Ark of the Covenant Archives

The Seventeenth Day of Christmas Advent. A Virgin Gave Birth

12/01/2025

~By Father Stephen Freeman, December 28, 2022 I was browsing through some online material recently and came across a conversation between a non-believing sceptic and a Christian apologist. The question was asked (right off the top): “Why a virgin birth?” The apologist did a decent job of responding, giving a fairly common explanation of “why Christ had to be born of a virgin.” Something about it left me empty. Thinking about it – I believe

The Feast of the Dormition

08/16/2024

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, August 15, 2021. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ. The scripture readings today are extremely significant and apropos to the day. Saint Paul’s talking about self-emptying: the Kenosis of Jesus Christ, who came to the world, giving up all His divine prerogative to become one of us and save us in

The Sixth Day of Christmas Advent: I Will Go into the Altar of God

11/20/2023

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, November 20, 2021 Most of my early Church memories center around Sunday School (I think that we did not “stay for preaching” very often). The small Baptist church that we attended was about a mile from our house and was conveniently connected by a railroad track, generally inactive on Sundays. My older brother and I often walked along the track on Sunday mornings when the weather was pleasant. The earliest Bible

The Nativity of the Theotokos: Arise, O Lord, Thou and the Ark of Thy holiness

09/08/2023

By Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick, September 8, 2010 The Nativity of the Theotokos, September 8 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. In the Book of Exodus, after the Hebrew people left the land of Egypt, they wandered in the desert for some forty years before they finally came to the Promised Land. During this time, they met with God on the holy mountain

The Seventh Day of Christmas Advent: The Presentation of the Mother of God

11/21/2022

Published by Pemptousia Partnership, November 21, 2016 Vladimir Lossky The Presentation or Entry (είσοδος) of the Mother of God in the Temple (November 21st) does not belong to the most ancient festivals of the Church. None the less, it must be earlier than the end of the VIIth century, since St. Andrew of Crete had known it at Jerusalem at this epoch. It seems that it was introduced at Constantinople a century later, under the

The Dormition

08/15/2022

The Hand in the Gospel

06/27/2022

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, July 18, 2016 My desk sits looking out of a wall of windows. My small backyard is shaded by a lush green this time of year. At any time of day or night, nature sounds mark the movement of the sun as much as the shifting shadows: birds in the early morning give way to katydids as the sun moves up the sky, succeeded by the drone of frogs as night

A Sermon for the New Year, by Father Leonidas Contos

01/01/2020

A Sermon for the New Year, by Father Leonidas Contos The Israelites, frequently in doubt, sometimes in despair, gradually learned to perceive the guiding presence of the Lord even in calamity. God’s Providence becomes quite real to us when we learn to see His mighty hand in all things. It is not right for us to look for signs; but it is essential for us to recognize them when they are given. The difference is

Doubt and Modern Belief

01/19/2018

By Father Stephen Freeman Why do people in the modern world find belief so difficult? Obviously, many find ways to believe in God and do so with great zeal, but others, even those who describe themselves as believers, admit either to doubts about God or about many traditional teachings of the faith. The more “miraculous” teachings, the Divinity of Christ, the Virgin Birth, Walking on the Water, Rising from the Dead, etc. present difficulties for most

Sixth Day of Christmas Advent: THE ENTRY OF THE MOTHER OF GOD INTO THE TEMPLE (Part I)

11/20/2014

The Temple of God The most pure Temple of the Savior, the precious Bridal Chamber and Virgin, the sacred Treasure of the glory of God, is brought today into the house of the Lord. She brings with her the grace of the divine Spirit. God’s angels sing her praise: She is the heavenly tabernacle. (Kontakion of the Feast of the Entry of the Mother of God) THERE IS A STRANGE SILENCE about the Nativity in

Archive

The Seventeenth Day of Christmas Advent. A Virgin Gave Birth

The Feast of the Dormition

The Sixth Day of Christmas Advent: I Will Go into the Altar of God

The Nativity of the Theotokos: Arise, O Lord, Thou and the Ark of Thy holiness

The Seventh Day of Christmas Advent: The Presentation of the Mother of God

The Dormition

The Hand in the Gospel

A Sermon for the New Year, by Father Leonidas Contos

Doubt and Modern Belief

Sixth Day of Christmas Advent: THE ENTRY OF THE MOTHER OF GOD INTO THE TEMPLE (Part I)

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