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Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Pascha. Ascended in Glory (Part I)

THE FEAST OF CHRIST’S Ascension is seldom given its due in the cycle of liturgical services, even within the Orthodox tradition. This is in part because it falls awkwardly on a Thursday, when most of our parishioners are at work. More significant is the fact that the theology, the deeply spiritual meaning of the feast, is not well understood. The Ascension is difficult for us to grasp because the image it evokes seems so improbable.

Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Pascha. The Feast of Mid-Pentecost

The great but often neglected feast of Mid-Pentecost (Wednesday of the fourth week after Pascha) brings together with magnificent hymnody the major themes of Pascha, Ascension, and Pentecost: The Resurrection and Christ’s glorification, together with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. On the eve of the feast we read a passage from the prophecy of Isaiah 55, which again focuses on the image of water: “Thus says the Lord, ‘Everyone who thirsts, come to the

The Tenth Day of Christmas. The Last Christmas – Ever

By Father Stephen Freeman This Christmas was the last Christmas – ever. Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. Wherever He is, there is the beginning and the end of all things. If Christ was truly present in this year’s Christmas, then it was the last Christmas – and the first Christmas. And if statements like this make your hair hurt – then read on. Our common way of thinking about the world is marked

The Dormition of our Most Holy Lady the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary (I)

The Dormition of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary: After the Ascension of the Lord, the Mother of God remained in the care of the Apostle John the Theologian, and during his journeys She lived at the home of his parents, near the Mount of Olives. She was a source of consolation and edification both for the Apostles and for all the believers. Conversing with them, She told them about miraculous events: the

Feast of All Saints. The End Goal for Everyone-Numbered Among the Saints

Jesus said: “Everyone who acknowledges Me before men, I also will acknowledge before My Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies Me before men, I also will deny before My Father who is in heaven. Matthew 10:32-33 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who does not take his cross

Feast of the Holy Spirit. Life in the Early Church

Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ”Brethren, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:37-38 For the last week of these reflections that have brought us through

Leave-Taking of the Ascension. The Holy Spirit Comes Down as Fire on All People

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Acts 2:1-4

Thursday after the Ascension. Don’t Just Stand Around

And while they were gazing into heaven as He went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, ”Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven.” Acts 1:10-11 As we wind down these reflections that took us through Lent, Holy Week, the Paschal Season and now the

Wednesday after the Ascension. I Am with You Always!

“And lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” Matthew 28:20 Before Christ, there was a mistaken notion that God resided in the temple in Jerusalem. People had to go to the temple to pray. When Jerusalem fell and the people of Israel were exiled to Babylon, not only did they mourn the loss of their city, they even mourned the loss of their God. For they thought the destruction of

Tuesday after the Ascension. The Most Important Thing in Life Is the Only Non-Seasonal Thing We Do

Then He led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up His hands He blessed them. While He blessed them, He parted from them, and was carried up into heaven. And they returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God. Luke 24: 50-53 There are many “seasons” in life, seasons that are anticipated, seasons that are endured, seasons that are enjoyed, seasons that end, sometimes even seasons that