When we had our first child – a friend of mine had a good laugh when he observed me thoroughly washing off the pacifier that had fallen from my daughter’s mouth. He, a father of four older children, said: “You know, when you have your first child … they drop their pacie and you boil it before giving it back to them. The second child … you just rinse it off. The third child drops the pacifier on the floor... Read more

A priest friend of mine, who used to serve as a Cop in New York City, tells of Mother Teresa’s visit to the Big Apple. He’d always admired Mother Teresa’s work among the destitute in India and hoped he would be able to meet her. Sure enough, he was given VIP guard duty for her visit and, one day – amid the whirlwind of her tour – he was finally able to ask her the question that had been burning... Read more

Back in January, I set a deadline of June 1st for a book that I’d been writing. When you’re in January, June seems a long long way off. In truth, time flies whether you’re having fun or not. Here it is June 1st and January seems like, well … so yesterday. In between then and now was house blessings, Lent, Holy Week, Pascha, MedFest and other mucho busyness. Wait. Did I mention, at least when it comes to writing, laziness?BUT!... Read more

I am reminded of a story that a parishioner once told about a man who died in a community where no one knew him. After the initial confusion and fuss, it was discovered that he was indeed Orthodox and wished to buried by the Church. The time for the funeral was set and the priest, who’d never met the man, stood at the podium and said: “He was a good man; a loyal son, who hoped that he would one... Read more

Due to a rapidly approaching book deadline, I’m gonna hafta take a break — at least for a couple weeks — from updating this blog and moderating comments. With God’s help, the Orthodixie Podcast on Ancient Faith Radio will continue to be updated weekly. I hope to see many of you HERE soon. Pray for me. Image Source Read more

In the wee hours of Pascha, we Orthodox begin a joyful dialogue where when someone says “Christ is Risen!” the reply is “Indeed, He is Risen!” Or, “Truly, He is Risen!” In those early hours of Pascha, some folks have grown a little rusty on their Orthodox lingo. Imagine: “Christ is Risen!” “Glorify Him!” (The Christmas response.) Or … “Christ is Risen!” And, inevitably … “Happy Easter!” Then there’s the fun we have for 40 days in the shortened written... Read more

There are sceptical thoughts, which seem for a moment to uproot the firmest faith; there are blasphemous thoughts which dart unbidden into the most reverent souls; there are unholy thoughts, which torture with their hateful presence the fancy that would fain be pure. Against all these some real mental work is a most helpful ally. That “unclean spirit” of the parable, who brought back with him seven others more wicked that himself, only did so because he found the chamber... Read more

Click the above link. (Make sure you’ve got your sound turned up!) Be very afraid. Any questions? Comment below. Oh, and, Happy Feast. Read more

Until I saw these two pics I thought maybe Fr John Whiteford was pulling our leg about being in the Official Delegation over in Russia. Here’s proof. (He’s the tall one with the beard — under the light, and in front of the column.) UPDATE: David Stone provides a wonderful picture — Fr John, shall we say, has the cooler head … SourceS’prazdnikom! Read more

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