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

Renewal Friday: Theotokos of the Life-Giving Spring Outside of Constantinople, towards the district of the Seven Towers, there was in ancient times a very large and most beautiful church named in honour of the Theotokos; it had been built about the middle of the fifth century by the Emperor Leo the Great (also called “Leo of Thrace,” he is commemorated on Jan. 20). Before he became Emperor, he had encountered there a blind man, who

The Great and Holy Saturday: On the Lament of the All-Holy Theotokos (Part III)

On the Lament of the All-Holy Theotokos When She Embraced the Precious Body of our Lord Jesus Christ A Homily of our father Among the Saints Symeon the Metaphrast, Archbishop of Thessaloniki (15th Century)  Part III O how bitter is this burial! You granted life to those in the tombs, but lie dead before my very eyes. Once You were wrapped in swaddling clothes; now I shudder to see You in a shroud. As a

The Great and Holy Friday: On the Lament of the All-Holy Theotokos (Part II)

On the Lament of the All-Holy Theotokos When She Embraced the Precious Body of our Lord Jesus Christ A Homily of our father Among the Saints Symeon the Metaphrast, Archbishop of Thessaloniki (15th Century)  Part II O Mighty One, You manifested such great things in me! You chose me out of every generation! You declared me through the tongues of the Prophets! When You were about to descend from heaven, as You Yourself knew, You

The Great and Holy Thursday: On the Lament of the All-Holy Theotokos (Part I)

On the Lament of the All-Holy Theotokos When She Embraced the Precious Body of our Lord Jesus Christ A Homily of our father Among the Saints Symeon the Metaphrast, Archbishop of Thessaloniki (15th Century)  Part I  In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen Now I understand, O sweetest Jesus, why those Persians, who came to Your Nativity, brought not only gold as to a king, and

Fortieth Day of Christmas Advent, For so has God Loved the World (Part II)

But the road from Bethlehem to Zion is long, and is leading us through Gethsemane and Golgotha. Already in Bethlehem the newborn Godchild is presented with funeral offerings by the Wise Men from the East. “Today God leads the Wise Men to worship through the star, prefiguring His three-day burial in gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” The very doors of the Bethlehem cavern are nearly stained with the innocent blood of the children who were killed

Twenty-Sixth Day of Christmas Advent, Journey to Bethlehem, Part IV

By Father John Parker Our journey to Bethlehem through the images in Andrei Rublev’s Nativity finishes at the center—a center which has two foci: Mary, the Virgin Mother, and the somewhat less obvious (because of His size) newborn Christ (who, biblically speaking, is not “Jesus” until He is named on the 8th day—see Luke 2:21.) Mary—the Theotokos, or God-bearer, as she is known in the Church—is the most noticeable figure in the icon.  One’s eyes

Eleventh Day of Christmas Advent, Great Martyr Catherine of Alexandria

The Holy Great Martyr Catherine was the daughter of Constus, the governor of Alexandrian Egypt during the reign of the emperor Maximian (305-313). Living in the capital, the center of Hellenistic knowledge, and possessed of a rare beauty and intellect, Catherine received an excellent education, studying the works of the greatest philosophers and teachers of antiquity. Young men from the most worthy families of the empire sought the hand of the beautiful Catherine, but she

Feast of the Dormition of our Most Holy Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary

INTRODUCTION The Feast of the Dormition of Our Most Holy Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary is celebrated on August 15 each year. The Feast commemorates the repose (dormition and in the Greek kimisis) or “falling-asleep” of the Mother of Jesus Christ, our Lord. The Feast also commemorates the translation or assumption into heaven of the body of the Theotokos. BIBLICAL STORY The Holy Scriptures tell us that when our Lord was dying on the Cross, He saw His mother and His disciple John and said to the Virgin Mary, “Woman, behold your son!” and to John, “Behold your mother!” (John 19:25-27). From that

MARY THE MEDIATRESS (Part VIII)

It is fitting to present here the complete Theotokarion of St. Andrew of Crete, which, up to now, has been quoted only in parts and scattered verses: “Rejoice, O God after God. You have honors second after the Trinity and you directly receive the fullness of the gifts of God, transporting them to all, to angels and to men, O Bride of the Father, spotless Mother of the Son, holy and all-illumined Temple of the

MARY THE MEDIATRESS (Part VII)

She is our only Mediatress, the only Mother of Life, and the holy Fathers reserved the office of mediation for Christ and His mother only. Yes, we have other intercessors to God, but the Orthodox faith interposes neither saints nor angels as mediators and intercessors to her. In the vast tradition of liturgy and piety of the Fathers, there is not a single request to angels or to saints for their intercession to the Mediatress