My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? – Psalm 22:1 This verse is the start of a powerful and prophetic Psalm. It is well known because these are words spoken by Christ on the Cross. It is easy to misinterpret their meaning that God is absent for no reason. It is impossible to explain completely why Christ said these words, because our Church regards the Lord’s death on the Cross a great mystery. We will, however, attempt to receive an insight into this mystery. In the days of Christ, when a Rabbi quoted the first verse of a [...]

Psalm 22 (LXX)  “The LORD is my Shepherd” This Psalm is one of the most beloved and most quoted among Christians. We as Orthodox Christians are very familiar with it, especially as it is part of the prayers in preparation to receive Holy Communion. St. Gregory of Nyssa saw in this Psalm both a prophecy and a summary of the Sacraments: “…Christ teaches the Church that, first of all, you must become a sheep of the Good Shepherd (verses 1-3)… Then you must be buried with Him into death by baptism. But this is not death, but a shadow and [...]