Glory to God For All Things

Category: Orthodox Christianity

  • Dostoevsky on the Individual

    The following passage from The Brothers Karamazov is taken from one of the “Talks and Homilies” of the Elder Zossima – one of the key characters in the novel. His thoughts echo earlier articles here that contrast man as “individual” (isolation) to man as Person (brotherhood and communion). I plan to offer a series of thoughts…

  • The Mystery of Faith – Sacrament and Icon

    Recent questions have been raised about the difference between icons and sacraments in the Orthodox Church. It is an easy place for confusion to occur – particularly when seen from the outside. The Church in the West, particularly the Roman Catholic Church, developed a carefully-worded and defined understanding of sacrament during the Middle Ages. This…

  • The Role of Icons

    Icons are not about art. Icons are not about left-overs of Byzantine style. Icons are not about the idolatrous impulse within fallen humanity. Icons are about the very nature of our salvation. The history of Western theology, particularly the opposition to icons within the Protestant movement, has removed one of the most traditional components of…

  • Bad Icons

    And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into His likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18). It is a teaching of the Fathers concerning the holy icons that we do not truly “see”…

  • The Face of God

    Orthodox Christians mark August 16 as the Feast of the Icon “Not Made With Hands,” the miraculous face of Christ first left on a cloth sent to King Abgar of Edessa. The stories of the icon are swathed in the mists of history – but the image (or representations of it on icons) remain among…

  • Rejoice, O Virgin – A Blessed Feast

    [vodpod id=Groupvideo.3196836&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26] more about “Rejoice, O Virgin“, posted with vodpod

  • Being Famous Doesn't Make You Moral

    The news story is so common that the name can be left blank.  “N. confessed today that he has been unfaithful to his wife and children and let down his fans. ‘I want to say I’m sorry for what I’ve done and ask God’s forgiveness.’” I do not believe that our nation is suffering a…

  • The Last Battle

    The Scriptures end with the description of a battle that is truly “apocalyptic” in its scale: all the forces of evil arrayed against all the forces of good. It is grand theater, having caught the imagination of countless generations (and even Hollywood). I do not know quite what to make of the description. That it…

  • The Inverted Pyramid

    No greater image of prayer and the love of God has been given in our modern time than that of the Elder Sophrony’s Inverted Pyramid. The subject of such prayer has risen. I thought to share this as an effort to shed some light. Fr. Sophrony [Sakharov], in his book on St. Silouan, presents this…

  • The Icon We Love Most

    An early post on icons – hopefully part of a short series… Years ago when I was studying in an Anglican seminary (mid-70’s), I had the beginnings of my interest in icons. I owned a couple, and read what little was available on the topic in English at that time (believe it or not there…

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Latest Comments

  1. Mallory, We certain live in a time that has its own darkness. I’ve heard it said, “This may not be…

  2. Hello Mallory. I know you directed your questions to Fr. Stephen, so I hope you don´t mind me offering up…

  3. Ontology is the only explanation for the Cristian narrative mystery.

  4. Thank you, Fr. Stephen. This writing brought me to tears. It’s so simple, and we make it so complicated. Just…

  5. Matthew W., St. Maximus is often “above my pay grade,” as they say. There’s nothing wrong when we think in…

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