As we already have seen, the Eucharistic Divine Liturgy is not celebrated in the Orthodox Church on Lenten weekdays. In order for the faithful to sustain their Lenten effort by participation in Holy Communion, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served. The service is an ancient one in the Orthodox Church. We officially hear […]
Great Lent : The time of preparation for the Resurrection of Christ
The season of Great Lent is the time of preparation for the feast of the Resurrection of Christ. It is the living symbol of man’s entire life which is to be fulfilled in his own resurrection from the dead with Christ. It is a time of renewed devotion: of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. It is […]
Saturday of Souls: Remembering the Departed
MEMORIAL SATURDAYS Our Church calendar provides many occasions when we are asked to face up to the fact of death. Good Friday is one such occasion. So is Easter. Sunday is another. Every Sunday is a “little Easter” celebrating Christ’s victory over death. On our Church calendar, every year there are special Memorial Saturdays or […]
4th Sunday of Great Lent: St John Climacus – hold on tight.
Saint John of the Ladder Our holy Father among the Saints St John Climacus is the author of a powerful spiritual work that is divided into about thirty chapters, called “steps”, as part of the overall book entitled, “The Ladder of Divine Ascent.” As the Great Fast is about our ascending to the things […]
Return from Exile (The Sunday of the Prodigal Son)
The Following is an excerpt from Great Lent, by Fr Alexander SchmemannFrom Chapter 2: Preparation for Lent On the third Sunday of preparation for Lent, we hear the parable of the Prodigal Son (LK. 15:11-32). Together with the hymns on this day, the parable reveals to us the time of repentance as man’s return from […]
The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost!
Luke 19:1-10 Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. 2 Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. 3 And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed up […]
Luke 18:18-30 Salvation, Wealth and Poverty:
18 Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One,that is, God. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ […]
Healing on the Sabbath: Luke 13:10-17
10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free […]
How we fast: St John Chrysostom.
St John Chrysostom on Fasting: “Enter the Church and wash away our sins. For here there is a hospital and not a court of law. Do not be ashamed to enter the Church; be ashamed when you sin, but not when you repent.” “Do you fast? Give me proof of it by your works: • […]
Lazarus and the Rich Man: how will you live in Eternity?
THe Gospel according to Saint Luke: 16: 19-31 (NKJV) 19 “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. 20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, 21 desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell[a] from […]
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