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Sunday of The Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council

Introduction The seventh Sunday after the Feast of Holy Pascha is observed by the Orthodox Church as the Sunday of the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council. This day commemorates the 318 God-bearing Fathers who gathered in Nicaea in 325 at the request of the Emperor, Saint Constantine the Great, to address the heresy of Arianism together with other issues that concerned the unity of the Church. Commemoration of The Great and Holy Feast of

Sunday of Saint John of the Ladder (Climacus): The Authentic Person.

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, April 14, 2024 I want to begin this morning with a story told to me by my dear spiritual son and friend, Yianno. He has been going with me to minister at the prison in Concord for years. One day he and his wife got into an argument and their youngest daughter who is 5 heard it all. After the argument ended she followed her mother into

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Fifth Tuesday of Pascha: The Man Born Blind

Sermon Preached by Father Antony Hughes on the Sunday of the Blind Man (June 1st, 2003) In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Christ is Risen! This is the last Sunday we will say this to one another. The Leave-Taking of Holy Pascha and the Feast of the Ascension occur this week. But remember, every Sunday Liturgy with only a few exceptions, is a

Holy Pascha

Language                    Greeting                           Response   Aleut:                  Khristus anahgrecum!    Alhecum anahgrecum! Aleut:                   Khris-tusax agla-gikux!   Agangu-lakan agla-gikux! Albanian:            Krishti U Ngjall!                Vertet U Ngjall! Alutuq:               Khris-tusaq ung-uixtuq! Pijii-nuq ung-uixtuq! Amharic:             Kristos tenestwal!           Bergit tenestwal! Anglo-Saxon:     Crist aras!                          Crist sodhlice aras! Arabic:                El Messieh kahm!            Hakken kahm! Armenian:          Kristos haryav ee merelotz!        Orhnial eh harootyunuh kristosee! Athabascan:      Xristosi banuytashtch’ey!            Gheli banuytashtch’ey! Bulgarian:          Hristos voskrese!            Vo istina

Ascended in Glory (Part II)

Most of us memorized John 3:16 in church school. Those familiar words contain the whole of the mystery of God’s ineffable love for us: “God so loved the world that He gave His Only Son,” that through His sacrifice death might be conquered, and we might receive the gift of eternal life. The great feast of Christ’s Resurrection, Holy Pascha, enables us to recall and to relive His victory over death. That victory becomes our

Renewal (Bright) Wednesday. Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen!

In our civilization, so rich in knowledge and in power, we can no longer offer any reply to the enigma of death. We want only to forget death. Yet it meets us again and again in the form of hatred, oppression, separation, illness, and the disappearance of persons we love. This is why the message of Easter, of Holy Pascha, resounds today with such renewed strength. God takes on human flesh, suffers, dies, and descends

Renewal (Bright) Tuesday. Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen!

The entire message, indeed the very essence of Christianity can be summed up in the Church’s triumphal cry on the night of Holy Pascha: “Christ is truly risen!”  It is precisely in the light of Pascha that Jesus of Nazareth reveals Himself and offers Himself to the world. It is specifically to Christ’s death and resurrection that Christians bear witness by their faith, just as they experience His presence in worship and sacraments, in sharing