Chancellor’s Diary

by Fr. John Jillions

December 19, 2013

Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength…Therefore we will not fear.
The Lord of hosts is with us.
Be still and know that I am God.
(Psalm 46:1,7,10)

Psalm 46 is read at the First Hour on Christmas because it hints at the Good News. “The Lord of hosts is with us” is repeated twice (verses 7 and 11), an echo of Isaiah’s “God is with…

December 18, 2013

Psalm 45: “In anticipation proclaiming Christ to all”

Today is the preview of the good will of God, of the preaching of the salvation of mankind. The Virgin appears in the temple of God, in anticipation proclaiming Christ to all. Let us rejoice and sing to her: Rejoice, O Divine Fulfillment of the Creator’s dispensation.

(Feast of the…

December 17, 2013

Psalm 44

Arise, O Lord, help us, and redeem us for thy name’s sake.
 
O God, we have heard with our ears, and our fathers have declared it unto us.
Psalm 44:26,1 (Resurrection matins, tone 4 prokeimenon)

Valley Bones
The valley of the dry bones (Ezekiel)

The use of these verses at the Sunday resurrection matins during the year shows that the psalm points…

December 13, 2013

Psalm 43

Oh send out thy light and thy truth; let them lead me,

let them bring me to thy holy hill
 and to thy dwelling!
Psalm 43:3 (Transfiguration, entrance hymn)

In addition to commemorating Saint Herman of Alaska we are remembering Father Alexander Schmemann, one of the architects of the Orthodox Church in America, who reposed on this day…

December 12, 2013

Psalm 42

As a deer longs 
for flowing streams,
 so longs my soul
 for thee, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
(Psalm 42:1)

Deer
“As a deer thirsts…”
Deer in Paradise
Deer drinking from four rivers of paradise (Church of San Clemente, Rome)

Spiritual thirst is at the heart of the Christian life. Many translations of Psalm 42 use pants, “as a deer…

December 11, 2013

Psalm 41

Blessed is the man who cares for the poor and the weak
(Psalm 41:1)

Care for the poor is a constant theme in the Scriptures.

He who despises his neighbor is a sinner,
 but happy is he who is kind to the poor. (Proverbs 14:21)

He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord,
 and he will repay him for his deed. (Proverbs 19:17)

He…

December 10, 2013

Psalm 40 and Nelson Mandela

Sacrifices and offerings thou hast not desired,

but a body hast thou prepared for me;
in burnt offerings and sin offerings thou hast taken no pleasure.
Then I said, ‘Lo, I have come to do thy will, O God,’ 
as it is written of me in the roll of the book.
(Psalm 40:6-8 (LXX), Hebrews 10:5-7)

Here the Greek…

December 9, 2013

Psalm 39

I said I will guard my ways that I may not sin with my tongue
(Psalm 39:1)

Saint Nikolai Velimirovich (1881-1956), or Saint Nikolai of Zicha, the great Serbian bishop who suffered under the Nazis and after the war ended his days living at Saint Tikhon’s Monastery, was a prolific speaker and writer. But he taught that one who seeks to…

December 4, 2013

Psalm 38

Do not forsake me, O Lord!
 O my God, be not far from me!
Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!
(Psalm 38: 21-22)

We hear Psalm 38 regularly as the second of the six matins psalms. It’s a prayer for healing from sickness and sin, for deliverance from enemies and injustice, for times of feeling abandoned. It is also associated…

December 3, 2013

Psalm 37

“The Lord guides a man safely in the way he should go” (Ps 37:23).

Saint Innocent of Alaska left behind this verse as a theme for the sermon to be preached at his funeral, when he died in 1878 as Metropolitan of Moscow. Throughout his life he felt the guidance of God. This was the case in 1823 when as a successful young priest in…

December 2, 2013

Psalm 36

For with Thee is the fountain of life, and in Thy light shall we see light.
Continue Thy mercy unto those who know Thee.
Psalm 36:9-10 (Great Doxology)

This psalm paints a vivid contrast between the dark, secretive and narrow self-interest of sin, and the light-filled, cosmic, all-embracing goodness of God.

Verses 1-4 speaks of the…

November 27, 2013

Psalm 35

Judge, O Lord, with those who wrong me;
 fight against those who fight against me!
Take hold of your weapon and shield,
 and arise for my help!
(Psalm 35: 1-2 (LXX))

These verses are sung as one of the prokeimena at the vespers of Great and Holy Friday as we remember the suffering of Christ in the face of injustice. The entire psalm…

November 26, 2013

Psalm 34

O taste and see that the Lord is good!
(Psalm 34:8)

This verse will be familiar to everyone who has been to a Presanctified Liturgy during Lent, where it is the communion hymn. But Psalm 34 is used throughout the year as a prayer in preparation for communion and as a hymn after communion (in the Russian tradition). Verse 8 summarizes…

November 25, 2013

Psalm 33

Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous! Praise befits the just!
Sing to the Lord a new song, play skillfully on the strings with loud shouts [sing beautifully to Him with joy, LXX].
By the Word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host by the Spirit of His mouth.
Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, as we have set our hope on…

November 19, 2013

The Way: Religious Thinkers of the Russian Emigration in Paris and Their Journal, 1925-1940 (by Antoine Arjakovsky)

I’m away from the office this week and will return to the Chancellor’s Diary next Monday, November 25th. But today I’d like to draw attention to the publication of the English translation of Antoine Arjakovsky’s seminal book…

November 14, 2013

Psalm 32

Blessed are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Blessed are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity, 
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
(Psalm 32:1-2)

Psalm 32 is the first thing the newly baptized hear when they come up out of the water and are given their white baptismal robe. For all the other…

November 12, 2013

Psalm 31

Into thy hand I commit my spirit…
Psalm 31:5 (Luke 23:46)

Most of us spend much of every day making decisions, with the assumption that what we decide to think, say and do matters and makes a difference. We as Christians do not believe in blind fate. We have choices to make between the way of light and the way of darkness. Everything we…

November 8, 2013

Psalm 30

“A Psalm of David. A Song at the dedication of the Temple.”
(Psalm 30, heading)

Most of the psalms have headings added by pre-Christian Jewish tradition long after the psalm was composed. These can be musical instructions (Psalm 4, “To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments”), personal names associated with the psalm (“A…

November 7, 2013

Psalm 29

The voice of the Lord is upon the waters…
(Psalm 29:3)

The voice of the Lord cries over the waters, saying: Come all ye, receive the Spirit of wisdom, the Spirit of understanding, the Spirit of the fear of God, even Christ who is made manifest.
(from the Great Blessing of Waters on Epiphany)

The feast of Epiphany connects Psalm 29:3…

November 6, 2013

Psalm 28

O Lord, save Thy people and bless Thine inheritance!

To Thee, O Lord, I call;
 my rock, be not deaf to me,
 lest, if Thou be silent to me,
 I become like those who go down to the Pit.
Hear the voice of my supplication,
 as I cry to Thee for help, as I lift up my hands
 towards Thy most holy sanctuary. (Psalm 28: 9,1-2)

This…