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Time and again, the hymns of this joyous season point out that the myrrh-bearers were a little confused: Nicodemus had already buried the Body of the Lord with about a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes, but on Sunday morning, these women came with even more sweet spices. They did not understand the significance of the Lord’s Passion or know that…
According to Saint Gregory the Theologian, Thomas Sunday—which he called New Sunday—is an even greater feast than Pascha. On Easter, we celebrated the rising of Christ, but today we celebrate the renewal of the whole world by the power of the Risen One. The goal of Christ’s death was not his own Resurrection, however wonderful that may be: the…
Christ is risen! Indeed he is risen! In the darkness of earliest morning, our churches shining with festal light, we heard at Matins the wonderful Paschal sermon, the Catechetical Homily of Saint John Chrysostom, with its awe-inspiring refrain of “Christ is risen, and…”: “Christ is risen, and life reigns. Christ is risen, and not one dead…
“Moses the great mystically prefigured this present day, saying: ‘And God blessed the seventh day.’” In ancient times, catechumens were not permitted to read the Gospel; rather, they studied the Old Testament. Then, at the time of their illumination, on Holy Saturday, everything made sense. All the stories and images they had learned in the…
Saint Nicholas Cathedral, Washington, DC
April 14, 2023
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
On Christmas Day, the feast of the Nativity, we saw him born in a cave, in the silence of the night, when the whole world became still at his presence. We saw him sleeping in peace, cradled in his Mother’s arms. And yet…
“Today Judas watches how he may deliver up the Lord” (Matins, Antiphon Six). These are frightening words, and yet, if we think that we are so different than Judas, we have missed the point of the previous forty days. Every time we sin, we betray Jesus again; every transgression crucifies him again; every iniquity adds to his wounds. To our…
Throughout the Lenten season, we have witnessed, at the Liturgy of the Pre-sanctified, the reverent and divine adoration that the priest offers to Christ in the Eucharist: with fear he prostrates himself before the Lamb; with dread he escorts our God from the place of oblation to the throne of the altar; with trembling he touches the Holy One…
Dormition of the Virgin Mary Church
Cumberland, RI
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“Today the grace of the Holy Spirit has gathered us together, and we all take up thy Cross and say: Blessed is he that comes in the Name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.”
This hymn, which we heard over and over again…
There are times during Christ’s ministry when, seeing that the people wished to seize him and make him their king, he fled. But today, he accepts their acclamations and allows himself to be greeted royally. Why? Earlier, it was not yet time for Jesus’ kingdom, but this week, his reign begins. Today, the King of glory enters the holy city to be…
Saint Nicholas Church
Salem, MA
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
“O Lord, wishing to see the tomb of Lazarus—for thou wast soon to dwell by thine own choice within a tomb—thou hast asked: ‘Where have ye laid him?’ And, learning that which was already known to thee, thou didst cry to him whom thou didst…
Today, Lazarus is raised. After the Resurrection of the Lord, he will become a bishop on the island of Cyprus. And eventually he will die again. In fact, his relics are with us to this day. Why, then, did Christ raise Lazarus? First, Lazarus, as a living miracle of Christ, became a witness to his power over life and death and hence a witness to…
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…