Father Bill's Orthodox Blog – Orthodoxy from the Third Coast
A Variety of Topics: Saints, Seasons, Society, the Moral Life, plus Travels mostly to Greece, and more, by Father Bill Olnhausen
These are the short (by Orthodox standards) daily services sung regularly in monasteries at certain “hours” – First Hour (dawn), Third Hour (9 a.m.), Sixth Hour (Noon), Ninth Hour (3 p.m.). Before certain great feasts they are appointed also for parish churches. Some parishes read them throughout the day at the appointed monastic times. I […]
Read More »The Divine Liturgy is always a festival event. Therefore on the penitential weekdays of Lent and also on the ordinary weekdays of Holy Week, there is no celebration of the full Divine Liturgy. The Anaphora (the consecration of the Holy Gifts) is omitted, and Holy Communion is received from that which was previously consecrated, […]
Read More »Introduction Yesterday we celebrated the raising of Lazarus which was, as we sang, the “prefiguring of the General Resurrection”, when all mankind will be raised from death. “Those who have done what is good will rise to life, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.” John 5:29 Christ was demonstrating, […]
Read More »The word in New Testament Greek is άσωτος/asotos, “dissipated, debauched, dissolute”. The old English word for this was “prodigal”. This guy who has wasted his life on nothing, worse than nothing, thrown away his family inheritance on pig’s slop: What kind of fuzzy-minded liberal would forgive somebody like that? I still remember my granddad feeding […]
Read More »Last week when I began to research the Flight into Egypt, I knew nothing about the subject, except what I had read in Saint Matthew. (How could I have been so ignorant all these years?) I found so much material that was completely new to me that I didn’t know how to process it all. […]
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