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The Seventh Day of Christmas Advent: The Entrance into the Temple

11/21/2023

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on November 21, 2021 Fr. Alexander Schmemann It seems thousands of years removed from us, but it was not so very long ago that life was marked out by religious feasts. Although everyone went to church, not everyone, of course, knew the exact contents of each celebration. For many, perhaps even the majority, the feast was above all an opportunity to get a good sleep, eat well, drink and relax. And nevertheless, I think

The Sixth Day of Christmas Advent: I Will Go into the Altar of God

11/20/2023

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, November 20, 2021 Most of my early Church memories center around Sunday School (I think that we did not “stay for preaching” very often). The small Baptist church that we attended was about a mile from our house and was conveniently connected by a railroad track, generally inactive on Sundays. My older brother and I often walked along the track on Sunday mornings when the weather was pleasant. The earliest Bible

The Third Day of Christmas Advent: The Magi and the Wise Men from the East Lead to Bethlehem

11/17/2023

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on December 10, 2021 Sister Parakliti, Holy Skete of Saint Mary Magdalene, in Liti Once again we’ve been given the opportunity to devote a little time to the study of Christ’s Nativity in our life, as we approach Christmas, the great feast of the Lord. We’re given the opportunity to look at how we experience the personal advent of Christ, in our homes, in our monasteries, and wherever else we may be, but particularly

The Second Day of Christmas Advent: St. Matthew the Evangelist

11/16/2023

16 November 2017 Any reference to the Apostle St. Matthew, author of the first book of the New Testament, is made with such solemnity and reverence that speaking of him as a man seems almost sacrilegious, so close to the divine is he considered. But when Jesus came upon Matthew, he was a man who could scarcely be viewed with little but contempt by the human eye; the divine sight of Christ, however, saw in

The First Day of Christmas Advent: The Christmas Fast

11/15/2023

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on November 16, 2021 Georgios Arabatzoglou Another blessed period of fasting begins, a time of spiritual struggle and an effort to turn our mind to God, each of us with the strength and spiritual ‘nobility’ at our disposal, and, as always, in conjunction with the advice of our spiritual guide. This fast begins on 15 November and lasts until 24 December, while on 25 December, when we celebrate the Nativity of Christ, we have

On the Feast of St. Philip the Apostle

11/14/2023

By S. Michael Phillips In the Name of the + Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ! “Philip ran to [the Ethiopian eunuch], and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ And he said, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’ And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.” [1] Introduction Before it was a Church of those

Saint John Chrysostom

11/13/2023

Saint John Chrysostom (c. 347–407) lived for several years as a monk in the caves near his hometown of Antioch. However, he so injured his health through his severe asceticism that he came back into the city to live. Eventually he was ordained as a presbyter and given the major preaching duties in the cathedral in Antioch. Having been trained in rhetoric by Libanius of Antioch, one of the last great pagan rhetoricians of the

Converted to Love

11/10/2023

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, November 11, 2018 at St. Mary Orthodox Church in Cambridge, MA. The lawyer came to Jesus to put him to the test and then he found himself put to the test by Jesus. The Lord often did that. By answering a question with a question and following with a parable, Jesus sought to challenge and lead those he encountered to see God more clearly and discern more

Saint Nektarios – His Life, Death and What Happened After That

11/09/2023

By Fr. Bill Olnhausen, November 9, 2018 His Death On November 8 in 1920, Saint Nektarios the Wonderworker died. The miracles began immediately. Today he is one of the most revered Orthodox saints of the 20th century. Bishop Nektarios had been ill, so he was taken from the monastery on Aegina to a hospital in Athens. The intern at first could not believe that such a simply dressed man was really a bishop. He was

The Synaxis of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel

11/08/2023

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on November 8, 2021 Metropolitan Panteleimon of Antinoes The Synaxis of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel and all the Heavenly Powers The love of Almighty God is a quality which is externalized through the creation, from non-being, of both the invisible world, or that of the angels, and the creation of the material and visible universe. The culmination of the whole creative love of God was expressed with the formation of human beings and

Blog

The Seventh Day of Christmas Advent: The Entrance into the Temple

The Sixth Day of Christmas Advent: I Will Go into the Altar of God

The Third Day of Christmas Advent: The Magi and the Wise Men from the East Lead to Bethlehem

The Second Day of Christmas Advent: St. Matthew the Evangelist

The First Day of Christmas Advent: The Christmas Fast

On the Feast of St. Philip the Apostle

Saint John Chrysostom

Converted to Love

Saint Nektarios – His Life, Death and What Happened After That

The Synaxis of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel

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