November 27, 2020 How Did Icon Painting Workshops (Artels) Work in Russia? The 17th century was a time when churches were actively built and revived in the Russian state, resulting in growing number of craft societies,…
November 18, 2020 History and Function of the Ancient Temple Elevations The most solemn moments of Matins, such as polyeleos, parastas and the lamentations (during the Holy Saturday and the Dormition of the Theotokos services)…
November 13, 2020 The History and Meaning of the Catapetasma Almost every church has a curtain separating the central nave from the altar. Historically, such a curtain appeared even earlier than the actual altar…
November 12, 2020 The Symbolism and Splendour of Gold in Church Art (Part 2) How did gold come to be used in church art? Why does it adorn the images of the saints? Is gold still important to…
November 11, 2020 The Symbolism and Splendour of Gold in Church Art (Part 1) How did gold come to be used in church art? Why does it adorn the images of the saints? Is it true that it…
November 10, 2020 On Celtic Orthodoxy My “inside minor” when I was doing doctoral studies in theology at Duke, was the history of the Church in the British Isles, particularly…
November 6, 2020 Peter and Caiaphas: Two High Priests? As we study Scripture, we are increasingly convinced of how important the context of the described events is. Along with considering the historical background…
October 28, 2020 Menorah: Jewish Seven-Branched Candlestick in an Orthodox Church Menorah (Hebrew מְנוֹרָה lit. lamp) is a golden lamp of seven candlesticks, which was kept in the Tabernacle, and then in Solomon’s Temple until…
October 22, 2020 The Patrimony of the Byzantine Papacy “Papacy” and “Byzantium” appear mutually antagonistic (if not hostile) in our minds. At a certain period in Byzantine history, its emperors dreamed of bringing…
October 19, 2020 The Offering of Incense The offering of incense in Orthodox Christian worship is likely the most misunderstood element of that worship. Worship, in general, outside of the Orthodox…
