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ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! Bright Monday: George the Great Martyr and Triumphant. Prefiguration of the Resurrection in the Easter Canon.

Reading George, this truly great and glorious Martyr of Christ, was born of a father from Cappadocia and a mother from Palestine. Being a military tribune, or chiliarch (that is, a commander of a thousand troops), he was illustrious in battle and highly honoured for his courage. When he learned that the Emperor Diocletian was preparing a persecution of the Christians, Saint George presented himself publicly before the Emperor and denounced him. When threats and

The Great and Holy Friday

Introduction On Great and Holy Friday, the Orthodox Church commemorates the death of Christ on the Cross. This is the culmination of the observance of His Passion by which our Lord suffered and died for our sins. This commemoration begins on Thursday evening with the Matins of Holy Friday and concludes with a Vespers on Friday afternoon that observes the unnailing of Christ from the Cross and the placement of His body in the tomb.

Palm Sunday. The Entrance of Christ into Jerusalem.

Introduction On the Sunday before the Feast of Great and Holy Pascha and at the beginning of Holy Week, the Orthodox Church celebrates one of its most joyous feasts of the year. Palm Sunday is the commemoration of the Entrance of our Lord into Jerusalem following His glorious miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead. Having anticipated His arrival and having heard of the miracle, the people went out to meet the Lord and welcomed

The First Tuesday of Great Lent: On the Beginning of the Great Fast

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes at Forgiveness Vespers at the start of Great Lent on Sunday, March 13, 2016 I always look forward to this night because it is so beautiful, so quiet, so peaceful, so instructive. We have begun the great fast again, and I’ve been thinking about it: every year we go through the Fast, we reach Pascha, we have a great celebration, and then we start life all over again as

Pentecost and the Liturgy of Hades

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, June 21, 2021  Pascha (Easter) comes with a great note of joy in the Christian world. Christ is risen from the dead and our hearts rejoice. That joy begins to wane as the days pass. Our lives settle back down to the mundane tasks at hand. After 40 days, the Church marks the Feast of the Ascension, often attended by only a handful of the faithful (Rome has more-or-less moved the

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Sixth Wednesday of Pascha: Leave-taking of Pascha

On Wednesday of the sixth week of Pascha, we celebrate the Leave-taking of the Feast. While most Feasts have their Leave-taking on the eighth day, Pascha, the Feast of Feasts, has its Leave-taking on the thirty-ninth day. The fortieth day is the Feast of the Lord’s Ascension, which marks the end of the Lord’s physical presence on earth. He does not abandon us, however. He has promised to be with us always, even until the

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Sixth Tuesday of Pascha: Belief and Faith, Water and Wine

The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. John. (3:13-17) The Christian message is very, very simple. God loves the world. He loves us. Seeing his creation falling into death, he sent his Son, to liberate us from death, from sin, from fear and to grant eternal life to all who believe in this simple Gospel. And he has accomplished in taking on human nature and matter the deification of all things.  In Holy

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Sixth Monday of Pascha: The Community We All Need

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, May 24, 2017  Communities are not built by pioneers. They are rooted in mutual need and brokenness. Stanley Hauerwas has observed: My hunch is that you don’t just make a community up. You discover that you need one another because you’re in danger. The need, created by various forms of weakness, must be acknowledged and accepted. The “shame” associated with it must be borne by the community as a whole. Without

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Fifth Thursday of Pascha: The Beauty of Mutuality

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, May 14, 2017 at St. Mary Orthodox Church Here is a most remarkable exchange. Over the years what have we said about the Lord’s encounter with the Samaritan Woman? We have talked about the Lord’s crushing of societal and religious norms in this remarkable encounter. Jews had nothing to do with Samaritans, Jewish men did not speak face to face with women, particularly sinful and impure heretics

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Fifth Tuesday of Pascha: Not Religion, But Life

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, July 3, 2016 The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew. (4:18-23) In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ! In order to grow more and more into the likeness of God, we must constantly be changing. Growth implies change.  In this Gospel we see the birth of Christian discipleship beginning