Many different answers are given to the above question. For example, there are those with personal axes to grind who will tell you that it was the Romans or the Jews. Such answers are childish excuses of the sort ‘it wasn’t me, it was him’. More generally it is true to say that fallen humanity
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Orthodoxy Is Hard. Thank God
Around our house this morning, we are still trying to recombobulate ourselves after Orthodox Holy Week. Not every Orthodox parish offers the full range of Holy Week services — ours doesn’t, because we are so small — but if you went to all the services our parish did offer (11 services in seven days, if
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The Event of the Resurrection and Our Resurrection
A philosopher challenged a Christian youth saying, “You call out, ‘Christ is risen’ and you believe that your god is risen, but you die!” This is a realistic and logical challenge. But what is our response? Our faith in the Resurrection rests upon Christ’s promise. “How dear, O Christ, and how sweet is your voice
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Christ is Risen! Well, So What?
After all, despite the glory of Pascha, I am still an unrepentant sinner. I am worse than St. Thomas because he touched the Lord’s flesh once and proclaimed, “My Lord and my God.” Eventually, Thomas made it all the way to India. I touch the Lord’s Body and Blood every Sunday and have done so
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Holy Fire Descends on Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem
Jerusalem. Holy Fire has descended on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem has handed it to the people who gathered in the temple, RIA Novosti reported. The Holy Fire symbolises the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which Saint Peter referred to, and is believed to be a sacred
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Christ is Risen!
The Essential Meaning of the Paschal Feast The following is the text of a public talk given by Fr. Alexander on May 2, 1989, in Moscow. Fr. Alexander Men, Pascha, 1964 It is a remarkable feature of the night of Pascha that many people appear in church who otherwise almost never go there. Something mysterious
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Holy and Awesome Saturday
Now, it is for us to wait; to wait with all longing, all hope, all desire for the news to reach us. On this holy, great and awesome Saturday when the human soul of Christ was torn away from His Body, and when His incorruptible, holy Body rested in the tomb, what a deep sense
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Great and Holy Friday Coloring Pages
Here is a LINK to coloring pages for your children for Great and Holy Friday. I recommend having them carefully and reverently color the pages while listening to some lovely chant from Holy Friday Lamentations. Truthfully, I love to color these pages too! The beautiful children’s book Great and Holy Friday from the Three-Day Pascha
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Red Eggs for Pascha
In the Orthodox Christian tradition we color red eggs for Easter (or Pascha as we usually refer to Easter). There are various legends surrounding the red eggs. A few can be found here. After the midnight Pasha service we each take a red egg (which was first boiled) and tap it against another person’s egg
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Pascha Baskets
If you are looking for ways to keep “Christ” in your celebration of Easter, consider making an Orthodox Pascha Basket instead of the typical egg & candy overload! Each of the following traditional foods has a symbolic and spiritual significance. We focus on saying “Pascha” which is our spiritual journey to the Resurrection of Christ., our “passage”
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