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Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent. The Greatest Example of Forgiveness!

And when they came to the place which is called The Skull, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:33-34 (From the Eighth Gospel of Holy Thursday Evening) In Matthew 18:23-35, Jesus tells us a parable about an unforgiving servant. A man owed his king more money than he could ever pay.

Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent. Even Christ Had Help Carrying His Cross

As they went out, they came upon a man of Cyrene, Simon by name; this man they compelled to carry His cross. Matthew 27:32 (From the Sixth Gospel of Holy Thursday Evening) Many years ago, as we prepared to open up the Diakonia Center (the place we use for summer camp) in South Carolina, I was working with a group of people setting up the ropes course that we use. The camp was opening in

Venerable and God-bearing Father Anthony the Great

Saint Anthony the Great is known as the Father of monasticism, and the long ascetical sermon in The Life of Saint Anthony by Saint Athanasius (Sections 16-34), could be called the first monastic Rule. He was born in Egypt in the village of Coma, near the desert of the Thebaid, in the year 251. His parents were pious Christians of illustrious lineage. Anthony was a serious child and was respectful and obedient to his parents.

The Thirty-Ninth Day of Christmas Advent. Why Do I Need a Savior?

“For to you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord” -Luke 2:11 Are you saved? We hear this question a lot in religious circles. What it mean for us? In order to be found, one has to have a sense that he or she is lost. And in order to be saved, one has to have a sense that he or she needs saving. The questions

The Seventeenth Day of Christmas Advent. His Purpose is Clear

And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her first born Son and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger because there was no place for them in the inn. -Luke 2:6-7 If you look closely at many icons of the Nativity, you will notice that the manger is not a straw-filled wooden trough as we see in most Nativity displays

Prayer for Universal Salvation (Part III)

As for the problem of the ‘second death’ and the final hell after the Last Day, a solution, existential rather than doctrinal, is to be found in the high Eastern spirituality associated with St Antony. A cobbler in Alexandria, to whom Christ had sent Antony to show him a degree of holiness greater than his own, confessed to the famous hermit that he used to think, as he watched the passers-by, ‘May they all be

Before Thy Cross, we bow down in worship!

By Father Steven Kostoff “Then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven….“ [Matthew 24:30]. Contemporary scholars debate the meaning of the word “sign” in the words of Christ found in the above passage that describes, in highly symbolic terms, His parousia or return in glory.  This sign, whatever it may be, will be impossible to miss or misinterpret.  It will overwhelm those who are present to observe it and stand in its shadow,

Mary the Contemplative (Part VII)

MARY THE WOMAN TOWARD OTHERS It was at Pentecost that Mary received an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that enabled her, more than any of the Apostles, to understand the universal love of her Son and Savior for all human beings. By the Spirit of Jesus Christ she burned to surrender herself even more completely to serve His Body than she had done at Nazareth or at the foot of the Cross. With new awareness

Mary the Contemplative (Part VI)

STABAT MATER Mary the contemplative must have reached her peak of mystical union with Jesus Christ by experiencing the terrifying dark night on Calvary. She had said her fiat long ago. Now her virginal acceptance and maternal response reach their fullest expression. St. John the Evangelist, who stood beside Mary at the foot of the Cross, knew as Mary did that Jesus’ hour with its promised victory over the Adversary would take place there. John