As with all of the sacred events celebrated by the twelve great feasts, the Meeting of the Lord also is so rich in content that it is difficult immediately to grasp it. Let us dwell in thought...
Miscellaneous Thoughts
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On the fortieth day following the Nativity, the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph, as was customary according to the Law of Moses, brought the Infant Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem, and Simeon and...
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The mystery that transpired upon this day awes not only the human mind; it likewise astonishes all angelic, exalted minds.
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O Lord, save Your people, and bless Your inheritance. Grant victories to the Orthodox Christians, over their adversaries. And by virtue of Your Cross preserve Your habitation!
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In Thy light shall we see light. O continue Thy mercy unto them that know thee (Psalm 35:1011).
The Lord led up on Mount Tabor the closest of His disciples those who were able to...
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On August 6/19, the Church celebrates the Transfiguration of Our Lord. Although all believers in Jesus Christ undoubtedly celebrated this Feast in the early Church, today Western Christians...
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“Lord, it is good for us to be here” - these words were uttered by Apostle Peter, when he, having been brought by Christ, along with his brethren, Apostles James and John, up on Mount Tabor, saw...
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Once, while the Mother of God was praying, the Archangel Gabriel appeared before her and brought her the joyous news of her imminent repose, which he said would occur in three days.
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From His Most-incorrupt Mother, the Lord borrowed most-pure flesh, and to her, he granted Divinity in place of the flesh which she had given Him. Lord, such a most marvelous and most miraculous...
Orthodox Feasts
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Homily by St.Justin Popovic on the Feast of the Beheading of St John, the Glorious Prophet , Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord
Today is a little Great Friday, a second Great Friday. For today the greatest man among those born of women, John, the Holy Forerunner and Baptiser of the Lord, is murdered. On Great Friday,...
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“Pascha, the Pascha of the Lord!” By His Resurrection, the Lord has brought us from death to life, and that Resurrection the “Angels in Heaven cry,” [for they have] seen the light of deified human...
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The Lord came to the Jordan, and was baptized of John not because he was in need of that cleansing, but so that He might fulfill all that was attributable to human nature, which He had assumed, and...
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Christ was Risen, and so we too must be resurrected with Christ, in order to ascend with Him. Our Resurrection is two-fold: in body and in spirit. Our bodily Resurrection will take place on the Last...
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That our flesh should be seated in the heavens and be worthy of worship by the Angels, Archangels, Seraphim and Cherubim is truly a great, astonishing and marvelous thing. On contemplating that, I am...
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The descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles – mankind draws its first breath of the Spirit of God
The descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles was mankind’s first inspiration of breath from the Spirit of God. Remember Ezekiel’s prophecy about the valley full of human bones (Ezekiel 37:1-14)....
The Church
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As there is one God and one Lord, so also true dignity is expressed by oneness in the image of the One Principle. And so, the one Church, which heresies make an effort to cut into many, is likened by...
Faith and Prayer
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"Восставши от сна, всякий христианин, став перед св. иконами, пусть прочитает молитву Господню "Отче наш" трижды, в честь Пресвятой Троицы, потом песнь Богородице "Богородице Дево, радуйся" также...
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Father John had the greatest gift of prayer. This was his distinctive characteristic. He profoundly believed with all his heart in the grace, given to him as a priest by God, to pray for God's people...
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On having any evil thought, one must call upon God's help, for, as St. Isaac of Syria said, we do not always possess within ourselves the strength to oppose evil thoughts, and there is no help in...
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The Savior commanded: go into your closet and pray there to God the Father in secret. That closet, according to the interpretation of Holy Hierarch St. Dimitry of Rostov, is the heart. It follows...