About Tanja Cilia

Tanja Cilia lives in Malta, Europe. She is an Allied Newspapers (Malta) newspaper columnist, journalist, blogger and features writer. She freelances and formulates puzzles and writes poetry, in Maltese and English, for local and foreign print and online markets. She also does voluntary work, most of which, of course, is writing-connected. Tanja has always been fascinated by the aura of words, and has been writing for Allied Newspapers (Malta) since she was 14 years old. Contact her at tanjacilia@hotmail.com.

Mocked with a Crown: The Third Sorrowful Mystery

By Tanja Cilia

A claim to Kingship. How best to quash it?

“…and they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had plaited a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head…”

Jesus, Son of God, was led to the praetorium and mocked by the very people whose sins he bore, offended and ridiculed by those who genuflect in jest, divesting Him of his dignity as well as his clothes, and giving Him a reed for a sceptre. Then, the cowardly Pilate presents Him to the baying crowd.

Ecce Homo – Behold the Man!

…words that unwittingly echo the ones said by the Father: This is my Son, whom I love; with Him, I am well pleased.

We bristle when someone looks at us the wrong way. We bridle when someone does not give us the honours due to us. The Son of God bore the ignominies for us silently, without complaint. The savage beating was not enough to satiate the cruel nature of the tormentors.

Pilate’s henchmen could have wondered why this Jew – probably the reputation of Jesus as a miracle-worker has reached them too – had been sent to them for judgement by His own people.

Where are this poor man’s cronies? Where are His followers? Why does he not protest, complain, or explain?

They believed that by demeaning Jesus, they would become greater than He; just as the bullies of today think that by humiliating, embarrassing or ridiculing someone else, they will satisfy their base natures.

Therefore, they dress Him in a robe dyed with Tyrian purple… a mockery of his status as King.

…every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.

And yet, they slap Him and garble words of tribute that are actually insults.

Shall I crucify your King?

The story repeats itself. It is once again we, the people of Jesus, who seek to scorn him, by breaking the Commandments and cutting-and-pasting which bits of His teachings suit us best. We are too lazy to bother going to Mass except on Sundays – and even then, some of us assume that it is all right to attend the celebration on a Saturday evening, just so that we can sleep-in before a day of lazy bliss, and not because there is an event that requires our presence, or because we are shift workers.

My kingdom is not of this world.

Pilate asks Him, “Are You a king?”, and Jesus replies that His kingdom is not of this world. The mob screams. Crucify Him! Crucify Him!

Ironically, Pilate proclaims that Jesus is King four times. “…you have a custom that I should release one man to you at the Passover; will you have me release for you the King of the Jews…?”; “Behold, your King!”; “Shall I crucify your King?”; and finally, in the inscription “The King of the Jews”.

When you mock someone, you are trying to make him feel worthless by undermining his dignity. Mockery attacks the soul and the mind. We see this happen again and again at the workplace, in the classroom, in ward, in slavery… and even within the walls of the home, where the members of the households are supposed to be safe from all hurt.

It is definitely not enough to “not mock” others. We must actively nurture them and protect them from being belittled by others.

Francis I: The Game of the Name

By Tanja Cilia

No sooner had Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio chosen his name in religion, than the mispronunciations of his old one began.

This happened for the simple reason that although (as rumour has it) he had been the first runner-up to Benedict XVI in 2005, he had not been considered a favourite this time around. (Despite the fact that the combination of Argentina and Jesuit brings to mind Liberation Theology which, in “certain circles,” is said to be just the shake-up the church, nay the world, needs.)

Most of us knew about the African Cardinals from Nigeria, Ghana, and the Democratic Republic of Congo – but not about him. (Incidentally, Victor, Miltiades, and Gelasius were the names of three Popes who came from Africa.)

After all, what can you expect from a Jesuit (an order the members of which do not actively seek promotion) who used public transport and cooked his own meals?

A lot, apparently. Moreover, this is first and foremost indicated by his choice of name. He selected the name of “the poor one of Assisi,” as he is known in Italy. Then it gradually dawned on people that as a Jesuit, Francis I could well have been identifying with Francis Xavier, as well.

What is certain is that nobody bet on a ‘new’ name. There have been Franciscan popes – Nicholas IV, Sixtus IV, Sixtus V, and Clement XIV – but as we can see, none of them chose the name of their founder.

Francis of Assisi, a humble person, was directed by the crucified Christ to “rebuild my Church, which is in ruins”. Will this bring a new aggiornamento? If, on the other hand, the allusion includes the Jesuit Saint Francis Xavier… we all know he was a missionary, and a prototypical evangelist.

