Author: Clare Freeman
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Cynicism and the Goodness of God
I admit to being a child of the 60’s (which means I was born in the early 50’s). I have lived through a period in American history marked by assasinations, abuse of power, incompetence and unrelenting and outrageous pieties from the lips of the impious. As such, like many in my generation, I am tempted…
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In The Last Days
Abba Ischyrion was asked, “What have we done in our life?” He replied, “We have done the half of what our Fathers did.” When asked, “What will the ones who come after us do?” He replied, “They will do the half of what we are doing now.” And to the question, “What will the…
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St. John Chrysostom on the Jesus Prayer
St. John on the Jesus Prayer: The remembrance of the name of Jesus rouses the enemy to battle. For a soul that forces itself to pray the Prayer of Jesus can find anything by this prayer, both good and evil. First it can see evil in the recesses of its own heart, and afterwards good.…
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Lament Me Not
Do not lament me, O Mother, seeing me in the tomb, for I shall arise and be eternally glorified as God. I shall exalt all who magnify you in faith and in love. From the Paschal Service I stand by the tomb with chills each Pascha, listening to the choir, and for that major chord,…
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The Boundary of Death
Having spent two-and-a-half years as a Hospice Chaplain, I had opportunity to be present to over 200 deaths (that does not include the many I have witnessed in my years in ordained ministry. As you sit with someone who is dying, there finally arises a boundary beyond which you cannot go: death itself. I can…
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A Prayer at Bedtime
From the Orthodox Prayers Before Sleep Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered; and let those who hate Him flee from His face. As smoke vanishes, let them vanish; and as wax melts from the presence of fire, so let the demons perish from the presence of those who love God and who…
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The Morning Prayer of the Last Elders of Optina
I have loved this prayer for years and found it essential in beginning the day. Key phrases have a way of coming back throughout the events of each day. It is worth committing to heart. O Lord, grant that I may meet all that this coming day brings to me with spiritual tranquility. Grant…
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Silence and Tradition
If again we wished to oppose (Tradition) to all that belongs to the reality of the word, it would be necessary to say the the Tradition is Silence. “He who possesses in truth the word of Jesus can hear even its silence,” says St. Ignatius of Antioch [to the Ephesians, XV,2]. As far as I…
Father, Dana and Matthew, I live and work in a spiritual desert. Your kindness and kind responses are a cool…