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Psalm 50 (51) The Great Psalm of Repentance
Read more: Psalm 50 (51) The Great Psalm of Repentance
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St. Ephrem on Ninevah and Sodom
Read more: St. Ephrem on Ninevah and SodomThe use of Scripture in many of the Orthodox Church Fathers puzzles many modern readers. We tend to see reading as something that can be done in two modes: literal or figurative.
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Great Lent – the Second Week
Read more: Great Lent – the Second WeekGreat Lent began a week ago for the Orthodox. Interestingly the first week of Lent is the hardest week until Holy Week. There are services pretty much every evening and the rules for fasting are stricter. It’s as if you began a race with a sprint only to realize that there are many more laps […]
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And Now a Word from St. Isaac the Syrian
Read more: And Now a Word from St. Isaac the SyrianSometimes…while prayer remains for its part, the intellect is taken away from it as if into heaven, and tears fall like fountains of waters, involuntarily soaking the whole face. All this time such a person is serene, still and filled with a wonder-filled vision. Very often he will not be allowed even to pray: this […]
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Augustinian Surprises
Read more: Augustinian SurprisesGod is He Whom we know best in not knowing Him. – St. Augustine It is He about Whom we have no knowledge unless it be to know how we do not know Him. – St. Augustine Both quotes are from De ordine. Fr. Thomas Hopko is fond of saying that “We cannot know God […]
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Vladimir Lossky on Faith
Read more: Vladimir Lossky on FaithIn St. Paul, knowledge of God writes itself into a personal relationship expressed in terms of reciprocity [exchange]: reciprocity with the object of theology (which, in reality, is a subject), reciprocity also with those to whom the theological word is addressed. At its best, it is communion: I know as I am known. Before the […]
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Know God or No God
Read more: Know God or No GodThe task for Orthodox Christians throughout Great Lent and at all times is quite simple and straightforward: know God.
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A Word on Comments
Read more: A Word on CommentsI have a task and a purpose in maintaining this blog. It is free and a work of love and an offering to God. It provides a place to write about the Orthodox faith. It also provides a place for reasonable discussion of the topic at hand. By the same token, it is not a […]
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Why We Fast
Read more: Why We FastFasting is not very alive and well in the Christian world. Much of that world has long lost any living connection with the historical memory of Christian fasting. It is as though they were Jews who heard there was such a thing as kosher and decided to make up the rules for what to eat […]
This is a wonderful conversation! Father, thank you for your reply; it is beautiful. I’ll add that I IM’d you…