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The Philoptochos Society of Saint Sophia Invites the Parish Community to the Annual Lenten Retreat Pure Monday – March 3, 2014

02/22/2014

The Philoptochos Society of Saint Sophia Invites the Parish Community to the Annual Lenten Retreat Pure Monday – March 3, 2014 Please join us as we begin this year’s Lenten journey! Following the 9:00 AM Orthos and Vespers of Pure Monday in the Cathedral, Fathers Steve and Dimitri, together with Master Chanter George Theodorides, will lead us in a discussion entitled, The Lenten Fast as Expressed in Sacred Hymnology. A lenten luncheon will follow. Free will offerings to benefit Hellenic College &

FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT (IV)

02/21/2014

“Do you mean by perspicacity a form of prophecy?” Eleni asked. “No. Prophecy is a more developed and important gift. Perspicacity is one of the first and simple gifts of the Holy Spirit, which allows the person to see through you and read your soul, as it were.” I understood Fr. Maximos to mean that such a person is gifted with heightened intuitive abilities to understand others. As an example of what he meant, Fr.

Malicious Gossip and Passing Judgment

02/20/2014

Let us begin by trying to understand the nature of malicious gossip and passing judgment on others. “Malicious gossip is to talk about your neighbor’s sins and mistakes, for example, to say that someone lied or became angry or committed fornication … Saying any of this is denigration, that is to say, speaking maliciously against somebody, talking maliciously about his sin. Passing judgment is when you condemn the actual person, saying he is a liar,

Mysterium Tremendum, Mysterium Fascinosum

02/19/2014

Rudolph Otto in his book The Idea of the Holy says that when someone has an authentic experience of the Holy, they find themselves caught up in two opposite movements at the same time: the mysterium tremendum and the mysterium fascinosum, a scary mystery and a very alluring mystery. We both draw back from and are pulled forward into a kind of liminal space where we are not at home at all and yet totally

CLINGING TO DISTRACTION LIKE A DOG TO A BONE (Part I)

02/18/2014

Evagrius and others have a psychological description of how these inner videos are generated. There is within us a sort of mental craving that is fragmented and frayed (pathos was the Greek word he often used), with the result that we are nearly always either grasping at something or pushing it away and find it very difficult to receive with open palms of simple gratitude. What happens when this mental craving grasps some thought or

Great Martyr Theodore the Tyro (“the Recruit”)

02/17/2014

The Holy Great Martyr Theodore the Recruit (Tyro) was a soldier in the city of Alasium of the Pontine district (northeast province of Asia Minor, stretching along the coast of the Euxine, i.e. the Black Sea), under the command of a certain Brincus. They commanded him to offer sacrifice to idols. St Theodore firmly confessed his faith in Christ the Savior in a loud voice. The commander gave him several days to think it over,

St. Valentine, the Real Story

02/14/2014

By David Kithcart Flowers, candy, red hearts and romance. That’s what Valentine’s day is all about, right? Well, maybe not. The origin of this holiday for the expression of love really isn’t romantic at all — at least not in the traditional sense. Father Frank O’Gara of Whitefriars Street Church in Dublin, Ireland, tells the real story of the man behind the holiday — St. Valentine. “He was a Roman Priest at a time when

The Destiny of Eros: The Nuptial Way (Part II)

02/13/2014

Marriage is chaste because it integrates the erotic relationship of the two persons into their communion within the Church; as their mutual love is expressed through their complementary natures, each gives the other to the world. For nine centuries there was no distinctive rite of marriage for Christians. The couple would marry, then go together to communion. For a man and a woman whose life is rooted in Christ, their love is something they have

Becoming Food for the World

02/12/2014

Becoming Food for the World When Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to his disciples, he summarized in these gestures his own life. Jesus is chosen from all eternity, blessed at his baptism in the Jordan River, broken on the cross, and given as bread to the world. Being chosen, blessed, broken, and given is the sacred journey of the Son of God, Jesus the Christ. When we take bread, bless

Keeping Silence, Not Passing Judgment (Part III)

02/11/2014

Again and again the monks sing the praises of silence. For them silence is the way to encounter themselves, to discover the truth of their own hearts. But silence is also the way to become free from constantly judging and condemning others. We are always in danger of evaluating, estimating, and judging every person we meet. And often enough we find ourselves on the verge of condemning and passing sentence on them. Silence prevents us

Blog

The Philoptochos Society of Saint Sophia Invites the Parish Community to the Annual Lenten Retreat Pure Monday – March 3, 2014

FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT (IV)

Malicious Gossip and Passing Judgment

Mysterium Tremendum, Mysterium Fascinosum

CLINGING TO DISTRACTION LIKE A DOG TO A BONE (Part I)

Great Martyr Theodore the Tyro (“the Recruit”)

St. Valentine, the Real Story

The Destiny of Eros: The Nuptial Way (Part II)

Becoming Food for the World

Keeping Silence, Not Passing Judgment (Part III)

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