In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Every year, on the fifth Sunday of Great Lent, we celebrate our venerable mother Mary of Egypt, one of the greatest saints shining in the firmament of our holy Church.
Seen from one perspective, she led a remarkable life: after undergoing an instantaneous conversion that was…
“Standing, O saint, before Christ the Light, send down light upon me, for with love I celebrate thy light-giving and holy memory” (Matins Canon, Ode One). See how remarkable Christ’s love is: he has not only redeemed Mary, but he has made this former prostitute into an intercessor for those who struggle with sin in this world. God’s light…
Saints Peter and Paul
Springfield, MA
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Fifth Week of Lent is a week of remarkable hymnody—the alphabetical stichera of Saint Simeon Metaphrastes on Wednesday night, the Great Canon of Saint Andrew sung in its entirety on Thursday morning. And today, the Fifth Saturday, is…
The so-called Canon of the Akathist, composed by Saint Joseph the Hymnographer, opens with these words: “O pure Virgin, living book of Christ, sealed by the Spirit.” She is the scroll in which God’s Word is written, the heaven containing the Sun of Righteousness, the jar containing the true Manna, the oven in which the heavenly Bread is baked.…
During the first week of Lent, we sang the Great Canon of Saint Andrew over the course of four nights at Great Compline; today this lengthy penitential canon is appointed in full at Matins. Some small details concerning the order of the troparia and the like have changed, too. This serves as a reminder that repentance is not static; our repentance…
The Ladder of Saint John leads the Christian, step by step, rung by rung, along the ascent to heaven. Naturally, the higher steps involve more dangerous temptations and more exalted virtues. For many of us, who remain perpetual beginners, it is good to be reminded of the first steps: we must renounce the world, become detached from worldly cares,…
Saint Vladimir’s Seminary
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Today, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, the holy apostle Paul instructs us that “he who sanctifies”—Christ himself—
and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying: “I will declare…
The angel’s greeting—“Hail!”—literally means “rejoice” in Greek, and this coincidence was not lost on the Fathers of the Church, who saw the angelic announcement as a declaration of joy. Nine months from now, a multitude of angels will proclaim joy to the world, but today this proclamation of joy is reserved for the Theotokos, the one…
The Cross stands at the center of the fast as it stands at the center of all our activities, indeed, at the center of our entire life. The world is cruciform, and, as we see in holy icons depicting the days of creation, the Lord formed his creation with the hands that were pierced by Roman nails. Following his lead, in all our activities, let us…
One week after the Sunday of Orthodoxy, we attach an appendix, as it were, to that celebration: the feast of Saint Gregory Palamas. Saint Gregory Palamas’s teachings concerning the divine energies, the light of Tabor, and hesychasm are well-known but, in many cases, only superficially understood. More accessible are the great saint’s homilies,…
What is the triumph of Orthodoxy? Historically, this was the victory of the Iconodule party in the Byzantine Empire, with imperial backing. Yet, since then, year in and year out, in lands throughout the world, that triumph is celebrated—and realized—again and again. Ultimately, Orthodoxy’s triumph is not by force of arms, not by princes or…
In his hymns for today’s feast, Saint John of Euchaita refers to this day as “heralding from afar the coming feast of the Resurrection,” stating that “this present time of relief prefigures the coming feast” of Pascha. These joyful words remind us that, even throughout these forty days of sustained ascetical effort, there are times when we…
After a month of preparation, we begin the forty days of Great Lent. During these days of ascetic struggle, may we all take refuge in the prayers and instructions of the holy ascetics who have gone before us. May we guard ourselves against all temptation by the Cross of the Lord. May the Mother of God be a joyous presence during this time, as we…
In the reading from the prophecy of Isaiah on the first day of the fast, we hear a word of caution. Our annual observance of times and seasons, our gatherings to worship, are not, in and of themselves, pleasing unto God. “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? Who requires of you this trampling…
Though we commonly call today “Forgiveness Sunday,” liturgically it is known as Cheesefare Sunday, or the Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise. As the last day before Lent, it is a day of preliminaries. Before Adam and Eve could find their way back from their fall, they had to leave the garden behind and know death and its consequences. We,…
A few weeks ago, on Zacchaeus Sunday, we marked the end of the Sundays after Pentecost. Then, with the feast of the Meeting of the Lord, we marked the end of the Nativity season. Now, with the Sunday of the Last Judgment, we mark the end of time itself. Today, and throughout this coming week, we are called to examine our conscience as if we were…
Perhaps the most obvious lesson of today’s Gospel is this: no matter how far we have strayed from home, the Father is always ready to run out and meet us the moment we turn back. During the Lenten season, may we all set aside our shame and turn home once more through the mystery of confession. “If we confess our sins”—fully and honestly—we…
Today we read the Gospel of the Publican and the Pharisee, and of course, if we must choose one, we should strive to follow the way of the Publican. But the hymns of the Lenten Triodion tell us that, in fact, we should imitate both: the Publican in his humility and repentance, the Pharisee in his piety and good works. This recalls the words of Our…
The feast of the Meeting of the Lord marks the end of the Nativity season. Forty days ago, we greeted the newborn King with the cry “Christ is born!” Now, forty days after his birth, the Lord comes to Jerusalem to be offered in the temple of the Law. Today he is redeemed for the price of two turtledoves, but at the end of the coming forty days…
Yesterday was the final Sunday “after Pentecost,” when we read the last of the Sunday lections from Saint Luke’s Gospel. And though we often think of Zacchaeus Sunday as pointing forward, toward Pre-Lent and Lent, it also sums up the entire Church year that has gone before: Christ has come so that the Good News of salvation can be preached…