Empire. Thus, this is a monument to the triumph of the Church over paganism, light over darkness, good over evil, life over corruption. It is a monument to the unprecedented persecution of the Church, when the whole world and all of hell armed itself against it, and it was victory over hell; a monument to suffering beyond human strength and the inhuman patience of the Church; a monument to the injustice, hellish malice and ferocity of the world on the one hand and angelic meekness on the other; a monument to the extreme depravity of the world and the unparalleled moral purity and valor of the Church. And this last feature constitutes the highest glory of the Church. For history has presented and presents examples of both cruel suffering and amazing patience, although not nearly so strong and universal; but the world has never presented and perhaps never will present examples of this meekness, good nature, all-forgiving love, when Christian martyrs rejoiced in their sufferings and died in terrible tortures with blessings and prayers on their lips for their tormentors, when during public calamities, for example, during a pestilence, they raised their tormentors from the streets, abandoned by their own, and looked after them as the dearest beings, themselves becoming infected with death from them. The world has presented and presents now examples of moral strength; but never presented and perhaps never will present examples of such innocence and moral purity, such height of spirit, such complete renunciation of the vanity and vulgarity of life, and the striving of the whole being to heaven, as in ancient times. Thus, this temple is a monument to the unfading glory of the Church, as a high example of moral purity and valor, which will forever shine for us as a guiding light.

c) Finally, the spiritual and moral significance of this feast is in no way inferior to its dogmatic and historical significance. We celebrate the consecration of the Jerusalem temple; but do not forget that the material, man-made temple is an image of the temple not made with hands, of our soul. "You are," says the Apostle, "the temple of the living God. Know you not that your body is the temple of the Spirit who lives in you?" Thus, the solid stone foundation of the temple reminds us that our spiritual temple must rest on the solid rock of faith and the truth of the Gospel; the elevation of the temple above ordinary buildings and the striving of its top to heaven reminds us of our duty to rise in spirit above the vanity and vulgarity of life, and to strive in spirit towards the heavenly, the divine; the inner splendor of the temple is an image of that moral splendor which should be the goal of all our activity; The icons of God and His saints that fill the temple remind us that our soul must preserve untarnished that image of God, given to us by the Creator, which was almost destroyed by the fall, and again restored by the redemption, and elevate it to the likeness of God through the fulfillment of the Gospel law.

III. Thus the feast of the renewal of the temple reminds us of our duty to constantly renew ourselves in spirit. If a man-made temple, as one that does not possess life, can for some time preserve, at least in appearance, its unchangeable strength and splendor, then a spiritual temple cannot remain for a single minute without renewal, without losing its splendor. Such is the law for all living things: a plant begins to wither and die from the very moment that its development and its constant renewal cease. And look, does not our spiritual life reveal ominous signs of decrepitude? What does this egoism and dryness of heart mean, this loss of all the noblest beliefs that created heroes, this indifference - why do I say indifference - a mockery of every noble impulse, of every noble passion, this complete immersion in practical interests? What is all this if not obvious signs of spiritual decrepitude, the harbinger of an approaching spiritual death that will have to swallow up all these rosy civilizations that hide the danger from the superficial observer?

Brethren, be continually renewed in spirit, putting off the old man and cleansing yourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit.

 

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.