The celebration of the Most-holy Theotokos, in honor of her Icon known as the Kazan Icon, was established in thanks for the saving of Moscow and all Russia from the attack of the Poles in 1612. The late 16th and early 17th Centuries are known in Russian history as the Time of Troubles. The
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“LET US PURIFY OUR SENSES”
Today, brothers and sisters, let’s greet each other with the joy of this feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy! Yes, today really is a prazdnik—a feast—although it’s a feast that comes in the midst of our fasting, one that crowns and illumines all the ascetic efforts we have taken on during this past week. The
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The Sacramentality of Matter: Artists, Wood, Paint and God Enfleshed
Orthodox Christians celebrate the memory of the Holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council. Sound boring? Better hold onto your seat, because this is a wild ride! Nearly four hundred years after the establishment of the Christian Byzantine Empire, a movement of rigorist puritanism began to develop in the Church that viewed icons with
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Icons and the Seeds and the Good Soil
In any Orthodox Church, we are surrounded by icons of the saints. These saints are described in Christ’s parable of the sower as the “good soil” on which when the seed, the Word of God, “grew, it produced a hundredfold.” As Jesus teaches, the saints “are the ones who, when they hear the word, hold
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THREE ICONS HAVE BEGUN TO STREAM MYRRH
A strong, sweet fragrance spreads throughout the whole church. Monk Mitrophan, inclining towards the icons, inhales the gentle aroma and expounds—the Life-giving Cross has a woody scent, reminiscent of sandalwood. From the icon of the Royal Martyrs a pure, clean fragrance—after all it is a genuine family of five children and their parents. Every year
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WHY MUST A CHURCH HAVE AN ICONOSTASIS AND CURTAIN OVER THE ROYAL DOORS?
What is the significance of the iconostasis and curtain in the microcosm of an Orthodox church? In an Orthodox church there is no thing or action which does not carry meaning of spiritual weight. Even the iconostasis and curtain over the Royal Doors are full-fledged “participants” in the Divine services. The architecture and interior decoration
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Sacred Space, Sacred Art, and The Power of Women
We live in a confused time. Many of the basic foundations which hold the world together have been made fragile. Up/down, center/periphery, inside/outside have all been eroded in their power to frame existence as we watch floodwaters rise around us. One of the foundations systematically attacked through sophisticated rhetoric and political ideology is the complementary
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The Russian Icon That Reveals the Mystery of the Trinity
“It is most absurd and improper to depict in icons God the Father with a grey beard and the Only-Begotten Son in His bosom with a dove between them, because no-one has seen the Father according to His Divinity, and the Father has no flesh […] and the Holy Spirit is not in essence
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Iconography and Biblical Theology
1. I think we need to avoid simply noting that there were statues of cherubim in the Inner Sanctuary of the Temple and the Most Holy of the Tabernacle. This seems to me to flatten out covenant history, making it appear as if icons were always fine, which is against the argument of St.
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How an Icon Brought a Calvinist to Orthodoxy
By Robert K. Arakaki A Journey to Orthodoxy It was my first week at seminary. Walking down the hallway of the main dorm, I saw an icon of Christ on a student’s door. I thought: “An icon in an evangelical seminary?! What’s going on here?” Even more amazing was the fact that Jim’s background was
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