The Morning Offering
Saturday, August 7 / July 25
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(Church Calendar) Saints of the Day July 25 / August 7. Dormition of the Righteous Anna, mother of the Most Holy Theotokos [Gal 4:22-31; Lk 8:16-21]. Holy Women Olympias (Olympiada) the deaconess of Constantinople, and Virgin Eupraxia of Tabenna. St. Macarius, abbot of Sheltovod and Unzha. St. Christopher, abbot of Solvychegodsk (Vologda). Martyrs Sanctus, Maturus, Attalus, and Blandina of Lyons.…
Praying in the Rain
Happy Anniversary!
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Bonnie and I had a wonderful “Day Holiday” in Vancouver. We stayed at a very nice hotel near Stanley Park and brought our bikes to ride around. The first trip around the park at about 1:00 PM on Wednesday was terrible. There was a 5K long traffic jam of tourists and Japanese school children wobbling awkwardly along on rented bikes. I was so stressed out that when we got back to the…
The Morning Offering
Friday, August 6 / July 24
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(Church Calendar) Saints of the Day July 24 / August 6. Martyr Christina of Tyre. Holy Martyrs and Passion-bearers Boris and Gleb, in holy baptism Romanus and David. St. Polycarp, archimandrite of the Kiev Caves. New-Martyr Athanasius of Ikia. New-Martyr Theophilus of Zakynthos. Martyr Hermogenes. St. Pachomius, abbot, on the Lake, friend of St. Dionysius of Glushets (Vologda). (Greek Calendar:…
Glory to God for All Things
The Transfigured Beauty of the Crucified God
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On the Mountain Thou wast Transfigured, O Christ God, And Thy disciples beheld Thy glory as far as they could see it; So that when they would behold Thee crucified, They would understand that Thy suffering was voluntary, And would proclaim to the world, That Thou art truly the Radiance of the Father! Kontakion of the Feast of Transfiguration It is inevitably the case that no matter how much a man may write and offer…
Glory to God for All Things
Knowing 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
Thursday, August 5 / July 23
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(Church Calendar) Saints of the Day July 23 / August 5. Martyrs Trophimus, Theophilus, and 13 others in Lycia. Hieromartyr Apollinaris, Bishop of Ravenna. Righteous Anna (Hannah), mother of the Prophet Samuel. Commemoration of the Miraculous Appearance of the Mother of God at Pochaev, which saved the monastery from the assault of the Tatars and Turks (1675). Translation of the…
The Morning Offering
Wednesday, August 4 / July 22 (Church Calendar)
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Saints of the Day July 22 / August 4. Holy Myrrh-bearer and Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalen [I Cor 9:2-12; Jn 20:11-18]. Hieromartyr Phocas, Bishop of Sinope. Woman-martyr Marcella of Chios. St. Cornelius, monk of Pereyaslavl. Photo of the Day A shrine, near the entrance to the Monastery. Quote of the Day “If we reproach the sins of brothers, then God will…
Praying in the Rain
A reflection, not quite a poem, on the beatitudes
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Blessed are the… What does it mean to be blessed in a world of death? Jesus told us. First, let go; be poor. Receive the Kingdom of Heaven. This is where blessedness is found: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. And mourn. The world really is a sad place. And yet, not so sad that there is no comfort. We fight and lie and cheat…
Glory to God for All Things
The Mystery of the Mother of God
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The 15th of August is the Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God (her death). Orthodox Christians fast for two weeks prior to this great feast and celebrate it with great solemnity. A question was recently placed by a reader about the “perpetual virginity” of Mary. I am offering this small post to address that question and to look at the place of the Most Holy Theotokos in Orthodox faith…
The Morning Offering
Tuesday, August 3 / July 21
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(Church Calendar) Saints of the Day July 21 / August 3. St. Symeon of Emesa, fool-for-Christ, and his fellow faster St. John. Prophet Ezekiel. St. Onuphrius the Silent of the Kiev Caves. St. Onesimus, recluse of the Kiev Caves. Opening of the Relics of St. Anna of Kashin. Martyr Victor of Marseilles. St. Anna, mother of St. Sava the Serbian.…
Praying in the Rain
A Little Yeast
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From Our Thoughts Determine our Lives: The Life and Teahings of Elder Thaddeus of Vitonvinica. An old lady asked elder Thaddeus what she should do so that her grandchildren might become pious. The elder answered that she should always be meek and good; let her never be angry but always happy. Let her obey everyone, since no one will obey her. Perhaps her grandchildren will not become pious, but one day they…
Praying in the Rain
Pierre Finds Peace
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In War and Peace, the character Pierre undergoes a profound transformation through suffering. Although not in the military, Pierre is taken as a POW by the French occupying Moscow in the late summer of 1812. Driven from Moscow with the fleeing French troops, Pierre survived (barely) the privation of adequate food and shelter that resulted in the death of most of the POWs and, eventually, almost all of Napoleon’s army. Pierre is…
The Morning Offering
Monday, August 2 / July 20
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(Church Calendar) Saints of the Day July 20 / August 2. Holy Glorious Prophet Elias (Elijah St. Abramius of Galich or Chukhloma Lake, disciple of St. Sergius of Radonezh. Opening of the Relics of St. Athanasius, abbot of Brest-Litovsk. New-Martyr Lydia, and with her the soldiers Alexei and Cyril (1928) Priest Philosoph Ornalsky and those with him (1918). Repose of…
The Morning Offering
Sunday, August 1 / July 19
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(Church Calendar) Fathers of the 6th Councils Saints of the Day July 19 / August 1. St. Macrina, sister of St. Basil the Great. St. Dius, abbot of Antioch. Blessed Romanus, prince of Ryazan. Opening of the Relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov Blessed Stephen, king of Serbia, and his mother St. Militsa. St. Paisius of the Kiev Caves. New-Martyr…
Glory to God for All Things
