tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-128076142011-04-21T15:55:21.294-05:00Information about Eastern Orthodox Christianity,<br>blogged by Leo Peter O'Filon,<br>formerly Roman Catholic, Quaker, and Mennonite.menoreply@blogger.comBlogger3041100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-56844020353446079002008-02-19T10:27:00.002-05:002008-02-19T10:31:42.209-05:00

...for a possible new home for this blog, to get the word out to more readers. I won't be adding new posts here for the time being, just at WordPress, but I will still try to respond to Comments here as health permits (which has been a bit difficult since last Spring).I wish you a profitable Great Fast when it arrives next month!

menoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-35909697843337207312008-02-10T15:38:00.000-05:002008-02-10T16:20:34.104-05:00

This Washington Post feature story will become unavailable to those of us without the money to sign-up (ironically). But the quoted remark of a museum curator in Russia in favor of Russian tycoons buying-back the nation's Orthodox Christian religious heritage, including Holy Icons, from abroad, where it had been taken, stolen, or sold after the Bolshevik Revolution, is telling for those of us

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-55103248489003363452008-02-03T12:25:00.000-05:002008-02-03T12:45:25.191-05:00

It's easy to forget that almsgiving is not only a good idea and helpful to the needy, but also good for the giver, a spiritual discipline, encouraging detachment from things, and a form of union with God's Energies and activities everywhere - which may be why the Lord said, "It is more blest to give than to receive." Self-restraint of greed, desire, envy ... all things I have some acquaintance

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-61022632973444358922008-01-30T12:20:00.000-05:002008-01-30T14:05:06.964-05:00

According to this page, Russia has:up to 900,000 Chuvash Orthodox in Chuvashia speaking a Turkic language, a few thousand Turkic-speaking Balkar Orthodox in Kabardino-Balkaria, up to 68,000 Turkic-speaking Khaka Orthodox in Khakassia, maybe a couple hundred thousand Ossetian Orthodox in North Ossetia-Alania speaking a tongue in the Iranian language family, and maybe a couple hundred thousand

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-45494069308864776442008-01-17T21:15:00.000-05:002008-01-18T01:52:10.682-05:00

This doesn't really bear on Orthodoxy, but my other blog is anonymous, and this is geography-specific - specifically, North Wales, Penna., a northern suburb of Philly and home of my most convenient Whole Foods Market (formerly much better-known quantitatively, and IMHO qualitatively, as Fresh Fields), which is barely visible behind and to the (viewer's) left of this leafless tree, branches coated

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-54780824432826113022008-01-04T05:00:00.000-05:002008-01-04T06:15:18.724-05:00

An interesting brief talk with Metropolitan HERMAN (Swaiko) by the newspaper of the OCA's Archdiocese of Canada addresses succinctly his views on Orthodoxy here, and 'Why Orthodoxy at all?':"The Orthodox Church is the light of faith in the Word of God in the darkness of whimsical opinions, the pillar of morality amidst the quicksand of relativist societies. Our purpose is to transform the modern

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-46111129268411554012008-01-03T15:24:00.000-05:002008-01-03T16:08:03.756-05:00

Interesting post from Orthodox Priest Stephen Freeman, a former priest from Anglicanism, specifically addressing issues with Protestantism, but not without insight for Catholics too, featuring our holy father among the saints Irenaeus of Lyons, Gaul/France.[I'd just offer a small note from my own religious experience/study, but so marginal to his own point that I didn't think it necessary to post

menoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-68320617231141459092008-01-01T21:30:00.000-05:002008-01-01T21:38:10.548-05:00

First of all, although Nikita ends with an 'a', it's a male name, the Russian version of Nicetas. Hence Nikita Krushchev, St. Nikita the Goth, etc. Several other Russian male names end with 'a.'More importantly, this guy's life presents quite a lesson for those of us who struggle with pride! Never give up too much prayer in favor of 'study,' nor 'bite off more than you can chew'!

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-35036209858712229082008-01-01T20:50:00.000-05:002008-01-01T20:58:42.225-05:00

Parents Xenophon and Maria of Constantinople and their sons Arcadius and John (5th century).

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-84393636121565144792008-01-01T16:45:00.000-05:002008-01-01T17:37:05.199-05:00

6th-century hermitess and foster-mother of saints,* Ita (Ida) of Killeedy in Southwest Ireland, was born into the ruling clan of the regional kingdom of Decies in Munster Province (Irish Deise Mumhan), which at its height covered roughly County Waterford and much surrounding territory. (Killeedy is actually in County Limerick, well northwest of The Decies.)Weirder yet, I stumbled across the icon

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-47334524045567019272008-01-01T15:50:00.000-05:002008-01-01T16:06:03.612-05:00

Yes, Rome, not Russia. I don't know why her name is exclusively associated with the latter today!

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-40644745856685833602008-01-01T15:00:00.000-05:002008-01-01T15:06:54.708-05:00

A famous 5th-century French Orthodox nun.

