Daily Meditations Archives - Page 141 of 355

The Fifth Friday of Lent. The Fullness in Lent

04/03/2020

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, March 18, 2014 This article keeps coming to mind as I celebrate the Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts on these Lenten Wednesdays and Fridays. There is nothing to compare to them in the Christian liturgical world. It’s hard to thinking of fasting in the midst of such a feast. Orthodoxy has a number of “favorite” words – all of which fall outside the bounds of normal speech. Though we commonly use

The Fifth Thursday of Great Lent. Thoughts on Great Lent

04/02/2020

By Metropolitan Ioïl (Frangkakos) of Edessa, Pella, and Almopia, February 20, 2018 In this period, we have two fasts, as we all know. There are about seven weeks of strict fasting, eight if you include the Cheese-fare week which precedes. For a lot of people this is an enjoyable and desirable time, for others it’s difficult and for others again not at all pleasant. We’ll try to convey some thoughts on this period, as it

The Fifth Wednesday of Great Lent. The Banishment of Hell. Repentance.

04/01/2020

One of my favorite authors as a young man, was Thomas Merton, the famous Trappist monk. In the introduction to his work New Seeds of Contemplation he wrote: “Hell was where no one has anything in common with anyone else except the fact that they all hate one other and cannot get away from each other and from themselves.” This very much fits with the Orthodox view of hell as being in the presence of

Fifth Tuesday of Great Lent. Orthodox Christian Lent, Prayer, Fasting and Baptism

03/31/2020

By Fr. Patrick Reardon, March 13, 2005 The word “Lent,” now associated exclusively with the observance of the liturgical year, originally meant “spring” and had no directly religious significance. In English usage, however, its reference was gradually limited to the season of preparation for Pascha, a season that does, in fact, coincide with spring. In languages dependent on Latin, the word for Lent is some variant of “forty,” derived from the Latin *quadragesima*. This is

The Fifth Monday of Great Lent. A Southern Lent

03/30/2020

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, February 28, 2010 One of the hallmarks of my generation in the South is that we never grew up without a great deal of attention to God. Whether it was the absolute assurance in the sermons of preachers who could say with some precision who was going where when they died, or even with assurance describe heaven, or the far more mundane mutterings of public figures giving lip-service to the God

The Fourth Friday of Great Lent. The Ladder of Divine Ascent and Moral Improvement

03/27/2020

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, April 4, 2019 The Fourth Sunday of Great Lent in the Orthodox Church, is dedicated to St. John Climacus, the author of the ancient work, The Ladder of Divine Ascent. It is a classic work describing “steps” within the life of the struggling ascetic. There is an icon associated with this work, picturing monastics climbing the rungs of a ladder to heaven, battling demons who are trying to pull them off. However,

The Fourth Thursday of Great Lent. The Ascetic Life (4th Sunday of Great Lent)

03/26/2020

Bishop Agathangelos of Fanari For the secular people of today, focusing on an ascetic saint represents a problem. How can the ascetic figure of Saint John, the author of the Ladder, speak to us, when he acquired and preserved the Grace of God through tears, prayers, and spiritual asceticism? In Orthodox teaching, the ascetic life is nothing other than the transcendence of selfishness, the attempt, in Grace, to apply God’s commandments, to live the life

Our Conciliar Salvation: The Feast of the Annunciation

03/25/2020

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, March 25, 2015 I consider it both a strange mystery and a settled matter of the faith that God prefers not to do things alone. Repeatedly, He acts in a manner that involves the actions of others when, it would seem, He could have acted alone. Why would God reveal His Word to the world through the agency of men? Why would He bother to use writing? Why not simply communicate

The Fourth Tuesday of Great Lent. The Journey of Joyful Sorrow.

03/24/2020

The main reason Christianity spread so rapidly following the Resurrection of Christ, was the power behind the resurrection. The truth of Christ’s resurrection empowered believers to joyfully embrace martyrdom, knowing that they would be joined in eternal bliss with their resurrected Saviour. Although their martyrdom would involve both mental and physical anguish, they were almost joyful in their willingness to go to their deaths, rather than betray their faith. Not the kind of thing one

The Fourth Monday of Great Lent. As Lent Moves On—The Greatest Fast Awaits

03/23/2020

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, April 9, 2019 As Great Lent has passed its mid-point, attention begins to move towards Holy Week itself and its very intense focus. It has been an unusual time for me, having traveled on two successive weekends to lead retreats. Travel is always disruptive, and absence from your own community creates a break in the normal continuity of the Fast. I have great sympathies for those whose jobs involve frequent travel.