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The Sixth Tuesday of Great Lent: The Beauty of the Christ’s Prayer

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, May 28, 2017 at St. Mary Orthodox Church The Lord seems grounded and focused as he prays this long discourse-like prayer on the eve of his passion. When you might expect that fear and anxiety would distract him and overwhelm him, they don’t. He seems to be utterly non-resistant to the fear he must have been feeling and to the fate that waited for him. That doesn’t

Marriage and Holiness

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on June 8, 2021 Is marriage a path to sanctity and holiness? Upon seeing an article with a title containing the word “holiness,” one would think that the article discusses monastery life, or a life devoted to the Lord Jesus Christ and the service of His Church. However, in the Orthodox Church, marital life is also a holy life, as marriage is a sacrament (mysterion); it carries the sanctifying and purifying grace of the

The Second Day of Christmas Advent: St. Matthew the Evangelist

16 November 2017 Any reference to the Apostle St. Matthew, author of the first book of the New Testa­ment, is made with such solemnity and reverence that speaking of him as a man seems almost sacrilegious, so close to the divine is he con­sidered. But when Jesus came upon Matthew, he was a man who could scarcely be viewed with little but contempt by the human eye; the divine sight of Christ, however, saw in

Feast of the Holy Apostles Bartholomew and Barnabas

Apostle Bartholomew of the Twelve The Holy Apostle Bartholomew was born at Cana of Galilee and was one of the Twelve Apostles of Christ. After the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, it fell by lot to the holy Apostles Bartholomew and Philip (November 14) to preach the Gospel in Syria and Asia Minor. In their preaching they wandered through various cities, and then met up again. Accompanying the holy Apostle

Mary the Contemplative (Part V)

THE PRAYER OF THE HEART St. Luke must have known Mary and her prayerfulness either by direct communication with Mary herself or from information given him by those who knew Mary intimately, especially St. John the beloved disciple to whom Mary was entrusted by Christ on the cross. Twice St. Luke indicates Mary’s contemplative spirit. At Bethlehem she reflects on the words of the shepherds. “As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered

THE MEANING OF THE GREAT FAST (Part VII)

By Mother Mary and Bishop Kallistos Ware We can apply this approach also to the question of abstinence from sexual relations. It has long been the Church’s teaching that during seasons of fasting married couples should try to live as brother and sister, but this does not at all signify that sexual relations within marriage are in themselves sinful. On the contrary, the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete – in which, more than