~By Father Jeremy, February 6, 2019 Today, February 6th, we commemorate a man who has been hated in the West and revered as a great saint in the East. Some historians say he was second to St. John Chrysostom in influence on the Constantinopolitan throne. On the other hand, some scholars call him the “Father of the Great Schism.” As of January 2019, I am working on a thorough research project regarding the life of
~ By John Athanasatos St John Chrysostom is celebrated in the Orthodox Church three times a year. His repose is on September 14 but since that is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the Feast was moved to November 13th. In addition, Chrysostom is celebrated on January 27th and again on the Feast of the Synaxis of the Three Hierarchs (Jan 30th), along with St Basil and St Gregory the Theologian. On
By Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon In the Roman Catholic Church and other Christian churches of the West, the several weeks prior to Christmas are known as Advent, a name from a Latin word meaning “coming.” It happens that the beginning of Advent always falls on the Sunday closest to November 30, the ancient feast day (in both East and West) of the Apostle Andrew. Among Christians in the West, this preparatory season, which tends to
Published by Pemptousia Partnership, June 16, 2015 Ms. Jessica Precop traveled to the Dormition of the Mother of God Monastery in Rives Junction, Michigan to interview Father Roman Braga, who grew up and served in Romania under a communist regime. We are very thankful to Ms. Precop, Father Roman, and the Sisterhood at the Monastery for making this interview possible. The interview was commissioned for the OCA Wonder blog, on which it originally appeared. Can
By Dr. Alexandros K. Kyrou, February 14, 2015 Now a commercialized holiday celebrating modern Western courtship and romance, the ancient Christian origins of Saint Valentine’s Day are largely forgotten. The actual Orthodox liturgical Feast Days of Valentinos (Greek)/Valentinus (Latin) commemorate two Early Christian saints, Saint Valentine the Presbyter of Rome (July 6) and Hieromartyr Valentine the Bishop of Intermna (Terni), Italy (July 30). Although the historical records for these two saints are not complete, and
We have [spoken] of the Church’s teaching about Lent as conveyed to us primarily by Lenten worship. Now these questions must be asked: How can we apply this teaching to our lives? What could be not only a nominal but a real impact of Lent on our existence? This existence (do we need to recall it) is very different from the one people led when all these services, hymns, canons, and prescriptions were composed and
Luke the Evangelist (Λουκᾶς Loukas) was an Early Christian writer who the Church Fathers such as Jerome and Eusebius said was the author of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. The Roman Catholic Church venerates him as Saint Luke, patron saint of physicians, surgeons, students, butchers, and artists; his feast day is October 18. Luke was a physician and lived in the Greek city of Antioch in Asia Minor. His earliest notice is in Paul’s Epistle to Philemon, verse 24. He is also mentioned in Colossians 4:14 and 2 Timothy 4:11, two works
By Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon In the Roman Catholic Church and other Christian churches of the West, the several weeks prior to Christmas are known as Advent, a name from a Latin word meaning “coming.” It happens that the beginning of Advent always falls on the Sunday closest to November 30, the ancient feast day (in both East and West) of the Apostle Andrew. Among Christians in the West, this preparatory season, which tends to
By Keith Massey Upon whom–and why–would we, as Orthodox believers, bestow the title “Christian”? It’s a matter that the Church has wrestled with from her very earliest history. You can almost hear the sadness in the voice of St. John the Evangelist as he tells his flock that some former members of his community are not now–and apparently never were–”Christians.” Instead, he declares that they are antichrists. “They went out from us, but they were
ALTHOUGH IT IS very simple, and is used so constantly, The Lord’s Prayer is a great problem and a difficult prayer; it is the only one which the Lord gave, yet, reading the Acts, one never finds it used by anyone at all, which is not what one would expect from the words that introduce the prayer in Luke II: I, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.’ But not being
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