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The Third Wednesday of Pascha. The Spiritual Benefits of the Pandemic

05/06/2020

By Abbot Tryphon, April 26, 2020 Let us allow this pandemic to be the force that transforms the world Entertainment has come to take on a central role in many people’s lives, becoming so important as to have replaced personal interaction with neighbors and friends. I’m old enough to remember the day when neighborhoods were filled with homes sporting large front porches. On hot summer nights families would be sitting on their porches, sipping lemonade

#GivingTuesdayNow—Giving to Saint Sophia Cathedral

05/05/2020

#GivingTuesdayNow—Giving to Saint Sophia Cathedral Special #GivingTuesdayNow Challenge! Beloved Parishioners & Friends of Saint Sophia Cathedral, Christ is Risen! Χριστός Ανέστη! Today, #GivingTuesdayNow, we join people of good will around the world who have come together in the spirit of generosity and unity in global support for communities and nonprofits around the world. Because I know you love Saint Sophia, I am asking you to make a gift today that will ensure we continue to fulfill the

Third Tuesday after Pascha. Death and Resurrection: Do Not Be Afraid

05/05/2020

I am aware of the phrase “true self” occurring only once in the Bible. Paul used the words to describe what he was desperately trying to locate in the midst of some major trials with his false self. He wrote of it in a telling way: “When I act against my own will, then it is not my true self doing it, but sin which lives in me” (Romans 7:20, Jerusalem Bible). Somehow, he knew there was

Third Monday of Pascha: Is the Hospital Closed?

05/04/2020

By Abbot Tryphon, April 3, 2020 How do we find healing when we think the hospital of the soul is closed? Orthodoxy offers a very precise way in which to enter into communion with God. It is a way that must be learned, for simply “becoming Orthodox” will not lead the seeker into an inner life that will transform, and enlighten. Membership in the Church is simply not enough, for the Church is not about

Second Friday of Pascha: Rediscovering the Beauty of Orthodoxy

05/01/2020

By Abbot Tryphon, April 12, 2020 Let us use this pandemic as the time to rediscover the beauty of our faith This COVID-19 pandemic has afforded me the time to sit in silence, enjoying the beauty of the surrounding forest, like nothing I’ve experienced in years. The forest is so quiet, now that I don’t hear traffic sounds off in the distance, and airlines flying overhead, and the return of our bird population has afforded

Second Thursday of Pascha. Holy Mountain: A Universal Presence and a Heavenward Orientation (Part 1)

04/30/2020

By Metropolitan Nikolaos of Mesogaias and Lavreotikis The spiritual influence of Mount Athos is indisputable and certainly stems from the fact that many men have attained holiness through their secret ascetic struggles there. In recent years many pilgrims have found peace of mind and repose on the Mountain, together with spiritual guidance and support. The higher one rises, scientists tell us, the weaker the force of gravity becomes, the less one feels the pull of

Life Under Quarantine Did Not End With Pascha; Where Does That Leave Us?

04/29/2020

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! TOPIC OF THE WEEK: Life Under Quarantine Did Not End With Pascha; Where Does That Leave Us? Spiritual Resources for the Pandemic Coping with COVID-19 for Orthodox Christians Adult/Family Steven Christoforou recently wrote: “A friend shared something powerful. And troubling… He told me that, as we got into Holy Week, he finally realized something. Life under quarantine isn’t going to end with Pascha. It

Second Wednesday after Pascha: The Closure of our Churches

04/29/2020

By Abbot Tryphon, April 14, 2020 We must receive the closure of our churches with a peaceful heart I remember hearing, early on in my monastic life, of a holy elder who lived as a hermit, far from any group of other monks, and deprived of the chance to participate in the celebration of the Divine Liturgy. Hearing of this, I thought to myself, how could such a man survive without the Holy Body and

Second Tuesday after Pascha. Death and Resurrection: The Illusion of Separation

04/28/2020

Hopefully we begin life as “holy innocents” in the Garden, with a conscious connection to Being. The gaze of loving, caring parents can mirror us as the beloved and gives us a primal experience of life as union. But sooner or later we all have to leave the Garden. We can’t stay there. We begin the process of individuation, which includes at least four major splits, ways of forgetting our inherent oneness and creating an

Second Monday after Pascha: A Different Pascha—1928

04/27/2020

By Father Stephen Freeman, April 4, 2020 This year, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Churches [were] be unable to gather in the usual manner for Pascha. This has happened before in a variety of places and circumstances. In the 1920’s, the Bolshevik’s were unleashing their persecutions. This wonderful account, from Butyrka Prison on Pascha of 1928, is a sober reminder that our “light momentary affliction” is a small thing. It also serves to remind us that

Blog

The Third Wednesday of Pascha. The Spiritual Benefits of the Pandemic

#GivingTuesdayNow—Giving to Saint Sophia Cathedral

Third Tuesday after Pascha. Death and Resurrection: Do Not Be Afraid

Third Monday of Pascha: Is the Hospital Closed?

Second Friday of Pascha: Rediscovering the Beauty of Orthodoxy

Second Thursday of Pascha. Holy Mountain: A Universal Presence and a Heavenward Orientation (Part 1)

Life Under Quarantine Did Not End With Pascha; Where Does That Leave Us?

Second Wednesday after Pascha: The Closure of our Churches

Second Tuesday after Pascha. Death and Resurrection: The Illusion of Separation

Second Monday after Pascha: A Different Pascha—1928

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