The Morning Offering
September 13 / August 31
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Saints of the Day: The Placing of the Cincture (Sash) of the Most Holy Theotokos Hieromartyr Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage. St. Gennadius, Patriarch of Constantinople. St. Gennadius Scholarius, Patriarch of Constantinople. St. John, Metropolitan of Kiev. (Greek Calendar: Four Martyrs of Perge in Pamphylia. Martyrs Menas, Fausus,Andrew and Heraclius. Martyr Phileortus. Martyr Diadoch. Eight Virgin Martyr of Gaza. 366 Martyrs…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Can you then think that you are still among men?
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For the priestly office is indeed discharged on earth, but it ranks among heavenly ordinances; and very naturally so: for neither man, nor angel, nor archangel, nor any other created power, but the Paraclete Himself, instituted this vocation, and persuaded men while still abiding in the flesh to represent the ministry of angels. Wherefore the consecrated priest ought to be as pure as if…
The Morning Offering
September 12 / August 30
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Saints of the Day: Saints Alexander, John and Paul the New, Patriarch of Constantinople. Repose of St. Alexander, Abbot of Svir. Translation of the Relics of St. Alexander Nevsky. St. Christopher of Palestine. St. Fantinus of Calabria. Opening of theRelics of St. Daniel, prince of Moscow. Synaxis of the Serbian hierarchs: Saints Sabbas I, Sabbas II, Arsenius I, Eustathius I,…
The Morning Offering
September 11 / August 29
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In memory of all those who lost their lives on 9/11 Saints of the Day: The Beheading of the Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John St. Alexander, abbot of Voche.New-Martyr Anastasius of Bulgaria. New-Martyr Peter, Metropolitan of Krutitsa (1936). (Greek Calendar St. Theodora ofThessalonica. St. Arcadius of Arsinoe on Cyprus, Bishop of and Wonderworker. Translation of the Relics of St.…
Praying in the Rain
On Interpreting the Interpreters of the Holy Fathers on Education
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I have not read most of what St. Gregory Palamas (or any Church Father for that matter) has written. I have read his homilies (at least those recently published in English by Mount Thabor Publishing), bits from the Philokalia, and about twenty years ago The Triads, published in the Classics of Western Spirituality series–of which I understood absolutely nothing. However, the great majority of what he has written I have not read.…
Glory to God for All Things
Something from Nothing and the Apostolic Hypothesis
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On September 8 the Orthodox Church celebrated the Nativity of the Mother of God. This is one of a number of feasts involving the life of the Virgin Mary, particularly during this time of the year. Many of the feasts mark events that are unfamiliar to many Christians, in that they are based on Tradition and have no direct account within the Scriptures. This would be especially troubling for some, if these…
The Morning Offering
September 10 / August 28 Saints of the Day:
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St. Moses the Black of Scete. Uncovering or the relics of St. Job of Pochaev. St. Sabbas, abbot of Krypetsk. Righteous Anna the Prophetess. Righteous Hezekiah, king of Judah. Synaxis of the Saints of the Kiev Caves whoserelics repose in the Far Cave of St. Theodosius. St. Amphilochius, Bishop of Vladimir in Volhynia. St. Theodore (Theodosius inmonasticism), prince of Volhynia…
Praying in the Rain
St. Maximus on Hoarding
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This morning I was reading St. Maximus the Confessor (“Four Centuries on Love” in volume two of the Philokalia) and I came across these verses. It is not so much because of need that gold has become an object of desire among men, as because of the power it gives most people to indulge in sensual pleasure. There are three things which produce love of material wealth: self-indulgence, self-esteem and lack of faith.…
The Morning Offering
Mark 7:24-30
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September 9 / August 27 Saints of the Day St. Poemen the Great. St. Poemen of Palestine. St. Sabbas of Benephali.St. Liberius, pope of Rome. St. Hosius the Confessor, Bishop of Cordova. Hieromartyr Kushka and St. Pimen (Poemen) of the Kiev Caves. Martyr Anthusa. Translation of the Relics of Saints Theognostus, Cyprian and Photius, Metropolitan of Moscow. Great-Martyr Phanurius the…
