December 2022 – Fr. Bill's Orthodox Blog – Orthodoxy from the Third Coast

363. Where’s Saint Joseph?

Posted on December 30, 2022December 31, 2022 by Fr. Bill

Christ is born! Glorify Him! Here’s the point of this Post: In traditional Western Christianity, Saint Joseph gets his due. In Eastern Christianity, Saint Joseph almost gets the brushoff, and I think we need to do better by him. If you’re busy (returning presents, perhaps?) you may stop reading now, if you wish. […]

362. 1) From Saint Nicholas to Santa Claus in five images, 2) Six Surprising Ways Jesus Changed the World, 3) Nativity Poems by Saint Ephrem the Syrian and by G K Chesterton

Posted on December 23, 2022 by Fr. Bill

1. Santa Claus! And now you know why Santa Claus is dressed in red. 2. Six Surprising Ways Jesus Changed the world by John Ortberg, Senior Pastor, Presbyterian Church, Menlo Park, California My notes: This article was written during the 2012 Presidential campaign. I left it unaltered, except for two explanatory footnotes. We hear much […]

361. Orthodox Music for the Nativity of Our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ

Posted on December 16, 2022December 17, 2022 by Fr. Bill

Here is the entire Christmas story in one icon. Have you heard some of the following music on this Blog before? Probably. No matter. At this time of year, Christians everywhere love the same old songs – sing them and listen to them again an d again. And now we can even see them! Here I’ve […]

360. A Saint too great to be ignored: Ambrose of Milan

Posted on December 9, 2022December 9, 2022 by Fr. Bill

However, we Orthodox have often ignored Saint Ambrose. Why? First, because he is commemorated on December 7, only a day after the feast of Saint Nicholas of Myra *, who is ultra-popular among us. In the Roman Catholic Church, Nicholas has been reduced to a minor commemoration. And also because he wrote in Latin – […]