~By Fr. Stephen Freeman, February 12, 2025 It is interesting that the story of mankind’s first sin involved eating. We didn’t eat too much, only the wrong thing in the wrong way. But as sins go, it seems rather mundane. Murder is more dramatic (that was a second generation sin). Betrayal makes for a better novel. But there it was – we ate our way to perdition. It’s not widely known, but you can eat
Sermon preached by Subdeacon JD Swartz on Sunday, November 10, 2024 at St. Mary Orthodox Church in Cambridge, MA In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Christ is in our midst! When I volunteered to give the homily today, it was because my mother is in town and I can’t remember the last time she saw me offer a sermon, but it has been quite a
~By Fr. Stephen Freeman, October 2, 2024 “Grandpa, will you die?” The quiet spoken question from the backseat of my car came from my then four-year-old grandson. I knew it was an important moment. “Yes, I will. Everyone grows old and dies.” I added, “But then I will be with Jesus in heaven and I will pray for you all the time.” Silence came as an answer. I knew he was pondering one of the
Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, June 16, 2024 Today’s Gospel reading comes from the section of John’s Gospel known as the High Priestly Prayer. It is a very dense reading and difficult to understand, so forgive me if I get a little too theological in my sermon today. Since it is a prayer, I also cannot help but speak about prayer. I know I often do and that is because it has
~By Fr. Stephen Freeman, August 21, 2024 Some things are so obvious that you cannot see them. Their powers of invisibility do not lie so much within themselves as within those who cannot see them. We are hard-wired for danger, our eyes attuned to threats. We overlook the power of weakness and the vulnerability of humility – the queen and fount of all the virtues. And yet, we are surrounded by humility – it is
~Konstantinos Holevas, Political Scientist Five hundred and [seventy-three] years have gone by since that accursed day, 29 May 1453. When the cry “The City has fallen” rang out and the Reigning City, the City of Saints, Emperors and legends passed into the occupation of the Ottoman dynasty. Thus began the years of Turkish rule. The Greek nation survived, but Constantinople and Ayia Sofia (The Church of Holy Wisdom) remain in foreign hands. Today we honour
Metropolitan Anthony Bloom of Sourozh (Extract from a sermon preached at the University Church of Great St Mary’s, Cambridge, on 19 May 1985) And then, lastly, two events which I would like to bring together. The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple and the Crucifixion. Every male child first-born of a woman was to be brought to the Temple as an offering. If we read back into the Old Testament about the institution of the
~By Father Stephen Freeman Orthodox Christianity often seems inherently conservative. The unyielding place that tradition holds within its life seems ready-made for a conservative bulwark against a world all-too-ready to forget everything that is good or beautiful. There are subtle but important distinctions that make this treatment of Orthodoxy misleading and can lead to the distortion of the faith and an almost reverse image of our true salvation. Orthodox Christianity does not seek to preserve
ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! ~By Dr. Petros Vassiliadis, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Theology at the University of Thessaloniki What is the reason for defining the event of the Resurrection of Christ as “Radiant”— “Lampri”? And what makes the faithful exclaim in the words of Saint John Damascene: “This is the day of resurrection, let us be radiant O people: Pascha, the Lord’s Pascha. For Christ our God has passed us from death to life, and
ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou ‘I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely’ [1]. During Great Lent, to a certain degree, we taste of Christ’s death. In the middle of this period, the Church institutes the Veneration of the Precious Cross, to quicken inspiration and strengthen us in our struggle to be vouchsafed to enter into the life-giving presence of the Risen Lord.
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