Daily Meditations Archives

The Second Wednesday of Pascha. Apostle James the Brother of Saint John the Theologian

04/30/2025

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! Commemorated on April 30 The Holy Apostle James, the son of Zebedee, was the brother of Saint John the Theologian, and one of the Twelve Apostles. He and his brother, Saint John, were called to be Apostles by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who called them the “Sons of Thunder” (Mark 3:17). It was this James, with John and Peter, who witnessed the Raising of the Daughter of Jairus, the Lord’s Transfiguration

The Second Tuesday of Pascha. No Walls

04/29/2025

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, May 9, 2021 Faith. Deep and true faith means being open to what the truth turns out to be as we grow and learn and come more fully to understand. We come to know most fully through an experience of the Living God just like so many did when encountering the Crucified One risen from the dead. In the journey of faith, we must be willing to

The Second Monday of Pascha. Identity and the Resurrection of Christ

04/28/2025

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! ~By Father Stephen Freeman, April 20, 2023 There is a strange moment described in the gospels regarding the resurrection of Christ (in fact, there are several such moments). When Mary Magdalen first encounters the risen Lord, we are told that she “took Him for the gardener.” But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in

Sunday of Thomas. Renewal Sunday (Antipascha): The Eighth Day after Pascha

04/27/2025

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! Renewal Sunday (Antipascha): The Eighth Day after Pascha (Saint Thomas Sunday) Some icons depicting this event are inscribed “The Doubting Thomas.” This is incorrect. In Greek, the inscription reads, “The Touching of Thomas.” The Slavonic inscription is, “The Belief of Thomas.” When St Thomas touched the Life-giving side of the Lord, he no longer had any doubts. This day is also known as “Antipascha.” This does not mean “opposed to

The First (Bright) Friday of Pascha. St. Mark the Apostle, the Founder of the Coptic Church

04/25/2025

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Coptic Church or the Church of Alexandria is called “Sees of St. Mark”; one of the earliest four sees: Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, and Rome. St. Mark, The Founder The Copts are proud of the apostolicity of their Church, whose founder is St. Mark; one of the seventy Apostles (Mk 10:10), and one of the four Evangelists. He is regarded by the Coptic hierarchy as the first of their unbroken

The First (Bright) Thursday of Pascha. And Into the Brightness

04/24/2025

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! ~By Fr. Stephen Freeman, April 9, 2007 Bright Week – such a marvelous phrase – descriptive theologically and in many other ways of the time after Pascha. If we only knew, we all live in Bright Week – despite the fasting that we take up from season to season – despite the disasters that plague our earthly sojourn – still, we are all living in Bright Week. In Bright Week,

The First (Bright) Wednesday of Pascha. Saint George the Great Martyr & Triumphant

04/23/2025

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! This great and wonderful athlete of Christ’s was the son of a wealthy and high-ranking Cappadocian family. George having lost his father at the age of ten, his mother Polychronia, who had become a Christian without her husband’s knowledge, returned to Palestine, her homeland, and brought up her son in the evangelical virtues. Handsome, intelligent and refined in manner, George embarked on a military career at the age of eighteen.

The First (Bright) Tuesday of Pascha. Relative to Pascha

04/22/2025

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! ~By Fr. Stephen Freeman, April 20, 2009 If you have attended Pascha services, or served them, it is quite possible to suffer some of the “natural consequences,” which for me means that after a somewhat disordered sleep I am sitting, having coffee and writing at 3:30 in the morning, wide-awake. I have no complaints. I generally like to be up by around 5 or so, so I am only off

The First (Bright) Monday of Pascha. Renewal Week, the Brightest and Most Resurrectional of the Year

04/21/2025

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! ~Protopresbyter Antonios Christou My dear readers, CHRIST HAS RISEN! After Great Lent, we entered Holy Week, and after Easter Sunday (the evening of Great Saturday) we’re now into the ‘Rose’ Triodio, that is the period of the Pentikostario (the book of Pentecost). This is the preeminent time of the resurrection in the Church and lasts until the Sunday of All Souls. The first week of the Pentikostario, that is the

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Great and Holy Pascha

04/20/2025

Introduction On the Great and Holy Feast of Pascha, Orthodox Christians celebrate the life-giving Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This feast of feasts is the most significant day in the life of the Church. It is a celebration of the defeat of death, as neither death itself nor the power of the grave could hold our Savior captive. In this victory that came through the Cross, Christ broke the bondage of sin,