Tag Archives: liturgical

Blessed is the one who reads

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St. John receives the heavenly message from an angel and then dictates it to his disciple-secretary so that others can read it —or hear it read aloud—and experience what he has seen.

“Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.” (Apocalypse 1:3)

St. John tells us that whoever reads the words of the Apocalypse is “blessed.” This is the first of seven times a person or a group is pronounced “blessed” in the Apocalypse. These seven beatitudes (Rev. 1:3, 14:13, 16:15, 19:9, 20:6, 22:7, 14) are similar to the Beatitudes announced in the gospels during the Sermon on the Mount.

The term rendered as “blessed” in English is a Greek word that can mean both “happy” and “blessed by God;” it has become common to find English translations of the gospels that render the Beatitudes as “Happy are those who mourn… Happy are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness… Happy are the merciful… Happy are the poor in spirit….” This translation is true on one level: those who live in such a way do find happiness but that idea of “happiness” is probably better thought of as “joy.” “Happy” can sound flip and lighthearted, a fleeting emotion that has no roots or stability. To be “blessed by God” certainly contains the idea of joy but also has an austere edge to it: this way of life is difficult but worthwhile and demands self-sacrifice from those who practice it.

Church Slavonic also uses the word “blessed” as a way to describe those the world deems “foolish, crazy, or insane.” The fools-for-Christ (ex. 1 Cor. 4:10) are called “blessed.” The merciful, the poor in spirit, those who hunger and thirst after righteousness are all crazy. Foolish. Insane. Because living like that will always arouse the animosity of “the world,” the fallen order that opposes God.

In the beginning of the Apocalypse, the “blessed” are those who read aloud the words that St. John has written. Reading aloud is a liturgical act. The text that St. John sends to the churches is to be read aloud during the celebration of the Eucharist just as the letters of the Apostle Paul were read aloud during the celebration of the Eucharist. This introduction of the Apocalypse establishes the liturgical context of the whole book. This “reading aloud”–just as the phrase, “I was in the spirit on the Lord’s Day,” i.e. was attending the celebration of the Eucharist on Sunday–make clear that the Apocalypse is best understood as a pastoral letter and a commentary on the Eucharist itself.

The epistle to the Hebrews is the other “liturgical commentary” in the New Testament; it is interesting to note that the two texts that were most problematic in the establishment of the New Testament canon–the epistle to the Hebrews and the Apocalypse–are the two commentaries on the liturgical practice of the early Church.

Proskynesis and Apocalypse

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We see Jesus standing with an 8-pointed star behind his head, emblematic of “eternity,” in this iconographic depiction of the first chapter of the Apocalypse. Christ appears in gleaming white priestly vestments, shining more brightly than the sun much as he is described as appearing at the Transfiguration on Mt. Tabor. Transfiguration, in patristic sermons, is seen as an anticipation of the End and a foretaste of the Apocalypse. Transfiguration reveals the goal and intended destination of humanity in communion with God. St. John, who saw Christ transfigured on Tabor, recognizes Christ transfigured again on Patmos.

The Apostle John makes a proskynesis (“prostration “) before Christ. Christ’s voice, which is described as sounding like a trumpet blast, is depicted by the elaborate trumpet coming from his mouth. We see the seven lamps depicted as candlesticks at Christ’s side. It became customary in the Christian West to always have seven candlesticks on the altar when the bishop celebrates the Eucharist.

The proskynesis, or “prostration,” is a gesture that appears many times throughout the Old and New Testaments. The prophet Daniel makes a proskynesis (Daniel 8:17; 10:7-9) while Joshua made a proskynesis to an angel (Joshua 5:14) and when King Solomon dedicated the Temple, the priests all make a proskynesis when the glory of God fills the newly-dedicated Temple.

Proskynesis is frequently translated “worship” in English Bibles but—according to the 7th ecumenical council—technically speaking proskynesis is precisely not worship. It is an act of honor, of reverence, of veneration. But not worship. Proskynesis is an act of veneration appropriate to make towards holy things—the altar, relics, icons—but it is not worship which is appropriate to offer only to God. Worship may include an act of proskynesis but proskynesis is not limited to acts of worship.