Praying in the Rain
Fasting
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At the end of Romans, starting with chapter 12, St. Paul begins to give practical application. It is the common pattern in St. Paul’s letters to start by thanking and praising God (doxology), and then move on to explaining a little about who God is and what He has done for us (theology), and then to move on to behavioral application, the “so what” of theology: how we apply theology in our…
The Morning Offering
Tuesday, June 22 / 9 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day June 9 / 22. St. Cyril, Archbishop of Alexandria [Heb 13:7-16; Matt 5:14-19]. St. Cyril, abbot of White Lake (Byelozersk). St. Alexander, abbot of Kushta (Vologda). Five nuns beheaded in Persia: Martyrs Thecla, Mariamne, Martha, Mary, and Enmatha. Righteous Cyril of Velsk or Vazhesk (Vologda). (Greek Calendar: Hieromartyr…
Praying in the Rain
Assurance and Spiritual Advice
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In War and Peace, Tolstoy describes a certain military advisor named Pfuel, a German expert in military science. He says of Pfuel that he is a “hopelessly, permanently, painfully self-assured man…on the basis of an abstract idea–science, that is, an imaginary knowledge of the perfect truth. [He] is self-assured worst of all, and most firmly of all, and most disgustingly of all, because he imagines that he knows the truth, science, which…
The Morning Offering
Monday, June 21 / 8 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day June 8 / 21. Translation of the Relics of Great-Martyr Theodore Stratelates [II Tim 2:1-10; Matt 10:16-22]. St. Ephraim, Patriarch of Antioch. St. Zosimas, monk of Phoenicia (Syria). St. Atre (Athre) of Nitria in Egypt. St. Naucratius, abbot of the Studion. St. Theodore, Bishop of Rostov and Suzdal.…
Glory to God for All Things
Reason's God
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In a comment to my recent post on the “problem of goodness,” I was challenged on the question of “proving God’s existence.” I understand the question but I do not think the question understands God. There is a definition of God that has floated around philosophical circles for centuries – a very reasonable definition – but not a definition that has anything to do with the Christian God. The modern rise of…
The Morning Offering
Sunday, June 20 / 7 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day June 7 / 20. Hieromartyr Theodotus, Bishop of Ancyra. Martyrs Cyriaca, Caleria, and Mary, of Caesarea in Palestine. Hieromartyr Marcellus, Bishop of Rome, and those with him: Sisinius and Cyriacus, deacons; Smaragdus, Largus, Apronian, Saturninus, Pappias, Maurus, Crescentian, Priscilla, Lucina, and princess Artemia. St. Daniel of Scete in…
The Morning Offering
Saturday, June 19 / 6 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day June 6 / 19. PENTECOST St. Bessarion the Wonderworker of Egypt. St. Hilarion the New, abbot of the Dalmatian Monastery. Virgin Martyrs Archelais, Thecla, and Susanna, beheaded at Salerno. St. Paisius, abbot of Uglich. St. Jonah, abbot of Klimetzk. St. Jonah, Bishop of Perm. Opening of the Relics…
Praying in the Rain
Wheat and Tares
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In St. Gregory Palamas’ homily (#27) on the parable of the wheat and the tares, he explains that one reason why God does not allow the angels to separate the ungodly before the End (that is, to allow death to take the ungodly immediately) is the following: “Many impious and sinful people, living alongside those who are godly and righteous, eventually change by means of repentance, learn to be pious and virtuous,…
The Morning Offering
Friday, June 18 / 5 (Church Calendar)
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Living the evangelical life of Orthodox monasticism in witness to the salvific truth of the Gospels of Our Lord, God, and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day June 5 / 18. Hieromartyr Dorotheus, Bishop of Tyre. Repose of St. Theodore Yaroslavich, older brother of St. Alexander Nevsky. Martyrs Marcian, Nicander, Hyperechius,…
Glory to God for All Things
Pardon my absence
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Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Deepwater Horizon: Why Evangelical theology is helpless in the face of a catastrophic oil spill
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Every so often, I think it’s okay to indulge in an inflammatory headline. I recently read the lament “Ecological Catastrophe and the Uneasy Evangelical Conscience” by Russell D. Moore. It seems to have gotten a decent amount of circulation online, if only because it is written by an Evangelical Protestant talking about how ashamed he is that “environmentalism” has been the near exclusive realm…
Praying in the Rain
The Role of Apologetics
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Based on my last blog post, some may come to the conclusion that I think there is no place for apologetics in the Christian life. That is not the case. I think apologetics have a small, but important role to play in the Christian’s dialog with the world. When Christians communicate with unbelievers in specific contexts, apologetics play a role. For example, Justin the Philosopher and Martyr used Roman religion and law…
The Morning Offering
Thursday, June 17 / 4 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day June 4 / 17. St. Metrophanes, first Patriarch of Constantinople. Hieromartyr Astius, Bishop of Dyrrachium in Macedonia. Martyr Concordius of Spoleto. Martyrs Frontasius, Severinus, Severian, and Salanus of Gaul. St. Zosimas of Cilicia, Bishop of Babylon in Egypt. St. Methodius, abbot of Peshnosha, disciple of St. Sergius of…
Praying in the Rain
Shall Thy Wonders Be Known in That Darkness?
