darkness Archives - Page 4 of 5

Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! Thursday of the Second Week of Pascha: Jesus Rose with His Wounds

04/19/2018

Jesus rose with His wounds; and we, too, rise with our wounds. In repentance, we are able to realize a resurrection of the heart before the final resurrection of the dead. The key to this mystery is given to us at the moment of our baptism, which offers the possibility of repentance and the foretaste of resurrection. Through baptism, we find that our resurrection through repentance is not a denial or a disparagement of our

Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! Tuesday of the Second Week of Pascha: Through the Cross, Joy! (Part II)

04/17/2018

This descent, this final and ultimate penetration into the realm of the dead, is accomplished once and for all. It frees patriarch, prophet, and king. But at the same time it frees us, liberating us from the consequences of death. The hand that reaches out to grasp the hands of Adam and Eve reaches out to embrace their descendants as well: every “Adam” who responds to His gesture with longing and with faith. We, like

Friday of the 4th Week of Pascha. Darkness Can Never Defeat the Light

05/12/2017

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:4-5 (From the Gospel at the Divine Liturgy on Pascha) Christ is Risen! Allow me to share with you a view from the priest’s perspective for a moment. Just before midnight on Pascha, all of the lights in the Orthodox churches are extinguished, save for one light that remains

Mary the Contemplative (Part III)

08/03/2016

FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT Mary like any Christian contemplative had to learn to walk by faith. We can believe that the great faith she needed to give her fiat to the message of the angel had been prepared by series of acts of faith developed throughout Mary’s life as she contemplated God’s message unfolding in her life before the Annunciation. We see her deep spirit of contemplative faith when we examine Lk 1:37, “For nothing

ON THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE

03/02/2016

Stripped of all knowledge, lacking in every good thought or deed, without memory from the past or wish for the future, as useless as a worn-out rag, unfeeling as a stone in the path, corroded as a worm-eaten mushroom in the woods, mortal as a fish on the shore and grieved to tears over this wretched plight of yours, thus you will stand in prayer before the Almighty, your Judge and Creator and Father, your

ON AN INTERPRETATION OF ZACCHAEUS (Part II)

01/29/2016

But the less you possess, the simpler is your mode of life. All excess has been thrown away, and the heart gathers itself together at its core. Little by little it tries to get into the kernel, where the stairs to heaven are to be found. Then prayer, too, becomes simpler. Prayers gather around the centre and enter it. There in the depths is seen the only prayer that is needful: the prayer for mercy.

HOLY THEOPHANY

01/06/2016

Bible Readings: Epistle: Titus 2:11-14.3:4-7 Gospel: St. Matthew 3:13-17 Liturgical Services: Christ is baptized! He comes up out of the water, and with Him He carries up the world. He sees the heavens opened that Adam had closed against himself and his posterity. The Spirit bears witness to His divinity, for He hastens toward His like. And a voice sounds from heaven, for it is from heaven that He has come down to those whom

Seventeenth Day of Christmas Advent, Meditation: Why Did He Come? (Part IV)

12/01/2015

Meditation: Why Did He Come? Christmas means that “the Word (the Eternal God) was made flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). In an attempt to capture the monumental humiliation God endured when He took on human flesh, C.S. Lewis likens it to our becoming a worm. Yet God did that for us in order to communicate His love to us. Christmas means that Emmanuel has come: God is not

Thirteenth Day of Christmas Advent, Meditation: Why Did He Come? (Part III)

11/27/2015

Meditation: Why Did He Come? Jesus himself explains why He came: “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them, but to fulfill them” (Matt. 5: 17). “I come not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matt 9; 13). “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). “I have come as light into the world, that whoever

Sixth Day of Christmas Advent, Christmas is Already Easter

11/20/2015

In Jesus, God achieved the perfect synthesis of the divine and the human. The incarnation of Jesus demonstrates that God meets us where we are as humans. God freely and fully overcomes the gap from God’s side. The problem of redemption is already resolved once and for all, long before its dramatic illustration on the cross. Bethlehem already revealed that it was good to be a human being. For the Christian, spiritual power is always

Archive

Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! Thursday of the Second Week of Pascha: Jesus Rose with His Wounds

Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! Tuesday of the Second Week of Pascha: Through the Cross, Joy! (Part II)

Friday of the 4th Week of Pascha. Darkness Can Never Defeat the Light

Mary the Contemplative (Part III)

ON THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE

ON AN INTERPRETATION OF ZACCHAEUS (Part II)

HOLY THEOPHANY

Seventeenth Day of Christmas Advent, Meditation: Why Did He Come? (Part IV)

Thirteenth Day of Christmas Advent, Meditation: Why Did He Come? (Part III)

Sixth Day of Christmas Advent, Christmas is Already Easter

Categories

Archives

View Our Live Stream Services

Keep In Touch

Stewardship Application

Daily Meditations

Worship Schedule

Light a Virtual Candle

Text-to-Give in 2 easy steps!

1) Text 202-899-7801 to include your donation amount

2) Follow the link to complete the one-time registration