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Saturday of the Holy and Righteous Friend of Christ, Lazarus

Introduction On the Saturday before Holy Week, the Orthodox Church commemorates a major feast of the year, the miracle of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ when he raised Lazarus from the dead after he had lain in the grave four days. Here, at the end of Great Lent and the forty days of fasting and penitence, the Church combines this celebration with that of Palm Sunday. In triumph and joy the Church bears witness

The Superiority of Being over Doing (Part II)

By the Very Reverend Stelyios S. Muksuris, Ph.D Recently, a woman shared with me a series of endearing stories of how she feels called by God to spend time with elderly men and women in nursing homes, whose only hope and joy is a smile or hug or good word. But more than such acts is the presence of another person in their lives who simply listens and stands by them in their suffering. Now

Seventh Wednesday after Pascha: Martha & Mary, Sisters of Lazarus

Martha, Mary, and Lazarus of Bethany “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus” (John 11:5).  Martha and Mary of Bethany are well-known figures of the New Testament.  The two sisters seem to have had different temperaments, and their characters are often polarized in the retelling of their story.  These polarized characterizations are caricatures which obscure the real picture of the women, their faith and their situation.  This article looks at some of the information