“How captive are we, we fallen children, to the pleasures and passions that rule our lives. How we treasure the chains which imprison us, bestowing upon them garlands and wreathes, adorning them as friends. We sit bound by our desires, a lamentable state, yet we rejoice, for our eyes are shut fast; and as in a dream we see our confinement as freedom, our chains as wings.”
-Anonymous
Today (Jan 16th ) is the feast day for the Venerable Chains of the Holy Apostle St. Peter (Acts 12:1-12). It is taught that after this miraculous event, the chains that had held the Apostle Peter were taken away by pious Christians and venerated, being a source of healing to many.
This is Orthodoxy, and the Orthodox teaching of God’s work in the world. The chains that bound Peter, chains that are a symbol of oppression and captivity are – by the power of God – transformed into objects of healing and sources of grace. God transforms the world by using the world, slowly drawing all of His creation back towards Him.
While we “garland” our own chains, pretending they’re something else, God actually changes, transforms, and transfigures all manner of things. The chains that were a source of veneration for hundreds of years after Peter’s martyrdom never stopped being the chains that imprisoned Peter in Judea. Yet through the power and grace of God, they became more than just shackles; they became something that is remembered even to this day, 1966 years later.
The gap between this post and the last on this blog might indicate that I’ve been busy worshipping the chains that bind me over the past couple of months. It shouldn’t, because this blog is surely nothing more than a vanity project and not bothering with it might be a good thing for my own soul. But unfortunately it is true that the demons that surround me have been rather bored of late through lack of anything to do. So, in that respect, my return here is probably a good thing.
Prayer for the feast:
Without leaving Rome, thou didst come to us by the precious chains which thou didst wear. O foremost of the Apostles. And worshipping them with faith, we pray: By thine intercessions with God, grant us great mercy.
