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The Feast of the Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Nativity Sermon of St. John Chrysostom

Behold a new and wondrous mystery. My ears resound to the Shepherd’s song, piping no soft melody, but chanting full forth a heavenly hymn. The Angels sing. The Archangels blend their voice in harmony. The Cherubim hymn their joyful praise. The Seraphim exalt His glory. All join to praise this holy feast, beholding the Godhead here on earth, and man in heaven. He Who is above, now for our redemption dwells here below; and he

The Thirty-Fifth Day of Christmas Advent. What is the Good News?

And the angel said to them, “Be not afraid, for I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people.” -Luke 2:10 What is the good news? In the Nativity story, the Angels gave the message, “For to you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord (Luke 2: 11).” What does that mean to us? Let’s go back to Genesis

Angels (Part II)

By Nabil Semaan GLADNESS OF ANGELS (17) “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation” (Hebrew 1:14). St. John Chrysostom comments on this verse by saying, “Look how God loves man so that He created holy creatures to serve the man created according to His image.” Humans, although heavier than angels by their body and in a state of sin, death and corruption, when they

Angels (Part I)

By Nabil Semaan THE FALL OF ANGELS (16) First of all, this event happened before the fall of man. The cause of the fall of some angels is that they rebelled against God. Their leader was one of the most beautiful Cherubim; he was gifted much more than the others in divine grace, according to the prophet Isaiah: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down

Contemplation as a Path of Healing (Part I)

Contemplation as a Path of Healing A person can’t be healed within simply through discipline. Dealing with thoughts, along with concrete exercises, helps to calm the passions and make the soul healthy. But it takes contemplation to actually achieve that health. That was the monks’ experience, and that is how Evagrius Ponticus described it. Contemplation is pure prayer, prayer without respite, praying beyond thoughts and feelings, praying as oneness with God. Evagrius never tires of

NOUS: “VIGILANT GATE-KEEPER.” (Part II)

As attentive and vigilant as the nous may be, without divine strength and the invocation of the name of the Lord Jesus, “the rotating sword,” it is unable to be guarded from harmful thoughts. The vigilance, therefore, or the watchfulness or attentiveness of the nous is accompanied by prayer. On its own, the nous does not have the power for pure prayer unless it uses the salt of watchfulness that drives away impure and wicked

Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! The Third Thursday of Pascha: What Christ Accomplished on the Cross (The Consequences of Christ’s Redemptive Work, Part III)

By Hieromonk Damascene The Consequences of Christ’s Redemptive Work, Part III The aim of the Christian life, says St. Seraphim of Sarov, is to acquire the Grace of the Holy Spirit. [31] We receive the seed of that Grace within us at Baptism. And then, through our sacramental life in the Church, through a life of prayer and virtue, practicing the commandments of Christ, we are to cultivate and nurture this seed of inward baptismal

Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! The Second Monday of Pascha: What Christ Accomplished on the Cross (The Primordial State)

By Hieromonk Damascene The Primordial State Let us begin by discussing the state of man and the world before the Fall. A right understanding of this pre-Fall state is actually essential to a right understanding of the meaning of Christ’s death on the Cross. We have to understand what Adam fell from in order to understand what Christ restores us to. According to the Patristic interpretation of the Holy Scriptures, before the Fall man’s body was not subject

The Fifth Wednesday of Great Lent: The Devil has not Full Power & The Devil’s Strategy

The Devil has not Full Power Among the angelic powers the chief of the terrestrial order, the one to whom God had entrusted the task of looking after the earth, was not evil by nature, he had not received any trace of evil from his Creator. He was good. However, he did not maintain the light and the honour that God had given him. By a deliberate act of his own free will he rebelled

Eighteenth Day of Christmas Advent, Journey to Bethlehem, Part III

By Father John Parker The Angels are rejoicing and proclaiming the Good News.  The Magi, journeying from afar, bear their gifts foreshadowing the divinity, sovereignty, and humanity of Christ.  The shepherds, the first Jews to believe, explain what they have seen and heard, leading others, too, to wonder! As we make our way, as if in a spiral towards the center of Rublev’s Nativity, we are greeted by a strange pair.  A couple we wouldn’t