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Reflections on this Year’s Lent + Lenten Resources

03/05/2021

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week – Reflections on this Year’s Lent + Lenten Resources It has now been a year since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, changing almost overnight nearly every aspect of our day-to-day lives in the modern world. Some of us have lost loved ones…. The quarantine restrictions that have been in place… have also parted those of us still among the living from one

The Friday of Meatfare (Judgment) Sunday: The Last Judgment

03/05/2021

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, March 2, 2008 This Sunday, as part of the pre-Lenten calendar in the Orthodox Church, is known as the Sunday of the Last Judgment, because the gospel reading is taken from the Parable of the Last Judgment in Matthew 25. It is a very proper subject for meditation as the Church makes preparation for Great Lent and its call to repentance. When I think about the Last Judgment, apart from whatever

Holy Tradition. The Church Militant.

03/04/2021

Holy Tradition: Holy Tradition supports the proper interpretation of the Bible By Abbot Tryphon, November 24, 2019 Many evangelical protestants see Holy Tradition as standing in direct contrast to Scripture, as though Tradition is always relegated to “the traditions of men”. However, there are numerous references in Holy Scripture to Holy Tradition. For example: “Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were

The Christian Contemplative Tradition

03/03/2021

Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy have a long tradition of teaching contemplation or nondual consciousness. But its systematic teaching was primarily held in the Eastern “Greek” church; the Western “Latin” church was more extroverted and aligned with empires. Serious contemplative teaching—very upfront in the desert fathers and mothers—is surely found in Celtic Christianity (outside of empire), and is continued by leaders of many monasteries, for example, by John Cassian (360–435 CE), Pseudo-Dionysius (5th–6th centuries), and Hugh

Misplaced Priorities. Situation Ethics.

03/02/2021

Misplaced Priorities: Our laziness and misplaced priorities By Abbot Tryphon, November 7, 2019 Our laziness and misplaced priorities regarding the Sunday and holy day services, keep us from our obligations to God, and endanger the soul, for in keeping ourselves away from God’s temple, we remain afar from the cure that comes from participating in the Divine Mysteries. Saint Gregory Palamas tells us that we “may remain uncured, suffering from unbelief in your soul because

Living in the Real World

03/01/2021

By Stephen Freeman, November 24, 2015 Nothing exists in general. If something is beautiful or good, it is manifest in a particular way at a particular time such that we can know it. And this is our true life. A life lived in a “generalized” manner is no life at all, but only a fantasy. However, this fantasy is increasingly the character of what most people think of or describe as the “real world.” A

The Ancient Path

02/26/2021

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week – The Ancient Path “It is my belief that today we all suffer a kind of madness. Our thinking is infected with so many philosophies that are alien to authentic Christianity that it is becoming increasingly difficult for us to recognize the truth of the Gospel…. The madness of our modern world is no accident…. And even those who resist this tide

Friday of the Prodigal Son. I Never Left! Not True

02/26/2021

[The Older Son] answered his father, ”Lo, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command; yet you never gave me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your living with harlots, you killed for him the fatted calf!” And he said to him, “Son you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It

The Elves Have Left the Building

02/25/2021

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, November 3, 2015 Children, at their best, have an amazing ability to wonder. The world is fresh and new for them, with many things being seen and encountered for the very first time. They sometimes come to wrong conclusions, but even their wrong conclusions can be revealing to adults. Adults often fall into habit when it comes to experiencing the world. We drive to and from work by the same routes

Fasting. Fasting Precedes Forgiveness.

02/24/2021

Fasting Precedes Forgiveness: But fasting alone does not save without forgiveness By Abbot Tryphon, November 22, 2019 There is the story of Saint Epiphanius of Cyprus who invited Hilarion the Great to dinner, and in order to show his hospitality place fried chicken on the table. Hilarion, when he saw the fried chicken, asked forgiveness, but said he had not eaten meat since his tonsure as a monk. Saint Epiphanius responded by saying that he,

SSCORRE!

Reflections on this Year’s Lent + Lenten Resources

The Friday of Meatfare (Judgment) Sunday: The Last Judgment

Holy Tradition. The Church Militant.

The Christian Contemplative Tradition

Misplaced Priorities. Situation Ethics.

Living in the Real World

The Ancient Path

Friday of the Prodigal Son. I Never Left! Not True

The Elves Have Left the Building

Fasting. Fasting Precedes Forgiveness.

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