By St. Gregory of Nazianzus Again my Jesus, and again a mystery, a mystery lofty and divine and bringing down light from above. For the feast which we are celebrating today has for its origin the baptism of my Christ, the true light that illumines every man that comes into the world and brings about my own purification and strengthens that light which we received from the … [Read more...] about On the Baptism of Christ
Liturgy, Scripture & The Seasons of the Church
On the Mystery of the Incarnation
By St. Maximus the Confessor The divine Logos, who once for all was born in the flesh, out of his love for humanity always desires to be born in the spirit in those who desire Him. He becomes an infant and molds Himself in them through the virtues. He reveals as much of Himself as He knows the recipient can accept; He diminishes the manifestation of His own greatness not … [Read more...] about On the Mystery of the Incarnation
On the Nativity of Christ
By St Gregory of Nazianzus Christ is born: glorify him. Christ comes down from heaven: go out to meet him. Christ descends to earth: let us be raised on high. Let all the world sing to the Lord: let the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad, for his sake who was first in heaven and then on earth. Christ is here in the flesh: let us exult with fear and joy—with … [Read more...] about On the Nativity of Christ
The Origins of Advent
In the Roman Catholic Church and other Christian churches of the West, the several weeks prior to Christmas are known as Advent, a name from a Latin word meaning "coming." It happens that the beginning of Advent always falls on the Sunday closest to November 30, the ancient feast day (in both East and West) of the Apostle Andrew. Among Christians in the West, this preparatory … [Read more...] about The Origins of Advent
The Divine Liturgy as Mystical Experience
Read at a conference on “Philosophy and Mysticism,” Institute of Philosophy, Moscow, Russia, May 2014, and the first annual meeting of the Society of Orthodox Philosophers in Europe, Fulda, Germany, June 2014. Worship as the Repository of the Faith Eastern Orthodoxy holds what may appear to the non-Orthodox to be a remarkably exalted view of the status and … [Read more...] about The Divine Liturgy as Mystical Experience