Francis I is the first Latin American Pope. He is also the first Jesuit ever to be elected Pope (one of the charismas of the Order is to actively serve the Pope; never to seek to be him).

Pundits had devoted many column inches to the possible names that could be have been chosen by the new Pontiff. Each name was accompanied by the baggage endowed it by the predecessors who used it, as well as the meaning of the name itself, and the message it would impart.

For example, Pius XIII would be indicative of a conservative outlook whereas Leo XIV could be a call for social justice.

As a corollary, therefore, a papal name with no precedent would leave people thinking for a while.

Gregory, John, Leo, Paul, Benedict, Pius… all these and more (except Peter) had been put forward as possible choices.

Just for the record, it is said that John III had begun the custom of choosing a new name in 533 because his birth one had been Mercurious (after the god Mercury); it would “never do” for a Catholic Pope to have a pagan name.

Be that as it may, re-naming was already present and important in Biblical times, as when Jacob was re-named Israel. In the New Testament, Saul was re-named Paul and Simon was re-named Peter.

The Scourging

By Tanja Cilia

The Scourging of Jesus at the Pillar (Matt. 27:26)

Scourging as a punishment is mentioned in Leviticus and Deuteronomy.

The Jews put criminals to death in four ways; by strangling, burning, slaying with the sword, or stoning. Crimes that were deemed not severe enough for this warranted beating or scourging.

This is something we should keep in mind – criminals who were beaten were not executed, since the judge would not have imposed the death penalty on them.

The makkot of the Talmud described how, and where, the blows would have been given, and for which crimes. The number was usually 39, i.e. one less than the prescribed 40, to ensure that the letter of the law was not inadvertently broken. There was the idea that the body would only be able to take forty lashes before it gave out.

Roman citizens would be birched; flagellation was reserved for disobedient slaves and non-citizens.

Jesus shared our nature when He became man; but he went even further than that when he took upon His unblemished shoulders the debts of our iniquities, and paid for them with His passion and death. He was the sacrificial Lamb of God, treated worse than a common criminal, whose body was flayed, although he was innocent of any wrong-doing.

The Elders, Scribes, and Priests – the Sanhedrin – had their plan ready. They decided that Jesus must die; the fact that the people gave him their allegiance meant, to them, that he was instigating a movement against them, and that could not be tolerated. However, this had to be done with finesse; so Jesus was taken to Pilate…on a trumped-up charge; a politically astute move since there was bad blood between the Romans and the Jews and this could redress some semblance of public relations between the two factions.

A little background: At the time, Israel was a dominion of the Roman Empire. Jews were allowed to hold court sessions, but they could never mete out the death penalty; that of Jesus, they hoped, would come from Pilate.

Pilate would never in a thousand years consider the blasphemy of which Jesus was accused to be deciding factor – so they pounced upon the capital offences of claiming sovereignty and opposing the payment of taxes to Caesar. Pilate saw through this, and his impressions were justified when he interviewed Jesus privately. Yet, and yet, he “washed his hands” of the affair, as he would have done if he literally had blood upon them, to appease his accusers. He was wounded for our iniquities; He was bruised for our sins.

Moreover, he released Barabbas, because it was festival time, and this was a customary boon obtaining at law that the Romans granted the Jews.

“Are you King of the Jews?” “What shall I do then with Jesus, who is called King of the Jews?” Two questions from Pilate, and two replies so diverse that they strike us in their dissimilarity. Two answers, the reverberations of which still echo today… “My Kingdom is not of this world…” “Crucify Him!”

The Holy Way of the Cross depicts three falls to the ground of Jesus. Even one fall would have been a torment. The pain was exacerbated because Christ felt their insatiable hatred.

Sometimes we choose to do what looks good, rather than what is actually the just and correct thing to do. We rationalize that it is for the common good. Who cares if some people do not get what they deserve because we cut corners or lie? Perhaps we fail to do what is right because it might put us at a disadvantage with others.

We blame peer pressure… but resisting temptation has to start somewhere; and if our peers put pressure on us to do what is right, we might not have profited as much, anyway.

Sweating Blood

By Tanja Cilia

The First Sorrowful Mystery: The Agony of Jesus in the Garden

Luke 22:39-44

Hematidrosis (a.k.a. “sweating blood”) is a rare medical condition that may occur when a person is suffering extreme levels of stress.

