Glory to God for All Things
The Knowledge of God
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The knowledge of God, generally spoken of in a very experiential manner, is an absolute foundation in Orthodox theology. Nothing replaces it – no dogmatic formula – no Creed – not even Scripture – though Orthodoxy would see none of these things as separate from the knowledge of God. But the questions I have received are very apt. In a culture that is awash in “experience” what do we Orthodox mean when…
The Morning Offering
Monday, October 12 / September 29 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day September 29 / October 12. St. Kyriacos the Hermit of Palestine St. Theophanes the Merciful of Gaza. Martyrs Dada, Gabdelas and Casdoe (Casdoa) of Persia. Martyr Gudelia of Persia. Eighty Holy Martyrs of Byzantium. St. Cyprian, abbot of Ustiug (Vologda). New Hieromartyr John, Archbishop of Riga in Lativa…
Praying in the Rain
What's Wrong with Imitating Christ?
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There is nothing wrong with imitating Christ, unless you try to do it. That is, in a general sense, Christians are “little Christs” and generally imitate Christ. Specifically, however, the conscious attempt to imitate Christ in the details of one’s life produces delusion. It is delusion to think one can imagine what Christ would do if, for example, he were driving a fork lift at Costco for a living. Imagination is not…
Glory to God for All Things
The Beatitudes
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The Morning Offering
Sunday, October 11 / September 28 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day September 28 / October 11. St. Chariton the Confessor, abbot of Palestine [(1) Wis 3:1-9; (2) Wis 5:15-6:3; (3) Wis 4:7-15. Matins: Matt 4:25-5:12. Liturgy: II Cor 4:6-15; Lk 6:17-23]. Prophet Baruch. Martyrs Alexander, Alphius, Zosimas, Mark, Nicon, Neon, Heliodorus and 24 others in Pisidia and Phrygia. Martyrdom…
Praying in the Rain
Faithful Heretics
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What does an Orthodox Christian do when faced with the manifest godliness and piety of a heretic? Certainly the first thing you do is acknowledge that it is indeed godliness and piety. The picture on the left is a popular Mennonite image of a Mennonite refugee who, being chased across a frozen river, stops and returns to help one of his pursuers who has fallen through the ice. The pursuer is saved…
Glory to God for All Things
The Elder Sophrony on the Struggle of Prayer
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Prayer is infinite creation, the supreme art. Over and over again we experience an eager upsurge towards God, followed only by a falling away from His light. Time and again we are conscious of the mind’s inability to rise to Him. There are moments when we feel ourselves on the verge of insanity. ‘Thou didst give me Thy precept to love but there is no strength in me for love. Come and…
Glory to God for All Things
Raising a Saint - St. Silouan on his Father
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Most of us would be satisfied to raise children who remain faithful believers. It is not always an easy thing and every parent who has such a child should rejoice constantly. There is no method to raise a child to be a saint, for God alone gives the grace that results in the mystery of such wonderful lives. However that may be, I am often struck in reading the writings of St.…
The Morning Offering
Saturday, October 10 / September 27 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day September 27 / October 10. Martyr Callistratus and his company (49 Martyrs). St. Sabbatius, Wonderworker of Solovki. Apostles Mark, Aristarchus and Zenas of the Seventy. Martyr Epicharis of Rome. St. Ignatius, abbot in Asia Minor. New-Martyr Aquilina of Thessalonica. (Greek Calendar: Martyr Fortunatus and Hieromartyr Philemon. Martyr Gaiana.…
Glory to God for All Things
Anger and a Father's Wisdom
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It is interesting that in reading the life of St. Silouan of Mt. Athos the figure that stands out most in his life is that of his (unlearned) peasant father. His father was clearly a man of great faith. St. Silouan thought his father to be wiser than many so-called spiritual fathers. The following story is an interesting account of how a father dealt with anger in correcting his son. This excerpt…
The Morning Offering
Friday, October 9 / September 26 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day September 26 / October 9. Repose of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian [(1) I Jn 3:21-4:6; (2) I Jn 4:11-16; (3) I Jn 4:20-5:5. Matins: Jn 21:15-25. Liturgy: I Jn 4:12-19; Jn 19:25-27; 21:24-25]. Righteous Gideon, Judge of Israel. St. Ephraim, abbot of Perekop, Wonderworker…
The Morning Offering
Thursday, October 8 / September 25 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day September 25 / October 8. Repose of St. Sergius, abbot, of Radonezh St. Euphrosyne, nun, of Alexandria. Martyr Paphnutius and 546 companions in Egypt. St. Euphrosyne, nun of Suzdal. Tr. re. St. Herman (Germanus), Archbishop of Kazan. Commemoration of the Earthquake in Constantinople in 447, when a boy…
Glory to God for All Things
Pray Always
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“Prayer is a matter of love. Man expresses love through prayer, and if we pray, it is an indication that we love God. If we do not pray, this indicates that we do not love God, for the measure of our prayer is the measure of our love for God. St. Silouan identifies love for God with prayer, and the Holy Fathers say that forgetfulness of God is the greatest of all…
The Morning Offering
Wednesday, October 7 / September 24 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day September 24 / October 7. Holy Protomartyr and Equal-to-the-Apostles Thecla [II Tim 3:10-15; Matt 25:1-13]. St. Coprius of Palestine. St. Nicander, hermit of Pskov. St. Abramius, abbot of Mirozh (Pskov). Martyrdom of St. Galacteon, monk of Vologda. Saints Stephen (in monasticism Simon), David and Vladislav of Serbia. St.…
