DO NOT FORGET TO POINT TO THE DIVINE - THE HODEGETRIA

 

"She who Points the Way"

The Hodegetria

Photograph by Silver S. Parnell

Taken at Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Albuquerque, New Mexico

I am frequently searching the internet for inspiring religious personalities who point the way to Christ; people who lead the faithful and entice the nonbeliever to incline the mind to Jesus, lift our gaze to Him, and approach Him, so as to come near and bask in the beatific vision, the warmth of His Love and His saving Word. Even a hermit of 20 years sometimes yearns for some common encouragement, along the pilgrim road.

I am usually disappointed in my quest because, although there are many self-appointed interpreters of the message of the day, they rarely bear positive, life-affirming and supportive tidings.

Instead, there is a constant drumbeat of resentments, complaints, and grievances. It isn't enough that the political sphere is rife with professional grumblers and that these political jeremiads are constantly repeated, even by professional Catholics, but the same has also happened with regard to religious scandals, conspiracies and bitter protests, such as dissatisfaction with Vatican II, which was news decades ago but which monastics of various stripe are grousing about even today, as if something could be done about it NOW. Some of them are so extreme that they accuse various people in the hierarchy of  heresy, of all things.

Hodegetria from Rila Monastery

It is one thing to lobby for political change. That is our duty as Americans in a free democracy (particularly NOW, when authoritarians are pushing us toward fascism in a shockingly rapid pace), but that is not the tack we are supposed to take with regard to our religion. Catholicism is not a democracy! Our religion really IS based on an authoritarian model, and the laity aren't in charge of any of it. We're lucky we get a voice at all, considering the way it is set up. Even the priests and monks and nuns have a limited authority and must appeal to their superiors for changes. There are approved, time-tested methods for this kind of thing.

I am not saying that these bellyachers are wrong about everything that disturbs them. I am saying that they are confused about their role in the scheme of things and the manner in which they have chosen to ease the tension of having these objections.

Hodegetria, modern version

For instance, the Latin Mass.  I really wish the Vatican had not suppressed the Latin Mass.  It is not entirely suppressed, but it  is close to being so. But as much as I love that Latin mass, I know that it is not my job to lobby for its full reinstatement. At least, I won't be writing tomes dedicated to the topic, nor will I waste my time and everyone else's making public videos about it and insinuating some grand Satanic conspiracy behind the Latin Mass losing favor and giving way to the Novus Ordo, the language of which I find positively ugly. But it is not my job to correct the Vatican, and if it WAS, I would not try to do it by advertising the conspiracy theory on YouTube and getting the laity all heated up about it.

If I really thought I had a duty to make my opinion known, I would respectfully tell the people whose job it is to correct these sort of errors and leave it at that.

Hodegetria of Smolensk

As usual, I am talking about method, which is very important. It isn't just my idea. The Catechism specifically instructs, in essence, that the ends do not justify the means. You may not licitly use evil means because you anticipate the end result will be good. It simply is not allowed, but we are seeing many examples of it lately, and it is giving me pause. (The most obvious example, at present, is the Catholic support of Donald Trump for the sole reason that he claims he doesn't like abortion and that women who do that should have "some punishment" and he has been willing to issue an Executive Order that there are only 2 sexes. In exchange for these 2 very weak advantages which can easily be circumvented by women themselves or executive orders by future presidents, people of "faith" are willing to have every manner of evil used against other humans in order to have Trump in office. Trump is hurting millions of people, and about 30% of Catholics are using all sorts of weird logic to justify it.)

Last night, I tried to find another hermit whose words might inspire me, and instead I found a number of videos by a monk who appeared to be somewhat young to be dispensing wisdom on high, and he had nothing uplifting to say.

