WEBVTT

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In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of

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the Holy Spirit. Amen. Christ is risen. He is

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risen. When a Christian falls asleep in the Lord,

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using the words of the Apostle Paul himself,

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we gather during these days for three reasons.

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First and foremost, and all of that's revealed

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to us as we know by how we pray, during all the

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services, beginning with the first litia and

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panikida, tonight and tomorrow, the otpivania.

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There's that wonderful word, lex orandi, lex

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credendi. We know what we believe by how we pray.

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And so we first gather together to pray for her.

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We gather together to comfort all those who are

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mourning. And, as it will be most evident tomorrow

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during the Opivania service, even now during

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this Paschal period, we gather together and we

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will indeed... have put before us our own mortality.

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Often say maybe even too much in our service,

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but I think that tension, the balance between

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the joy and hope of the resurrection and our

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need for vigilance, that eschatological tension,

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if you would, is a very important, no, essential

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part of our... I'm going to say daily life, but

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no, hourly life. That tension has to be there.

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So first was prayer. And how do we pray? Well,

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if you take a look at all of our services have

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a history. We've been around for a long time.

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And most of the things we do when someone dies,

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we do what humans have always done. And maybe

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we're the last remnant in this culture who do

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a lot of the things associated with death, dying,

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burial, that just comes natural to humans. And

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so, we take a look at the services that develop.

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There are many layers, and probably the most

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ancient layer in the Christian funeral service

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will be revealed tomorrow. at 11 o 'clock, right

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at the beginning, and that's the chanting of

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verses from the 17th Kathisma. Blessed are those,

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the blameless, who walk in the way of the Lord.

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That was, for centuries, the very, very core

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of the funeral service. It's a long psalm, and

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very often we abbreviate it, and I think pastorally

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that's very often a good idea. Sometimes it's

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just too much to take in and adjust, especially,

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Pastor, when you know who's present and all kinds

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of circumstances. But there's something very

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important, there's something essential to remember

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about that psalm in teaching us what we do when

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someone dies. And I'm thinking right now of the

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74th verse of that psalm. And that's addressed

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to God. In this case, it's addressed definitely

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to God the Father. Those who fear thee will see

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me and rejoice, for I have hoped in thy word.

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Now, we know that that psalm is a part of our

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funeral service because it's the very core. Remember

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on Holy Friday night or Matins of Holy Saturday

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when we gather before the Holy Shroud and we

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chant that psalm with the beautiful lamentation

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verses. And we know then absolutely without a

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doubt that those words of that whole psalm were

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only fulfilled by one person. And that's the

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incarnate Word of God, Jesus. He's the only one,

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when we read that psalm, that can say Amen to

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every one of those verses. Sometimes I think

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when I hear or read those verses, if they were

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read over me, it would be an embarrassment to

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read those. Because we know that only Christ

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fulfilled them completely. But all of us who

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were baptized into Christ and who put on Christ

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are called in part as much as possible. And to

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the degree that the likeness of God that's in

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us has been through repentance. raised to the

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image, what we call prepodobne, most thoroughly

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like God, that those words also apply to us.

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And they certainly, certainly apply to Matushka

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Elena. Those who fear God see her, and what do

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we do? Rejoice. Because she has hoped in his

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word. Her whole life is a witness to that. And

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just looking at the obituary, it's kind of awesome.

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Awesome, the things that she accomplished. So

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many facets of a life. So wonderful. And yet,

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and yet... She fulfilled all of those things

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in a wonderfully, what I would say, normal way.

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Her living out the faith as a baptized Christian,

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as a spouse, as a clergy spouse, as a mother,

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as a grandmother, great -grandmother. as a church

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musician, as an artist, and even in the business

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world, in the beginning of her career. She did

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all of this, and this is an important lesson

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to all of us, right here and now, this day and

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age, there was no, if someone looked at her as

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a model Orthodox Christian, there was no weirdness

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in her. She fulfilled that picture of a Christian

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which is given in the letter Diognetus. We're

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not recognized by our faith, by how we look or

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how we dress or whatnot, but by the very fabric

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of our being, how we fulfill all of those normal,

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regular responsibilities which God gave to her

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and gives to each of us. She is an extraordinary

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witness of that normalcy of being an Orthodox

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Christian. And it's a very essential one today.

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Because I think the devil tempts us in very different

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directions other than that. And so what a privilege

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it is to know her. And as some have said, this

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kind of end of a certain era. She's perhaps one

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of the last of the generations. of those clergy

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spouses who give us that image of faithfulness

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and normalcy. We gather to comfort those who

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grieve this loss. In this case, to the Margitish

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family who has labored so lovingly and so long,

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I cannot imagine the patience, the love, the

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work and dedication of the family. May God grant

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to all of you the consolation that this new phase

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in your life brings you. And may God, again,

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restore that kind, as you restore normalcy in

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your life, but may everything of that experience

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teach and knead together that... normalcy. I

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can't imagine, Mr. Ann and Father Lawrence and

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your family, I didn't go through that. I can't

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say I knew what you went through. Both my parents

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died when I was 29 years old. And so that loss

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came to me a long, long time ago. But I know

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the love and I know what that takes, even those

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that I know in love who care for family members.

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what a difficult and sometimes arduous, arduous

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path of patience and love. And finally, remembering

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our own mortality, the question, just an ending,

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when we hear those words of that psalm, those

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who fear thee, O God, will see me and rejoice.

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For I have hoped in thy word. Can we say those

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words? Will those who see us, those who fear

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God, when they see us, will they rejoice when

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they see us? Because we have hoped in the Lord.

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Through her prayers and through the love of this

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whole community, may God bring that to fruition.

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in our life as we commit her into the fullness

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of God's love and presence. Amen. Christ is risen.

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Indeed he is risen. Oh.