Daily Meditations Archives - Page 307 of 356

Father Maximos on the Fruits of the Spirit (Part I)

01/09/2014

Not wasting any time, I opened the conversation by reminding Fr. Maximos of our unfinished discussion about the nine fruits of the Spirit as listed by Apostle Paul, namely love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. “So far,” I said, “we have covered the last three: self-control, gentleness, and faithfulness. We were about to begin discussing the next two stages, goodness and kindness.” Fr. Maximos nodded. “According to the Gospel, goodness is

The Essence of Prayer (III)

01/08/2014

The Wise Men travelled a long way and nobody knows the difficulties they had to overcome. Each of us also travels as they did. They were loaded with gifts, gold for the king, frankincense for the God, myrrh for the man who was to suffer death. Where can we get gold, frankincense and myrrh, we who are indebted for everything to God? We know that everything we possess has been given us by God and

The Synaxis of Saint John the Baptist: The Greatest Born of Woman

01/07/2014

The second day of the feast of the Epiphany is called the Synaxis of Saint John, the prophet, forerunner and Baptist of the Lord. It is a day of liturgical celebration in honor of the one who prepared the way for the Messiah and baptized Him in the Jordan river. According to Jesus himself, there is no one greater than John the Baptist. “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women, there has

The Lord’s Epiphany in the Jordan

01/06/2014

Like the liturgical celebration of the Lord’s Nativity, the festival of His Epiphany in the Jordan at the time of His baptism is inaugurated with a prefeast celebration of five days. And also like the services of the Nativity, many hymns of the Epiphany prefeast are patterned after those of the springtime Pascha of the Lord’s death and resurrection. Once again just a few words in many of the songs are changed from those sung

The Tenth Day of Christmas: The Tradition of the Vasilopita

01/03/2014

The tradition of baking and cutting a special “pita” (which can mean a loaf of bread, a cake, or even a pie!) each year on January 1″ is observed in honor of our Holy Father Basil the Great, archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia – hence its name Vasilopita. This tradition is observed in both parish churches and in the homes of the faithful. What is the meaning of this tradition and how did it begin?

The Ninth Day of Christmas: Life Lessons from St. Basil the Great

01/02/2014

We are bombarded with messages about who we should be… Should we be “Keeping Up with the Kardashians”, keeping ourselves “Jerseylicious,” or believe that we can “do whatever we want” as Miley Cyrus recommends? It is difficult to be a Christian, when we are told to be many different things at once. So how do we, in this day and age, figure out who we are supposed to be? Who do we follow? In the

The Eighth Day of Christmas: The Feast Day of Saint Basil the Great

01/01/2014

Saint Basil the Great was born in the year 329 in Caesarea of Cappadocia, to a family renowned for their learning and holiness. His parents’ names were Basil and Emmelia. His mother Emmelia (commemorated July 19 and May 30) and his grandmother Macrina (January 14) are Saints of the Church, together with all his brothers and sisters: Macrina, his elder sister (July 19), Gregory of Nyssa (January 10), Peter of Sebastia (January 9), and Naucratius.

The Seventh Day of Christmas: The Sun of Righteousness

12/31/2013

One of the titles of the Messiah in the prophetic writings of the Bible is the Sun of Righteousness. It is found in the prophet Malachi. For behold, the day comes, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear My name,

The Sixth Day of Christmas: Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh

12/30/2013

The adoration of Jesus by the wise men from the East is part of the Nativity celebration in the Orthodox Church.l Whatever the actual historical circumstances of the event—and Orthodox tradition takes them quite literally—the spiritual and theological significance of the coming of the kings with their gifts of paramount importance. We have already seen how the Church emphasizes the fact that the entire order of nature participates in the announcement of Christ’s birth, thus

The Third Day of Christmas: The Synaxis of the Ever-Virgin Mary (Part II)

12/27/2013

It is also the Church’s teaching, following the scripture, that Mary remained a virgin all of her life. She never knew a man. And she never had any other children besides the Lord Jesus. Once again, this conviction is not only defended on the basis of the biblical record, but it is also understood to be a theological truth inspired by the Holy Spirit which is mystically proper and spiritually evident to those with “the