Fathers Archives - Saint Sophia

Speaking the Words of God

05/26/2023

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, May 4, 2017 Nothing is as difficult as true theology. Simply saying something correctly is beside the point. Correctness does not rise to the level of theology. Theology, rightly done, is a path towards union with God. It is absolutely more than an academic exercise. Theology is not the recitation of correct facts, it is the apprehension and statement of Beauty. Words have a divine origin, having preceded all of creation.

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Resurrection and Ascension of Christ and the Importance of the Human Body (3)

05/19/2023

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on May 14, 2021 Metropolitan Athanasios of Lemessos Fasting is a theological action, and sin has a theological hypostasis. We don’t avoid sin because it will upset our nervous system or because it’s better for our health to do so. A God who needs things like that isn’t the God of the Gospels, but is Zeus or Cronos and all those who, when they became angry, launched bolts of lightning and did wicked things

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Resurrection and Ascension of Christ and the Importance of the Human Body (1)

05/15/2023

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on May 11, 2021 Metropolitan Athanasios of Lemessos The event of Christ’s Resurrection is the continuation not of the Passion, but of providence, that is, God’s undertaking for the salvation of humankind. Had Christ ended up in the grave and remained there, everything would have been in vain. Our faith would have been in vain, our preaching pointless and everything we do to no avail. If we take away Christ’s Resurrection, everything collapses and,

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Second Tuesday of Pascha: Apostle and Evangelist Mark

04/25/2023

Commemorated on April 25 The Holy Apostle and Evangelist Mark, also known as John Mark (Acts 12:12), was one of the Seventy Apostles, and was also a nephew of Saint Barnabas (June 11). He was born at Jerusalem. The house of his mother Mary adjoined the Garden of Gethsemane. As Church Tradition relates, on the night that Christ was betrayed he followed after Him, wrapped only in a linen cloth. He was seized by soldiers, and

The Sixth Thursday of Great Lent. Living in the Present: An Orthodox Perspective

04/06/2023

By Fr. Antony Hughes Delivered at the Antiochian Women’s Pre-Lenten Retreat, February 10. 2018, At St. John of Damascus Church in Dedham, Massachusetts We are in the midst of a kind of awakening. The sciences, including neuroscience and the quantum sciences, have discovered that there is mystery at the core of the universe. Psychology is being revolutionized by the discovery of the benefits of mindfulness practice in religious people, including prayer and meditation. Even the

The Sixth Monday of Great Lent: The Icon of Unfallen Suffering

04/03/2023

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, March 27, 2017 The so-called “problem of evil” garners enduring attention in our culture. I recall in my freshman philosophy class the conundrum was used as the “coup de grace” in the logical assault on God’s existence. “Not only does God not exist, He’s not even good.” Poor God. All of this is made even more poignant in our comfortable world of modern prosperity where minor setbacks are seen to unravel

The Fourth Saturday of Great Lent: The Annunciation of the Theotokos

03/25/2023

Reading Six months after John the Forerunner’s conception, the Archangel Gabriel was sent by God to Nazareth, a town of Galilee, unto Mary the Virgin, who had come forth from the Temple a mature maiden (see Nov. 21). According to the tradition handed down by the Fathers, she had been betrothed to Joseph four months. On coming to Joseph’s house, the Archangel declared: “Rejoice, thou Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art

The First Thursday of Great Lent: Depth Spirituality

03/02/2023

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, October 25, 2020 Let me begin today by reading from Paul’s letter to the Galatians chapter 5, vs. 22-23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Let’s focus on self-control today since one of the hallmarks of what we call “possession” is the loss of it. Our Holy Fathers and Mothers were not acquainted as

Feast of the Three Holy Fathers, Great Hierarchs and Ecumenical Teachers, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom

01/30/2023

January 30 Introduction During the reign of the Emperor Alexius Comnenus (1081-1118), a controversy arose in Constantinople among men learned in Faith and zealous for virtue about the three holy Hierarchs and Fathers of the Church, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom. Some argued for Saint Basil above the other two because he was able, as none other, to explain the mysteries of the Faith, and rose to angelic rank by his

The Tenth Day of Christmas Advent: Thanksgiving

11/24/2022

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, November 24, 2009 This year I will make the annual pilgrimage back to South Carolina to be with family for the (American) Thanksgiving holiday. Fewer of my children will be there – a mark of the maturing of their own families and the difficulty of travel at this time of year. The year is different as well for it will be the first Thanksgiving holiday without my mother’s presence (may her

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Speaking the Words of God

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Resurrection and Ascension of Christ and the Importance of the Human Body (3)

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Resurrection and Ascension of Christ and the Importance of the Human Body (1)

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Second Tuesday of Pascha: Apostle and Evangelist Mark

The Sixth Thursday of Great Lent. Living in the Present: An Orthodox Perspective

The Sixth Monday of Great Lent: The Icon of Unfallen Suffering

The Fourth Saturday of Great Lent: The Annunciation of the Theotokos

The First Thursday of Great Lent: Depth Spirituality

Feast of the Three Holy Fathers, Great Hierarchs and Ecumenical Teachers, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom

The Tenth Day of Christmas Advent: Thanksgiving

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