Daily Meditations Archives - Page 290 of 348

Third Friday after Pascha, Christ is Risen!

05/09/2014

Behind Closed Doors By Father Stephen Freeman The phrase, “behind closed doors,” has become synonymous in English with things being done in secret – generally of an unsavory or nefarious sort. Institutions speak of an “open door policy,” and promise “transparency” to those from the outside. Closed doors have always had a sense of secrecy about them. Sometimes the secrecy hides the darkness of evil, other times it protects us from the wonder of the

Third Thursday after Pascha, Christ is Risen!

05/08/2014

We Are Always Going Towards Pascha By Janice Bidwell Great Lent came and went, and I’m still traveling toward Pascha at a steady lumbering pace. My life is a series of peaks and valleys between the seasons, but my route never varies. This rhythm is unchanging, and yet different each year. This is the path I travelled as a child, and now I’m on this same Paschal path of my ancestors with my own children.

Third Wednesday after Pascha, Christ is Risen!

05/07/2014

PASCHA: THE DAY THAT THE LORD HAS MADE (Ps. 118-24), Part II By the Very Reverend Joseph Antypas On earth, the Resurrection of Christ proclaims to the earth the Father’s will for the universe. And in hell, the risen Christ stamps out hell, delivers all humanity and extends a liberating hand to Adam and Eve. Hippolytus of Rome reflects on the whole picture and refers to Pascha as the common feast: invisible feast for angels,

Third Tuesday after Pascha, Christ is Risen!

05/06/2014

PASCHA: THE DAY THAT THE LORD HAS MADE (Ps. 118-24), Part I By the Very Reverend Joseph Antypas Christians throughout the world celebrate the Feast of the Resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. On the day of the Resurrection, we give thanks to God who has granted us victory through Jesus Christ, our Lord, and put an end to the power of sin, which brought death to our Lord. Jesus Christ is the

Third Monday after Pascha, Christ is Risen!

05/05/2014

The Feast Day of St. Irene the Great Martyr of Thessalonica The holy Great Martyr Irene was born in the city of Magedon in Persia during the fourth century. She was the daughter of the pagan king Licinius, and her parents named her Penelope. Penelope was very beautiful, and her father kept her isolated in a high tower from the time she was six so that she would not be exposed to Christianity. He also

Second Friday after Pascha, Christ is Risen!

05/02/2014

In the Early Church the rite of Christian initiation was not divided. Three of the sacraments belong together: Baptism, the Holy Chrism (Confirmation), and the Eucharist. The Initiation described by St. Cyril, and later on by Cabasilas, included all three. Sacraments are instituted in order to enable man to participate in Christ’s redeeming death and thereby to gain the grace of His resurrection. This was Cabasilas’ main idea. “We are baptized in order to die

Second Thursday after Pascha, Christ is Risen!

05/01/2014

Saint John Chrysostom on the Truth of the Resurrection Seest thou how they labour for the truth against their will? For they themselves came to Pilate, themselves asked, themselves sealed, setting the watch, so as to be accusers, and refuters one of another. And indeed when should they have stolen Him? on the Sabbath? And how? for it was not lawful so much as to go out. And even if they transgressed the law, how

Second Wednesday after Pascha, Christos Anesti!

04/30/2014

How the Resurrected Bodies will be Transformed at the Second Coming of Jesus, by Saint Symeon the New Theologian This is the revelation received by Saint Symeon the New Theologian from God while in ecstasy. It reveals to us how our material bodies will be transformed and become incorruptible at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. “One day, while I was praying to God with purity of heart, a breeze came upon me and

Second Tuesday after Pascha, Christ is Risen!

04/29/2014

Ephrem the Syrian, Paschal Hymn I fall in adoration at your feet, Lord!I thank you, God of goodness;God of holiness, I invoke you,on my knees, in your sight. For me, an unworthy sinner,you have willed to undergo the death of the cross,setting me free from the bonds of evil. What shall I offer in return for your generosity? Glory to you, friend of men!Glory to you, most merciful!Glory to you, most patient!Glory to you who

Second Monday after Pascha, Christ is Risen!

04/28/2014

Concerning the Resurrection of Christ: In what it consists, or how Christ’s resurrection takes place in us, and in it the resurrection of the soul. The mystery of this Resurrection. Delivered on the Monday of the second week of Pascha. By St. Symeon the New Theologian Brothers and fathers, already Pascha, that joyous day, that day of all gladness and delight, the day of Christ’s Resurrection, has arrived in the annual cycle. Rather, it occurs