Hodegetria Bohorodicka

He had politics mixed up with religion and he was first putting forth the idea that Vladimir Putin, the murderous ex-KGB officer who has ruled Russia as a sadistic dictator for the last 25 years, is not really all that bad, because of some weird logic and word salad, word salad, word salad. He brought up the highly disputed idea that Russia had NOT been consecrated to our Blessed Mother, as requested by Our Lady at Fatima, when the Vatican has clearly stated, a number of times, that it HAD done so. There are all sorts of conspiracy theorists positing that it was not actually done or it was done in the wrong way and that therefore bad things are happening in the world because of it, when the evidence for this is terribly weak. His logic was bizarre.

For some reason, the study of classical logic has been missed in the educations of many people who are opening their mouths and giving opinions these days. I don't know how this happened because I know that I certainly was made to learn Classical Logic and its fallacies in HIGH SCHOOL, so I don't know why so many people missed this subject.

Icon from the Iconostasis of St. George

Being a practitioner and teacher of meditation for many years, I know that the thing on which we meditate is the direction in which we travel. It's very much like driving a car, which I learned when I was 16. If I looked to my left, I found myself turning the wheel in that direction. In short, if you concentrate on your complaints, resentment and suspicions, you will be living in Hell in no time.

The point of spiritual life is to go to Christ. This is what our Blessed Mother does. She points to Christ. This concept was considered so important, so central to the faith, in the early years of the church that either the first or one of the very earliest icons was called "Panagia Hodegetria" or "the Hodegetria," in short.  It means "She who points to Christ." Its first painting was supposed to have been worked by Saint Luke the Evangelist.

Saint Luke the Evangelist

Painting the Hodegetria

I have a personal connection to this particular icon because my 46th Great-Grandmother, Saint Aelia Eudocia, the wife of Emperor Theodosius II, brought it from Antioch to Constantinople, to be housed in the Hodegon Monastery, also known as the Monastery of the Panaghia Hodegetria in Constantinople, which was built specifically to house this standing icon. (Later icons are typically painted from the waist up.)

In the west, this icon is sometimes called "Our Lady of the Way."

My 46th Great Grandaunt, Saint Pulcheria (Empress of the Holy Roman Empire) founded that Monastery for the housing of that icon, which was very celebrated in its day. (Pulcheria lived from January 19, 399 to July of 453, and was said to have taken a vow of chastity on the day it was brought to her in Constantinople, she was so profoundly affected.) 

I was thrilled to be able to see a simple reproduction of it when I was attending Our Lady of Perpetual Help Byzantine Catholic Church when it hosted that icon and I was able to photograph it.

Notice that Our Blessed Mother is holding Jesus in the crook of her left arm and pointing to him with her right. Her head is inclined toward Him, reminding us to place our mind on him. In turn, his sweet little baby hand is raised in blessing toward her.  It is a wonderful image!  The iconography is a complete lesson in itself. It is remarkable, really. Spiritual life is not a life of complaint. We should always have our attention fixed on Christ and he will bless us for it! This is the sum total of the purpose of most spiritual disciplines and is highly relevant to the contemplative life.

Hodogetria, sitting, Greek model

We do not know what happened to that icon. Various legends claim that it was spirited off to Russia or Italy. Indeed, Russian iconography is full of many copies of this icon and has a long tradition.

When it was in Constantinople it was displayed every Tuesday to the public, and there is some record of its procession through the crowd. Sometimes it would be touched with puffs of cotton wool that were then given out to the crowd.  As you can see, it was a devoutly cherished item of religious devotion, but after the Fourth Crusade, in about 1261, it was moved to the Monastery of the Pantocrator, which is now a mosque in Istanbul.

Hodegetria of Crete

It disappeared during the fall of Constantinople and may have been cut into 4 pieces. Some Russians continue to insist that it did get carried to Russia and is there today, in Moscow.

There is an "Italian tradition" that has a completely different story, and you can read about all of this online. 

In any case, I hope to have brought you a sweet reminder of the importance of continuing to incline the mind to Christ and keeping it there, and I ask you to remember to take regular breaks from the stress and fighting of our modern life to meditate and contemplate on Him, who is our Salvation.

I pray for you daily. Please pray for me.

