Saints, Seasons, Society, Sins, plus Travels mostly to Greece and who knows what next? by Father Bill Olnhausen
… with apologies to Dr. Seuss and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”.. Candlemas is a Western title for the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, February 2. But ask Americans “What’s February 2?” and you’ll hear “Groundhog Day!” To understand this, first we need to grasp the tail of the groundhog … forgive […]
Read More »Both G.K Chesterton and T.S. Eliot said the purpose of travel is to return home and discover our native land again. Yes, and… The other purpose to travel is to learn a few things. Some of what I’ve heard and seen made me happy. Some made me very uncomfortable. But I shared this with my people […]
Read More »Who goes to Greece in January? We do! But before we leave, a recommendation: When you travel take along a small prayer book, a small New Testament and a copy of the daily Bible Readings. Or if you’ll have easy access to the internet the best site I know, beautifully laid out, is the American […]
Read More »In Greece tomorrow morning the churches will be filled to overflowing, as also I presume in other traditional Orthodox countries. A Lutheran pastor tells me that on the Epiphany in Germany, schools and libraries are closed (he’s a scholar who tried to get in), though he says few go to church. But in America… well, […]
Read More »But first, let’s get Christmas out of the way. Sorry, folks, it’s all over. Western Christians get a full 12 days of Christmas, but we Orthodox get only 7. In our liturgical calendar December 31 is the “Leavetaking (last day) of Christmas”. No fair? Or is it over? Our fast-free period lasts for 12 days […]
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