Archive

The First Tuesday of Great Lent: Saint Andrew, Archbishop of Crete

Saint Andrew, Archbishop of Crete, was born in the city of Damascus into a pious Christian family. Up until seven years of age the boy was mute and did not talk. However, after communing the Holy Mysteries of Christ he found the gift of speech and began to speak. And from that time the lad began earnestly to study Holy Scripture and the discipline of theology. At fourteen years of age he went off to

Sacrifice and Worship

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, November 21, 2017  In the 1970’s, the BBC did a series, “The Long Search,” in which Ronald Eyre explored various religions. To my mind, it remains the best such series I’ve seen. When it came to Christianity, the series wisely presented three separate treatments: the Orthodox, the Catholics and Protestants. In its program on Orthodoxy, Eyre traveled to Romania, which was then under the boot of Ceausescu and official “atheism.” The

St. Joseph the Hesychast (1857-1959)

Glorified by the Ecumenical Patriarchate on October 20, 2019 [The Patriarchate established the feast of St. Joseph as August 16/29 so as not to coincide with the feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos on which he reposed in 1959]. Francis Kottis (Saint Joseph’s name before his monastic tonsure) was born in Paros1 on February 12, 1897, the fourth of seven children to the simple but pious couple George and Maria Kottis. Because of