Tuesday Sootoro

I've made good progress by posting two offices in the last weekend. This office of Tuesday's Sootoro, like most evening offices, is very reflective on Judgment and the eschatological typology between night/the end and morning/the second coming.


To view this office, click here.

There are many theologically deep typological-excerpts that can be extracted from this office, such as:

"On tablets of stone, Moses engraved the names of the tribes of Israel. In the Book of Life, the Messiah engraves the remembrance of His worshippers. When there is the resurrection, they are ordered on the right side."

and

"We implore You that as You sheltered the nation of the Hebrews with a cloud from the pain of heat and burning of the sun in the day, and in the night by a pillar of fire guarded them from stumbling in the darkness, and as You guarded us in this day which passed from disgraceful thoughts of passion and from disturbances of our minds at night, likewise this night illumine us with a pillar of fire and spiritual light."

But what I'm interested in most is the Bo'otho. The Bo'otho is a short, but good, insight into the Syriac post-death experience. In the Syriac concept of death, there are four conditions: the first are Paradise and Gehenna, which are permanent conditions. The other two are transitory - one being Sheol, the place of shadows in which one exists and senses but it's like existing in a dark pit, wandering around senselessly waiting for Judgment, which is to be at a time when you do not know. The other is the journey through the fire, which many of the Syriac Fathers speak about (it seems almost as though one travels over the mouth of Gehenna). The Bo'otho expresses this as, "Grant that in a boat of water I may pass over the sea of fire. Do not let the difficult place of flames engulf me."

We as Christians of the mystical body of Christ have special advantages to our journey:

"May baptism protect me there from the conflagration, and may it spread its wings over the fire when I pass over. May this spring of living water accompany me and may I not have need while sailing through the house of thirsts."

Baptism, as a mediation of salvation, comes to our aid in our time of trial. It continues to mediate the grace of God to us as we have received an eternal mark by the sacrament. It strengthens us to do the will of God and avoid the fire, but even the instances we fail present chances of redemption through the mercy of God:

"If I fall into the path of fire by the iniquity of my hands may I see You there like Ananias and the rain." 

When the Three Youths were thrown into the fire by the Babylonians they assumed by the logic of man that the three would be killed. However, the power of God is not restrained by the logic of man. In the Eastern traditions, we hold that the angel that appeared in the furnace was a Christophany and the dew which accompanied Him was His mercy (Daniel 3:46-50). We ask to avoid the situation, but if it should occur, we ask that we be redeemed by Christ in the fire through His mercy. By the logic of man, we should burn - as we deserve - but God is beyond our limited intelligences, and His love is long-suffering.

In thanksgiving to God, with the Youths, Daniel and Lazarus, who all suffered in various ways, we render glory to God for having preserved us against adversity and made us ultimately triumphant.

Our Lord, accept our service, our prayers, come to our aid and have mercy on us!