Silver Rose

Monastery of the Pantocrator

MANY AMERICANS ARE DESCENDED FROM OLGA OF KIEV, AND UKRAINIANS ARE FAMILY

SAINT OLGA OF KIEV "EQUAL TO THE APOSTLES"

c. 888 - 11 July 969

My 34th Great Grandmother

In 1978, I began researching my genealogy, but it would be about 40 years before I had a breakthrough that led me to the discovery that my ancestry included many notable nobles and saints, including Saint Olga of Kiev, who ruled in what was called "Kievan Rus'."  

People of modern day Ukraine, Belarus and Russia occupy various territories of the ancient Kievan Rus', but Kiev (spelled variously, such as "Kyiv) is located in Ukraine and, since discovering my link with that land and those people, I have had a tender place in my heart for all the concerns of those people.

Thanks to my DNA results from Ancestry, which conclusively confirm my personal genealogy research, my relationship to the world at large is a lot more complex and comprehensive than I could ever have imagined, prior to 1978, when I first began this journey.

Knowing the width and depth of my relations, going back many centuries, has increased my Catholic love for all peoples of the world. We cannot behave meanly toward anyone, not only because we must love our neighbors (and even our enemies) but the person on the receiving end of our displeasure and our punishment may very well be related to us, and therefore family!

Broadly speaking, my direct ancestry is:

42% - England and Northwestern Europe

28% - Wales

25% - Ireland

3%  - France

2% - Spain

Spain also includes individuals from Portugal. Northwestern Europe includes individuals from Ukraine and Nordic countries. There was more movement across larger swaths of land than one would think possible in those early years. Also, I discovered that, while some women originated in Portugal, they ended up married to kings in Spain, etc. That kind of thing went on quite a bit. Kings would often import  noble wives from the nobility of other lands.

With regard to the reason why many Americans are descended from or otherwise related to European royalty, we have to remember the type of people who originally came to this country and settled it. those of us whose roots go back to very early Virginia, for instance, are descended from people like Lieutenant Colonel Walter Aston, who was my 11th great grandfather, and it is through him (among several others) that I gain my ancestry from Saint Margaret of Scotland and Saint Olga of Kiev!

Distinctly separate from all the above, in 2003, when I began to live as a religious hermit, I had decided to dedicate, in general, my spiritual practices to the benefit of the renewal of the Unified Christian Church that existed prior to the Great Schism of 1054, during which Mother Church split in two, with the Western Church being called the "Roman Catholic Church," and in the East, the "Eastern Orthodox Church." 

I have not been a Christian my entire life, but as soon as I became converted, and I learned about the Great Schism, it broke my heart in two, just as Mother Church had been broken in two. I am sure that Jesus would not want this separation of his people, and I pray that all my pains and sufferings that are offered up on behalf of the reunification of our church may reach heaven and that all my sainted ancestors, including Saint Olga, my 34th great grandmother, will intercede for this special purpose.

All of these separate occurrence have helped to greatly increase my sensitivities toward the Ukrainian people, especially after I began to follow the news of its numerous invasions by Russia since 2014. 

The idea that a giant bear of a nation could simply roll its tanks and armies over the borders of a sovereign country and mow down its people, taking and occupying land against the wishes of and over the dead bodies of Ukrainian citizens who love their country dearly, infuriates me and makes me cry at the same time.

What is even more shocking is that our current president, who has long been suspected of being an asset of Russia, has behaved despicably toward the beleaguered president of Ukraine, Velodymir Zelensky. Ignoring the treaties that Russia has already signed with Ukraine, and which Russia has violated over and over again for more than a decade, President Trump has thrown Ukraine under the bus and is refusing to help them any more.

It is unconscionable that Trump had already pushed aside Zelensky and inserted himself into this matter, arrogantly purporting to have the authority to negotiate with Putin on Ukraine's behalf, entirely without the input of Ukraine, and then to also demand that Ukraine PAY US BACK by giving us half of the valuable rare minerals that are located in the land that Russia has brutally occupied.

