Funeral Hymn in the Fifth Tone - Apostolos Hill

from "Hymns of Paradise" by cantor Fr. Apostolos Hill

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Orthodox
• Funeral
• Death
• Apostolos Hill
• Byzantine Chant
• Greek Orthodox

[Ellatha1]

I am NOT liking the images associated with this beautiful and holy hymn...there are no bones or representations of death like this! Where are the beautiful Byzantine icons or images of the ikonostasis or altar? I'm sorry but this to me is disrespectful to Orthodox Christians or at least to me.

[irgy709]

@Ellatha1 they're medieval Memento Mori images which have decorated churches across europe for centuries. if you don't like them I'm sorry, offense was not intended.

[Ellatha1]

@irgy709 Thank you for the explanation...it's just that this art is not associated with the Eastern Orthodox church which existed before Medieval times. I admit I was a little taken aback so I reacted quickly. To see it paired with the solemn hymns kind of shocked me but I understand you meant no offense.

[irgy709]

@Ellatha1 the Great Schema worn by hesychasts contains skull and crossbones images. death is constantly visible to monastics, particularly in the old world. St. Catherine's monastery in Sinai still has a working charnel house, as do many of the monasteries on Athos, if I recall correctly. admittedly there is a less obvious focus on this them in images intended for the laity in the east than in the west.

[tiny117]

Any links to the artwork???

[irgy709]

@tiny117 I think the majority of them are from wikimedia commons, either from the "memento mori" section or "Vanitas". the last is a unkrainian artist...I think it's titled "prayer of the people" or something like that. sorry I'm not being more specific. I'd be able to backtrack and find them for you, but the laptop I made the video on crashed a few months ago and I don't have any of the original files anymore.

[Ellatha1]

@Hrugnir Yes, I agree with you. Are there any Eastern Orthodox Christians here that understand where I am coming from?? I am not the only one who thinks the way I do.

[Hrugnir]

@Ellatha1 Death as a principality, and in its original form (spiritual death) IS definitely evil. But death as a biological reality is in a way God's response to true death.

Yet both kinds of death were destroyed and defeated by Christ through Pascha!

[Ellatha1]

@godihopethisnottaken No, I'd rather you get over yourself. I never said death was immoral (or evil) nor does the Church treat it as such. Are you an Eastern Orthodox Christian? Do you understand the significance of icons & hymns? My disagreement was with taking an Orthodox hymn & using images that the church never used to pair them.We don't have memento mori in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Look at some of the comments by other posters. At least 9 people agree with my original post. That's all.

[godihopethisnottaken]

@Ellatha1

Get over yourself. Death is not an immoral thing, nor are the depiction of skeletons. It is cryptic, but Christianity is quite cryptic as well. There is a darker side to the universe, tis not evil, just the other end of the spectrum. Father looked upon day and 'night' saying it was good. I'm sorry if I am going off on you, it really upsets me when people view dark natured things as evil.

[DaculDatDracu]

@Ellatha1 You think exactely the same way as you do.Godbless you! I send my best wishes to you

[Ellatha1]

@DaculDatDracu Byzantine icons are painted in a stylized manner so that no, they are not an exact representation of the saint or event they depict. They serve as a way for us to venerate and commemorate the person (or event) and their role in the Church. Much like looking at a photograph of a deceased relative would bring back memories and reminders of their role in your family. I do not worship icons nor do I pray to them. I pray to the Lord my God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

[DaculDatDracu]

@Ellatha1 Icons,icons.Do icons reprezent true image of faith in God?Don't think so...Do icons reprezent the true image of the saints or divinity they represent? NEVER? Do icons represent a form of human imagination that aimes to make common people with less imagination have a more tangible image of the holy?I think yes and I also think adoring icons is a great sin.Because even if humans have the same image as God,it is forbidden to try to imagine God's face

[Psalmschp6vs5]

Memento Mori may not have existed in the same essence in the Orthodox church but, as some have said on here and speaking as a Priest's daughter, monastics have surrounded themselves with remembrances of death including having their coffin made and set in their rooms to remind them of the shortness of this life and to set the things of the world as naught. Just because we feel squeamish about death doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with having this type of artwork with hymns about death.