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Serve with Love, Avoid Greed

Sermon preached by Dimitri Newman on Sunday, June 9, 2024 In the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen! In today’s epistle we heard about a slave girl, who was possessed by a spirit, which had the power of divination, that is the spirit was able to tell the future. The people of Phillipi, where the apostles were, would apparently spend a great deal of money

A Christmas Sermon by St. Gregory of Nazianzus (AD 380)

~Sermon preached by St. Gregory of Nazianzus (AD 380) Christ is born, glorify Him. Christ from heaven, go out to meet Him. Christ on earth, be exalted. Sing to the Lord all the whole earth; and that I may join both in one word, let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad, for Him who is of heaven and then of earth. Christ in the flesh, rejoice with trembling and with joy; with

On the Feast of St. Philip the Apostle

~By S. Michael Phillips, November 14, 2004 In the Name of the + Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ! “Philip ran to [the Ethiopian eunuch], and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ And he said, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’ And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.” [1] Introduction Before it was a

‘We Shall Be Saved through His Life’

Protopresbyter Themistoklis Mourtzanos ‘For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life’ (Rom. 5, 10) In our spiritual tradition, the attitude of people towards God is often portrayed as being hostile. God and human beings seem to be two different worlds, between which there’s no love or co-existence, but rather a yawning chasm. It may

Euphemia the Great Martyr

St Euphemia the Martyr is celebrated twice a year in the Orthodox Church…. on the 11th of July is the miracle of her relics that decided the 4th Ecumenical Council, held in Chalcedon, 451 AD…. the second Feast, on September 16th, celebrates her repose as a martyr. The Slavic tradition does not have a separate Sunday for the 4th Ecumenical Council, instead celebrating the Fathers of the first six Ecumenical Councils on that same Sunday.

Orthodoxy Represents Our Original Incompetency

~By Father Stephen Freeman, September 11, 1018 There is one thing to be said about Church-shopping: you can always find a better one… I often see examples of what I would describe as “comparative denominationalism.” It is the comparison of one Church to another (yes, I know that Orthodoxy is not a denomination). Indeed, the drive for a “better Church,” a “more authentic Church,” the “true Church,” the “New Testament Church,” is little more than

The Fifth Thursday of Pascha. The Resurrection: An Affront to Reason

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! ~Archimandrite Epiphanios Ekonomou It’s hardly surprising that the message of the Resurrection of Christ has raised a whole host of doubts and questions. Objections were registered immediately after the occurrence of the supernatural event on which the whole structure of the Christian Church is founded. For the Jews of Biblical Jerusalem, it was a blasphemy of the apostate Christians to claim that a crucified criminal could ever be the Messiah.

On the Feast of St. Philip the Apostle

By S. Michael Phillips In the Name of the + Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ! “Philip ran to [the Ethiopian eunuch], and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ And he said, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’ And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.” [1] Introduction Before it was a Church of those

The Tenth Day of Christmas Advent: Thanksgiving

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

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Second Tuesday of Pascha. The Resurrection: An Affront to Reason

Published by Pemptousia Partnership, April 17, 2015 By Archimandrite Epiphanios Ekonomou It’s hardly surprising that the message of the Resurrection of Christ has raised a whole host of doubts and questions. Objections were registered immediately after the occurrence of the supernatural event on which the whole structure of the Christian Church is founded. For the Jews of Biblical Jerusalem, it was a blasphemy of the apostate Christians to claim that a crucified criminal could ever be