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An Easter Message of Hope and Courage in the Midst of a Troubled World of Fear
This is the holy week. This is the week that goes from hosannas to crucify him, from shouts of "messiah" to shouts of hatred. The week that starts with a procession of palms and ends with a cry from the cross: "Eli, Eli, lema sabach thani," – "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me!"
It is the week that we meet the suffering of Jesus in the midst of our own suffering. |
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Read more: An Easter Message from Archbishop +Bob Parlotz, OHS
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The innermost spiritual sense of Orthodox Monasticism is revealed in joyful mourning (gr. harmolipi). This paradoxical phrase denotes a spiritual state in which a monk in his prayer grieves for the sins of the world at the same time experiences the regenerating spiritual joy of Christ's forgiveness and resurrection. A monk dies in order to live, he forgets himself in order to find his real self in God, he becomes ignorant of worldly knowledge in order to attain real spiritual wisdom which is given only to the humble ones. (Ed.) |
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Read more: Orthodox Monasticism
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About the time that I converted to Christ, I decided to enter a monastery. Someone who knew me quite well dissuaded me from doing so. I was quite comfortable with the vows of poverty and obedience, but lifelong celibacy did not match either my calling or my personality.
Fortunately, this was not my final experience with monasticism. My initial inclination, significantly influenced by Thomas Merton, couldn’t be shaken. Monasticism’s prophetic stance, ordered life, emphasis upon silence and prayer, sense of community balanced by solitude, and its ancient history all appealed to me. |
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Read more: Me? A Monk?
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I, as most Protestants I know, was raised to believe that the icons in Orthodox churches were idols, and I was never taught the historical purpose and use of this form of “visual theology.” And yet, their beauty and mystery always intrigued me. |
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Read more: An Anglican Looks At Icons
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"THERE are two books in the English language which stand out pre-eminent above all others, which are better known and greater even than the works of our greatest poets. They are the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer." -- Percy Dearmer, D.D. (Everyman's History of the Prayer Book, Morehouse Publishing Co., 1931)
In 1986 I "discovered" the Anglican Church. With this discovery also came a profound and ongoing interest in all things Anglican, the Book of Common Prayer being of utmost importance. Since that time, with some adjustments, I have consistently said the Daily Office. Almost without exception it has been an invaluable and irreplaceable source of insight and inspiration. It has fed me and furthered my life in Christ. I am convinced that the Prayer Book can offer tremendous opportunities to grow for anyone who consistently and reverently uses it. |
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Read more: Daily Office Or Daily Grind?
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