Glory to God for All Things
The Beatitudes - Sung by the Monks of Valaam Monastery
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The Morning Offering
Trapeza and Bookstore
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I received a number of emails with inquiries as to how to contribute to the monastery. Checks can be made out to: All-Merciful Saviour Monastery and mailed toP.O. Box 2420, Vashon Island, WA 98070-2420.Thank you so much for whatever you are able to do in support of the holy brotherhood. Your prayers are especially coveted. Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory…
The Morning Offering
Come let us worship
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Saturday, February 14 / February 1 (Church Calendar) Saints of the Day February 1 / 14. Martyr Tryphon of Campsada (Lampsakon) near Apamea in Syria. Martyrs Perpetua, a woman of Carthage, and the catechumens Saturus, Revocatus, Saturninus, Secundulus, and Felicitas. St. Peter the Galatian, hermit near Antioch in Syria.St. Vendemianus (Bendemianus), hermit of Bithynia. St. Basil, Archbishop of Thessalonica. New-Martyr…
The Morning Offering
Metropolitan Laurus Library
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Friday, February 13 / January 31 (Church Calendar) Saints of the Day January 31 / February 13. Holy wonderworkers and unmercenaries Cyrus and John. Martyrs Athanasia and her daughtersTheoctiste, Theodotia and Eudoxia, at Canopus in Egypt. St. Nicetas of the Kiev Caves, Bishop of Novgorod. Martyrs Victorinus,Victor, Nicephorus, Claudius, Diodorus, Serapion, and Papias of Egypt. Martyr Tryphaenes at Cyzicus. St.…
Glory to God for All Things
Turning Points
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On February 15, 1998, on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son, my family and I were received into the Orthodox Church by Chrismation, bringing both the end to a very long pilgrimage, and the beginning to one far longer. It is significant to myself and my family, that this year the calendar has come back around to where it was 11 years ago. Thus this Sunday, February 15, will be exactly eleven…
The Morning Offering
The Proskomedia Service
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Thursday, February 12 / January 30 (Church Calendar) Saints of the Day January 30 / February 12. Synaxis of the Three Hierarchs: Saints Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom.Hieromartyr Hippolytus, pope of Rome, and with him Martyrs Censorinus, Sabinus, Ares, the virgin Chryse, and with her Martyrs Felix, Maximus, Herculianus, Venerius, Styracius, Mennas, Commodus, Hermes, Maurus, Eusebius,…
The Morning Offering
We're Longing for Spring!
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Wednesday, February 11 / January 29 (Church Calendar) Saints of the Day January 29 / February 11. Translation of the Relics of Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-bearer, Bishop of Antioch St. Laurence, recluseof the Kiev Caves. Martyrs Romanus, James, Philotheus, Hyperechius, Abibus, Julian, and Paregorius, at Samosota. MartyrsSilvanus, Bishop of Emesa, Luke the deacon, and Mocius (Mucius) the reader. St. Aphraates…
Glory to God for All Things
Our Common Life
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I have long been intrigued with the notion of our common responsibility, or rather, that I am responsible for the sins of the whole world. I think I first came across the notion in a quote from the Elder Zossima in The Brothers Karamazov. And even there, Dostoevsky was only putting on the lips of his fictional Elder the sentiments of the saints and the common teaching of the Church. At one…
The Morning Offering
Fisher Pond
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Tuesday, February 10 / January 28 (Church Calendar) Saints of the Day January 28 / February 10. St. Ephraim the Syrian St. Theodosius, abbot of Totma (Vologda). St. Paladius the hermit of Antioch. St.Ephraim, wonderworker of Novotorzhk. St. Ephraim, Bishop of Pereyaslavl (Kiev Caves). St. Isaac the Syrian, Bishop of Ninevah (ascetic writer). (Greek Calendar: St. James the Ascetic of…
Glory to God for All Things
Safely in Florida