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-7187776412223848102008-01-01T14:24:00.000-05:002008-01-01T14:57:03.669-05:00

Righteous Juliana of Lazarevo, Russia (16th century).(BTW, Happy New Year!)

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-29600153946188922642007-12-26T21:00:00.000-05:002007-12-26T21:16:42.974-05:00

As you might suspect, this isn't exactly what it sounds like.If the old Catholic Encyclopedia had their history right a century ago - for instance, their pieces about Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany - then besides Pascha, the earliest big Christian feast was around January 6.(I'm not a professional historian, but ISTM the CE catalogs alot of fascinating historical data, including about the Early

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-54487197339076420992007-12-26T14:24:00.000-05:002007-12-26T15:06:29.767-05:00

Christ is Born for us! Glorify Him!I know this post is completely out-of-season, but I just came across information here that Pascha planners might want to consider (in the paragraph just above "PECULIAR CUSTOMS OF EASTER TIME"). In some Orthodox settings during Pascha-tide Liturgies I've heard them include the Greeting and Response - "Christ is Risen! Indeed, He is Risen!" - in different

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-20386127924190402922007-12-07T21:00:00.000-05:002007-12-08T01:37:26.959-05:00

No, I don't mean two icons linked side-by-side with a hinge to stand on your mantelpiece, although that's very nice!These Diptychs (misspelled on the actual PDF linked from this page!) play an important role in Church history, but most (canonical) Orthodox never actually see or hear them, because they're only part of Liturgies served by a Patriarch or other Autocephalous Primate ... and even then

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-42910681590782734792007-11-18T15:00:00.000-05:002007-11-18T15:26:13.740-05:00

This doesn't bear directly on Orthodoxy, but next time someone asks what use the Old Calendar is, especially here in the Western world, send them here.In brief, the date of the chief local holiday on the Isle of Man, a possession of the Queen of the UK lying between Great Britain and the island of Ireland, is determined according to the Old Calendar, as it stood in the 18th century yet. Besides

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-76406847329508590702007-10-21T02:45:00.000-05:002007-10-21T01:52:54.263-05:00

From Russian-born U.S. theologian Fr. Georges Florovsky:"Tradition is not a principle striving to restore the past, using the past as a criterion for the present. Such a conception of tradition is rejected by history itself and by the consciousness of the Orthodox Church... Tradition is the constant abiding of the Spirit and not only the memory of words. Tradition is a charismatic, not a

menoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-9834479684064029172007-10-11T15:35:00.000-05:002007-10-11T14:56:36.025-05:00

Hey, check out the latest in the ongoing production of what may indeed be shaping-up as an "epic motion picture" as Hollywood says, the biopic of the REAL St. Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Asia Minor, VERY Orthodox Father of the First Ecumenical Synod (at Nicea), Miracle-worker, philanthropist, defender of teens' chasteness, rescuer of the storm-tossed, etc etc etc! Here's the main page, click

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-25105189152507625362007-09-28T01:45:00.000-05:002007-09-28T01:07:13.547-05:00

I'm starting to wonder if Blogger is worth the trouble! But FYI, if you go to edit an article already posted in Blogger, the version Blogger puts up on your screen to edit may not be the current published version, but a previous version! So double-check the whole thing in detail visually before re-posting it, or else you'll have lots more editing to do - your original version LOST! It may help to

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-44894133045912234882007-09-24T07:30:00.000-05:002007-09-28T00:47:57.459-05:00

[UPDATED SEPT. 28]The Synaxis of All Saints of Alaska - their collective feast-day (synaxis = gathering) - is commemorated today, the 213th anniversary of the 'official,' permanent arrival of Orthodoxy in the Americas, ie, via Alaska - highlighting the Martyrdoms of Missionary Priest-Monk Juvenaly of Iliamna and His Alaskan Indian Reader and Companion in Martyrdom whose name is known to God, and

menoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-23338256278398945702007-09-23T21:20:00.000-05:002007-09-24T03:06:27.876-05:00

The blogger from the previous post, Mr. Brooks Lampe in the Washington, DC, area, here tackles some heavy stuff, without it coming across too heavy! He's reporting and reflecting mostly on a book by Philip Sherrard, whose writing can be extremely dense - well-planned, well-packed, making for downright oppressive reading, like much philosophy can be - but finally rewarding to the effort. It's the

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-67978846047982415442007-09-23T20:45:00.000-05:002007-09-23T20:22:44.428-05:00

by someone coming into the Church from the Charismatic Episcopal Church, is described really well here. Some good writing there!

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-18715359941585012572007-09-21T06:35:00.000-05:002007-09-23T13:41:29.098-05:00

Looks like I finished with Protestant seminaries too soon: I was not aware of the "Paleo-Orthodox" Movement as such! (The first one discussed at the link, not the second one, which just sounds like more neo-con Fundamentalism.)Though something I can't recall made me think the other day* that with Latin re-appreciation of Scripture in the last 50 years or so, what's happened is they've just become

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-2971491966925830482007-09-21T06:25:00.000-05:002007-09-21T05:30:28.090-05:00

A selection of prayers from the Antiochian Archdiocese of North America's widely-used Pocket Prayer Book is available on the site of the Greek Archdiocese of Australia.