Imagine the excruciating agony wrought by three hours of distress, anguish, and dread. For Our Lord, the agonizing thought of His forthcoming passion, to atone for our sins, caused Him to sweat blood as He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane (prefiguring how His precious blood would be shed for us on the cross).

He beseeched God, “Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from Me.” Christ knew that He would die for us – and yet He wants us to understand that in His human nature, He was filled with trepidation and pain. Immediately following this pleading, He says, “Not My will be done, but Yours”–with His self-renunciation and submission sealing our redemption.

He accepts His forthcoming Passion for our redemption.

For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting. (John 3:16)

We have heard the story hundreds of times – the Last Supper of Holy Thursday, Judas slipping away…. Jesus and His three closest disciples: Peter, James, and John, go to the Garden of Gethsemane to prepare for His Sacrifice on Good Friday, through prayer. And yet, He prays alone, for they sleep on the job, as it were… as we often do, ourselves.

He says to them – and to us – “My soul is sorrowful unto the point of death. Wait here and keep vigil with Me.” He is wounded at their behaviour. “Couldn’t you even bear to stay awake with me for one hour?” As a human, Jesus felt forsaken and overwhelmed. He was pure and without sin; and He was bearing on His shoulders the sins of all the world.

Then followed the phrase we use so often as a reason (or is it an excuse?) when we shirk our duties, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak”; whereas in reality it ought to be, “Not my will be done, but Yours.” The Father, who sent the angel to comfort Jesus, was His solace and succor, as He should be ours.

And He went away to pray for a second time. And again, He came back to find them asleep – and left them, to pray alone for a third time. Jesus suffered emotional, physical, and spiritual pain.

He went back to Peter and the sons of Zebedee, and said “You can rest and sleep now. The hour has come for the Son of Man is to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Come! Let us go!”

Then came the betrayal by Judas. Jesus was brutally bound, like a common criminal, and led away. His hour had come.

Jesus obeyed God’s will. We, on the other hand, try to find loopholes that absolve us from our duties to God, to our fellow men, and to ourselves. Busyness, self-pity, illness, tiredness, joblessness, pressure of work, contrary people, financial difficulties… anything will do.

It’s never our fault, is it?

Sorrowful Mysteries: Tuesdays and Fridays

The Annunciation

By Tanja Cilia

The Baker-woman in her humble lodge
Received a grain of wheat from God.
For nine whole months the grain she stored

Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
Make us the bread, Mary, Mary
We need to be fed…

Traditional hymn, translated from the French by Hubert Richards.

Theotokos is the Greek term used to describe Mary, Mother of God. The Madonna God’s instrument in redemption; the virgin-mother who fulfils Isaiah 7:14 and links heaven and earth.

The central focus of this feast is the Incarnation of God Made Man, of whom it was said “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” [John 15:13]. The Gospel of Luke tells us that Archangel Gabriel proclaimed to Mary that she had been chosen to be the mother of the Christ. Since it is practical to presume that Jesus was conceived then, immediately after this.

We celebrate the Annunciation nine months before Christmas Day, on 25 March. The word is from the Latin annuntiare, to announce.

We are all encouraged to emulate Mary, Mother of God – and yet sometimes, we are discouraged from doing so because we know we can never be as holy, as blessed, as at one with God. But the point is that just as Mary gave her “fiat” (let Your will be done) and consented to do God’s will, so must we be “handmaidens of the Lord”.

“You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:31-34)

Jesus, the second Person of the Holy Trinity, became the Logos (“Word”), and dwelt among us. This is why in the Nicene Creed we say by the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary and became man.

Mary and Joseph were not yet married; so she asked Gabriel how that would come to pass. He replied that the Holy Spirit and the power of God would descend upon her, and that the child to be born would be called Holy; the “Son of God.”

Gabriel had another surprise; he told Mary that in her old age, her cousin Elizabeth had also conceived a son in her old age; for God, “nothing is impossible”.

In the Annunciation, which is not a Holy Day of Obligation, we remember both that Jesus was made man to save us, and also that Mary said yes to God. Most of the paintings of the Annunciation present the occasion as one of prayerful joy, with the angel on the left side and Mary looking towards him in wonder, or in prayer.

In some pictures, Mary is kneeling – in others, she is seated on a chair that looks like a throne, to show her high holy status.

Sometimes, Mary is spinning yarn of a red hue, recalling the curtain of the Temple in Jerusalem. In some other pictures, Mary’s hand is raised, to indicate that she has accepted the blessing, and the invitation to become the Mother of the Saviour.

