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Unavoidable Suffering and Salvation – The Way of Shame

02/12/2021

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, November 13, 2015 At the heart of the modern narrative is a concern to alleviate and even eliminate suffering. This understanding is rooted in the Christian virtue of compassion. In many ways, however, modern compassion has been detached from its original context and become a thing-in-itself. Modernity is an arena where compassion has run amok, and, ironically, promises to create new and unique miseries in its wake. The Christian gospel is

Bashing Heads

02/11/2021

Troublesome passages of the Old Testament By Abbot Tryphon, November 17, 2019 It is important when reading the Old Testament, to remember that it was written as an account of a peoples’ journey to God. As the Israelites journey continued, they came to know God, little by little, through God’s self-revelation to their prophets, and their understanding of God expanded. Christ, as the Logos (the Word of God), was from the very beginning, and identified

Hieromartyr Charalambos

02/10/2021

IMPORTANT NOTE: In Greek hagiography and iconography St Charalambos is regarded as a priest, while Russian sources seem to regard as a bishop. St Charalambos, Bishop of Magnesia (Asia Minor), successfully spread faith in Christ the Savior, guiding people on the way to salvation. News of his preaching reached Lucian, the governor of the district, and the military commander Lucius. The saint was arrested and brought to trial, where he confessed his faith in Christ

Living in Truth

02/09/2021

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week – Living in Truth In the 1940’s and later, Father Kolakovic warned Catholic Slovaks about the impending spiritual trials awaiting believers under the yoke of communist oppression which included censorship, physical tortures and even death. He saw what was coming and was able to educate Christians to prepare for their persecution. He encouraged his faithful to “See, Judge, Act. See meant to be awake to realities

About Fairy Tales

02/09/2021

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, October 28, 2015 If you want to teach a child not to do something, then clear directions and consistent discipline will generally do the trick. However, if you want to teach a child not to do a certain kind of thing, something completely different is called for. Most likely, you will have to resort to stories. Stories tell us about characters. Characters in good stories (particularly good children’s stories) are more than simple individuals with

Greatmartyr Theodore Stratelates “the General”

02/08/2021

The Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates came from the city of Euchaita in Asia Minor. He was endowed with many talents, and was handsome in appearance. For his charity God enlightened him with the knowledge of Christian truth. The bravery of the saintly soldier was revealed after he, with the help of God, killed a giant serpent living on a precipice in the outskirts of Euchaita. The serpent had devoured many people and animals, terrorizing the

God by The Numbers

02/05/2021

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, November 11, 2015 Math is very strange stuff. A serious question within the community of science and math is whether math is an invention or a discovery. Is it something that we have just made up out of our head, or is it something we observed and discovered (because it is already there)? This might sound like a silly thing to wonder about, but it is indeed most serious. The ancients

May God Give Us a Good Beginning So That We Might Find a Good End!

02/04/2021

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week – May God Give Us a Good Beginning So That We Might Find a Good End! How much better things turn out for us when we prepare ourselves and make plans ahead of time! While Great Lent, our time period of preparation for Pascha, begins in 6 weeks on March 15th which seems like a long time away, the Triodion (the

We Must Respond to Bullying

02/04/2021

By Abbot Tryphon, November 23, 2019 We must end bullying by teaching children kindness at an early age More and more frequently we read about children taking their own lives, having reached a place where they would rather be dead than live another hour suffering from bullying. Too often parents and teachers have ignored the problem of bullying, dismissing it as nothing more than “kids will be kids”, and “kids can be cruel”. The truth

Holy, Righteous Simeon the God-Receiver

02/03/2021

Righteous Simeon the God-Receiver was, according to the testimony of the holy Evangelist Luke, a just and devout man waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him (Luke 2:25). God promised him that he would not die until the promised Messiah, Christ the Lord, came into the world. Ancient historians tell us that the Egyptian pharaoh Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285-247 B.C.) wished to include texts of Holy Scripture in the

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Unavoidable Suffering and Salvation – The Way of Shame

Bashing Heads

Hieromartyr Charalambos

Living in Truth

About Fairy Tales

Greatmartyr Theodore Stratelates “the General”

God by The Numbers

May God Give Us a Good Beginning So That We Might Find a Good End!

We Must Respond to Bullying

Holy, Righteous Simeon the God-Receiver

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