St. Seraphim of Sarov. Archives - Page 2 of 3

The Fourth Monday of Great Lent: The Mystery of Providence

03/20/2023

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, January 21, 2018 The entire mystery of the economy of our salvation consists in the self-emptying and abasement of the Son of God – St. Cyril of Alexandria Among the most troublesome thoughts to my modern mind are those surrounding God’s providence. A popular morning prayer from the Elders of Optina reads: O Lord, grant that I may meet all that this coming day brings to me with spiritual tranquility. Grant

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! Bright Monday: Relative to Pascha

04/25/2022

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, April 20, 2009 If you have attended Pascha services, or served them, it is quite possible to suffer some of the “natural consequences,” which for me means that after a somewhat disordered sleep I am sitting, having coffee and writing at 3:30 in the morning, wide-awake. I have no complaints. I generally like to be up by around 5 or so, so I am only off by a couple of hours….

The Light of Christ and the Transfiguration

08/06/2021

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, August 5, 2020 My attention was drawn to the event of the Transfiguration during my college years. It was then that I first read a book on St. Seraphim of Sarov, who himself was transfigured in a famous incident in his conversation with Motivilov. There, on a snowy winter’s day, the saint shown with a brilliant light, and Motivilov felt effused with warmth and joy. It caught my attention in the

Doing Good in a Bad World

07/02/2021

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, December 8, 2015 A bad man cannot make a good world. “Something must be done!” If there were a possible slogan for the modern world, this would be it. Its power lies in its truth. Some things are tragic and unjust, broken and dysfunctional. Any analysis that suggested that nothing should be done will fall on deaf ears – and should. However, this is where the great temptation of modernity begins. Something must

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Second Monday of Pascha: Relative to Pascha

05/10/2021

Second Wednesday after Pascha: The Closure of our Churches

04/29/2020

By Abbot Tryphon, April 14, 2020 We must receive the closure of our churches with a peaceful heart I remember hearing, early on in my monastic life, of a holy elder who lived as a hermit, far from any group of other monks, and deprived of the chance to participate in the celebration of the Divine Liturgy. Hearing of this, I thought to myself, how could such a man survive without the Holy Body and

First Thursday of Great Lent. Understanding and Living Our Faith: How We Experience Lent and Fasting.

03/05/2020

By Michael Haldas, March 13, 2019 “Many Christians, unaware of the great value of fasting, either keep the fast with difficulty or reject it altogether. We should not be afraid to fast but embrace it with joy.” (St. John Chrysostom) Fasting is so much more then abstaining from certain foods. Christ reminds us in the Gospels it is more important to pay attention to what comes out of our mouths then what goes into them

Grace, Moralism and Unmoral Christianity

05/25/2018

By Fr. Aidan Kimel, December 20, 2014 In his recent blog article “The Un-moral Christian,” Fr Stephen Freeman criticizes the tendency to reduce the Christian life to obedience to moral rules. “The nature of the Christian life,” he declares, “is not rightly described as the adherence to an external set of norms and standards, even if those norms and standards are described as being ‘from God.’ The ‘unmoral’ life of Christians is a different mode

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

09/01/2017

Creation and the Virtue of Compassion On the sixth day of creation, God created man and woman in His divine image and likeness. Yet, what most people overlook is that the sixth day is not dedicated to the formation of Adam alone. That sixth day was shared with “living creatures of every kind; cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth.” (Gen. 1.24) This close connection between humanity and the rest of creation

Transfigurating Practices

08/06/2017

By Aristotle Papanikolaou, PhD What happened on the day of our Lord’s Transfiguration? On this day, Jesus took with him three disciples, Peter, John and James, three of the better-known disciples. He took them to a ‘high’ mountain, the Bible tells us (Mt 17:1-9; Mk 9:2-8; Lk 9:28-36). They are at the ‘high’ mountain, which is often a place of revelation in the Bible, and at this mountain Jesus is transfigured. St. Matthew tells us,

Archive

The Fourth Monday of Great Lent: The Mystery of Providence

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! Bright Monday: Relative to Pascha

The Light of Christ and the Transfiguration

Doing Good in a Bad World

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Second Monday of Pascha: Relative to Pascha

Second Wednesday after Pascha: The Closure of our Churches

First Thursday of Great Lent. Understanding and Living Our Faith: How We Experience Lent and Fasting.

Grace, Moralism and Unmoral Christianity

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

Transfigurating Practices

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