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I was recently struck by a passage in an article by an Orthodox writer from the Russian Church (whose name escapes me at the moment). Speaking of the Dormition Fast, he wrote that we prepare for the Feast – the Feast of the Theotokos’s Dormition – by intensifying our love for the Virgin Mary. Now, this ...
Read moreO Jesus, a world that looks at things from below, whose eyes are estranged from the transcendence of Your gifts, is unable to look upward. On the day they crucified You, they told You to come down from the Cross. They stipulated that Your descent be a sign of Your glory. Literally, they said: "If ...
Read moreOh Jesus, O God Who holds the end in His hand. Today, we have concluded the first three days of the Great Week. Each day has brought us benefits based on action and its opposite. On Monday, we stood before the fruitful Joseph and the barren fig tree. On Tuesday, we faced the five wise ...
Read moreWhen one of the members of the strivers’ Church ever insults the Spirit of grace (Hebrews 10:29), this causes damages to her life and her testimony. I am speaking of all the committed people, laymen, monks, deacons, priests, and bishops! Yesterday, I read news on an electronic media outlet about two monks, from an independent ...
Read moreWhen our tradition says that God loves the world, it means He loves all people at all times and in all conditions, without discriminating between one person and another, whether sinful or righteous. This is an essential aspect of the God portrayed in our Scriptures as: love (1 John 4:8), meaning a steadfast love that ...
Read moreLent is described in tradition as a battlefield for spiritual warfares. It serves as a ground to expose darkness and repent of it. It is both a battlefield and a weapon. The darkness that besieges us in our days, is summoned by Lent to its tribunal for scrutiny. Weariness, sloth, anger, and doubt through which ...
Read moreIt has become an annual tradition for me to read, on days like these, Father Alexander Schmemann's book "The Great Lent". The book is of paramount importance, whether in terms of knowledge, as it pertains to the "Triodion period," or the author's ability to delve into our depths, in order to provide us with the ...
Read moreHe is our companion to Pascha. His memory resonates in the prayers of the Great Lent from beginning to end. In the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32), God has been revealed to be a God Who does not want anything as much as He wants us to be free with Him, regardless of ...
Read moreI am following the feedback that is reaching us regarding the rejection of the document issued by the Roman Catholic Church, in which it is allowing the blessing of same-sex couples, as well as responses to this rejection. The explanatory document, in which Rome reaffirmed its stance on this blessing, was pointed out to me ...
Read moreIn one of the scenes of a film adapted from a novel by the Portuguese writer José Maria de Eça de Queiroz, the protagonist appears alongside another girl helping her teach children in the church to memorize the Ten Commandments. When they reach the commandment "Thou shalt not commit adultery", the two girls get interrupted ...
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