The saints should be models for how we live our lives Our Orthodox Christian life is not designed to be invented as we go, for by the very nature of the Church we are instructed to use as our model of living, the lives of the saints that have gone
The veneration of the Holy Virgin in the Ancient Church All the early reformers, including Luther and Calvin, believed Mary to be Ever Virgin. The practice at the time was to refer to all cousins as siblings, and none of the early Christians believed Mary had born any children other
God created us with freewill One of the primary differences between Islam and Christianity has to do with the basic view of the nature of God. Islam teaches total surrender to a god who demands submission. There is no invitation to enter into a relationship, freely, nor is there room
How do we keep our youth in the Church? We are living in an age that has witnessed changes on a massive scale as never before. The way we communicate has changed with the coming of the internet, with information available that would have required a library and advanced degrees
Experiencing the reality of God’s presence My own experience with God is manifold, with everything from witnessing the healing of illnesses of many people, including my own heart condition (I was on the operating table, awaiting bypass surgery, but was healed), to standing before numerous myrrh streaming icons, watching the
The importance of preparing for the Divine Liturgy That the Church requires us to prepare to receive the Holy Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ, prior to the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, by saying the Pre-Communion Prayers, is a given. The Church also requires us to fast
The limits of human reason and the knowledge of God There is the seen, and there is the unseen, the material and the immaterial. That which is material can be scientifically examined and experienced, the immaterial can only be seen and experienced spiritually. These are two worlds that are only
The ship that is the Church “And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered by the waves. But He was asleep. The his disciples came to Him and awake Him saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing.” (Matthew 8:24, 25) The ship is
Returning to the place where it all began The place was just as I’d remembered it, with the cabin still the same color my grandfather had chosen, and Priest Lake, with the snow capped mountains off in the distance, and the little island just off shore, just as tranquil as
The importance of discovering God for oneself At the age of sixty-nine I find myself spending an increasing amount of time on area campuses, and hosting a growing number of young people making a pilgrimage to the monastery. At an age when many of my contemporaries are grandfathers, or even