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The Thirty-Seventh Day of Christmas Advent. What to Give to the One Who Made Everything?

By Fr. John Parker So here is a twist on the usual question:  what do you get for that someone who *made* everything?  I confess to you, dear reader, that the question comes a bit crassly off my fingertips.  But the truth is, here we are, at the inauguration of the Christmas feast—which continues through December 31 in Orthodox Christianity—and while we are hauling bags of wrapping paper and boxes to the curb (not the

The Thirty-Sixth Day of Christmas Advent. The Genealogy of Jesus

By Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, December 21, 2014 We read today the genealogy of Jesus from St. Matthew’s Gospel. It is different from St. Luke’s genealogy and there are reasons for this which we do not time to talk about this morning. I would rather spend time on the point of this Gospel and that is, God became man to save everyone and everything. It is as Thomas Merton speaks of this using the

The Thirty-First Day of Christmas Advent. Christmas in General

By Father Stephen Freeman “Peace on earth! Good will towards men!” is a common greeting to be found on cards during this season of the Nativity. These are, of course, the words sung by the angels the night Christ was born in Bethlehem (Luke 2:14). It is also a phrase which admits of several interpretations. The possibility of various meanings is very likely the reason for its popularity on greeting cards. Who could be opposed

The Seventh Day of Christmas Advent. The Nativity: An Icon of the Christian Family

By Fr. Vasile Tudora Everyone’s favorite time of the year is the period before Christmas, when the air is filled with joy, peace and expectation. We are blessed to live in a country that looks forward to Christmas although we might seem to have lost some of its meaning along the way.  We have radio stations that air carols without ceasing, exalting the season, although many of them speak about snow, jolly figures carrying gifts,

The Second Day of Christmas Advent. Jesus was Born that He Might Die

By Hierodeacon Herman Majkrzak In many European cultures, and in America too, singing and listening to carols is a well-loved Christmas tradition. And many Orthodox communities in the West have admirably incorporated some of the best of these carols into their Nativity celebrations. Often, though, for Orthodox and non-Orthodox alike, our knowledge of this rich repertoire does not extend much beyond the first couple verses of a dozen or so of the most famous carols.

Nativity Devotion, November 13: Our Advent Journey Begins

By Fr. Stavros Akrotirianakis in “The Prayer Team” Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 Good morning Prayer Team! We are about to take a journey.  Whether one is a devout Christian or doesn’t know Christ at all, we are all about to take a journey that will see Christmas decorations go up, lines at the malls get long, and stress levels go up.  Such

The Dormition of our Most Holy Lady the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary (II)

The circumstances of the Dormition of the Mother of God were known in the Orthodox Church from apostolic times. Already in the first century, the Hieromartyr Dionysius the Areopagite wrote about Her “Falling-Asleep.” In the second century, the account of the bodily ascent of the Most Holy Virgin Mary to Heaven is found in the works of Meliton, Bishop of Sardis. In the fourth century, Saint Epiphanius of Cyprus refers to the tradition about the

Friday of the Third Week of Lent. By THIS All Men Will Know That You Are My Disciples

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35 (From the First Gospel on Holy Thursday Evening) Everyone lives busy lives. We even call our lives “crazy busy” at times. Christ knows that our lives are busy. If you envision

The Twelfth Day of Christmas. Live Right!

For the grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all men, training us to renounce irreligion and worldly passions and to live sober, upright and godly lives in this world, awaiting our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. -Titus 2: 11-13 (Epistle from Liturgy of Epiphany) No one likes to be told to wait. We tend to want things, as one restaurant ad puts

The Thirty-Second Day of Christmas Advent. Be Not Afraid

And they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, ”Be not afraid.” -Luke 2:9-10 Think about when you are most afraid. It’s when you don’t know the outcome of something. People feel fear before they take a test, particularly medical tests, because they don’t know what the outcome is going to be. People are afraid of the unknown, because they don’t have mastery of it and can’t control the results. People get