Glory to God for All Things
Ignorance and God
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Many readers will be familiar with the following post. It appears from time to time. It appears first – so that I may remember it. It appears second that others may not forget it. Some days it weighs more heavily on me than others. I should learn to wear it more easily since it is the suit of clothes I wear without fail (even when I think otherwise). May God have mercy…
Praying in the Rain
Hebrews 10:24
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“And let us consider one another to stir up love and good works.” (NKJV) “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” (NIV). For many years—most of my adult life really—I read the NIV translation of the Bible. This verse in Hebrews played an important role in how I understood relationships among Christians were supposed to work. That is, I thought we were supposed…
The Morning Offering
Tuesday, September 29 / 16 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day September 16 / 29. Afterfeast of the Exaltation of the Cross. Great-Martyr Euphemia the All-praised Martyrs Victor and Sosthenes at Chalcedon. St. Sebastiana, disciple of St. Paul the Apostle, martyred at Heraclea. Martyr Melitinaof Marcianopolis. St. Dorotheus, hermit of Egypt. Martyr Ludmilla, grandmother of St. Wenceslaus, prince of…
Glory to God for All Things
Healing the Religious Tragedy of the Christian World
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This was written and posted in January of ’08. Comments within a recent post make it seem worth re-posting. The works of Fr. Georges Florovsky, referenced in the article, are themselves a quiet tragedy. They have languished out-of-print for most of a generation under the legal burden of copyright problems (a complicated story). I managed to collect and read his works when I was in graduate school at Duke. My dogmatics professor…
Glory to God for All Things
Prayer and Porridge
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Some brothers visited Abba Anthony and asked him to tell them how they could find salvation. The old man said, “You are familiar with the Scriptures. That should teach you enough.” “Yes, but we want a word from you also, Abba.” Then the old man responded, “The Gospel instructs you to turn the other cheek.” They said, “We can’t do that.” “Then if you can’t offer the other cheek, at least permit…
The Morning Offering
Sunday, September 28 / 15 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day September 15 / 28. Afterfeast of the Exaltation of the Cross. Great-Martyr Nicetas the Goth. St.Philotheus the presbyter. Martyr Porphyrius the actor. Opening of the Relics of St. Acacius, Bishop of Melitene. Opening of theRelics of Holy Protomartyr and Archdeacon Stephen. Martyrs Theodotus, Asclepiodotus, and Maximus of Adrianopolis.…
The Morning Offering
Sunday, September 27 / 14 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Exaltation of the Cross Saints of the Day September 14 / 27. THE UNIVERSAL EXALTATION OF THE PRECIOUS AND LIFE-GIVING CROSS. Repose of St. JohnChrysostom. Martyr Papas of Lycaonia. St. Placilla the Empress, wife of Theodosius the Great. New-Martyr Macarius ofThessalonica. (Greek Calendar: Holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council. Martyr Theocles…
Glory to God for All Things
The Icon as Proof of God's Existence
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God “adorns himself in magnificence and clothes himself with beauty.” Man stands amazed and contemplates the glory whose light causes a hymn of praise to burst forth from the heart of every creature. The Testamentum Domini gives us the following prayer: “Let them be filled with the Holy Spirit…so they can sing a doxology and give you praise and glory forever.” An icon is the same kind of doxology but in a…
Glory to God for All Things
Icons and Truth
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Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. In the last several posts I have written about the iconic character of reality – the world about us has the character of an icon. I have also noted the iconic character of language and of Scripture. There is much to say about what is meant by such descriptions as well as what it means to see things in an “iconic”…
Praying in the Rain
High School Camp Out Around Fr. Michael's House
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It’s Saturday morning, 8:00 am and the “campers” are just stirring. It probably helped to let the rooster out of the chicken house at about 7:30. Last night went well. The last group arrived at about 8:00 pm, so we had an extended dinner starting at 6:00 and finishing at 8:30. The kid jelled almost immediately, which was great because a few were “outsiders.” They stood around a fire and roasted marshmallows.…
The Morning Offering
Saturday, September 26 / 13 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day September 13 / 26. Commemoration of the Founding of the Church of the Resurrection (the Holy Sepulchre) in Jerusalem.Hieromartyr Cornelius the Centurion. Hieromartyr Julian of Galatia (same as September 12). St. Peter of Atroe. Martyrs Elias,Zoticus, Lucian, Valerian, Macrobius and Gordian at Tomi in Rumania. Martyrs Cronides, Leontius…
The Morning Offering
Friday, September 25 / 12 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day September 12 / 25. Hieromartyr Autonomus, Bishop of in Italy. St. Coronatus, Bishop of Iconium. Martyr Julian of Galatia and 40Martyrs with him. Hieromartyr Theodore of Alexandria. St. Athanasius, disciple of St. Sergius of Radonezh and abbot of theVysotsk Monastery in Serpukhov, and his disciple St. Athanasius. St.…
Glory to God for All Things
Icons and the Smashing of Images
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My recent series on iconicity would seem to require a word or two about the smashing of images (iconoclasm). +++ I have a quote on the sidebar from an earlier posting. It is about the need we have for proper images and the danger inherent in “image smashing” or “iconoclasm.” We have to renounce iconoclasm. In so doing, we inherently set ourselves against certain forces within modernity. The truth is eschatological, that is, it…
Praying in the Rain
Prayer and the Acqusition of Things