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“Shall Thy wonders be known in that darkness?” In our culture, the words “faith” and “believe” and “truth” have been hijacked by rational assumptions in ways that limit their meaning and usefulness in a Christian context. According to our rationalist assumptions, to believe (or have faith that) something is true means that you assent to the historical, physical reality of something. To say that something is true is to say that it…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
A Localist Moment in Emmaus
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It seems that “quaint” Emmaus (the word the newspapers all use to describe our borough) has been targeted as a potential home for a swingers’ club, to be situated right on downtown Main Street. The fellow behind the club claims that it’s not going to be a “sex club,” that they’re going to be more innocuous than the Freemasons (will they also have funny…
The Morning Offering
Wednesday, June 16 / 3 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day June 3 / 16. Martyr Lucillian and those who suffered with him at Byzantium: four youths, Claudius, Hypatius, Paul and Dionysius; and Virgin Paula. Hieromartyr Lucian, and with him Julian and Maximian, at Beauvais in France. Translation of the Relics of the slain Crown Prince Demetrius of Moscow.…
Praying in the Rain
Who Sinned?
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Saturday as I was mowing the lawn, a young woman, somewhat disheveled and wearing very dark glasses, came walking up my driveway (we live in the countryside) and asked me if she could use my phone. She explained that someone was supposed to pick her up, but she was afraid that he had gotten lost. I got her the phone and as I took a closer look at her and caught phrases…
The Morning Offering
Tuesday, June 15 / 2 (Church Calendar)
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Living the evangelical life of Orthodox monasticism in witness to the salvific truth of the Gospels of Our Lord, God, and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day June 2 / 15. St. Nicephorus the Confessor, Patriarch of Constantinople. Great-Martyr John the New of Sochi, who suffered at Belgrade. New-Martyr Demetrius of…
Glory to God for All Things
Here and Now
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Strangely enough, the one place that most of us avoid is here and now. In the observations of Fr. Meletios Webber, we prefer either the past or the future. The past is marked by the thoughts of “if only,” the future with thoughts of “what if.” These thoughts are the voice of the logismoi, the constant barrage of thoughts and feelings that distract us from ourselves and from the world as it…
Praying in the Rain
Sequoia Blackberries
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Sin is a little bit like Sequoia Blackberry bushes. It’s an invasive species that takes over, yet because of the sweet berries, you let it. But the berries are only there for a few weeks, and the thorny bush it there all year. At first you decide you can live with the thorns. You try to avoid and ignore the thorny parts and think longingly about the next season of sweetness. And…
The Morning Offering
Monday, June 14 / 1 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day June 1 / 14. Martyr Justin the Philosopher and those with him at Rome: Martyrs Justin, Chariton and his wife Charita, Euelpistus, Hierax, Peon, Valerian and Justus. St. Dionysius, abbot of Glushetsk (Vologda). St. Agapitus, unmercenary physician of the Kiev Caves. St. Metrius the Farmer. (Greek Calendar: Martyr…
Glory to God for All Things
The Problem of Goodness
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From my first class in Philosophy 101 in college, the so-called “Problem of Evil” has been tossed up as the “clincher” in arguments against the existence of God. How can a good God allow innocent people to suffer? The most devastating case ever made on the subject was in Dostoevsky’s Brothers Karamazov. Ivan Karamazov, in the chapter entitled “Rebellion,” which is the chapter preceding the famous “Grand Inquisitor,” makes the details of his…
The Morning Offering
Sunday, June 13 / May 31 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day May 31 / June 13. Apostle Hermes of the Seventy. Martyr Hermias at Comana. Martyr Philosophus at Alexandria. Martyr Marus the magician who was converted on witnessing the martyrdom of Hermias. New-Martyrs Hierotheus, Bishop of Nikolsk (1928), and his friend Schema-hieromonk Seraphim (1923). (Greek Calendar: Five Martyrs of…
The Morning Offering
Saturday, June 12 / మే 30 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day May 30 / June 12. St. Isaac, founder of the Dalmation Monastery at Constantinople. St. James, monk of Galich monastery. Martyr Natalius. Martyrs Romanus, Meletius, and Euplius. Martyr Barlaam of Caesarea in Cappadocia. Repose of Abbot Ephraim of Sarov (1778). Photo of the Day The Monastery recently hosted…
Praying in the Rain
The Proud Man
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Praying in the Rain
Our Duty
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Praying in the Rain
Oil and Miracles
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[Last day on the farm] I’ve got mixed metaphors rolling around in my head. They have to do with two kinds of oil, small amounts of oil that are given away. The first picture is of an oil pump on the side of an engine. Compared to the engine, the oil pump is very small and has very little power. It just squirts oil, a little bit at a time, onto the…
