communion Archives - Page 14 of 16

Keeping our Faces in a Facebook World (Part II)

07/29/2015

By Father Lawrence Farley The truth is that real communication and authentic communion with another always involves face to face encounter—that is why there is so much hugging at airports when people are physically reunited after being separated for a time. Did those people who greet each other at the airport not keep in touch by Facebook while they were gone? Did they not phone each other? Did they not exchange e-mails? I’ll bet they

The Seventh Monday after Pascha: Saint Silouan the Athonite and His Relevance Today, Part III

05/25/2015

By Harry Boosalis The broad appeal of the writings of Saint Silouan is based on a combination of other factors as well. The fact that he was uneducated and ‘almost illiterate,’ having attended the village school for ‘just two winters,’ attracts many readers because it reinforces the idea that the heights of Orthodox spiritual life are open and accessible to all. It illustrates the truth that one does not need a degree in theology to

The Fifth Thursday after Pascha, Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! On India and Buddhism—Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew (Part II)

05/14/2015

Conversations with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew by Olivier Clement Everything, the patriarch adds, centers on the concept of the “person.” According to Buddhism, the person does not exist. The Christian, however, affirms the existence of the person. But Orthodoxy does not identify the person with the individual, with the “individual substance of a rational nature,” as Boethius awkwardly stated in the Latin world. This would mean that the person is nothing more than a mask, which

Saint Mary of Egypt and Zosimas the Priest (Part III)

04/03/2015

The Story of Mary and Zosimas Together ~ Professor Susan Ashbrook Harvey, Ph. D., Brown University And so we come to the Story of Mary and Zosimas together. It is above all a story of giving gifts to one another. From the moment they met, their lives were found to be reversed. Mary, the sinful woman, became teacher and giver of grace; Zosimas, the venerable priest and monk, became disciple and suppliant. When Zosimas first

WHY DO WE SING THE AKATHIST HYMN EVERY LENT?

02/26/2015

The Akathist Hymn is a service full of poetry and theology in praise of the Mother of God, the Theotokos. Thus today’s Gospel reading takes us back to Christmas, to the good news that was given to the Theotokos that she would bare God in her womb and become His mother. This is another feast we celebrate every Lent, on the 25th March, the Annunciation. But why do we sing this Akathist Hymn, this song to

55 Maxims for Weekly Meditation, by Father Thomas Hopko

10/29/2014

SUNDAY 1. Be always with Christ and trust God in everything 2. Pray as you can, not as you think you must 3. Have a keepable rule of prayer done by discipline 4. Say the Lord’s Prayer several times each day 5. Repeat a short prayer when your mind is not occupied 6. Make some prostrations when you pray 7. Eat good foods in moderation and fast on fasting days MONDAY 8. Practice silence, inner

The Destiny of Eros: The Nuptial Way (Part II)

02/13/2014

Marriage is chaste because it integrates the erotic relationship of the two persons into their communion within the Church; as their mutual love is expressed through their complementary natures, each gives the other to the world. For nine centuries there was no distinctive rite of marriage for Christians. The couple would marry, then go together to communion. For a man and a woman whose life is rooted in Christ, their love is something they have

The Essence of Prayer (III)

01/08/2014

The Wise Men travelled a long way and nobody knows the difficulties they had to overcome. Each of us also travels as they did. They were loaded with gifts, gold for the king, frankincense for the God, myrrh for the man who was to suffer death. Where can we get gold, frankincense and myrrh, we who are indebted for everything to God? We know that everything we possess has been given us by God and

Twenty-Sixth Day of Christmas Advent: The Tree of Life Blossoms

12/10/2013

In the hymns for the prefeast of Christ’s Nativity, Jesus’ birth heralds a return to paradise. The Messiah is born and the gates of Eden are opened. The Savior comes and the tree of life blossoms. Paradise is not a place on the map. It is a condition of spirit. When a person knows God and lives in communion with Him, this is paradise. When a person does not know God and lives in communion

The Essence of Prayer (II)

11/05/2013

Every time we come near God, it is either life or death we are confronted with. It is life if we come to him in the right spirit, and are renewed by him. It is death if we come to him without the spirit of worship and a contrite heart; it is death if we bring pride or arrogance. Therefore, before we set out on the so-called thrilling adventure of prayer, it cannot be too

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The Seventh Monday after Pascha: Saint Silouan the Athonite and His Relevance Today, Part III

The Fifth Thursday after Pascha, Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! On India and Buddhism—Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew (Part II)

Saint Mary of Egypt and Zosimas the Priest (Part III)

WHY DO WE SING THE AKATHIST HYMN EVERY LENT?

55 Maxims for Weekly Meditation, by Father Thomas Hopko

The Destiny of Eros: The Nuptial Way (Part II)

The Essence of Prayer (III)

Twenty-Sixth Day of Christmas Advent: The Tree of Life Blossoms

The Essence of Prayer (II)

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