The language of the time

The essence of the sacred rite

The formulas of periscopes

In that day

The language of the time

The main tool of practical theology, the very nature of the Divine Office, that is to say, the very prayer and spiritual life, as such, is time.

The practical theology is a science of time, first of all, the science about time and only then about the liturgy, sacraments, and sacred energies of God through which is built the Kingdom of Grace. Knowing the mysteries of time translates the intellectual nature of theology into practice. This knowledge allows us to join the family of God, the community of adequate people. It is the only social group without freaks and villains. There are no relatives willing to do you something nasty, and then explain: “it is for your own good, brother!"

The universal family of God is the only place where there are no fools. In addition, after having mastered the mystery of time and entered the family of God, our prayer retrieves the New Testament force. It’s the very force which causes all changes of being on soborial request.

This aspect is repeatedly emphasized in Holy Scripture: “In all truth I tell you, anything you ask from the Father he will grant in my name. Until now you have not asked anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and so your joy will be complete” (John 16:23-24).

The world of spiritual forces communicates in a special format, in sacred language of time, in the same angelic language, mentioned by the Apostle Paul.

As in electronic networks, there are specific data transmission protocols, in spiritual world, there is a special language of communication. If the communication protocols are not installed on the computer, it cannot connect to the Internet, the same is in spiritual world, if the people do not master the language of time, they look sadly at Heaven with eyes that see nothing and ears that hear nothing. Therefore, time is the main object of study of the true modern theology. Because through time are revealed all the other mysteries, destined for practical use, to establish the power of God in the universe, to govern the world. That is the goal of the existence of the church.

The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ

Time is a carrier of all the endless Gifts, emanating from the Father of lights. The Gifts of the Holy Spirit are wrapped in the flows of time, they do not fall just so, in some unclear way. The New Testament teaching is thought, measured and understood by the categories of time. Time, after all, is the very factor that distinguishes the profane from the one who knows, the one who is initiated into the mysteries of the Kingdom of Christ.

The essence of the sacred rite

The language of time is the words of Creator, which bring our world from nothingness into being.

«By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible» (Hebrew 11:3).

Therefore, this format allows us to talk about extremely wide and deep things that encompass Creation in its entirety. The language of time is the essence of the Reason of Christ, through which man achieves the likeness of God, acquires the being on the image of God the Word, through Whom are created centuries. Therefore, all the liturgical system is connected to time. This is not done for the reason of external regulation, but to connect the external rites to the internal flow of time. It’s because the grace emanates from the connection of the material reality with spiritual flow of time. In this consists the essence of the sacred rite. Therefore, the main form of prayer is a blessing by time: “Blessed is our God, always, now and ever, and unto the ages of age. Amen”.

The formulas of periscopes

All that is holy in the Church, everything is connected to time. Otherwise grace will not work. There are special forms of periscopes, intended for this purpose. All texts of Scripture are divided by number of days in a year, so that each day is referred to the holy words of the Good News.

There are seven formulas for the four Gospels and four formulas for the Apostles. These formulas connect the external text of Scripture to the internal spiritual flow of time which carries sacred meanings. Although the formula of periscopes contains no words about time, it is about the flux of being, because they are bearers of spiritual meanings.

The formulas of periscopes:

1. In that day…

2. In those days…

3. In all truth I tell you…

4. The Lord speaks to His disciples…

5. He put another parable before them…

6. The Lord speaks to the Jews who came to Him…

7. The Lord speaks to the Jews who had believed Him…

Time is energy of the Reason of Christ. Therefore, the main formulas are “In that day” and “In those days”. The formulas of periscopes are a kind of keys to understanding inner spiritual and tectonic plates. All texts of Scripture are based on the original tectonic plates of God. These are the plates of the energies of being on which floats the Creation. Only after penetration into the depth of these plates, we actually get a correct coordinate system. We get a key to the deep meanings. The formulas of periscopes are these same keys. They show on which tectonic plates are constructed the described events and from what angle it is necessary to perceive them.