Different paintings give different interpretations of the Annunciation – it is interesting to note how in some of them Gabriel appears to be running, as if he is in a hurry to spread the Good News. Sometimes, however, the Archangel is presented kneeling, and his right hand and that of the Virgin Mary reach out to one another, but do not touch.

When we see the Archangel holding a staff, it is to indicate that he is a messenger – if he holds a lily, it symbolises the purity of Mary. When the right hand of the angel extends toward Mary, it signifies that he is passing on God’s blessing. Sometimes, the angel’s hand is raised, his finger pointing towards heaven.

The Annunciation is usually the first of The Seven Joys of the Virgin, which date from medieval devotional literature and art. However, different lists give different instances in the life of Our Lady. It is noted that originally, there were five joys of Mary; later lists had seven, nine, and even fifteen.

Mother Church teaches that the divine nature of the Jesus remained distinct from His human nature; He was God and man simultaneously. Saint Athanasius taught that Jesus was the incarnation (“made flesh”) of the second person of the Trinity.

The First Council of Nicaea (AD 325); the Council of Ephesus (AD 431); and the Council of Chalcedon (AD 451). These councils affirmed that Jesus Christ was begotten from, but not created by, the Father; and fully man, and that He took His human nature from His Mother. In layman’s terms, Jesus is Son of God on his paternal side and Son of Man from his maternal side. The essential nature of Jesus Christ is that in which the divine and the human are hypostatic, and the Son of God became a man so that he could save us from our sins.

Many people still abstain from meat during all of Lent, and not just on Fridays. This brings us to the question of whether, especially if the Annunciation and Saint Joseph’s Day fall on a Friday, it would be permissible to eat meat.

The Annunciation (also known as Lady Day) is a solemnity, like Easter, Pentecost Sunday, and Christmas, Trinity Sunday, the Feasts of Saint John the Baptist, Saints Peter and Paul, and Saint Joseph, as well as other feasts of our Lord and the Blessed Virgin Mary.

A solemnity, for which the Liturgical Vestments are generally white, is the highest-ranking of any feast in the Catholic liturgical calendar, considered as important as a Sunday, which is never a day of abstinence or fasting. Indeed, the Code of Canon Law (Can. 1251) states that:

Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday.

The Angelus

The Angelus reminds us of the Incarnation. The name of the prayer is derived from its opening words.

V. Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariæ.
R. Et concepit de Spiritu Sancto.

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostræ. Amen.

V. Ecce Ancilla Domini.
R. Fiat mihi secundum Verbum tuum.

Ave Maria…

V. Et Verbum caro factum est.
R. Et habitavit in nobis.

Ave Maria…

V. Ora pro nobis, Sancta Dei Genetrix.
R. Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi.

Oremus: Gratiam tuam quæsumus, Domine,
mentibus nostris infunde;
ut qui, angelo nuntiante,
Christi Filii tui Incarnationem cognovimus,
per passionem eius et crucem,
ad resurrectionis gloriam perducamur.
Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

—————————–

V. The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.
R. And she conceived by the power of Holy Spirit.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

V. Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
R. Be it done unto me according to your Word.

Hail Mary…

V. And the Word was made flesh.
R. And dwelt among us.

Hail Mary…

V. Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray: Pour forth, we beseech thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, that we to whom the incarnation of Christ Thy Son was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His resurrection; through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

Glory be…

Rock On! “Who do you say that I am?”

By Tanja Cilia

Every so often, television station air series such as This is Your Life or, the latest, who Do You Think You Are? These programs trace the genealogy of the protagonist, researching family backgrounds, ancestral homes, surnames, coats of arms, and anything that could have had a bearing on making the person who or what he is today.

These programs have a solid fan-base, because people tend to be curious about the lives of others – however private they may want their own affairs to be.

Sometimes, it turns out that personalities had convicts, or scientists, or suffragettes, or royalty, – or even lion tamers – in the lower branches of their family trees. This is what makes episodes of the program interesting; for nobody wants to read about generation upon generation of skullduggery.

Be that as it may, we also use Who do you think you are? as a sarcastic question, when we feel that someone is getting too big for his boots.

“Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’”

Jesus turned the tables on this query when He asked His disciples these two important questions – what people were saying about who He was, and what they thought, themselves. This was an issue they could have been taken for granted – but now, it was time to consider it deeply. The second one a make-or-break question – it was either that they believed in Him, or that they denied Him and His teachings

Thinking deeply about these questions, we would realize that our replies have a bearing on our values, our lifestyles – and our Hereafter, too. Jesus told us that He and the Father are one. So – we know that He is God incarnate. He was not a guru, or a philosopher, or a prophet… or even a madman, as some would have us believe. Ironically even Satan and his demons believe in the true God.

