St. Paul Archives - Page 17 of 23

Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! Thursday of the Fifth Week of Pascha. Atomization.

05/10/2018

One of the most astonishing features of our time is the tendency of spiritual truths, till recently known only to contemplatives, to become historical facts. So the splitting of the atom is only the outward expression in history of the spiritual state of disintegration in humanity known to Tradition and called just the same thing, ‘atomization’. When the self turns away from God, it can no longer contain its nature; it becomes an individual –

Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! Friday of the Fourth Week of Pascha. Sin is Not a Moral Problem

05/04/2018

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, December 8, 2014 Many readers have never before heard that there is no such thing as moral progress – so I am not surprised that I have been asked to write in more depth on the topic. I will start by focusing on the question of sin itself. If we rightly understand the nature of sin and its true character, the notion of moral progress will be seen more clearly. I

Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! Thursday of the Third Week of Pascha. God Likes to Play.

04/26/2018

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, November 12, 2014 There are things that children understand instinctively. And the things that children know and understand are worth consideration. They have much to teach us. Among the most natural things children do is play. Depending on how you define play, it is among the first activities in which we engage. It comes to dominate the lives of children and is the hallmark of their existence. Play is what children do. It

Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! Thursday of the Second Week of Pascha: Jesus Rose with His Wounds

04/19/2018

Jesus rose with His wounds; and we, too, rise with our wounds. In repentance, we are able to realize a resurrection of the heart before the final resurrection of the dead. The key to this mystery is given to us at the moment of our baptism, which offers the possibility of repentance and the foretaste of resurrection. Through baptism, we find that our resurrection through repentance is not a denial or a disparagement of our

The Great and Holy Pascha. Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen!

04/08/2018

The Lord rises from the dead, as a Bridegroom comes forth from the chamber. This was accomplished by the power of God, as the general resurrection will, in the last day, be accomplished by the power of God. And in the Resurrection the Incarnation is completed, a victorious manifestation of Life within human nature, a grafting of immortality into the human composition. The Resurrection of Christ was a victory, not over his death only, but

The Great and Holy Friday. Good Friday and the Irony of Believing

04/06/2018

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, April 10, 2015 Irony is probably too much to ask of youth. If I can remember myself in my college years, the most I could muster was sarcasm. Irony required more insight. There is a deep need for the appreciation of irony to sustain a Christian life. Our world is filled with contradiction. Hypocrisy is ever present even within our own heart. The failures of Church and those who are most

The Great and Holy Tuesday. The Pilgrimage of Holy Week

04/03/2018

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, April 21, 2016 The apex of the year for Orthodox Christians is easily Holy Week and Pascha. I had the opportunity in 2008 to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. To receive communion in the tomb of Christ, or to stand at Golgotha is no little thing. And yet, the services of Holy Week within one’s own parish are a greater thing. I say this not only from my own

The Great and Holy Monday. The Mystical Reality of Holy Week

04/02/2018

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, April 6, 2015 As we journey through Holy Week… For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. (1Co 15:16-19 NKJ) Earlier this Spring, two

Tuesday of the Second Week of Great Lent: Purify the Roots and You will be Entirely Pure. The Perfect Person’s Rule of Life

02/27/2018

Purify the Roots and You will be Entirely Pure Discipline of the body, if it is combined with peace of mind, purifies it from all material tendencies. Discipline of the soul makes it humble and purifies it from the impressions that push it in a material direction. Discipline effects the transition from the emotions of passion to the activity of contemplation, or, better, it raises the soul above all terrestrial objects and feeds it on

Is There a Christian Theory of History?

01/12/2018

By Father Stephen Freeman I am a child of the 50’s. I became aware of the world around me in the 60’s. I finished college and seminary in the 70’s (and have embarrassing pictures to prove it). I could go on with my decadal memories. I daresay no people at any time have been more aware of time labels and how the fashions and trends of those periods shaped their lives. Of course, the labels

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Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! Thursday of the Fifth Week of Pascha. Atomization.

Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! Friday of the Fourth Week of Pascha. Sin is Not a Moral Problem

Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! Thursday of the Third Week of Pascha. God Likes to Play.

Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! Thursday of the Second Week of Pascha: Jesus Rose with His Wounds

The Great and Holy Pascha. Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen!

The Great and Holy Friday. Good Friday and the Irony of Believing

The Great and Holy Tuesday. The Pilgrimage of Holy Week

The Great and Holy Monday. The Mystical Reality of Holy Week

Tuesday of the Second Week of Great Lent: Purify the Roots and You will be Entirely Pure. The Perfect Person’s Rule of Life

Is There a Christian Theory of History?

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