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Daily Meditations

The Feast Day of the Archangels

11/08/2013

CREATION OF ANGELS (5) The Holy Scriptures do not mention exactly when the angels were created, but the Church in its holy tradition, through the writings of its holy fathers, chiefly St. John of Damascus, St. John Cassian, St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian, St. Ambrose of Milan, St. Dimitri Rostov, St. Dionysios the Areopagite – all of them believe that they were created from “nothing” prior to the sensible material world and

Evagrius and the Prayer of Jesus

11/07/2013

“We’d been dating for three years.” This was the opening sentence of the student’s essay on what Evagrius might have to teach undergraduates. He continued: She’d met everyone in my family. I even told my parents I thought she might be the one. One day out of the blue my girlfriend said she thought we were “outgrowing our relationship” and that we should stop dating and “just be friends.” My world fell apart. When your

ON THE TRANSFER OF LOVE FROM THE SELF TO CHRIST

11/06/2013

If we move out of our self, whom do we encounter? asks Bishop Theophan. He supplies the answer at once: We meet God and our neighbour. It is for this very reason that denying oneself a stipulation, and the chief one, for the person who seeks salvation in Christ: only so can the centre of our being be moved from self to Christ, who is both God and our neighbour. This means that all the

The Essence of Prayer (II)

11/05/2013

Every time we come near God, it is either life or death we are confronted with. It is life if we come to him in the right spirit, and are renewed by him. It is death if we come to him without the spirit of worship and a contrite heart; it is death if we bring pride or arrogance. Therefore, before we set out on the so-called thrilling adventure of prayer, it cannot be too

Pain and Suffering as a Way of Knowing

11/04/2013

Pain teaches a most counterintuitive thing—that we must go down before we even know what up is. It is first an ordinary wound before it can become a sacred wound. Suffering of some sort seems to be the only thing strong enough to destabilize our arrogance and our ignorance. I would define suffering very simply as “whenever you are not in control.” All healthy religion shows you what to do with your pain. If we

Holy Wonderworkers and Unmercenaries Kosmas and Damianos of Mesopotamia

11/01/2013

Christianity flourished in antiquity in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. In defiance of odds of a different kind, the odds of chance, a pair of physician brothers came into the service of Christ. Less than five hundred years later they were followed by two different sets of brothers of identical name and purpose in the service of the Lord. The result is that all six have become saints of the Church. Evidence of divine

The Christianization of a Pagan Holiday Myth

10/31/2013

There is also the myth that Christians condemned the pagan festivities of October 31 by replacing it with All Hallows Eve, the day before the Feast of All Saints in the West. It is often recorded that in 601 AD Pope Gregory I issued a now famous edict to his missionaries concerning the native beliefs and customs of the peoples he hoped to convert. Rather than try to obliterate native peoples’ customs and beliefs, the

Father Maximos on the Two Types of Faith

10/30/2013

“The Fathers of the Church,” Fr. Maximos continued, “taught that there are two types of faith. The first is simply belief that there is a God as revealed in Holy Scripture. You must reach this stage in order to arrive at the second stage, which is the faith that we call theoria.” When I began my exploration of Eastern Orthodox spirituality, several years back, I was fascinated to notice the difference between the way science

Becoming Fathers and Mothers

10/29/2013

Becoming Fathers and Mothers What are we going to do when we get home? When the two sons of the parable of the prodigal son both have returned to their father, what then? The answer is Simple: They have to become fathers themselves. Sons have to become fathers; daughters have to become mothers. Being children of God involves growing up and becoming like God. Jesus doesn’t hesitate to say this: “Be perfect as your heavenly

Agia Skepi, OHI Day, and the People of Greece

10/28/2013

While Most of the Orthodox Christian world celebrates the Holy Protection, or Agia Skepi, of the Theotokos on October 1st according to ancient custom, Greeks celebrate the Holy Protection on October 28th as a special holiday in order to invite the secular government of Greece to honor the Theotokos for her special protection over the Greek people during World War 2. The celebration of Holy Protection dates back to 626 A.D., when the miraculous intervention

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