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

06/29/2022

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

Lest We Forget: Keeping Traditions

06/28/2022

Published by Pemptousia Partnership, April 13, 2016 By Virginia Nieuwsma To hear Mother Victoria of the St. Barbara’s Monastery tell it, growing up in the Ukranian Orthodox Church was a rich and memorable experience at special times of year. On Christmas Eve, for instance, she remembers looking for the first star in the sky, which would signal the start of the Nativity meal. Before eating, she and her family always fed the animals first, in

The Hand in the Gospel

06/27/2022

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, July 18, 2016 My desk sits looking out of a wall of windows. My small backyard is shaded by a lush green this time of year. At any time of day or night, nature sounds mark the movement of the sun as much as the shifting shadows: birds in the early morning give way to katydids as the sun moves up the sky, succeeded by the drone of frogs as night

[Nativity of] John the Baptist and Forerunner of the Lord

06/24/2022

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, June 22, 2007 [Today is] the feast of the Nativity of the Forerunner of Christ – a feast noted around my household for also being the birthday of my wife (and of her brother). Thus we celebrate and are sometimes slightly distracted from the ecclesiastical meaning of the day. But a family cannot be faulted for the joy it takes in its mother, nor I in my spouse. But I want

Celtic Monasticism – 3

06/23/2022

Published by Pemptousia Partnership, July 13, 2015 And so, thus it was that those blessed and hallowed monastics of Celtic lands modeled forth certain principles that we can still see, study, understand, and imitate today. The Celts were masters of Christian simplicity. Nowadays there is a movement in our culture to recover some simple basics, but the model is often that of the Quakers or the Shakers or the Amish. Perhaps that’s because those groups

Celtic Monasticism – 2

06/22/2022

Published by Pemptousia Partnership, July 11, 2015 “Other monks and nuns lived out their days alone….in small wood-and-mud huts; they kept a cow or two, and accepted gladly the gifts of an occasional loaf or basket of vegetables from local farmers. The desire for a solitary life and time to spend simply yearning for God…must have drifted through the hearts of even the busiest abbot in the most bustling monastery.” (Bitel, op.cit.) Monastic life was seen

Celtic Monasticism, Part 1

06/21/2022

Published by Pemptousia Partnership, November 19, 2014 By Hieromonk Ambrose Prayer of St. Columban of Iona “Kindle in our hearts, O God, The flame of that love which never ceases, That it may burn in us, giving light to others. May we shine forever in Thy holy temple, Set on fire with Thy eternal light, Even Thy son, Jesus Christ, Our Savior and Redeemer.” With the imagery of fire and light contained in this wonderful

The Apostles’ Fast

06/20/2022

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, June 2, 2010 The Orthodox year has a rhythm, much like the tide coming in and going out – only this rhythm is an undulation between seasons of fasting and seasons (or a few days) of feasting. Every week, with few exceptions, is marked by the Wednesday and Friday fast, and every celebration of the Divine Liturgy is prepared for by eating nothing after midnight until we have received the Holy

Timeless Truths

06/17/2022

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week – Timeless Truths “…Fr. Symeon continues to live, of course, and is now present among us. The Elder is present in the vivid words that he left us and with which he will continue to feed us, to support us, to preach to us and teach us, as he always did: with authority, unerringly, and in truth.” From Abbess Filothei’s obituary

Drag My Soul to Paradise

06/17/2022

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, May 2, 2018 A Prayer to Our Lord Jesus Christ My most merciful and all-merciful God, O Lord Jesus Christ! In Thy great love, Thou didst come down and become flesh in order to save all. Again, I pray Thee, save me by Grace! If Thou shouldst save me because of my deeds, it would not be a gift, but merely a duty. Truly, Thou aboundest in graciousness and art inexpressibly

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

Lest We Forget: Keeping Traditions

The Hand in the Gospel

[Nativity of] John the Baptist and Forerunner of the Lord

Celtic Monasticism – 3

Celtic Monasticism – 2

Celtic Monasticism, Part 1

The Apostles’ Fast

Timeless Truths

Drag My Soul to Paradise

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