403. Let us keep the Feast! – by kneeling in penitence?

Holy Pentecost For my ancient commentary about Pentecost, you might want to go back to Posts 66, 67 and 68. Just scroll down on the far right to May, 2018. The Kneeling Prayers I do not understand. Pentecost is one of the Great Feasts, a beautiful day in and of itself. We celebrate Pentecost Week […]

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400. How Saint Nicholas founded Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church, Cedarburg, Wisconsin, USA

I know…  Some of you have heard these stories before. But some of you haven’t, and you really need to hear them.  Besides, the good old stories always deserve re-telling. That’s why the Church year repeats itself, year after year after year. We’re doing two weeks on Saint Nicholas. Last week we covered the life […]

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377. Saint Joseph the Hymnographer: “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade”.

I hope that’s not an irreverent way to introduce a saint – but every year when we come to Saint Joseph, that’s the saying that springs automatically into my mind. This man’s life was almost entirely “lemons” – it sounds like it’s out of a soap opera – and yet he “squeezed” great good out […]

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375. What (little) I’ve learned about Prayer: Some practical advice

Great Lent is a time to concentrate on prayer and, as I see it, to “experiment” with prayer. In the Orthodox Church, personal prayer is not a “one size fits all” thing. Except for the very basics, each of us is allowed to (and should) adapt our prayer life to our situation and abilities. Since […]

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372. The First Sunday of Lent: a Fast and a Feast

For many years I felt slightly whiplashed by this First Sunday of Great Lent. For a week we’ve been in the the Lenten Fast with its liturgical color: a sombre violet. Then suddenly and seemingly out of context, on this First of Sunday of Lent here comes the gold for the “Sunday of Orthodoxy” and […]

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