My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways. (Prov. 23:26) Dear Young People in Christ! I always await Palm Sunday with great anticipation – the day of the glorious entrance of Christ into Jerusalem – for it is an opportunity to support and bless you and to speak to you the […]
by Laura Ieraci The Catholic Telegraph, March 6, 2015 “Joy” is not a word people usually associate with strict fasting and penance — unless they are Eastern-rite Catholics. In the Eastern church, the penitential period that prepares believers to celebrate Easter, is called “Great Lent,” and its prayers invite the faithful to recognize their “need […]
21st Kelly Lecture, University of St. Michael’s College, Toronto, Canada 1 December 2000 The Very Rev. Archimandrite Robert F. Taft, S.J., Vice-Rector of the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome No one who keeps abreast of the religious news can be unaware that ecumenical relations between the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches are in a period […]
“THE DISCIPLES OF JOHAN and of the Pharisees were fasting. Then they came and said to [Jesus], ‘Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?’ And Jesus said to them, ‘Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as […]
This year, Great Lent approaches on the heels of the Nativity Season. Kolyada in church continues, but the soft and somber sound of The Rivers of Babylon hint at the approaching season of repentance. The familiar Sundays of the Publican and the Pharisee, The Prodigal Son, and the Last Judgement prepare us adults for the […]
From the Eparchy of Newton. Resource for Great Lent at Home: Great-Lent-at-Home-Complete-w-Cover. PDF, 556KB, 28 pages)
BEFORE THERE WERE FREEZERS and refrigerators, preparing for the Great Fast involved cleaning out any meat or dairy products on hand. In parts of Europe meats would be cured for consumption after Pascha. Many Greeks observe what has been called “Roasted Thursday” – the Thursday in Meatfare week when all meats would be cooked to […]
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever!” Have you ever been to a symphony and noticed what happens before all the playing begins? All of a sudden you hear the first violinist play a note and everyone tunes their instruments to that one particular and distinct note. This note is the note “A […]
Matthew 6: 1-21, NKJV 1* “Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 2 “Thus, when you give alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, […]
EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT LENT BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK: The Great Fast or Lent – there are three others on the Byzantine calendar: before Christmas, before the Dormition (August 15) and before Ss. Peter and Paul (June 29) – is the seven week period of preparation before the celebration of Pascha (Easter). […]
