Respected Author

Sep

17

2014

Feast of the Protection of the Most Holy Mother of God

Faith

“We sing your praises, O Most Holy Virgin, Mother of Christ our God, and we glorify your all-glorious patronage.” (Hymn of Praise from the Sixteenth Century) Among the Marian feasts listed in our Liturgical Year, the feast of the Patronage of the Most Holy Mother of God deserves special consideration. The cult of the Mother of God as the Protectress of our nation reaches like a golden thread from the times of the Kievan princes to the present day. The secret of honouring the Mother of God as a Protectress lies, perhaps, in the fact that we are dealing here…

Apr

07

2012

By Respected Author

Ancient Holy Saturday Homily

Faithpatristics

Something strange is happening - there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear. He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to…

Mar

25

2012

By Respected Author

Great and Holy Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday

FaithGreat Fast, Great Lent, Holy Week, Lent

The following is excerpted from A Paschal Pilgrimage: A Guide to the Great Fast by Bishop Basil Losten. The Bridegroom Cometh On Palm Sunday evening at Vespers we “pass from the feast of palms and branches… to the saving solemnity of the sufferings of Christ.” On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday morning of Holy Week, Matins is popularly called the “Bridegroom Service,” because each time we sing the Troparion, “Behold, the Bridegroom is coming in the middle of the night!” (Hear this troparion on Youtube) Each day the Gospel is read. There is Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts on Monday, Tuesday and…

Jan

08

2012

By Respected Author

A House of Prayer

Christian Life

According to the age-old tradition of the Byzantine Churches, both Catholic and Orthodox, the home is a kind of church, because it houses an assembly of believers. When people occupy a new house, the priest performs a consecration, anointing the four walls with holy oil and sanctifying the house with holy water and incense. Psalms are chanted and the Gospel story of Jesus' visit to the house of Zacchaeus (cf. Luke 19:1-1O) is proclaimed. At the conclusion the traditional prayer for “Many Years” is sung by the priest for the family members. When the family moves into a new dwelling,…