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| Christ the Bridegroom |
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| Christ the Bridegroom |
"Meditating on that terrible day, O my soul, watch, keeping your lamp alight and filled with oil - God's Mercy - for you know not when to you shall come the voice saying: Behold the Bridegroom. Beware, therefore, my soul, lest you fall into slumber and be left outside, knocking, as were the five virgins, but wakefully watch, that you may come to meet Christ with good oil, and He will bestow upon you the Divine Chamber of His glory." |
| Christ the Bridegroom |
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| Christ the Bridegroom |
The Fathers on The Song of Songs. . .
Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes within thy silence: thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from mount Gilead.
Our Lord Jesus Christ being the bridegroom of our souls, wishing to express his inexpressible love for us could not find a better way but to do so through a love song. Hence, fair with dove’s eyes signifies the spiritual (pure) nature that all of us should strive for in order to please our bridegroom. The two eyes are the bodily and spiritual (reading, prayer, etc) virtues by which we beheld Christ and in which the Lord delights. The hair signifies chastity and modesty while the mention of mount Gilead hints on Elijah’s vision of God, which the pure in heart (chaste) will be deemed worthy. Also, Gilead means change of testimony, which took place when the Lord gathered the nations (goats) in His flock.
Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely: thy temples are like the skin of a pomegranate within thy silence.
Lips like a thread of scarlet are the voices of the faithful who confess their faith in Christ. Comely speech is the love and unity of the faithful. Again the [rosy] skin of the pomegranate signifies the virtue of modesty and purity, which blushes or the austerity of life demanded from the Christians, since the above-mentioned fruit has a very stiff skin.
Until the daybreak, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.
How great is the Lord. Having shown the attractiveness of the bride, He hastens to the mountain of myrrh, that is Golgotha, to give His life for His beloved. Hill of frankincense denotes the resurrection or His divinity (See Leviticus).
Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee.
And having given His life our bridegroom has renewed (fair) our nature (my love), cleansing it from sin (spot). . . . |
| Christ the Bridegroom |
Claire: "copy cat" (or Great Minds)  I started same style of thread in two other forums. So, let me support a great idea:
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The Bridegroom
These paintings are based on the Gospel of St. Luke 22:43
"And there appeared to Him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him in spirit"
 
by Carl Bloch a Scandinavian Artist
What is loved about these paintings is the humanity of Christ ... that He belongs to us and is one of us ... a human being ... and divine ... it also comforts us that we can run to God whenever we feel afraid and lonely ... |
| Christ the Bridegroom |
Orthodox Hymn, chanted the Sunday evening at the beginning of Holy Week:
Behold, the Bridegroom is coming in the middle of the night, and blessed is the servant whom He shall find awake and watching, but unworthy is he whom He shall find idle and careless. Beware, then, my soul, lest thou be weighed down with sleep, lest thou be given up to death and shut out of the Kingdom. But awake and cry: Holy, Holy, Holy, art Thou, O God: through the intercessions of the Bodiless Ones, save us.
- Jacob lamented the loss of Joseph, but his noble son was sitting in a chariot and honoured as a king. For when he refused to be enslaved by the pleasures of the Egyptian woman, he was glorified by Him Who sees the hearts of men and bestows an incorruptible crown.
- Realizing the hour of reckoning, O my soul, and fearing tlie cutting down of the fig tree, work diligently with the talent that has been given thee O wretched one. Watch and pray that we may not remain outside the bride chamber of Christ
- I have sinned more than the harlot, O Good One, and I come to Thee with none of her showers of tears. But praying in silence, I fall down before Thee and lovingly embrace Thy immaculate feet, that as the Lord Thou mayest grant me forgiveness of sins as I cry to Thee, O Saviour: Deliver me from the mire of my evil deeds.
- Having taken bread in his hand, the traitor secretly stretches it out, and takes a price for Him Who with His own hands made man. And Judas remained an incorrigible slave and liar.
- Come, let us all praise Him Who was crucified for us. For Him it was Whom Mary beheld on the Tree, and said: Even though Thou endurest the cross, Thou art my Son and my God
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| Christ the Bridegroom |
The Bridegroom
[this is my own photo of an icon in my room]
[size=16pt]Scripture[/size]
Awake! Awake! Behold the Bridegroom Cometh
Matthew 25:1-13
Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. |
| Christ the Bridegroom |
These photos were taken by me, last year in Constantinople; they are of the same icon ....
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| Christ the Bridegroom |
The Bride Adores Her Beloved
8The voice of my beloved!
Behold, he comes,
leaping over the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
9My beloved is like a gazelle
or a young stag.
Behold, there he stands
behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
looking through the lattice.
10My beloved speaks and says to me: "Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
and come away,
11for behold, the winter is past;
the rain is over and gone.
12 The flowers appear on the earth,
the time of singing has come,
and the voice of the turtledove
is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree ripens its figs,
and the vines are in blossom;
they give forth fragrance.
Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
and come away.
14O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,
in the crannies of the cliff,
let me see your face,
let me hear your voice,
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely. |
| Christ the Bridegroom |
One way in which the Church describes this relationship, through her liturgy and spirituality is through the New Testament metaphor of marriage. Christ is the Bridegroom. The Church is His Bride.
With Christ, the Heavenly Bridegroom, at the centre, the life of the Christian changes. He enters into the mystery of death and resurrection of Christ, through Baptism and becomes one spirit with Him (1 Cor 6:17). St Paul said, “It is no longer I who live; Christ lives in me.” (Gal 2:20)
God’s love is revealed to all who are willing to accept it, through His Word, through His Creation, through the Church, as a gift.
We are called to imitate this love in our life.
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