325. Great and Holy Saturday Morning: Vesperal Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great

Brothers and sisters, there is a whole lot going on this morning, so pay attention. This Liturgy begins as a celebration of Christ’s victory over Satan and death “down below”, and by the middle we’re celebrating the Resurrection here on earth, even though it hasn’t happened yet. (Although of course it has, and we all […]

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324. Great and Holy Friday Night Matins: The Lamentations Service

Please get to church tonight. If you cannot, please find yourself a place to worship live-stream tonight. This is much too beautiful to miss – my favorite service of the year. Is this a funeral service? Is this a resurrection service? The answers are: Yes! We stand before the bier on which Christ is laid […]

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316. Holy Tuesday Morning: Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts

Ukraine I’m writing this article on Holy Monday morning, in sorrow. Have Ukraine’s Orthodox brothers and sisters in Russia given them a break for Holy Week? No, they have not. Their missile strikes and and shelling have in fact increased. Have they allowed time this Week for innocent Ukrainian civilians to escape the horrors of war? No, […]

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261. Three Startling Newly-Revealed Martyrs

And we do mean newly-revealed. At least by my (old man’s) standards. from Greek City Times It began in the year 1959, on the Greek island of Lesvos (also known as Mytilene). The Martyr Raphael appeared in a dream to the priest of the village of Thermi, identified himself, then began to tell him his story […]

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11. The Resurrection: The Whole Story, Part 2

Christ is risen! Truly he is risen! Here are some powerful, mysterious Resurrection stories, most of which are not heard by Orthodox people in church. (See Part 1.) Since they are rarely preached on, I’ll add a bit of commentary. Pascha Night Here is Luke’s account: That evening two disciples, Cleopas (husband of Joanna, one of the Myrrhbearers) […]

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