We are now well into the Holy and Great Fast of Lent, but for many of us it may have already begun to seem tedious: a routine and perhaps even empty exercise. This article by Fr Steven Ritter addresses this state of mind, offering fresh, thought-provoking, common-sense reminders of why the Fast is important to our spiritual life. By Fr. Stephen Ritter Meatfare Sunday … [Read more...] about Return to Paradise: The How and Why of Fasting
Spirituality
A Reference to Alyosha Karamazov
Ayosha, the “angelic brother” of Dostoevsky’s novel. Aloysha the monastic novice. Alyosha the compassihollonate. Alyosha, who has chosen to live only for God. Yes. But Alyosha the depraved? Alyosha the corrupt. . .Alyosha the insect? Christos Yannaras, one of the foremost living philosophers of Europe, through his careful reading of The Brothers Karamazov has … [Read more...] about A Reference to Alyosha Karamazov
St. Ephrem the Syrian: Hymn of the Nativity
St. Ephrem’s “Hymns on the Nativity” are like a dazzling display of Christmas lights—or better yet, like the brightly shining stars shimmering over the fields of Bethlehem. St Ephrem believes that God reveals Himself through “raze” (symbols, mysteries, hidden meanings) found not only throughout Holy Scripture, but everywhere in nature as … [Read more...] about St. Ephrem the Syrian: Hymn of the Nativity
St. Paisios: Too Many Worries Will Distance Us From God
Like Jesus’ friend Martha in the Gospel of St Luke, we “are worried and troubled about many things.” But as we prepare ourselves for the Nativity of Christ — as we look ahead toward His birth not in a royal chamber, but in the rustic and unpretentious cradle of an animal trough — and as we anticipate his quiet but earth-shaking Incarnation into a … [Read more...] about St. Paisios: Too Many Worries Will Distance Us From God
Dostoevsky And Memory Eternal: An Eastern Orthodox Approach to the Brothers Karamazov
Why do Orthodox memorial litanies melodically reiterate "memory eternal” with such feeling and such energy? And why did Orthodoxy’s greatest novelist end his last great work so triumphantly with these same words? By going very deeply into a single passage in Dostoevsky’s masterpiece, "The Brothers Karamazov," Donald Sheehan leads us not only into the the center of the novel, … [Read more...] about Dostoevsky And Memory Eternal: An Eastern Orthodox Approach to the Brothers Karamazov
