History Archives — Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

No, the Paschal date difference is not about Passover (and other Orthodox urban legends)

April 17, 2022May 10, 2022 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

Orthodox Christians should find their identity in Christ and in the saving dogmas proclaimed about Him universally in Orthodox tradition. How we calculate Pascha (which was not set by the Apostles) is not one of those things.

Should It Matter to Christians When Churches Burn?

April 18, 2019April 18, 2019 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

Because mankind is created in the image of his Creator, man is also himself a sub-creator, called to engage the creation with his own creativity, in imitation of the creative Creator.

There is No Christmas and No Church Without History

December 24, 2017January 2, 2018 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

Sunday before the Nativity / Eve of the Nativity, December 24, 2017 Hebrews 11:9-10, 32-40; Matthew 1:1-15 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. One of the things that strikes people who encounter the Orthodox Church for the first time is that we have a very strong emphasis on history. It’s everywhere in…

The Blind Man and Lawrence of Arabia

June 5, 2016June 5, 2016 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

Sunday of the Blind Man, June 5, 2016 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick Acts 16:16-34; John 9:1-38 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Christ is risen! Men have looked upon the desert as barren land, the free holding of whoever chose; but in fact each hill and valley in it had a…

Ego Patricius peccator rusticissimus

March 17, 2015 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

My name is Patrick. I am a sinner, a simple country person, and the least of all believers. This photo was taken in the summer of 2001 during a nearly month-long pilgrimage I took to Great Britain and Ireland. It was a dreary day in Downpatrick (and the photo was taken with real film! remember that stuff?), the place where St. Patrick returned to…

Unifying the Orthodox Church in America

September 30, 2014 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

I’ve got a new piece published today at First Things, where I discuss the problems and solutions of Orthodox Christian unity in America. Here’s an excerpt: Are you Greek?” This is the question I get asked the most when I tell someone that I am an Orthodox Christian. At first, this question rankled, because I am not Greek. (I am, among other things, Lithuanian.)…

Facing Antioch: Hopes for the Antiochian Archdiocese Nominating Convention and Beyond

June 2, 2014June 2, 2015 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

We in the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America come now to a historic moment, one that has not been seen for nearly half a century. That may sound a bit melodramatic, especially considering that we are really only a small community, both when compared with the rest of our country and especially when compared with the Orthodox world in general. But it…

“We speak one language: Antiochian”: More Thoughts on the Future of the Antiochian Archdiocese and Orthodoxy in America

May 12, 2014July 20, 2017 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

If you’ve done any reading from modern Orthodox saints, you know that there is a certain tone among the holy elders of Greece, another from Russia and so forth. Each culture enculturates the Gospel in its own authentic way and speaks of the truth of Jesus Christ with its own voice. One of the things which makes the particular Antiochian voice distinct—although it is…