Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Congratulations with the feast of the Resurrection of the Lord!

Today let us continue our discussion about the Psalter and focus our attention on the 87th (88) psalm ‘O lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee.’ This psalm, the most sorrowful in all the Psalter, is the fourth in the series of the ‘Six Psalms.’ The author of this psalm is Heman the Ezrahite, a Levite, that is, a server of the Tabernacle, who was assigned by David to sing in it during the divine services. Some exegetes of Holy Scripture hold the opinion that when Heman the Ezrahite composed this mournful hymn, he had in mind not his own experiences, but the sorrows of the Prophet of God King David. If this is so, we can surmise that his psalm, as is the case with the earlier ones of the ‘Six Psalms,’ is from that time when Absalom rose up in revolt against his father, who then found himself forsaken in the desert.

Although there are psalms that are very sorrowful, this one surpasses all the rest. In it there is no hope that the Lord will hear the author and right the wrongs that the aggrieved is living through. The psalmist is in such dire straits that he considers himself as if already dead. He asks the rhetorical question: is it really the case that it is useful for the Lord to see him in the grave, since a corpse cannot glorify God and the wonderworking power of the Creator is no longer manifested in the reposed? In the opinion of the author, the Lord God Himself is the reason for the calamities that have befallen him.

It would seem that there are no lessons here for a Christian, but only very poetic and powerfully- expressed laments that everything is bad. Of course, this is not the case, for despite all these acute complaints, the author does not turn away from the Lord, but thrice turns to Him in prayer saying: “O lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee: Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry,” “Lord, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee,” and “But unto thee have I cried, O Lord; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee.” Is there not a lesson for each of us here to never abandon prayer, even in the darkest and most impossible situations, when it seems that the Lord has abandoned us or even that He is drowning us with the waves of His wrath?

Blessed Augustine, our wonderful guide to the psalms, does not give even the smallest attention to the historical emergence of this psalm and reads it exclusively as a prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ before His death on the Cross, directed to God the Father. Our Saviour, as true God, understood the horrors and suffering that awaited Him better than anyone else. As a true human, He could not but feel an awful fear on the threshold of death. When the Lord Jesus Christ, a true man, asked the questions: “Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction? Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?” is as if He was saying: could it be that My shameful, appalling, unnatural death will free mankind from sin and eternal death and make it so that Your holy name is glorified? Although this psalm does not give a positive answer to this question, the Gospel affirms that the death of our Lord Jesus Christ did indeed correct everything.

Through the prayers of the Holy Hierarch Augustine and today’s saint, our Holy Father Sisoes, may the Lord strengthen us in our salfivic faith.

Priest Alexis

P. S.

The second stage of the frescoing of our altar has been completed: https://www.memorialchurch.ca/en/album/Frescos

With God's help, the middle tier of our altar iconography was completed this week. You can view photos of the frescoes on the parish Facebook page. There are three large, interesting, and very beautiful scenes on this tier.

The north wall depicts Abraham's meeting with Melchizedek, king of Salem, which means king of peace and priest of the Most High God. You can read about this meeting in the 14th chapter of Genesis. We see on the icon how Abraham, with his servants and soldiers standing behind him, falls down before Melchizedek, who brings out bread and wine. One warrior carries a heavy chest filled with treasure. The Holy Apostle Paul, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, writes much about Melchizedek and emphasizes that this most mysterious figure from all of Holy Scripture is a prototype or foreshadowing of Jesus Christ. This Old Testament narrative is especially suitable for depiction in the altar because the bread and wine that Melchizedek brought out clearly prefigure the New Testament bloodless sacrifice that is offered weekly at the altar in every church. The chest, containing a tenth of everything Abraham plundered during a battle, was brought as a donation to Melchizedek and reminds us that we also have an obligation to financially support the Church.

The eastern wall depicts the Eucharist. We see Christ standing behind the altar table and distributing His immaculate Body and precious Blood to His disciples. Naturally, there is no subject more suitable to be depicted on the east wall of the altar. When entering the church or the altar, especially during the Divine Liturgy, we must not forget that Christ Himself is present with us in a most marvelous way.

On the south wall we see images of the Gospel narrative about the journey to and the supper in Emmaus. You can read about this in the 24th chapter of the Gospel of Luke. After the resurrection of the Saviour, the apostles Luke and Cleopas set out on foot from Jerusalem to Emmaus. On the way, the resurrected Savior Himself joined them, and although they discussed the death and resurrection of the Lord, the apostles did not recognize Him. It was only in the evening, when the three of them were dining and the Savior blessed the table and broke bread, that they recognized Him. As soon as He was known, Christ became invisible. It can be assumed that the meal in Emmaus was not a simple ordinary dinner, but a Divine Liturgy, and that the apostles recognized the Lord when they communed of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. This is a wonderful and mysterious story because on the way to Emmaus, Christ revealed all the Old Testament prophecies about His death on the cross and His resurrection, and from this wonderful conversation the hearts of the apostles burned, as the Evangelist Luke writes.

Now it remains to paint only the lower tier, cover all the frescoes with a clear finish to protect them from soot, and return all the altar furniture and implements to their place. Many thanks to our iconographer Mikhail Myshkov for his work, as well as to everyone who has generously donated for the iconography project. Although most of the altar frescos have already been finished, your financial support is still needed. If you would like to support this God-pleasing endeavour, you can make a donation at the church or on the parish website. May God bless all of you.