SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week – The Annunciation “There are times in the life of a Christian when he or she must either say “yes” or “no”…. Sometimes saying “yes” means suffering greatly for the name of Christ…. We have come to a time in this country where we better be ready to say “yes” and “no” when it matters….” Excerpted from Turning “No” into “Yes” by

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week  On Forgiveness “… for too many people Lent means primarily, and almost exclusively, a change of diet, the compliance with ecclesiastical regulations concerning fasting. They understand fasting as an end in itself, as a “good deed” required by God and carrying in itself its merit and reward. But, the Church spares no effort in revealing to us that fasting is but a means, one

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week – Reflections on this Year’s Lent + Lenten Resources It has now been a year since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, changing almost overnight nearly every aspect of our day-to-day lives in the modern world. Some of us have lost loved ones…. The quarantine restrictions that have been in place… have also parted those of us still among the living from one

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week – The Ancient Path “It is my belief that today we all suffer a kind of madness. Our thinking is infected with so many philosophies that are alien to authentic Christianity that it is becoming increasingly difficult for us to recognize the truth of the Gospel…. The madness of our modern world is no accident…. And even those who resist this tide

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week – Acquiring the Mind of Christ “…All Christians, clerical and lay, have often become aware that if there is a burning topic and a great contemporary need, it is the need to acquire the mind of the Church.  Our mind should be permeated by the mind of the Church. Our thought, life, mode of living, our desire, our will should be altered

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week –  Living in Truth In the 1940’s and later, Father Kolakovic warned Catholic Slovaks about the impending spiritual trials awaiting believers under the yoke of communist oppression which included censorship, physical tortures and even death. He saw what was coming and was able to educate Christians to prepare for their persecution. He encouraged his faithful to “See, Judge, Act. See meant to be awake to realities

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week –  May God Give Us a Good Beginning So That We Might Find a Good End! How much better things turn out for us when we prepare ourselves and make plans ahead of time! While Great Lent, our time period of preparation for Pascha, begins in 6 weeks on March 15th which seems like a long time away, the Triodion (the

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week – The Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple on February 2nd “What does this Feast mean for us today? It is exactly forty days since Christmas, it is time for us to think about the last forty days and ask ourselves some questions…. Whatever our answers to these questions, on this, the Feast of the Meeting of Christ, one

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week – “Electrifying” Your Home with the Energy of the Holy Spirit With what is your home electrified? Table lamps and ceiling fixtures, sure, but what else? The glow of screens: TVs, computers and phones. More recently, strings of Christmas lights. Anything else? “A home without a lit oil lamp in front of icons is cold and dark, but when you have a

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week – Spiritual Despondency “In the Church Fathers, we have repeated warnings about despondency. We have to be careful because many people have a modern interpretation of what despondency means. So often we hear people talk about despondency as if it is the same thing as depression, the psychological condition of being down, low, lacking in joy, and seeing everything as dark; this is