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-36492716752658147652007-09-21T05:55:00.000-05:002007-09-21T05:22:31.169-05:00

Did you know about this?! I only just found out about it by accident! But apparently Archbishop CHRISTODOULOS* of Athens, Primate of the Church of Greece, has been in Florida for a month waiting for a liver transplant: he has liver cancer and is "in critical condition."Holy Father, heavenly Physician of our souls and bodies, who have sent Your Only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to heal all

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-37014434122848388612007-09-21T05:25:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.590-05:00

A few years ago I picked up a blue half-sheet of paper after an Inquirers' Class at St. Philip's Antiochian Church in Souderton, Pennsylvania (the one with the great choir!), on which were printed the Jesus Prayer ("Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner"), the Prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian used during the Great Fast/Lent, and one called the "Morning Prayer of the Last

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-82747425527375654892007-09-20T19:30:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.591-05:00

I offer this one from Fr. Stephen Freeman not because I get it, but because I don't get all of it. Let me ponder it....

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-11261628334095209712007-09-20T18:30:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.592-05:00

Out-of-season, but not in all ways, since I'm here 'talking about Orthodoxy' and all... and Neo-Pagans are always somewhere around! I'm not sure about all the alleged facts on this page, and take strong exception to one Commenter's endorsement of the genocide of the Aztecs no matter what they are alleged to have been doing. But the general thrust of Fr. Stephen Freeman's article and many of the

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-79622717904319277002007-09-20T09:00:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.594-05:00

A new friend, Destination Macedonia has left a new comment on [my] post "Liturgy: On Second Thought...": I am curious to learn how the Orthodox Church has seen the Hellenic culture. So I've suggested some readings on my blogsite. Could you help me with your comments? Thanksand on [my] post "Pope's Regensburg lecture": I am curious to learn the Orthodox Church link with the Hellenic culture. So

menoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-48278945299010313392007-09-18T07:35:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.596-05:00

I sympathize with the founders of this mission in Wenatchee (say "wen-ATCH-ee"), central Washington state: I'm not exactly a couple hours from the nearest parish like they may have been, but in an "Orthodox black hole" nonetheless, so I may be looking in on their blog from time to time.(HELLO WENATCHEE! Some beautiful country out there in the Cascade foothills! [The dry side of the Northwest!]

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-69646601736465623272007-09-18T07:20:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.597-05:00

Even Protestants, for most of Reformation history. See here from the blog of an Antiochian Orthodox missionary priest Down Under.

menoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-53394008920439354792007-09-17T21:45:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.599-05:00

of Father Deacon Stephen Methodius Hayes, who turned around and started spreading Orthodoxy among South Africans of all races and ethnicities, and talking evangelization among Orthodox internationally!This is his account of a grassroots pan-ethnic evangelization effort that became a parish, and later a continuing grassroots pan-ethnic evangelization effort, with outreach literally around the

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-34687358816851470502007-09-17T20:25:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.601-05:00

Canadian Orthodox fundraisers for the Orthodox Mission in China challenge U.S. parishes to do the same!Hey, eat Chinese food, raise three grand for a worthy cause (and the Canadian Dollar has never been higher!)... and a recent edition of the magazine of the Orthodox Christian Mission Center in Florida says actively supporting overseas evangelization may be a key element in evangelizing here at

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-30816008448499433152007-09-17T20:00:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.602-05:00

I just posted an Amazon review (they insisted) of Jim Forest's 1980s book Religion in the New Russia, which I bought used there (CHEAP!) and read 4 years ago, so I thought I'd share it here too. It's not just Russia but the whole USSR, and it's not just Orthodoxy, but Orthodoxy figures prominently, not least because while researching this book in person in the Soviet Union, Jim - ex-Catholic,

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-8424386230175124752007-09-17T13:35:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.606-05:00

His Holiness Patriarch TEOCTIST reposed at the end of July. The new Patriarch, DANIEL, has been Metropolitan of Moldavia. In Romania the Church is divided into several provinces, like the Byzantine Empire of old, one of them being Moldavia - not to be confused with the former Soviet republic now officially known as Moldova, next-door - and its Metropolitan is chief among the Ruling Hierarchs of

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-84212403297745094442007-09-08T09:30:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.608-05:00

This post reminded me of my old influence from Theology of Liberation, in particular from Latin America. I grew up Northeast urban working-class Irish Catholic, so labor unions are in my blood. In addition, I have belonged to two, NABET (now part of the CWA) as a broadcast journalist and SEIU as a caseworker. Full disclosure: I helped lead my NABET Local. But I never studied Liberation Theo. till

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-537609176329467382007-09-04T01:00:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.608-05:00

(...as Bill Nye the Science Guy would say!)Fr. Stephen Freeman's Apophthegmata: Everyone you meet was sent to you for your salvation. You only know God to the extent you love your enemies. 95% of Orthodoxy is “just showing up.”This is why *I* need Mercy!!! ("Mad Stephen," the Irishman in Braveheart, says it better, but this is a family blog! You know the line I mean!!)

