Category Archives: Blog

By Fr. Vasyl Chepelskyy. Provided by the Metropolitan Office of Religious Education Christ nourishes us with His Body and Blood in the Holy Mystery of the Eucharist, helping us to mature in His image and grow in His likeness (cf. John, 6:51-58, Luke, 22:19-20, Mark, 14:22-25, Matthew, 26:26-29).  The Greek word eucharistia means “thanksgiving.”  There […]

Philip’s Fast A 40 day fast in preparation for the feast of the Nativity of Our Lord begins, the day after the feast of the Apostle Philip, November 15th. These 40 days are a season of penance, meaning that we intensify our prayer, fasting and almsgiving to better celebrate the feast of Christmas. If we spend these […]

Oldest Liturgical Prayer The “O Joyful Light” is the oldest non-scriptural liturgical prayer still prayed today.  It was composed in the 3rd Century.  It is prayed at Vespers just before the sun goes down, and at the conclusion of the lighting of the candles in the church.     -“O Joyful Light of the holy […]

Father Nathan was born in Simi Valley, California, July 15, 1982. Convinced of his call to ministry, he pursued graduate studies in theology at Reformed Theological Seminary and The Master Seminary. He eventually moved his family to the Midwest to enroll at Nashotah House Theological Seminary in Nashotah, Wisconsin, to train for the priesthood in […]

The sign of the cross is one of the earliest Christian traditions.  We find very specific guidelines for its use dating back to the 2nd century (Hippolytus of Rome “Apostolic Tradition”), but it was obviously used before the guidelines were set down.  Over time the various Churches and Rites have developed slightly different forms of making the […]

Prayer for the Morning: We thank You, Lord our God, for You have wakened us from sleep, and have filled our lips with praise that we might worship You and call upon your holy name. We beg of your compassion that you have always shown towards us, hear us now and send help to those […]

(The Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross is September 14th) We see images of the Cross of Christ so frequently, that for many of us it has lost the power behind its meaning.  For those who loved Christ, or anyone who was executed on a cross, this image was incredibly traumatic; it immediately brought […]

The great feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos (September 8) is one of the 12 great feasts of the church year. You will often find these 12 feasts represented by icons on the second layer of the church iconostasis.  Pascha, The greatest feast of the year, is in a class all its own and so […]

As I write this it is the feast of Abba Moses the Ethiopian (Aug. 28). He has become one of my favorite saints. The longer I lead communities (I’m going on 16 years as a pastor) the more I realize that true leadership comes from trusting and loving both courageous vulnerability and deep strength. Christ […]

God’s Mouthpiece The full title for John the Forerunner (feast of his beheading is August 29th) is “The Holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John”. (Not to be confused with John the Theologian also called the Apostle, Evangelist and/or “Beloved.”)  We call him “Prophet” because of the various ways that he carried out his vocation to […]