Praying in the Rain
Education and Illumination
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Referring to St. Gregory Palamas, Metropolitan Hierotheos (in The Science of Spiritual Medicine: Orthodox Psychotherapy in Action) makes the following comment: Secular learning (philosophy) is not a spiritual gift, which someone can only acquire through study and reading. “Our divine wisdom,” however, is not a natural gift, but a gift bestowed by God on those who have purified their hearts. If this gift comes to fishermen, it makes them sons of thunder…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Arise, O Lord, Thou and the Ark of Thy holiness
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The Nativity of the Theotokos, September 8 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. In the Book of Exodus, after the Hebrew people left the land of Egypt, they wandered in the desert for some forty years before they finally came to the Promised Land. During this time, they met with God on…
The Morning Offering
September 8 / August 26
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Saints of the Day: Martyrs Adrian and Natalia and 33 companions of Nicomedia. Martyr Adrian at Nicomedia. St. Tithoes ofthe Thebaid, disciple of St. Pachomius the Great. St. Adrian, abbot of Ondrusov (Valaam). Blessed Cyprian of Storozhev, formeroutlaw. St. Adrian, abbot of Poshekhonye (Vologda). St. Ibestion the Confessor, Egyptian ascetic. St. Adrian of Uglich, disciple ofSt. Paisius of Uglich. Finding…
The Morning Offering
September 7 / August 25
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Saints of the Day Return of the relics of Apostle Bartholomew from Anastasiopolis to Lipari. Apostle Titus of the Seventy. Saints Barses and Eulogius, Bishops of Edessa, and St. Protopgenes, Bishop ofCarrhae, confessors. St. Menas, Patriarch of Constantinople. St. John the Cappadocian and St. Epiphanius, pats. Constantinople.Repose of Abbess Magdalena of Sevsk Convent (1848) and Monk Benjamin of Valaam (1848).…
Praying in the Rain
"Go and Learn What This Means..."
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Twice in the Gospel of Matthew Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6 to the Pharisees, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice” (9:13 and 12:7). The full quote from Hosea goes like this: For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. In the context of the prophecy of Hosea, the knowledge of God does not refer to merely a mental or even a heart knowledge. The knowledge of…
The Morning Offering
September 6 / August 24
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Saints of the Day August 24 / September 6. Hieromartyr Eutychius, disciple of St. John the Theologian. Translation of the Relics of St. Peter,Metropolitan of Kiev. St. Arsenius, abbot of Komel (Vologda). St. George Limniotes the Confessor of Mt. Olympus. Martyr Tation(Tatio) at Claudiopolis. Virgin Martyr Cyra of Persia. New Hieromartyr Cosmas of Aetolia, Equal-to-the-Apostles (also entered atAugust 4). St.…
The Morning Offering
Photo of the Day:
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September 5 / August 23 Saints of the Day Apodosis of the Dormition (Epistle & Gospel of the Feast). Martyr Lupus, slave of St. Demetrius ofThessalonica. Hieromartyr Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons. St. Callinicus, Patriarch of Constantinople. Saints Eutychius and Florentiusof Nursia. (Greek Calendar: 38 Martyrs of Thrace. St. Nicholas the Sicilian who struggled on Mt. Neotaka in Euboea.) Quote of…
Glory to God for All Things
It's All in the Family
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Fr. Thomas Hopko has observed on occasion that many times saints of the Church are found in “clusters,” particularly in clusters of a single family. Thus it is that within St. Basil the Great’s family, his brothers, Gregory of Nyssa and Simeon, as well as his sister Macrina, and his mother are all saints of the Church (did I leave any out?). At one point, during the history of Orthodox Britain, there…
Praying in the Rain
Still Thinking About Money
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In 2 Corinthians we see St. Paul walking a tight rope. St. Paul spends a good deal of the first part of the letter saying that he does not “peddle” the Word of God, he is not commending himself, and he sincerely preaches the Gospel; yet in many respects, 2 Corinthians could be read basically as a fund raising letter. The letter reveals the awkward position “bondservants” (slaves) of the Church–ministers–find themselves…
