As I have indicated, the first part of the Divine Liturgy, from the very beginning to the Litany after the Gospel, which is known as the Petitions For the Day, is said to be the Liturgy of the Word. In … Continue reading
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The last document in the canonical New Testament is Revelation or Apocalypse. It is named this because it speaks of the second coming of Jesus, the ending of this world, and its replacement by a new heaven and a new … Continue reading
In His Sermon on the Mount (Mat 5:1-7:29), Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ gives us a vivid description of the divine way of life, that is to say, He teaches us how to live as He does. This … Continue reading
Eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God, and him whom you have sent, Jesus, the Christ On the weekend between the feast of the Ascension of Our Lord and the feast of Pentecost our Church remembers … Continue reading
I have already shared with you the first three rungs of John’s Ladder. They are Renunciation, Detachment and Exile. The third rung, I believe, requires further explication. Spiritual exile often means that we have very different, and even completely opposite … Continue reading
Although many may not have been aware of it, but during the period from Easter to Ascension the Shroud, which we removed from the Good Friday Grave on Eastern Sunday morning, traditionally remains on the Holy Table. The Divine Liturgy … Continue reading
Being called to holiness means being called to more fully understand life and the purpose of life. St. Irenaeus in the 2nd century summarized the aim of God’s creation and the peak of its evolution when the Word became flesh: … Continue reading
I have been considering the Letter to the Ephesians. Despite the fact that Ephesians not only goes beyond and sometimes compromises what Paul wrote in his seven genuine letters, the letter also echoes some of what was central to Paul’s … Continue reading
That we are all in need of repentance (Metanoia) is beyond dispute, as this is clearly indicated at the beginning of the Gospel in the very first words preached by both St. John the Baptizer and Jesus: Repent: for the … Continue reading
In the last installment of this article, I had reached the point in the Liturgy where the Trisagion Hymn is sung. It was in 433 C.E., when Saint Proclus was Patriarch of Constantinople, that the city was evacuated due to … Continue reading