Happy Mother’s Day
Loving Father,
as a mother gives life and nourishment to her children,
so you watch over your Church.
Bless these women,
that they may be strengthened as Christian mothers.
Let the example of their faith and love shine forth.
Grant that we, their sons and daughters,
may honor them always
with a spirit of profound respect.
Grant this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
from Magnificat
The Holy Family.
Saint Joseph
Icons of the Holy Family.
Photos from Poland, Greece, Ukraine, Russia.
The icon of the Myrrh-Bearing Women at the Tomb of Christ depicts the events that took place after the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The four canonical Gospels report that during the Crucifixion of Christ many women who “followed Him from Galilee” were there watching it from a distance (Matthew 27: 55-56; Mark 15: 40-41; Luke 23: 49; John 19: 24-27). After the death of Christ, some of them were involved in his burial not far away from the execution site (Matthew 17: 59-61; Mark 15: 46-47; Luke 23: 53-55; John 19: 40-42).
When the Sabbath passed they were first to return to the tomb bringing myrrh to anoint the body of the Savior. (Mark, 16:1), i.e. to perform the necessary burial ceremony requiring that the dead body be grazed with special fragrant oils. According to the Gospel of Matthew, it was at this point that “There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow” (Matthew 28: 2-3). The Angel of the Lord (or “a young man dressed in a white robe” – Mark 16:5, or “two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning” - Luke 24:4) tell the Myrrhbearers about the miracle – the Resurrection of Jesus in the closed tomb on the third day, as Jesus Christ himself had told them, and so did the Angel: “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee. The Son of Man… on the third day be raised” (Luke 24: 5-7; Matthew 28: 5-6; Mark 16: 6).
The earliest of the known images of the Myrrh-Bearing Women at the Tomb of Christ is in a baptistry in Dura-Europos (232 – 256 AD). This composition might have been part of the Passion cycle in the wall-paintings and mosaics. One of such earliest examples are the mosaics of the Basilica of Sant’ Apollinare Nuovo, executed before 526. This episode is also encountered in book miniatures and as cast metal. In the Rabbula Gospel (586 AD) there is a two-part leaf miniature with the scenes of theAppearance of the Angel to the Myrrhbearers in the bottom part and the Crucifixion at the top. On a miniature seal on the cover of a reliquary from the Capella of Sancta Sanctorum (Byzantine, Palestine, ca. 600 AD, the Vatican Museums), in three registers, are the depictions of five Gospel scenes from the Nativity of Christ to the Ascension which also include the scene of the Appearance of the Angel to the Myrrhbearers.
In the post-iconoclastic period (from the 9th c. CE) a different iconography of the Resurrection of Christ – the Descent into Hell was developed
In both the Russian and Byzantine icons, the scene of the Myrrh-Bearing Women at the Tomb of Christ was included in the Passion cycles. This scene is also encountered in the frescoes of the Church of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin in the Snetogorsk Monastery(1313). The icon depicting this scene could be included in the festival row of the iconostasis and in a set of the analogion icons. The earliest of such icons is an icon of the Myrrhbearers at the Tomb of Christ from the festival row in the Holy Trinity Church in the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius (1425-1427) and a double-sided tablet icon of the Myrrhbearers at the Tomb of Christ from a set of the co-called Trinity tablets (the second quarter of the 15th c., the Sergiev-Posad Museum).
While the icon composition may vary in details (the depiction of the tomb and the cloth, the number and poses of the myrrhbearers and the guards etc.), it generally follows the pattern developed in Byzantine in the post-iconoclastic period.
Zhanna G. Belik,
Ph.D. in Art history, senior research fellow at the Andrei Rublyov Museum, custodian of the tempera painting collection.
Olga E. Savchenko,
research fellow at the Andrei Rublyov Museum
“The Myrrhbearers are the women who went to the Tomb of Christ carrying myrrh and other spices to anoint His dead body. On finding instead an empty tomb, they were the first to preach the Resurrection. In the Orthodox Church they are called “Apostles to the Apostles; the First Preachers of the Resurrection.”
Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearers
By Fr. Sergei Sveshnikov
Today the Church celebrates the memory of the holy myrrh-bearing women. The holy women were faithful disciples of Christ and always remained near the Lord in His earthly service. They listened to his preaching in Galilean synagogues, walked with Him to Jerusalem, were present at the resurrection of Lazarus, cried with the Mother of God at the foot of the Savior’s Cross and followed Joseph and Nicodemus to the tomb. They spent the hours following the Crucifixion in pain and agony with what was left of the Lord’s disciples. Undoubtedly, their hearts burnt with the desire to run to the Lord, but they observed the Sabbath with other Jews “because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity” (John 19:31 NRSV).
Yet the sacred day of the Sabbath of the Great Stillness came to an end, and with the first rays of the rising sun, having gathered all that was necessary for burial, the holy women hurried to Him, whom alone their hearts desired, to their beloved Teacher (Mark 16:2). Did they believe in the resurrection of the Savior? Did they remember the sermons of the Teacher? Did they recall the festive entrance of the King into the Holy City and the children singing, “Hosanna! Blessed is the One Who comes!” (John 12:13)? Even if they still had any hope for a miracle, like that of the resurrection of Lazarus, this hope was now lying mocked, spit upon, broken, crucified, pierced with a spear, in the tomb with their beloved Teacher. The holy myrrh-bearers walked to the tomb with perfumes and burial cloths (Luke 24:1), not processional banners, to prepare a dead man for his last journey, not to meet the risen God. The sorrow of the holy women was so great, that even when they saw the wide open tomb they did not understand what had happened (Luke 24:4), even having seen the risen Lord, Mary Magdalene thought that He was the cemetery gardener (John 20:15).
