May 14, 2021 Lift Up Your Heads, O Ye Gates – Psalm 24 and the Harrowing of Hades Psalm 24 (23 in the Greek collection) is a Psalm deeply immersed in the religious world of ancient Israel. The Psalm represents a specific…
May 13, 2021 Saint Nectarios of Optina: Thoughts on Salvation and the Challenges of Being an Elder The Venerable Nectarios (1853 – 1928) was the last of the Great Optina Elders. The story of his life amazes the reader with the…
May 13, 2021 Within a Mandorla There is a small class of events within the gospels that are treated in a special manner by iconographers. This special treatment reflects the…
May 12, 2021 The Sacrament of Confession in the Ethiopian and Syrian Churches In the first part of this article, we described some distinctive features of the texts of absolution prayers read over the penitent in the…
May 11, 2021 Layman’s Prayers for the Departed to Be Said at Home and at the Graveside Through the prayers of our holy fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Glory to You, O…
May 11, 2021 Visions and Intercessions of the Holy Theotokos during Wartime Listen to the article Most soldiers who have survived the furious and bloody battles of the war will say, “among soldiers on the front…
May 10, 2021 Cremation and Non-Orthodox Family Question: “A lot of Orthodox are converts to the faith. Inevitably, we will have situations within the family that would seem to be at…
May 10, 2021 The Reality of Christ’s Resurrection — Assessing the Evidence from History Is there any proof that Christ resurrected? I have heard this question many times from unbelievers throughout the quarter-century of my being at Church….
May 10, 2021 What It Was that Saved Thomas Thomas had a heart that had taken one too many beatings. Despite his often being stigmatized by later generations as “Doubting Thomas” there is…
May 8, 2021 When Will the Kingdom of God Come? The Kingdom of God is already here, but some have not noticed. Christians are often asked – sometimes naively, and other times derisively, “Where…
May 7, 2021 Prayers of Absolution in the Practices of Eastern Churches Christ vested in His disciples the authority to forgive the sins of others (John 20:23). The sacrament of confession has been performed at church…
May 7, 2021 The Place of the Theotokos in Icons of the Resurrection There are three general representations of the Resurrection in Orthodoxy: the Harrowing of Hades, Christ triumphantly rising from the tomb, and the angel appearing to the…
