Not long ago, the American press reported, with a combination of shock and amusement, some fantastic developments Italian scientists had achieved in the domain of procreative medicine. Given the relative ease with which...
It’s the story of the prophet Jonah. Prophets are those who hear the word of God and proclaim the tidings to the people. They also are God’s students. They too have to learn what the Lord’s will is. Sometimes they pay an...
The difficulty many of our people have in explaining the joy and beauty that comes only by faith in the Holy Trinity experienced in the Orthodox Church is that there is just so much to tell, and the expression of our sacred...
Consciousness, or the awareness of what is happening to us—our thoughts, impressions, reflections on our experiences, are stored up in our memory. What is immortal in us has to do with our memory. When we leave this...
When the priest prepares the Holy Host for communion before the public part of the Divine Liturgy begins, his last action is to thrust the cutting spear he uses into the side of the square of bread. While doing so he recites...
In late August this site ran the second half of a parish brochure I had prepared as a simple introduction to Orthodox history and doctrine. In it I gave a very brief summary of key elements of the Nicene Creed. One sentence...
A few months ago in this space we raised the issue of “Care for Patients in ‘PVS’,” or “persistent vegetative state.” With the continuing storm of controversy surrounding the case of Terri Schiavo, it seems worthwhile to...
Our Lord Jesus Christ was an outstanding communicator, because He spoke to the values and needs of those He encountered. To a merchant He talked of jewels. To the farmer He spoke of sowing and fertile earth. To the fishermen...
We Americans have a special problem with this text: Many of us are on a salt-free diet. But from time immemorial, salt always has had a profound meaning. It was so precious that it was how wages were paid. Payment for...
It seems that the more I age, the more I grow estranged from the society around me. I realize it now, sitting in an airport terminal waiting for my flight connection. Upon touching down from a transoceanic flight, the flight...