I know, I know: it’s the Nativity Fast, sometimes known as Advent, but in the world we occupy it’s: Christmas Song Season! Checking the news on the internet the other night before bed, I came across a list of the Worst Christmas Songs of All Time, which included: Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer Dogs Barking Jingle Bells I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas(Which, thanks God, I have never heard!) Then there’s Paul McCartney’s Wonderful Christmas Time … Ugh!... Read more

Patriarch ALEXY lived in two worlds, one under the Soviet oppression of the Church and the other whereby he led the Church from glory to glory after the fall of Soviet rule. I have no doubt that this will be his legacy. The courage he showed by leading the nation through a difficult time that could have led to civil war when he addressed the country in the midst of the night, in the midst of darkness at 1:42 a.m.... Read more

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MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian Orthodox Church says its Patriarch Alexy II has died. The church says the 79-year-old died at his residence outside Moscow on Friday. It did not give the cause of death, but the patriarch had long suffered from a heart ailment. The outspoken patriarch had led the world’s biggest Orthodox church since 1990, presiding over a flock that by most estimates numbers two-thirds of Russia’s population of 142 million. Source Letter of Legacy – here. Video... Read more

As a husband & father of three, I am obligated to encourage you 🙂 As traveling and holiday mail begins to complicate matters, NOW is the time to buy those last minute books and have them delivered just in time for gift giving! Order either or both titles from Regina Orthodox Press. Or, in these penny-pinching economic times: AMAZON. And — THANKS! One Flew Over the Onion Dome … The Convert experience is full of surprises, not only for the... Read more

A long but worthy review rebuttal of Dr Valerie Karras’s contribution Orthodox Theologies of Women and Ordained Ministry to a book published by St Vladimir’s Seminary Press – Thinking Through Faith – New Perspectives from Orthodox Christian Scholars is posted — H E R E. Here’s a few excerpts from the review, What Beef Have Women Theologians with Divine Order? — An old saying came to mind while reading Karras’s article, and I paraphrase: “She who defines the terms wins... Read more

That’s a picture of Santa at six years old. (He’s now 10.) This week’s podcast is taken from the AFR-chives. It speaks of an annual dilemma — or delight — or sump’m. Ho! Ho! Ho! (Wait, now that you mention it, Santa looks a lot like Cap’n Hoe.) The Orthodixie Podcast on Ancient Faith Radio. (Or, just listen right here.) Read more

[A painting] depicting Hagia Sophia, in the twelfth century, during an Orthodox Liturgy, purportedly during a visit by King Richard the I, Coeur de Lion (the Lionhearted). This is a rare glimpse of this Mother Church of Christianity, which was completed in the early sixth century (537) on the site of two earlier Churches dedicated to Holy Wisdom. It was the largest Church in Christendom for nearly a thousand years. Almost all of the modern pictures and photographs of the... Read more

Our recent Advent Retreat (November 15th) at St George with Fr David Barr, Pastor of St Elias, Austin, is now available online: HERE Part One – “Life as Mystery”Part Two – “The Mysteries of the Church” Read more

Having recently signed on with The Orthodox Speakers Bureau, here’s a preview of their roster: Chris Banescu Fr. Daniel Byantoro Scott Cairns Rod Dreher John Granger Fr. Joseph Huneycutt Fr. Hans Jacobse Vera Faith Lord Frederica Mathewes-Green Terry Mattingly Fr. Michael Massouh Metropolitan Jonah … not much info provided (yet); were I a betting man, I’d bet this man’s hands are, for the foreseeable future, uh, full. Fr. John A. Peck Fr. Peter-Michael Preble Fr. Wayne Wilson Read more