Category: Orthodox Christianity
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A Brief Excursion
After Liturgy on Sunday, I fly to California to attend the Baptism of my grandson, Peter Alexis Holste. His father, Priest Hermogen Holste, is Rector of Nativity of the Holy Virgin Orthodox Church in Menlo Park, CA. His wife, my first-born, is Matushka Mary Holste. Many years to all of them on such a great…
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Reading Scripture in an Orthodox Manner
Recently my site has been visited with questions about Scripture, in particular (to start with) the Orthodox use of the title “Father” when Christ said, “Call no man on earth your father.” Actually I thought the response posted by William amply demonstrated how this verse should be understood. But there is a larger question –…
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The Most Holy Mother of God
On August 15, the Orthodox Church (new calendar) commemorates the Dormition (falling asleep) of the Most Holy Mother of God. The feast is considered to be one of the 12 Great Feasts of the year and thus an integral part of the proclamation of gospel of Jesus Christ. Many who are not familiar with Orthodoxy,…
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Healing the Heart
The heart itself is but a small vessel, yet dragons are there, and there are also lions; there are poisonous beasts and all the treasures of evil. But there too is God, the angels, the life and the kingdom, the light and the apostles, the heavenly cities and the treasuries of grace—all things are there.…
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St. Silouan and Love for Enemies
The following is from the writings of St. Silouan, published in Elder Sophrony’s St. Silouan the Athonite. +++ The grace of God is not in the man who does not love his enemies. O merciful Lord, by Thy Holy Spirit teach us to love our enemies, and to pray for them with tears. O Lord,…
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Orthodox Patriarchs Call for Cease-Fire and End of Violence
Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia Tbilisi, August 8, Interfax – Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of All Georgia is concerned with the situation in South Ossetia. He urged, “Both Georgian authorities and Ossetians, everyone who values human life and peaceful development of the country to spare no effort to cease fire and solve disputes peacefully.” “Georgian authorities…
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Intercession
I live in a small town that has a history of very active, civic involvement. It is not unusual to be approached and asked to sign a petition. Generally, I do not sign petitions. Often it is someone else’s issue and I’m not always clear what is being asked of me. By the same token,…
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Many Thanks for Prayers and a Request
I awoke feeling much better today and am deeply grateful for the many prayers. In my experience, rising from a bed of sickness is among the greatest joys we know in our earthly life. I think it is a foreshadowing of the resurrection when we shall all rise from our beds of sickness (and death)…
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On The Day of Solzhenitsyn’s Arrest
Excerpted from an essay Solzhenitsyn released the day he was arrested. The next day, Feb. 12, 1974, he was exiled to the West. The essay can be found on pp. 556 to 560 of The Solzhenitsyn Reader. +++ I reprint these words here, for a similar version (from his essays in From Under the Rubble)…
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I Am A Mess (Still in Need of a Savior)
Among my continual reading (I read some books occsionally, and some I read continuously, a little a day), is Dimitru Staniloae’s Orthodox Spirituality. It is one of the finest and most comprehensive books on the inner life of a human being that I know. Generally, such a book could be read like a medical textbook,…
Petronija, Thank you! Such a lyrical comment!