20. 2005: the Big Trip, Part 4- the Falling Away from Christianity in the West, “Family Values” and the Value of Travel

I had been in Europe for four weeks. It was my fourth trip to western Europe and my fifth trip to Greece. As I flew home I pondered what I had seen and heard, and I’ve been speculating about it ever since. The Decline of Christianity in the West I hear there are places in western Europe […]

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19. The Big Trip: 2005, Part 3 – Saint Nektarios, England

Did Saint Nektarios do it again? It was time to head to London, and on the way I naturally stopped by to visit Saint Nektarios again. I’ve told you (Blog posts  7 and 12) that on my first two visits the saint seemed to arrange my transportation. Surely this great holy man must have better things […]

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18. 2005: The Big Trip, Part 2 – Italy and Greece

A Visit to Saint Nicholas When Clement Clarke Moore (an Episcopalian clergyman who should have known better) wrote his charming and bizarre poem, “A Visit from Saint Nicholas”, he never explained why he turned our holy saint into a Norse myth. When we draw near to Saint Nicholas day, I’ll write an article or three about the […]

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17. 2005: The Big Trip, Part 1 – Spain, Switzerland

It’s time for another travelog. This was my longest trip since 1985. Then I left as an an unhappy Anglican and came back from Greece nearly ready to be Orthodox. (See Blog Post 2.) This time I left as a happy Orthodox and returned as a happy Orthodox. It was a wonderful trip. All the people […]

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16. “Outside the Camp”: What we can learn from Saint Athanasios the Great

The Early Life of Saint Athanasios Athanasios was born in the last decade of the third century in Alexandria Egypt, then the cultural and intellectual center of the empire. Raised as a Christian, as a boy he lived through the Great Persecution. When he was a young adult, Constantine became emperor, and Christianity became the […]

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