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Renewal (Bright) Wednesday. Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen!

During His earthly life the Savior repeatedly pronounced words that are precious to the faithful soul: Because I live, ye shall live also (John 14:19); My peace I give unto you (John 14:27); These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full (John 15:11). The Apostle Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans, writes: For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be

Renewal (Bright) Tuesday. Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen!

Now all things are filled with light; heaven and earth, and the nethermost parts of the earth… Christ is Risen! Children of God! From a fullness of unearthly joy I greet you with words full of Divine power: “Christ is Risen!” The holy fire of this salvific tiding has burst anew with bright flames over the Lord’s Tomb, and has spread throughout the world. The Church of God, filled with the light of this fire,

Renewal (Bright) Monday. Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen!

A Poem by St. Nikolai Velimirovich   People rejoice, nations hear: Christ is risen, and brings the joy! Stars dance, mountains sing: Christ is risen, and brings the joy! Forests murmur, winds hum: Christ is risen, and brings the joy! Seas bow, animals roar: Christ is risen, and brings the joy! Bees swarm, and the birds sing: Christ is risen, and brings the joy! Angels stand, triple the song: Christ is risen, and brings the

The Great and Holy Pascha! Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen!

“This is the day which the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad therein.” Pascha is the day of universal joy and peace. The entire world, every breath and all creation, triumphs and rejoices. For the Lord has conquered and destroyed death, abolishing the “dominion of death” – the power of death. With the Resurrection of Christ, the dawn of the coming general Resurrection has already begun to break over all creation, for

Saturday of the Holy and Righteous Friend of Christ, Lazarus

Introduction On the Saturday before Holy Week, the Orthodox Church commemorates a major feast of the year, the miracle of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ when he raised Lazarus from the dead after he had lain in the grave four days. Here, at the end of Great Lent and the forty days of fasting and penitence, the Church combines this celebration with that of Palm Sunday. In triumph and joy the Church bears witness

Thirty-Third 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.

The Fourth Wednesday of Pascha, Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! The Feast of Mid-Pentecost, the Pentecostarion and Churches Named after Holy Wisdom, or Hagia Sophia

The fifty days following Pascha until the Feast of Pentecost are known as the period of the Pentecostarion in the Orthodox Church. At the mid-point between these great feasts of Pascha and Pentecost, on the twenty-fifth day which is always a Wedneday, is one of the most beloved feasts for the most devout Orthodox Christians known quit simply as Mid-Pentecost. Mid-Pentecost is to the Pentecostarion what the Third Sunday of Great Lent which honors the

Journey to Pascha

Desiring to commune with the Divine Pascha . . . let us pursue victory over the devil through fasting. (First hymn of the aposticha for Vespers, Thursday of the first week of Lent) Having thus been encouraged and inspired by the memory and veneration of the Cross on which Christ suffered for our sakes, we are persuaded to continue our own Lenten effort, to carry on bearing our cross for His sake, and to walk

THE SUNDAY OF THE CROSS

Having passed beyond the middle point in this holy season of the Fast, with joy Let us go forward to the part that still remains, anointing our souls with the oil of almsgiving. So may we be counted worthy to venerate the divine Passion of Christ our God, and to attain His dread and holy Resurrection. (Third troparion of Vespers, fourth Sunday of Lent) 12 THE THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT is dedicated to the Cross.

WHY DO WE SING THE AKATHIST HYMN EVERY LENT?

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