With Trump's affection for Putin and Russia, I could easily see him GIVING to Putin those rare earth minerals immediately upon signing the agreement with Zelensky, who is wise to pause before agreeing to this devil's bargain, as far as I am concerned.

We all watched in horror as, against all prior expectations of the decorum expected of a president, Trump savaged poor President Zelensky, who remained remarkably calm and centered during the onslaught of vulgar words and demands thrown at him.  

He and our Vice President even criticized the fact that the man was not wearing a SUIT, as if this man's country was not in ruins, as if life just went on, unabated for him, while his compatriots fought and died for their land.  How could Zelensky dress up, like an elite effete snob in an expensive suit, unaffected by the carnage that is being wrought in his country, thanks to villainous Putin? He could not do that.

When President Zelensky gently but persistently tried to educate Trump and inform him that Russia had broken every agreement they had signed, to date, and that therefore Ukraine needed some kind of security to make sure that Russia would keep THIS particular agreement, Trump became enraged. His face became bright scarlet, and I felt sure that I could see a cold sweat of fury dripping from him. Trump is a man who cannot be taught anything. He is impervious to information that does not comport with what he thinks he already knows, all of which must always serve his ego and self-image in one way or another.

Trump and his smarmy sidekick ended up telling President Zelensky to leave. They want him to apologize and to sign the agreement without any changes. Imagine - after dragging him over there and subjecting him to a dressing down in front of the cameras, which included RUSSIAN outlets (which we never used to allow before), Trump expects that poor man to apologize. It is the worst kind of gaslighting I have ever seen in my life.

Within the next day or two, the entire EU embraced Zelensky and promised him a few million dollars in aid, which is not enough to stop this terrible war and beat the Russians back behind the gate. But I hope that Zelensky does NOT do as Trump wishes, because once he capitulates, all will be lost anyway.

I find it most shocking that Trump supporters are defending all of this. They don't care that he is driving America into the arms of the Russians, our enemies, who hate us, who have always hated us, and who want our destruction. Imagine how happy Putin must be at this moment, now that Trump has not only kicked our allies in the face, but he has also thrown Ukraine to the wolves.

"America first" has become "America only" and, worst of all, "America alone." Trump's supporters are clueless about how dangerous this is for us. They are buying into Trump's childish claims that NATO and the other alliances we have formed over decades were only calculated to take our money. His cynical and completely ignorant claim is being repeated from the rooftops by members of his cult who believe this garbage. And it IS garbage. It is not true. That is not how America would ever have characterized itself.

Worst of all, Trump's evil mischaracterization of the motives of others causes even more division than already exists. It is as if he is trying to pry the U.S.A. entirely out of the world community, leaving it alone and vulnerable.

Please join me in praying for a miracle for Ukraine. Pray that they do not have to sign that evil agreement with Trump but that somehow, some way, they are able to be victorious over the Russian hordes that have invaded their land.

Please join me in appealing to our Saint Olga, "Equal to the Apostles" that she intercede on the behalf of the Ukrainian people and also those in America who know the risks that are being taken by Trump's isolationism. Join me in praying that, instead of isolating ourselves, that people of good will join together, unimpeded, so that the message of Jesus, to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, can most easily be accomplished.

Also, please pray that the people who have been brainwashed with the awful, hateful, and divisive lies and dystopian vision of Trump, may have their eyes opened to the truth so that they may join us on the world stage and embrace Zelensky, as the European Union has done.

And I would love very much if some of you could find it in your hearts to also join me in the prayer for the unification of Holy Mother Church so that she may breathe through both lungs, East and West, once more.

Today, we are ALL Ukrainians.

God bless you all.

Silver Rose

RETURN TO THE LORD IN HASTE

 

If there is one abiding principle I have learned in the 20 years I have been living the hermit life, it is that the Lord is always with us and all we have to do is turn our gaze to Him to submerge ourselves in the recognition of the continuing connection between the sheep and their Shepherd.

