St.Basil's appeal to the "unwritten tradition" in de Spiritu Sancto: "Of the dogmata and kerygmata, which are kept in the Church, we have some from the written teaching (εκ της εγγραφου διδασκαλιας), and some we derive from the Apostolic tradition, which had been handed down en mistirio (εν μυστηριω). And both have the same strength (την αυτην ισχυν) in the matters of piety. [...] They come from the silent and mystical tradition, from the unpublic and ineffable teaching"
Those believers in Christ whose only exposure to the church is limited to sub-sect cults of Protestantism that grew like mold in the grounds of ignorance and poverty across the Ozarks and Appalachians might find the proper display of Christian liturgical tradition to be quite bizarre when contrasted with what passes for Christianity in mainstream America these days. With the Tenebrae, only done during Holy Week, you'll see a ceremony of extinguishing the candles identical to that Jesuit Masonic mechanical of the Rose Croix. Amidst all the bells and smells, this year saw the completion of a memorable milestone in our small but tightly knit congregation with the observation of the high holy days of the Triduum. We commenced with the liturgy of Maundy Thursday followed faithfully and leading into Good Friday, where the cathedral was stripped bare and the lights were extinguished, a black banner hung from a large wooden cross, and a side altar was arranged with flowers in memory of the Garden of Gethsemane. There was silence. I officiated in a black tau robe after fasting and meditation and proceeded with the veneration of the True Cross. This was a case for double genuflexion.
On Easter Saturday evening the congregation gathered in the garden outside the church, and lit the sacred fire of the brazier (consecrated with the prayers of St Michael and the tradition of the Elect Priests), which was then used to light the Paschal Candle. The candle (displayed prominently upfront, lit and surrounded by flowers) was ritually pricked with a consecrated needle. I traced the Alpha and Omega on it, and inserted bits of incense in commemoration of the sacrificial wounds of Christ, ensuring the continued preservation of the arcana from the primitive church with both practice and witness. The candle's sacred fire having been lit was then carried into the church, to the intonation 'The Light of Christ'. The Shekinah Glory was invoked, and the lights were raised in as dramatic of a motion as possible within the humble sanctuary we use for our service. Sadly, there is no organ present, but we made plenty use of a well queued CD attended by the Director of Music. Christ's resurrection was revisited in much the way Steiner instructed his students to visualize it. In His Name + The Great & Unmatched Power of I.H.S.V.H., The Right Rev. Frater Sanare et Ignoscere, †‡, KOJ, KGC
