Receive One Another

The Antiphons, named such because the three Antiphons are usually sung antiphonally (that is by two choirs alternating with the first choir singing the First Antiphon and the second choir singing the Second Antiphon and both alternating during the Beatitude verses of the Third Antiphon) begin with verses from the beautiful Psalm 102 (103), praising [...]

“For our Bishop ______, for the honorable presbytery, the diaconate in Christ, for all the clergy and people, let us pray to the Lord.” St. Ignatius of Antioch (+108), disciple of the Apostle John, Patriarch of Antioch, and early Church Father, wrote: “Let no one do anything that has to do with the Church [...]

The Liturgy of the Catechumens begins with the announcement of the Kingdom of Heaven and ends before the Passion [. . .] We find the death of Christ twice: first in the Proskomedia (with the entombment after the Great Entrance), and secondly after the Consecration [. . .] The Liturgy of the Catechumens, which is [...]

This is a new series of articles on the meaning of the Divine Services, begining with the Divine Liturgy.
The catholic consciousness of the Church, where it concerns the teaching of faith, is also expressed in the Orthodox Divine Services which have been handed down to us by the Ecumenical Church. By entering deeply into the [...]

We live in times overwhelmed with images created by man, in a postmodern epoch where each person struggles to produce the most convincing image of himself and his idea, where people try to attract the most people they can through their self image in order to impress and to impose their “icon” (or artificial resemblance) or, better yet, their “idol,” on others (as St Andrew says : “αὐτείδωλον ἐγενόμην”, “I have become an idol to myself”; Canon of St. Andrew of Crete, Ode IV). It is an era which offers falsehood, delusion, and fantasy without transcending the antinomies and limitations of history.

A short essay I wrote in response to some of the political maneuvering in this country to promote same sex marriage. I had read a joint statement that His Grace made along with some of the other West Coast bishops that encouraged Orthodox Christians to make a strong stand against California’s Proposition 8 and similar legislation and I thought I would organize my thoughts on the issue in order to be able to make such a stand. It is not really “about” same sex marriage, but rather offers a critique on the notion that the state should be the de facto authority on marriage and I attempt to go a little deeper into the theological basis for romantic love.

The following talk was given by His Grace Bishop Justin on September 6, 2009 at our annual Diocesan Days gathering in Jackson, CA. Bishop Justin was our guest speaker and concelebrant to both Bishop Maxim of Western America and Bishop Longin of the New Gracanica Diocese.

What follows is a lecture delivered by His Grace Bishop Maxim on March 19, 2009 at Loyola Marymount University on the topic "Who do people say I am? True God and True Man: Chalcedon’s Christology in a Postmodern World." Bishop Maxim was the featured speaker along with His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan of the Armenian Church, [...]

Click here to see a wonderful interview with His Grace Bishop Atanasije (Yevtich), in which he addresses some of the issues in the ongoing debate in Serbia about liturgical changes.
Interview with Bishop Atanasije (Yevtich) on the Liturgy and Liturgical Changes
His comments about being attached to books like Protestants reminded me of when I had the [...]