Calendar Celebration

The Orthodox Calendar is much more than a tool to determine the date for Pascha. It is May 5th this year, by the way. The Calendar is a way for the Church to remember our history and faith. It is a way for us to tell future generations what was important to us and our…

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Time Marches On

There are so many wonderful aspects of the Orthodox Faith, not the least of which is how the Church reminds that time marches on. Yesterday we celebrated the Nativity in the Flesh of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ. Today, the Church reminds us that it was not a one-day event. Our society very…

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Pro Life Church

The Orthodox Church was pro life before there was such a term. Long before Roe v Wade, and long before so-called reproductive rights, the Church honored the conception of children as a blessing from God. There are references to conception in the Scriptures and even the daily calendar honors conception as a thing to be celebrated, not destroyed.

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News Cycle

The week after the feast of the Holy Cross, the Church begins a new cycle. We began yesterday reading from the Gospel of Luke, and we will continue throughout the Fall. I bring that to you attention because if your discipline includes reading the ‘daily readings’ of the Church, you might be tempted to skip…

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Celebrate Properly

The entire Orthodox World (those on the New Calendar) celebrated yesterday. If you went to celebrate the end of the fast, you celebrated the wrong thing. We say we celebrated the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, which we did. Today is a fast day since it is Wednesday. If you awoke this morning…

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Not About Us

The past few days I have been writing about the importance of the Church. The Church teaches us morality. The Church teaches us to love. The Church teaches us about God. The Church also teaches us to embrace the importance of humility and patience. The Lord said to his disciples, “He who hears you hears…

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Orthodox State of Mind

Blessed written on wooden blocks

We begin our new season in the Church by reading from the Gospel of Matthew and Saints Paul’s letter to the Romans. Now that we have celebrated Pentecost, the Church turns our attention immediately to our state of mind. At that time, Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel…

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Still True

A cross sign in the middle of a sunset

Today is the Feast of Apodosis of Pascha. It is the final day of celebration of the Glorious Resurrection of Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ. It is the last day to say and sing Christ is Risen! By the end of today, we will have to wait until May 5, 2024, to sing…

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Why Bless Material Things?

Beginning today, the Orthodox Church on the New Calendar celebrates the Feast of Theophany (Epiphany) with as much grandeur, maybe even more than Christmas. Among the special church services, liturgies and Holy Water blessings, many Orthodox Christians will gather around natural bodies of water for a blessing. During the special blessing service, the Holy Spirit…

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