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Saint Silouan the Athonite and His Relevance Today, Part VIII

07/01/2015

By Harry Boosalis Be assured that troubling and sinful thoughts will assail everyone making any sort of spiritual progress—especially if there is any progress in prayer—and this is even more true the further one advances. The important point is not to become dejected, and not to allow these troubling thoughts to destroy our inner peace, and thus hinder our pursuit of prayer. St. Silouan teaches, “Should an intrusive thought approach, there is no cause to

Synaxis of the Holy, Glorious and All-Praised Apostles

06/30/2015

TODAY’S SYNAXARION: On June 30th Our Holy Orthodox Christian Church commemorates, honors and celebrates the feast day of the Synaxis of the Holy, Glorious and All-praised Twelve Apostles. Even though each of the Twelve Great Apostles has his own particular feast day during the year, the Church has set aside this day as a general feast of all the holy Apostles together, and St. Paul with them. The following are the names and the separate feast

Feast of the Holy, Glorious, and All-Praiseworthy Chiefs of the Apostles, Peter and Paul

06/29/2015

THE HOLY APOSTLES PETER AND PAUL The divinely-blessed Peter was from Bethsaida of Galilee. He was the son of Jonas and the brother of Andrew the First-called. He was a fisherman by trade, unlearned and poor, and was called Simon; later he was renamed Peter by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, Who looked at him and said, “Thou art Simon the son of Jonas; thou shalt be called Cephas (which is by interpretation, Peter)” (John 1:42). On being raised by the Lord to the dignity of an Apostle and becoming inseparable from

Historical Contradictions? Not So Fast

06/26/2015

By Father Lawrence Farley The Huffington Post, it seems, can always be relied upon to provide fodder for sceptics looking for a stick with which to beat the Christians. They are, of course, not alone, and poking sharp sticks in our cage seems to be on the verge of becoming a national sport. But of course one can’t always be posting news items about how the Christian Neanderthals are refusing to accept gay marriage. One

ON THE BODILY AND MENTAL ACCOMPANIMENTS OF PRAYER

06/25/2015

IT is important, while practicing prayer in this way, not to give the body free rein. A prayer in which the body is not distressed and the heart grieved is like an incompletely developed foetus, says St. Isaac the Syrian, for such a prayer has no soul. And it carries within it the seed of self-sufficiency and pride that makes the heart consider itself not only among the called but even among the chosen few

Integrity

06/24/2015

By Father Stanley Harakas It isn’t very often that we hear the word “integrity” in the religious language of our Greek Orthodox Church. Yet, if we scratch the surface, we will discover profound meanings that speak directly to the way we are to be and to live our Orthodox Christian life. We can start with its dictionary meanings. My Greek-English dictionary uses two words to provide the equivalent of the English word “integrity.” And both

Human Beings and the Cosmos (Part IV): The Fall as a Cosmic Catastrophe

06/23/2015

The Fathers, by detailed study of the Bible, have demonstrated that the Fall was a truly cosmic catastrophe, eclipsing the paradisal state with a new state of universal existence. Man, the son of God, wished to kill the divine Father and take possession of Mother Earth. ‘Man,’ says Maximus the Confessor, ‘wished to lay hold on the things of God without God, before God and not according to God’s will.’ And so ‘he delivered the

Consecration of Saint Sophia Cathedral May 10, 2015

06/22/2015

Our Consecration is featured in this month’s issue of the Orthodox Observer. Please click here or copy and paste link below: http://www.goarch.org/news/observer/2015-06-observer/at_download/issuePDF [divider] For more information on the Consecration please visit our webpage at http://www.saintsophiadc.com/about/consecration/

Saint Silouan the Athonite and His Relevance Today, Part VII

06/22/2015

By Harry Boosalis Saint Silouan offers another very practical point of advice that is most relevant for those of us struggling in contemporary society. As regards his entire teaching, this advice is directed not only toward monks, but in general to all believers who are striving to progress in prayer. He warns against the danger of outside thoughts that come from excessive reading of newspapers and ‘shoddy’ books, as well as being ‘curious to know

Did Jesus Ever Really Exist?

06/19/2015

By Father Lawrence Farley I used to be of the opinion that for really far-out whacky stuff, you couldn’t beat Jerry Springer. You all know Jerry Springer—he was the showman who began a talk show in 1991 which within a few years became something of a voyeuristic freak-show, featuring topics like “Teenage Girls who Marry their Grandfathers,” a kind of real-life version of the Muppets’ song “I Am My Own Grandpa.” It has spawned a

Blog

Saint Silouan the Athonite and His Relevance Today, Part VIII

Synaxis of the Holy, Glorious and All-Praised Apostles

Feast of the Holy, Glorious, and All-Praiseworthy Chiefs of the Apostles, Peter and Paul

Historical Contradictions? Not So Fast

ON THE BODILY AND MENTAL ACCOMPANIMENTS OF PRAYER

Integrity

Human Beings and the Cosmos (Part IV): The Fall as a Cosmic Catastrophe

Consecration of Saint Sophia Cathedral May 10, 2015

Saint Silouan the Athonite and His Relevance Today, Part VII

Did Jesus Ever Really Exist?

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