For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when He was betrayed took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, “This is My Body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My Blood. Do this, as often as you
Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper, laid aside His garments, and girded Himself with a towel. Then He poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. He came to Simon Peter; and Peter said to him, “Lord, do
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. John 11:25-26 (Gospel on the Saturday of Lazarus) A few years ago, an older parishioner passed away. She had lived a long life, and she was a person of great faith. The night before she passed away, I visited her in a
Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the Body and Blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. 1 Corinthians 11:27-29 (From the Epistle of the Vesperal Liturgy Holy Thursday Morning) Our
Many contemporary Christians regard priests as ministers of the Most High and as church officials who are helpful in various bureaucratic dealings, who perform the different Sacraments when they are needed or celebrate the Divine Liturgy, and in this way can satisfy the need of their souls or fulfil a traditional duty. They are regarded as magicians who work magic! We know, however, that the grace of God is not transmitted magically or mechanically, but
And they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, ”Be not afraid.” -Luke 2:9-10 Think about when you are most afraid. It’s when you don’t know the outcome of something. People feel fear before they take a test, particularly medical tests, because they don’t know what the outcome is going to be. People are afraid of the unknown, because they don’t have mastery of it and can’t control the results. People get
As attentive and vigilant as the nous may be, without divine strength and the invocation of the name of the Lord Jesus, “the rotating sword,” it is unable to be guarded from harmful thoughts. The vigilance, therefore, or the watchfulness or attentiveness of the nous is accompanied by prayer. On its own, the nous does not have the power for pure prayer unless it uses the salt of watchfulness that drives away impure and wicked
After the consecration in the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, this prayer follows: “that they (3l) may be unto watchfulness of soul (32), unto forgiveness of sins … “. Not only before but also after Holy Communion we have need of watchfulness and vigilance toward ourselves. According to St. John Chrysostom, watchfulness of the soul is the first blessed fruit of Holy Communion. In the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, in the prayer
There are many and varied degrees and a great variety of pointing ways to watchfulness. We see this also in the Hymns of Repentance in the Octoechos and the Triodion, in which this many-faceted and proper cultivation of neptic life is offered. We note a few to demonstrate this: Because of all my wicked thoughts and deeds I stand condemned: put into my heart, O God, my Saviour, the thought of turning back to Thee,
By Father Lawrence Farley The truth is that real communication and authentic communion with another always involves face to face encounter—that is why there is so much hugging at airports when people are physically reunited after being separated for a time. Did those people who greet each other at the airport not keep in touch by Facebook while they were gone? Did they not phone each other? Did they not exchange e-mails? I’ll bet they
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