hades Archives - Page 5 of 9

The Sixth Friday of Great Lent: Let’s Get Out of This Place

04/23/2021

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, April 11, 2020 The Saturday before Palm Sunday is known as Lazarus Saturday among the Orthodox, and they celebrate Christ raising him from the dead just prior to His entrance into Jerusalem (gospel of John). It is a feast that offers something of a preview of Christ’s resurrection, and a foretaste of the General Resurrection at the End of the Age. Some years back I sat in a cave that is purported to

The Fifth Monday of Great Lent: How to Strengthen Your Lenten Prayer Life

04/12/2021

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, February 9, 2018 The traditional acts of asceticism associated with Great Lent (and the whole of the Christian life) are prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and repentance. In my experience, Orthodox faithful tend to concentrate on fasting and perhaps making a good confession. If we have weaknesses, they are found in our prayers and almsgiving. These two belong together. Christ said: And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that

The Fourth Friday of Great Lent: The Ladder of Divine Ascent and Moral Improvement

04/09/2021

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, April 4, 2019 The Fourth Sunday of Great Lent in the Orthodox Church, is dedicated to St. John Climacus, the author of the ancient work, The Ladder of Divine Ascent. It is a classic work describing “steps” within the life of the struggling ascetic. There is an icon associated with this work, picturing monastics climbing the rungs of a ladder to heaven, battling demons who are trying to pull them off. However,

The Mystery of the Forerunner

01/07/2021

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, August 28, 2015 There is a unanimous witness in the Christian gospels concerning the place of St. John the Baptist. In the Orthodox world he is generally referred to as the Forerunner. All of the gospels agree that he plays a key role in the coming of the Messiah. It is a role that is largely ignored by most of the Christian world. The gospels make reference to two Scriptures when they

No One Is Saved Alone

06/19/2020

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, July 16, 2015 “If anyone falls, he falls alone. But no one is saved alone.” – Alexei Khomiakov Roughly 25 years ago I quit smoking. I never think about it now – it has become a thing of the distant past. But I can remember a period of about 10 years in which I struggled to quit. I would make up my mind, throw things away, make a clean sweep, and

The Great and Holy Saturday

04/18/2020

Introduction On Great and Holy Saturday, the Orthodox Church commemorates the burial of Christ and His descent into Hades. It is the day between the Crucifixion of our Lord and His Glorious Resurrection. The Matins of Holy Saturday is conducted on Friday evening, and while many elements of the service represent mourning at the death and burial of Christ, the service itself is one of watchful expectation. Commemoration of Holy Saturday On Great and Holy

Lazarus Saturday

04/11/2020

By Fr. Lev Gillet, April 20, 2019 Strictly speaking, Lent ends on the Friday which follows the fifth Sunday of Lent: the period of forty days is then over. The time of the Passion lasts from the end of Lent until the Resurrection, anticipated on Holy Saturday. It therefore comprises the Saturday which follows the fifth Sunday of Lent, called ‘Lazarus Saturday’, and the first six days of Holy Week. Lazarus Saturday has a very

Theophany and the Gates of Hades

01/06/2020

By Father Stephen Freeman, January 6, 2015 For an Orthodox priest, the services of the Church involve many “comings and goings.” Part of any service takes place within the altar area, which is usually enclosed by an iconostasis, a wall on which icons are hung. The wall does not truly separate one area of the Church from another so much as it marks one area off from another – the space of the Church is

Prayer of the Heart in an Age of Technology and Distraction, Part 2

09/19/2019

By Fr. Maximos (Constas) The sayings of the desert fathers are really remarkable—some of the oldest Christian literature we have and yet it sounds so contemporary, fresh, modern, and relevant, partly because the whole ethos is just stripped down to the essentials and simplicity of the desert. There is a story from Abba Poemen who is one of the more prominent desert fathers. Apparently a layman from a nearby city had heard about his reputation

Face to Face

07/05/2019

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, May 2, 2015 Nothing about the human body is as intimate as the face. We generally think of other aspects of our bodies when we say “intimate,” but it is our face that reveals the most about us. It is the face we seek to watch in order to see what others are thinking, or even who they are. The importance of the face is emphasized repeatedly in the Scriptures. In

Archive

The Sixth Friday of Great Lent: Let’s Get Out of This Place

The Fifth Monday of Great Lent: How to Strengthen Your Lenten Prayer Life

The Fourth Friday of Great Lent: The Ladder of Divine Ascent and Moral Improvement

The Mystery of the Forerunner

No One Is Saved Alone

The Great and Holy Saturday

Lazarus Saturday

Theophany and the Gates of Hades

Prayer of the Heart in an Age of Technology and Distraction, Part 2

Face to Face

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