We cannot cut-and-paste our own views of what He is, on Jesus. He told us, often enough, who He is. Even as He wrote in the sand, He was showing us that He is The Way, The Truth, and the Life.

Jesus told us that He is holy, when He called for us to be holy, “… for I am holy.” The Bible tells us that Jesus is the Savior, the righteous Judge, the sovereign Lord, and the Living God. John wrote in his Gospel that Jesus was God made flesh.
Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus told Peter that he was blessed, and enlightened by God the Father. This, so soon after Jesus had called him a “man of little faith” when he wanted to set up three abodes for Jesus, Moses and Elijah.

Jesus said that He could forgive sin; this is something only God can do. Just in case anyone doubted that He could, He followed this up with a miracle. Again, only God can do miracles, and this showed that Jesus was God. However, religious leaders accused Him of blasphemy.

And after the humiliation, suffering, and death on the cross, Jesus rose from the dead, and proved, once and for all, that He is God.

The Woman At the Well

By Tanja Cilia

as retold by Tanja Cilia

The woman was looking around her furtively. She was feeling uncomfortable, knowing that she did not “belong” where she was. This woman was from Samaria, and Samaritans were the mixed race of the Assyrians and the Jews of the former northern kingdom. So they were neither one, nor the other.

She was a woman at a time when women were treated as second-class citizens. She was a foreigner, living in a strange country. She was not married, but she lived with a man, and this meant that the other women looked down upon her.

This is why we find her at the well in the oppressive noon heat, “the sixth hour”. This well was dug on the plot of ground that Jacob gave His son Joseph. The other women used to fetch the water in the early morning, or in the evening, when it was cool. So in order not to meet them, she used to go when the sun beat down mercilessly upon her; but at least she did not have to avoid the eyes of the others, knowing that their malicious whispers were gossip about her.

This story happened when Jesus was traveling to Samaria. Now we must realize that the Jews avoided all contact with the Samaritans, and even with their country, if at all possible. For a Jew to call another Jew “A Samaritan” was a grave insult – in fact, in the Gospel of John [8:42] we find how during a quarrel, some of His fellow countrymen told Jesus “You are a Samaritan, and you are possessed by a demon.”

Jesus could have taken another road, skirting past Samaria, but He did not. He wanted this event to happen. He and the disciples came to a town called Sychar.

So, imagine her surprise when a man comes to the well, and talks to her. From His clothes, she realized that He was a Jew – and at that time, men just didn’t walk up to women and engage them in conversation – not even if the women were related them and especially so if the women were foreigners.

So it is to be expected, somehow, that the conversation which follows is not one that would have occurred between a Jewish man and a Jewish woman. For instance, there was the quasi-theological discussion about where God prefers to be worshipped – in Jerusalem, or on Mount Gerizim.

Jesus tells her “Believe me; the hour is coming when we will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. Indeed, the hour is already here when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.”

Jesus, of course, knew all the answers. But He had a lesson to teach her – and us. That is why when the disciples had gone into the town to buy food, Jesus stayed behind.

He asked the woman to slake His thirst – and she was taken aback. This would entail her lending Him a cup – and that was unthinkable. “What? You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan!”

The Gospel explains that ‘Jews will not use the same cups or dishes that Samaritans use’, because Jews considered themselves as pure, whereas to them Samaritans were racially impure. Then He told her that He, too, had water, but His water was special because it gave eternal life.

She could not comprehend the deep meaning to His words. She stated the obvious – that He could not bring up water from the well, because He did not have a bucket. Perhaps with a bit of sarcasm in her voice, she asked whether He was greater than the forefather Jacob; who, it was said, had constructed the ancestral well, used by generations of people, each father and mother taking the children to it as a necessary part of tradition.

Then, she though better of it. How much better it would be to have the water that this person would give her, and never thirst again. Oh, this would mean she could steer clear of the well, and she would never, ever, have to see those women again.

Then, something inside her moved, and she realized that Jesus was special. She told Him, not asked Him, whether He was a prophet. She stated adamantly that she knew the Messiah was coming, and that when He came, He would make known all the things that until then would have been hidden. It is pertinent to note that the conversation between Jesus and the woman takes up nearly 40 verses in the Bible.

