Archive

The Feast of the Transfiguration

The Transfiguration of Christ is one of the central events recorded in the gospels. Immediately after the Lord was recognized by his apostles as “the Christ [Messiah], the Son of the Living God,” he told them that “he must go up to Jerusalem and suffer many things … and be killed and on the third day be raised” (Mt 16). The announcement of Christ’s approaching passion and death was met with indignation by the disciples. And then,

The Eleventh Day of Christmas. The Two Theophanies: Epiphany and Transfiguration

The Two Theophanies:  Epiphany and Transfiguration All three of the Synoptic Gospels provide full descriptions, fairly unanimous as to detail, of the two great theophanies: that which the Church observes as the Feast of Epiphany; and that which it commemorates in August, as the Feast of the Transfiguration. It may seem odd to consider them together as I propose to do. In reality they can hardly be considered separately. It is not accidental that in

Living with a Calendar

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, January 3, 2015  The human relationship with time is a strange thing. The upright stones of neo-lithic human communities stand as silent reminders of our long interest in seasons and the movement of the heavens. Today our light-polluted skies shield many of us from the brilliant display of the night sky and rob us of the stars. The modern world is not only shielded from the stars, but from many aspects

Metropolitan Kallistos: The Theologian’s Task is Never Complete

By Seraphim Danckaert In a recent ceremony, Ss. Cyril and Methodius Theological Institute for Post-Graduate Studies in Russia bestowed a doctorate honoris causa on His Eminence Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware) of Diokleia. The Metropolitan took the occasion as an opportunity to reflect on the nature of Orthodox theology. He also discussed his sources of inspiration, both among modern Orthodox theologians and among the Holy Fathers. After mentioning several figures, His Eminence described two key lessons from St. Gregory

The Feast of the Transfiguration

The Transfiguration of Christ is one of the central events recorded in the gospels. Immediately after the Lord was recognized by his apostles as “the Christ [Messiah], the Son of the Living God,” he told them that “he must go up to Jerusalem and suffer many things … and be killed and on the third day be raised” (Mt 16). The announcement of Christ’s approaching passion and death was met with indignation by the disciples. And then,

The Twelfth Day of Christmas: The Fiery Furnace and Jonah and the Seabeast

The Fiery Furnace As WELL AS BEING THE SCENE of a theophany, the fiery furnace is persistently referred to as a type of the Virgin Birth: The furnace moist with dew was the image and figure of a wonder beyond nature. For it burnt not the Children whom it had received, even as the fire of the Godhead consumed not the Virgins womb into which it had descended. Therefore let us sing in praise: Let

Seventeenth Day of Christmas Advent: Search the Scriptures (The Katavasias, Part I)

Rod of the Root of Jesse Rod of the root of Jesse, and flower that blossomed from his stem, You, O Christ, have sprung forth from the Virgin. From the mount of shaded leafy trees, You, the God who is not material have come to be incarnate from her who did not know wedlock. Glory to Your power, O Lord. (Fourth Ode of the Katavasias of the Nativity) We begin to chant the Katavasias of

Seventh Tuesday after Pascha

On the Sunday of Pentecost Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, June 3, 2012 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Pentecost is a theophany, a revelation of God I think best compared to other famous theophanies like Moses on Mt. Sinai or the Transfiguration on Mt. Tabor.  Witnesses of these events try hard to describe them, but words fail, so there