Praying in the Rain
Theophany
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What we now celebrate as two feasts, Christmas and Theophany (Epiphany in the West), was originally celebrated as one feast on January 6th. By the time of St. John Chrysostom (late 4th century) the Church had already separated the feasts creating a twelve-day festal season. But in one of his homilies on the Theophany, St. John points out that there are actually two Theophanies. The word “Theophany” means the “appearance of God.”…
Glory to God for All Things
Do Not Resent, Do Not React, Keep Inner Stillness
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A very fine essay by Metropolitan Jonah of the OCA on essential practices of the spiritual life can be found among the abbatial essays on the website of the Monastery of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco. It is worth the read – even worth printing out and saving… An excerpt… …One of the things which is so difficult to come to terms with is the reality that when we bear…
Glory to God for All Things
Now Is The Change of the Most High
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There is no doubt that God is changing the world – though most of this work is hidden. A strange part of this hiddenness is the work that God does within us. The work is not entirely hidden – I can look back and see change that has occurred in my life – it’s just that it helps sometimes to live long enough to see it. Human beings seem to change at…
Glory to God for All Things
Having Then Gifts Differing
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A brother asked a hermit, “Tell me something good that I may do it and live by it.” The hermit said, “God alone knows what is good. But I have heard that one of the hermits asked the great Nesteros, who was a friend of Antony, ‘What good work shall I do?’ and he replied, ‘Surely all works please God equally? Scripture says, Abraham was hospitable and God was with him; Elijah…
Praying in the Rain
New Year Thoughts
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In 1993 Bill Murray starred in Ground Hog Day, a movie about a completely selfish weather broadcaster who spends a year trapped in the same day—Ground Hog Day. After repeating the same day several times, Phil (Murray) figures out that he can use the new knowledge he learns each day (names, personal information, and predictable actions) to manipulate people in the small town where Phil is trapped in order to indulge his…
Praying in the Rain
Wealth and Poverty
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“I am poor and needy, O Lord, come to my aid,” says the Prophet and King David. There is a kind of wealth that makes you arrogant and independent even if you do not have a cent. And there is a poverty that takes no notice of visible signs of wealth, for it sees them as only transient: tools to be used, responsibilities to be managed, tokens of the greater judgment that…
Glory to God for All Things
Remember God Always
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Somebody asked Abba Antony (St. Antony the Great of Egypt), “What shall I do in order to please God?” He replied, “Do what I tell you, which is this: wherever you go, keep God in mind; whatever you do, follow the example of Holy Scripture; wherever you are, stay there and do not move away in a hurry. If you keep to these guide-lines, you will be saved.” +++ This small story…
Glory to God for All Things
What's In The Cave
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It is traditionally understood that Christ’s nativity was in a cave (not in a stable). The cave served as a stable – not unusual for the area of Bethlehem. However, the traditional icon of Christ’s nativity reveals the cave in an unmistakeable manner. The cave of Bethlehem resembles the cave of Hades into which Christ descends at His death. It also resembles the space framed by the rocks in most icons of…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Ecological Vision in James Cameron's Avatar
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Ecology was never particularly a subject I thought I would find myself thinking too much about, much less writing about, but it seems to keep coming to the fore for me, especially as I’ve begun to apprehend more of its theological, rather than secular/political, significance. Framing this theological vision in terms of “the story of home” (which is one literal rendering of oikologia, from…
Glory to God for All Things
Christmas in General
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“Peace on earth! Good will towards men!” is a common greeting to be found on cards during this season of the Nativity. These are, of course, the words sung by the angels the night Christ was born in Bethlehem (Luke 2:14). It is also a phrase which admits of several interpretations. The possibility of various meanings is very likely the reason for its popularity on greeting cards. Who could be opposed to…
Frederica
Avatar
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Glory to God for All Things
The Smallness of God
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An annual December posting: Whom have we, Lord, like you The Great One who became small, the Wakeful who slept, The Pure One who was baptized, the Living One who died, The King who abased himself to ensure honor for all. Blessed is your honor! St. Ephrem the Syrian +++ We draw near to the Feast of our Lord’s Nativity, and I cannot fathom the smallness of God. Things in my life…
Praying in the Rain
A Note to a Young Christian on Responsibility in Relationships
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Now, I want to explain something to you. My goal is to help you become a good son/brother/friend without slipping into patterns of thought and response that do not help you or those you love. For the sake of your own psychological heath, it is probably a good idea not to be too concerned about how you feel about your mother (brother or friend) and what she does or doesn’t do, says…
Glory to God for All Things
The Angels Sing
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A Serbian Christmas Song – lyrics by St. Nikolai Velimirovich Andjeli Pevaju Noć prekrasna i noć tija, nad pećinom zvezda sija, u pećini mati spi, nad Isusom andjel bdi. Andjeli pevaju, pastiri sviraju, andjeli pevaju mudraci javljaju: Što narodi čekaše, što proroci rekoše, evo sad se u svet javi, u svet javi i objavi: Rodi nam se Hristos Spas za spasenje sviju nas. Aliluja, aliluja, Gospodi pomiluj! (deep voice) no matter what…
