The Morning Offering
Sunday, March 28 / 15 (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! Palm Sunday Saints of the Day: March 15 / 28. Martyrs Agapius, Publius (Pauplios), Timolaus, Romulus, two named Dionysius, and two named Alexander, at Caesarea in Palestine. Martyr…
Glory to God for All Things
Palm Sunday and Hearing the Word of God
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I am convinced after years of preaching and listening to preaching that the bulk of Scripture has become lost to our ears. We hear it, but fail to “hear” it. And I do not mean this merely in the moral sense (doubtless we fail to be “doers” of the word). Rather, I am aware of a kind of dullness, of seeing a very narrow set of things that become the lens through…
The Morning Offering
Saturday, March 27 / 14 (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! Lazarus Saturday Saints of the Day: March 14 / 27. St. Benedict of Nursia, abbot. St. Euschemon, Bishop of Lampsacus. St. Theognostus, Metropolitan of Kiev and Moscow. St.…
Praying in the Rain
What's Going On
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Dear Blog Friends, I’m writing this on my new i-Mac. There’s a story here–get a cup of coffee. I got a call last week from John Maddex, CEO of Conciliar Media Ministries asking me to edit a new on-line magazine along the lines of AGAIN and Handmaiden. However, this new on-line magazine is not just a print magazine that is read on-line, rather it is a completely interactive experience compatible with several…
The Morning Offering
Friday, March 26 / 13 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day March 13 / 26. Translation of the Relics of St. Nicephorus, Patriarch of Constantinople. Martyr Alexander of Macedonia. Martyr Sabinus (Abibus) of Egypt. Martyrs Africanus, Publius and Terence of Carthage. Martyr Christina of Persia. St. Aninas, monk of the Euphrates. Hieromartyr Publius, Bishop of Athens. Photo of the…
Glory to God for All Things
Lazarus Saturday
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Largely ignored by much of Christendom, the Orthodox mark the day before Palm Sunday as “Lazarus Saturday” in something of a prequel to the following weekend’s Pascha. It is, indeed a little Pascha just before the greater one. And this, of course, was arranged by Christ Himself, who raised His friend Lazarus from the dead as something of a last action before entering Jerusalem and beginning His slow ascent to Golgotha through…
The Morning Offering
Thursday, March 25 / 12 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day March 12 / 25. St. Theophanes the Confessor of Sigriane. Righteous Aaron, brother of Moses the God-seer. Righteous Phineas, grandson of Aaron. St. Gregory the Dialogist, pope of Rome. St. Simeon the New Theologian. Holy Abba Cyrus. Repose of Schemamonk Anthony the Gorge-dweller of Zelenchug Monastery in Kuban…
Glory to God for All Things
The Annunciation - The Cause of All Things
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I treasure the small volume of George Gabriel, Mary the Untrodden Portal of God. Gabriel occasionally strikes hard at the West and the book would perhaps be strengthened with a less combative approach to the differences of East and West in the faith (my own opinion), but I liked the book and found Gabriel addressing many things, well foot-noted, that are not found in many other places. I share an excerpt. +++ From…
The Morning Offering
Wednesday, March 24 / 11 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day March 11 / 24. St. Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem. St. Euthymius, Bishop of Novgorod. Hieromartyr Pionius of Smyrna and those with him: Asclepiades, Macedonia, Linus and Sabina. Translation of the Relics of Martyr Epimachus of Pelusium. St. George, abbot of Sinai. St. Sophronius, recluse of the Kiev Caves.…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Confessions of a Localist in Training
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I was recently sent this note by a young lady who listened to the first episode of the Roads From Emmaus podcast: …I listened to your first “Roads From Emmaus” podcast and instead of joy I got a guilty nausea in my stomach. The ideal “me” in my head agrees with you, we should reach out to our neighbors and community. I’ll admit I…
The Morning Offering
Tuesday, March 23 / 10 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day March 10 / 23. Martyrs Codratus (Quadratus) and with him Cyprian, Dionysius, Anectus, Paul, Crescens, Dionysius (another), Victorinus, Victor, Nicephorus, Claudius, Diodorus, Serapion, Papias, Leonidas, Chariessa, Nunechia, Basilissa, Nice, Galla, Galina, Theodora, and others at Corinth. Martyrs Codratus, Saturninus, and Rufinus of Nicomedia. St. Anastasius the patrician of…
Glory to God for All Things
The Weakness of Man
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It is counter-intuitive that God saves man through His own weakness. The irony of the Divine Reversal has provided endless material for the hymnographers of the Church through the centuries. The Strong becomes weak, the Sinless takes on our sin, the Rich becomes poor, God becomes man – the whole of the gospel seems to be a Divine irony. This irony has a beauty that has always drawn me. Sometimes the imagery…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
This Holy Earth: Ecological Vision in the Cosmic Cathedral
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The Morning Offering
Monday, March 22 / 9 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day March 9 / 22. The Holy Forty Martyrs of Sebaste: Cyrion (Quirio), Candidus, Domnus, Hesychius, Heraclius, Smaragdus, Eunoicus, Valens, Vivianus, Claudius, Priscus, Theodulus, Eutychius, John, Santhias, Helianus, Sisinius, Angius, Aetius, Flavius, Acacius, Ecdicius, Lysimachus, Alexander, Elias, Gorgonius, Theophilus, Dometian, Gaius, Leontius, Athanasius, Cyril, Sacerdon, Nicholas, Valerius, Philoctimon, Severian,…