The Morning Offering
September 4 / August 22
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Saints of the Day Martyr Agathonicus of Nicomedia and his companions Martyrs Zoticus, Theoprepius, Acindynus,Severian, Zeno and others who suffered under Maximian. Virgin Martyr Eulalia of Barcelona. St. Anthusa. Hieromartyr Athanasius,Bishop of Tarsus in Cilicia, and Martyrs Charesimus and Neophytus. St. Bogolep of St. Paisius of Uglich Monastery. New-MartyrsBishop Ephraim of Selenginsk and Priest John Vostorgov (1918). (Greek Calendar Martyrs…
Praying in the Rain
The Poor
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In the discussion of a previous post, someone brought up a quotation by St. John Chrysostom found in the Orthodox Study Bible (Matthew 26: 6-13). St. John’s commentary concerns the anointing of Jesus by a woman in Bethany before His death, and the disciples’ indignant response to the waste. St. John comments that the disciples were not wrong “in principle.” He goes on to say, “If anyone had asked Christ before the…
The Morning Offering
September 3 / August 21
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Saints of the Day Apostle Thaddeus of the Seventy. Martyr Bassa of Edessa and her sons Theogonius, Agapius andPistus. St. Abramius, archimadrite, Wonderworker of Smolensk, and his disciple St. Ephraim. St. Abramius the Lover-of-labor ofthe Kiev Caves. St. Theocleta the Wonderworker of Asia Minor. St. Cornelius, abbot of Paleostrov, and his disciple St. Abramius.St. Isaiah of Mt. Athos. Quote of…
Glory to God for All Things
The Secular Man and the Christian Man
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Many Orthodox writers have spoken about the nature of the secular world, the defining form of modernity. I take here an opportunity to make a small comparison between the secular man and the Christian. The secular man may believe that there is a God, but he also believes that the situation and outcome of the world are dependent upon the actions of human beings. The Christian man believes that there is a…
The Morning Offering
September 2 / August 20
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Saints of the Day Afterfeast of the Dormition. Prophet Samuel. Hieromartyr Philip, Bishop of Heraclea, and with himMartyrs Severus, Memnon and 37 soldiers in Thrace. Martyr Lucius the senator of Cyprus. Martyrs Heliodorus and Dosa (Dausa) in Persia. (Greek Calendar: Martyr Photina at the door of the Church in Blachernae.) Repose of Righteous Hieromonk Seraphim of Platina. Quote of the…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Priorities and Practicalities
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The following is a recycled post from my previous weblog, originally posted in October of 2008. In a conversation I had recently, I was struck by how religious fervor is so often given over to nearly everything but religion. In this particular discussion, my interlocutor was greatly concerned about people who had no health insurance, because of a frequent interaction with such people, some…
The Morning Offering
September 1 / August 19
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Saints of the Day Afterfeast of the Dormition. Martyr Andrew Stratelates and 2,593 soldiers with him in Cilicia Martyrs Timothy, Agapius and Thecla of Palestine. St. Pitirim, Bishop of Perm. Opening of the Relics of St.Gennadius, abbot of Kostroma. St. Theophanes, new Wonderworker of Macedonia (Mt. Athos). Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos Of the Don. Quote of the Day…
Praying in the Rain
All We Lepers Ten
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When Jesus heals ten lepers, only one, a foreigner, returns to give thanks in a loud voice, falling at Jesus’ feet. Jesus says to him, “arise, go your way, your faith has made you well.” A long time ago, someone explained to me that this meant that while all were healed of the disease of leprosy, only the one who returned to give thanks was restored completely. That is, the body of…
Glory to God for All Things
A Culture of Remembrance
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America is torn in a debate at present over the building of a Mosque at Ground Zero, the former location of the Twin Towers in New York, destroyed by an act of terrorism. At the same time, an Orthodox Church that was crushed by the falling towers has been ignored by New York authorities. It is a painful time, full of the anger and recriminations that seem to accompany all political discourse…
