Search results for: “church as cross”
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A Story of Repentance
Read more: A Story of RepentanceOne of my favorite books comes from the last years of the Soviet Union. It is the story of Tatiana Goricheva, a member of the “intelligentsia” and a Soviet-era dissident. Her book, Talking About God Is Dangerous, offers fascinating insights into both a period of time and the period of a human soul’s conversion by […]
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Careful Devotion to Christ
Read more: Careful Devotion to ChristIn writing about monasticism, I recently made mention of what I called “careful devotion to Christ.” In turn, a reader asked me to write further on “careful devotion.” In many ways the great problem of our age is the two-storey universe (which is make-believe) in which we live as religious people. We live in a […]
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Orthodoxy and the Christ-Haunted Culture of the South
Read more: Orthodoxy and the Christ-Haunted Culture of the SouthI continue my short series in honor of Vladyko DMITRI of the South. This wonderful talk was given by the priest, Paul Yerger, of Clinton Mississippi, a true gentleman. Archbishop DMITRI was deeply sensitive of the unique culture in parts of the South and of the proper role that Orthodox mission should play. His own […]
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Why Does God Sing?
Read more: Why Does God Sing?Why would God sing? The question may sound strange and yet it is said in Zephaniah (3:17), “He will rejoice over thee with singing.” I first noticed this verse when I was a very young Christian and have puzzled about it for nearly forty years. Equally puzzling to our modern way of thought is the […]
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Know God or No God
Read more: Know God or No GodThe task for Orthodox Christians throughout Great Lent and at all times is quite simple and straightforward: know God.
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The Difficulty of Lent
Read more: The Difficulty of LentMany of our readers come from communities who use the Western calendar, on which today is the first day of Great Lent, Ash Wednesday. Orthodox Lent begins on at sundown this Sunday. This short reflection may be of help for us all. Great Lent is one of the most important spiritual undertakings in the course […]
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Turning Points
Read more: Turning PointsOn February 15, 1998, on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son, my family and I were received into the Orthodox Church by Chrismation, bringing both the end to a very long pilgrimage, and the beginning to one far longer. It is significant to myself and my family, that this year the calendar has come back […]
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Our Common Life
Read more: Our Common LifeI have long been intrigued with the notion of our common responsibility, or rather, that I am responsible for the sins of the whole world. I think I first came across the notion in a quote from the Elder Zossima in The Brothers Karamazov. And even there, Dostoevsky was only putting on the lips of […]
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Living in the Un-holy Land
Read more: Living in the Un-holy LandGenerally, our language reserves the word “unholy” to mean something evil or positively wicked (now there’s an oxymoron). Of course we also live in a culture where not much, or nothing at all, is considered holy. We think we live in a neutral zone – a place that is merely secular. Of course, the modern […]
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The Forty Days of Christmas
Read more: The Forty Days of ChristmasMy title is slightly misleading. There are not “forty days of Christmas” in the Orthodox Church – but there is a major feast that marks the fortieth after Christmas: the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, sometimes called the Feast of the Meeting (February 2). It occurs forty days after Christmas in accordance to the […]
Father, These words are so comforting. Sometimes I really struggle with loving others, especially those who express their disparagement of…