Faith – Page 2 – Royal Doors

Dec

07

2021

Our Holy Father Nicholas

Faith, Liturgy, News

by Fr. David Petras One can easily say that the greatest saint of the Byzantine Church is Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia. Yet the only thing we know of him for certain is his name, and that a holy man named Nicholas was the bishop in Myra in the fourth century. He has become essentially connected with the feast of Christmas. While the details of his life are certainly legendary, the first appearance is the Vita per Michaelem, in the ninth century, and then by Simeon Metaphrastes in the tenth century, yet we cannot help but suspect…

Dec

07

2021

By Brent Kostyniuk

Being Ukrainian Catholic

Both Lungs, Faith

by Brent Kostyniuk In certain ways, it is easy being Ukrainian Catholic in a city like Edmonton. Ukrainians form fourteen percent of the population and have been there since the first Ukrainian pioneers arrived in the 1890s. The city is the seat of one of Canada’s five Ukrainian Catholic Eparchies and boasts nine Ukrainian Catholic parishes. No matter where you live in the city, there will be a parish within a short drive. Ukrainians are everywhere—you can even go into any grocery store and buy kobassa and frozen pyrohy. Church and heritage go hand in hand. So it is that…

Dec

22

2020

By Brent Kostyniuk

Icons, but not Statues

Both Lungs, Faith

by Brent Kostyniuk “Then we went on to Greece, and the Greeks led us to the edifices where they worship their God, and we knew not whether we were in heaven or on earth. For on earth there is no such splendour or such beauty, and we are at a loss how to describe it.” This is how Prince Vladimir’s emissaries described their experience of Byzantine Christianity in 987, leading to the baptism of Kiev in 988. No doubt, the emissaries’ feelings were shaped by the richness of the Byzantine Tradition – they heard the beautiful singing, they smelled the…

Nov

14

2019

By Fr. Roman Planchak

The 2019 New Testament Challenge

Faithnativity fast

Beginning Nov. 15th (the beginning of the Advent/Nativity Fast), we will once again be embarking on our annual challenge event to read through the entire New Testament (aloud) by Christmas! This is a great endeavor and exercise and you should join it! Read with your spouse as an Advent discipline! Even children can do this, and they have. You can do it, too. Join the many of us who do this every year and prosper your soul in the effort. You won’t be the same. Remember, we begin Nov. 15th! The New Testament Challenge is kind of a tradition. We…

Aug

27

2019

By Fr. Michael Winn

The Byzantine Life

Christian Life, Faith

The Byzantine Life is a blog written by Kyleshka, a mother in Saskatchewan, Canada, who wishes to share her insights of living in the modern world as a Byzantine Christian. The Family section of the blog is focussed pon home life with tips and tricks that her family has discovered to improve their daily lives and to cultivate a joyous home. There are all sorts of religious resources available and even a section on homeschooling. A great site worthy of your perusing! The Byzantine Life.

Sep

24

2018

By Fr. Roman Planchak

Imitator of Stephen in his trials

Christian Life, Faith

FROM SEPTEMBER, 2013 TO APRIL, 2014 government and rebel forces struggled for control of the ancient Christian town of Ma’loula, Syria, a UNESCO World Heritage site and home to a number of shrines and monasteries. One of them is the ancient Orthodox women’s monastery of St Thekla from which 12 nuns were abducted and held by rebel forces for three months. Almost unknown in the West today, St Thekla was held in great esteem in the early Church and is still revered in the Christian East. Her festival, on September 24, has attracted pilgrims since at least the fourth century.…

Sep

16

2018

By Fr. Roman Planchak

I have been crucified with Christ

Faith

WHAT MAKES A PERSON RIGHTEOUS before God? It is a question that religious people continually ask of themselves and their spiritual leaders. Sometimes the answers they receive seem to come from “the god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Thus over-zealous people of all backgrounds have come to believe at one time or another that they fulfill “God’s will” by destroying the religious monuments of others. But what do the Scriptures tell us bring us closer to God? The Torah Jews consider the Torah (the Law) as the cornerstone of their experience of God. Just as Christians see the Gospels…

Jul

23

2018

By Fr. Michael Winn

Cathedral ‘built on perogies’ embraces its heritage

Faith, News

By Agnieszka Krawczynski NEW WESTMINSTER—A small Byzantine community in New Westminster is embracing its culture after decades of masking itself as just another Roman Catholic church. “Our Byzantine rite was not appreciated as much, so we were trying to look more like Roman Catholics – ‘Let’s just have two little icons, maybe one big icon, and that would be it. A crucifix, and we’ll be like our Roman Catholic brothers’ – without treasuring what we are meant to be and what we can be, if only we try,” said Father Mikhailo Ozorovych. “Now, there is a great revival of Eastern…

Nov

16

2017

By Fr. Roman Planchak

The 2017 New Testament Challenge

Faithnativity fast

Beginning Nov. 15th (the beginning of the Advent/Nativity Fast), we will once again be embarking on our annual challenge event to read through the entire New Testament (aloud) by Christmas! This is a great endeavor and exercise and you should join it! Read with your spouse as an Advent discipline! Even children can do this, and they have. You can do it, too. Join the many of us who do this every year and prosper your soul in the effort. You won’t be the same. Remember, we begin Nov. 15th! The New Testament Challenge is kind of a tradition. We…

Nov

02

2017

By Fr. Roman Planchak

Touching the Fringe of His Garment

Faith

IT IS COMMON IN MANY EASTERN CHURCHES to see people touching or kissing the priest’s vestment as he passes in procession. In this way, they express their veneration for Christ in the Gospel book, the Holy Gifts or other sacred object he is carrying. They are doing liturgically what people in Eastern cultures did regularly to express reverence for or dependence upon their religious or ethnic leaders – or even family elders – for centuries. We read in the Gospels that people would reach out to touch the hem of Christ’s garment in the hope that they would thereby come…