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It seems ironic to report that I am safely in Florida, following so closely on a post concerning Science Fiction and the Orthodox Church. Florida, of course, has been the launching site for most American space research. I also find it interesting that my article on Science Fiction and the Church, which touched tangentially on the issue of cremation, stirred more response over that question than the actually questions engendered by Orthodoxy…
The Morning Offering
A Vashon Island Beach
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Monday, February 9 / January 27 (Church Calendar) Saints of the Day January 27 / February 9. Translation of the relics of St. John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople.St. Peter of Egypt.New-Martyr Demetrius at Constantinople. St. Titus the Soldier, monk of the Kiev Caves. New Hieromartyr Peter Zverev (1929).(Greek Calendar: Translation of the Relics of St. Marciana the Queen to the…
The Morning Offering
Aerial View of Monastery
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Sunday, February 8 / January 26 (Church Calendar) Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee / New Martyrs of Russia Saints of the Day January 26 / February 8. St. Xenophon and his wife, St. Mary, and their two sons, Saints Arcadius and John, of Constantinople. St.Symeon the Ancient of Mt. Sinai. Martyrs Ananias presbyter, Peter, and seven soldiers, in…
Glory to God for All Things
Travels
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The Morning Offering
Hammie
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Saturday, February 7 / January 25 (Church Calendar) Saints of the Day Archbishop of Constantinople. St. Publius, ascetic of Syria. St. Mares the Singer of Syria. Martyrs Felicitas of Rome and seven sons: Januarius, Felix, Philip, Silvanus, Alexander, Vitalis, and Martial. St.Moses, Archbishop of Novgorod. St. Castinus, Bishop of Byzantium. St. Demetrius Skevophylax of Constantinople. New-MartyrVladimir, Metropolitan of Kiev (1918),…
Glory to God for All Things
Orthodoxy and Science Fiction
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If you are 55 or younger (as a guestimate), then you have grown up in an age in which science fiction has been a major genre of the culture (whether as writing or movies, television, etc.). I began reading some science fiction as a teenager and quite a bit when I was a college student. I have shared a home for a number of years with a now adult son who was…
The Morning Offering
From the Highest Point
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Friday, February 6 / January 24 (Church Calendar) Saints of the Day January 24 / February 6. St. Xenia of Rome and her two female slaves. St. Macedonius, hermit of Syria. Martyrs Babylas of Sicilyand his two disciples, Timothy and Agapius. Translation of the Relics of St. Anastasius the Persian. Martyrs Paul, Pausirius, andTheodotian, of Egypt. St. Philo, Bishop of…
Glory to God for All Things
Dreams and Reality - Prayers by the Lake XXXI
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The following poem is from St. Nikolai’s (Velimirovich) Prayers by the Lake. The only true Reality is God and only in Him do we find ourselves to be real. +++ You pour out light over the darkness, Lord, and colors and shapes emerge. You bend Your face over the abyss, whose name is Nothingness, and the abyss tries to depict the beauty of Your face in shadows. All creation expresses You the…
Glory to God for All Things
Living in the Un-holy Land
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Generally, our language reserves the word “unholy” to mean something evil or positively wicked (now there’s an oxymoron). Of course we also live in a culture where not much, or nothing at all, is considered holy. We think we live in a neutral zone – a place that is merely secular. Of course, the modern use of the word “secular” is just that – modern. It is part of our post-Enlightenment culture…
The Morning Offering
Aerial of Monastery
