Glory to God for All Things
Elder Sophrony and Appalachia
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Why are the consequences of Adam’s disobedience so disastrous? Why does spiritual life in Christ take, in this world, the tragic form of a hand-to-hand battle against death? Why is God’s creation linked to this negation, to death, to this struggle full of pain? Why must I struggle against things which kill me without having the strength for it? I do not understand. To the degree that Christ and the Holy Spirit…
Glory to God for All Things
Archbishop Dmitri and the Dignity of Man
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The attacks come from two different directions – and the object is the destruction of man. This, for me is a short summary of a consistent prophetic word I have heard from Archbishop DMITRI of Dallas for the past 15 years. The Archbishop is set to retire on March 31 of this year. With his retirement, one of the strongest voices for the dignity of man will be heard less often. For…
The Morning Offering
New Icons Installed on Iconostasis
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Monday, March 23 / March 10 (Church Calendar) ~Great and Holy Lent~ Photo of the Day Painted by Matushka Ann Margitich of Santa Rosa, California, this is the icon of Christ, which now graces the iconostasis of our temple. Saints of the Day March 10 / 23. Martyrs Codratus (Quadratus) and with him Cyprian, Dionysius, Anectus, Paul, Crescens, Dionysius (another),…
Glory to God for All Things
Archbishop DMITRI of Dallas Announces Retirement
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The first Orthodox bishop I ever met was Vladyko DMITRI of Dallas and the South. He was everything I had ever thought a bishop should be – faithful, dynamic, mission-minded, and with a heart of gold. He has been the Apostle to the South here in the United States, leading many men and women into the Church and establishing around 60 parishes during his tenure. He is the first Bishop the South…
Glory to God for All Things
Personhood and Love
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I have written several times recently about the understanding of personhood – particularly as found in the writings of St. Silouan and the Elder Sophrony. They push the envelope of our understanding to the edge and then beyond. For many their work is difficult to understand – both because of vocabularly and because what they are saying in their writngs is simply hard to grasp. And yet, what they have to say…
The Morning Offering
New Icons Installed on Iconostasis
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Sunday, March 22 / March 9 (Church Calendar) ~Great and Holy Lent~ Veneration of the Holy Cross Photo of the Day: Our newly acquired icons have now been installed in the iconostasis of our monastery’s temple. They were painted by Matushka Ann Margitich, wife of Archpriest Lawrence, rector of Saint Seraphim of Sarav Church in Santa Rosa, California. Matushka Ann…
Glory to God for All Things
May God Grant Us To Weep
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From the writings of the Elder Sophrony: Spirtual weeping is an abundance of life springing vigorously from potent love, whereas ordinary weeping prostrates mortal man…. The ascetic Fathers did not weep because they were deprived of temporal goods but they do insist on the necessity for spiritual weeping without which man’s stony heart is incapable of love as taught by the Gospel. The mind of the Christian who weeps is totally directed…
The Morning Offering
The Grave of Archimandrite Dimitry
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Saturday, March 21 / March 8 (Church Calendar) ~Great and Holy Lent~ Photo of the Day The grave of the Ever Memorable Archimandrite Dimitry of Santa Rosa, my late spiritual father. I always visit his grave in Healdsburg, California, located just north of Santa Rosa, when traveling up Highway 101, on my return trip to the monastery. Saints of the…
Glory to God for All Things
Fr. Sophrony on Personhood
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The incarnation of the Logos of the Father – Jesus Christ – furnishes a solid foundation for our knowledge of God. Actuated by love for Him, we undergo a profound transformation of our whole being. Christ’s infinite life is transmitted to us. Our spirit finds itself on opposite poles – in both the black depths of hell and the Kingdom of God illumined by the Sun that never sets. The content of…
The Morning Offering
Matushka Ann Margitich, iconographer
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Friday, March 20 / March 7 (Church Calendar) ~Great and Holy Lent~ Photo of the Day Matushka Ann Margitich (Saint Seraphim Church, Santa Rosa, CA) together with the icons she has written for our Monastery’s iconostasis. Saints of the Day March 7 / 20. Hieromartyr of Cherson: Basil, Ephraim, Capito, Eugene, Aetherius, Elpidius, and Agathadorus. St. Paul the Confessor, Bishop…
Glory to God for All Things
It's Nothing Personal
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One of the most frightening phrases in the English language is: “It’s nothing personal.” It almost always precedes something bad. For someone to tell me that what they are about to do is not personal is already a confession of sin. But why should the word personal carry such weight? In the life of the Eastern Church few words could be more important. Oddly there is not a single definition for the…
The Morning Offering
Thursday, March 19 / March 6 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! ~Great and Holy Lent~ Photo of the Day Temple in black and white. Saints of the Day March 6 / 19. The 42 Martyrs of Ammoria in Phrygia, including Constantine, Aetius, Theophilus, Theodore, Melissenus, Callistus, Basoes and others. St. Arcadius, monk of Cyprus. Monk-martyrs Conon and his son Conon of Iconium. The…
Praying in the Rain
Realized Eschatology, Revelation and Repentance
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I must confess that when it comes to eschatology I am most convinced by the “realized” approach. Realized eschatology interprets apocalyptic literature (Daniel, Revelation, etc.) not so much as predicting the future (although that is there too), but as revealing through symbols the way things are, the nature of reality. This approach to reading apocalyptic literature does not sell books. There is no immediate sense of urgency (usually playing on fear) that…
The Morning Offering
Holy Virgin Cathedral
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Wednesday, March 18 / March 5 (Church Calendar) ~Great and Holy Lent~ Photo of the Day Holy Virgin, Joy of All Who Sorrow, Russian Orthodox Cathedral, San Francisco, CA., site of the Lenten Pastoral Conference. Saints of the Day March 5 / 18. Martyr Conon of Isauria. Martyr Conon the Gardener of Pamphylia. Virgin Martyr Irais (Rhais) of Antinoe in…
Glory to God for All Things
Why Does God Sing?
