Spoken at the beginning of the Great Fast by St Theodore the Studite Brethren and fathers, the season of Lent, when compared to the whole year, may be likened to a storm-free harbour, in which all who are sailing together enjoy a spiritual calm. For the present season is one of salvation not for monks and nuns only, but also for lay people, for great and small, for rulers and ruled, for emperors and priests, for every race and for... Read more

A Homily for Forgiveness SundayToday is called “Forgiveness Sunday.” It received this name from the pious Orthodox Christian custom at Vespers of asking each other’s forgiveness for discourtesy and disrespect. We do so, since in the forthcoming fast we will approach the sacrament of Penance and ask the Lord to forgive our sins, which forgiveness will be granted us only if we ourselves forgive each other. “If ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But... Read more

I’m in North Carolina leading a pre-lenten retreat through Sunday; please pardon the lack of updates and slow comment approval. In the meantime, here’s a few notes on my neighbor in Houston, Joel Osteen. Forgive me. Read more

Mindful of death with fear of God 1. The awakening of the heart by the fear of God 2. The awakening of the heart by bearing shame in the sacrament of Confession A. Adam transgressed (looked upon creation instead of the Creator). He was divested of the luminous garment of divine breath. B. Thus, naked, he hid. When he is far from God he is in darkness and cannot perceive how far he has fallen (from Grace). Whoever is proud... Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A second blogger working for Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards quit Tuesday under pressure from conservative critics who said her previous online messages were anti-Catholic. In one posting, McEwan described Christian supporters of President Bush as his “wingnut Christofascist base.” Marcotte once posed a mock question-and-answer session in which she speculated what would have happened if the Virgin Mary had taken an emergency contraceptive. “You’d have to justify your misogyny with another ancient mythology,” came the... Read more

The religion & the fallen will of man There is only one religion in the world: Christianity. It is revealed to us from on high through the God-Man. The moment of our death is the greatest moment of our life. We must have our protection for that great day prepared in advance. The body = humility. It is of the earth and shall return to earth. That which is precious is the breath of God — THIS is the image... Read more

On mindfulness of deathMighty works of God happen after people struggle with silence of the heart. “All we do is dead — only the work we do on our heart remains.” (Fr Sophrony) Man wanted to become God … not with love and divine submission. Passions tempt to extinguish even the memory of God. After the Fall, our struggle is centered on survival. If life ends with death — nothing has any meaning. Mindfulness of death = “all is vanity.”... Read more

One hundred Episcopalian, Canadian Anglican and Orthodox Christian clergy and laity, some from as far away as Bar Harbor, Maine; Denver, Colo.; Lakeland, Fla., and Toronto, Ont., attended “Faith of Our Fathers: A Colloquium on Orthodox for Anglicans” Jan. 29-30, 2007 sponsored by St. Andrew House Center for Orthodox Christian Studies. The colloquium was designed to explain Orthodox Christianity to Episcopalians and Anglicans, according to the Most Rev. Nathaniel, Archbishop of Detroit and the Romanian Episcopate of the Orthodox Church... Read more

The tragedy of contemporary man is that he lives outside his heart. The heart is the battlefield of our salvation. The heart is the true temple where meeting with God takes place. God, who is a jealous God, will not settle for a portion of the heart. We are held captive by the Passions, leaving no room in the heart. God knocks at our heart and encourages us to knock at His mercy. This action [the knocking] possesses the possibility... Read more

Create eyes in me, and so may I see with Your eyes,for I cannot see with my own eyes. May my mind travel inwardstowards the hiddenness of Your sacrifice,just as You have travelled out into the openand been cojoined to Your Mysteries. At this momentmay I be totally forgetful of myself,and remain utterly unmindfulof my own person. May every bodily imagebe wiped away from my mind’s Eye,and may You alonebe depicted before the Eye of my mind. And now, when... Read more