By Fr. Matthew Fuhrman "Behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place” (St. Luke 1:20). As we all have just heard, because of his doubt, the priest Zacharias was struck dumb. And with this silencing of Zacharias the three traditional leadership roles of Ancient Israel were all silent. The people of God had no priest, prophet, or … [Read more...] about The Silence of Zacharias
Articles
In Memorium: Reader Herman (H. Tristram) Engelhardt (1941-2018) [VIDEO]
PART ONE One of the towering figures in American Orthodoxy has reposed. Struggling to recover from surgery performed last December, Herman fell asleep in Christ on the morning of June 21 in Houston, Texas among family, friends, and clergy. As an author, as a lecturer, as a teacher and mentor, as a friend and brother and father to so many, as a man whose heart was as big as … [Read more...] about In Memorium: Reader Herman (H. Tristram) Engelhardt (1941-2018) [VIDEO]
Fr. Patrick Viscuso Commencement Address: Counsels to Seminary Graduates
The Rev. Dr. Patrick Viscuso Commencement Address June 3, 2018. Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary and Monastery Almost forty years ago, my seminary class graduated from an Orthodox theological school, many of us in preparation for the Holy Priesthood. With all of the excitement during the graduation ceremonies, I cannot even recall what was said by our main speaker or if we … [Read more...] about Fr. Patrick Viscuso Commencement Address: Counsels to Seminary Graduates
The Meaning of Holy Chrism and Holy Unction
By Mario Baghos The Holy Oil used for Holy Unction in the healing prayers and Holy Chrismation during baptism is a symbol but in the Greek, not English, meaning of the term. In Greek the term symbol (σύμβολον) means the place where two realities come together, in this case the oil becomes a concrete means by which the grace (energy) of God is offered. Grace and nature work … [Read more...] about The Meaning of Holy Chrism and Holy Unction
The Unbearable Essentializing of Being: Metropolitan Kallistos Ware’s Sorrowful Joy of Sex
Sexual identities, in contrast to sexual practices or passions, are a relatively new concept. Only recently were passions taken to define people, i.e. seen as constituting an identity or essence, such as homosexual or heterosexual—an understanding that even many secular circles now scorn as untenable. It is, then, discouraging to see a highly respected Orthodox hierarch … [Read more...] about The Unbearable Essentializing of Being: Metropolitan Kallistos Ware’s Sorrowful Joy of Sex