As I shared, our faith believes that while God provides all that is necessary for human salvation and personal transformation, we must accept and apply these gifts. The mutual cooperation, and the personal relationship that it brings about, is called … Continue reading
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The idea of God-inspired Scripture was not one of the primordial themes of Israelite religion. This is understandably so for this religion originated among people who at first had no knowledge of writing and who existed for a long time … Continue reading
As I suggested in the last issue of this article, the call to holiness is a “call” to become a “spiritual person” – to develop a Christ-focused spirituality. Spirituality has become linked in some minds with a positive emotional response … Continue reading
To acquire the mind of Christ one has to take the time to seriously reflect on the teachings of Jesus and then make a strong commitment to live in accord with these teachings. Many Christian people, because they feel that … Continue reading
In order to understand the Divine Liturgy, one must also consider the ways of liturgical development. If you compare later developments (the way we celebrate the Liturgy today) to Justin’s original order of the Eucharist service, you see that liturgical … Continue reading
I have been sharing the thoughts of St. Cyril on Christ as the Emmanuel. The whole spiritual experience reflected in Cyril’s Christology implies two central intuitions: (1) God, in the search for incomplete humanity, does not stop halfway, but goes … Continue reading
The 20th Step on John’s Ladder (don’t despair we only have 10 more steps to go) is ALERTNESS. From the passion of sleep (Step 19) we move on to its positive counterpart: the virtue of ALERTNESS. It is a virtue … Continue reading
To You, O Lord, Author of all creation, the universe offers the God-bearing martyrs as the first-fruit of nature. Through their prayers and the intercession of the Mother of God preserve Your Church, Your dwelling-place, in perfect peace, O Most … Continue reading
In the last issue of this article, I began sharing with my readers the thoughts of St. Cyril of Alexandria about Christ, Who is the Emmanuel. He once proclaimed, paraphrasing Isaiah, that “it is not an elder, nor an angel, … Continue reading
In Byzantine spirituality the emphasis on the communal does not, in any way, mean that the individual is lost in the crowd. The purpose of an individual’s life is to achieve the aim declared in St. Peter’s second letter: “To … Continue reading