mystery Archives - Saint Sophia

The Twenty-Seventh Day of Christmas Advent. The Word Became Flesh: The Inexpressible Mystery of Salvation

12/11/2025

Saint Symeon the New Theologian When God, the Son of God, entered the womb of All-Holy Virgin and took flesh from her, He was born a perfect person and perfect God, without confusion. When has anything more important ever happened for us? We all believe in this Son of God and Son of the ever-virgin Mother of God, Mary, which is why we confidently accept this information about Him and this event. If we confess

The Sixth Day of Christmas Advent. The Word became flesh (John 1:14) A Sermon on the Nativity of Christ

11/20/2025

Saint John of Kronstadt The Word became flesh; that is, the Son of God, co-eternal with God the Father and with the Holy Spirit, became human — having become incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. O, wondrous, awesome and salvific mystery! The One Who had no beginning took on a beginning according to humanity; the One without flesh assumed flesh. God became man — without ceasing to be God. The Unapproachable One

The Fourth Day of Christmas Advent. The Significance of the Birth of Christ for the Human Race

11/18/2025

Every year, in an atmosphere of joy and delight, the Church celebrates the Birth of Christ, and sings wonderful hymns to God Who became incarnate and re-formed our degenerate human nature. Orthodox hymnography and theology emphasize the great anthropological significance of the divine incarnation: we have been saved from hopeless degradation and from the chaos of destructive hatred by the love of God, which took on flesh and bone within history through the person of

The Hidden Gospel

11/10/2025

~By Father Stephen Freeman, July 20, 2023 There is a genre of Scriptural writings that are described as “apocalyptic.” The book of Revelation, in Greek, is called “The Apocalypse.” Ezekiel and Daniel also have very strong passages described as apocalyptic. The term is very straightforward: it means “revealing what is hidden.” These books are described as “making known hidden things,” because their message is disguised under rather outlandish descriptions: beasts with ten horns, heavenly cities,

The Second Tuesday of Pascha. No Walls

04/29/2025

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, May 9, 2021 Faith. Deep and true faith means being open to what the truth turns out to be as we grow and learn and come more fully to understand. We come to know most fully through an experience of the Living God just like so many did when encountering the Crucified One risen from the dead. In the journey of faith, we must be willing to

The Sixth Friday of Great Lent. The Mystery of Holy Week

04/11/2025

~By Father Stephen Freeman, April 18, 2022 Among the more pernicious ideas that inhabit our contemporary world is the notion that we are all isolated, independent, and alone. Even when we gather, we think of ourselves as but one among many. Among the most glaring exceptions to this form of thought, however, are sporting events. People attend a football game and declare when it is finished, “We won!” or “We lost!” We feel genuine joy at the

The Day the Earth Stood Still

08/12/2024

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, August 12, 2011 Orthodox Christians (New Calendar) are currently observing a two-week fast in preparation for the Feast of the Dormition, a day which marks the death (“falling asleep”) of the Mother of God. For those for whom such feasts are foreign, it is easy to misunderstand what the Orthodox are about – and to assume that this is simply a feast to Mary because we like that sort of thing.

The Third Monday of Great Lent: The Fullness of Lent

04/01/2024

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, March 9, 2022 This article comes to mind as we celebrate the Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts on these Lenten Wednesdays and Fridays. There is nothing to compare to them in the Christian liturgical world. It’s hard to think of fasting in the midst of such a feast. Orthodoxy has a number of “favorite” words – all of which fall outside the bounds of normal speech. Though we commonly use the

The Walls of Paradise – and the Fire of God

01/26/2024

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, December 14, 2020 I love walls. Perhaps the most charming aspect of medieval cities are their use of walls. Some surrounded the city and served as protection. Others surrounded smaller areas and prevented easy access and egress (perhaps understandable in a world with lots of animals present). There were other walls that signaled “higher” boundaries. In a medieval world, the “order” of things was thought important: kings and commoners, high-born and

Fishing in the 21st Century

01/23/2024

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, June 18, 2017 The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew. (4:18-23) Ken Wilbur in THE RELIGION OF TOMORROW points out two interesting facts. One, that 75% of young adults between the ages of 18 and 29 belong to the growing segment of society that calls itself “spiritual and not religious” along with 20% of adult Americans. I also read that the largest religious group

Archive

The Twenty-Seventh Day of Christmas Advent. The Word Became Flesh: The Inexpressible Mystery of Salvation

The Sixth Day of Christmas Advent. The Word became flesh (John 1:14) A Sermon on the Nativity of Christ

The Fourth Day of Christmas Advent. The Significance of the Birth of Christ for the Human Race

The Hidden Gospel

The Second Tuesday of Pascha. No Walls

The Sixth Friday of Great Lent. The Mystery of Holy Week

The Day the Earth Stood Still

The Third Monday of Great Lent: The Fullness of Lent

The Walls of Paradise – and the Fire of God

Fishing in the 21st Century

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