The Morning Offering
Sunday, September 13 / August 31 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! All Saints of Serbia Saints of the Day August 31 / September 13. 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…
Glory to God for All Things
A Mother's Word
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The Morning Offering
Saturday, September 12 / August 30 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day August 30 / September 12. Saints Alexander, John and Paul the New, Patriarch of Constantinople. Repose of St. Alexander, abbotof 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…
Praying in the Rain
The Heart of the Matter
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It says of Rehoboam that “he did evil because he did not direct his heart to seek the Lord.” So much of what we do or do not do, especially what may have eternal significance, depends on where our heart is directed. The Judgment of God, at least as it is recorded in Matthew 25, says nothing about our hearts, but only speaks of actions. And yet it is the direction of…
Glory to God for All Things
The Religion of the Mind and the Religion of the Heart
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I write frequently about what I term the Religion of the Heart. Archimandrite Meletios Webber has a short piece on what can be called the Religion of the Mind. The distinction between mind and heart is not a distinction between thought and feeling. Rather it is a distinction between the mind (seat of thoughts and feelings) and the heart (the seat of a deeper awareness – sometimes called the nous in Orthodox…
The Morning Offering
Friday, September 11 / August 29 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day August 29 / September 11. 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…
Praying in the Rain
A Rebel With A Cause
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When Israel rebelled against Judah, Jeroboam against Rehoboam, it is with Jeroboam that I have the most sympathy, although it is to Jerusalem that “those who had set their hearts to seek the Lord” continued to come to offer their sacrifices. Jeroboam had only asked for what was reasonable. After the great achievements of Solomon in the areas of architecture and the building up of cities, achievements accomplished by the almost slave…
The Morning Offering
Thursday, September 10 / August 28 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day August 28 / September 10. 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…
Glory to God for All Things
Doctrines and Opinion
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From the Desert Fathers: Malicious sceptics visited Abba Agathon to see if they could annoy him. They had heard that Agathon possessed great discretion and self-control. They spoke directly to him, “Agathon, we heard that you are an adulterer and full of pride.” He answered, “Yes, that’s true.” “Are you the same Agathom who gossips and slanders?” “I am.” “Are you Agathon the heretic?” “No, I am not a heretic.” “Why did…
The Morning Offering
Wednesday, September 9 / August 27 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day August 27 / September 9. 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…
Praying in the Rain
Nakedness and Masks in Marriage
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I have noticed that when my heart is upset (anger, confusion, frustration, depression, etc.) and I speak unguardedly, I don’t say what I mean. Now here when I say “heart,” I don’t mean the heart of man as the Fathers speak of the heart; rather, I mean what most English speakers mean when they say heart: their feelings, their inner emotional selves. Particularly in the relationships I care most about, I must…
Glory to God for All Things
The Nativity of the Theotokos
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Today marks the birth of the Mother of God on the calendar of the Orthodox Church (New Calendar). It is one of the twelve major feasts of the year. It is also a feast which shares a great deal in common with many other events in the course of Scripture – all of which emphasize the character of our salvation. The story of Mary’s conception and birth, as received by Tradition in…
The Morning Offering
Tuesday, September 8 / August 26 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day August 26 / September 8. 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…
Glory to God for All Things
The God Gene
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Praying in the Rain
Getting to Know Our Mother
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“Thy womb has offered to Christ, the Lamb of God, our substance to be His fleece; therefore in our hymns we all honour thee on this day of thy nativity from Anna.” (Canticle one, second canon, 4th verse, from Matins for the Birth of the Mother of God, by St. Andrew of Crete) Many converts to Holy Orthodoxy have trouble making a personal connection with Mary, the Theotokos. They understand and accept…
The Morning Offering
Monday, September 7 / August 25 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day August 25 / September 7. 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…
Glory to God for All Things
Prayer - It's Something Personal
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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 time…
The Morning Offering
Fwd: The Morning Offering
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! 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…
Glory to God for All Things
Revisiting the Great Crisis
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As a companion to the recent post on the Death of Christ – the Life of Man – I offer this reprint of a short article on “the Great Crisis.” The Great Crisis, if I can coin a term, is the threat of non-existence, or relative non-existence. Classical Orthodoxy, following St. Athanasius, does not see humanity threatened with pure non-existence, but with a dynamic movement towards a “relative” non-existence, which some have…
The Morning Offering
Saturday, September 5 / August 23 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day August 23 / September 5. 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…
Glory to God for All Things
Winners and Losers
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We are a great society for competition – and America is not unique in this. What America thinks is competitive in her “Super Bowl,” pales in comparison to the frenzy engendered elsewhere by the “World Cup.” Several years ago I was in London when England was playing Ecuador in the World Cup. It was a Sunday afternoon. With my companions we walked across London heading to the museums, assuming that the afternoon…
Glory to God for All Things
My Sins Pour Out Behind Me
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Abba Moses [one of the desert fathers] hesitated to accept a summons to be part of a council that would pass judgment on a brother who had committed a sin. A delegation approached him insisting that all the others were waiting for him. Reluctantly, he got up and went with them. He took a jug of water that leaked all along the path. The council came outside to greet him. Puzzled by…
The Morning Offering
Friday, September 4 / August 22 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day August 22 / September 4. 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…
The Morning Offering
Thursday, September 3 / August 21 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day August 21 / September 3. 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…
Praying in the Rain
Spiritual Disciplines
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“God will not judge us about psalmody, nor for the neglect of prayer, but because by abandoning them we have opened our door to the demons.” — St. Isaac the Syrian The Church has taught us to discipline ourselves through prayer, fasting and almsgiving. These three are really categories of disciplines that the Church recommends to us as means to “acquire the Holy Spirit”; that is, to be continually full of the…
Glory to God for All Things
Short Prayer for Enemies
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These two petitions are found in Orthodox Daily Prayers. Both give a model for our prayers on these topics: Save, Lord, and have mercy on those whom I have caused to stumble, turning them away from the path of salvation and leading them to evil and unseemly deeds. Return them to the path of salvation by thy Divine Providence. (a prostration is made) Save, Lord, and have mercy on those who hate…
The Morning Offering
Wednesday, September 2 / August 20 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day August 20 / September 2. 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…
