October 9, 2008 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: aphorisms, Christianity, communion, deification, Divine Energies, Divine Energy, Divinization, Eastern Christianity, Eastern Orthodoxy, Eucharist, glory, glory of God, Greek Orthodoxy, heaven, hell, humility, John Romanides, liturgy, mercy, mysteries, Orthodox Christianity, orthodoxy, prayers, purifying fire, religion, sacramental preparation, sacraments, salvation, Theosis, Uncreated Energies, Uncreated Energy, Uncreated Light, worship
Every time I made it to Divine Liturgy while he was with my parish, or just about,* the priest who Chrismated me, preceded Communion with a collective reminder about the o/Orthodox understanding of the Mysteries (sacraments) as special encounters with God’s Uncreated Energies. I can’t remember it verbatim, but he said Communion is like a fire that risks [...]
October 1, 2008 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: prayer, worship, orthodoxy, Orthodox Christianity, Christianity, religion, Eastern Orthodoxy, Orthodox Church, saints, Jesus Prayer, spirituality, religious icons, relationship with God, prepared prayer, prayer of the heart, self-acting prayer, quiet time, pray without ceasing, ceaseless prayer, prayer in the Spirit, prayer to the saints
A very insightful post at Alana Roberts’ blog. She’s converted from Evangelicalism.
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 [...]
September 18, 2008 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: Anthony Bloom, Antony Bloom, church services, Eastern Christianity, Eastern Orthodoxy, liturgy, Orthodox Christianity, orthodoxy, Russian Orthodoxy, worship
I thought I made up that word, but apparently not! In any case, I mean it literally as “Divine work,” just as Liturgy means “people’s work.” But I just read this from the late Metropolitan ANTHONY (Bloom) of Great Britain:
…in eucharistic terms we are easily led astray by what we see. We see a celebrant [...]
May 15, 2008 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: bishops, Christianity, church polity, Eastern Christianity, Eastern Orthodoxy, hierarchy, liturgy, mass, Orthodox Christianity, patriarchs, pope, religion, services, worship
Sometimes you will see Orthodox refer to a liturgy as pontifical. Naturally, this has nothing to do with the Pope of Rome, among whose titles are “Pontifex Maximus” and “Sovereign Pontiff.” I believe a more commonly-used synonym among English-speaking Orthodox is hierarchical, as in Hierarchical Divine Liturgy. Actually pontifical has been traditionally used this way [...]
May 13, 2008 in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Tags: astrology, astronomy, Byzantine, Byzantium, calendars, canonization, Catholic Church, Catholicism, Christianity, computer analogies, computer programs, computers, computus, Divine Liturgy, Easter, Eastern Catholic Church, Eastern Catholicism, Eastern Christianity, Eastern Orthodoxy, Eucharist, fasts, feast days, glorification, Gregorian Calendar, High Church, Holidays, holydays, Hours, Julian Calendar, Latin Christianity, Latin Church, liturgical reform, liturgy, Liturgy of the Hours, medieval, Middle Ages, name-day, New Calendar, nonviolence, nonviolent resistance, Old Calendar, order of worship, Ordinarius, ordo, Orthodox Christianity, orthodoxy, Pascha, paschalion, religion, Revised Julian Calendar, Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholicism, Rome, saints, science, seasons, Second Vatican Council, slava, snow, software, Southern Hemisphere, tradition, Tridentine Mass, Typicon, Typikon, Unia, Uniates, Uniatism, Uniats, Vatican II, weather, Western Christianity, worship
Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!
Yes, on the Third Monday of Pascha yesterday morning – May 12 (NS)! - some snow stuck to the ground in higher elevations of southwestern Pennsylvania (link may break), the Commonwealth where I and alot of other Orthodox live!
This discussion goes back to my recent post occasioned by the (Western) Good [...]
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 [...]
The same person offered this reflection on Orthodox church (temple) architecture (curly brackets by me):
Everything about the church is designed to make us think of God. The churches (unless purchased from another church) are built in the shape of a cross. You walk in where the base of the cross would be. The entrance to [...]
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 [...]
