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The whole series can be read here: The Theology of Gender Although Christian marriage places spirituality at its center, the social dimension of matrimony was kept in the Byzantine era and Christians were under the civil law in all aspects of family life. Issues of betrothal were regulated by the civil courts as were issues of adultery. For a better understanding of the canons of the Church on marriage, one must not ignore the fact that the authority of ecclesiastical law on the issue of marriage never superseded civil law. The Church did not legislate on behalf of the state; instead, her role was to protect the ethical dimensions of the legislation of society and safeguard Christian teachings in their practical ...

Given the time and place where Christ spoke these words to her, Saint Mary Magdalene might be viewed as a symbol of those ‘Church’ people who, on a spiritual level, have enjoyed many heart-warming and fruitful encounters with the Lord in His Church, but who, in the course of their relations with Him, at some time lose both contact (Christ having been crucified and buried) and the religious interaction. They then see that they’ve gained nothing. As a result, they stumble between hope and desolation, though at the same time retaining, after a fashion, all the feelings of worship and devotion to Him Who is no longer to be seen. They continue to go to church, just as Mary Magdalene ...

And he said to them: ‘Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here…’ (Mark 16,6). When Christ was born, the first to hear of it weren’t the great, the powerful and the rich, but the humble and poor shepherds abiding in the fields with their flocks in Bethlehem. Similarly, when Christ rose, having first destroyed the gates of Hell, the first to hear of it weren’t the distinguished, the officials and powerful, nor even the Lord’s own disciples. The message of the Lord’s Resurrection was first heard by women, those who had brought myrrh to His tomb. But why was this the case? Why should the Lord’s first appearance have been ...

Ignoring God is apostasy and separation from Him. And when people are separated from God, they’re separated from the love which is God. So they die. People really live ‘now and for ever and unto the ages of ages’ only when they’re united with God.

Before my conversion to Orthodoxy, if I thought of monasteries at all, my thoughts were dark, a little horrified by images from western history, badly researched movies, and general ignorance. As I began to study Orthodox theology, I struggled with my pragmatic, former-Swedenborgian sense that no human being has worth unless he or she is directly useful to the rest of us. A fascinated voyage through Kyriacos Markides’ The Mountain of Silence (Doubleday, 2001) fundamentally changed my understanding of monasteries. If I learned nothing else, I learned that Eastern and Western monasticism are not the same, and I learned that Orthodox monastics serve the world without living in its daily entanglements. But I remained a little wary of the whole idea. ...

According to the Jewish custom which was observed at the time of Christ, a dead body was to be anointed with precious myrrh, so that it would be prepared to be given over to the decay of death. Christ’s body was no exception to this practice, so a group of women, taking myrrh with them, visited the tomb to perform the duty of every devout Jew to a dead person. Normally, these honours were paid at the time of the burial and the tomb was then sealed. In the Lord’s case, the anointing didn’t occur at the burial, because any time to do so had already passed, because of the strict observance of the Sabbath, which had begun at the time ...

Repentance means the renewal of baptism, an agreement with God to turn over a new leaf. Repentance means reconciliation with the Lord through works of virtue, rather than continuing in our transgressions. Repentance means cleansing the conscience and the deliberate effort to bear all distressing circumstances.

“As the flame blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame. Seeing this, Manoah and his wife fell with their faces to the ground. When the angel of the Lord did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realised that it was the angel of the Lord. “We are doomed to die!” he said to his wife. “We have seen God!” (Judges 13:20-22) In my previous article, The Burning Bush, we examined the manifestation of the “Angel of the Lord” or the “Angel of Great Counsel” in the Burning Bush onMount Sinai. As we saw, when this particular ‘angel’ appears, He declares Himself as God, “I am the God of ...

Discernment is a gift of the Holy Spirit, which is given as a prize to those who meticulously observe their conscience, to those who meticulously keep the divine commandments. Discernment is also the precise instrument of the Church, through which it governs its children in the turmoil and tempests of the stormy sea of life. It’s the rudder of its ship, as it were.

Fr. Stanley Harakas It was to the Myrrh-Bearing Women that the news of Christ’s Resurrection was first given. It was to them that Christ first appeared in the flesh. It was to them that the honor fell of announcing the Resurrection. Fr. Stanley Harakas presents a podcast on the Myrrh-Bearing Women. mmyyrrrrh This program is produced in partnership with OCN The Orthodox Christian Network produces a wide variety of multimedia resources for Orthodox Christians and seekers in three languages: English, Greek, and Spanish. It is an agency of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States. Founded nearly 20 years ago as a radio ministry, it continues to produce "Come Receive the Light," a weekly radio show, and has expanded into a variety of ...

