A Southern Lent
One of the hallmarks of my generation in the South is that we never grew up without a great deal of attention to God. Whether it was the absolute assurance in the sermons of preachers who could say with some precision who was going where when they died, or even with assurance describe heaven, or the far more mundane mutterings … Continue reading
The Slow Work of Grace
In the minds of many, grace is a legal concept – an expression of the kindness of God in the forgiveness of sins. As such, grace is instant and complete. This fits well within the legal conceptions of salvation. In the classical understanding of the Orthodox faith, salvation can indeed have a quality of “suddenness” – the thief on the … Continue reading
Restoring the Image of Christ
Today marked the Sunday of Orthodoxy, a day on which the Orthodox celebrate the return of the images to the Church’s during the time of the Empress Theodora. It is also a day on which the Orthodox faith in its fullness is reaffirmed by the people and the clergy. This year I spoke at Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Parma, … Continue reading
Just the Shell
An entertainment personality, fresh from various surgeries (augmentations, alterations, etc.), recently opined in an interview, “But in the end, this is just a shell.” It was a very revealing cultural moment. The body is “just a shell” but worthy of tens of thousands of dollars to alter its appearance. It has been observed that modern man lives his life as … Continue reading
The 15th Antiphon of Great and Holy Friday Matins Sung by Archbishop Job of the Midwest
This is a wonderful video of the late Archbishop of Chicago and the Midwest. May his memory be eternal! [vodpod id=Video.3070600&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26] more about "The 15th Antiphon Sung by Archbishop …", posted with vodpod
The Instinct of Repentance
Repentance is a difficult journey in the modern world. Our psychologized culture has lost the language and the instinct of repentance. When such language and instinct last existed is itself a significant question. A large measure of the language of repentance is found in the word repentance itself. It is a Latin cognate (coming into English through the French). Rooted … Continue reading
The Great Fast
Monday (tomorrow) marks the beginning of Great Lent in the Orthodox Church (which liturgically begins at Forgiveness Vespers on Sunday). Though Great Lent is kept with rigor in Orthodox Tradition, there is nothing unusual asked of believers – nothing that we do not do on many days throughout the rest of the year. We fast; we pray; we give alms; … Continue reading
A Sermon on Repentance (after St. John Chrysostom)
This sermon was written by Fr. John Parker, Rector of Holy Ascension Orthodox Church in Mount Pleasant, SC. It is modeled on the well known and beloved Paschal homily of St. John Chrysostom. It offers an interesting echo of the end of the Fast here at its beginning. A recording of Fr. Thomas Hopko reading the sermon can be heard … Continue reading
The Journey to Repentance
One of my favorite books comes from the last years of the Soviet Union. It is the story of Tatiana Goricheva, a member of the “intelligentsia” and a Soviet-era dissident. Her book, Talking About God Is Dangerous, offers fascinating insights into both a period of time and the period of a human soul’s conversion by grace. The little volume is … Continue reading
Recent Comments
- mary benton on To Behold the Beauty of the Lord
- Lina on Beauty and the Face of God
- fatherstephen on Beauty and the Face of God
- fatherstephen on To Behold the Beauty of the Lord
- Michael Bauman on To Behold the Beauty of the Lord
Read “Everywhere Present”
Have you ever referred to God as “the Man upstairs”? Most Christians living in a secular society have unwittingly relegated God and all things spiritual to the “second storey” of the universe: Read More...
Christianity in a One-Storey Universe
On Ancient Faith Radio
Click on the icon to listen to Fr Stephen on
"Ancient Faith Radio""
Orthodox News – Pravmir
Information on the Orthodox Faith
Please Read
Archives
Orthodox Blogs
- A Mule in the Chapter House
- Ad Orientem
- Again and Again
- Christ is in our Midst
- Curmudgeon in Training
- Energetic Procession/Energies of the Trinity
- Frederica
- Hexaemeron
- Just Genesis
- Monachos.net
- Orthodixie
- Orthodox Way of Life
- Orthodoxy Today
- Priest Matthew Jackson
- Prudence True
- Slava lui Dumnezeu Pentru Toate
- St. James Kids
- Teologia Pentru Azi
- The Blog of Seth
- The Cost of Discipleship
- Two Natures