599. War and Peace, Part One: Christ’s Teachings, The Early Church, The Fathers, The Just War Theory

  Personal note to a reader who has been writing to me: Forgive me. I’ve lost your last letter and your address. Please send it again.   Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!   I did not write this teaching about War and Peace to be relevant to our current war with Iran – […]

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596. Holy Saturday Morning: First Divine Liturgy of the Resurrection

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. In the two […]

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593. Holy Friday Royal Hours: Why did they kill Jesus? Some contemporary applications

  The Royal Hours These four services are the short “Hours” (First Hour (dawn), Third Hour (9 a.m.), Sixth Hour (Noon), Ninth Hour (3 p.m.) sung in monasteries. Today they are scheduled also in parish churches – usually on Holy Friday morning, or in some places scattered through the day. On this day they contain […]

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592. Holy Thursday Night: Matins of Holy Friday: “The Twelve Gospels Service”

Some advice:  For the remaining three days of this Holy Week, do not read this Blog. Or rather: if it’s a choice between reading this Blog and going to church, Go to church. If you can’t get to church, worship Live-stream either live or by video. This Blog may help you (and me) to understand […]

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591. Holy Thursday Morning Vesperal Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil

We all know that in the Orthodox Church the Divine Liturgy is always a celebration, not allowed on the penitential weekdays of the Great Lenten Fast. We also know that Holy Week is our most penitential period, so  we certainly do not celebrate the Divine Liturgy during the day of Holy Friday. Western Christianity joins […]

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