By Fr. Stephen Freeman, May 21, 2016 The Orthodox pray for the departed. The most pressing prayer within the liturgies appointed for this purpose is for God to forgive their sins. We say, “For no one lives and does not sin, for You only are without sin….” This is easily misunderstood, but it goes to the very heart of the mystery of our relationship with God. The same sentiment, interestingly, is offered in the prayers
SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week: Saint Dimitry of Rostov: Where God is, There is All Good “…. [in this work Saint Dimitry] addresses how to abide with God and conversely how a person separates himself from God. The reader will note that St. Dimitry makes it very clear that where God is not allowed to work, there begins the work of the demons. I believe that this passage
Christ is the eternal amalgam of matter and spirit as one as they hold and reveal one another. Wherever the human and the divine coexist, we have the Christ. Wherever the material and the spiritual coincide, we have the Christ. That includes the material world, the natural world, the animal world (including humans), and moves all the way to the elemental world, symbolized by bread and wine. The Eucharist offers Christians the message in condensed
Published by Pemptousia Partnership, September 24, 2014 Q.: I’ve noticed, Elder, that sometimes babies smile at the time of Divine Liturgy. A.: They don’t do that only at the Divine Liturgy. Babies are in constant contact with God, because they’ve got nothing to worry about. What did Christ say about little children? ‘Their angels in heaven continually gaze upon the face of my Father who is in heaven’. They’re in touch with God and with
By Fr. Christopher Makiej, November 4, 2019 I want to talk to you today about the answer, the solution, to worry and anxiety in your life. There are so many people stressed, anxious, worried, pessimistic about life. But the Church provides us with the answer in the Bible – Saint Paul’s letter to the Phillipians 4: 4-9. TRY TO BE JOYFUL The first answer-response to worry and anxiety is to rejoice – to seek to have some joy
By Fr. Stephen Freeman, June 1, 2016 For a variety of reasons, I have been spending a fair amount of time with A.I. Solzhenitsyn, the great Russian writer who died in 2008. I am working through a collection of his writings and have been watching videos on his life along with detailed interviews. If any man lived through the maelstrom of the 20th century, it was he. Born in 1918 to a pious, Orthodox family, he
By Fr. Stephen Freeman, May 27, 2016 Nothing is equal because nothing is the same. All things are unique and unrepeatable. This is especially true of persons. Understanding this helps us deal with reality. But the mindset of our modern world suggests in a very seductive manner that things are quite different. It suggests that all things are indeed equal and that wherever inequality exists, it should be overthrown or corrected. Elsewhere, I have called
SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week: Are You On the Fringe… Or Not? “…We must remember this, brothers and sisters—the martyrs are always at the fringe…. They are the definition of a fringe group. This is where every Orthodox Christian should expect to be. It is really our natural place…. Whether it is the throwing to the lions of martyrs in Rome, or a bribe to deny Christ in
In the life of the Church, we have many striking examples of being a faithful Christian. Many of these exemplary people became known as Holy Martyrs (Witnesses), responding to the great love that God has for humanity, which was ultimately demonstrated with the sacrifice of His Son at Calvary. Out of love for Christ, the Holy Martyrs were willing to give their lives for His sake. Among them is St. Theodore (Tyro), who is celebrated
[There are] many kinds of love that characterize our lives and our relationships. How is agape, the unconditional love to which we are all called, related to the loyalty of philia or the warmth and affection of family life (storge)? What are some of the concrete ways we can cultivate agape for God and neighbor? And who is our ‘neighbor’ anyway? Does eros have a positive role to play in one’s spiritual life? How about the love of animals, or the love for
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