Glory to God for All Things
Everywhere Present
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Everything you do, all your work, can contribute towards your salvation. It depends on you, on the way you do it. History is replete with monks who became great saints while working in the kitchen or washing sheets. The way of salvation consists in working without passion, in prayer…. May God give you the strength to keep your spirit, your mind, and your heart in the spirit of Christ. Then everything that…
The Morning Offering
Christ is Risen!
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Sunday, April 26 / April 13 (Church Calendar) Thomas Sunday Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen! Photo of the Day: Interior view of Holy Protection Monastery Church. Saints of the Day April 13 / 26. Hieromartyr Artemon, prebyter of Laodicea in Syria. Martyr Crescens of Myra in Lycia. Woman Martyr Thomais of Alexandria. Martyr Eleutherius of Persia. Martyr Zoilus…
Glory to God for All Things
On Behalf of All and For All
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There is a great mystery in the life of the Christian faith. An example can be found in words of St. Nikolai of Zicha (Prayers of the Lake XXIX). It is this mystery of communion that is so easily missed by those who dismiss Orthodox Christianity, or reduce Christianity to an argument about miracles. The Orthodox faith teaches us the truth about what it means to exist as a human being. We…
The Morning Offering
Christ is Risen!
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Saturday, April 25 / April 12 (Church Calendar) Bright Saturday Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen! Photo of the Day: The Holy Table, with the Holy Shroud in place. Saints of the Day April 12 / 25. St. Basil the Confessor, Bishop of Parium. Virgin Anthusa of Constantinople. St. Athanasia, abbess of Aegina. Martyrs Menas, David, and John of…
The Morning Offering
Christ is Risen!
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Friday, April 24 / April 11 (Church Calendar) Commemoration of the Life-giving Spring Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen! Photo of the Day: Our monastery’s icon of the Holy Resurrection, painted by a nun in Bulgaria. Saints of the Day April 11 / 24. Hieromartyr Antipas, Bishop of Pergamus, disciple of St. John the Theologian. St. Pharmuthius, anchorite of…
Praying in the Rain
Focus North America Ministries
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Glory to God for All Things
A Faith That Cannot Be Defended
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There is such a thing as a Christian faith worth defending (in some sense). However, it seems like those who enjoy attacking the Christian faith find its least worthy representatives for the marshalling of their meager intellectual forces. This often means that atheists attack a faith nobody (virtually) believes, and that defenders sometimes defend something less than Christianity. I have seen several recent articles (most notably in the New Statesman) that have…
The Morning Offering
Christ is Risen!
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Thursday, April 23 / April 10 (Church Calendar) Bright Thursday Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen! Photo of the Day: The Holy Table of the monastery, adorned for Pascha. Saints of the Day April 10 / 23. Martyrs Terence, Pompeius, Africanus, Maximus, Zeno, Alexander, Theodore, Macarius, and 33 others beheaded at Carthage. Martyrs James presbyter, and Azadanes and Abdicius…
Glory to God for All Things
Singleness of Heart
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Perhaps the most scathing reading during Holy Week occurs in the Bridegroom Matins of Great and Holy Tuesday of when we hear Chapter 23 of Matthew’s gospel. There is a refrain which marks many of the verses: “Woe to you scribes and pharisees, you hypocrites!” A single such sentence would carry a punch, but in this particular chapter of Matthew, Jesus says this 8 times (with many other such invectives added in).…
The Morning Offering
Christ is Risen!
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Wednesday, April 22 / April 9 (Church Calendar) Bright Wednesday Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen! Photo of the Day: Interior of our monastery’s temple, decorated for Pascha. Saints of the Day April 9 / 22. Martyr Eupsychius of Caesarea in Cappadocia. Martyr Bademus (Vadim) of Persia. Martyrs Desan bishop, Mariabus presbyter, Abdiesus, and 270 other Martyrs in Persia.…
The Morning Offering
Christ is Risen!
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Tuesday, April 21 / April 8 (Church Calendar) Bright Tuesday Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen! Saints of the Day: April 8 / 21. Holy Apostles of the Seventy: Herodion, Agabus, Asyncritus, Rufus, Phlegon, Hermes, and those with them. St. Celestine, pope of Rome. Martyr Pausilippus of Heraclea in Thrace. St. Niphont, Bishop of Novgorod. St. Rufus the Obedient…
The Morning Offering
Christ is Risen!