Glory to God for All Things
The Silent Word
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Phillips Brooks, the Anglican priest who wrote the hymn, “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” offered a very rich phrase with his observation, “How silently, how silently, the wondrous Word is given…” The ubiquitous sound of Christmas music has accompanied me into almost every store and restaurant since late November. At its best, the music is quiet and reverent. At its worst, the music jars the mind with every imaginable form of cultural…
Glory to God for All Things
Christmas Throughout the Ages
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I’ll have to ask for forgiveness at the outset on this post – mostly because of its speculative nature – something I generally prefer not to engage in – at least not for others to read. The Incarnation of Christ is significant in the course of our salvation – but we all too easily look at the story from a mere moral or soteriological point of view and fail to stop and…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Cosmic Cathedral
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Sunday of the Forefathers of Christ, December 13, 2009 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick Emmaus, Pennsylvania In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. If you follow the news, you know that this past week and in this coming week, the city of Copenhagen, Denmark, is hosting the United Nations Climate Change Conference. During…
Glory to God for All Things
To See the Heavenly Country
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These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they…
Praying in the Rain
More on Fénelon
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I’ve been reading the works of François Fénelon, a French archbishop and spiritual writer whose life straddled the 17th and 18th centuries. Although his spiritual writings were condemned by the western church, they have been widely and profitably read by both western and eastern (Orthodox) Christians even to today. In fact, I have been told, the prayer in most Orthodox prayer books that is attributed to St. Philaret of Moscow and is…
Glory to God for All Things
Brighter Than Any Royal Chamber
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At the end of the Great Entrance, when the priest places the Holy Gifts on the altar, there are several verses which he repeats quietly. They are all deeply meaningful to me, but one has been on my heart much of late: “Bearing life and more fruitful than paradise, brighter than any royal chamber: Thy tomb, O Christ, is the fountain of our resurrection.” For me, these words point to the true…
Glory to God for All Things
The Doorway to Bethlehem
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As we draw near to the feast of the Nativity, Bethlehem looms ever larger in my mind. At the same time, the entrance to Bethlehem appears as well. This article, posted on Christmas of last year, draws attention to the unusual feature of the entrance of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. We all have a journey to complete before we reach the manger of the Christ Child. This article describes…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Christianity and Ecology: Lessons on Sustainability from the Early Irish Sea
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A fascinating event held recently at St. Paul’s was this seminar and discussion led by Prof. Alfred Siewers of Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania (referenced in this previous post). You can now listen to both parts of the recording made of the seminar via Ancient Faith Radio: Part One—the bulk of the seminar, introduced by your host, in which I warble on a bit…
Praying in the Rain
Reading Messianic Prophecy (As a Christian)
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As we draw near to Christmas, I find joy in rereading the prophets: “’Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I am coming to you and I will dwell in your midst,’ says the Lord. ‘And in that day many nations shall flee to the Lord for refuge, and they will be His people, and they will dwell in your midst, and you shall know the Lord Almighty has…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
"The machine thus spoke for itself"
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Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost, November 29, 2009 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick Emmaus, Pennsylvania In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. On November 29th, 1877, a 30-year-old inventor in New Jersey handed a sketch to Swiss-born machinist John Kruesi and instructed him to build a new machine. Over the course of the next…
Glory to God for All Things
The Heart of Forgiveness
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Nothing is more difficult to our heart than forgiveness of our enemies. I cannot complete this small series on the heart without a few words on this topic. This post was written last March. I cannot think that any of my readers is a stranger to forgiveness, either the need to be forgiven or the need to forgive. The need to forgive, according to the commandment of Christ, extends well beyond those…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Sweet Afton
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Flow gently, sweet Afton! amang thy green braes, Flow gently, I’ll sing thee a song in thy praise; My Mary’s asleep by thy murmuring stream, Flow gently, sweet Afton, disturb not her dream. Thou stockdove whose echo resounds thro’ the glen, Ye wild whistling blackbirds in yon thorny den, Thou green-crested lapwing thy screaming forbear, I charge you, disturb not my slumbering Fair. How…
Glory to God for All Things
What the Heart Reveals
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It has been said that “icons do not depict but rather reveal.” It is an insight into the intrinsic character of icons. Events that are seen in a merely historical manner do not reveal their true nature. The meaning of an event and its significance are almost never apparent. Indeed, the world itself does not yield its significance to us by mere observation. In St. John Chrysostom’s prayer of the Divine Liturgy,…
