Spending the night in a cabin on the side of Lookout Mountain; having gotten up at 1:30 AM, and, having hit the road by 2 … all’s well. Those of you who’ve traveled with family know how punchy peeps get on little sleep and super-sized anticipation. For instance: We stopped for lunch at a Ryan’s food bar and, at meal’s end, having sized-up the local clientele in the Tuscaloosa establishment — and having fantasized that they would enjoy such an... Read more

The angel* gave him twelve mandates:1. Believe in God; 2. To live in simplicity and innocence; do not speak evil and give alms to all who beg; 3. Love truth and avoid falsehood; 4. Preserve chastity in your thoughts; 5. Learn patience and generosity; 6. To know that with every man, there is a good and an evil spirit; 7. To fear God and not to fear the devil; 8. To do every good and to refrain from every evil... Read more

Blessed is he who has illumined the eyes of his heart, and always sees the Lord in himself as in a mirror. Such a man will be relieved of passions and evil thoughts. Blessed is he who loves good and beautiful speech but hates words that are shameful and corrupting, for he will not be taken captive by the evil one. Blessed is he who instructs his neighbor in the fear of God and does not seduce his soul, for... 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 with their Orthodox lingo. Imagine: “Christ is Risen!” “Glorify Him!” (The Christmas response.) Or … “Christ is Risen!” And the inevitable: “Happy Easter!” Then there’s the fun we have for 40 days in the shortened... Read more

In light of the designation of June as “internet safety month,” we exhort our priests and parishioners to raise awareness and secure appropriate protection for our children and communities from the many and diverse prevalent dangers, including pornography, cyberbullying, perils by predators, risks of geotagging, and in particular dissension in the Church. Technology is not sinful; but the abuse of technology is a sin and a crime. We encourage our faithful to disseminate relevant internet safety literature, organize internet safety... Read more

Some misguided men think more about the end of the world than the end of their lives even though it is obvious that for him to whom the end of his life comes the end of the world has come. A brother standing before St. Seraphim of Sarov continually kept in his mind how he was going to ask the saint about the end of the world. St. Seraphim discerned his thought and said to him: “My joy! You think... Read more

CORPUS CHRISTI — Annette Escamilla says a miracle happened overnight Thursday in her kitchen. Her 23-year-old son woke her about 4:15 a.m. after finding an image of Jesus in one of her homemade flour tortillas. He pulled the last two apart and saw a face staring back. “It’s got to mean something,” she said. “It’s a sign that God saves.” The burned tortilla’s image looks like a face with long hair and facial hair, she said. Story – here. For... Read more

One of the things I appreciate about Fr John Oliver’s writing is the little gems he tucks away in the text. These cause a pleasant stumbling along the way. This style, prevalent in his first book, permeates his latest work on the subject of the Holy Spirit. Giver of Life – The Holy Spirit in Orthodox Tradition serves as a primer for those new to the Faith, as well as a vivid enhancement for the tried and true whose vision... Read more

This week’s podcast was recorded live at the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Denver’s Clergy-Laity Conference, hosted by St George Greek Orthodox Church, Albuquerque, New Mexico – May 13, 2011. So there I was, a few years back, standing in the food line at the Houston Greek Festival, minding my own business, when the guy in front of me — a man with long white bushy sideburns, green John Deere cap, with his name on his work shirt — turns to... Read more

Thanks to the efforts of Janet Bennett, the list of [Antiochian] parishes has been updated. Check it out — here — and please let me know of changes. To find out more about the Prayer Discipline, poke around here. Christ is Risen! Read more