communion Archives - Page 14 of 16

Let Us Discern Between the Living and the Dead

07/18/2016

Today, many historical forms of Christianity are dead or dying. Trying to preserve them through blind conservatism can lead only to the creation of malicious and distrustful ghettos which idolize formalism, or to “fascist” adventures that lead nowhere. On the contrary, we must trust in the “newness of the Spirit,” who will transform this death into resurrection. New approaches are already developing, approaches which rediscover and develop the deepest intuitions of thinkers such as Gregory

Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! The Fourth Thursday of Pascha: The Descent of Jesus into Hades (Part III)

05/26/2016

By Father Thomas Hopko Even on the Russian Orthodox crosses, by the way, there is a little inscription at the foot of Jesus’ feet on the cross, in four Slavonic letters, M, L, R, and B, in Slavonic, which translated means, “The place of the skull (or Golgotha) has become Paradise.” So the bosom of Abraham had to be transformed into Paradise, into a living reality again, with interrelationship with all of creation—the sun, the

To Live the Question (Part II)

02/25/2016

To Live the Question (Part II) His own personal experience taught Merton that solitude not only deepens our affection for others but also is the place where real community becomes possible. Although Merton himself lived as a monk first in a monastic community and later in a hermitage, it is clear from this and other writings that what really counts for him is not the physical solitude but the solitude of the heart. Without the

Theosis

09/28/2015

The Orthodox doctrine of theosis, according to John Paul II, is perhaps the greatest gift of the Eastern Church to the West, but one that has largely been ignored or even denied. [1] The Eastern fathers of the Church believed that we could experience real and transformative union with God. This is in fact the supreme goal of human life and the very meaning of salvation–not only later, but now and later. Theosis refers to

Keeping our Faces in a Facebook World (Part II)

07/29/2015

By Father Lawrence Farley The truth is that real communication and authentic communion with another always involves face to face encounter—that is why there is so much hugging at airports when people are physically reunited after being separated for a time. Did those people who greet each other at the airport not keep in touch by Facebook while they were gone? Did they not phone each other? Did they not exchange e-mails? I’ll bet they

The Seventh Monday after Pascha: Saint Silouan the Athonite and His Relevance Today, Part III

05/25/2015

By Harry Boosalis The broad appeal of the writings of Saint Silouan is based on a combination of other factors as well. The fact that he was uneducated and ‘almost illiterate,’ having attended the village school for ‘just two winters,’ attracts many readers because it reinforces the idea that the heights of Orthodox spiritual life are open and accessible to all. It illustrates the truth that one does not need a degree in theology to

The Fifth Thursday after Pascha, Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! On India and Buddhism—Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew (Part II)

05/14/2015

Conversations with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew by Olivier Clement Everything, the patriarch adds, centers on the concept of the “person.” According to Buddhism, the person does not exist. The Christian, however, affirms the existence of the person. But Orthodoxy does not identify the person with the individual, with the “individual substance of a rational nature,” as Boethius awkwardly stated in the Latin world. This would mean that the person is nothing more than a mask, which

Saint Mary of Egypt and Zosimas the Priest (Part III)

04/03/2015

The Story of Mary and Zosimas Together ~ Professor Susan Ashbrook Harvey, Ph. D., Brown University And so we come to the Story of Mary and Zosimas together. It is above all a story of giving gifts to one another. From the moment they met, their lives were found to be reversed. Mary, the sinful woman, became teacher and giver of grace; Zosimas, the venerable priest and monk, became disciple and suppliant. When Zosimas first

WHY DO WE SING THE AKATHIST HYMN EVERY LENT?

02/26/2015

The Akathist Hymn is a service full of poetry and theology in praise of the Mother of God, the Theotokos. Thus today’s Gospel reading takes us back to Christmas, to the good news that was given to the Theotokos that she would bare God in her womb and become His mother. This is another feast we celebrate every Lent, on the 25th March, the Annunciation. But why do we sing this Akathist Hymn, this song to

55 Maxims for Weekly Meditation, by Father Thomas Hopko

10/29/2014

SUNDAY 1. Be always with Christ and trust God in everything 2. Pray as you can, not as you think you must 3. Have a keepable rule of prayer done by discipline 4. Say the Lord’s Prayer several times each day 5. Repeat a short prayer when your mind is not occupied 6. Make some prostrations when you pray 7. Eat good foods in moderation and fast on fasting days MONDAY 8. Practice silence, inner

Archive

Let Us Discern Between the Living and the Dead

Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! The Fourth Thursday of Pascha: The Descent of Jesus into Hades (Part III)

To Live the Question (Part II)

Theosis

The Seventh Monday after Pascha: Saint Silouan the Athonite and His Relevance Today, Part III

The Fifth Thursday after Pascha, Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! On India and Buddhism—Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew (Part II)

Saint Mary of Egypt and Zosimas the Priest (Part III)

WHY DO WE SING THE AKATHIST HYMN EVERY LENT?

55 Maxims for Weekly Meditation, by Father Thomas Hopko

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