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-61954495694186261332007-08-25T23:40:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.609-05:00

For all the Orthodox Liturgy's potential glory - the Glory of God - Orthodox have also often traditionally taken a more relaxed stance regarding it, than, say, the stereotyped pedantic, hyperactive Latin or High Anglican liturgist or Director of Religious Activities. We read of one very difficult time in the life of the Church in Milan, Italy, when, while serving the Liturgy, the Bishop St.

menoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-63408578366891859822007-08-25T21:45:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.609-05:00

Wise, profound words on the heritage of the Liturgy as well as some of its aspects which perhaps grate on 'modern sensibilities' (I'll name the source at the end):We must not allow the adaptation of the liturgy to become an obsession. The liturgy, like the inspired writings, has a permanent value apart from the circumstances giving rise to it. Before altering a rite we should make sure that a

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-8481445286901292672007-08-25T19:59:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.610-05:00

Something I have read has reminded me how overwhelming it can be for people interested in Orthodoxy to be hit with 'strong stuff' early-on. Obviously some of what I have posted or linked to so far has been 'strong stuff'! As my disclaimer says, this blog is not intended to be anyone's sole introduction to Orthodoxy, but to supplement 'the usual suspects,' eg, Metropolitan KALLISTOS Ware,

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-61329246597285236092007-08-25T09:59:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.610-05:00

The journey of this 19th-century French Catholic parish priest and ad hoc historian reminds me of my own a bit. And here's his e-book on the papacy of Rome, one of the reasons he converted to Orthodoxy (along with the poster's helpful comments) - I haven't read it myself yet: More for the to-do list!!(That page includes links to a number of other briefer essays which look promising.)A note on

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-5723625143410445052007-08-16T20:46:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.611-05:00

Greetings! I'm not quite 'back' yet: heat waves, errands, drives in the country, etc etc, have kept me off the computer for a couple months now. In fact, if anyone emailed me between mid-June and mid-July, it appears AOL did not retain it, so please write me again, as I'm trying to be better now(!). But I dropped in and felt I'd add this:A little while ago, a court fight involving a southern New

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-25685467557281630932007-06-17T21:15:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.611-05:00

His Eminence Archbishop KYRILL (Yonchev), OCA Ruling Hierarch of Pittsburgh, Western Pennsylvania, and the Bulgarian Diocese, who I believe had been sickly for a number of years, and in failing health for the past year, reposed in hospital this morning, aged 86 or so.Born in Bulgaria I believe, he entered The OCA in 1976, bringing his Bulgarian Diocese in Exile (sometimes also referred to as the

menoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-83640142499581362752007-06-17T15:15:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.611-05:00

Today is the Feast of the Holy Prince, Monk, and Martyr Nectan of Hartland, Devonshire, England, a member of one of the Three Holy Families of the Celtic Britons. IIRC all three holy families descend from a branch of my Irish tribe, the Decies of Munster Province (Ir. na nDeise Mumhan), that left Ireland in the 3rd century AD and became kings of several parts of South Wales, continuing to speak

menoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-44111839426253380542007-06-12T10:45:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.612-05:00

Not in all languages! This page reminded me of my discovery that four (not just one) days of the week are known in Irish by Christian names, three highly evocative of the Emerald Isle's original Orthodoxy!Sunday = Dé Domhnaigh, Day of the Lord (I believe it's pronounced jay-DOWN-ee. [He was my first grad-school faculty advisor... and a fine way to remember how to pronounce Dé Domhnaigh!)Wednesday

menoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-19991875930230424742007-06-12T08:20:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.612-05:00

might be decoded here. I don't follow all the astronomy terms used by our friends at the U.S. Naval Observatory, but I didn't realize:To fix incontrovertibly the date for Easter, and to make it determinable indefinitely in advance,* the Council constructed special tables to compute the date. These tables were revised in the following few centuries resulting eventually in the tables constructed by

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-62436391627214131162007-06-11T20:50:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.612-05:00

Orthodox are used to contrasting the Latin Church's traditional imposition of the Latin language on the liturgical usage of all Western Catholics before the 1960s, with our supposed tradition of worship in the vernacular. But many of us worship at least in part in "dead languages" of our own, specifically Koine Greek (that of the Bible, more or less), Church Slavonic, and IIUC a form of Arabic no

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-82566759297006080512007-06-11T18:11:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.613-05:00

In the Liturgy and traditional daily prayers, Orthodox pray explicitly for various non-Orthodox persons, from their government officials to "all apostates from the Orthodox Faith, and those blinded by pernicious heresies" ("Illumine with the light of grace all apostates from the Orthodox Faith, and those blinded by pernicious heresies, and draw them to Thyself, and unite them to Thy Holy

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-87470468237518961712007-06-11T09:35:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.613-05:00

