Fr. Bill's Orthodox Blog – Orthodoxy from the Third Coast
Saints, Seasons, Society, Sins, plus Travels mostly to Greece and who knows what next? by Father Bill Olnhausen
Before we get started: Tonight at the end of the Aposticha verses we hear the Hymn of Kassiane, a Ninth Century nun and hymnographer. Kassiane was one of several young women interviewed by Emperor Theophilos as a prospective bride. The story says he was so flummoxed by Kassiane’s beauty that he said something stupid, as […]
Read More »Saint Innocent, March 31 Don’t get me wrong – but I am tempted to dislike people like him. I knew some in high school and college: guys who did everything well. Bundles of energy and enthusiasm who were excellent scholars, good at sports, had good looks, attracted the girls, then went on to marry […]
Read More »While there can be no doubt that the Church’s Lectionary was perfectly chosen and arranged by the Fathers or whoever did it… … here’s another of the big mistakes they made. The story of Christ’s temptations in the wilderness is fundamental to our understanding of the Christian life. So when do we read it? On […]
Read More »Today is the Feast of the Bodiless Powers of Heaven, the Holy Archangels. I’m not going to talk about that today, but at the very bottom of this Post you can access two Posts I wrote about them seven years ago. ____________________________ I’d like to drop this subject, but after all I wrote last […]
Read More »Hallowe’en… Despite what some misguided folks say, Hallowe’en has nothing to do with Satan and his cohort. I’m just using Hallowe’en as an excuse to talk about the Evil One. Hallowe’en itself is a harmless holiday…promoted by dentists? or so I’ve always suspected. Back in my day, Hallowe’en consisted only of kids in costumes going […]
Read More »