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The first of Our Lord’s great “signs” was the transformation of water into wine at the marriage in Cana of Galilee. Jesus had been invited to the marriage there together with His mother and disciples. When the wine ran out, and when this presumably was going to spoil the festive atmosphere of the wedding – or perhaps embarrass the bridegroom…
Today – August 1 – is the beginning of the relatively short Dormition Fast that culminates with the celebration of the Great Feast of the Dormition on August 15. Every fast presents us with a challenge and a choice. In this instance, I would say that our choice is between “convenience” and “commitment.” We can choose convenience…
Unless we find ourselves on an exciting vacation somewhere far from home, it seems that nothing can conceivably be more uneventful than a Monday morning in mid-July. The only “variety” offered seems to be found in the weather. Will it rain or will the sun shine? Will the blistering heat continue, or will we feel some relief? At this point…
In Saint Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians 4:8-9 we find this marvelous passage: “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
The Apostle exhorts us to…
Recently, I was speaking with one of our parish’s Church School teachers about the nature of angels and how we convey this to our children. One of our first tasks, I believe, is to overcome the caricature that has developed over the centuries over the appearance and role of angels. (Do adults also need to be liberated from this same caricature?)
As we approach another weekend of the Paschal season – including the Fourth Sunday of Pascha – it is good to remind ourselves of the place of the Resurrection of Christ in our lives, as that truly “cosmic” event can disappear into the routine of daily life with its endless round of cares and concerns. When this happens, then even the Sunday…
A question that recently formed in is whether there is Lent after Lent? Before proceeding any further, I need to offer two brief points of clarification: 1) I apologize if I have just happened to unsettle anyone with the frightening prospect of another immediate lenten period; and 2) I am not a “lent freak!” My purpose in the question “Is…
The souls bound in the chains of hades, O Christ, seeing Thy compassion without measure, pressed onward to the light with joyful steps, praising the eternal Pascha.
(Matins, Paschal Canon of Saint John of Damascus)
The awesome mystery of the Lord’s bodily resurrection from the dead was providentially kept hidden from human eyes. Although there…
The Vespers on the Sunday evenings of Great Lent provide our attentive ears with something like a running commentary on the course of the Fast that is both encouraging and challenging. Yesterday evening, the following hymn from the Triodion was prescribed to be chanted: “Having passed beyond the middle point in this holy season of the Fast, with…
“Before Thy Cross, we bow down in worship, O Master, and Thy Holy Resurrection, we glorify.”
This hymn – together with the accompanying rite of venerating the Cross – replaces the usual Trisagion hymn during the Divine Liturgy on the Third Sunday of Great Lent. According to The Synaxarion of the Lenten Triodion and Pentecostarion, the…
Having come to the middle point of the path of the Fast that leads to Thy precious Cross, grant that we may see Thy day that Abraham saw and rejoiced, when on the mountain he received Isaac back alive as from the tomb. Delivered from the enemy by faith, may we share Thy mystical supper, calling upon Thee in peace: Our light and our Savior, glory to…
On March 25, we celebrate the Great Feast of the Annunciation to the Most Holy Theotokos. This great feast always falls during Great Lent, and when it falls on a weekday, it is the only instance during that season for which the full Eucharistic Liturgy is served for its commemoration—clearly a sign of the feast’s significance. Thus, the…
As we draw closer to the beginning of Great Lent on Monday, March 18, we are able to set our lenten efforts against the background of the Last Judgment, thus giving us the “big picture” within which we live our lives and determine our personal destinies.
The Gospel read at the Eucharistic Liturgy this past Sunday was that of the Parable of the…
“Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took his journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in loose living” [Luke 15:13].
In the Parable of the Prodigal Son—alternative titles could be “The Compassionate Father” or “The Unforgiving Brother”—we find the classic expression of a young person…
The reading from The Epistle to the Colossians that read on February 3 of this year—the 35th Sunday After Pentecost—is quite remarkable for what it reveals about our Christian Faith. In the unique light of his Christocentric faith and piety, the Apostle Paul was reminding the Colossians—and us through them—of what the newly baptized Christian has…
On January 6, we celebrated the Great Feast of Theophany, on which we commemorated the Baptism of the Lord and the revelation of the Holy Trinity at the Jordan River. It is this open manifestation of God that accords this feast the name “Theophany” and not the Nativity of Christ. For, as Saint John Chrysostom says, “Why, then, is this day called…
I would like to begin by wishing everyone a blessed New Year. While I am a few days late, the new year 2013 is just beginning, and we still have a long way to go. So a greeting at this point is not altogether untimely. I am avoiding the usual cliché of wishing everyone a “happy” New Year, simply because that terms evokes something so…
Within the Church we have a biblical/theological vocabulary that is very expressive of what we believe as Christians. These words are drawn primarily from the Bible, the Ecumenical Councils, and the theological writings of the great Church Fathers, such as Saint Athanasius the Great, quoted above. As responsible, believing and practicing…
In Saint Basil the Great’s First Prayer in Preparation for Holy Communion, he acknowledges – and we acknowledge with him when we offer this prayer up to God – that we are so often “thankless and graceless.” Saint Basil makes this claim after enumerating what “Our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ our God” has done for us when He took on…
On November 15, we observed the first day of the 40-day Nativity/Advent Fast, meant to prepare us for the advent of the Son of God in the flesh. For some/many of us, this might very well catch us unaware and unprepared. However, as the saying goes, “it is what it is,” and so the Church calendar directs us to enter into this sacred season on…