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Thursday, February 5 / January 23 (Church Calendar) Saints of the Day January 23 / February 5. Hieromartyr Clement, Bishop of Ancyra, and Martyr Agathangelus [Heb 13:7-16; Jn 10:9-16]. St. Paulinus the Merciful, Bishop of Nola. St. Mausimas the Syrian, monk. St. Salamanes the Silent of the Euprates, monk. St. Gennadius of Kostroma, monk. Commemoration of the Sixth Ecumenical Council.…
The Morning Offering
Plaza Fountain and Temple
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Wednesday, February 4 / January 22 (Church Calendar) Saints of the Day January 22 / February 4. Apostle Timothy of the Seventy [II Tim 1:3-9; Lk 19:1-15]. Monk-martyr Anastasius the Persian. Martyrs Manuel, Parodus, presbyters; and 377 companions in Bulgaria. Martyr Anastasius the deacon of the Kiev Caves. St. Macarius,abbot of Zhabyn. St. Ioasaph, Enlightener of Alaska and the American…
Glory to God for All Things
The Desert and the Struggle in a Flat Land
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Originally posted in August of 2007 as part of the One-Storey Universe Series One of the best-known sayings to have come from the Desert Fathers is: “Stay in your cell and your cell will teach you everything.” To a large degree the saying extols the virtue of stability. Moving from place to place never removes the problem – it only postpones the inevitable. Somewhere, sometime we have to face the heart of…
The Morning Offering
Sunshine on the Temple
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Tuesday, February 3 / January 21 (Church Calendar) Saints of the Day January 21 / February 3. St. Maximus the Confessor [Heb 11:33-40; Lk 12:8-12]. Martyr Neophytus of Nicaea. Martyrs Eugene, Candidus, Valerian and Aquila at Trebizond. Martyr Anastasius, disciple of St. Maximus the Confessor. Virgin Martyr Agnes of Rome. St. Neophytus of Vatopedi (Mt. Athos). St. Maximus the Greek.…
Glory to God for All Things
The Benefits of Ignorance
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Of course, I have to begin this post with the acknowledgement that I am an ignorant man. Having gotten that out of the way, I want to spend just a few moments on the benefits of ignorance. This past November I was blessed to have a conversation with Fr. Thomas Hopko while we waited in line to greet the new Metropolitan of the Orthodox Church in America. Fr. Thomas is the retired Professor…
The Morning Offering
His Holiness, Patriarch Kyrill
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Monday, February 2 / January 20 (Church Calendar) Saints of the Day January 20 / February 2. St. Euthymius the Great. Martyrs Bassus, Eusebius, Eutychius and Basilides at Nicomedia. MartyrsInna, Pinna and Rimma, disciples of Apostle Andrew in Scythia. Martyrs Thyrsus and Agnes. St. Leo the Great, confessor,Emperor of the East. Martyr Anna at Rome. New-Martyr Zacharias at Patrai in…
Glory to God for All Things
St. John of the Ladder on Anger
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I continue with some thoughts on this important subject. This is taken from the great spiritual classic, The Ladder of Divine Ascent (chapter 8). There are a number of very worthy insights – quite similar to those found in Met. Jonah article referenced earlier. As the gradual pouring of water on a fire puts out the flame completely, so the tears of genuine mourning can extinguish every flame of anger and irascibility.…
The Morning Offering
Interior of our temple
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Sunday, February 1 / January 19 (Church Calendar) Saints of the Day January 19 / February 1. St. Macarius the Great of Egypt St. Macarius of Alexandria. Virgin Martyr Euphrasia of Nicomedia. St.Arsenius, Archbishop of Kerkyra (Corfu). Translation of the Relics of St. Gregory the Theologian. St. Mark, Archbishop of Ephesus.St. Meletius the Gallesiote, monk. Blessed Theodore of Novgorod, fool-for-Christ.…
The Morning Offering
Dawn Over the Monastery
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Saturday, January 31 / January 18 (Church Calendar) Saints of the Day January 18 / 31. St. Athanasius the Great, and St. Cyril, Archbishops. of Alexandria [Heb 13:7-16; Matt 5:14-19]. St. Marcian of Cyrrhus in Syria, monk. Martyr Xenia. St. Maximus, ruler of Serbia, metropolitan. St. Athanasius, abbot of Syandemsk. St.Silvanus of Palestine, monk. St. Athanasius of Novolotsk, monk. St.…