For example, “In all truth I tell you”. Here, the Lord God addresses to all Creation. It's like a particularly solemn day, while everything that inhabits the worlds (celestial, terrestrial and even underworld) is gathered in the same place, then all is immobilized, appears the Kings of Creation and begins to speak to everything that exists. Can you imagine how it is solemn and significant?! Such were the sentiments of the first Christians while reading the Gospel.

“The Lord speaks to His disciples”. This flow of the energy of God acts only within the localized New Testament sobor. It is addressed to those who know the mysteries of God.

“He put another parable before them”. This flow is spread outward. It’s for those who have not yet passed the midpoint and have still stayed in a state of infants. The nuts of Divine Wisdom are not yet within their reach. The modern Orthodoxy is primarily based on this tectonic plate. For example, the father Dmitry Smirnov is one of the most brilliant preachers, and he has perfectly mastered the language of parables, literally speaking. But solid food is absent from his preaching.

“The Lord speaks to the Jews who came to Him”. Here are confronted two flows. The energy of God comes into confrontation with the energy of the prince of this world. The blinded Jews carry out their historical mission to counter the Project of God. Thus, they indirectly contribute to the formation of the Divine-Human Kingdom. This is evidenced by the apostle Paul: “God has imprisoned all human beings in their own disobedience only to show mercy to them all” (Romans 11:32).

“The Lord speaks to the Jews who had believed Him.” Here acts the flow of the messianic time, while at the End of Time, after passing the midpoint of being, the energy of God will triumph over the forces of the first beast, and many Jews will cease fighting against God and believe in Christ.

In that day

However, the main formulas of periscopes are “In that day” and “In those days”. This means “a long time ago”, “in ancient times” or "from the beginning of the century." Here it is not only about an instructive story of ancient times. It is not even about some tectonic plate of Creation, but about the whole being as such. Here, the space of narration is not built on the linear horizontal, but on the spiritual vertical. “In that day” means “in the beginning of beginnings ever”, “at the heart of all time”, “at the heart of all being”. In this consists the meaning of this sentence. Accordingly, “in those days” means “every day”, “every minute”, “at every moment of the world being”.

Thus, “In that day” is the essence of Creation, shown in its entirety. While “In those days” is the essence of Creation, revealed privately, shown from the perspective of every moment of its existence.

The whole history of humanity, of the past, present and future time, is based on evangelical events. They contain the patterns of all ages. Christ is always crucified, and He always resurrects. And the Archangel Gabriel, for example, always comes with the Good News the sixth month after the conception of St. John the Baptist by St. Elizabeth. And Holy Mary meets St. Elizabeth and lives with her three months until the time she should give birth. This always happens, because it is about spiritual stages of maturation of the soul. They are universal and performed according to the same laws, which concern the soul of man, as well as the history of mankind. The mind matures after some time, so the stages of maturation are measured by time.

Until the Sixth Day, that is to say, before passing the midpoint, we are maturing until soborial state. At the moment of passing the midpoint, the energy of the Archangel Gabriel reaches us, like the Virgin Mary, and we receive the Good News of our salvation, because the mystery of the Kingdom is revealed to us. So we begin, on the one hand, to bring saint Trinitarian baby in us, and, on the other hand, to prepare our earthly being and consecrate it, like St. John the Baptist, to the life in the Heavenly Kingdom. We have now a new sense of our existence. Now, God lives in us. He is symbolized by the Mother of God. And the outer being is symbolized by St. John the Baptist. We also devote it to God.

Thus, the formulas of periscopes are given for the sacred rite. For the people, gathered in the church, should connect the Gospel to the appropriate flow of being. The Gospel must be perceived through the prism of all times, now and ever, that is to say, which happens in every moment of being, from the Creation to the End of the World. Also including the world of the future century. Then our heart will connect with the energy of the Holy Spirit, with the energy of the Raison of Christ. And behind the description of external evangelical events, the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven begin to reveal to us.

This is what spiritual thinking, as such. It is always associated with time. It’s because time is a carrier of the energy of the Divine Reason.