I visit the Bulgarian Orthodox Church "Archangels Michael and Gabriel in The Hague."
A friend of mine is having her icons blessed, which she painted for herself. *. Students of her painting class have displayed together over 40 icons, the one even more beautiful than the other.
We're
early, and four hours later, we are leaving!
I've been
too busy the past week, and I am having too many appointments this weekend. I'm
a little bit tired and not very focused. And I am not at all into this endless
religious stuff, not yet.
But
gradually I get more and more impressed by the appearance of the church, the
atmosphere, the beautiful icons throughout the whole church. I read somewhere
"As the truth of faith is revealed to the ears, so she reveals herself to
the eye via the icon" (Holy Basil, a church father from the 4th century).
All those images and icons do have such a strong appearance!
The
wonderful casual and unpretentious attitude of the pretty young priest making
jokes in between and not performing holy-like at all, but in fact being very
humble, is very special.
There is a
lot of singing, by a small choir of men and women, and the priest for himself
is doing a lot of singing as well.And it seems as if the power of this little church is gradually growing.
Would You like to comment on what is happening spiritually?
What you have experienced is the building of a
powerful spiritual chapel, touching all those present and in the wide
surroundings with the energy of humility, devotion and trust. And know that the
number of spiritual beings in the chapel, allowed to quench themselves, is many
times bigger!
Because these churchgoers together are taking
the time and because there was much singing, and because the priest was
extensively taking the time to perform a large number of rituals, the spiritual
world is able to continuously build the spiritual chapel.After all, the more time and attention one spends, the more likely God has the possibility to reach you. And the rituals and all the stuff and all the walking and the opening and closing of the doors and curtains separating the altar from the people, alas, that’s what churchgoers need, We don’t. It's okay with Us. It is all about the time and attention and the dedication and the surrender of the people who call Us.
In this Bulgarian Orthodox Church, one allows one
selves the time for it.
Isn’t this necessary for everything?Does a good conversation not request time?
Should one not take extendedly the time for a big job as well?
Requires a subtle job not time and attention and concentration as well?
And that's what you are experiencing.
You are too tired and bring a lot of worrying
and worldly problems with you, but even you have to surrender at some point.
Everything is thoroughly and completely washed away and you too can physically
and emotionally experience what God and Its helpers can do for mankind on
earth.And the atmosphere of the Orthodox Christian churches testifies like those in the Islamic mosques a great devotion and humility. That’s what God really likes.
The Bulgarian church in the Netherlands is blessed.
All the even recently painted icons are blessed.
My blessings to you all
* The icon
displayed in this blog is painted by a female friend. It’s showing Mary Magdalene
and the archangels Michael and Gabriel.
Nr. 307