Glory to God for All Things
Favorite Thoughts and Thanksgiving
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I awoke this morning from two days in bed battling a nasty little virus. My fever had broken and my appetite returned. There are no words for my gratitude. I offer this short piece on favorite thoughts and pray God’s blessing on us all. Any reader of this blog will very quickly notice certain ideas and words that come up repeatedly in my writings. Some of my parishioners say that I only…
The Morning Offering
Sunday, March 21 / 8 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saint Mary of Egypt Saints of the Day: March 8 / 21. St. Theophylactus, Bishop of Nicomedia. St. Dometius, monk. Hieromartyr Theodoretus of Antioch. Apostle Hermas of the Seventy. Saints Lazarus and Athanasius, monks of Murmansk. (Greek Calendar: St. Paul of Plusias, confessor. Martyr Dio.) Photo of the Day Our courtyard, on…
The Morning Offering
Saturday, March 20 / 7 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saturday of the Akathist Saints of the Day: March 7 / 20. Hieromartyr of Cherson: Basil, Ephraim, Capito, Eugene, Aetherius, Elpidius, and Agathadorus. St. Paul the Confessor, Bishop of Plusias in Bithynia. St. Paul the Simple of Egypt, disciple of St. Anthony the Great. St. Emilian of Rome. (Greek Calendar: Saints Nestor…
The Morning Offering
Friday, March 19 / 6 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! On this day we abstain from oil, but not wine. Saints of the Day: March 6 / 19. The 42 Martyrs of Ammoria in Phrygia, including Constantine, Aetius, Theophilus, Theodore, Melissenus, Callistus, Basoes and others. St. Arcadius, monk of Cyprus. Monk-martyrs Conon and his son Conon of Iconium. The uncovering of the…
Glory to God for All Things
Hitchens on Hitchens - Belief on Unbelief
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For those of you who follow contemporary discourse – particularly that by contemporary atheists on contemporary Christianity – you will find of great interest this article by the brother of Christopher Hitchens. (Christopher Hitchens has made himself famous as one of the current proponents of the “new atheism.”) Peter Hitchens does an admirable job of speaking for contemporary Christianity: Why is there such a fury against religion now? Because religion is the one…
Glory to God for All Things
The Nature of Things and Our Salvation
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Reflecting on yesterday’s post, I thought it worthwhile to share these thoughts again on the nature of our salvation. It offers a short summary of the difference between a moral and an existential understanding of the Christian faith and why the difference matters. Indeed, as I look through my writings I know this is a recurring theme. It recurs because it is so fundamental to the Christian faith and is at the…
The Morning Offering
Thursday, March 18 / 5 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Great Canon Saints of the Day: March 5 / 18. Martyr Conon of Isauria. Martyr Conon the Gardener of Pamphylia. Virgin Martyr Irais (Rhais) of Antinoe in Egypt. Martyr Eulogius of Palestine. Martyr Eulampius of Palestine. Martyr Onisius of Isauria. St. Hesychius the Faster of Bithynia. St. Mark the Faster of Egypt.…
Glory to God for All Things
Just Showing Up and the Work of Grace
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There has been a tendency in much teaching about the notion of salvation by grace to ground the image in a legal or forensic metaphor. Thus, we are saved by grace in the sense that someone else’s goodwill and kindness (God’s) has now freed us from the consequences of our actions. Thus we speak of grace as the “free gift” of God. There is no denying that grace is a free gift…
The Morning Offering
Wednesday, March 17 / 4 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day March 4 / 17. St. Gerasimus of the Jordan. Martyrs Paul, his sister Juliana, and Quadratus, Acacius, and Stratonicus, at Ptolemais in Syria. St. Gregory, Bishop of Constantius in Cyprus. St. James the Faster of Phoenicia (Syria). St. Daniel, prince of Moscow. Martyr Wenceslaus, prince of the Czechs.…
The Morning Offering
Tuesday, March 16 / 3 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day March 3 / 16. Martyr Eutropius of Amasea, and with him Martyrs Cleonicus and Basiliscus. RR. Zeno and Zoilus. St. Piama, virgin, and St. Alexandra, of Alexandria. St. Caluppan of Auvergne (Gaul). (Greek Calendar: Hieromartyr Theodoretus of Antioch. Poster of the Day: One of the carved columns in…
The Morning Offering
Monday, March 15 / 2 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saints of the Day March 2 / 15. Hieromartyr Theodotus, Bishop of Cyrenia. St. Arsenius, Bishop of Tver. St. Agatho of Egypt, monk. Martyr Troadius of Neo-Caesarea. Virgin Martyr Euthalia of Sicily. 440 Martyrs slain by the Lombards. Saints Sabbas and Barsanuphius, abbots of Tver. St. Sabbatius, monk of Tver, and his…
Glory to God for All Things
The Grace of Repentance
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From Archimandrite Sophrony’s On Prayer There, on the Holy Mountain, my life found its right track. Almost every day after the Liturgy I knew a feeling of Easter joy.And strange as it may seem, my constant prayer like some volcanic eruption proceeded from the profound despair that ahd taken over my heart. Two seemingly totally incompatible states met together in me. I am recording facts. I did not understand myself what was happeing…
The Morning Offering
Sunday, March 14 / 1 (Church Calendar)
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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever! Saint John of the Ladder Saints of the Day March 1 / 14. Martyr Eudocia of Heliopolis. Martyrs Nestor, Tribimius, Marcellus, and Anthony of Perge in Pamphylia. Martyr Antonina of Nicaea in Bithynia. Virgin Domnina of Syria. St. Agapius of Vatopedi on Mt. Athos. St. Martyrius, monk of Zelenetsk (Pskov). New-Martyrs Abbess…