MY THOUGHTS ABOUT “OUR THOUGHTS” I went one Sunday to a very small Russian Orthodox parish inWisconsin, in fact like a family parish, in a church built by the priest on his own property. The church was gorgeous, all in wood. The Divine Liturgy was heavenly, so prayerful and contemplative. After the Liturgy, all attending were invited to join the family for their Sunday lunch. The son of the family was reading a spiritual book aloud, just like in monasteries, Orthodox or Catholic, for that matter. They were reading this book. I enjoyed very much the excerpt, bought the book, and read it all. I was really struck by how modern this book was. Of course, this Elder lived  in the 20th ...

The whole series can be read here: The Theology of Gender One should not approach the canons of the Church in the same way as the civil laws since neither are the canons mere legal statements nor does the Church’s legislation serve the principles of penal systems. The purpose of all penal systems is to regulate the social relationships in a way that the rights of one person will not devastate the rights of others. The civil legislator tries to balance the interests of the people in a world full of necessities and self-interest. The canons of the Church, however, aim at helping Christians to liberate themselves from material necessities and eventually become the image of Christ on earth, for the ...

One of the most striking features of Christianity is that it is not culture-based. Judaism is Jewish, the Olympian gods were Greek, Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism are Indian, Taoism Chinese, Shintoism Japanese and so on. Whatever it may have become later, through acculturation into various societies, in its origins Christianity was something radically different: a challenge to established patterns that had grown out of the society in which they were formed. This can be seen very clearly in the events after the Crucifixion, which are barely comprehensible in conventional terms. The first is the recognition of Christ’s divinity by the centurion, who, as a Roman, would not have had any interest in the death of a Jewish criminal. Then the disciples, ...

When Moses went to approach the bush in flames, he had to free himself of his footwear. But we often go to pray to God without freeing ourselves of our wicked thoughts.

The Wedding at Cana In the Gospel of John, we read that Christ attended a wedding in Cana of Galilee along with His disciples, and that His Mother was there too.  When the wine gave out, she asked Him to do a public miracle, openly manifesting to all that He was the Messiah.  He refused, calling her rather formally “Madam” rather than the usual “Mother” (the Greek reads, gynē, “woman”, but this has a different and more disrespectful feel in English than it does in the original), and asking what this problem had to do with them.  “My hour,” He explained, “has not yet come.”  She responded by telling the waiters serving the wedding feast, “Whatever He says to you, ...

Whenever a loved one dies, children should be told immediately in the most direct manner possible. From when they’re told until the time they accept the death, children react to the loss of a loved one by going through four necessary stages of grief, which are very similar to the five corresponding stages in adults (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance). In particular, the first stage of grief in children is completed through understanding the fact of loss. The second stage begins with processing grief through contact with the pain caused by the loss and the expression of emotions. In the third, an internal, symbolic contact with the departed person is created, so that the memory of them can be preserved. And ...

Temptations are trials that come to us from the devil and his servants, that is, wicked people. God allows temptations to come to us, in order to test our love for Him (Deut. 8, 2). To test our obedience (ibid) to test whether we desire profit (Job, 1, 9-12). It’s a fact that temptations always correspond to weaknesses in human nature. God gives harsher temptations to those who are strong in the faith so that they can progress in sanctity and become worthy of greater crowns. To those who are weak in the faith and in patience, Divine Providence gives easier temptations, so that they can overcome them and not despair.

She is the most well-known and beloved female saint in Ireland, Saint Brigid of Kildare was born in the fifth century (around 450—during that time when all of Christendom was still unified) right on the heels of Saint Patrick, that tireless bishop who came to love and believe in the people of Ireland. Together, Saints Patrick and Brigid made a mighty impact, spreading Christianity like wildfire to a pagan people who were open and ready to learn of Christ’s salvation. Though there are many varied accounts of her life, all written after her death, the impression she made on the Irish land is undisputed, and the spirit of Saint Brigid comes across strongly in each of them. Even today, her ...

Father Roman Braga Father Roman Braga was born on April 2, 1922 in Bessarabia in a village named Condrita. He was the last of the seven children of Cosma and Maria Braga. He grew up in an Orthodox environment, raised by a devout Orthodox mother and in the close proximity of the Monastery of Condrita. During his formative years, he had the living example of his mother who imprinted on her children the virtues of Christian life. Many times he remembered how his mother attended long church services at the monastery and how sleepy and tired he was, but always he was at his mother’s side. These formative years laid the foundation for the strict discipline of his entire life ...

His Eminence Metropolitan Archbishop Sotirios visited the Communities of Victoria, Nanaimo, Kamloops, Penticton and Vancouver. He was accompanied by the Reverend Fathers E. Aravantinos, K. Kaltsidis, C. Economos and T. Prattas. All four priests are graduates of the Toronto Orthodox Theological Academy; young, vibrant, full of life, doing excellent work in their Communities, especially regarding youth matters. The Metropolitan and all of the Priests, from Friday of the Life-Giving Font on April 21st until Wednesday April 26th, celebrated five Divine Liturgies and one Great Vespers. The joy of the Communities was the participation of the faithful Christians in the Divine Liturgies and the Vespers service. Especially at the smaller Communities, their joy was in seeing the Metropolitan and the Priests conducting the Divine Liturgies ...