This notice just in (French only) thanks to Jean-Michel — click the first link for a note in English:Nous venons d’apprendre le décès du métropolite Gabriel (Saliby) «dans la nuit du 19 au 20 octobre 2007, à l’hôpital américain de Neuilly-sur-Seine (Hauts-de-Seine), des suites d’une longue maladie. Âgé de 82 ans, il était, depuis 1980, l’évêque des communautés antiochiennes en Europe occidentale, avec résidence à Paris, d’abord comme auxiliaire patriarcal, puis comme métropolite diocésain, à partir de 2000. (…) Ses... Read more

I was on my way to a seminar having spent the night in a coffee house. Did you know that ever since the Orthodox Church bought out Starbuck’s they now have overnight rooms available? Yep. Then … The Orthodox Media limo arrived sporting a big Blockbuster ad on its trunk – with endorsements of various movies by popular Monks, Priests and Bishops … and there I was being whisked away to for a meeting of MMPFACF – the Media-Minded People... Read more

Finally, the truth about Harry Potter … click the link. UPDATE: The Hogwarts Prof, John Granger, promises an upcoming piece on JK’s most recent “revelation.” Read more

Recently I posted a piece here and on the Orthodixie Podcast (“Developing a Rule of Prayer”) at Ancient Faith Radio concerning the St Philip’s Prayer Discipline. For those interested, here’s the application. Those of you who have responded to the Podcast will be receiving materials next week. Plans are currently being made to host an SPPD webpage which would allow members to post prayer requests and provide updates regarding parish participation and helpful prayer resources. We also hope to produce... Read more

Monthly Mediterranean Luncheon Thursday, October 18th St George Orthodox Church 5311 Mercer, Houston, Texas 77005 Held on the 3rd Thursday of every month from 11am — 2pm in the church hall. Lunch plates are $8.00. MenuThursday, October 18th ~ We will have piping hot beef kefta, fresh salad, homemade hummus, a scrumptious blend of rice with peas, carrots & roasted nuts, and pita! Invite your friends, co-workers and family! Read more

See that guy with the chainsaw. Notice the big wood he has slain. Look closer and you will see how he crushed my fence! If a guy will do that to a fence in Texas … Think about it: Texas Chainsaw ______________ … Well, who knows what else he might try. So I took my family and we fled … We drove a couple hours walked for days through rough terrain in the SE Texas brush … Always looking back... Read more

UPDATE: The books have arrived and will be going out in today’s mail. Thanks for your patience & support! In the spiritual struggle in which all of us must engage on the path to salvation, one of the greatest challenges is to crucify daily the many passions that war against us from our youth. Specifically, we must replace the seven deadly passions – pride, anger, lust, envy, gluttony, avarice, and sloth – with the virtues that enable us to become... Read more

Some of you are too young to remember … But. There was a time when what you looked like held no bearing on your popularity – your “making it” — as a singer. It was only with the advent of MTV that we became a video obsessed world. But, face it, in reality you don’t have to be good looking to sing. Besides, faces not only reveal a lot, they can also hide a lot! One of my seminary instructors... Read more

Passions and virtues – words not generally used in everyday vocabulary in the 21st century. Yet, who of us has not seen lives ruined or exalted as a direct result of one or the other of these words and their implications. This book provides meaningful and practical insight into the significant “opposites” that affect our lives both here and hereafter. Fr. Joseph takes us to that fateful garden where the first Adam, the first Eve and the first tree set... Read more

VATICAN CITY, OCT 8, 2007 (VIS) – From October 8 to 15, the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between Catholics and Orthodox is holding its 10th plenary assembly in Ravenna, Italy, according to a communique issued by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. This session is the second to be held since the reactivation of dialogue during the 2006 plenary in Belgrade. The commission was established in 1979 by Pope John Paul II and Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I,... Read more