Syriac Fathers

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    Day 10: The Tree That Was Not There the Day Before

    ByJobin

    🐏 The Tree That Was Not There the Day Before
    Isaac looked at the wood he was carrying and asked the question Abraham must have dreaded:

    “Where is the lamb?”

    Abraham answered, “God will provide.”

    St Ephrem saw something remarkable in what happened next. The ram caught in the thicket was not merely Abraham’s escape from an impossible moment. It was a sign pointing ahead to another mountain, another piece of wood, and another Son.

    The Syriac Fathers then make an extraordinary connection:

    “Mary and the tree are one; the lamb was hung up in its branches, as our Lord was on Golgotha.”

    At Moriah, the son was spared and the lamb died in his place.

    At Golgotha, there was no substitute.

    The Lamb saved Isaac.
    The Lamb of God saved creation.

    📖 Read Day 10: The Tree That Was Not There the Day Before on Seeking Theosis.

  • Day 9: The Dead Stick That Flowered in the Dark

    ByJobin

    🌿 DAY 9: THE DEAD STICK THAT FLOWERED IN THE DARK

    Twelve dry staffs were placed before the Lord.

    No roots. No soil. No water. No sunlight.

    By every ordinary expectation, nothing should have happened.

    Yet when Moses entered the tent the following morning, Aaron’s rod had produced buds, blossoms and almonds.

    The Syriac Fathers saw in this a beautiful image of the Blessed Virgin Mary:

    “Amid all the dry staffs it alone grew moist.”

    Another hymn says that although the staff was “unwatered and unplanted,” it sprouted in order to bear the wondrous Fruit.

    Mary is the staff.

    Christ is the Fruit.

    But there is another part of the story that speaks especially powerfully during the Shoonoyo Fast.

    The miracle happened at night, away from every human eye. Nobody watched the first bud appear. Nobody saw the blossom open. While Israel slept outside, God was quietly bringing life from dry wood.

    Perhaps nine days into the fast, some of us feel dry too. Prayer may seem repetitive. The discipline may feel ordinary. We may wonder whether anything is actually changing.

    The staff tells us not to confuse hiddenness with absence.

    God may be working where we cannot yet see Him.

    Stay in the tent. Morning comes, and sometimes only then do we discover that God had been at work all night.

    📖 Read the full Day 9 reflection, The Dead Stick That Flowered in the Dark, on Seeking Theosis.