With implicit faith in the Resurrection, His Beatitude Aboon Mor Baselios Thomas I – the Maphryono of the Syriac Orthodox Church – has reposed in our Lord Jesus Christ, The Life.
Life which is unscathed by death begins beyond the grave, for life is worthy of its name only if it is untouched by death. With the resurrection of Christ the tomb has become the womb that unleashes the glorified and complete potential of human corporality as revealed on the Mount of Transfiguration. Christ being identified as the “𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥” (𝘊𝘰𝘭. 1:18) bolsters the idea of tomb as womb. This is why the soul mourns over the body when they are separated by death because the soul cannot be glorified sans the body. The Qolo of Tuesday Ninth Hour confirms this; “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺; 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.”
We are made immortal through our mortality. In the Qaumo we pray “𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶 𝘐𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘭” but then the very next line we pray “𝘊𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴”. If the Son of God Himself crossed the threshold of Immortality through His mortality how could we be different? As St. Gregory of Nazianzus observed; “𝘞𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦.”
We must not overlook the wonderful concurrence of God creating the plants yielding seeds on the third day and the resurrection of the Son of God on the third day. This underscores the reality that our physical bodies are akin to seeds that are meant to be sown in the earth for germination. Hence we sing in the Qolo of Saturday Vespers;
“𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩; 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘖 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯.”
Let us continue to Re-Member our beloved Shepherd in our prayers and services as memory is eternal. The adage goes; “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵, 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.” Therefore we sing in the Qolo of Tuesday Matins;
“𝘔𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥; 𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘶𝘴; 𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥’𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘢𝘳; 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵; 𝘔𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘠𝘰𝘶, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.”
A time comes when even the most relentless one should become still because unless and until we are still we cannot know God (Ps. 46:10). This is why death ultimately makes all of us literally still so that God may finally start acting upon us uninterruptedly (Ps. 109: 29,30).
As we lament the irreparable loss of our beloved Aboon may our hope overpower our grief. Shall we pray as mentioned in the Order of the Burial of Bishops;
“𝘔𝘢𝘺 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴, 0 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘠𝘰𝘶, 𝘣𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘏𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘗𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯; 𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 0 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭.”
Depart in Peace and Live in Glory dear Aboon !
~ 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐨 𝐅𝐫. 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐥
Urho, The Way 