How Our Soul Differs From That of an Animal The Orthodox Church teaches that animals have souls, although not the same as ours. When conceived, God bestows upon us the nous, which distinguishes us from the other animals. It is the nous that is the eye of the soul, intelligent
Walking Towards the Kingdom, Together I recently heard a wonderful story of a group of African children who were assembled before a large basket of fresh fruit. They were told that the first child who could reach the basket could have all the fruit for themselves. The Western adults who
Living Our Lives in Total Commitment Christianity is a religion of asceticism, instructing us to store up our treasures in heaven, where the benefits have eternal value. Throughout the New Testament we read of the importance of struggle, where focus on the acquisition of a humble and contrite heart is
Let my prayer arise as incense before Thee From Old Testament times believers have burned incense as an offering when worshiping God. The ancient temple in Jerusalem even had priests whose sole duty was to keep the censer burning twenty-four hours a day. Ancient pagan kings were often escorted with
The Child Mary Entered into the Holy of Holies Saints Joachim and Anna, who were childless, made a vow to God that if a child were born to them, they would consecrate her to God. And when the Virgin Mary was born, her righteous parents hurried to fulfill their promise.
Remembering to Give Thanks Frequently “We thank thee, O Christ our God, that thou hast satisfied us with thy earthly gifts, deprive us not of thy Heavenly Kingdom; but as thou entered into the midst of thy disciples, O Saviour, and gave them peace, enter also among us and save
Taking Orthodoxy Beyond the Self-Congratulatory We must guard against noticing when another parishioner seems careless in the making of the sign of the cross, while we go about demonstrating for all around us, the proper way. Making sweeping signs of the cross that are done in such a way as
Serving the Great Men and Women Who Serve Us All It has been a great blessing for me to have been serving as a police and fire chaplain for the past twenty some years. My interest in chaplaincy began when I was asked by a number of inmates to serve
Living our Orthodox Faith in a Multicultural Society Orthodoxy by its very nature is a demanding religion, one that requires her faithful to fully embrace a lifestyle that is in opposition to the world about us. The many periods of fasting and the practice of standing for our services are