In the troparion for today’s feast, we sing that God has “established the holy fathers as lights on the earth” and that “through them” he has “guided us to the true faith.” These troparia remind us…
On Holy Saturday, Christ completed his descent, going all the way down to the depths of hell; today, he completes his ascent, passing into the heavens with his body and bodily taking…
The Leavetaking of Pascha is often understood, on some level, to be a sorrowful occasion; we take our leave fondly, looking forward to next year. More truly, the leavetaking…
Today, as we draw near to the end of the Paschal feast, whose Leavetaking will take place two days from now, our liturgical readings strike a seemingly ominous chord. ...
“It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be manifest in him.” We know that all sickness, pain, and death came into the world on account…
When we hear that the Samaritan woman had five husbands, and that the one she has now is not her husband, we may be shocked at her apparently-tumultuous personal life. Without…
Pentecost is the fiftieth day after Pascha, and also the name of the period of fifty days between and encompassing these feasts. Hence, this mid-point of the festal period is Mid-Pentecost, the middle of the fifty…
In the early days of the Church, those who were seeking to be joined to Christ – the catechumens – often learned the faith solely through the study of the Old Testament. With the…
The myrrh-bearing women are a constant presence in the hymns of the Resurrection, both during this bright Paschal season and on Sundays throughout the year. These ...
The Lord’s Pascha, as the feast of feasts, cannot be celebrated just one day a year or in just one way. We regard all of Bright Week as one unending day of the Resurrection, and even as we close…