If you've followed any of my links to www.orthodox.cn, the Chinese Orthodox website, you may have encountered on that site the account of Protopresbyter Elias, born in Beijing in 1896, who served for a time under Archbishop St. John (Maximovitch) the Wonderworker of Shanghai and San Francisco.Fr. Elias reposed two days ago in SF, aged over 110 1/2. If he wasn't the world's oldest living Orthodox

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-6949311345568167352007-06-06T12:10:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.614-05:00

This brief write-up is on a site of the OCA Diocese of the West.(Two comments:The priest who received me into the Greek Archdiocese also told me we are not embalmed, so that if they ever exhume our bodies in the process of declaring us Saints, they can see if [hopefully!] our relics have been preserved intact by God's Uncreated Energies/Doings. He also said funeral directors know this.I'm a

menoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-57984639853709039812007-06-05T01:50:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.614-05:00

It occurred to me that another way to comprehend the use of the word "canonical" in connection with Orthodox jurisdictions is to think of it as referring to recognized extensions of recognized autocephalous Churches.This would cover The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) for those who don't recognize its autocephaly, but consider it still an extension of the Moscow Patriarchate, with which it

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-83327014826595310942007-05-26T14:10:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.614-05:00

This is for myself as much as for anyone else: Especially because Orthodox prayers are so wordy and repetitive - er, poetic and insistent! - I find it's easy to lapse into a routinized recitation, with the mind elsewhere. I guess there's nothing particularly Orthodox about this.... Still, let's not let our repetition be "vain repetition." Just because they're Orthodox doesn't mean they're rabbits

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-84046509364978248582007-05-26T09:50:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.615-05:00

Remember in the Star Wars movies, how various emotions were able to throw different characters over to "the Dark Side of the Force"? Anger, hate, vengeance, competition, ambition, greed, even an excess of sexual passion or selfishness therein. (Recall that Jedi Knights are supposed to be celibate - like some quasi-monastic mystical police force - and how marrying Padme - secretly and against Jedi

menoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-15558909301323899032007-05-24T04:00:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.615-05:00

This quote by a blogger from Archimandrite Vasileios, a priest-monk from Mt. Athos, gives a taste of why. It's not just a 'truth-claim;' everybody claims to be right. For Orthodox, it's so much more... as usual! ;)

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-17653674796309110572007-05-23T19:50:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.615-05:00

menoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-12546137626632947452007-05-23T19:35:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.616-05:00

No such thing.How do you know which books are the Bible, or even what's in them?Tradition.Which tradition? Luther, circa AD 1517? He left some important books out. Of course, they're all important!The Hebrew-language Jewish Masoretic Text (MT), circa AD 800, edited to oppose Christian teachings?Rome?*Christian Scripture - Old Testament and New Testament - comes to us by way of the Greek-speaking

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-25700913190105376882007-05-18T15:30:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.617-05:00

(There's another Fasting Season coming up in just a few weeks - the Apostles' Fast.)I believe it's common to think of "having to" fast at certain times of the week or year when you're Orthodox. However, before I converted, it came up in conversation with a priest I know, and he made unsolicited reference to the fact that as a non-Orthodox at that time I did not yet have the privilege of observing

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-13320692761142395222007-05-18T15:15:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.617-05:00

Some Orthodox jurisdictions, when chanting Scripture readings in English during services, use the King James Version of the Bible (aka the Authorised Version). Not to open that can of worms too wide(!), but a frequent objection to the KJV is its often-outdated, incomprehensible language, Early Modern or Archaic English, or vocabulary.This won't be one of the more common objections given as an

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-87664317033902838602007-05-18T11:09:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.617-05:00

is a definite danger on this blog! The mention of zapifka in a recent Comment thread reminds me that I come to Orthodoxy with multiple influences, primarily Russian and Greek, but sometimes others, and I don't always know all Orthodox cultures'/jurisdictions' terminology. (Sometimes I'm just lazy too.) Also, my experience and study of Orthodoxy is still very partial or fragmentary even in any one

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-47167354964295152412007-05-17T22:00:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.618-05:00

Recently I was driving in my car listening to music on the radio, which I almost never do in recent years. But I'd just been in Subway, and the station they had on was doing its nightly '80s hour, and I was enjoying it, so I tuned it in to keep listening. And they played Mr. Mister's "Kyrie," which I don't think I'd heard since it was on the charts in 1986 or so, the year I graduated from college

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-9927881954843835482007-05-17T17:20:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.619-05:00

Thanks to Rachel's blog for bringing this to my attention: an Orthodox family in Sydney claims walls weeping with scented oil, and strange ash/charcoal appearing in the house, in the wake of their teenage son's death in a car crash.Her post includes two TV news reports, one emphasizing a certain "skeptic" who doesn't seem well-informed at all. You'd think skeptics would be better-informed than

menoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-13208863739435997442007-05-17T14:20:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.619-05:00