At this point, Jesus said the beautiful words that she treasured forever after: “I am He, the One who is speaking to you.”

Can you blame the woman for being so excited? She dropped everything – and this is an important thing – and ran into the village, telling everyone what had happened. She begged them to go to the well and meet Jesus. “He told me everything I have ever done!”

Later, when the disciples returned with food for Jesus, He told them He had food they didn’t know about. They assumed the woman had shared her lunch with Him.

Exactly because she was a Samaritan, people from her nation went to look for Jesus, something they might not have done if the Good News had been told by a Jew.

We do not know the name of this woman – but the Eastern Orthodox Church gives her the name Saint Photina (from the word for “light”), and celebrate her feast on February 28. The well is re-named as The Well of Jacob and Jesus.

The woman, like Saint Paul, is honored as an Apostle and as an Evangelist who spread The Good News, and there are apocryphal stories about her that say she went to Carthage and Smyrna in Asia Minor.

This is the hymn sung in her honor:

By the well of Jacob, O holy one, thou didst find

The water of eternal and blessed life.

And having partaken thereof,

O wise Photina,

thou went forth proclaiming

Christ, the Anointed One and the light of the world.

Great Photina, equal-to-the-Apostles,

Pray to Christ for the salvation of our souls.

Touching the Hem

By Tanja Cilia

as retold by Tanja Cilia

It is a traditional in some communities to touch the priest’s liturgical vestment (the chasuble or phelonion of the Eastern Rite) ever so slightly, as he passes by. Some people bend down to touch the hem. Both customs recall the woman – whose name we do not know – who bent down to touch the hem of Jesus’s garment, and was instantly healed of her illness.

This beautiful miracle happened just after Jesus and his disciples landed at Capernaum, having sailed across the Lake. There was a mass of people waiting for them on the shore – and one of them, whose name was Jairus, moved forward and knelt down in front of Jesus.

Jairus was a very important man at the Synagogue, so the people were surprised at this, and even more so when they heard what he had to say. We must remember that the leaders of the Synagogue did not really like Jesus. But when faced with the death of his daughter, Jairus became desperate enough to seek out the “enemy”. He told Jesus that his daughter was at the point of death, and that he knew that if Jesus visited her, she would be well once again.

Jesus agreed to go to his house – but when they were on their way, with people crowding around Jesus to hear His teachings, a servant came up to Jairus with he news that his daughter had died. Jesus simply said “Don’t be afraid; she will be saved.”

It is at this point that we meet the woman who had been ill for twelve years. The Gospels tell us that she had been to many doctors, but none of them could cure her. She had spent all her money on the cures they suggested, for nothing. Because of her sickness, she was shunned by people. It was partly for this reason that she came up to Jesus “from behind”, because she thought that if people saw her, they would shoo her away from Him and she would never get to see Him, let alone be cured by Him.

The story is told slightly differently in the Gospels; it is said that the woman touched the tassel, the fringe, or the hem of the clothes of Jesus. It does not matter; what matters is that she had unconditional faith – she believed that touching even the edge, or the trimming attached to it was enough for her to be cured.

Some commentaries tell us that it was not the edge of the robe that the woman touched, but the fringe of the talit (the prayer shawl) that Rabbis wear. This fringe represented the Names of God, and this is why the woman wanted to touch it.

These are the Names of God represented in the talit:
Elohim- our Creator
El Shaddai- God of Covenant
Adoni- Master
El Elyon- Most High God
Jehovah Rapha- My Healer
Jehovah Jireh- My Provider
Jehovah M’Kadesh- My Sanctifier
Jehovah Tsidkenu- My Righteousness
Jehovah Shalom- My Peace
Jehovah Rohi- My Shepherd
Jehovah Sabaoth- Lord of Hosts
Jehovah Nissy- My Banner in Battle
Jehovah Shammah- The Abiding Presence

And she was – the woman realized immediately that she had been healed. For twelve whole years, because of her illness, the woman had not been able to enter the temple to worship, as it was ruled in the book of Leviticus. Touching someone would mean they would be considered ritually unclean, as well. Nobody would have anything to do with her, because they would become “tainted”, like her. Everyone ignored her, and shunned her. She was sad and lonely, and Jesus was her last hope.

Some apocryphal versions of the story say that this woman was none other than Veronica of Caesarea Philippi, who later wiped Jess’s face on His way to Calvary.

She knew that she was not allowed to walk in the streets when there were people there. She could have been killed for breaking the law. But she knew she had nothing to lose – she had already lost her health, her money, and her friends.

