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The First Wednesday of Great Lent: Forgiveness and the Whole Adam

03/01/2023

I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; (John17:20-21) The Elder Sophrony, together with St. Silouan, wrote about the “whole Adam.” By this, they meant all the human beings who have ever existed and those yet to come. For Silouan and Sophrony, this was something known in the present tense, a “hypostatic” knowledge of the fundamental unity of the human race. Sophrony described it as

The First Tuesday of Great Lent: Recommitting to the Gospel

02/28/2023

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, December 6, 2020 In the year 313 AD an imperial edict proclaimed Christianity to be the preeminent religion of the empire. Something was lost in that moment. I am not the first to say it, nor will I be the last. What was largely lost was the prophetic voice of the Church. The Church was from the beginning a counter-cultural movement. It became an arm of the

The First Monday (Clean) of Great Lent

02/27/2023

By Fr. Stavros Akrotirianakis, Clean Monday, March 2, 2020 The Journey to the Cross and Resurrection of Christ Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10 Today the Orthodox Church begins the journey of Great Lent. Today is known as Clean Monday. The reason why Lent begins on Monday is that we have a forty day fast PLUS Holy Week. In the Orthodox Church,

To Serve God

02/24/2023

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, March 16, 2017 In a therapeutic culture in which our goal is to be our very best, it is almost impossible to serve God. The reason is quite simple: when my goal is to be my very best, the goal is my God. “Serving God” thus becomes a euphemism for a Christianity that we take to be therapeutic – and that its value lies in its therapeutic virtues. All of this is a

God Is Doing New Things

02/23/2023

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, July 25, 2021. …. So, I want to…say a few words about one verse in particular, “You are the light of the world.” Ilia Delio is a brilliant theologian and scientist in the mold of Fr. De Chardin, creative and most provocative. Let me begin with a Delio quote: “God is doing new things, Jesus proclaimed, but only those with new minds and hearts can see a

Light and Lights

02/22/2023

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on January 26, 2022 Protopresbyter Georgios Dorbarakis ‘Because the Lord has prepared it to be his throne and dwelling-place, the soul which has been granted spiritual union with the light of Christ and has been illumined by the moral beauty of his inexpressible glory completely becomes light, completely becomes a persona*, completely becomes an eye. There is no part of such a soul that is not filled with the spiritual eyes of the light;

He Went Up the Mountain to Pray

02/21/2023

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, August 29, 2021. In our changing times when many are questioning the relevance of the Church, I was reminded of a quote by Carl Jung that sparked this meditation. “It is high time that we realize it is pointless to praise the light and preach it if nobody can see it. It is more needful to teach people the art of seeing.” How, then, do we teach

That Thing You Do – Right Worship

02/20/2023

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, March 13, 2017 In my Anglican years I watched the introduction of a new prayer book. Among its most notable features was variety. In a certain manner, it brought under one roof that most obvious feature of modern Christianity: options. Our culture has an understanding that ideas, thoughts and sentiments are what matters; how they are embodied is largely a matter of private choice – perhaps a lifestyle preference. Confronted with radical

Great-Martyr Theodore the Tyro

02/17/2023

February 17, 2020 The Greek Tyron means “conscript.” This holy Martyr of Christ came from Pontus and was a Roman legionary during Maximian’s persecution (~303). Though he had been a Christian since childhood, he kept his faith secret while in the army. While his cohort was stationed near a town called Euchaita, he learned that the people there were being terrorized by a dragon which lived in the neighboring forest. He set off to face

Remembering God

02/16/2023

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, September 5, 2021. I have been re-reading a little book I first read a long, long time ago in high school. It is called THE PRACTICE OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD by a Catholic monk by the name of Brother Lawrence. The practice he recommends is simply this: to keep one’s heart and mind on God at all times. As simple and obvious as that may be, Brother

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The First Wednesday of Great Lent: Forgiveness and the Whole Adam

The First Tuesday of Great Lent: Recommitting to the Gospel

The First Monday (Clean) of Great Lent

To Serve God

God Is Doing New Things

Light and Lights

He Went Up the Mountain to Pray

That Thing You Do – Right Worship

Great-Martyr Theodore the Tyro

Remembering God

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