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
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 […]
Read More »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 […]
Read More »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 […]
Read More »You get to write this Post. Or at least most of it. Did you watch last Sunday’s Super Bowl? – great game! said he who doesn’t much like football. Did you see the commercials? If you watched very closely, in between the likes of: and perhaps you noticed two short commercials, one of which concluded […]
Read More »Before we get started on Saint Meletios: Does the Orthodox Church celebrate Saint Valentine’s Day? Yes, three times for three Saint Valentines, commemorated on October 24, April 24 and July 6. Hooray for love! but (Saint) Valentine’s Day on February 14 seems to derive from a Roman pagan holiday of love, originally celebrated on February […]
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