As they say, It's official! Apparently immediately, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) today became a more-or-less autonomous Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (MP). As a result, ROCOR's status as a 'canonical' Orthodox Church, ISTM, is now unquestionable - though if there are technicalities or formalities required with regard to other Patriarchates, Churches, and Jurisdictions,

menoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-26501353406631700942007-05-17T12:55:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.620-05:00

starts next Friday, May 25, in South Canaan, Pennsylvania, just east of Scranton. Highly recommended for all ethnicities/jurisdictions!(FYI, about that Anointing Service on Monday: Orthodox consider that a Mystery ["sacrament"], so I'm not sure non-Orthodox should approach for anointing. Then again, St. John of San Francisco insisted on anointing Timothy Ware before his conversion.... Maybe you

menoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-21641408740074422942007-05-17T12:40:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.620-05:00

Protestant article with Orthodox foreword and interpolation: "The Care and Feeding of Your Child's Future Spouse"! Maybe even your own!! (Or mine!)

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-4027207286846036582007-05-17T12:25:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.620-05:00

All these recent pieces and many more can be found here.

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-80963067279347320822007-05-17T12:15:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.621-05:00

(Come back to this in October!)I didn't know that one of the reasons the Church chose to mark the Nativity of the Lord around the pagan Solstice was to counteract and counter-witness it with Christian sobriety!But what can we do when the parties around us are scheduled before December 24-25? Blow them off? Maybe partake of them lightly and selectively... and if anyone should ask, what a great

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-81721730836548201122007-05-17T12:00:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.621-05:00

This Great Feast of the Orthodox Church, one of the twelve (Pascha, as the Feast of Feasts, is counted separately from the other 12), commemorates not simply Christ's going up in the clouds, but His final elevation of human nature itself - His Own - to Glory "at the right hand of God the Father." Thus, His Ascension isn't just a footnote to salvation, but its full completion, as far as His

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-83757447193642045222007-05-17T11:45:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.622-05:00

A cute article to share with the very young. Actually, in its simplicity and conciseness, the rest of us might find it valuable also... not to say inspiring!

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-42224340153784209062007-05-17T11:35:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.622-05:00

Here's an interesting article. I haven't determined whether the same expectations/possibilities pertain to one's Chrismation sponsor, but it's something to think about.

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-44087312639340014782007-05-15T17:00:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.622-05:00

This is only the first part of a planned multi-part article on George Parkin Grant, who was brought near Orthodoxy by Plato and Simone Weil. Its author, Ron Dart, is a friend of Archbishop LAZAR (Puhalo) of New Ostrog. The article points to questions Grant raised about the secularized, rationalized approach of much modern Western philosophy, and its influence on Western Christian theology, in

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-85146519414278296952007-05-15T16:15:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.623-05:00

i.e., the practice of the Jesus Prayer and other elements of Orthodoxy, is actually treated in some detail - though not perfectly as far as I have read - at Wikipedia. Although some Orthodox consider it 'just one way among many' in Orthodoxy, hesychasm's supporters sometimes claim it's what Orthodoxy is, as below (emphases added):Hesychasm, rather than a facet of Orthodox theology, is presented

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-44418485484049286372007-05-15T15:55:00.000-05:002007-09-21T04:48:19.623-05:00

It seems that according to the late Fr. John Romanides, St. Gregory Palamas, St. Symeon the New Theologian, St. Gregory the Theologian (better known in the West as Nazianzen, although his father, a bishop, is also St. Gregory Nazianzen!), the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian (or "the Divine" in archaic English - not in the sense of being God in Essence, but, minimally, a teacher of

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-84615800422682556262007-05-14T19:09:00.000-05:002007-05-14T18:45:14.022-05:00

In my observation, some of the problems created for the Chalcedonian ("Greek") Orthodox Church in and around Istanbul, Turkey, by government and Muslim civilians there, are based on their misunderstandings of Orthodoxy. I've already mentioned one instance of this: the "ecumenicity of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople" as commonly (mis)understood by Turks as well as some Orthodox (see

menoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-21420466529233357232007-05-08T12:10:00.000-05:002007-05-08T11:12:21.137-05:00

With apologies to Andrew Greeley (he wrote a book by that name a long time ago), the new In Communion journal from the Orthodox Peace Fellowship includes an article that got all kinds of wheels going in my head - good, spiritual, theological wheels - even 'anti-wheels' maybe! Once I sort through them - it literally just arrived yesterday - I might share, but go ahead anyway and check it out.

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-59687994077498081522007-05-08T07:55:00.000-05:002007-05-08T06:59:21.779-05:00

Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!I've just discovered the written form of the conversion story of the author of The Orthodox Church, Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia, originally Timothy Ware. Fascinating especially for Protestants, in particular Anglicans as he was, he also addressed our jurisdictional disunity here in the West, and a freaky but touching encounter with St. John (Maximovitch) of

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-5445146085297729552007-05-06T20:40:00.000-05:002007-05-06T19:46:46.525-05:00

Tomorrow is the Feast of the Repose of St. Alexis Toth (98th anniversary), who brought tens of thousands of Slavic Eastern Catholics in the United States back to Orthodoxy a century ago. As one might expect, Catholic sources don't treat him too kindly. Even some Orthodox sources attempt to belittle his achievement. But rather than fight fire with fire (not to say flame), here is a very temperate

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-8184008686224112962007-05-02T21:29:00.000-05:002007-05-02T20:32:17.409-05:00

is here. Very profound, debunks alot of historical myths neglected even by other recent defenders - pulls no punches, so to speak!Khristos voskrese! Voistinu voskrese! (Church Slavonic.)

