The great virtue of forgiving our enemies There is the story of Saint Epiphanius of Cyprus who invited Hilarion the Great to dinner, and in order to show his hospitality place fried chicken on the table. Hilarion, when he saw the fried chicken, asked forgiveness, but said he had not
Category: The Morning Offering
Eve of Apostles’ (Peter & Paul) Fast Monday is the beginning of the Apostles’ Fast. The Church has given us two weapons–prayer and fasting– in our battle against the demonic powers, yet the temptation to set aside fasting, especially during a time of year when many like to BBQ steaks
The essential element of Christianity is community Christianity is a communal faith, one that requires it’s followers to be actively involved with others. The Church’s worship is communal, and salvation itself is a corporate act, one that necessitates interaction with others. One is not “saved” in a vacuum, but as
The link between the Old and New Testament Temples Orthodox temples have kept to the same form and function since ancient times. Using the Old Testament Temple model, Orthodox churches are divided into several courts or spaces peculiar to their function. The Holy Table, upon which is celebrated the Eucharist,
A spiritually balanced day in the life of an Orthodox Christian Balancing the spiritual life with the workplace can be quite challenging. Our work day should begin with prayer, and should be planned with the help and guidance of one’s spiritual father, priest or confessor. If you have children, you
The power and influence of good deeds “For it is the will of God, that with well-doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men (1 Peter 2:15). Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic tells us in The Prologue from Ochrid that we are better off if we do not engage
Blessed Dimitry of Santa Rosa never spoke a word in judgement against anyone Recently, I recounted something about my own late spiritual father, Archimandrite Dimitry of Santa Rosa, that I’d forgotten. Father Dimitry, who had escaped from Communist Russia, having suffered beatings and imprisonment, never spoke against them, nor ever
The energy of the mind inside the heart In the patristic tradition the heart is the center of our self-awareness. This self-awareness is the energy of the mind inside the heart, something the holy fathers referred to as our “noetic faculty”. There is an important distinction that must be noted
Looking for hope in all the right places Earlier this evening I was listening to one of the last songs recorded by Johnny Cash, probably the best country western singer of all time. The line in his song, “put me in my box on the 309”, is coming from a
Kissing the hand of the priest is all about Christ The kissing of the hand of the priest is not about the man, but rather about Christ. It is much like the kissing of an icon, which is not about the veneration of paint and wood, but about the archetype