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With A Grateful Heart
Read more: With A Grateful HeartWith deep thanksgiving my wife and I received news of the birth yesterday of our first grandchild. Son of Matushka Mary and Fr. Hermogen Holste, he is Peter Alexis Holste. He weighed in at 6 lbs 9 oz. and is quite handsome, we are told. Our joy is immeasureable and we offer thanks for the […]
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Why the Intercession of the Saints is a Dogma
Read more: Why the Intercession of the Saints is a DogmaBiblical interpretation and doctrine based on Scripture have certain parameters that anyone rightly handling the word of truth must observe. The particular rule that I have in mind in this posting is the simple avoidance of anachronisms. That is, if an idea did not exist at the time of the New Testament, or shortly thereafter, […]
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All Saints and Their Intercession
Read more: All Saints and Their IntercessionI reprint this article in honor of All Saints’ Day (which is the Sunday after Pentecost on the Orthodox Calendar). Doubtless one of the less understood aspects of the Orthodox faith, particularly by Protestants, is the importance of the intercession of the saints. Orthodox doctrine and teaching is quite clear that we do not treat […]
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When Insults No Longer Annoy
Read more: When Insults No Longer AnnoyAmma Dionysia gave alms to a beggar, but less than he wanted. The beggar began to speak harshly to her, and Dionysia took offense, wanting to strike back. Abba zosimas corrected her, saying, “You are striking against yourself. You are chasing every virtue from your soul. Can you endure what Christ endured? My lady, I […]
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Eternity and the Rationalists
Read more: Eternity and the RationalistsI attended a semi-religious college – one affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention at the time. Though it had a reputation for being “liberal,” beneath it’s surface it still had something of the simple faith that had marked the settlers of upper South Carolina. I recall a debate about the nature of the resurrection body […]
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True Knowledge of God
Read more: True Knowledge of GodThe Elder Sophrony made a strong distinction between the knowledge we gain by rational speculation and the knowledge of God that comes as a gift of grace. He used the term “dogmatic consciousness” to express the knowledge of God as found in the lives of the saints and great ascetics. It is not a contradiction […]
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Prayers By the Lake – I
Read more: Prayers By the Lake – ISaint Nicholai Velimirovich, of whom I have written before, is the author of the wonderful, Prayers By the Lake, which he composed on the shores of Lake Ochrid. They are a treasure of modern Orthodox verse. His first poem in the cycle reflects a sense of the creation as God’s own, rather than an inert […]
Beauty, Culture, Orthodox Blogs, Orthodox Christianity, Prayer, The Journey of Faith, The Sacraments
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Sacraments: The World as Mystery
Read more: Sacraments: The World as MysteryMy recent post on Pentecost and Evangelism occasioned several thoughtful responses. One of the responses seemed to me particularly worth further reflection. I start with an excerpt: Truly it is God we need and want, nothing less. I experienced in my heart, but didn’t realize in my head until I began to study Orthodoxy, that in […]
Culture, Knowledge of God, Liturgy, Orthodox Blogs, Orthodox Christianity, The Church, The Sacraments, Union with God
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Pentecost and Evangelism
Read more: Pentecost and EvangelismWe are told that on the Day of Pentecost, about 3,000 souls were added to the Church (Acts 2:41). This simple fact has for many linked the Day of Pentecost and the Gift of the Spirit to the Church to the process of evangelism. For many Christians in our culture, for whom evangelism has come […]
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Blessings on the Feast!
Read more: Blessings on the Feast!When He came down and confused the tongues, The Most High divided the nations; but when He distributed the tongues of fire, He called all people to unity. Therefore, with one voice we glorify the most-Holy Spirit. Kontakion of Pentecost Please forgive my absence from the blog for the last […]
Matthew, in western art the painter is always present, the person in the picture is a creature of the painter.…