Daily Meditations Archives - Page 308 of 345

The Teaching about the Virgin Mary

08/01/2013

The whole dogmatic teaching about our Lady can be condensed into these two names of hers: the Mother of God (Theotokos) and the Ever-Virgin (aiparthenos). Both names have the formal authority of the Church Universal, an ecumenical authority indeed. The Virgin Birth is plainly attested in the New Testament and has been an integral part of the Catholic tradition ever since. “Incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary” (or “Born of the Virgin

Mary, the Icon of how the Gift is Received (In Anticipation of the Dormition Fast)

07/31/2013

Jesus is the Icon of the Gift itself and how the Gift is given. Mary is the Icon of how the Gift is received. In her great “Magnificat” (Luke 1:46-55), Mary is not afraid to first of all boast openly of her own beauty and greatness, because she knows it is all a gift. It is not a statement about her; it is a statement about God! She is the perfect yes to God, precisely

Father Maximos on Enslavement to Things, Ideas and Ideologies

07/30/2013

“So,” Fr. Maximos continued, “we must first struggle to attain our liberation from being slaves to material things, including ideas and ideologies. And I must say that enslavement to ideas and ideologies is much more serious than enslavement to things.” “In what way?” Teresa asked. “As I said, you can easily find people who are temperate over external things. They are modest in dress, eat little, and have mastery over physical pleasures in general. They

Athletic Asceticism

07/29/2013

The monks developed methods for practicing the attitude of love, inner clarity and purity, and openness to God. In the monastic writings we find two recurrent images for our struggle to reach a life that we live ourselves, a life that corresponds to God’s image of us: we are the athletes of Christ and the soldiers of Christ the King. The monks are athletes of Christ. Their struggle is fought above all against the passions.

Saint Paraskevi the Virgin Martyr, by Saint Kosmas Aitolos

07/26/2013

Let us say something about the good earth. St. Paraskevi was a twelve year old maiden from a noble house. Left an orphan, she divided up all her possessions among the poor, and with these she purchased Paradise. In place of cosmetics, she wore tears, remembering her sins. In place of earings, she kept her ears open to hear the Sacred Scriptures. In place of a necklace, she fasted often, which made her neck shine

The Source of All Love

07/25/2013

The Source of All Love Without the love of our parents, sisters, brothers, spouses, lovers, and friends, we cannot live. Without love we die. Still, for many people this love comes in a very broken and limited way It can be tainted by power plays, jealousy, resentment, vindictiveness, and even abuse. No human love is the perfect love our hearts desire, and sometimes human love is so imperfect that we can hardly recognize it as

Christians Bring the Church to Birth

07/24/2013

Each of us ought to realize this fact: each one of us is also the Church. The Church belongs to the second Adam, the Christ. From his side dripping blood and water on the hill of the skull, God took the Church, while the eyes of the Crucified were closing for their three days’ sleep. When on the third day the New Adam awoke, he embraced the Church and made her fruitful with his Spirit.

Father Maximos on Temperance and Self-Control

07/23/2013

Fr. Maximos was fond of referring to a story of John Chrysostom, fourth-century patriarch of Constantinople who later was canonized as a major saint of the Church, both of the East and of the West. He was persecuted by the wife of the then emperor for being critical of her abuse of power and exploitation of the poor and weak. When John was warned by friends to stop his sermons against her on the ground

The Feast Day of Saint Mary Magdalene, the Holy Myrrh-Bearer and Equal to the Apostles

07/22/2013

“[The angels] asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying?’ ‘They have taken my Lord away and I don’t know where they put Him.’ At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, butshe did not realize that it was Jesus. ‘Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?’ Thinking He was the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have put Him, and

The Feast Day of Saint Macrina the Younger (c. 327-379)

07/19/2013

The eldest of ten children, the daughter, granddaughter and sister of saints, Saint Macrina is credited by her brothers—Saints Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa—as having been the one whose example and counsel led them to put aside earthly pursuits in favor of service to God. With her brother, Saint Peter of Sebaste, the saint founded twin communities—a women’s convent and a men’s monastery—on opposite banks of the River Iris. It was in this