In this enchanting tale, Fr Stephen takes us back to his Fishtown neighborhood in Philadelphia, where Kusheri’s and Fr Naum’s fantasy of soaring in the summer sky over the Jersey Shore is interrupted by a young couple in love and the recollection of childhood questions about the relation of God, man, and animals — about the relation of the childlike and the … [Read more...] about The Death of the Lion and the Dream of the Jersey Shore: Maturity Seasoned In Time
Spirituality
We Have Come from Afar: A Christmas Oration
We have come from afar to venerate the infant Christ — not from the land of the wise men but out of the darkness of our own souls, out of the murk of sinfulness. We have been guided by the miraculous star that has risen within us, obeying its mysterious and powerful call. We have seen from afar the radiant manger and the heavenly glow above it, but we have found the … [Read more...] about We Have Come from Afar: A Christmas Oration
Calculating the Date of Christmas: Why We Celebrate the Nativity Feast on December 25
It is sometimes believed that we celebrate Christ’s birth on December 25th because the Church Fathers appropriated the date of a pagan festival. But in fact, just the opposite is true. The choice of December 25th was based not on pagan festivities, but on a careful chronology of sacred events concerning the Incarnation of our Lord. Ironically, it was the pagan festival … [Read more...] about Calculating the Date of Christmas: Why We Celebrate the Nativity Feast on December 25
How Not to Perish Eternally
A merciful heart is the likeness of God. And if we reject such a heart, then we of necessity reject God Himself. And how then can we be saved, how then can we enter into the Kingdom of Heaven? Source: Remembering Sion By Heiromonk Gabriel "God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved” (John 3:17). Our … [Read more...] about How Not to Perish Eternally
The Bishop — A Short Story by Fr. Stephen Siniari
We tried to get his old shoes and coat ta’ throw ‘em in the trash. Carol said not even the rummage sale at Front and Girard would take his worn-down shoes and screen-thin overcoat. He stuffed ‘em in his paper shopping-bag suitcase he carted all his bishop stuff around in and said he knew somebody who needed ‘em. He never varied from living the life of a … [Read more...] about The Bishop — A Short Story by Fr. Stephen Siniari
