Stay Awake!

A copy of this icon, called “Christ the Bridegroom”, hangs in my office above my desk.

In the Eastern Catholic (and Orthodox) tradition, this icon is associated with the Office known as Bridegroom Matins.

Bridegroom Matins is a service held the first three or four evenings of Holy Week, and it commemorates the last days in the earthly life of the Lord.

The readings or lessons at these particular Matins emphasize the last teachings of Christ to his disciples.

The mood of the services is to experience sorrow and to feel Christ’s voluntary submission to His passions and highlight the purpose behind the evil that is about to take place against the Lord. The atmosphere is one of mourning (for sins) ….

The main emphasis of the Bridegroom Service is metanoia and each service has its own particular theme on repentance and watchfulness.

(Source)

Certainly this is a beautiful way to mindfully celebrate the early days of Holy Week, but why bridegroom?

As always, we turn to our trusty Catechism:

796 … The theme of Christ as Bridegroom of the Church was prepared for by the prophets and announced by John the Baptist (Jn 3:29). The Lord referred to himself as the “bridegroom” (Mk 2:19). The Apostle speaks of the whole Church and of each of the faithful, members of his Body, as a bride “betrothed” to Christ the Lord so as to become but one spirit with him (Cf. Mt 22:1-14; 25:1-13; 1 Cor 6:15-17; 2 Cor 11:2).

The Church is the spotless bride of the spotless Lamb (Cf. Rev 22:17; Eph 1:4; 5:27). “Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her” (Eph 5:25-26). …

And how should we, the Church, prepare for the return of Christ, our bridegroom? He Himself tells us, in the Parable of the ten Virgins: “stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour”.

A mighty good reminder to live our lives as a constant conversion, a constant turning toward the Lord.

This idea of constant conversion is contained in one of the three promises a Benedictine monk (or oblate) makes under Chapter 58 v17 of the Rule. (For the record, the other two promises are obedience and stability.)

In Latin, the words of this promise are Conversatio Morum, which is usually interpreted as “fidelity to the Monastic life”, but which literally means “conversion of life”. It is a complicated concept, and whole books have been written on the meaning of these two little words.

“It is a vow to a continual change of heart, a daily reshaping of the mind and heart according to God’s plan for us” (source).

At its heart, though, this Conversatio Morum is what Christ calls all of us to: to conversion not as a moment but as a process in which we live our lives.

So that’s why I have this icon hanging on my office wall. I can look up and be reminded that I must live every moment of my life as if Christ were coming in the next moment, with my lamp full of oil and my heart in the constant process of conversion.

In other words: awake.