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The Fast of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin (Part II)

08/09/2018

By Father Leonidas Contos, LOS ANGELES, August 2, 1962 Orthodox theology refuses to see Mary as only the physical instrument of Christ’s birth. She is seen as a cooperating instrument in the work of redemption. Christ did not save the world, so to speak, automatically. He was not on earth as an alien thrust in, but lived as part of humanity, sharing its weakness, knowing its need. The grace He released into the world became

The Fast of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin (Part I)

08/08/2018

By Father Leonidas Contos There are in the Orthodox tradition three principal periods of fasting during the ecclesiastical year; they are also the ones that are the least neglected. One is the forty-day period of Advent; the second is the forty-day period of Lent; the third is the fifteen-day fast which begins the first of August, and will end on the fifteenth with the commemoration of the Falling Asleep of the Theotokos. Among the three

“Who Am I”?

07/26/2018

As humans we have struggled continually through time to answer the seemingly simple question; “Who am I?” Philosophers continue to wrestle with this question. Some popular psychology tells us that we are who people tell us we are. Others tell us that we are who we want to be. And of course pop-society advertising tells us that we are what we eat, drink, wear, drive, etc. So we go through life trying to define ourselves

Practical Aspects of the Jesus Prayer

07/03/2018

If we speak about the practical aspects of the Jesus prayer: usually one is seated and one says the prayer silently, in the place of the heart. This prayer may be linked with breathing. When one breathes in, one says: ‘Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God’. Then when one breathes out, one says: ‘Have mercy upon me’. One concentrates all one’s attention on the name of Christ and on the words ‘Have mercy upon me’.

The Heavenly Kingdom

06/26/2018

The Heavenly Kingdom is peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. We need to humble our hearts, which take insults so deeply and also our so-called dignity, for we cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven in pride, as when we take to heart each slander our neighbor casts. We must accept our lessons from everyday life, for each day brings us cares, worries, and insults. We must learn not to take insults to heart, for

Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Pascha. Endless Suffering

05/09/2018

Earthly existence is for man an endless suffering. Why do we bear all this? Because the Creator has come and has dwelt among us. And we now know Him personally. We are created ‘in the image and likeness of God’. When we measure the reality of our everyday life against this divine revelation, we fall into despair. Why is it so difficult to act as a Christian in the here and now? Because it is

Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! Tuesday of the Third Week of Pascha: The Paradox of Christian Life

04/24/2018

In Christ, our consciousness expands, our life becomes unlimited. In the commandment ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself, we must understand the words ‘as thyself in this way: every man, the ‘whole Adam’, is my being. The kingdom of Christ, writes Saint Silouan, is to bear in our heart the whole universe and God the Creator Himself. When you pray, pray for each and every one. And add: ‘By their prayers, by his/her prayer, have mercy

Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! Tuesday of the Second Week of Pascha: Through the Cross, Joy! (Part II)

04/17/2018

This descent, this final and ultimate penetration into the realm of the dead, is accomplished once and for all. It frees patriarch, prophet, and king. But at the same time it frees us, liberating us from the consequences of death. The hand that reaches out to grasp the hands of Adam and Eve reaches out to embrace their descendants as well: every “Adam” who responds to His gesture with longing and with faith. We, like

Renewal (Bright) Thursday. Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen!

04/12/2018

Why are the consequences of Adam’s disobedience so disastrous? Why does spiritual life in Christ take, in this world, the tragic form of a hand-to-hand battle against death? Why is God’s creation linked to this negation, to death, to this struggle full of pain? Why does His act of creation not lead harmoniously to the fulfillment of humankind in the image of God? Why must I struggle against things which kill me without having the

Renewal (Bright) Monday. Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen!

04/09/2018

The Father accepts the Son’s sacrifice “by economy”: “man had to be sanctified by God’s humanity” (St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration 45, On the Holy Pascha). Kenosis culminates and ends with Christ’s death, to sanctify the entire human condition, including death. Cur Deus homo? Not only because of our sins but for our sanctification, to introduce the moments of our fallen life into that true life, which never knows death. By Christ’s resurrection, the fullness

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