Category: The Morning Offering

The Candles Represent the Light of Christ The Orthodox Church from its very inception has always used oil lamps (or lampadas) and candles during its worship and prayers. The burning of candles and oil lamps have always been the traditional source of lighting in God’s churches, and we must forgo

You Can Better Help Your Priest and Bishop by Understanding This One Thing Parish priests feel pressures that are found in no other profession. The type of man that generally is drawn to the holy priesthood is one who has a heart for serving others. Bishops and priests are often

The Opposite of Anger is Not Permissiveness In my essay on Anger, I suggested the best way to respond to another person’s anger was not to withdraw, but to move towards them with kindness. This is such an important issue, that I now want to expand on the topic. There

Anger Must Not Be Allowed to Take Root Most people, when angered by someone, think the best way to deal with the anger is by avoiding the person who offended us. The problem with this approach is that it allows the anger to take root in the heart, festering as

Proper Attire in the House of God The Church is our home, a place where we should feel comfortable, and at ease. It is also God’s house and is a temple set aside for worship of the Holy Trinity. Although times have changed and we have become a very casual

Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?

Complaining Weakens Our Resolve If we are always complaining about how unfairly we are treated, we will have failed in our imitation of Christ, Who was abused by His enemies unto death. We should strive to reign with Our Lord by loving our enemies and never complain. Christ looked towards