Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, October 10, 2021. It seems to me that the story of the Widow of Nain is the whole of the Gospel in one short take. I had never thought of it before, but maybe every pericope in the Gospels tells us the whole story if we look deeply enough. Like small facets in a great jewel that reflect the Lord in their own special way. The Son
January 30 Introduction During the reign of the Emperor Alexius Comnenus (1081-1118), a controversy arose in Constantinople among men learned in Faith and zealous for virtue about the three holy Hierarchs and Fathers of the Church, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom. Some argued for Saint Basil above the other two because he was able, as none other, to explain the mysteries of the Faith, and rose to angelic rank by his
By Fr. Stephen Freeman, February 16, 2017 The entire mystery of the economy of our salvation consists in the self-emptying and abasement of the Son of God – St. Cyril of Alexandria Trust in the providence of God is much more than a general theory of how things are arranged in our lives and in the world. We tend to discuss the notion in the abstract, wondering whether this action or event is to be
Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, October 17, 2021. The Sower of seeds is the Lord. The soil is in our hearts. The seeds are the Word of God, the Person, the Son of God Himself. The seeds are what we know as the energies of God: love, compassion, kindness, forgiveness, peace, joy, creativity, grace, light and many others. The energies are not created things, they are uncreated. They are God Himself. By
Commemorated January 25 Saint Gregory the Theologian, Archbishop of Constantinople, a great Father and teacher of the Church, was born into a Christian family of eminent lineage in the year 329, at Arianzos (not far from the city of Cappadocian Nazianzos). His father, also named Gregory [January 1], was Bishop of Nazianzus. The son is the St. Gregory Nazianzus encountered in Patristic theology. His pious mother, St. Nonna [August 5], prayed to God for a
Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, October 24, 2021. Jesus asked the man his name. He answered, “Legion.” Legion was not his real name; it was what had become of him. He was fragmented, shattered, traumatized. He had lost sight of who he really was. His true identity had been hidden away. No matter what has happened to us, or what we have become, Christianity has Good News for us. There is a
By Fr. Stephen Freeman, February 12, 2017 Imagine that you have been sentenced to seven years in a labor camp. The Church is weak, often riddled with spies, while the state proclaims that it is building a better world through its brutal efforts. Many of the laws specifically target the Church and activities within its normal life. Already in your lifetime, you have known thousands who have been executed for nothing more than faith in
Born to pious parents after long years of childless marriage, his parents heard in a vision a voice saying “be of good cheer! God will grant you a son, who will bring joy to the church.” Thus, the child was named Euthymius (good cheer). And because of his ascetic life and firm confession of the Orthodox Faith, he’s called ‘the Great’. Devoted to church since a young age, St. Euthymius was eventually entrusted with the
Saint Macarius the Great of Egypt was born around 331 in the village of Ptinapor in Egypt. At the wish of his parents he entered into marriage, but was soon widowed. After he buried his wife, Macarius told himself, “Take heed, Macarius, and have care for your soul. It is fitting that you forsake worldly life.” The Lord rewarded the saint with a long life, but from that time the memory of death was constantly
Saint Athanasius was born in Alexandria between 293 and 298 AD into a wealthy, Greek family that was able to provide him with a rigorous secular education as he grew. Not only did Saint Athanasius have a very knowledgeable command of the Greek language but he was also fluent in the Coptic language spoken in Alexandria. The monk and historian Tyrannius Rufinus wrote a famous story of Saint Athanasius’s childhood. One day the then Bishop
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