Glory to God for All Things
V. Lossky and St. Paul on the Theology of the Image
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If man is logikos…if he is “in the image” of the Logos, everything which touches the destiny of man – grace, sin, redemption by the Word made man – must also be related to the theology of the image. And we may say the same of the Church, the sacraments, sanctification, and the end of all things. There is no branch of theological teaching which can be entirely isolated from the problem…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
New Podcast: Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
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The Morning Offering
Tuesday, October 6 / September 23 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day September 23 / October 6. The Conception of the Honorable, Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John [Gal 4:22-31; Lk 1:5-25]. Martyrs Andrew, John, Peter and Antoninus of Syracuse, martyred in Africa. Virgin Martyr Irais (Rhais) of Alexandria. Saints Xanthippa and Polyxena, disciples of the Apostles, who died in…
The Morning Offering
Monday, October 5 / September 22 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day September 22 / October 5. Hieromartyr Phocas, Bishop of Sinope Prophet Jonah. Martyr Phocas the Gardener of Sinope. St. Jonah the Presbyter, father of St. Theophanes the Hymnographer and St. Theodore Graptus. St. Peter the Tax-collector. St. Jonah, abbot of Yashezersk. The 26 Martyrs of Zographou Monastery on…
Glory to God for All Things
The Good Anger
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My attention was recently drawn to the work of Leon Podles on anger, which asserts that anger has a very important role to play in the virtuous life. He contends: Wrath is a necessary and positive part of human nature: “Wrath is the strength to attack the repugnant; the power of anger is actually the power of resistance in the soul,” wrote Josef Pieper. The lack of wrath against injustice, he continued,…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
"[He] didn't see any God there."
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In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. On October 4, 1957, the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union made the following transmission: “As a result of great, intense work of scientific institutes and design bureaus the first artificial Earth satellite has been built.” Indeed, it had not only been built, but Sputnik 1,…
The Morning Offering
Sunday, October 4 / September 21 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day September 21 / October 4. Apodosis of the Exaltation of the Cross. Apostle Quadratus of the Seventy. Opening of the Relics of St. Demetrius, Metropolitan of Rostov. Hieromartyr Hypatius, Bishop of Ephesus, and his presbyter Andrew. Martyr Eusebius of Phoenicia. Martyr Priscus of Phrygia. Martyrs Eusebius, Nestabus and…
Glory to God for All Things
The Fullness of the Age to Come
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I am fascinated by what the Holy Tradition does with the idea of “fullness” or “fulfillment.” The Church is described as the “fullness of Him that filleth all in all” (Ephesians 1:23). And it is not unusual for Orthodox Christians to express the meaning of Orthodoxy under the rubric of “fullness”: Orthodoxy is the “fullness of the Church.” The Scriptures do much with the concept – speaking of the “fullness of time,”…
The Morning Offering
Saturday, October 3 / September 20 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day September 20 / October 3. Afterfeast of the Exaltation of the Cross. Great-Martyr Eustathius (Eustace) Placidas, his wife Mary Theopistes, and their children Martyrs Agapius and Theopistus, of Rome Holy Martyr and Confessor Michael and his councilor Theodore, Wonderworkers of Chernigov. St. Oleg, prince of Briansk. Martyr John…
Glory to God for All Things
With God's Help
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A brother became tired of his community and the behavior of others often annoyed him. He decided, “I will go off somewhere by myself. Then I will neither talk nor listen and shall be at peace. This anger I feel will depart.” He went out into the desert and made his home in a cave. One day he placed a water jug he had filled on the ground. It rolled over, spilling…
Glory to God for All Things
The Elder Sophrony's Prayer
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A dear friend shared this with me: Fr Sophrony’s Prayer O Eternal Lord and Creator of all things, in your inscrutable goodness you have called me into this life and have given me the grace of baptism and the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit. You have instilled in me the desire to seek your face. Hear my prayer! I have no life, no light, no joy, no strength, no…
The Morning Offering
Friday, October 2 / September 19 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day September 19 / October 2. Afterfeast of the Exaltation of the Cross. Martyrs Trophimus, Sabbatius and Dorymedon of Synnada. St.Theodore, prince of Smolensk and Yaroslav, and his children Saints David and Constantine. Martyr Zosimas, hermit of Cilicia. Hieromartyr Januarius, Bishop of Benevento, and his companions: Sosius and Proclus,…
Glory to God for All Things
The Protection of the Mother of God
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Many blessings on the Feast of the Protection of our Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary! I am off for my preparations for the Liturgy at Church this morning. May God bless all as we offer thanks for the prayers of all the saints – and most especially for those of his Blessed Mother. Today the faithful celebrate the feast with joy illumined by your coming, O Mother of God. Beholding your…
