The term eucatastrophe was coined by Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien to refer to a sudden turn of events that makes for a happy ending. It’s not the same as the deus ex machina of classical theatre, which quite often is really almost a non sequitur that ends a tale in some entirely implausible way. I thought of this word today when readingā¦
Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas, March 27, 2016 Hebrews 1:10-2:3; Mark 2:1-12 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Today, on the Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas, which is the second Sunday of Great Lent, we again ask our question in this fourth installment in our eight-part series:ā¦
I recently posted the following on Facebook and thought I might put it here, as well: I have sometimes seen the sentiment expressed that authentic Orthodoxy means everyone reads the Fathers (perhaps “graduating” out of everything else). But that’s really a historical impossibility. Access to the writings of the Fathers for most people is a recent phenomenon that is only due, ironically, to theā¦
Sunday of St. John of the Ladder, March 22, 2015 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. What does a sixth century monk living on Mount Sinai have to teach us about evangelism? That is the question I asked as I pondered the continuation of our series onā¦
It’s been fifteen years since I did formal study of Ancient Greek. I’ve been wanting to get back to it for a long time now. So on the recommendation of learned friends, I got myself a copy of Greek: An Intensive Course by Hansen and Quinn. I also pulled out my two volumes of Athenaze by Balme and Lawall. (Old notes from 1999 fellā¦
Today is the feast of St. Gregory the Great (called in the East “Gregory the Dialogist”), pope of Rome. He is mostly known in the Orthodox Church for his association with the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts (with which, it is my understanding, he probably didn’t have any real connection). One of his most beautiful gifts to posterity is his work Pastoral Careā¦