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Daily Meditations

The Twenty-Seventh Day of Christmas Advent. The Fire of Christmas

12/11/2017

By Father Stephen Freeman As a child of the South, accustomed to the tones and the tales of my region, I was well aware of the “fires of hell”. Roadside signs proclaimed the eternal destiny of those who were not saved. I have discovered in later years, that many adult Christians remain committed to the most literal possible version of the fires of hell and will argue as though heaven itself depended on the burning

The Twenty-Fourth Day of Christmas Advent. The Morality of Christmas

12/08/2017

By Father Stephen Freeman Morality is tricky business in what is an extremely moral society. I pray my readers to be patient with me as I explain what I think is the problem. First, I will note that morality is all that is left when the most fundamental grounds of a culture have been destroyed. We indeed live in just such a time, hence the rise of a vehemence in the moral life. Second, I will suggest

The Twenty-Third Day of Christmas Advent. Ho, Ho, Holiness in the Simplicity and Purity of God (Part II)

12/07/2017

By Fr. Stelyios Muksuris Every year it seems the feast of our Lord’s Nativity in the flesh becomes more and more secularized. Atheists would advocate a humanistic approach to the festival of lights, seeking to “demythologize” the festival by stripping it of its Christocentric character. Christmas, they would claim, is about the magnanimity of the human spirit to transcend the fallen world by loving others and graciously giving to them. Any notion of a miraculous

The Twenty-Second Day of Christmas Advent. Celebrating St. Nicholas: When Santa Went to Jail

12/06/2017

By Andrew Estocin The Nativity Fast has begun and Christmas is just around the corner. Trees are soon to be decorated. Children around the world will make lists, check them twice and anxiously await the arrival of Santa Claus. However, parents beware! Jolly old St. Nick served time in prison. I’m not kidding! The man who slides down your chimney with a bag full of presents went to jail for assault. Should parents be concerned?

The Twenty-First Day of Christmas Advent. Ho, Ho, Holiness in the Simplicity and Purity of God (Part I)

12/05/2017

By Fr. Stelyios Muksuris “THINK of shepherds who are made wise, think of priests who teach, of women who are delighted, when Gabriel teaches Mary joy, when Elisabeth has inside her own womb John kicking. Anna spreads the good news, Symeon opens his arms worshiping the great God inside a little infant, without despising what they see, but glorifying the greatness of His deity. His deity is revealed like light through hymens of glass, through

The Twentieth Day of Christmas Advent. Feast Day of Saint Barbara

12/04/2017

During the rule of Maximius, in the year 290 AD, the governor in the Anatolian city of Heliopolis was Dioscuros. He was a wealthy man who was originally from the nearby village of Galassos. He had only one child, a very beautiful girl named Barbara. Her parents were extremely proud of her, not only because of her beauty, but of her virtuosity as well. To protect her, her parents erected a fortress in which they

The Seventeenth Day of Christmas Advent. I’ll Be Small for Christmas

12/01/2017

By Father Stephen Freeman Children today are raised with dreams of greatness. Cultural affirmations of our limitless potential, well-intentioned, have not produced a generation of over-achievers, but have indeed brought forth hordes of great dreams. This is nothing new in American culture. We are the world’s longest sustained pep-talk. Ronald Reagan loved to quote the 1945 Johnny Mercer hit: You’ve got to accentuate the positive Eliminate the negative Latch on to the affirmative Don’t mess

The Sixteenth Day of Christmas Advent. Saint Andrew the First-Called Apostle

11/30/2017

By Fr. Andrew Kishler Few saints are as prominent in our Eastern Orthodox tradition as St. Andrew the Apostle. Various early traditions recount his missionary travels throughout Eastern Europe: what is now Greece, Romania, Ukraine, and Russia. Our “first among equals,” the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, is known as the successor of St. Andrew. Indeed, St. Andrew is dear to the hearts and minds of many Orthodox Christians worldwide. But before he became the patron

The Fifteenth Day of Christmas Advent. Keeping Christmas

11/29/2017

By Father Stephen Freeman It is not unusual to give thought to how we keep a fast. Will it be in a strict manner? How will my fasting be possible when I’m at work or at school? How will I teach my children to fast?  When we ignore the Fast, we feel guilty and the need to confess. It is strange, however, that we do not give similar thought and time to what it means

The Fourteenth Day of Christmas Advent. What is Christmas to You?

11/28/2017

By Father Vasile Tudora I went on a quest the other day to find out what Christmas truly was. From my usual sources, I got conflicting information. I could not discern if it was a religious commemoration, or another official national holiday, or quality family time, or a very good occasion for shopping. There had to be a simpler explanation. Since I couldn’t figure it out by myself, I went out and asked around. An

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