Thursday September 27, 2018 (Gregorian) / September 14, 2018 (Julian) The Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life-giving Cross. The Apostles, holy fathers, and after them the whole liturgical tradition of the Church glorifies the Cross with the loftiest expressions. The holy apostle Paul “boasts” of the Cross. Praising the Cross, St. Ephraim the Syrian pronounces a long
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AM I BEING DRAGGED THROUGH LIFE BY MY STRUGGLES?
I have never met anyone who did not struggle with someone or something. They struggle at work, or struggle at school. They struggle with a friend or with an enemy. They struggle with the bills and they struggle with debt. They struggle with their spouse or their boyfriend or girlfriend. They struggle with Democrats and
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WHAT THE CROSS MEANS FOR CHRISTIANS: For the Third Sunday of Lent
“O Invincible and incomprehensible and divine power of the precious and life-giving Cross, forsake not us sinners.” (From the order of Great Compline) The Cross is the mighty and profound symbol of Christianity, a symbol whose meaning is inexhaustible. The eight-pointed Cross is the symbol of Orthodoxy. Gazing upon the Cross with his mind and
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THE THIRD SUNDAY OF GREAT LENT: ON CARRYING YOUR CROSS
Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me (Mk. 8:34), said the Lord to his disciples, calling them unto Him, as we heard today in the Gospels. Dear brothers and sisters! We too are disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ, because we are Christians. We
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WHO KILLED CHRIST?
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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Interpreting the Scripture (1)
In this blog series, we are exploring what it means that Jesus Christ is the Word of God incarnate (John 1) while simultaneously we also refer to the Bible, the written text as the Word of God. Orthodoxy in its hymns certainly places an emphasis on Jesus being the Word of God incarnate. The Word
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Spiritual Counsels of St. Nikon of Optina
We honor the memory of the Optina Monastery holy confessor Nikon. St. Nikon (in the world, Nicholai Mitrofanovich Belyaev) was a great example of patience and obedience—from his youth to the end of his life, he good-heartedly endured everything sent to him by God. Even in his childhood, there were events that were like signs
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THE THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT: THE CROSS AS A MEANS OF TRANSFORMING THE WORLD
Through the Cross, Christ sanctified His body—the link with the world. He rejected the temptations sent to Him by the world, that is to taste the pleasures, to satisfy His needs unrestrained or to avoid pain and death. If we, in the same way, ward off the temptations of sin and patiently suffer the pain
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14 TYPES OF ANCIENT CHRISTIAN CROSSES
14 TYPES OF ANCIENT CHRISTIAN CROSSES Today every Orthodox Christian wears a cross. It is not just the sign, which demonstrates our faith and religion, but it is the symbol of God’s victory over evil and death. The cross reminds us about the sacrifice, which God made for our salvation. Perhaps, the eight-pointed Orthodox cross
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SALVATION AND HAPPINESS IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT SUFFERING AND SORROWS
For the first time Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia celebrated the Divine Liturgy accompanied by sign language translation. Throughout the service several specialists were present at the church who translated everything into sign language. The Liturgy was served at All Saints’ Church in the Moscow district of Novokosino. “I call upon all our
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