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“Everything we desire pleases us only so long as we do not possess it; and when we get it, we soon get tired of it. Or only what we do not as yet have seems to us good and attractive; while all that we have, even though it is the very best, is either not enough for us or does not attract us” (St. Innocent of Alaska, Indication of the Way into…
Glory to God for All Things
Grief Observed
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As regular readers of this blog will know, I buried my mother last week. Her passing was a very godly event. I have no particular thoughts on my grief (that I care to share) – only the abiding comfort of the prayers of the Church and gratitude for the prayers of friends. I wrote the following article on grief in February of 2007 and found it of interest. Surely, He has borne…
The Morning Offering
Thursday, September 24 / 11 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day September 11 / 24. Afterfeast of the Nativity of the Theotokos. Translation of the Relics of Saints Sergius and Herman of ValaamSt. Euphrosynus the Cook of Alexandria. Martyr Ia of Persia and 9,000 Martyrs with her. Martyrs Diodorus, Didymus, andDiomedes of Laodicea. Martyrs Demetrius, his wife Euanthis, and…
The Morning Offering
Wednesday, September 23 / 10 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day September 10 / 23. Afterfeast of the Nativity of the Theotokos. Martyrs Menodora, Metrodora, and Nymphodora at Nicomedia.Martyr Barypsabas in Dalmatia. Saints Peter and Paul, Bishops of Nicaea. St. Pulcherius the Empress. Synaxis of the HolyApostles Apelles, Lucius and Clement of the Seventy. St. Ioasaph, monk of Kubensk…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Voice
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Today’s saintly commemoration is the conception of John the Forerunner, known to most English speakers as John the Baptist, which is narrated for us, along with his birth, in the first chapter of Luke’s Gospel. A major thematic element for today is the Voice. Zachariah, not believing the archangel, is made bereft of his voice until such time as he participates in the naming…
Glory to God for All Things
Drawn Ever Deeper
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On translation and the iconicity of language – this comment posted earlier today is worth more attention: I’ve been enjoying thinking about your words on the subject of there being something revealing about the act and result of translation. It makes me think of weeping and other miraculous icons. The particular icon, written faithfully according to the canons, nevertheless is already a unique expression of the truth into which every occasion/expression of…
Praying in the Rain
Loving Myself Best of All
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I have been having and argument with myself all morning about self love and the impulse to fix systems. I want to change systems because I love others and I do not want those with power to continue hurting and being hurt. I see a practice that oppresses others or that is destroying or may destroy what I love, and I want it to end. “I do,” I protest to myself, “love…
The Morning Offering
Tuesday, September 22 / 9 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day September 9 / 22. Afterfeast of the Nativity of the Theotokos. Holy and Righteous Ancestors of God Joachim and Anna. MartyrSeverian of Sebaste. St. Joseph, abbot of Volokolamsk (or Volotsk). Martyr Chariton. Martyr Straton. St. Theophanes the confessorand faster of Mt. Diabenos. Blessed Nicetas the Hidden of Constantinople.…
Praying in the Rain
Loving Yourself Best of All
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In Dostoevsky’s short story, “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man,” (and yes, it is actually short) a typically Dostoevskian manic is about to commit suicide late one night. But before he picks up the revolver to pull the trigger, he falls asleep in his armchair and has a dream. In his dream he is transported to an Eden-like world of love and understanding. Unfortunately, after a little while his presence in this…
Glory to God for All Things
Icons and Words
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With this post I want to make a link between my last article, on how we “see” icons, and an earlier article, “Doctrine and Opinion,” in which I quoted the late Fr. Georges Florovsky who said, “Doctrine is a verbal icon of Christ.” I noted then that this presented a very different approach to doctrine and the usual reasoned treatments that accompany it. Human reason has a very vital role to play…
The Morning Offering
Monday, September 21 / 8 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Nativity of the Theotokos Saints of the Day September 8 / 21. THE NATIVITY OF OUR MOST HOLY LADY THE THEOTOKOS AND EVER-VIRGIN MARY. St. Serapion, monkof Spaso-Eleazar Monastery (Pskov). St. Lucian, abbot of Alexandrov. St. Arsenius, abbot of Konevits. New-Martyr Athanasius ofThessalonica. New-Martyr Alexander (Jacobson) (1930). (Greek Calendar: Martyrs Rufus and…
Glory to God for All Things
Icons - Beauty and the Salvation of the World
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“God will save the World Through Beauty.” This saying, often attributed to Fyodor Dostoevsky, never occurs in precisely this form in his novels – though the idea is present in such a strong sense that the phrase is correctly attributed to him. It is a phrase that is easily misunderstood. For Dostoevsky, in good Orthodox fashion, beauty is far more than a matter of aesthetics – it is the very goodness of…
The Morning Offering
Sunday, September 20 / 7 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day September 7 / 20. Martyr Sozon of Cilicia St. John, Archbishop and Wonderworker of Novgorod. Martyr Eupsychius of Caesarea inCappadocia. Apostles Evodus (Euodias) and Onesiphorus of the Seventy. St. Luke, abbot near Constantinople. Martyrdom of St.Macarius, archimandrite of Kanev. St. Cloud (Clodoald), abbot-founder of Nogent-sur-Seine near Paris. New-Martyr…
Glory to God for All Things
To See An Icon
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My previous post spoke of the world existing “iconically” rather than “literally.” I do not mean that the world cannot be seen in a “literal” fashion – only that the world will not be truly seen if seen only in a literal fashion (there is probably a better word than “literal” to describe this secularized form of experience). The seeing which sees in a “literal” fashion, assumes that things are only things,…
