Fathers Archives - Page 4 of 12

Feast of the Three Holy Fathers, Great Hierarchs and Ecumenical Teachers, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom

01/30/2023

January 30 Introduction During the reign of the Emperor Alexius Comnenus (1081-1118), a controversy arose in Constantinople among men learned in Faith and zealous for virtue about the three holy Hierarchs and Fathers of the Church, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom. Some argued for Saint Basil above the other two because he was able, as none other, to explain the mysteries of the Faith, and rose to angelic rank by his

The Tenth Day of Christmas Advent: Thanksgiving

11/24/2022

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, November 24, 2009 This year I will make the annual pilgrimage back to South Carolina to be with family for the (American) Thanksgiving holiday. Fewer of my children will be there – a mark of the maturing of their own families and the difficulty of travel at this time of year. The year is different as well for it will be the first Thanksgiving holiday without my mother’s presence (may her

To Sing Like a River

10/21/2022

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, October 19, 2016 We stood looking out at a river rushing past the rocks – a brisk morning in the North Carolina mountains, a rare setting for the Divine Liturgy. The tradition of the Church generally holds that services such as the Divine Liturgy are to be held indoors, in the Church. There are exceptions. In monasteries across the world, it is not unusual for a major feast to be held

Atheism and the Experience of God (2)

10/05/2022

By Fr John Breck, February 1, 2007 Those who hold that the only sure ground of knowledge is scientific inquiry and rational analysis actually represent not so much science as the heresy of “scientism,” a purely materialistic view of reality. Yet science itself debunks that approach with its acceptance of principles such as those embodied in quantum mechanics and relativity theory. In a universe where subatomic particles constantly appear and then disappear, where electrons can

Seeing and Believing – A Noetic Life Part 2

09/23/2022

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, September 2, 2016 “I see what you mean.” Language holds many secrets that we ignore. Some of the secrets are quite old. If we pay proper attention, we are able to discover things that we already know, but did not yet know that we knew. The phrase, “Now I see,” or other various uses of “seeing” as a form of “knowing,” is quite ancient in its insight. The Greek word for

A Noetic Life

09/19/2022

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, August 28, 2016 Eskimos really do have over 50 words for snow. In total, there are around 180 words for snow and ice. There is “aqilokoq” for “softly falling snow” and “piegnartoq” for “the snow [that is] good for driving a sled.” There is also “utuqaq,” which means, “ice that lasts year after year” and “siguliaksraq,” the patchwork layer of crystals that forms as the sea begins to freeze; and “auniq,” ice that

Prophet Elijah, the Gift of God

07/20/2022

Published by Pemptousia Partnership, November 5, 2014 By Savva Alexandrou Saint Gregory Palamas, speaking in general about the prophets, as also the Fathers of the Church, notes: “God raised up the Prophets and the Fathers unto our guidance and He showed signs and wonders to us through them, so that He could correctly lead us up to faith.” The Prophets, as also the Fathers of the church, are essentially God’s gift to men, because they

Lest We Forget: Keeping Traditions

06/28/2022

Published by Pemptousia Partnership, April 13, 2016 By Virginia Nieuwsma To hear Mother Victoria of the St. Barbara’s Monastery tell it, growing up in the Ukranian Orthodox Church was a rich and memorable experience at special times of year. On Christmas Eve, for instance, she remembers looking for the first star in the sky, which would signal the start of the Nativity meal. Before eating, she and her family always fed the animals first, in

The Hand in the Gospel

06/27/2022

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, July 18, 2016 My desk sits looking out of a wall of windows. My small backyard is shaded by a lush green this time of year. At any time of day or night, nature sounds mark the movement of the sun as much as the shifting shadows: birds in the early morning give way to katydids as the sun moves up the sky, succeeded by the drone of frogs as night

The Holy and Great Saturday: Knocking Down the Gates of Hell

04/23/2022

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, May 1, 2021 The Swedish Lutheran theologian, Gustav Aulen, published a seminal work on the types of atonement theory in 1930 (Christus Victor). Though time and critical studies have suggested many subtler treatments of the question, no one has really improved on his insight. Especially valuable was his description of the “Classic View” of the atonement. This imagery, very dominant in the writings of the early Fathers and in the liturgical

Tags

Feast of the Three Holy Fathers, Great Hierarchs and Ecumenical Teachers, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom

The Tenth Day of Christmas Advent: Thanksgiving

To Sing Like a River

Atheism and the Experience of God (2)

Seeing and Believing – A Noetic Life Part 2

A Noetic Life

Prophet Elijah, the Gift of God

Lest We Forget: Keeping Traditions

The Hand in the Gospel

The Holy and Great Saturday: Knocking Down the Gates of Hell

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