Despite my “Bah Humbug” post about gift giving, I actually love the rituals of Christmas. The home ones are especially nice: hanging stockings (made by my Mom for my Pani, each of my kids, and me), putting up the Nativity banners, setting up the Nativity creche (are they statues if all the figures are pillows?), […]
Day Twenty-two – Saint Nicholas
December 6, 2013 By
There is amusing meme bouncing around Facebook that plays on St. Nicholas’ defense of Orthodoxy against Arianism during the first Ecumincal Council (325): he punch-uated this defense by striking Arius in the face. Both Christ and His Mother confirmed the righteousness of his action when they restored him to his episcopal dignity (the Emperor St. […]
Day Twenty-one – Gift Giving (Bah Humbug)
December 5, 2013 By
Dave Ramsey likes to joke that Americans need to stop spending money they don’t have buying people gifts that they don’t need. He’s right. The Christmas “gift-giving” season is one of those things that outsiders must look at and just scratch their heads. It’s out of control and it’s doing real damage to us and […]
Day Twenty – Incense
December 4, 2013 By
The smell of incense is so much a part of our experience of worship that the smell – smell is one of the strongest triggers of memory for the brain – automatically calms us and moves us towards prayer. Low-church Christians are often uncomfortable with incense in part because it is used in pagan […]
Day Nineteen – Handel’s Messiah
December 3, 2013 By
I love Handel’s Messiah. I play it – and especially the pre-Nativity portions – this time of year. It is so much better than the Holiday schlock that they play on the radio. Every year, we used to sing it, complete with pit orchestra. In Charlottesville, there is a sing a long where everyone who […]
Day Eighteen – Feet
December 2, 2013 By
Psalm 120 I lift up mine eyes unto the hills, whence comes my help.My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.He will not suffer thy foot to stumble: He that guards you will not slumber.Behold, He that protects Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.The Lord is your protector: the Lord is your […]
Day Seventeen – Holiday Depression
December 2, 2013 By
[Please note that I am writing about malaise, not actual depression. If you are suffering from depression, seek professional help.] Studies show that cases of depression and general malaise increase during the Christmas season. It’s a real problem, and – unless you are some sort of saint (or Vulcan) – it’s probably one you struggle […]
Day Sixteen – Saint Andrew
November 30, 2013 By
The Orthodox Church takes apostolic succession very seriously; the preservation of “the faith passed on to the apostles” is maintained by the physicality of the ordination of bishops by bishops, all of who can trace the history of the ordination of the bishops who ordained them back to one or more of the apostles themselves. […]
Day Fifteen – Avarice (love of money)
November 29, 2013 By
There are two things priests can talk about that are pretty much guaranteed to either get filtered out (ignored/missed) or opposed with varying levels of indignation: sex and money. The problem is that our scriptures – and Christ Himself – spend a lot of time on that subject. This means that the Church and her […]
Day Fourteen: Giving Thanks to Our God as a Nation
November 28, 2013 By
Council of Bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA Archpastoral Message for 2013 Thanksgiving Day:We Offer Praise and Thanksgiving Once again, our nation pauses to celebrate Thanksgiving. Our tables will be spilling over with food and our homes will resonate with laughter and conversation as we gather to celebrate this special day. Thanksgiving […]