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-65353833992341733082007-04-22T04:40:00.000-05:002007-04-22T03:53:18.872-05:00

Maybe on the page with the AOL piece about Limbo linked below you saw this picture with a caption touting AOL News' "photos of the week," and thought, Gee, he looks like an Orthodox monk.The correct spelling of his name is The Rt. Rev. Archimandrite Joseph Francavilla (not Francanilla), pastor of Holy Transfiguration Melkite Catholic Church in McLean, Virginia, childhood parish of Va. Tech

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-68747901767976508292007-04-22T03:10:00.000-05:002007-04-22T02:17:10.355-05:00

The newly-translated biography of St. Varnava (Nastic) of Hvosno, native of Gary, Indiana, is now available for purchase from Fr. Slobodan Jovic's parish, St. Archangel Michael Serbian Orthodox Church in California. Email him for up-to-date details. It's actually about 160 pages bio and as many of documents from St. Varnava (aka Barnabas) - letters, sermons, etc. It's paperback. The Serbian

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-28819587371172770672007-04-22T02:45:00.000-05:002007-04-22T01:48:21.494-05:00

There's not enough info in this AOL article (link will eventually break) to say if the "hope" they're now holding out for unborn babies (and others?) moves in an o/Orthodox direction - especially if, as mentioned, it cites "developments in the last 50 years"... as opposed to the first few centuries! But it sounds close!To clarify - and the article does mention this - limbo was never an official

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-39575519610136122612007-04-17T14:15:00.000-05:002007-04-17T13:18:49.490-05:00

It costs money. But the Prologue of Ohrid, by St. Nicolai of South Canaan, Ohrid, and Zhicha, from the day you were born...!OK, it only reflects the fixed Feasts, and not also the week of the year, so it recycles every year, not every 532 years (the link at bottom will be to a Serbian Church source, keyed to the Old Calendar) - but you may be able to track down info about your day of the week of

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-85376025889270161272007-04-17T11:30:00.000-05:002007-04-17T10:36:30.463-05:00

From a ROCOR parish priest in Michigan's FAQs (emphasis added):Should I celebrate my birthday or my namesday or both and how?The question often is asked: "Should we celebrate our birthdays or our namesdays?" The answer is: yes. We should celebrate both of these important days in our spiritual lives, but in slightly different ways. On our birthdays we thank God for His mercy in allowing us to be

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-66513735044641176792007-04-17T04:00:00.000-05:002007-04-17T03:09:34.342-05:00

By Bishop Alexander (Mileant) [PDF], late ROCOR ruling hierarch of South America (emphasis added):The most widespread form of prayer is petition, offered in acknowledgment of our weaknesses, infirmities, and lack of experience. Because of sins and passions, our souls become weak and sick. Therefore, it is essential in prayer to ask God to forgive us and help us to overcome our faults. Sometimes

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-1706617297065406782007-04-16T15:00:00.000-05:002007-04-16T20:51:01.877-05:00

You'll find a number of versions on the Web... also Scottish Gaelic (called just Gaelic in the Commonwealth, where Irish is often Irish Gaelic). I was given this version:Ta Criost aiseirithe! Aiseirithe go fior!or with fadas (long-vowel markings, as your browser may support them):Tá Críost aiséirithe! Aiséirithe go fior! (I could've sworn fior had a fada, but I don't find it so on the Web just

menoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-3421571206195167332007-04-16T13:25:00.000-05:002007-04-16T12:28:27.529-05:00

Ta Criost aiseirithe! Aiseirithe go fior!Iconograms.org, a service related to the Greek Archdiocese of America, is a source of some neat Orthodox (and other) *free* e-greetings. But for someone's birthday, they make you work a little: enter the person's patron saint's name (and/or other similar search criteria) into the Search box and see if they give you any hits. When you select an icon, you'll

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-4341968982119563842007-04-12T13:50:00.001-05:002007-04-12T12:55:37.665-05:00

According to a brief statement, the Moscow and Constantinople Patriarchates have reached agreement on letting Bishop BASIL (Osborne) of Sergievo/Amphipolis remain with the latter.Christ is Risen! Indeed, He is Risen!

