~By Fr. Stephen Freeman, December 5, 2025 Call me a Boomer. Among the more surprising developments across my nearly seven decades of life is the now widespread practice of tattooing. As a child in the 50’s, the only tattoos I ever saw were on the occasional sailor, and we rarely saw many of them. Indeed, I don’t think there was a tattoo parlor anywhere in our city, and if there were, it would have been
Sermon preached by Subdeacon JD Swartz on Sunday, July 20, 2025 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Liturgically the Church is in a time between fulfillment and the promise of fulfillment, between the feast of Pentecost which we celebrated last month, and the feast of the Transfiguration which approaches next month. We move from the reception of the Comforter toward the vision of the Uncreated
On July 8, the Greek Orthodox Church commemorates the Feast Day of Agios Procopius. Procopius was born in Jerusalem of a Christian father and a pagan mother. At first, his name was Neanias. Following the death of his father, his mother raised her son completely in the spirit of Roman idolatry. When Neanias had grown up, Emperor Diocletian saw him, took a liking to him, and brought him to his palace for military service. When
Saint Kyriaki was the daughter of Christian parents, Dorotheus and Eusevia. She was given her name because she was born on Sunday, the day of the Lord (in Greek, Kyriaki). Kyriaki was raised in a Christian enviornment and was highly respected, extremely educated, and philanthropic, but also very beautiful. Dorotheus and Eusevia were elderly and wanted security for Kyriaki upon their deaths which could be obtained through marriage. Kyriaki, being very devout in her Christian
~By Fr Stephen Freeman, March 13, 2025 “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things
Asked to propose a national seal in 1776, Franklin and Jefferson chose religious themes. By Meir Soloveichik, July 1, 2016 5:18 pm ET On July 4, 1776, after voting to approve the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress advanced the following resolution: “That Dr. Franklin, Mr. J. Adams and Mr. Jefferson, be a committee, to bring in a device for a seal for the United States of America.” Of these three founders, two suggested seals that
~By Fr. Stephen Freeman, February 12, 2025 It is interesting that the story of mankind’s first sin involved eating. We didn’t eat too much, only the wrong thing in the wrong way. But as sins go, it seems rather mundane. Murder is more dramatic (that was a second generation sin). Betrayal makes for a better novel. But there it was – we ate our way to perdition. It’s not widely known, but you can eat
Sermon preached by Dimitri Newman on Sunday, June 9, 2024 In the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen! In today’s epistle we heard about a slave girl, who was possessed by a spirit, which had the power of divination, that is the spirit was able to tell the future. The people of Phillipi, where the apostles were, would apparently spend a great deal of money
The Holy Martyrs, Wonderworkers and Unmercenary Physicians Cosmas and Damian were born at Rome, brothers by birth, and physicians by profession. They suffered at Rome in the reign of the emperor Carinus (283-284 AD). Brought up by their parents in the rules of piety, they led strict and chaste lives, and they were granted by God the gift of healing the sick. By their generosity and exceptional kindness to all, the brothers converted many to
By the Late Reverend N. Patrinacos By the term Twelve Apostles only the twelve disciples of Christ should be understood. There are four lists of their names in the New Testament: Matthew 10:12, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:14, and Acts of the Apostles 1:13. The list of names is as follows: Simon also called Peter and Andrew his brother; James and John, the sons of Zebedee; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew, the tax collector; James
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