The Annunciation
Psalm 87: City of God and Mother of God
Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God.
Among those who know me I mention Rahab [Egypt] and Babylon; behold, Philistia and Tyre, with Ethiopia—“This one was born there,” they say.
(Psalm 87:3,4)
Saint Augustine took this verse as the inspiration for one of his most famous works, The City of God. Rome, the so-called “eternal city” had just been brutally sacked by the Visigoths (410 AD) and people were in shock. Where was the Christian God? Wasn’t Rome the seat of a Christ-protected empire? Augustine wrote his book in response to such questions, contrasting “the earthly city,” still subject to fallen existence, with the truly eternal city of God. Even the Church—the city of God in this world—for the time being lives with both these realities in its midst. The earthly city too is not all black, but has hidden saints within it. For now, the two cities are “entangled together.”
As long as she is a stranger in the world, the city of God has in her communion, and bound to her by the sacraments, some who shall not eternally dwell in the lot of the saints. Of these, some are not now recognized; others declare themselves, and do not hesitate to make common cause with our enemies in murmuring against God, whose sacramental badge they wear. These men you may today see thronging the churches with us, tomorrow crowding the theatres with the godless. But we have the less reason to despair of the reclamation even of such persons, if among our most declared enemies there are now some, unknown to themselves, who are destined to become our friends. In truth, these two cities are entangled together in this world, and intermixed until the last judgment effects their separation. (The City of God, ch 35.)
The universal presence of the God of Israel is the meaning of Psalm 87:4 as well. God’s people—the citizens of Zion—are found everywhere, even in hostile foreign territories.
“The city of God” in Psalm 87:3 is an image the Orthodox liturgical tradition applies to the Theotokos. This verse is used in the antiphons for the nativity of the Theotokos (September 8), her Entrance into the Temple (November 21) and her Dormition (August 15). In today’s feast of the Annunciation one of the “Lord I Call” verses from last night makes this connection as well, calling her “the living city.”
The angel Gabriel was sent from heaven by God
to an undefiled Virgin in the city of Nazareth in Galilee,
to bring her glad tidings of the wondrous manner of her conceiving.
The bodiless servant was sent to the living city and the spiritual gate,
to make known to her the condescension and the coming of the Master.
The captain of heaven was sent to the living pavilion of glory,
to make ready an everlasting dwelling for the Maker.
And coming before her he cried:
Rejoice, fiery throne, more glorious by far than the four-faced living creatures!
Rejoice, seat of the King of heaven!
Rejoice, unhewn mountain and precious vessel!
For in you the whole fullness of the Godhead has come to dwell bodily,
by the good pleasure of the everlasting Father,
and the joint working of the Holy Spirit.//
Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you!
Blessed feast to all of you.
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Incidentally, when Saint Augustine mentions theaters in the passage above, he has in mind the pornographic, lewd spectacles of the Roman world that even decadent high society found offensive. Emperor Tiberius forbade stage people to have contact with the upper classes. And Emperor Julian the Apostate ruled that pagan priests were forbidden to attend theatrical performances.
Memory Eternal: Father Alexander Atty
I left this morning on a 6:15am flight to Louisville, Kentucky to represent his Beatitude at the funeral of Father Alexander Atty tonight and tomorrow at Saint Michael’s Antiochian Church, the parish he built up and served for thirty years. As Chancellor, I was on the Board of Saint Tikhon’s during Father Alexander’s time as dean. I was also just a year behind him at Saint Vladimir’s Seminary so remember him well as an energetic fellow student with zeal and a memorable sense of humor. Much later, after decades going our own ways in church life, I was grateful to reconnect with him. I especially appreciated his forthrightness and the genuine care and mentoring he gave seminarians. May God comfort Matushka Olga and their family, and may Father Alexander’s memory be eternal.
Blessed is the way in which you shall walk today, O soul,
for a place of rest is prepared for you!