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Ancestral Versus Original Sin: An Overview with Implications for Psychotherapy (Part IV)

09/25/2026

By V. Rev. Antony Hughes, M.Div., St. Mary Antiochian Orthodox Church, Cambridge, Massachusetts The juridical approach that has predominated in the West can make pastoral practice seem cold and automatic. Neither a focus on good works nor faith alone are sufficient to transform the human heart. Do positive, external criteria signify inner transformation in all cases? Some branches of Christian counseling too often rely on the application of seemingly relevant verses of Scripture to effect changes in behavior

Ancestral Versus Original Sin: An Overview with Implications for Psychotherapy (Part III)

09/24/2026

By V. Rev. Antony Hughes, M.Div., St. Mary Antiochian Orthodox Church, Cambridge, Massachusetts The image of an angry, vengeful God haunts the West where a basic insecurity and guilt seem to exist. Many appear to hold that sickness, suffering and death are God’s will. Why? I suspect one reason is that down deep the belief persists that God is still angry and must be appeased. Yes, sickness, suffering and death come and when they do

Ancestral Versus Original Sin: An Overview with Implications for Psychotherapy (Part II)

09/23/2026

By V. Rev. Antony Hughes, M.Div., St. Mary Antiochian Orthodox Church, Cambridge, Massachusetts It is important to note that salvation as deification is not pantheism because the Orthodox Fathers insist on the doctrine of creation ex nihilo (Athanasius, 1981). Human beings, along with all created things, have come into being from nothing. Created beings will always remain created and God will always remain Uncreated. The Son of God in the Incarnation crossed the unbridgeable chasm between them. Orthodox

Ancestral Versus Original Sin: An Overview with Implications for Psychotherapy (Part I)

09/22/2026

By V. Rev. Antony Hughes, M.Div., St. Mary Antiochian Orthodox Church, Cambridge, Massachusetts A young man called me recently to discuss his family’s movement toward the Orthodox Church. He told me a priceless story about how his seven-year old daughter helped him and his wife understand an Orthodox practice that is often a hindrance to inquirers. Although the family had icons in their home they could not grasp the reason for the practice of venerating

The End of the Modern World

09/21/2026

~By Fr. Stephen Freeman, October 7, 2024 “Welcome to the 21st Century!” Pick your issue, and if its outcome conforms to a popular, desired norm you are likely to hear such a greeting. The greeting also implies that a less than desirable outcome is wrong because it doesn’t belong to our time. It might be characterized as “medieval,” “outmoded,” “out-of-date,” “primitive,” “Neanderthal,” “reactionary,” etc. None of which actually describe anything. Such labels are value judgments and

The Abyss of Non-Being – And a Cup of Tea

09/18/2026

~By Fr. Stephen Freeman, March 17, 2025 “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” John 10:10 “Stand on the edge of the abyss and when you feel that it is beyond your strength, break off and have a cup of tea.” St. Sophrony of Athos/Essex ________ A group of people take a

Fishers of Men

09/17/2026

Sermon preached by Dn. Jeff Smith on Sunday, June 22, 2025 Matthew 4:18-23 As Jesus walked along the sea of Galilee, far away from the city of Jerusalem, way up in the north, the place where “no prophet could arise,” he spied four fishermen casting and mending their nets. Here comes Jesus, gathering his disciples to himself. He called Peter, Andrew, James and John to follow him, and they would soon be calling others; they

THE GREAT MARTYR EUPHEMIA THE ALL-PRAISED

09/16/2026

The Holy Great Martyr Euphēmia (Ευφημία) was the daughter of Christian parents, the senator Philophronos and his wife Theodosia. She suffered for Christ in the year 304 in the city of Chalcedon, on the Bosphorus opposite Constantinople, the Queen of Cities. Priscus, the Proconsul of Chalcedon, issued a decree which required all the inhabitants of Chalcedon and the surrounding area to attend a pagan festival, in order to worship and offer sacrifice to the idol

Saint Sophia Cathedral Warmly Welcomes her New Dean, the Reverend Archimandrite Avgoustinos Psomas

09/15/2026

Brothers and Sisters, On Sunday, September 20, Saint Sophia Cathedral will welcome her new Dean, the Very Rev. Archimandrite Avgoustinos Psomas. Fr. Avgoustinos Psomas was born and raised in Corfu and settled in the village of the Saints Theodore in Lefkimmi, Corfu. While completing his undergraduate studies, he studied electrical engineering at the Electrical Engineering Department of the Sivitanidios Technical School in Athens. He also attended Byzantine music classes at Saint Marina in Illisia under

The Very Reverend Archimandrite Avgoustinos Psomas Protopresbyter of Saint Sophia Cathedral

09/15/2026

The Very Reverend Archimandrite Avgoustinos Psomas Archimandrite of Saint Sophia Cathedral frpsomas@saintsophiadc.com The Very Reverend Archimandrite Avgoustinos Psomas was born in 1978 and raised on the island of Corfu, Greece, spending his formative years in the village of Saints Theodoroi in Lefkimmi. From an early age, the life of the Orthodox Church held a central place in his upbringing, nurturing in him a deep love for the Church’s liturgical life, Byzantine musical tradition, and spiritual

Daily Meditations

Ancestral Versus Original Sin: An Overview with Implications for Psychotherapy (Part IV)

Ancestral Versus Original Sin: An Overview with Implications for Psychotherapy (Part III)

Ancestral Versus Original Sin: An Overview with Implications for Psychotherapy (Part II)

Ancestral Versus Original Sin: An Overview with Implications for Psychotherapy (Part I)

The End of the Modern World

The Abyss of Non-Being – And a Cup of Tea

Fishers of Men

THE GREAT MARTYR EUPHEMIA THE ALL-PRAISED

Saint Sophia Cathedral Warmly Welcomes her New Dean, the Reverend Archimandrite Avgoustinos Psomas

The Very Reverend Archimandrite Avgoustinos Psomas Protopresbyter of Saint Sophia Cathedral

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Text-to-Give in 2 easy steps! 1) Text 202-899-7801 to include your donation amount 2) Follow the link to complete the one-time registration

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