Antiquity of Passion Week Services
Antiquity of the Passion Week Cycle of Hymns Most Orthodox hymnography emerges out of the first one thousand years of Church history. It was a highly creative age of liturgical development under the influence of God-inspired theologians. Many of the hymns we still sing were written as a result of direct experiences of theosis. … Continue reading
Tending the Garden – Response to Ecological Crisis
Tending the Garden: An Orthodox Christian Response to Ecological Crisis For well over a decade, the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has publicly called Christians to examine “the increasing burden on the natural environment due to human abuse, which the Church names as sin”. He counsels instead “using natural resources with thankfulness, … Continue reading
Guide for Teaching Bible 11- Jacob and the Struggle for God
Jacob the Forefather of the Lord and the Struggle to Obtain God The forefathers and mothers of the Lord in the flesh are often depicted as Christ-like, virtuous and prophetic. Though this is not universally so, and all are human as well with human weaknesses, it can be taken as a general rule; … Continue reading
Vision and Poetry
Vision and Poetry In graduate school for English Literature, I wrote several papers on the visions of universal beauty and order that inspired major works of literature. The most ambitious of these analyzed astrological references throughout Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. All the tales, along with the viewpoints of the various narrators among the pilgrims, … Continue reading
The Search for the Holy Grail
The Search for the Holy Grail Is it possible that the authentic chalice of Christ’s Last Supper, the cup in which the Eucharist was established, has survived two millennia, hidden for a thousand years in small monastic chapels high in remote mountains, just as the legends indicate? Our cultural fascination with … Continue reading
Guide for Teaching Bible 10 – Isaac, Child of the Promise
Isaac, Child of the Promise Among the Patriarchs, even among all the personalities of the Old and New Testament, Isaac is the most quiet. There is almost nothing that reveals his thoughts or disposition. He is surrounded by powerful personalities, vividly described: his wife Rebeccah, his sons Jacob and Esau. All are people … Continue reading
Orthodox Illumination 