Daily Meditations Archives - Page 17 of 342

The Great and Holy Tuesday

04/30/2024

On Holy Tuesday the Church [Matins celebrated by anticipation on Holy Monday evening] calls to remembrance two parables, which are related to the Second Coming. The one is the parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-3); the other the parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30). These parables point to the inevitability of the Parousia and deal with such subjects as spiritual vigilance, stewardship, accountability and judgment. From these parables we learn at least two basic

The Great and Holy Monday. Services of the Bridegroom

04/29/2024

Introduction Beginning on the evening of Palm Sunday and continuing through the evening of Holy Tuesday, the Orthodox Church observes a special service known as the Service of the Bridegroom. Each evening service is the Matins or Orthros service of the following day (e.g. the service held on Sunday evening is the Orthros service for Holy Monday). The name of the service is from the figure of the Bridegroom in the parable of the Ten

Palm Sunday. The Entrance of Christ into Jerusalem.

04/28/2024

Introduction On the Sunday before the Feast of Great and Holy Pascha and at the beginning of Holy Week, the Orthodox Church celebrates one of its most joyous feasts of the year. Palm Sunday is the commemoration of the Entrance of our Lord into Jerusalem following His glorious miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead. Having anticipated His arrival and having heard of the miracle, the people went out to meet the Lord and welcomed

Lazarus Saturday

04/27/2024

Reading Lazarus and his sisters Martha and Mary, the friends of the Lord Jesus, had given Him hospitality and served Him many times (Luke 10:38-4z; John 12:2-3). They were from Bethany, a village of Judea. This village is situated in the eastern parts by the foothills of the Mount of Olives, about two Roman miles from Jerusalem. When Lazarus – whose name is a Hellenized form of “Eleazar,” which means “God has helped,” became ill

The Sixth Friday of Great Lent: Hopko on the Cross of Christ

04/26/2024

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, July 30, 2019 An excerpt from a commencement address at St. Vladimir’s Seminary in 2007, given by Fr. Thomas Hopko. It is deeply worthy of conversation. I first posted this back in June, 2007, when it was “new.” That which is true is always new and timeless. …I can tell you that being loved by God, and loving Him in return, is the greatest joy given to creatures, and that without

The Sixth Thursday of Great Lent: The Message of the Suffering Servant

04/25/2024

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, April 5, 2015 The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. John. (12:1-18) The most popular reading material in first century Palestine was the Book of Daniel with all its apocalyptic language and imagery. The brutality of the Roman Empire drove the people to long for a Messiah that would destroy the Empire and restore the Kingdom of David. It is not hard to see why

The Sixth Wednesday of Great Lent: Freedom’s Lair

04/24/2024

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on May 25, 2021 Metropolitan Meletios of Nikopolis † On the evening of Great Friday, we begin the service with a rather strange hymn. It’s a tropario which isn’t mournful but joyful. Not a lament, but a doxology. ‘God is the Lord and has appeared to us…’. He came to earth. And he showed us that he’s the one and only true Lord. We glorify him as Lord of heaven and earth. But this

The Sixth Tuesday of Great Lent: The Beauty of the Christ’s Prayer

04/23/2024

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, May 28, 2017 at St. Mary Orthodox Church The Lord seems grounded and focused as he prays this long discourse-like prayer on the eve of his passion. When you might expect that fear and anxiety would distract him and overwhelm him, they don’t. He seems to be utterly non-resistant to the fear he must have been feeling and to the fate that waited for him. That doesn’t

The Sixth Monday of Great Lent: The Perpetual Catechumen

04/22/2024

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, September 6, 2021 It should not surprise us to learn that we are often creatures of the culture in which we live. We understand this, particularly when we travel and encounter people whose culture differs profoundly from our own. What seems obvious to us, might seem obscure to them. What we eat, how we shop, what counts as polite, what is rude, all of these are shaped by culture. In truth,

The Fifth Friday of Great Lent: St. Mary of Egypt and Moral Progress

04/19/2024

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, January 11, 2015 The suggestion has been made several times recently that my criticism of moral progress is not supported by the example of the saints. Surely, it is said, the transformations we read about in the lives of the saints are clear examples of moral progress. A noted such example, perhaps the greatest story of repentance and asceticism known in the Church, is that of St. Mary of Egypt. It is worth