Lent is Christianity, Concentrated

March 3, 2009 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: Andrew of Crete, ascesis, asceticism, Christianity, church, church services, compline, daily prayers, deification, Divine Energies, Divinization, Eastern Christianity, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, fasting, glorification, good works, Great Canon, Great Compline, Great Fast, Great Lent, Hours, Lent, Lenten services, liturgical services, liturgies, Liturgy of the Hours, night prayer, night prayers, Orthodox Christianity, Orthodox Church, orthodoxy, prayer, prayer services, prayers, religion, salvation, services, Theosis, Uncreated Energies

That’s the upshot of these words of the late Fr. Alexander Schmemann (OCA).  (Link may break after this year; I don’t know if it’s tied to today’s date, as Clean Monday or Pure Monday, the first day of the Great Fast this year, or not.)
An important liturgical and devotional tradition of Byzantine Christianity during the [...]

A Spiritual Glossary

October 17, 2008 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: Christianity, deification, Divinization, Eastern Christianity, Eastern Orthodoxy, glorification, Hesychasm, noetic, noetic prayer, nous, Orthodox Christianity, prayer, purification, religion, salvation, spirituality, Theosis

No, I wasn’t one of those kids who enjoyed reading dictionaries (much) … but you may do well to pray the O Heavenly King before reading this essential, profound definition-list ‘in a nutshell’ from Metropolitan HIEROTHEOS of Nafpaktos, courtesy of this website:
O Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, Who art everywhere present and filleth all things, [...]

I heard Philly roar; God and sports

October 16, 2008 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: Christianity, deification, Divinization, Eastern Orthodoxy, free will, Holy Spirit, IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, NLCS, Orthodox Christianity, orthodoxy, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Phillies, Phillies, prayer, religion, salvation, seminary, sports, sports nostalgia, Theosis, Trinity, Uncreated Energies, Uncreated Energy, World Series

Have you ever heard a couple million people cheer all at once?  Have you ever heard them continue cheering for three-quarters of an hour?  It was moving, but also a little creepy!
So there I am, IBS’ing under an open window (upper pane) a little after 11:30 ET tonight (Wednesday), out of reach of TV and [...]

On Orthodox Prayer

October 1, 2008 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: ceaseless prayer, Christianity, Eastern Orthodoxy, Jesus Prayer, Orthodox Christianity, Orthodox Church, orthodoxy, pray without ceasing, prayer, prayer in the Spirit, prayer of the heart, prayer to the saints, prepared prayer, quiet time, relationship with God, religion, religious icons, saints, self-acting prayer, spirituality, worship

A very insightful post at Alana Roberts’ blog.  She’s converted from Evangelicalism.

The sinlessness of the Mother of God

September 22, 2008 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: apocryphal gospels, ascetic theology, asceticism, Bible, Blessed Mother, Blessed Virgin Mary, Christianity, deification, Divine Energies, Divine Energy, Divinization, doctrine, early Christian writings, Early Church Fathers, Eastern Christianity, Eastern Orthodoxy, Fathers of the Church, free will, glorification, grace, Gregory Palamas, Hesychasm, hymns, Immaculate Conception, liturgy, Mary, Mary of Nazareth, monasticism, Mother Mary, mother of Christ, Mother of God, mother of Jesus, mysticism, Orthodox Christianity, Orthodox liturgy, Orthodox Tradition, orthodoxy, Palamism, Patristics, prayer, religion, religious controversy, religious doubt, religious questioning, Russian Orthodoxy, saints, salvation, Scripture, Scripture and Tradition, Second Temple, sin, spirituality, St Gregory Palamas, Temple (Jerusalem), temptation, Theosis, Theotokos, Uncreated Energies, Uncreated Energy, women saints, worship

I know nothing about the recent controversy over this, referenced at the beginning of this article from St. Tikhon’s Monastery in Pennsylvania (anonymous), and was surprised to hear about it.  But this article seems to address it well, briefly, and Orthodoxly.  It also highlights the misinterpretation or misunderstanding of Patristic writings that is possible unless one [...]

Theology in Prayers

March 22, 2008 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: 2 Cor 5:17, Apocalypse 21:5, deification, devotions, Divine Energies, Divinization, doctrine, Eastern Orthodoxy, hell, II Cor 5:17, Incarnation, Orthodox Christianity, orthodoxy, prayer, Rev 21:5, Revelation 21:5, Revelations 21:5, salvation, theology, Theosis, Uncreated Light, worship

An Akathist (sometimes spelled Akafist or Acathistos, etc.) is a poetic or quasi-poetic devotional service dedicated to a Saint or God Himself, or themed around a Feast day, a need being prayed for, possibly other things.  It’s divided into stanzas, each of which is called an Ekos (Ikos, Oikos) or a Kontakion.  Several times during the [...]

Prayer

March 10, 2008 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: Bible, Eastern Christianity, Orthodox Christianity, Orthodox Church, orthodoxy, prayer, Scripture

I found this quote about Orthodoxy’s ‘long, ornate’ prayers at a source I don’t wish to identify for moral reasons.  But I think it says something profound:
Orthodox prayers go in the same format that the Lord’s Prayer goes– first glorifying God, establishing from the person praying their humility, their desire for His will, etc. I have seen [...]

Service Book

February 24, 2008 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: Eastern Christianity, liturgy, Orthodox Christianity, orthodoxy, prayer, Russian Orthodoxy, worship

The valuable copy of the Priest’s Service Book that used to be available on the site of Sts. Peter and Paul OCA parish in Meriden, Connecticut, seems fully available via the Wayback Machine.
It’s the Russian-oriented translation (into English) by Archbishop DMITRI of Dallas and the South, including directions (rubrics), prayers, and hymns from very many [...]

Tuning My Will to that of a Loving God

May 28, 2005 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: Eastern Orthodoxy, Fathers of the Church, Orthodox Christianity, orthodoxy, Patristics, prayer

By Matthew the Poor, ORTHODOX PRAYER LIFE:
In prayer, God’s personal will and ours meet. Christ’s will is sharply focused upon our own salvation, renewal, and rescue. Nothing can thwart Christ’s will for us except our failure to pray. All sick, blind, lame, and paralyzed who prayed and asked Christ to heal them are those whom [...]