Faith – Page 12 – Royal Doors

Oct

29

2016

Enthroned in the Heavenly Realm

Faith

THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS is one of the most beautiful in the New Testament. It was probably written at the end of St. Paul’s life or compiled from his writings shortly after his death. Although it is addressed (in most manuscripts) to the Church in Ephesus, it does not deal with any local problems like some other Pauline epistles. Rather it speaks of the Church is a more general or universal sense, stressing its mission to make the Gospel known throughout the world. This has led some scholars to suggest that it was a kind of circular letter sent…

Oct

17

2016

By Fr. Roman Planchak

The Church in Council

Faith

THE BYZANTINE CHURCHES commemorate liturgically each of the seven Ecumenical Councils of the first millennium. Both Catholic and Orthodox Churches have held important councils since then, but none of those councils are celebrated with liturgical feasts in either the East or the West. Why are only the seven Councils which we commemorate so set apart? An answer may be found in the title of a recent book on these councils, edited by Sergey Trostyanskiy. Its title, Seven Icons of Christ, indicated the unique character of these gatherings. They articulated the heart of the Church’s faith in Christ, expressed in the…

Oct

15

2016

By Fr. Roman Planchak

St. Lucian of Antioch: Scholar and Martyr

Faith, Liturgy

MOST CHRISTIANS KNOW that the books of the New Testament — the Gospels, the Epistles and the rest — were written in the first century ad. Some know that these books were compiled as the New Testament sometime in the next three centuries. Few know that the form of the New Testament which we use in our Church — the “Byzantine text” — is largely the work of St Lucian of Antioch, whom our Church remembers on October 15. Who Was Lucian of Antioch? Born in c. 240, Lucian was the son of Christian parents in a Syriac-speaking area in…

Oct

01

2016

By Fr. Roman Planchak

St. Romanos: Patron of Church Musicians

Christian Life, FaithMusic

ONE OF THE MORE POPULAR CHANTS in our Church is the kondakion of Christ’s Nativity, “Today the Virgin gives birth…” What many do not know is that this hymn is an excerpt from a much longer work and that it was written by St Romanos the Melodist. Who is This Saint? St Romanos was born in Homs, Syria (some say Damascus), to a Jewish family in the latter part of the fifth century. We do not know when he was baptized or whether his family was converted as well. As a young man he moved to Beirut and entered the…

Jun

18

2016

By Fr. Roman Planchak

Galilee of the Gentiles

Faith

The passage from St Matthew’s Gospel describing the healing of the demoniac begins with the words, “When Jesus had come to the other side…” (Matthew 8:28). “The other side of what?” we may ask, raising questions of where Jesus went and what it meant for His ministry. How does knowing where He lived and where He travelled contribute to our understanding of who He is and to our way of following Him? The Lord Jesus spent most of His earthly life in the province of Galilee, the northernmost district of the Holy Land. Galilee, north of Samaria, was the ancient…

Mar

23

2016

By Fr. Michael Winn

Perspectives on a Common Date for Easter?

Faith, Featured Articles, News

Salt and Light TV - In May of 2014, Pope Tawadros II of the Coptic Orthodox Church sent a letter to Pope Francis. In it he expressed his desire to establish a single date for all Christian Churches to celebrate Easter. Since the 16th century the Catholic and Orthodox churches have used different calendars to calculate the date of Easter. But in modern times as Christian persecution has become rampant in many parts of the world, Christians are seeing more of what they have—and should have—in common. Join us for a new episode of Perspectives: The Weekly Edition with guest host…

Mar

22

2016

By Brent Kostyniuk

A Visit to Our Lady of Good Help Maronite Parish

Both Lungs, Faith, Featured Articles

by Brent Kostyniuk I have just come from a spiritually uplifting, spiritually rewarding experience—Mass at Our Lady of Good Help Maronite church in Edmonton, presided by Msgr. Joseph Salame. The Maronite Church is one of 22 Eastern Catholic churches in full communion with Rome. Its spiritual head is His Beatitude Bechara Boutros A-Rahi Patriarch of Antioch and the Entire East, who resides in Bkerke, Lebanon is BaBea. The Maronite Church follows the Antiochian or West Syrian Rite, along with the Syro-Malankar and Syrian Churches. The Mass was truly moving. For the most part, it gives praise to God in wonderful…

Feb

16

2016

By Fr. Andriy Chirovsky

Called to Unity

Faith, Featured Articles, News

[dropcap]L[/dropcap]ike many Ukrainian Greco-Catholics, I am pleased that Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill finally met in Havana February 12, even though the negotiations that preceded this encounter included some unseemly concessions. After all, for the last three decades such an encounter was always described as impossible because of the very existence of the Ukrainian Greco-Catholic Church. I note that Pope Francis praised Patriarch Kirill’s humility, but the latter did not return the favor. After all, it was clearly the Pope who humbly agreed to the time and place for the meeting, in order for it to finally happen after decades…

Nov

02

2015

By Fr. Michael Winn

Skete of the Precious and Life-Creating Cross

Faith, Featured Articles

“Who shall climb the Mountain of the Lord, who shall stand in His Holy Place…” by Hieromonk Theodosy In 2008, with trust in the Most High God Who calls us all to climb His Holy Mountain, and with the blessing and guidance of His Grace Bishop David, we set out on an adventure to practically discern the building up of a monastic community in the Studite tradition within the Eparchy of Edmonton. By the surprising providence of the Lord, right at the outset, this little monastic endeavor found itself whisked-up to the northern reaches of the eparchy – the Peace…

Aug

03

2015

By Fr. Roman Planchak

Blessed Are You Among Women

Faith

Two of the most frequently used prayers in our tradition are taken from the same Gospel narrative: the visit of the Holy Virgin to her older cousin Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist (cf., Luke 1:39-56). Both the Angelic Salutation (“Hail, O Theotokos…”) and the Canticle of the Theotokos (“My soul magnifies the Lord…”) are taken from this passage. The event which it describes is generally called the Visitation. According to Luke, the angel Gabriel who told her that she would bear a son also told her that “Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age;…