But the faithfulness of the holy myrrh-bearers to the Lord was so great, that they walked to Him in the dark (John 20:1) despite the guards who were ordered to keep the disciples away from the Body (Matthew 27:64), they walked despite the large stone which lay in their way to the Teacher (Matthew 27:66), they walked despite all odds.
For their faithfulness the holy women became the apostles to the apostles and brought to them the good news of the resurrection (Luke 24:9). Even before the Evangelists picked up their pens, before the apostles walked to the far reaches of the Empire with the sermon, before Peter proclaimed the good news to thousands on the day of Pentecost, the myrrh-bearers brought to the apostles the first proclamation, and the first sermon, and the first Gospel.
How often in our lives we lose our faith when we must go through illness, inconvenience, suffering, and sorrow. At times it seems to us that our God is dead, that He does not hear us, that some armed people do not let us through, or that there is a large stone in our path and “who will roll away the stone for us…?” (Mark 16:3 NRSV). So we sit shut up in our pain and sorrow, hiding in fear (John 20:19).
Yet the holy myrrh-bearers bring the good news to us as well, “Arise from your sinful slumber! With the first ray of sun, run to the Lord!” And what do we see? We are too late with our tears and burial ointments—the tomb is empty! No, God does not even run out to meet us half-way (Luke 15:20)—He completed everything that is needful for our salvation: he already broke the bonds of hell and defeated death. He already goes ahead of us to Galilee (Matthew 28:7)—His homeland. All that is left for us at the empty tomb is his message: do not be afraid, hurry, tell everyone, the Lord is waiting for you at home (Matthew 28:10).
Through the prayers of the holy myrrh-bearing women, Lord, grant us their all-conquering faithfulness to You! Amen.
© Copyright 2007 by pravmir.com
Sunday of the Myrrh-bearers Women.
A wealthy man died, apparently without leaving a will. Consequently, according to law, the estate was to be divided among the several surviving cousins who were the next of kin. Also as prescribed by law, the deceased’s household goods and other items of personal property were to be converted into cash in a public auction. During the sale, the auctioneer held up a framed photograph, but no one bid on it, including the cousins. Later, a woman approached the auctioneer and asked him if she might purchase the picture for a dollar, which was all she had. She said it was a photograph of the deceased’s man only son. She went on to relate that she had been a servant in the deceased’s household when the boy lost his life trying to rescue a drowning person, and that she had loved him very much. The auctioneer accepted the dollar and the woman went home and placed the photograph on a table beside her bed. It was then that she noticed a bulge in the back of the frame. She undid the backing and there, to her amazement, was the rich man’s will. The instructions in the will were simple: “I give and bequeath all my possessions to the person who cares enough for my son to cherish this photograph”.
In today’s Gospel we hear of three women who were approaching the tomb of their Master, their Teacher and their Friend. Their hearts were heavy and their steps labored. How could this have happened? It was only days before that they were with Him as He taught and preached. No person had ever preached as He did; no one performed the great miracles that He accomplished. Surely He was the One; the Son of God, the Messiah!
All their hopes and dreams were shattered when He was arrested, condemned to the Cross and hurriedly buried by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. They knew in their hearts that He deserved a proper burial. Early in the morning on Sunday they went and purchased the proper spices. Now they journeyed to the tomb to accomplish this task out of love for their Master, their Teacher, and their Friend.
All of a sudden, reality struck. Who was going to roll away the great stone that blocked the entrance of the tomb for them to be able to gain access? Others may have stopped at this point and either considered this to be a lost cause or at best, to return home and enlist the help of others in removing the stone. But this problem did not stop them from continuing on to the Tomb. True love has its way of overcoming any obstacle that is placed before it.
Perhaps that is our problem today. We no longer look with love towards the Son of God and understand the great sacrifice He made for each and every one of us. We no longer look to the relationship between Jesus and His Father and the great love they want to share with us. We too have many obstacles in our lives that keep us away from a closer relationship with them. We look at Holy Orthodoxy and see it only as a religion: a series of positives and negatives – laws that can be kept or circumvented – at the pleasure of its participants. These rules and regulations become a stumbling block, a great stone barrier, for us as we live our complicated daily lives.
If we look at and see Holy Orthodoxy as a mere religion we have honestly failed to understand the teachings of our Master, our Teacher and our Friend. Holy Orthodoxy is not a series of positives and negatives – it is a way of life! And this way of life is based on true love – not a warm and fuzzy feeling about Jesus, but a real commitment to the message of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It was this great love that gave the Myrrh-bearers the courage to continue to the tomb even with the problem of rolling away the great stone. As a result of this love for Him, these same women were the first to hear the glorious news from the Angel of the Lord, “Do not be afraid. You are seeking Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. He is not here. He is Risen!”
Always remember that Holy Orthodoxy is not a spectator sport. We all participate in the salvific events of our Lord. This is where we meet the Lord - our Way, our Truth and our Life. It was only a few Fridays before that you and I took the Body of our Master, our Teacher and our Friend and carried it around the Church and placed it in the Tomb. We too, early in the morning on “the first day of the week”, came to the Church to find the empty tomb and hear the beautiful words of the Angel: “Christ is Risen from the Dead, conquering Death by death, and to those in the tombs He granted life!”
We hear the words of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ “…the Father Himself loves you because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father.” (John 16:27) Let us be modern day Myrrh-bearers or witnesses to the fact that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God Who came into the world to redeem us. In thanksgiving for all the gifts that we have received, let us with faith and love proclaim our commitment to our Savior by living the lives of “Resurrected People” and shouting out in all confidence: “Christ is Risen” “Indeed He is Risen!”
Fr. Stephen Hutnick
