Glory to God for All Things
Of Apostles and Prophets
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I am spending this weekend in Nicholasville, Ky, with my Archbishop and several clergy friends. We are saying goodby to Fr. David Rucker who will soon take up a position at the Orthodox Christian Mission Center, and we say hello, to Fr. Justin Patterson, my former assistant priest, as the new priest in charge of St. Athanasius in Kentucky. In addition tomorrow, we will see the tonsuring of two men as Readers,…
Glory to God for All Things
In a Single Moment
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In Holy Week, the Church remembers the “Wise Thief,” the robber on the cross who asks Christ to “remember me in your kingdom.” In what has to be one of my favorite hymns of the week the Church sings: The Wise Thief didst Thou make worthy of Paradise, in a single moment, O Lord. By the wood of thy Cross illumine me as well, and save me. The striking part of this…
Glory to God for All Things
My Right Brain
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Many people may be familiar with the book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. It’s sort of popular around my house, almost as a shorthand for a complete understanding of how we see the world around us. The author, Betty Edwards, demonstrates through art exercises what science has known for quite some time – that the brain is differentiated for various tasks. The verbal part of our life, including reasoning,…
Glory to God for All Things
How Hard Is It?
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During the 1970’s through the 1990’s many of America’s mainline denominations experienced a frightening loss of membership. Every preacher worth his salt blamed the loss of members on whatever his favorite hobbyhorse was. It was the lack of this, or the presence of that. In Orthodoxy, particularly in parts of the Northeast and in some other parts, a similar decline occurred. The Eli Lily Foundation actually did some studies on this phenomenon…
Glory to God for All Things
Crowded Prayer
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For reasons I won’t go into here, I am in Boston for the better part of the week at a conference with a group of priests. Many good conversations, to say the least. In the course of one I was reminded of how “crowded” Orthodox prayer is. The service in the Chapel was part of the reminder. The place was packed, like most seminary chapels, with an extra thirty priests thrown in…
Glory to God for All Things
Why You Can't Do Orthodoxy By the Book (or the Blog)
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There is a grave problem with Orthodoxy – you can’t do it by the book. Even less so, can you do it by the internet (he says as he types away at his blog). The reason for all this is simple: we teach that God has revealed Himself as Person. As I’ve noted before, God cannot be known in general or in a non-personal way. Indeed, it is God Who reveals to…
Glory to God for All Things
Bad Icons
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And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into His likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18). It is a teaching of the Fathers concerning the holy icons that we do not truly “see” them if we have no reverence for that which they depict. Icons are “windows into heaven,” but…
Glory to God for All Things
A Prayer for a Church Building
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My weekend is spent in and around a Church building (as is most of the rest of the week). We do not care for these great gifts nearly as we ought, nor do they play the role in our culture that the Orthodox faith teaches. It is an area where we can pray for great growth. I have spent time worshipping in a warehouse (when St. Anne’s was just beginning) and in…
Glory to God for All Things
Giving Thanks
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It’s the day after Thanksgiving – I was eating yesterday with family in S.C. and far away from computers. I’m still eating today but found a little time and computer connection in order to make a short post and catch up on mail. Fr. Alexander Schmemann taught that one way of understanding the sin in the Garden of Eden, was that we ate the only food there that had not been given…
Glory to God for All Things
Hidden Wonders
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Being a good boy from the South, I learned long ago that certain things remain hidden. A woman’s age, certain stories about the family, how much a man is worth (though we were too poor to care much about that one). Even religion could be a hidden thing – at least for some. Among the most hidden things of all were things and people that involved pain. I was no stranger to…
Glory to God for All Things
Things Are More Than They Appear
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Today is the feast of the Entrance of the Mother of God into the the Temple. We celebrate the event in the life of the Virgin Mary when she is presented in the Temple by her parents, Joachim and Anna. The hymnography of the feast is rich and wonderful. Like much of the writings of the Fathers, the Church’s liturgical writings love irony. It loves the irony of the strong become weak,…
Glory to God for All Things
The Slowness of Grace
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From Prayer by the Elder Sophrony At times prayer seems over-slow in bringing results, and life is so short. Instinctively we cry, “Make haste unto me.” But He does not always respond at once. Like fruit on a tree , our soul is left to scorch in the sun, to endure the cold wind, the scorching wind, to die of thirst or be drowned in the rain. but if we do not…
Glory to God for All Things
What Does It All Mean? An Apology
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Glory to God for All Things
Fasting for Christmas
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Last Wednesday, November 15, the Orthodox Church began its “Winter Lent,” the fast that prepares for the feast of the Nativity. Somewhat similar to Advent, it is the older practice, a full 40 day fast, that reminds us that Christmas, joy that it is, is a foretaste of Pascha. The Cave of Bethlehem reminds us of the Cave of Hades (icons of the Descent into Hell picture the Cave of Hades). The…
Glory to God for All Things
A Washington Family Weekend
