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Occasions and Spiritual Meditations Proceeding From Them

11/17/2022

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week – Occasions and Spiritual Meditations Proceeding From Them “…one can turn his meditation from every occasion and from every visible creature to things invisible, for example: from the visible world to the invisible; from the visible light to the invisible and eternal Light, that is to God; from visible darkness to the invisible darkness, that is to the devil and sin, from

The Third Day of Christmas Advent: Are the Stories of Jesus’ Birth True?

11/17/2022

By Fr John Breck, January 1, 2005 The Christmas season inevitably leads people in the media to speculate on whether or not the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ conception and birth are historically accurate. The question they raise in the public mind is whether these cherished stories are really “true.” A good, well-balanced example of this kind of reflection appeared in the December 13, 2004 edition of Newsweek. The article rehearsed a familiar array of parallels

The Second Day of Christmas Advent. Feast of St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist: Another Sinner Turned Saint

11/16/2022

By Fr. Stavros Akrotirianakis, November 16, 2021 Feast of St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and He said to him, “Follow Me.” And he rose and followed Him. And as He sat at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they

The First Day of Christmas Advent: Caring for the Lonely

11/15/2022

By Fr John Breck, December 2, 2008 A woman in the parish recently buried her husband after his long and losing battle with cancer. A thirteen-year old girl still cries herself to sleep each night several months after her parents’ bitter divorce. A man off the streets, recently chrismated into the Orthodox Church, is waging a tentative battle with alcoholism, trying with too little support to keep himself in recovery. The priest’s wife, determined to

Holy, All-Praised Apostle Philip

11/14/2022

Commemorated on November 14. The Holy and All-praised Apostle Philip was a native of the city of Bethsaida in Galilee. He had a profound depth of knowledge of the Holy Scripture, and rightly discerning the meaning of the Old Testament prophecies, he awaited the coming of the Messiah. Through the call of the Savior (John 1:43), Philip followed Him. The Apostle Philip is spoken about several times in the Holy Gospel: he brought to Christ

Saint Minas, a Brave Martyr and Confessor

11/11/2022

Published by Pemptousia Partnership, November 11, 2017 Saint Minas lived at the time of the Emperor Maximian and was born in Egypt of pagan parents. According to Coptic sources, Minas was born in Egypt in 285 A.D., in the city of Niceous, naear Memphis. His parents were Christians but did not have any children for a long time. His father’s name was Evdoxios and his mother’s Eufimia. On a feast of the Mother of God,

The Despised God

11/10/2022

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, January 24, 2017 In On the Orthodox Faith, St. John of Damascus declares: ‘The Son is the image of the Father, and the Spirit the image of the Son’. Such statements are easily read and passed over as among the more obvious Trinitarian statements. I add to this statement another from St. Irenaeus: “That which is invisible of the Son is the Father, and that which is visible of the Father is

Spiritual Counsels of the Elders of Optina

11/09/2022

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week- Spiritual Counsels of the Elders of Optina “We must entrust everything to the will of God, even our being separated from each other. The Lord enlightens us in order that we not become attached to the things of this world, no matter how precious they might seem, in order that we might strive for the heavenly, saving our souls. Strive only to save your soul,

Saint Nectarius Kephalas, Metropolitan of Pentapolis

11/09/2022

Commemorated on November 9 Saint Nectarius, the great wonderworker of modern times, was born Anastasius Kephalas in Selebria, Thrace on October 1, 1846. Since his family was poor, Anastasius went to Constantinople when he was fourteen in order to find work. Although he had no money, he asked the captain of a boat to take him. The captain told him to take a walk and then come back. Anastasius understood, and sadly walked away. The

Synaxis of the Archangel Michael & the other Bodiless Powers: Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Salaphiel, Jegudiel, & Barachiel

11/08/2022

Reading All the Angels, according to the Apostle Paul, are ministering spirits, – sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation – (Heb. 1:14). God set them as overseers of every nation and people, and guides to that which is profitable (Deut. 32:8); and while one Angel is appointed to oversee each nation as a whole, one is also appointed to protect each Christian individually. He commands them to guard them

SSCORRE!

Occasions and Spiritual Meditations Proceeding From Them

The Third Day of Christmas Advent: Are the Stories of Jesus’ Birth True?

The Second Day of Christmas Advent. Feast of St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist: Another Sinner Turned Saint

The First Day of Christmas Advent: Caring for the Lonely

Holy, All-Praised Apostle Philip

Saint Minas, a Brave Martyr and Confessor

The Despised God

Spiritual Counsels of the Elders of Optina

Saint Nectarius Kephalas, Metropolitan of Pentapolis

Synaxis of the Archangel Michael & the other Bodiless Powers: Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Salaphiel, Jegudiel, & Barachiel

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