circle of prayer 16. the year: sunday bursts its spiced tomb

in the fifth century augustine of hippo wrote in one of his sermons words that could be the source of the words in the english prayer book i quoted in the previous chapter:

"we firmly believe, brethren, that the lord has died for our sins, the just for the unjust, the master for the slaves, the shepherd for the sheep and, still more astonishingly, the creator for the creatures. . . .

"all of that happened once and for all, as you know well enough. and yet we have the liturgical solemnities which we celebrate as, during the course of the year, we come to the date of particular events. . . .

"the historical truth is what happened once and for all, but the liturgy makes these events always new for the hearts that celebrate them with faith." (sermons, 220)

the problem with the resurrection, you see, is that it expresses itself at all times and in all places. as simeon the new theologian wrote, "faith means being willing to die for christ." there were almost immediately after the feast of pentecost "witnesses," for that is what "martyrs" means, followers of our lord ready to die for him. the seventh chapter of acts tells the story of stephen, the first martyr-witness, significantly not an apostle but a deacon, one chosen to serve, and therefore a prime illustration of what it might mean to serve christ the servant king.

very early the anniversary of the death, the falling to sleep, of the martyrs came to be remembered and celebrated, if possible with a eucharist at the place of martyrdom or at the tomb. soon there had been so many martyrs that in rome the church began to celebrate them all one day, all saints' day. this custom gradually came to be adopted throughout the western church.

although the death and resurrection events were central to the christian faith, other events in jesus' life were also considered important enough for annual remembrance. his birth obviously was one of those events.

often these were events which the disciples had not understood as they were happening. how often it must have been true, as the gospel according to john relates about the cleansing of the temple, that ". . . when jesus rose from the dead, his disciples remembered he had said this, and they believed the scriptures and the words he had said." (john 2:22) among the most important of this category of remembrances were the the presentation, forty days after jesus' birth, and the transfiguration, in early august.

a third source of annual remembrances were the jewish festivals, the festivals of torah, which the church began to understand as messianic prophecies. some of them were intimately related to the life of our lord and his church. pesach, the passover, was the time of his death and resurrection, and shavuot, the feast of weeks, pentecost, was the time of the giving of the holy spirit. hannakah occured at the time of his birth.

over time other great jewish feasts, too, would be "baptised." the great fall holy days of rosh ha-shonah, yom kippur, sukkot and simchat torah yielded the new year of the eastern church, holy cross day, and the beginning of the new lectionary cycle. (although in the western church the new lectionary cycle is now seen as beginning with advent.)

besides jesus, only two people are remembered on the days of their birth: mary his virgin mother, on december eighth, and john the baptiser, the foreruner, on june twenty-fourth. the date of john's nativity would become a major feast of the church, occuring as it does just six months before the nativity of christ. the celebration of john's birth at the height of the solar year, marks the culmination of the old testament.

slowly there emerged a procession of eight great feasts at the major turning points of the year, proclaiming that all of time was both prophetic of the life and work of jesus christ, and fulfilled by that same life and work:

1. near the autumanal equinox, holy cross day, the fourteenth of september.
2. on the first of november, all saints' day.
3. on december twenty-fifth, the nativity of our lord jesus christ.
4. forty days after the nativity, the second of february, the presentation.
5. approximately six months after holy cross day, on the first sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox, is pascha, the feast of the resurrection.
6. fifty days later (and approximately six months after all saints' day), the day of pentecost is "fully come."
7. at midsummer, six months after christmas, the church remembers the birth of john, the forerunner.
8. finally, on the sixth of august, six months after the presentation, comes the feast of the transfiguration of our lord.

these eight great festivals comprise a circle of prayer that not only proclaims and explains the life of our lord but, if understood correctly, is a key to understanding our own lives, day by day, year by year, lifespan by lifespan.