Nativity: December 25th or January 7th? Regarding the Church Calendar (also known as the Old Calendar, and the Julian Calendar), I am grateful that our monastery is part of a jurisdiction that has remained true to the Traditional Calendar. The move to the Papal Calendar was, to my mind, divisive,
Despair is the enemy It is only human to become despondent when we have failed in keeping to our moral, ethical and spiritual standards, succumbing, instead, to temptation. Our Orthodox Faith teaches that we must be compassionate towards others, loving, quick to forgive, exemplar in our Christian living, and always
Christ’s resurrection paves the way for transformation The fact that we Orthodox do not accept the doctrine of original sin as espoused in the West, does in no way suggest that we do not need to be born again (born anew). We believe, as did the Early Church Fathers, that
Partakers of Divine Nature Vigil lights are placed before the icons of the saints, according to Saint Symeon the New Theologian, as a way of showing that without the Light, Who is Christ, the saints are nothing. It is only as the light of Christ shines on them that they
Being willing to take up our cross and follow Christ 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
The authentic identity of the Church In the Church’s attempt to live an authentic New Testament identity, she knows that she is neither papal or protestant. The Orthodox Church does not have a vertical structure of authority, as does the Roman Catholic Church. Orthodoxy has resisted becoming an authoritarian and
The Feast of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker According to the reckoning of the Julian Calendar, today is the feast of our father among the saints Nicholas the Wonderworker. Saint Nicholas was the Archbishop of Myra in southern Asia Minor in the fourth century, and is the basis for the Santa
The role of obedience in the acquisition of humility In the Christian life there are two paths to salvation and whichever road you chose must be embraced with your whole being. The married state and monasticism both have as their primary means of aiding in your salvation the acquisition of
The critic will never know either defeat or victory It is easy to be critical of another person, finding fault with what we perceive they are doing, have done, or have not done. Yet the man who points out how another man has stumbled, finding fault in something he himself
Biblical morality versus situation ethics Situation ethics has become the norm for our times, having replaced the biblical ethics of past generations. In situation ethics as long as no one is hurt one can do as one pleases. Taking drugs, watching pornography and aborting the unborn child, all can come