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Mary: The Blessing of All Generations

08/01/2022

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, December 14, 2021  In my childhood, it was not unusual to hear someone ask, “Who are your people?” It was a semi-polite, Southernism designed to elicit essential information about a person’s social background. The assumption was that you, at best, could only be an example of your “people.” It ignored the common individualism of the wider culture, preferring the more family or clan-centered existence of an older time. It was possible

Saint Maximos the Confessor

01/21/2022

Saint Maximos the Confessor was born in Constantinople around 580 AD and raised in a pious Christian family. He received an excellent education, studying philosophy, grammar, and rhetoric. He was well read in the authors of antiquity and he mastered philosophy and theology. When Saint Maximos entered into government service, he became first secretary (asekretis) and chief counsellor to the emperor Heraclios (611-641 AD), who was impressed by his knowledge and virtuous life. Saint Maximos

Family

09/07/2021

Family Staying connected to family By Abbot Tryphon, December 19, 2019  It is always sad to lose a family member in death, but it is also sad that it often takes a funeral to bring together relatives who haven’t seen each other in years. It is from this perspective that I realize I, as the oldest of the cousins, am perhaps the one family member who remembers how important family reunions were to my maternal

Living in the Real World

03/01/2021

By Stephen Freeman, November 24, 2015  Nothing exists in general. If something is beautiful or good, it is manifest in a particular way at a particular time such that we can know it. And this is our true life. A life lived in a “generalized” manner is no life at all, but only a fantasy. However, this fantasy is increasingly the character of what most people think of or describe as the “real world.” A

Mary: The Blessing of All Generations

08/07/2020

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, August 7, 2019 n my childhood, it was not unusual to hear someone ask, “Who are your people?” It was a semi-polite, Southernism designed to elicit essential information about a person’s social background. The assumption was that you, at best, could only be an example of your “people.” It ignored the common individualism of the wider culture, preferring the more family or clan-centered existence of an older time. It was possible

Dostoevsky and the Sins of the Nation

02/21/2020

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, June 27, 2015 For many, the idea that we are somehow responsible for the sins of others, or can repent on their behalf is counter-intuitive and deeply troubling. It is distinctly non individualistic. However, it is a cornerstone of Orthodox devotion. Dostoevsky presented a very popular version of this teaching in the words of the fictitious character, the Elder Zosima, in his The Brothers Karamozov. The elder was modeled, many say, on

The Purpose and Method of Christian Life (Part XI): Means to the End (Part I)

07/25/2019

Here is how things stand so far. We have observed the five most important virtues through which the fathers in the Conferences teach us to establish the purity of heart that is the go al of Christian life. These are detachment, discernment, discretion, balance, and humility. We have observed that the fathers taught Christians to practice these virtues in order to guide them to their proper telos, which is the kingdom of God. We have

Patience (Part V): Patience Provides Space for Daily Repentance and Transformation

07/11/2019

Abba Antony said: Having therefore made a beginning, and set out already on the way to virtue, let us press forward to what lies ahead. And let none turn back as Lot’s wife did, especially since the Lord said, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and turns back is fit for the Kingdom of heaven.” Now “turning back” is nothing except feeling regret and once more thinking about things of the world.

The Fourth Thursday after Pascha. CHRISTOS ANESTI! CHRIST IS RISEN! Members of One Another (Part XI): Compassion Towards Animals

05/23/2019

St Silouan gave careful thought to our relationship as humans with the animals. This is only to be expected. He had grown up in an agricultural community. The Holy Mountain which then became his monastic home abounds in living creatures, in birds, butterflies, snakes and jackals, and also (at any rate in the days of the Starets) in wolves and wild boar, not to mention the domestic animals, the horses and mules, that the monasteries

The Second Day of Great Lent. “When You Fast…”

03/12/2019

What appears to happen in the Passion of Christ and what actually happens are not at all the same. What appears to happen is not that extraordinary.  The Romans crucified a Jewish man in order to keep public order.  During their long rule over Judea, the Romans had killed many Jews, making the death of Jesus one among these many.  But, only in appearance.  The reality was very different.  The Paschal homily attributed to St.

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