Some people may question how, exactly, she “knew” that she was cured instantaneously. Well, the illness of the woman was such that she felt pain and discomfort every single moment of her life. Suddenly, she felt whole again, and she also felt that the bleeding was staunched.

There must have been scores of people milling around Jesus and his Apostles, jostling one another. And yet when the woman touched His garment, Jesus felt the power go out of Him. He stopped, and he asked “Who touched me?”

The reply was one that we, too, might have given him. The Apostles pointed out that there was a big crowd, so they could never, ever, be able to identify one specific person who had touched him. But Jesus knew that something special had happened, and he looked around to search for the woman. He said “I asked who touched me, for I perceived that living energy has come out from me.” She was ever so embarrassed and frightened, because she thought people would accuse her of touching someone when she knew she should not have done it!

But, somehow, she plucked up courage, now that she was no longer “unclean”, to talk to Jesus and admit that it was she who had touched His clothes. He blessed her and said “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. You have been healed.” It is important to note that Jesus used the phrase “go in peace” to show us that it is important to have peace in our hearts as well as healthy bodies.

Jesus did not become “unclean” because the woman had touched him. We have seen Him touch lepers and dead people, and yet he remained holy. Just to make things clear, because there was a superstition that the clothes of a holy person, in themselves, held power – Jesus explains to her that it was not by touching His clothes that she was cured, but because she had believed it would happen.

Jairus was fidgety and perhaps a little angry as well because this incident had made Jesus “too late” to help his daughter. But when they got to the house, Jesus said “She is not dead; she sleeps.” Later, when Jesus brought the little girl back to life again, he asked the people in the house to give her something to eat, to show that for her and her family, life was now back to normal.

The Prodigal Son

By Tanja Cilia

as retold by Tanja Cilia

“Hey dad!”

“Yes, my son?”

“I was thinking, Dad… I’m sick and tired of living in this house, being the younger brother, I mean. I want to see the world; I want to be someone, not just a small fish in a small pond…”

“Oh, my son, what are you saying? These words of yours are breaking my heart. Why do you want to leave me? Have I not always taken care of you, and given you all that you need, and all that you want? You have never been without nice clothes and good food. I always let you bring your friends over, and yes, I am strict but loving…”

“Oh, papa, you do not understand. I have to play second fiddle to my brother, and he is always telling me that you love him more because he is your Firstborn. I want the money I would have gotten after you died, as my inheritance. I want to make it in the Great Big World, not stay cooped up forever in this tiny town…”

And the argument went on and on, day in, day out. Finally, the father consented, against his better judgment, to give his younger son a bag full of money and sent him on his way. “Be careful, my son!” he said, as he wiped a tear or two on the long sleeves of his robe.

“Thank you dad! I shall be thinking of you when I am far away. I want you to know that I will make the family name known around the world… I will become famous, and I will never forget you!”

So off went the younger son. His father watched him until he was a spot in the distance, and then broke down, sobbing.

The young man had never seen so much money at once, and so he did not know how to handle it properly. He spent and spent, and bought stuff for people whom he did not even know. So of course, these became his “friends.”

He dressed himself in expensive clothes, and bought the best foods and the finest perfumes and shoes for himself – and for those who flattered him.

One day, he could not hear the jingling of money in his bag any more. He put in his hand… and drew out one solitary coin. He looked at it sadly – and suddenly noticed that he was all alone – everyone had slunk away. They did not want to be with a loser, so he couldn’t even ask for pay-back to tide him over. He sold all his fine things in order to eat, but soon even those were gone. For the first time in his life he had to get a proper job.

But since he was – or at least he used to be – a rich kid, he had never had to work for a living, and so he did not know how to do anything. The only job he could find was taking care of pigs. Oh, how they stank! Oh, what bad manners they had. They jostled, they fought, and they even knew when he was going to steal a carob pod from their trough, because they head-butted him out of the way. But at least he got to sleep in the smelly barn.

He began to dream – when he was asleep, but more so when he was awake – of the fine time he had when he was at home. He remembered the silk clothes and compared them to his current sackcloth ones. He remembered the fine foods and compared them to the nasty-smelling swill of the pigs, some of which he nipped for himself in order to avoid starving to death.

Finally, he could take it no more. He thought again about his father and his home. The servants at his father’s house were well taken care of. They had comfortable beds and ate good food. Suddenly, he had a thought. “I will arise and go to my Father,” he said. “I will tell him to keep me, not as a son, but as a humble servant, because I deserve no more than that.” But at least the servants in my father’s house have proper food and proper clothes….

