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John the Baptist and Forerunner of the Lord
Read more: John the Baptist and Forerunner of the LordWe approach the feast of the Nativity of the Forerunner of Christ – a feast noted around my household for also being the birthday of my wife (and of her brother). Thus we celebrate and are sometimes slightly distracted from the ecclesiatical meaning of the day. But a family cannot be faulted for the joy […]
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Orthodoxy and Torture
Read more: Orthodoxy and TortureI generally try to respond to questions, when asked, though my main guidance in writing is to follow what seems good to me and that which I have some experience in. Therefore the limited range of topics… However in one of the comments recently, I was asked to consider a post on the Orthodox Church’s […]
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To Know God
Read more: To Know GodI have had some correspondence recently on the subject of knowing God. The knowledge of God, generally spoken of in a very experiential manner, is an absolute foundation in Orthodox theology. Nothing replaces it – no dogmatic formula – no Creed – not even Scripture – though Orthodoxy would see none of these things as […]
Fathers, Knowledge of God, Orthodox Christianity, Prayer, Saints, The Journey of Faith, Tradition, Union with God
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The Church of the Unanxious God
Read more: The Church of the Unanxious GodThe story of the conversion of Metropolitan Kallistos Ware to Orthodoxy has more or less passed over into modern Orthodox legend. He accidentally stumbles into a Vigil service in order to get out of a rain storm. Discovering Orthodoxy and its beauty he begins to inquire into conversion only to be told to go back […]
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Moses and the Unknowable God
Read more: Moses and the Unknowable GodLast week, while conducting a retreat for youth at Sts. Mary and Martha monastery, we concentrated on the topic of “Who Am I?” It seemed to me an appropriate topic for an age where youth are frequently struggling with issues of identity. They live in a socially dangerous world – the cruelty of young teenagers […]
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Now Lay Aside All Earthly Cares
Read more: Now Lay Aside All Earthly CaresThis youtube video has the music of Tchaikovsky’s Cherubimic Hymn. Let us who mystically represent the Cherubim and sing the thrice holy hymn to life-creating Trinity, now lay aside all earthly cares that we may receive the King of All who comes mystically upborne by the angelic hosts. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.
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A Day at a Time
Read more: A Day at a TimeOne of my favorite books, for many years, has been Solzhenitsyn’s One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich: A Novel. It’s hard at first thought to say what draws me to the book (I’ve probably read it ten times). It makes occasional remarks that are religious but it would not be described as an […]
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The One Thing Needful
Read more: The One Thing NeedfulHaving spent half of the last week at Sts. Mary and Martha Monastery, it is unavoidable to think about these Holy Myrrhbearers. Among those who were the first witnesses of Christ’s resurrection, these Myrrhbearing women are perhaps better known for their conversations with Christ when he visited in their home and at the time of […]
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Why is Love so difficult?
Read more: Why is Love so difficult?As I’ve noted, I’m on retreat with about 15 youth at a monastery. Our topic has been freedom and love – the two most important things necessary in our journey to become fully what God has created us to be. It’s not a complicated subject. “Everybody’s in favor of love,” Fr. Thomas Hopko says. What […]
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On the Shoulders of Giants
Read more: On the Shoulders of GiantsOne of the peculiar things (though not really) about the Orthodox Church in America (and by this I mean all the jurisdictions) is the fact that in a little over 200 years on this continent, we have been blessed by the showing forth of many saints. And not only have saints been shown forth, but many […]
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Father, it seems to me that “JOY” is the quality missing from this discussion. JOY is what holds everything together,…
Jenny, Enjoy the peaches! Your question is interesting – the idea there (and it strikes us as strange) is that…
Father, “And there it is ahead of all as Goal, as the Beloved, as the Cause toward which all things…
I have not found my experience to be something that trumps the collective wisdom of the Orthodox faith across the…
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Father, it seems the quality missing is JOY.