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The Synaxis of the Three Hierarchs

As the close of January draws near, a month filled with feasts commemorating prominent Church Fathers of the Orthodox Faith, comes to an end with the Feast of the Three Hierarchs. The Three Hierarchs are none other than: St Basil the Great, St John Chrysostom and St Gregory the Theologian. Each of these great Fathers have their own feast day: St Basil on January 1, St John Chrysostom on November 13 and January 27 and St Gregory

The World as Sacrament: The Theological and Spiritual Vision of Creation: His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew (Part I)

Introduction: Creation and the Virtue of Silence In the Philokalia, St. Anthony of Egypt describes nature as a book that reveals the beauty of God’s creation: “Creation [he says] declares in a loud voice its Maker and master.” Or, as St. Maximus the Confessor claims in the 7th century, the whole world is a “cosmic liturgy.” What, then, is the Orthodox theological and spiritual vision of the world? As a young child, accompanying the priest

The Untamable Textbook and Its Handouts: Ruminations on Scripture—Tradition Relationship (Part II)

REV. DR. EUGEN J. PENTIUC Scripture, most especially the Old Testament, is an untamable textbook. Holy Tradition in all its avatars—conciliar statements, writings of Church Fathers, liturgy, iconography, ascetic teaching, etc.—functions as its guiding handouts. Following this analogy, one may note a certain complementarity. Handouts summarize and explain the salient points of a textbook. Similarly, Tradition, based on Scripture, complements the latter by condensing and illuminating its content. Nevertheless, the handouts, however complete they may