So the Prodigal Son began his journey home. It was many miles away, and he had to walk because he could not afford a donkey. He was tired, sweaty, and hungry, but he walked on and on and on, in a hurry to see his beloved father again. But the closer he came to the borders of the town, the more ashamed he felt. He kept off the roads and ducked behind bushes when travelers passed by. He wondered in anguish what sort of greeting he would receive at home.

Finally, he reached a place he recognized and he heard a shout! His father was actually running out from the city gates toward him. How embarrassed he was! He felt like one of the pigs he used to tend; unwashed and smelly, with matted hair and dirt caked under his fingernails.

But, incredibly, his father did not notice any of this – all he saw was a son that had been lost, but was found. The young man fell to his knees and apologized, and instead of being angry his father told the servants (who were keeping their distance – not out of respect but because of the smell!) to prepare a barbecue and kill the fatted calf! They were ordered to bring the father’s robe and put it on the boy, to get him shoes because he was barefooted. They put a ring on his hand, and prepared him a bath. Soon, a great celebration was in full swing.

The elder brother heard the noise of the party, and saw people dancing. He was livid. He went to his father and complained bitterly that he had never been allowed to throw a party for his friends, and yet, for this wastrel, the father had killed the fatted calf. The big brother did not want to go to the party, because he was angry and jealous.

But the father laid a hand gently upon his older son’s arm and said, “My firstborn, you only had to ask me, but you never did. All that I have is yours! Come, now, let us be happy because your brother has returned. He was dead, but now he lives! He was lost, but now he is home.”

Jesus and Blind Bartimeus

By Tanja Cilia

as retold by Tanja Cilia

Matthew 20:29-34; Luke 18:35-43 Mark 10:46-52

You will remember we mentioned Jericho, that place with wonderful gardens and world-famous date palms, when we spoke about Zacchaeus. In fact, this story happened just before the one where Jesus met Zacchaeus. In this story we see Jesus called “The Son of David” for the first time – Jesus accepts this title, and we know that it is a reference to the fact that Our Saviour had to come from the House of David.

Bartimeus was a blind man who also lived in Jericho; he spent his days begging for food or money with which to buy it. At the time, it was a common thing to see beggars out in the street – there were no such things as pensions or insurances.

Mark and Luke tell us that one of the two blind people whom Jesus cured was called Bartimaeus; perhaps they knew him, or his father Timeus (Bartimeus means “Son of Timeus” like we would say Johnson), or perhaps the people told them who he was. The other beggar was an “also-ran”, and I have no doubt that he, too, could see again when Jesus laid His hands on him.

Jesus, His disciples and many people arrived in Jericho. They heard a commotion, and realized that Jesus was being called upon to perform a miracle. But since the men who needed Jesus were not “important” in society, they were being told to be quiet and not interrupt Jesus and waste His time.

Now there are plenty of things to think about in this story. Bartimeus was a poor beggar, and this means he did not have many possessions. When he heard the hubbub made by the people who regularly followed Jesus, he asked what the matter was. The people told him that Jesus was near, and so he “took off his cloak” and went towards Him. He needed his one and only cloak, to use as a sunshade, an umbrella, and blanket at night – and yet he cast it off because it would slow down his progress as he ran towards the Lord. Bartimeus had faith – he knew that Jesus would cure him – but he had to make his presence known to Him, first! The beggars wanted Jesus to open their eyes – which here means to give them sight – and so they grasped the opportunity that came their way.

If you read the story, you will see how the people tried to stop Bartimeus from shouting out. You sometimes get people, even these days, who do not want others to be better than themselves. As it was, they thought Bartimeus was “worse off” than they, because he did not have the sense of sight.

But funnily enough, when they saw that Jesus wanted to speak with Bartimeus and his friend, they changed their tune. They told him “Cheer up! He wants to talk to you – go!”

Why do you think that Jesus asked the blind man what he wanted? Jesus knew the answer to that question already – but he wanted the man to ask him specifically, just as He wants us to call on Him and pray to Him with our needs. If Bartimeus did not believe that Jesus had the power to cure him, he would not have told him “I want to see!” He would have said something like “If you can do it…”

In fact, Jesus told Bartimeus “Go! Your faith has made you well…” and sure enough, Bartimeus could now see perfectly, and he joined the throng that was following Jesus on the road. All the people praised Jesus when they saw the wonderful miracle that had happened in front of their eyes.