The Temple of God According to the story of the Entry (and the hymns of the Church), the Virgin Mary not only entered the Holy of Holies, but also remained there for twelve years, being fed by an angel: 1 Led by the Holy Spirit, the holy and immaculate maiden is taken to dwell in the holy temple. She who is in truth the most holy temple of our holy God is nourished by an
BEGINNING OF ADVENT AND THE FOREFEAST Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight the paths of our God. (Isaiah 40:3) EVERY GREAT FEAST of the Orthodox Church is preceded by a period of preparation. One of the longest and richest periods is Advent. But what does it mean to prepare? For many, the preparation for Christmas is hectic— shopping for presents, making decorations, mailing cards, attending Christmas parties, and so forth. But in the
Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Have faith in God and faith in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places; otherwise, how could I have told you that I was going to prepare a place for’ you? I am indeed going to prepare a place for you, and then I shall come back to take you with me, that where I am you also may be.
Fr. Maximos never ceased repeating that our greatest enemy is our ego, what psychologists would call “narcissism,” and that we can work on that ego as we go about our daily affairs. He then mentioned Abba Dorotheos, an early Father of the Ecclesia who instructed his monks on how to confront their desires so that they might undermine their egotism. “He taught them simple exercises. If for example they were hungry and curious to find
There are five instances in the New Testament in which “tree” is used for the cross on which Jesus was crucified: three in Acts (5:30, 10:39, 13:29), one in Galatians (3:13) and one in First Peter (2:24). Remarkably, each of these texts is a kerygmatic paradigm—that is to say, each is a unique divine moment filled by the Holy Spirit in which the Spirit-directed and empowered preaching of the Good News revealed the form and
The Symbolic Tree What we are calling “the natural tree” represents the Scriptural expression of Biblical culture’s awareness of the intrinsic value of trees and of the central role played by trees in ecological balance, as well as the human use of trees for food, shelter, trade and commerce to satisfy the needs of the body. The “metaphoric tree” represents the figurative use of trees for the purpose of education, moral instruction, and the inculcation
By Fr Antony Hughes, August 29, 2010 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. St. John knew who he was. Self-knowledge, say some of the Holy Fathers, is the greatest of all the spiritual gifts. He was the Forerunner, the last prophet of the coming Messiah, that is, of the Old Testament. Most of all he knew who he was not. He was not
By Father Ernesto Obregon When I was first in seminary, I had to take an ethics class. The professor of that class seemed to positively enjoy giving us difficult ethics problems to solve. He had been a young man during World War II, and he seemed to take a particular joy in giving us examples from World War II. Was Corrie ten Boom right to deliberately lie to German authorities when she was hiding Jews
There was further discussion about the gift of chrestotis before we had a short break. When we reassembled, I suggested that we move on to the next spiritual gift. “Coming from the bottom up, Fr. Maxime,” I said, “you have spoken so far of self-control, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness, and kindness or chrestotis. We’re left with patience, peace, joy, and love.” “Fine. Let’s continue with patience.” Fr. Maximos nodded, grinning. “God is infinitely patient. He does
The Bible contains four lists of the names of the Twelve Disciples of Christ: Matthew 10:12, Mark 3:13, Luke 6:14 and Acts of the Apostles 1:13. They vary slightly as well as the sequence although they list Peter first, even though it was Andrew (his brother) who was called first by the Lord. It is believed that Christ selected only 12 because it was the number of the twelve sons of Jacob (the most famous
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