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Monday, April 20 / April 7 (Church Calendar) Bright Monday Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen! Saints of the Day: April 7 / 20. St. George, Bishop of Mitylene. Martyr Calliopus at Pompeiopolis in Cilicia. Martyrs Rufinus deacon, Aquilina, and 200 soldiers at Sinope. St. Serapion of Egypt, monk. St. Daniel, abbot of Peryaslavl-Zalesski. St. Nilus, abbot of Sora.…
Glory to God for All Things
Relative to Pascha
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If you have attended Pascha services, or served them, it is quite possible to suffer some of the “natural consequences,” which for me means that after a somewhat disordered sleep I am sitting, having coffee and writing at 3:30 in the morning, wide-awake. I have no complaints. I generally like to be up by around 5 or so, so I am only off by a couple of hours…. There is also the…
The Morning Offering
Sunday, April 19 / April 6 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Christ is Risen ! Greetings on the Feast of the Glorious Resurrection of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ. Article of the Day: The Miracle of the Holy Fire, has taken place every Pascha, since at least the 12th century, in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. It only takes place…
Praying in the Rain
George Eliot
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Kh. Krista West, in her podcast, The Opinionated Tailor, mentioned once her love for the novels by George Eliot, particularly Adam Bede. Since Bonnie and I are rather addicted to 19th century novels, we are always looking for recommendations. We went out and bought most of her novels (btw, “George Eliot” is the pen name for Mary Ann Evans Cross). I started with Middlemarch and was mesmerized. Bonnie tried to begin with…
Glory to God for All Things
Christos Voskrese
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This delightful youtube video was posted a year ago. One of our readers and occasional commenter, Dejan, (without a doubt my favorite Serb) provided the English translation. The words are from a poem by St. Nikolai Velimirovich who served for a time as the Rector of St. Tikhon’s Seminary – truly one of the great Serbian saints of the modern era. Translation: People rejoice, nations hear: Christ is risen, and brings the…
Glory to God for All Things
Letter from Butyrskaya Prison - Pascha 1928
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Serge Schmemann, son of Fr. Alexander Schmemann, in his wonderful little book, Echoes of a Native Land, records a letter written from one of his family members of an earlier generation, who spent several years in the prisons of the Soviets and died there. The letter, written on the night of Pascha in 1928 is to a family member, “Uncle Grishanchik” (This was Grigory Trubetskoi who had managed to emigrate to Paris). This…
The Morning Offering
Saturday, April 18 / April 5 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Great and Holy Saturday Saints of the Day April 5 / 18. Martyrs Theodulus, reader, and Agathapodes, deacon, and those with them at Thessalonica. St. Publius of Egypt, monk. Saints Theonas, Symeon, and Phorbinus, of Egypt. St. Theodora, nun of Thessalonica. St. Mark the Anchorite of Athens. St. Plato, abbot of the…
Glory to God for All Things
Paradise in a Single Moment
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The Exapostelarian for the Matins of Good Friday is the hymn, “The Wise Thief.” It draws our attention to the mercy of God – who promised paradise to the wise thief, “This day.” Thoughts on the nearness of paradise are also a theme in the writings of Dostoevsky. If paradise is so near – why do we settle for less? During Holy Week, one of my favorite hymns in the Church is…
The Morning Offering
Temple in Black and White
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Friday, April 17 / April 4 (Church Calendar) Holy and Great Friday Photo of the Day Temple in black and white. Saints of the Day April 4 / 17. St. Joseph the Hymnographer. St. George, monk of Mt. Maleon in the Peloponnesus. St. Zosimas, monk of Palestine. Virgin Martyr Pherbutha of Persia, her sister and servants. St. Theonas, Metropolitan of…
Glory to God for All Things
Take, Eat
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The simple words of Christ to His disciples at the Last Supper were profound on many levels: the commandment was short and straight-forward; it reversed an ancient prohibition; it set the primary manner for human beings to receive grace and thus teaches us much about how it is we receive grace in a normative manner (and were always meant to). The Orthodox are somewhat fond of quoting this simple commandment, only if…
The Morning Offering
St. Basil's Cathedral
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Thursday, April 16 / April 3 (Church Calendar) Holy and Great Thursday Photo of the Day A photo of Saint Basil’s Cathedral, in Moscow, Russia, I took a few years ago. Saints of the Day April 3 / 16. St. Nicetas the Confessor, abbot of Medikion. St. Illyricus of Mt. Myrsinon in the Peloponnesus. Martyrs Elpidephorus, Dius, Bithonius, and Calycus.…
The Morning Offering
Interior of Temple
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Wednesday, April 15 / April 2 (Church Calendar) Holy and Great Wednesday Photo of the Day Interior of our Monastery’s temple, during Great and Holy Lent. Saints of the Day April 2 / 15. St. Titus the wonderworker. Martyrs Amphianus (Apphianus) and Edesiua (Aedesius) of Lycia. Martyr Polycarp of Alexandria. St. Gregory, ascetic of Nicomedia. (Greek Calendar: Virgin Martyr Theodora…
Glory to God for All Things
For the Sake of Envy
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In the Praises for Matins of Holy Wednesday, we read: Oh, the wretchedness of Judas! He saw the harlot kiss the footsteps of Christ, but deceitfully he contemplated the kiss of betrayal. She loosed her hair while he bound himself with wrath. He offered the stench of wickedness instead of myrrh, for envy cannot distinguish value. Oh, the wretchedness of Judas! Deliver our souls from this, O God. We are also told…
The Morning Offering
"The Light of Christ shineth upon all."
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Tuesday, April 14 / April 1 (Church Calendar) Holy and Great Tuesday Photo of the Day “The Light of Christ shineth upon all.” The evening celebration of the Presanctified Liturgy, in the Monastery’s temple. Saints of the Day April 1 / 14. St. Mary the Egyptian. St. Euthymius, monk of Suzdal. St. Macarius, abbot of Pelecete. Martyrs Gerontius and Basilides.…
The Morning Offering
Metropolitan Kallistos Ware
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Monday, April 13 / March 31 (Church Calendar) Great and Holy Monday Photo of the Day One of my favorite photographs of myself, standing next to His Eminence, Metropolitan Kallistos Ware. He is a treasure, pure and simple, to all of us English language converts to Orthodox Christianity, having made the Faith so accessible by his wonderful writing style, and…
Glory to God for All Things
Riding on a Donkey
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As far back as Genesis, in the prophecy of Jacob over his sons, we hear the association of the Messiah with a donkey: Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father’s children shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion’s whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down…