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Why would God sing? The question may sound strange and yet it is said in Zephaniah (3:17), “He will rejoice over thee with singing.” I first noticed this verse when I was a very young Christian and have puzzled about it for nearly forty years. Equally puzzling to our modern way of thought is the question, “Why does anybody sing?” I have been to plenty of operas and have to admit that…
The Morning Offering
Holy Protection Temple
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Tuesday, March 17 / March 4 (Church Calendar) ~Great and Holy Lent~ Photo of the Day Protection of the Holy Virgin Monastery Church, with the yet to be completed “Way of a Pilgrim” bookstore on the left. Saints of the Day March 4 / 17. St. Gerasimus of the Jordan. Martyrs Paul, his sister Juliana, and Quadratus, Acacius, and Stratonicus,…
Glory to God for All Things
Another Word from St. Isaac of Syria
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I prostrate myself, Lord, at the footstool of your feet and at your holy right hand which has fashioned and made me a human being capable of becoming aware of you. But I have sinned and done wrong, both in myself and before you, for I have abandoned holy converse with you and have given my days over to converse with the passions. I beg of you, Lord, do not set against…
The Morning Offering
Holy Virgin Cathedral
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Monday, March 16 / March 3 (Church Calendar) ~Great and Holy Lent~ Saints of the Day March 3 / 16. Martyr Eutropius of Amasea, and with him Martyrs Cleonicus and Basiliscus. RR. Zeno and Zoilus. St. Piama, virgin, and St. Alexandra, of Alexandria. St. Caluppan of Auvergne (Gaul). (Greek Calendar: Hieromartyr Theodoretus of Antioch. Thought for the Day I arrived…
The Morning Offering
Sunday, March 15 / March 2 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! ~Great and Holy Lent~ Saint Gregory Palamas Saints of the Day March 2 / 15. Hieromartyr Theodotus, Bishop of Cyrenia. St. Arsenius, Bishop of Tver. St. Agatho of Egypt, monk. Martyr Troadius of Neo-Caesarea. Virgin Martyr Euthalia of Sicily. 440 Martyrs slain by the Lombards. Saints Sabbas and Barsanuphius, abbots of Tver.…
Glory to God for All Things
Yes, We Can
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Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and said to him, “Abba as far as I can, I say my little office, I fast a little, I pray and meditate, I live in peace and as far as I can, I purify my thoughts. What else can I do?” then the old man stood up and stretched his hands towards heaven. His fingers became like ten lamps of fire and he said…
Glory to God for All Things
The Palamite Century
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Many books on Orthodoxy spend time recounting the history of the Church. Not many recount the recent history of Orthodoxy or Orthodox thought. Many people do not realize how utterly captive Orthodox theology was to various Western groups and oppressed by the Turkokratia (Turkish empire) until the 20th century. Even in Russia, theology had been largely dominated by a growing Western influence from various directions, often under the sponsorship of various Tsars.…
Praying in the Rain
The Pitiable Ahab
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The Hebrew Bible presents Ahab as a sinful man like no other: “But there was none like Ahab which sold himself to work wickedness.” The Septuagint, on the other hand, does not contain such extreme words about Ahab’s wickedness. Both the Hebrew and Septuagint versions of the story of Ahab contain his repentance/humbling after the prophet Elijah prophesies the grizzly outcome of Ahab and his wife Jezebel. However, in several places, the…
The Morning Offering
Deacon's Doors Nearing Completion!
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Saturday, March 14 / March 1 (Church Calendar) ~Great and Holy Lent~ Commemoration of the Departed Saints of the Day March 1 / 14. Martyr Eudocia of Heliopolis. Martyrs Nestor, Tribimius, Marcellus, and Anthony of Perge in Pamphylia. Martyr Antonina of Nicaea in Bithynia. Virgin Domnina of Syria. St. Agapius of Vatopedi on Mt. Athos. St. Martyrius, monk of Zelenetsk…
Glory to God for All Things
Forgiveness - the Hardest Love of All
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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 who ask for our forgiveness: we are commanded to forgive our enemies – whom I presume would rarely want to ask for our forgiveness. Of course, our experience of those who are truly enemies…
The Morning Offering
The Monastery's Trapeza
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Friday, March 13 / February 28 (Church Calendar) ~Great and Holy Lent~ Saints of the Day February 28 / March 13. St. Basil the Confessor, companion of St. Procopius at Decapolis. Saints Marina, Cyra, and Domnica (Domnina), nuns of Syria. Hieromartyr Proterius, Patriarch of Alexandria. Hieromartyr Nestor, Bishop of Magydos in Pamphilia. Apostles Nymphas and Eubulus. Blessed Nicholas of Salos…
Praying in the Rain
Gregory Palamas: Tearing the Roof Off
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The Gospel reading for the second Sunday of Lent is the the story about the four fellows who want to bring their paralyzed friend to Jesus to be healed. When they get to where Jesus is, he is trapped in a house, surrounded by hundreds of people. There is no way they are going to get in to see Jesus. However, some people have just got to have direct contact and will…
The Morning Offering
Metropolitan Laurus Library
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Thursday, March 12 / February 27 (Church Calendar) ~Great and Holy Lent~ Saints of the Day February 27 / March 12. St. Procopius the confessor of Decapolis. St. Titus, presbyter of the Kiev Caves. St. Thalalaeus, hermit of Syria. Martyr Gelasius the Actor of Heliopolis. St. Stephen, monk of Constantinople. St. Titus the Soldier, of the Kiev Caves. St. Pitirim,…