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I am in Washington, D.C., this weekend to attend the wedding of a niece, and share the joy of a family whose youngest generation is now doing things like getting married. Like many American families, we are scattered across the churchly plain. My parents and I are Orthodox. I have a brother whose family is Episcopalian (including the niece getting married). I have another brother who is Catholic. Sometimes our discussions are…
Glory to God for All Things
A Prayer at Bedtime
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From the Orthodox Prayers Before Sleep Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered! Let those who hate Him flee from before His face! As smoke vanishes, so let them vanish. As wax melts before the fire, so let sinners perish before the face of those who love God and sign themselves with the Sign of the Cross and say joyfully: rejoice, most precious and life-creating Cross of the Lord, which…
Glory to God for All Things
A Mighty Battle
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We are faced with a mighty battle but an especial, holy battle, not like the fratricidal wars that crowd the history of our world ever since Cain killed his brother Abel. Our common and only real enemy is our mortality. We must grapple painfully with the death that pervades all things, first and foremost ourselves. The Lord’s gospel belongs to another, higher, celestial plane, where everything is ‘not after man, and not…
Glory to God for All Things
America is a Franchise Operation - Further Thoughts on a Particular God
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When my family and I moved from Durham, NC to Oak Ridge, TN in 1989, I had all of the expectations of a child: new surroundings, new friends, a new community in which to work. It was inherently interesting to me. Arriving as we did, at the beginning of December, among our first tasks as a family was the annual Christmas shopping (we had three small children at the time). One of…
Glory to God for All Things
The Journey to a Particular God
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Some years ago I found myself traveling down I-75 with my van loaded with wife and children. Our destination was some hours away in Georgia. The purpose of the trip was to travel to a place where someone was reportedly having visions (and messages) from the Virgin Mary. At about 100 miles down the road the question formed in my mind, “If God is everywhere, then why am I driving 250 miles…
Glory to God for All Things
Do You Unite Yourself to Christ?
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In the Orthodox service of Holy Baptism, the candidate (or sponsor) is asked, “Do you unite yourself to Christ?” The question is put three times, and later is asked again in the past tense, “Have you united yourself to Christ?” It is clear from the dialog and the prayers themselves of the Baptism service that this question goes to the heart of the Church’s understanding of Baptism. Indeed, Baptism is only the beginning.…
Glory to God for All Things
Prayer Behind the Ambo
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This prayer from St. John Chrysostom’s Liturgy comes at the end of the service. It is a fitting summation of the Church’s prayer before God. Blessing those that bless thee, O Lord, and sanctifying those that trust in thee, save thy people and bless thine inheritance, preserve the fullness of thy Church, sanctify those that love the beauty of thy house. Glorify them in return by thy divine power, and forsake us…
Glory to God for All Things
The Morning Prayer of the Last Elders of Optina
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I have loved this prayer for years and found it essential in beginning the day. Key phrases have a way of coming back throughout the events of each day. It is worth committing to heart. O Lord, grant that I may meet all that this coming day brings to me with spiritual tranquility. Grant that I may fully surrender myself to Thy holy Will. At every hour of this day, direct and…
Glory to God for All Things
The Ecclesiology of the Cross - The Pillar and Ground of Truth - Part 4
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We continue from our previous posts with the last two points: 3. All discussion of the Church and its life must include this self-emptying [of Christ], not only of God, but of each of the members of the Church. 4. Every description of the various aspects of the Church would do well to include the self-emptying of God and the self-emptying of Christians in imitation of the God Who Saves. These last…
Glory to God for All Things
Preserving Peace of Soul
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From the teachings of St. Seraphim of Sarov One must by every means strive to preserve peace of soul and not to be disturbed by offenses from others; for this one must in every way strive to restrain anger and by means of attentiveness to keep the mind and heart from improper feelings. And therefore we must bear offenses from others with equanimity and accustom ourselves to such a disposition of spirit…
Glory to God for All Things
From the Desert Fathers
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It was said that there were three friends who were not afraid of hard work. The first chose to reconcile those who were fighting each other, as it is said, “Blessed are the peace-makers’ (Matt. 5). The second chose to visit the sick. The third went to live in prayer and stillness in the desert. Now in spite of all his labors, the first could not make peace in all mean’s quarrels;…
Glory to God for All Things
Ecclesiology of the Cross - Pillar and Ground of the Truth - Part 3
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Following earlier posts on this subject, I take up the second of four points: 2. Any imitation of God, any conformity of our life to His, will involve this same self-emptying [as the self-emptying of God on the Cross]. There is a tendency when we think of the Church to think in institutional terms – to speak of hierarchies, the role of Bishops, etc. Scripture uses a variety of images for the Church:…
Glory to God for All Things
A Morning Prayer to the Holy Trinity
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by St. John Chrysostom Glory to You, our God, glory to You. Glory to You, O Lord our God, Who always overlooks our sins. Glory to you. O Lord our God, who enabled me to see this day. Glory to You, O most-holy Trinity, our God. I venerate Your ineffable goodness. I praise Your inexplorable forbearance. I thank and glorify Your infinite mercy. For although I deserve every punishment and chastisement, You…