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-79122252786230722652007-04-11T21:15:00.000-05:002007-04-11T20:16:51.237-05:00

Why not the more-familiar (to non-Orthodox eyes) Jesus bursting out of the tomb, radiating Light, soldiers lying on the ground "like dead men," angels at His sides, flag flapping in the breeze(?), etc.?Because Orthodox icons are theological, and the Lord is not a showoff! The Resurrection was not a neat trick to prove He's Someone special (which of course He is!). It was, as the Paschal Troparion

menoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-50547594516572979382007-04-10T04:15:00.000-05:002007-04-10T03:18:33.223-05:00

A wise saying from Mitrophan Chin to his Protestant aunt in Hong Kong:"I used the example of family pictures: You would kiss the picture not because you like the paper but because you cherish and love the people depicted even if they are pictures of your deceased loved ones. The Orthodox Church likewise is a family of Christ consists of both the living and the departed and the icons are windows

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-24495328980898404062007-04-10T03:35:00.000-05:002007-04-10T02:37:26.649-05:00

Christ is Risen! Indeed, He is Risen!When you can't get to church, or when a parish or group of the Faithful sometimes doesn't have a priest present, it is recommended to pray the Pro-Liturgy or Typica, individually or as a family or parish.I have also heard that some read the actual Liturgy privately. (All people's parts are available in the Jordanville Prayerbook; additional parts also

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-68081014216646951952007-04-07T13:55:00.000-05:002007-10-20T05:24:57.298-05:00

Ten years. "What a long, strange trip it's been!" It's actually *25* years since my first Eastern liturgy, too - Theophany 1982. [I don't know about you, but I find myself constantly confusing Theophany and Transfiguration, maybe because they both start with T and involve 'theophanies.' Theophany is January, "Epiphany/Baptism of the Lord." Transfiguration is August, Light on Mt. Tabor...Hiroshima

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-61257150765800885412007-04-07T05:55:00.000-05:002007-04-07T04:55:52.244-05:00

"Interactive worship"Participatory worship"Call/Response""Sacred Ritual"Early Church"Embodied worship""Wisdom of the ages""Worship Resources"Working their way to Orthodoxy?Maybe the universe does bend towards justice!Seriously, maybe there's something true about Orthodoxy after all, very human while very Divine, even very human because very Divine.

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-59170390017374146522007-04-07T05:24:00.000-05:002007-04-07T04:26:54.277-05:00

This just in from The AP. (Link may break.)("Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean nobody's out to get you!!!" You saw it here first!)

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-44224792912601434472007-04-01T23:35:00.000-05:002007-04-01T22:49:17.744-05:00

Looking ahead to next Sunday through the following Sunday, when the prayers - actually a short Service - called "The Hours of Holy Pascha" are substituted for Morning and Evening Prayers, even on one's own. You may find them by going here, and then, in the upper-left frame, scroll down to "Pascha" and click on it. This will bring the lower-left frame to its Pascha section. At the bottom of this

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-62408006285769127032007-03-31T20:55:00.000-05:002007-03-31T19:56:07.509-05:00

From Bishop KALLISTOS of Diokleia (formerly Timothy Ware), The Lenten Triodion, pp. 44-47, in The Bible and the Holy Fathers for Orthodox, ed. Johanna Manley, pp. 710-711 (emphasis added by LPO'F):"Repentance is the door through which we enter Lent, the starting-point of our journey to Pascha. And to repent signifies far more than self-pity or futile regret over things done in the past. The

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-82588420267401128712007-03-23T07:26:00.000-05:002007-03-23T06:29:57.960-05:00

As I mentioned here a couple years ago [Wow, have I been doing this two years now?!], Fr. John Romanides once said there are no "laws of nature," only the reliability of God's Uncreated Energies at work sustaining everything in existence. But this only makes sense o/Orthodoxly if we avoid mistaking the (created) energies of created things for the Uncreated Energies of the Uncreated Trinity. Since

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-81663052384475486722007-03-20T06:30:00.000-05:002007-03-20T05:33:58.013-05:00

NOBODY baptizes by sprinkling, normally. In my travels among Protestants and also Orthodox, I've seen occasional reference to alleged Latin sprinkling, usually derogatory, considering it a poor substitute for the speaker's own preferred method of baptism. (Orthodox, like some Protestants, prefer triple immersion, and even attempt it with adults, as we saw with John Corbet's character in My Big

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-75255403340303679692007-03-09T05:00:00.000-05:002007-03-09T05:03:20.077-05:00

Just found a few more things on St. Barnabas of Indiana - that is to say, St. Varnava of Hvosno, Kosovo -- Bishop, Confessor, Martyr under the Communists, the first glorified (i.e., "canonized") American-born Serbian Orthodox Saint -- so I thought I'd put them all together here.I think I'm drawn to him not only because he's American, and recent, but because he was crippled in an accident at 35: I

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-55675102319571240232007-03-08T20:40:00.000-05:002007-03-08T20:42:15.086-05:00

Meaningfully, according to this writer!

menoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12807614.post-2159580100530564292007-03-08T15:04:00.001-05:002007-03-08T15:04:54.693-05:00

If as said here, the People's Republic of China's government's non-recognition (thus far) of the Orthodox Church is based on concern about foreign influence, what's their approval of Protestant and Muslim organizations based on?!!! Protestantism is clearly Western, mostly American - "One more Christian is one less Chinese" - and Islam has ties all over...the Muslim World! And where do they

menoreply@blogger.com2