Archive

The Second Wednesday of Great Lent. Loving God and Our Neighbor

~By Shannon Sakellariou, March 22, 2021 Glory to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit—one God. Amen. First, I need to make a disclaimer: I am definitely not further along on the journey to understanding love or learning how to love than others. But this reflection has been a good spiritual exercise for myself as I’ve prepared for Great Lent. As I thought about and read about God’s love for us,

Asking the Right Questions

~By Father Stephen Freeman, July 10, 2023 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” (Matt. 7:7) I believe that among the most central things in our life are the questions we ask – or even the question we ask. This is far removed from

The Great and Holy Thursday

Introduction On Thursday of Holy Week four events are commemorated: the washing of the disciples’ feet, the institution of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper, the agony in the garden of Gethsemane, and the betrayal of Christ by Judas. Commemorations of Holy Thursday The Institution of the Eucharist At the Mystical Supper in the Upper Room Jesus gave a radically new meaning to the food and drink of the sacred meal.

Our Holy Father St. Maximos the Confessor

A mighty spiritual giant who was broken by nothing and no one, and whose image does not fade with time, Venerable Maximos the Confessor is a faithful indicator, even till now, of how one may follow after Christ by that path by which he himself so faithfully followed the Lord. St. Maximos the Confessor was born in 580, a citizen of Constantinople and a nobleman. He became a high-ranking courtier at the court of the Byzantine Emperor

The Great and Holy Thursday

Introduction On Thursday of Holy Week four events are commemorated: the washing of the disciples’ feet, the institution of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper, the agony in the garden of Gethsemane, and the betrayal of Christ by Judas. Commemorations of Holy Thursday The Institution of the Eucharist At the Mystical Supper in the Upper Room Jesus gave a radically new meaning to the food and drink of the sacred meal.

Saving My Neighbor – Just How Connected Are We?

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, June 9, 2017  If you are in the “helping professions,” confronting problems in people’s lives, it doesn’t take long to realize that no one is purely and simply an individual. The problems we suffer may occasionally appear to be “of our own making,” but that is the exception rather than the rule. Whether we are thinking of economic or genetic inheritance, or the psychological and social environment, almost all the issues

The Elevation of the Venerable and Life-Giving Cross: Losing Ourselves in Love

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, September 16, 2018 at St. Mary Orthodox Church in Cambridge, MA. The Reading is from the Gospel According to Mark 8:34-38; 9:1 Today’s Gospel reading from Mark chapter 8, marks a turning point in the Lord’s ministry. From chapter 8 to chapter 13 we read the account of Christ’s final journey to his crucifixion in Jerusalem. Jesus announces his death and meets with resistance. Peter rebukes him,

The Power in Thought – It’s Not What You Think

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, April 16, 2018  Among the dark little corners of the Orthodox world, particularly in its ethnic homelands, is a left-over trace of witchcraft (I don’t know what else to call it). It consists of a collection of superstitions, often mixed with semi-Orthodox notions. There are concerns about the “evil-eye,” “curses,” “spells,” and such. These things are “left-overs” in that they likely predate Christianity, having never disappeared from Europe’s earlier pagan past.

The Fifth Thursday of Great Lent. The Monastic Life: The Way of Perfection, Part III

Published by Pemptousia Partnership, June 16, 2015 By Prof. Georgios Mantzaridis The monastic profession rite, with its shearing of hair, is called a second baptism”19. Baptism, however, is one and the same for all members of the Church. It is participation in the death and resurrection of Christ. The rite of profession does not repeat, but renews and activates the one baptism. The vows taken during the rite are in essence no different from those taken

Thoughts on Thought and Action, Ministering and Ministry

Thoughts on Thought and Action By Michael Haldas, August 4, 2016 “As we think in our hearts, or inner beings, so we are. The raw material of our actions is what we take into our minds and allow to settle in our hearts…The body cannot be defiled without the consent of the mind.” (Foundation Study Bible, Matthew 15:18, Holy Virgin Martyr Lucy) “Be on guard at all times so that you do not listen to any bad