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Observing the Apostles’ Fast

06/12/2020

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification TOPIC OF THE WEEK: Observing the Apostles’ Fast “…For faithful Orthodox today, the Fast of the Apostles can be an occasion for reflection upon the lives and example of the Holy Apostles. On the Sunday of All Saints (June 14), we remember and celebrate the lives of all those who have gone before us in the faith: our fathers, forefathers, the apostles, preachers, evangelists, teachers, hierarchs

The Voice of the Natural Will

06/12/2020

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, July 10, 2015 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. (2Co 3:17) Though many speak of the “free will” of human beings, this is largely a misnomer, or misapplication of the phrase. The choosing that we experience is not the same thing as the will. It is the product of a fracturing of the will and a manifestation of a fundamental

Ancient Biblical Wisdom on global pandemics: How Covid19 has tested our faith, resiliency, and community.

06/11/2020

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER TODAY! DIGITAL EVENT: CLICK HERE FOR ZOOM WITH PASSWORD ENABLED Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82151472758?pwd=TlRmSk8xdzNIcE5HL3lKRGR0Rzl4dz09 Meeting ID: 821 5147 2758 Password: 866521 One tap mobile +13017158592,,82151472758#,,1#,866521# US (Germantown) +13126266799,,82151472758#,,1#,866521# US (Chicago) Dial by your location +1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 929 205 6099 US (New York)

Christ and Nothing (Part II)

06/11/2020

By David Bentley Hart, October 2003 Even our ethics are achievements of will. And the same is true of those custom-fitted spiritualities — “New Age,” occult, pantheist, “Wiccan,” or what have you—by which many of us now divert ourselves from the quotidien dreariness of our lives. These gods of the boutique can come from anywhere—native North American religion, the Indian subcontinent, some Pre-Raphaelite grove shrouded in Celtic twilight, cunning purveyors of otherwise worthless quartz, pages

Becoming a Philanthropist

06/10/2020

By Abbot Tryphon, October 7, 2019 The act of giving can change everyone’s life for the better As any history buff knows, these times we are living in can sometimes seem like reruns. News reports are filled with stories of wars, disasters, dictators, attacks on the innocent, increased crime, and the ever present persecution of Christians in various parts of the world. We’ve witnessed increased attacks against Coptic Christians in Egypt, as well as the

Self-Emptying: Letting Go of the False Self

06/09/2020

Meister Eckhart, the German Dominican mystic (c. 1260-c.1328), said that spirituality has much more to do with subtraction than it does with addition. [1] Yet our culture, both secular and Christian, seems obsessed with addition: getting rich, becoming famous, earning more brownie points with God or our boss, attaining enlightenment, achieving moral behavior. Jesus and the mystics of other traditions tell us that the spiritual path is not about getting more or getting ahead, which

Monday of the Holy Spirit

06/08/2020

On the day after every Great Feast, the Orthodox Church honors the one through whom the Feast is made possible. On the day following the Nativity of the Lord, for example, we celebrate the Synaxis of the Most Holy Theotokos (December 26). On the day after Theophany, we commemorate St John the Baptist (January 7), and so on. Today we honor the all-Holy, good, and life-creating Spirit, Who descended upon the Apostles at Pentecost in

Holy Pentecost Sunday

06/07/2020

After the Saviour’s Ascension into the Heavens, the eleven Apostles and the rest of His disciples, the God-loving women who followed after Him from the beginning, His Mother, the most holy Virgin Mary, and His brethren-all together about 120 souls returned from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem. Entering into the house where they gathered, they went into the upper room, and there they persevered in prayer and supplication, awaiting the coming of the Holy

Have You Lost Your Soul?

06/05/2020

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, July 1, 2015 When was the last time you heard someone express concern for their soul? When was the last time you listened earnestly as a friend lamented a psychological or emotional struggle? The reason for the difference is simple: we have become a “soul-less” psychologized society. The classical concern for the soul has been replaced by an overwhelming interest in psychological and emotional “health.” We are becoming a “well-adjusted” society. The soul

Christ and Nothing (Part I)

06/04/2020

By David Bentley Hart, October 2003 As modern men and women—to the degree that we are modern—we believe in nothing. This is not to say, I hasten to add, that we do not believe in anything; I mean, rather, that we hold an unshakable, if often unconscious, faith in the nothing, or in nothingness as such. It is this in which we place our trust, upon which we venture our souls, and onto which we

SSCORRE!

Observing the Apostles’ Fast

The Voice of the Natural Will

Ancient Biblical Wisdom on global pandemics: How Covid19 has tested our faith, resiliency, and community.

Christ and Nothing (Part II)

Becoming a Philanthropist

Self-Emptying: Letting Go of the False Self

Monday of the Holy Spirit

Holy Pentecost Sunday

Have You Lost Your Soul?

Christ and Nothing (Part I)

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