January 6, 2020 Christmas Eve: Can One Eat Nothing All Day? The tradition of abstinence from food throughout the day or even several days goes back to the time of the Old Testament. Such fast…
December 26, 2019 The Point of Fast: Byzantine Historians about Saint Spyridon There are valuable testimonies of Socrates Scholasticus, Sozomen and Rufinus, Byzantine historians of the second half of the 4th – 5th centuries, of Saint…
December 9, 2019 How Not to Eat Each Other While Fasting I have been talking with people of the Church live and on social media for quite a few years now, and I have noticed…
November 29, 2019 The Point of the Fast: To Win Back the Occupied Territory Each fast is a military campaign. We oppose the enemy in order to win our territory back, if not all of it, then at…
November 28, 2019 St. Paisius (Velichkovsky) on Fasting St. Paisius (1722-1794) was born Peter Velichkovsky in Poltava, Ukraine, to a priestly family. At age thirteen he entered the Kiev Theological School with…
May 27, 2019 Is Monday a Fast Day? According to the Orthodox tradition, fast days are Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the entire year, with the exception of a couple of weeks when…
April 26, 2019 “We Worship Thy Passion, O Christ”: the Great Friday as the Most Dreadful Day in Church Calendar The thief opened the locked Eden’s gate. He used a key – a prayer – Remember me! – The Synaxarion of Holy Friday Holy…
April 24, 2019 The Kiss of the Harlot and the Kiss of the Apostle She who had anointed Christ with precious myrrh Had foreshadowed the myrrh and aloes that Nicodemus brought. – Synaxarion of Holy and Great Wednesday The…
April 23, 2019 Great Tuesday: Waiting for the Bridegroom The Parable of Ten Virgins, the Parable of the Talents, and the description of the Doomsday: the stories are so different but essentially, all…
April 23, 2019 Priest’s Advice: Holy Week without a Parish Question: “What should someone do during Holy Week if they have no parish nearby, and so cannot attend the services?” Answer by Fr. John…
