Reflections in Christ

Today’s feast is a feast of liminality. For one, it stands on the threshold between Christmastide and Lent. Christ still appears to us as a newborn Child, just as…

The Lenten Triodion begins today, and it begins with a weeklong period of feasting. This fact, coupled with today’s Gospel reading, warns us against pride and hypocrisy: the Lord desires, not…

Today we celebrate three of the great fathers and teachers of the Church: St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian, and St. John Chrysostom. The works of these…

Though the Sunday of Zacchaeus is sometimes understood to be the first pre-Lenten Sunday, it is in fact the final Sunday of the season after Pentecost. Nevertheless, it is certainly…

Christ is born! Glorify him! As we celebrate the midwinter feast of the Lord’s saving Nativity in the flesh, in some parts of North America, snow lies thick across the ground, blanketing the whole landscape in white. Many of…

In this cold and dark season before the Nativity, we celebrate the memory of one of our great northern saints: the monk who went to Valaam seeking the tradition of the holy Fathers, the missionary who went to Alaska…

Joyous feast of St. Spyridon! St. Spyridon is known as one of the “walking saints”: the cloth covering the feet of his relics constantly wears down, such that his foot-coverings must be replaced more…

Speaking of the most holy Theotokos, St. Maximus the Confessor writes that, “She was blessed by all and was full of all grace, and I will say even further that she was supremely worthy…

St. Nicholas, known the world over for his miracles, is also specifically known for his depiction on a number of wonder-working icons. Though these miraculous images of St. Nicholas are not as…

Happy Thanksgiving to my entire flock in the United States of America! Today many of us celebrate with family or friends, giving thanks for the unnumbered blessings that we enjoy. But…