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…
The Lord rises before the dawn, and he leaves behind his graveclothes and an empty tomb. There are no physical witnesses to his Rising (though there is much evidence and many who testify that he is risen). In some mysterious way…
The forty-day celebration of the Nativity concluded with the Meeting of the Lord in the Temple; the forty-day Great Fast concludes with his Entrance into Jerusalem. In both cases, the Lord comes…
“By raising Lazarus from the dead before thy Passion, thou didst confirm the universal resurrection, O Christ God.” Today, by calling forth his friend Lazarus from the tomb…
According to her vita, written by Saint Sophronius, from her youth Saint Mary devoted her life to the pursuit of pleasures. Reading her life, as we did in church this past Thursday, we might…
In the sacred tradition of the Holy Eastern Orthodox Church, the importance of the Akathist hymn to the Mother of God can scarcely be overstated. As the lives of many saints…
The end of Great Lent is in sight—the final day of the holy Forty Days is a week from tomorrow. Already we turn our eyes toward the Passion starting from next Monday, when…