The middle season of life marks itself in our experiences as an ending and a beginning. It is a season of change and realization and can be a time of great joy and great suffering. There are many questions to ask as we seek to reinvent ourselves, to stay connected with grown children, to care for aging parents, and to think practically about the end of natural life. We invite you to…
An Orthodox priest once told me, “Finding Orthodoxy is the easy part. The hard part comes when you begin to learn the depth of what our faith means. Each time you step into the next level of relationship with Christ, you will see a new and greater depth in which you must traverse to continue the journey.”
What can you expect when you come to the Ancient Faith Women’s Retreat? Good teaching, good company, good food, and spiritual refreshment are all on the list! As we look forward to this year’s Retreat, which will take place on November 14-17 at Antiochian Village, we invite you to review the daily schedule for this event. Notice that free time for rest and reflection is built into the schedule! To learn more…
“The body is a garden,” proclaims Angela Doll Carlson in the opening lines of her book, Garden in the East: The Spiritual Life of the Body. It is a declaration that should make any reader pause, particularly anyone who has ever struggled with body image, chronic illness, or immobility. It’s the line that immediately pulled me into the rest of Carlson’s poetic exploration of the relationship she has with her body and…
I had to write it three or four times, each time healing somewhat from my own hardened, bitter heart and getting closer to what I wanted to say in it.
St. Mary of Egypt is one of the most important saints on the calendar – so important she gets an entire Sunday in Lent dedicated to her, in addition to her feast day of April 1. She’s a major part of the Canon of Repentance that’s said at the beginning and ending of Lent. So why write an Akathist to her, since we already have so much about her? Around the turn…
This was to be a book about other people. Not about me. I am an Orthodox Christian with a strong tendency to get involved in activism. Being a woman with children, my special interests are women and children. Let me tell you some of the things that keep me awake at night. We are seeing unprecedented rates of anxiety and depression amongst children and teens. Porn use is sky high for boys…
We’re delighted to share this year’s edition of Fr. Jonathan Bannon’s wonderful “Journey to Pascha” chart. This chart can be used like a map of Lent, marking off the milestones along the way and providing a suggestion for personal spiritual practice for each week. Last year, the original edition of this chart traveled around the world. It was even translated into other languages. Glory to God! Fr. Jonathan came up with the…
I was scared of this book. It arrived, fresh and lovely…and thick. I thought, “Oh, I will never find time for this. I am already so busy with work, with children, with church, with life…” The book continued to sit at my desk, and I continued to avoid it. Then, things got worse.
I wonder many things about your life. I am thrilled to know as much as I do, since there is very little on so many saints that have passed through this life. I contemplate what your life must have been like, to be both educated and come from a family with means, and also to have a heart for those who struggle, including those who couldn’t afford to see a physician. What was it like to work closely with your sister? Did you face trouble from your family for choosing this life over, say, marriage and children? What opposition did you face from male students and teachers as you studied and worked?