Consequences of the Fall by Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware) of Diokleia Created for fellowship with the Holy Trinity, called to advance in love from the divine image to the divine likeness, man chose instead a path that led not up but down. He repudiated the Godward relationship that is his true essence. Instead of acting as […]
Category: Orthodox Theology
Death is Overcome by Life – Fr. Alexander Schmemann
This is the Blessed Sabbath – Fr. Alexander Schmemann The “Great and Holy Sabbath” is the day which connects Good Friday, the commemoration of the Cross with the Day of His Resurrection. To many the real nature and the meaning of this “connection,” the very necessity of this “middle day” remains obscure. For a good […]
The Last Supper – Great and Holy Thursday
The Last Supper – Great and Holy Thursday By Fr. Alexander Schmemann Two events shape the liturgy of the Great and Holy Thursday: the Last Supper of Christ with His disciples and the betrayal of Judas. The meaning of both is in love. The Last Supper is the ultimate revelation of God’s redeeming love for […]
The Second Coming of Christ will be Completely Unexpected
The Second Coming of Christ will be Completely Unexpected Luke 12:32–40 By St. Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol and All Crimea (Delivered on November 13, 1947) When Jesus Christ parted with the disciples on the Mount of Olives before the Ascension, they asked: “At this time, Lord, are You restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He […]
Holy Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday – Fr. Alexander Schmemann
Holy Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday – Fr. Alexander Schmemann These three days, which the Church calls Great and Holy have within the liturgical development of the Holy Week a very definite purpose. They place all its celebrations in the perspective of End; they remind us of the eschatological meaning of Pascha. So often the Holy […]
Palm Sunday: the Entrance of our Lord into Jerusalem
Palm Sunday: the Entrance of our Lord into Jerusalem The Saturday of Lazarus, from the liturgical point of view, is the pre-feast of Palm Sunday — the Entrance of our Lord into Jerusalem. Both feasts have a common theme: triumph and victory. Saturday reveals the Enemy, which is death; Palm Sunday announces the meaning of […]
Saturday of Lazarus: The Beginning of the Cross
Saturday of Lazarus: The Beginning of the Cross – Fr. Alexander Schmemann “Having fulfilled the Forty Days… we ask to see the Holy Week of Thy passion.” With these words sung at Vespers of Palm Friday, Lent comes to its end and we enter into the annual commemoration of Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection. It […]
On Illness: I feel the illness as the love of Christ
On Illness: I feel the illness as the love of Christ By Elder Porphyrios Kafsokalivitis ‘My Christ, Your love knows no limits!’ I thank God for granting me many illnesses. I often say to Him: ‘My Christ, Your love knows no limits!’ How I am alive is a miracle. Among all my other illnesses I […]
The Harmony of God is Hidden Within Diversity
The Harmony of God is Hidden Within a Diversity of Personalities – Elder Paisios the Athonite One day a man came to my kalyve (hut) and told me that he was very worried because he was not of the same mind with his wife. I saw, however, that there was nothing serious between them. He […]
I felt great joy at the thought that I would meet the Lord
I felt great joy at the thought that I would meet the Lord By Elder Porphyrios Kafsokalivitis Once I came to the point of death. I had suffered severe perforation of the stomach as a result of the steroids I was given in the hospital when I went for an operation on my eye? which […]