Posts Tagged ‘calendar’
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…
Read MoreCelebrate 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…
Read MoreNot 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…
Read MoreOrthodox State of Mind
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…
Read MoreStill True
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…
Read MoreWhy 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…
Read MoreEpisode 385 – God Does Everything He Asks of Us
As we consider our New Year Resolutions, it is important to remember that God has done everything that He asks of us. In commemorating the Circumcision of Christ, a physical reality of Christ, the Church reminds us that God has complete the Law where we were and are lacking. Transcript: I was wondering the other…
Read MoreDouble Leave-Taking
Today is the last day of the year and the last day of Christmas. Yes, there are still five days left of the ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ but today is the Leave-Taking of Christmas. Liturgically that means today is the last day to sing Christmas hymns. Today is also the Leave-Taking of 2022. This is…
Read MorePreparing for the New Year
Today is Friday. In Greek that means the Day of Preparation. You never hear Friday referred to as the day of preparation unless it is Holy Week. That doesn’t mean the day still doesn’t have a purpose. In the ‘office’ workers are preparing for to make sure the company won’t ‘go under’ over the weekend.…
Read MoreTime Change
It has become a normal part of life twice per year for the clock to change between Daylight Savings and Standard Time. Suddenly it is dark when it was light and light when it was dark. We eventually get accustomed to the time change, but not without it first affecting our bodies. The same is…
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