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
To explain for our non-Orthodox visitors: In the Orthodox tradition the full Divine Liturgy is always a festival service, so it is not celebrated on fasting, penitential days, including all the ordinary weekdays of Great Lent. (Roman Catholics have more Masses during Lent. We have fewer Liturgies.) That is why on Lenten weekdays we serve […]
Read More »Matins for Holy Thursday Note that we’re still on our Holy Week “topsy-turvy” schedule, always “anticipating” the next appointed service. Despite my not understanding this, somehow it feels just right for this Week when the whole world gets turned upside down. Matins Gospel: Luke 22:1-39 Jesus and the disciples are in the upper room at […]
Read More »Gospel: Matthew 26:6-16 A short Gospel reading in Holy Week! Matthew repeats the story we heard last Sunday from John, about Christ being anointed with fragrant oil. John said Mary sister of Martha did the anointing. Matthew says only that it was “a woman”. Luke places this earlier in Jesus’ ministry and says it was […]
Read More »Before we get into the Gospel story… Tonight at the end of the Aposticha we hear the Hymn of Kassiane, a Ninth Century nun and hymnographer. She was one of several young women interviewed by Emperor Theophilus as a prospective bride. The story says he was so flummoxed by Kassiane’s beauty that he said something […]
Read More »The Exaposteilarion hymn sung in Bridegroom Matins – from “Orthodox Chants”. Gospel Reading: Matthew 22:15-46; 23:1-39 In tonight’s Gospel, the confrontation between Jesus and the authorities continues. They must stop this Man. Killing Him was the last option. The better way, the cleanest way, was still to outwit Him, discredit Him. They’d had no success […]
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