Daily Meditations Archives

Holy and Great-Martyr Euphemia

09/16/2021

The Holy and Great-Martyr Euphemia is commemorated on September 16th, the day on which she suffered. On this day is commemorated the miracle wrought by her precious holy relics, revealed at the time of the Fourth Ecumenical Council in Chalcedon. This Council was called together in the reign of the Emperor Marcian and the Empress Pulcheria, in 451 A.D., after the death of the Emperor Theodosius the Younger, and was summoned because of the heresy

Greatmartyr Nikḗtas the Goth

09/15/2021

The Holy Great Martyr Nikḗtas was a Goth (a Germanic tribe). He was born and lived on the banks of the Danube River, suffering for Christ in the year 372. The Christian Faith was already spreading throughout the territory of the Goths at that time. Saint Nikḗtas believed in Christ and was baptized by the Gothic bishop Theophilos, who participated in the First Ecumenical Council. Pagan Goths started to oppose the spread of Christianity, which

The Elevation of the Venerable and Life-Giving Cross

09/14/2021

Saint Helen, the mother of Saint Constantine the Great, when she was already advanced in years, undertook, in her great piety, the hardships of a journey to Jerusalem in search of the cross, about the year 325. A temple to Aphrodite had been raised up by the Emperor Hadrian upon Golgotha, to defile and cover with oblivion the place where the saving Passion had been suffered. The venerable Helen had the statue of Aphrodite destroyed,

When Words Fail – The End of Morality

09/13/2021

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, February 22, 2016 I can think of two experiences where words fail: before the presence of God and in the presence of deep shame. The first is too great and too wondrous for words, the second too bitter and painful. Both are essential for our humanity if it is to be lived to the fullest. They represent not only the boundary of our vocabulary, but also the boundary of our existence.

Feeling Like a Fool

09/10/2021

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, February 17, 2016 No one wants to feel like a fool. When it happens, our faces flush, we turn our eyes away (usually towards the ground). We usually want to hide or disappear, and, just as likely the burn in our face quickly passes to the hot burn of anger. Often what follows are words or actions we regret later. Having felt like a fool, we often act like one, unable

Joachim & Anna

09/09/2021

The holy and righteous Joachim and Anna are the parents of the Theotokos, the grandparents of Jesus Christ. Their feast day is celebrated on September 9, following the Nativity of the Theotokos; the dormition of St. Anna is commemorated on July 25. St. Joachim was of the tribe of Judah, and a descendant of King David. St. Anna was the daughter of Matthan the priest, of the tribe of Levi as was Aaron the High

Feast of the Nativity of Our Most Holy Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary

09/08/2021

INTRODUCTION The Feast of the Nativity of Our Most Holy Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary is celebrated on September 8 each year. The Feast commemorates the birth of the Mother of Jesus Christ, our Lord. BACKGROUND The birth and early life of the Virgin Mary is not recorded inthe Gospels or other books of the New Testament, however this information can be found in a work dating from the second century known as the Book of James or Protevangelion. According to the story found in this book, Mary’s parents, Joachim and Anna, were childless for many years. They remained faithful

Family

09/07/2021

Family Staying connected to family By Abbot Tryphon, December 19, 2019 It is always sad to lose a family member in death, but it is also sad that it often takes a funeral to bring together relatives who haven’t seen each other in years. It is from this perspective that I realize I, as the oldest of the cousins, am perhaps the one family member who remembers how important family reunions were to my maternal

Unity, the One Cup and the Fire of God

09/06/2021

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, February 14, 2016 Ecumenism is back in the news and with it comes a deluge of misunderstanding and theological confusion. For while “unity” and the very concept of “one” are actually inherently mystical, most who write about and discuss the topic substitute a merely human, political and administrative notion. Two key verses are frequently drawn from the 17th chapter of St. John’s gospel: Now I am no longer in the world, but

The One Thing Progress Cannot Do

09/03/2021

By Stephen Freeman, February 6, 2016 It is common among Orthodox teachers to identify prayer with the “one thing necessary” that Christ speaks of in John 11. This emphasizes prayer as communion with God – for communion with God is the very source of our life. I will expand this meaning of the “one thing necessary” to include the very “mind” required for its practice. And, as we shall see, it is strikingly at odds