Category Archives: Blog

(Part III in a series of posts encouraging reverence of the Holy things) Along with the Holy Table, there are two other tables in the Holy Place.  The table to the left of the Holy Table (under the icon of the Holy Trinity in our temple) is the called the Table of Prothesis (“placing before/offering”), […]

(Part II in a series of posts encouraging reverence of the Holy things) When the priest stands at the royal doors and blesses the altar at the end of the Little Entrance (the one where he or the deacon carries the Gospel book), he says “Blessed is the entrance into your holy of holies…”. He […]

(Part one in a series of posts encouraging reverence of the Holy things) At the end of the Divine Liturgy, during the Ambon Prayer, the priest asks God to “sanctify those who love the beauty of your house…”.  This reference comes from Psalm 25:8 (26:8 in most bibles) which says “Lord, I love the beauty […]

  -Not one of the 12 Apostles, but one of the 70 Disciples. -Born in Antioch in Syria and died after many years of ministry in Thebes. -Companion of Our Lord (by tradition he was the unmentioned traveler on the road to Emmaus Luke 24:13ff.), the Theotokos (by tradition she shared with him his infancy […]

Ardently desiring to find the Cross upon which our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, Saint Constantine sent his mother, the pious Empress Helen, to Jerusalem. Saint Helen journeyed to the holy places connected with the earthly life of the Savior, building more than 80 churches, at Bethlehem the birthplace of Christ, and on the Mount […]

And, behold, an angel of the Lord stood by, saying: Anna, Anna, the Lord has heard your prayer, and you shall conceive, and shall bring forth; and your seed shall be spoken of in all the world. And Anna said: As the Lord my God lives, if I beget either male or female, I will […]

Panteleimon’s Christian mother passed away when he was just a child.  His pagan father sent him to study the medical sciences.  He became such a skilled physician that he was invited to become the doctor to the royals in Nicomedia.  His curiosity for Truth, Goodness and Beauty was not satiated by his studies though and he was led […]

Elijah accomplished many great and wonderful works.  He prophesied a draught (1 Kings 17:1) then ended it  (1 Kings 18:45).  He gave life (1 Kings 17:22) and took it (1 Kings 18:19).  He parted the Jordan River (2 Kings 2:8) and was taken to heaven in a fiery chariot (2 Kings 2:11).  And yet, among all these great works, the […]

Vladimir the Great (feast July 15) was a seeker.  He was raised a pagan but was not content worshipping man-made idols.  As the prince of Kiev (modern Ukraine) at the turn of the 11th Century, he sent delegates to inform him of the various world religions.  He intended to discern which was the true faith […]

The Samaritan woman marks the point of gentile inclusion in the message that Jesus is life itself and His life is offered to all. Have you considered being a missionary or supporting the world of missions? If this is an interest to you, talk with your pastor about it. God has given us the opportunity […]