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…
Glory to God for All Things
In Him We Live And Move and Have Our Being
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St. John of the Ladder wrote: Every free creature lives in God. God is everyone’s salvation. God loves believers and unbelievers, the just and the unjust, the pious and the impious, those free of passions and those subject to passions, monks and those living worldly lives, the educated and the illiterate, the healthy and the sick, the young and the old. God is like an outpouring of light, a glimpse of the…
The Morning Offering
Tuesday, September 1 / August 19 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day August 19 / September 1. Afterfeast of the Dormition. Martyr Andrew Stratelates and 2,593 soldiers with him in Cilicia Martyrs Timothy, Agapius and Thecla of Palestine. St. Pitirim, Bishop of Perm. Opening of the Relics of St.Gennadius, abbot of Kostroma. St. Theophanes, new Wonderworker of Macedonia (Mt. Athos).…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Barton Decker, barber
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This past Friday, I made another assay into the streets of and around Emmaus to find myself a decent barber shop. My first haircut experience in Emmaus, to put it frankly, hurt. I have no idea exactly why that gent had such a need to dig the clippers with such fervor into my neck, but, suffice it to say, once I did my fiduciary…
The Morning Offering
Monday, August 31 / August 18 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day August 18 / 31. Afterfeast of the Dormition. Martyrs Florus and Laurus of Illyria [Eph 6:10-17; Lk 12:2-12]. Martyrs Hermes, Serapion and Polyaenus of Rome. Martyrs Hilarion, Dionysius and Hermippus; Hieromartyr Emilian, and others (about 1,000) of Italy. Saints John and George, Patriarch of Constantinople. St. Barnabas and…
Glory to God for All Things
The Death of Christ - The Life of Man
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A recent comment posed a fundamental question with regard to the Christian faith: Why do we believe that Christ had to die? What is the purpose of His death on the cross? Preliminary Thoughts Part of the information accompanying the question was the experience (of Mary K) with teaching on the atonement that centered largely on the wrath and anger of God. (I paraphrase and summarize) We sinned (both ourselves and Adam…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Ancient History meets American History
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On Saturday the 15th of August, after we completed services for the Dormition, members of the Orthodox Church of Emmaus, Pennsylvania, manned a booth at the festival marking the 250th anniversary of the founding of the Borough of Emmaus. One could say that we are a church obsessed with history, and so it is only fitting that we should make one small footprint into…
The Morning Offering
Sunday, August 30 / August 17 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day August 17 / 30. Afterfeast of the Dormition. Martyr Myron of Cyzicus. Martyrs Straton, Philip, Eutychian and Cyprian of Nicomedia. Martyrs Thyrsus, Leucius and Coronatus, with others at Caesarea in Bithynia. Martyrs Paul and his sister Juliana of Syria. Martyr Patroclus of Troyes. St. Alypius the Iconographer of…
The Morning Offering
Saturday, August 29 / August 16 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day August 16 / 29. Afterfeast of the Dormition. Translation of the Image Not-made-by-hands of our Lord Jesus Christ from Edessa to Constantinople Martyr Diomedes the Physician of Tarsus in Cilicia. St. Cherimon (Chaeremon) of Egypt. St. Joachim, monk of Osogov. St. Gerasimos the New Ascetic of Cephalonia (Mt.…
The Morning Offering
Friday, August 28 / August 15 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Dormition of the Theotokos Saints of the Day August 15 / 28. THE DORMITION OF OUR MOST HOLY LADY THE THEOTOKOS AND EVER-VIRGIN MARY. St. Macarius the Roman, abbot, and St. Chariton. Diasozousa Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos. Repose of Elder Anthony of Murom, friend of St. Seraphim of Sarov (1851),…
The Morning Offering
Thursday, August 27 / August 14 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day August 14 / 27. Forefeast of the Dormition. Prophet Micah. Translation of the Relics of St. Theodosius of the Kiev Caves. Hieromartyr Marcellus, Bishop of Apamea. St. Arcadius, monk of Novotorzhk. Martyr Ursicius at Nicomedia. New-Martyr Simeon of Trebizond. Greek Calendar: Martyr Luke the Soldier.) Commemoration of the…
Glory to God for All Things
How Simple Should Christianity Be?
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There is a tendency in our modern world to make things as simple as possible. We hide the complexities behind a keyboard (I don’t know how my computer works – or not very well) or we treat things that seem complex as unnecessary obfuscations. This same drive to simplify was very much alive in the 16th century as Christianity underwent reform in many places of the world. Thomas Cranmer, the English Reformer,…
The Morning Offering
Wednesday, August 26 / August 13 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Apodosis of the Transfiguration Saints of the Day August 13 / 26. Apodosis of the Transfiguration. St. Maximus the Confessor (his serice is sung on August 12). St. Tikhon (Tychon), Bishop of Voronezh, Wonderworker of Zadonsk and All Russia. Opening of the Relics of St. Maximus of Moscow, fool-for-Christ. Martyr Hippolytus of…
The Morning Offering
Tuesday, August 25 / August 12 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day August 12 / 25. Afterfeast of the Transfiguration. Martyrs Anicletus and Photius (Photinus) of Nicomedia. Martyrs Pamphilus and Capito. Hieromartyr Alexander, Bishop of Comana. St. Pallamon of Egypt, instructor of St. Pachomius the Great. (Greek Calendar: Saints Sergius and Stephen, monks. Soldier-martyrs of Crete.) (Service to St. Maximus…
Glory to God for All Things
What's the Point?
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For a man who does not believe in God – nothing points to God. For a man who believes in God – everything points to God. So who’s right? There is almost no argument between these two experiences. For someone who does not believe in God my own contention that everything points to God is pretty much meaningless. In extraordinary cases we can listen to each other and struggle to understand what…
The Morning Offering
Monday, August 24 / August 11 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day August 11 / 24. Afterfeast of the Transfiguration. Holy Martyr and Archdeacon Euplus of Catania. Virgin Martyr Susanna and those with her: Martyrs Gaius, pope of Rome; presbyter Gabinus his brother and father of Susanna; Maximus, Claudius, and his wife Praepedigna, with their sons Alexander and Cutias. Martyrs…