How this is done forms the life work of the spiritual aspirant. The more quickly one returns to God as each worldly task is completed, is an indication of our appetite for Him, for if we are tempted by the allurements of the world, then we tarry too long entertaining our baser instincts, wasting the gift of our attention when we should be delighting God with our loving glance.

Even the hermit cannot experience the submersion of the concentrated faculties in God every minute of the day. Our minds are required to negotiate our way down our path, whichever road we have chosen or which has been chosen for us. 

To pray unceasingly is the path of the contemplative hermit. Prayer and Labor, Ora et Labora, establishes the rhythm for the hermit, as our engrossment moves from one mode to another, from work to the Lord and back to work again, everything in its proper time. Our concentration needs to be complete for each. The Lord will know when our entire mind is not with him, and He will miss those parts of us that are withheld from Him, as He wants our entire consciousness to be upon him. Likewise, during our dedicated labors, even if only washing the dishes, we need our whole mind for the task, otherwise the crockery gets broken.

Just now, there is a lot of crockery being broken on Capitol Hill, and it is very distracting. We have a president who is rampaging through all the arms of the government and breaking things, in contravention of our laws, the Constitution, and our customs. It is disturbing to the hermit, first of all, because many people are being hurt unnecessarily and cruelly, which always bothers this hermit. 

The overriding problem, as I see it, is that this is not "business as usual" because this ruler is imitating many of the same things Hitler, Stalin and others have used to suppress and control people. 

I have reason to believe we are in danger of losing the democracy that allows me to live as a hermit, in peace. It will be more than crockery that gets broken if this man is allowed to follow through with his stated aims. Our entire way of life may be broken. 

Because of all of this, my attention has, of necessity, been captured by current events in a way that has not been done before this. There are civic duties to discharge, and I must do them. But at the same time, I cannot abandon my contemplative life.

Although I am aware that there is a constant stream of bad news and reportage of frightening events, I am posting this to remind my friends not to fall down that deep well of fear and despair. Do what you have to do in this crazy world of ours. Advocate for justice, write your letters, make your phone calls, have your meetings, feed the hungry, house the homeless, and encourage the downcast, but as soon as you are finished, return to the Lord in haste, and abide with Him in peace, quiet, and blessedness.

REMEMBER that, when you turn your attention to the Divine, the anxieties do not follow you. They do not follow because they CAN'T. 

When we are absorbed in God, the Blessed Mother, and the encouraging saints, that beautiful vibration that we reach and then match with our inner selves will not allow for the anxieties to catch us. God is all good, and when we are absorbed in Him, Satan and all the worries of the world CANNOT join us in that protected space of Sacred Love.

The one caution I would give is to make sure you do not cling to the bad news. Don't become fascinated by the evil of the world. Don't attach yourselves to your pet peeves, or you will become peevish instead of holy. 

Do only what you feel you HAVE to do in order to discharge your duties, and then flee to the Lord. You do not want to become attached to the anger and hostilities that are flooding the public space. Anger has its own type of endorphins that flow into the body, and then you are caught.

I have seen more than one religious person become stuck like this. Their "message" becomes fixated on ugliness. Instead of pointing to our holy Lord, and presenting the beauty of the Holy Face, they post pictures of the torn-up bodies of aborted babies, and the images of people who live alternative lifestyles and have dozens of piercing and tattoos on their faces and necks. Instead of attracting the world to the promises of Christ, they repel them with grotesqueries and attempt to engage them with hatred toward people who live or think differently than we do.

Part of staying focused on The Lord is by maintaining a loving eye on the world. To love our neighbor is not to objectify him as a person to hate, but as a person who is beloved by God and to whom we may offer a brilliant image of the Lord, our blessed Mother Mary, the saints and angels, and the heavenly realm.

After all, life on this earth is not all we have to look forward to. So we attend to our duties with love and care, laying our minds at the feet of our Lord as much as we are able, all the while keeping a willing heart within us, always ready to incline ourselves toward God.

I pray for you. Please pray for me.

Silver Rose