Synaxis Study Group: II Esdras

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

II Esdras

I, Ezra, saw on Mount Zion a great multitude that I could not number, and they all were praising the Lord with songs. ⁴³In their midst was a young man of great stature, taller than any of the others, and on the head of each of them he placed a crown, but he was more exalted than they. And I was held spellbound. ⁴⁴Then I asked an angel, ‘Who are these, my lord?’ ⁴⁵He answered and said to me, ‘These are they who have put off mortal clothing and have put on the immortal, and have confessed the name of God. Now they are being crowned, and receive palms.’ ⁴⁶Then I said to the angel, ‘Who is that young man who is placing crowns on them and putting palms in their hands?’ ⁴⁷He answered and said to me, ‘He is the Son of God, whom they confessed in the world.’ So I began to praise those who had stood valiantly for the name of the Lord.^* ⁴⁸Then the angel said to me, ‘Go, tell my people how great and how many are the wonders of the Lord God that you have seen.’

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Synaxis Manifesto

4 Pillars of Synaxis
1) We gather because the Spirit of God brings the Word of God to us.
2) We gather because we are authentically human when in relationship with each other.
3) We gather to discuss the words of the Holy Fathers and Mothers because our relationship with them transcends time, space, and death itself.
4) We gather to celebrate the greatest gift that God has given us- the Other: God, neighbor, and our ancestors.

4 Canons of Synaxis
1) Synaxis is for everyone.
2) Synaxis has the text as teacher and the group as moderator.
3) Synaxis reads texts that are Orthodox Christian Classics which are any text that is written by an Orthodox Christian and is both loved by the Church and doctrinally formative.
4) Synaxis is organized by its elder members whose sole responsibility is to arrange a convenient time and place and to select and distribute the readings.

4 Foundations of Synaxis
1) Works of the Apostolic Fathers and Apologists (Particularly St. Iraneaos’ Against Heresies for its dogmatic, anthropological, and soterlogical significance).
2) The Works of St. Athanasios (Particularly On the Incarnation and the Life of St. Antony).
3) The Works of the Cappadocians (Particularly the Orations of the Theologian which were considered by the Church as Second Scriptures, the Letters of St. Basil together with his defense of the Holy Spirit, and St. Gregory Nyssa’s Catechism).
4) St. Maximos the Confessor.

Thy Kingdom Come...

The Messiah, this King, this new David, Himself, the expected Royalty, came and founded His kingdom, the Church, inaugurating it on the day of Pentecost through the descent of the Holy Spirit… At that moment the Church was born, the new Israel of God, “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people”, a people dedicated to God. The event of Pentecost is not limited in time, however, but is an eschatological experience of the believer, daily living the life of Christ in the Church. So when we speak of the Church, we refer to an eschatological event, a permanent Pentecost.
-Archimandrite Aimilianos