The Double Mystery of the Cross
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St. Gregory Palamas, in his Homily on the Precious and Life-Giving Cross (Homily 11), makes reference to what he calls the “double mystery” of the Cross. He cites St. Paul’s statement, “The world is crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14). The first mystery is embodied in our denial of the world – the second mystery in our denial of ourselves. The great saint also sees the Cross as…
The Morning Offering
Saturday, July 31 / 18
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(Church Calendar) Saints of the Day July 18 / 31. Martyr Emilian of Silistria in Bulgaria. Martyr Hyacinth of Amastris. St. John the Long-suffering of the Kiev Caves. St. Pambo, hermit of Egypt. St. Pambo, recluse of the Kiev Caves. St. Leontius, abbot of Karikhov (Novgorod). (Greek Calendar: Martyr Marcel. Martyrs Dasius and Maron. Saints Stephen, Archbishop of Constantinople, and…
Praying in the Rain
On Guilt and Cluelessness
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In my previous blog entry, I said that guilt functions as a red flag for the clueless. I was thinking that someone might think that “the clueless” was referring to someone other than myself. No such luck. I am often clueless and blundering into sin here and there, and it is only the crude prod of guilt that awakens me to my folly. However, having seen my drift away from attention to…
Praying in the Rain
Peace Despite Pain Overcomes Sin
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Someone has asked me to rephrase the “Overcoming Sin by Not Hiding” entry. I don’t think I can, exactly. I’ll try. Let’s start by unpacking the guilt-leading-to-sin-leading-to-guilt syndrome. Certainly guilt is necessary when it functions as a red flag for the clueless that they have so wandered from God in their heart that they are breaking the law. That is, the mind having wandered from attention to God in the heart is…
The Morning Offering
Friday, July 30 / 17
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(Church Calendar) Saints of the Day July 17 / 30. Great-Martyr Marina (Margaret) of Antioch in Pisidia. Translation of the Relics of St. Lazarus, monk of Mt. Galerius near Ephesus. St. Irenarchus, abbot of Solovki. St. Leonides Leonid), abbot of Ustnedumsk (Vologda). New-Martyrs Priests Ismael and Michael (Rozhdestvensky). (Greek Calendar: Martyrs Speratus and Veronica. St. Euphrasius of Iconopolis, Bishop). Photo…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Gospel's Good Soil
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In my experience, adding new members to the mission is best accomplished by keeping current members healthy. I think our mission has come to believe that ultimately it is God who plants new seeds in our mission, and that our responsibility is to provide good soil. We can get the word out there, we can advertise and announce our presence, but, generally, the folks…
Glory to God for All Things
The Daily Battle
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More thoughts on the struggle with the passions: One of the essential understandings of the passions within the fathers of the Church is that they are not inherently evil. Gluttony may be a passion, but the desire to eat is a gift of God. Fornication is a sin, but the marriage bed is blessed, etc. Passions are our natural desires manifested in a disordered state. This is an important understanding – for…
Praying in the Rain
Marriage Will Reveal Your Sins
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In one of the workshops I attended during the Archdiocese Clergy Symposium last week, the Fr. George Eber said, “Marriage will reveal your sins.” That sure is true! I think one of the reasons why marriage is one of the only two paths the Church recommends as lifestyles leading to salvation (the other being monasticism) is because in marriage, it is impossible to hide our weaknesses. (By the way, people who are…
The Morning Offering
Thursday, July 29 / 16
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(Church Calendar) Saints of the Day July 16 / 29. Hieromartyr Athenogenes, Bishop of Heracleopolis, and his ten disciples. Martyrs Paul and two sisters, Chionia (Thea) and Alevtina (Valentina), at Caesaria in Palestine. Martyr Antiochus, physician of Sebaste. Martyr Faustus. Virgin Martyr Julia of Carthage. (Greek Calendar: 1015 Martyrs of Pisidia. Martyr Athenogenes.) Repose of Elder Theodore of Glinsk Hermitage…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Worship of God
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Both parts of my talk “The Worship of God” are now available via Ancient Faith Radio here and here as part of the Roads From Emmaus podcast. My approach in this talk reflects one of my ongoing concerns—preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, of the Holy Trinity, in a world that increasingly is either totally ignorant of its Creator or only takes a sort…
Praying in the Rain
Overcoming Sin by Not Hiding
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In response to a comment to the blog entry “The Loving Act of Saying No,” I say the following: We don’t realize how much God loves us–not as abstract human beings, but as distinct persons. We are all sick and need to be healed and cleaned up (so to speak), but we must never lose sight of the fact that it is us whom God saves. When we get to heaven, God…
The Morning Offering
Wednesday, July 28 / 15
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(Church Calendar) Saints of the Day July 15 / 28. Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Great Prince Vladimir (in holy baptism Basil), Enlightener of the Russian Land Martyrs Cyricus (Quiricus) and his mother Julitta of Tarsus. Martyr Abudimus of the isle of Tenedos. (Greek Calendar: Martyr Lollianus. Finding of the head of St. Matrona of Chios.) Photo of the Day Monastic cells. Quote…
Glory to God for All Things
Another Look at the Passions
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I have recently been reading Fr. John Chryssavgis’ In the Heart of the Desert, an excellent introduction to the teachings and spiritual practices of the desert monastics. His comments are interwoven with sayings from the Desert Fathers (and Mothers). I share here some of his work on the passions, very apropos of our conversations here over the past week or so. +++ When passions are distorted, then our soul is divided and…
