Archive

People as Liturgical Beings, Part 1

Published by Pemptousia Partnership, October 23, 2014 By Abbot George Kapsanis of Gregoriou We usually characterize people as rational and independent beings. These attributes are correct enough, but don’t convey human nature in its completeness. Through the liturgical experience, we feel that, more than anything, people are liturgical beings. They were made to serve, to offer themselves and the whole world to God with gratitude, praise and worship, to unite with God, to be sanctified,

On Palm Sunday

Sermon Preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, April 1, 2007 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ! The crowd in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday long ago was mistaken. Jesus was not the Messiah they had hoped for. He did not come to overthrow Rome or to establish an earthly kingdom. They would have known that if they had listened

The Eleventh Day of Christmas Advent. Thanksgiving Day! Catherine the Great Martyr of Alexandria

A day set aside for giving thanks to God By Abbot Tryphon, November 28, 2019  Thanksgiving has officially been an annual tradition since 1863, when during the Civil War President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving. The word Thanksgiving has its roots in the Greek word, eucharistia, where the Church gets the word Eucharist. For we Orthodox Christians the ultimate giving of thanks to God comes when we offer the Eucharistic sacrifice, and enter into

The Friday before Pentecost: A Little Pentecost at Every Liturgy

And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.” But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, ”Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of

Three Guiding Lights of Truth Faith

By Very Rev. Stephen Rogers, from The Word, January 2001 As the month of January draws to a close, the Church calls us on the 30th to celebrate the Feast of the Three Holy Hierarchs: St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian and St. John Chrysostom. In celebrating these three great teachers of the Church, the Church in its hymnody refers to them as “harps of the Spirit,” “rays of light,” “scented flowers of Paradise,”

Together. Authentic Orthodoxy.

By Abbot Tryphon, November 5, 2019  We are all in this together As we struggle in this life, it is good to remember that we are all together. We find our place of silence, where we encounter God, but even in this place set apart, we are together. In our journey to God, our common goal is the acquisition of a humble and contrite heart, and our common homeland is found in the Divine Liturgy,

The Cross and 9/11

When someone says 9-11 almost everyone in America will know that it refers to September 11, 2001, the day of the infamous attacks on the United States by 19 hijackers who flew two airline passenger jets into the World Trade Center in New York, one into the Pentagon near Washington DC, and one that crashed into a field near Shanksville Pennsylvania while it was undoubtedly bound for the Capitol or White House. 9-11 became a

Remembering the End

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, August 4, 2016 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

Do Not Weep

By Abbot Tryphon, May 25, 2020 I am in Rogue River, Oregon, where I came to serve the Divine Liturgy for my dear friend and concelebrant, Archpriest Seraphim Cardoza. Father Seraphim has been dealing with very serious heart issues, having suffered two heart attacks during the past few weeks. Due to his declining health, he needed me to minister to his parishioners, and I was more than happy to do so. On my seven hour

Prayer of the Heart in an Age of Technology and Distraction, Part 7

By Fr. Maximos (Constas) St. Paul says you are the dwelling place of God. Is this how we normally understand ourselves? To be dwelling places inhabited by God? This is a very powerful assertion; do we take it seriously and understand what it means and what our lives mean in the context of such a statement? Do we live consistently with such a statement? It’s a wonderful thing to be able to begin the day