The eye.

There is an example of the eye, little in comparison to all the members of the body and the pupil itself is small, yet it is a great vessel. For it sees in one flash the sky, stars, sun, moon, cities, and other creatures.  Likewise, these things are seen in one flash, they are formed [...]

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I love books…

Well actually I love knowledge… and learning and growing.   In the end I desire what all of us truly desire and that’s: wisdom. “Books” just so happens to be one, of many ways, that wisdom and knowledge are shared today.  iPhones, ipads, Kindles and Nooks are certainly giving paper a run for its money… but in the [...]

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The Heart of the Matter

The essential and undisputed center of Orthodox faith, and the very life of the Holy catholic and apostolic Church is the Holy Trinity.  Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  One God – Three persons, one in Essence and undivided.  The Trinity is what separates Orthodox Christian faith apart from all other systems and beliefs that ever [...]

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Santa Nicholas

December 6 – is the Feast and Commemoration of Saint (Santa) Nicholas.  The Orthodox Christian bishop whose entire life was a simple sign of goodness, love and benevolence to the poor or anyone who was in need.  It amazes me, and yet it does not amaze me, how the real story of this real man has been [...]

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Hail Mary – Blessed are you

In honor of Mary – the ever virgin Mother of our God – the Theotokos (God bearer) whose holy feast of Dormition we are about to celebrate, and whose fast we are keeping at present.  More honorable than the cherubim, more glorious beyond compare than the Seraphim, who without corruption gave birth to God the [...]

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Become a real man.

It’s never by accident or coincidence that we come upon holy writings from the Scripture, or from the pens and minds of holy saints over the millennia that, not so amazingly, speak pointedly to the issues of our own times.  This ‘catholicity‘ – the shared fullness of faith from the ages – is why in order not [...]

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Ah dunno…

Recently after a family dinner, our two and a half-year old son, John, provided us with a laugh that still infects us even today causing all of us to grin ear to ear… Thank God for the wonderful gift of children, and the extra blessing that an unexpected child “late in life” affords to mothers and fathers, [...]

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Worthy of Paper

 Books.  Processed pulp from trees, treated and pressed into thin acid free paper, and covered with ink… soy based ink if you are earth friendly.  I make my life and living joyfully immersed in the world of ideas, words, thoughts, letters and books.  I am a bit biased but books, and the transforming ideas in them, are [...]

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Black Dress

  Without prayer…               a monk is merely a man wearing a black dress…   This life has been given to you for repentance;                do not waste it in vain pursuits.     -St. Isaac the Syrian   +Anaphora

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Pain, Suffering and the Paralytic

John 5:1-15 -    +  εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς  + καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ  + καὶ τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος Gospel for the Sunday of the 4th Sunday of Easter – Sunday of the Paralytic “Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall [...]

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The Jesus Prayer Film

I want to write more about this later, but for now, enjoy the promo video and learn more (here)  about this amazing new full length feature film that takes you to the sacred and holy places of Orthodoxy discovering the Jesus Prayer, and encountering the holy men and women who have been praying this prayer [...]

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The ‘Stepstool” of Divine Ascent

“…Seek stillness…” Father John Konkle is a wonderful priest.   Humble, gentle, kind, and more than aware of his own sinfulness, and the goodness and mercy of God of which he (without doubt) feels ‘unworthy‘ of. He is a deeply spiritual man who has journeyed, like many of us through myriads of ‘denominations’ before finding our [...]

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Perilous times… Perilous men.

2 Timothy 3  1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of [...]

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Peter Gabriel, Coffee, Bagels and Worship?

Just imagine. The band is playing Peter Gabriel. A woman leads worship with stories of real life, social challenges and human frailty. The lights dim and a video spoof of “Cops” fills the 16 foot screen. After that we watch a skit that is more like Saturday Night Live than the typical church drama. Adults [...]

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Your Holy Cross Redeemed the World

The Elevation of the Holy Cross is one of the Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church, celebrated on September 14. This feast is also referred to as the Exaltation of the Cross. This is also a popular name day for Stavroula/Stavros (from “stavros” meaning cross). This feast commemorates two events: The finding of the Cross [...]

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St. Elizabeth the New Martyr – July 5th

Enjoy this wonderful account of a 21st century Orthodox Saint, St. Elizabeth who was martyred for her faith at the hands of Communist Socialists.  She gave up royalty, wealth, power and Protestantism for Christ and His Holy Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church.  Her endearing and enduring legacy reminds us that we must never take our [...]

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“…my confession before I die…”

After reviewing some of my recent posts, I am reminded by one of my favorite sayings:  Many attempts to communicate are nullified by saying too much. Convicting and true.  So thank you readers for putting up with my many words and with my struggling efforts at trying to write well. Often I think provide too much; much more [...]

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‘Fighter’ for the Irish

Growing up in the “West” ( i.e. every geographic location from Athens moving West to the Americas) one assumes that all the ‘famous’ saints are Roman Catholic, or at least, European in origin and Catholic in affiliation.  However, we need to remember that The Church has always been One: one in essence, practice, faith, and undivided in unity from Pentecost until about [...]

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Divine Ladder of Ascent

The aim of the treatise of St. John Climacus, the Divine Ladder of Ascent,  is to be a guide for practicing a life completely and wholly devoted to God – its ultimate aim is Theosis – a complete union and oneness in Love with God.  The ladder metaphor—not dissimilar to the vision that the Patriarch Jacob [...]

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Stairway to Heaven

This Sunday March 14, marks the Fourth Sunday of Great Lent celebrating the life and teaching of  St. John Climacus and the Divine Ladder.  And the Church finds herself just past the halfway point on its pilgrimage to Pascha – the Holy Resurrection of Christ.  By now the strict fast of the season is starting to press [...]

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