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In the services for today’s feast, Christ’s Circumcision is seen, first and foremost, as a sign of his divine humility, prefiguring the humiliation of his Passion. Though he is “all-beneficent God,” “beginningless with his Father,” he is neither ashamed of Circumcision nor does he abhor it. We also sing of Christ’s swaddling bands,…
During these last hours of the year, many people settle on their resolutions for the new year. Though we may benefit from Dry January, losing weight, a new morning or evening routine, we should take our primary resolution for the coming year from this late medieval carol: “The old year now away is fled, / The new year it is entered; / Then let us…
Today, the second day of the feast of the Nativity of Christ, we keep festival in honor of the Theotokos, the gate through whom the Divine and Eternal entered the world. The only way to encounter Jesus Christ is through her; the only Jesus Christ whom we know is the Son of Mary. Therefore, if we desire to approach the newborn God-infant, laid in a…
Christ is born! Glorify him!
May he who descended from heaven in order to ascend the Cross, who was laid in a manger to be our Food, who was borne in the arms of his Mother to Jerusalem as a holy Victim of sacrifice, who fled as a babe from Herod so that he could give himself up to Pilate in the prime of his life, Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten…
In some Orthodox traditions, a special fasting dinner, composed of 12 dishes, is served tonight, eaten by candlelight when the first star appears in the sky. That meal is followed by the All-night Vigil. In some places, the Vigil is kept late at night, starting a short while before midnight, and is immediately followed by the Divine Liturgy, as on…
Two of the most beautiful hymns of praise in the Church’s service books are the brief song at the end of the seventh canticle of Matins (“Blessed art thou, O Lord, God of our fathers . . .”) and the eighth canticle in its entirety (“Bless the Lord, all works of the Lord . . .”). The songs, sung by three children in a tyrant’s furnace,…
Monastery of Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk
December 13, 2023
Today we gather to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the exodus of one of the luminaries of the Orthodox Church in America, the departed servant of God the Very Reverend Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann.
People may debate this or that aspect of Fr. Alexander’s legacy and teaching, but…
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
On a day-to-day basis, we go through our earthly lives with a sense of control and purpose. We feel in charge of our fate, that our decisions matter, that we can…
On this winter feast day, let us pray to our most venerable father Herman:
O venerable father Herman of Alaska, wonderworker of America, heavenly patron and intercessor: we are sinful and unworthy of thy legacy, yet we are, nevertheless, thy children. Because of our sins and errors, we are beset by division in the Churches and division in our…
There is no more beloved saint, among Orthodox Christians or throughout the world, than Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker. He was not a bishop in an important see; he left behind no writings, no theological legacy; he did not compose an anaphora; he did not travel as a missionary, found a new local church, build a great cathedral, or start an…
The holy apostle Andrew the First-called, according to tradition, founded the Church at Byzantium and planted a cross at the future site of Kyiv. Most likely, all of the bishops of the Orthodox Church trace their apostolic succession back to Saint Andrew, at least in part. Saint Andrew is known as the “the First-called” because he, together with…
Today, the holy Maiden enters into the temple of the Old Law, and all the shadowy symbols of the ancient covenant—the jar, the staff, the golden censer, the ark with the cherubim—are fulfilled. “Today is the prelude of the good will of God, of the preaching of the salvation of mankind. The Virgin appears in the temple of God, in anticipation…
Two days ago, at entrance into the fast, we heard the Lord command St. Philip, “Follow me.” Today, we hear him give that same command to Saint Matthew, and Matthew, like Philip, obeys. He leaves his tax booth and walks in the footsteps of the Lord. We know that tax collectors were notorious, public sinners in those days, but his sins did not…
Today the Nativity Fast begins, a fast barely noted in the divine services. This fast is quiet, in some sense “dark,” reminding us of the darkness in which the world lay before Christ’s birth, and of the dark, still night on which God was born as a man. Entering this season with a humble stillness of spirit, we, too, await the coming of God.
The day before the Nativity Fast begins, we celebrate the feast of St. Philip. In fact, in Russian, the coming fast is commonly called Saint Philip’s Fast. In today’s Gospel reading, we hear that Jesus went forth to find Philip, telling him, “Follow me” (Jn. 1:43). This same Gospel is read on the first Sunday of Lent. In other words,…
It is difficult to overstate the importance of St. John Chrysostom for the holy Tradition of the Church: in many monasteries and cathedrals, his Anaphora is used to offer the holy oblation to the Lord nearly every day, on around 319 mornings out of the year. In our prayer books, his compositions feature prominently at Morning, Evening, and Communion…
Saint Matthew Orthodox Church, Columbia MD
35th Anniversary Celebration
November 12, 2023
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
My beloved children in the Lord,
Picture if you will the scene: a man lying by the side of the road, beaten, robbed, stripped, suffering. Passing by on the other side, going out of their…
When he was still a boy, Saint Nectarius of Aegina, born into a poor family, traveled to Constantinople for work. Though he found a job with a tobacco merchant, he still experienced great want. His trust in God, however, never wavered. One day he wrote a letter addressed “To the Lord Jesus Christ in Heaven” asking for an apron and shoes. A…
Today we celebrate the angels, “ministering spirits sent forth to serve.” Let us take this as an opportunity to remember our guardian angels, who aid us in the battle against sin and protect us from visible and invisible dangers. We should pray daily for our angel’s help, strengthening our friendship with him for time and eternity.
At this time of year, Western culture gives temporary rein to images of the macabre. For a few rare moments around Halloween, secular people give thought to the existence of death, evil, and the demonic. Of course, the Christian is always aware of these realities: in Christ’s Crucifixion, we see the murder of the surpassingly innocent and holy…