by Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon At the beginning of Holy Week, just after the celebration of Palm Sunday, the Church turns her attention to Jesus’ act of purging of the Temple. As our guiding text here we may take Zechariah 14:20-21, the closing verses of that book: “The vessels in the Lord’s house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Indeed, every vessel in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holiness to the Lord of hosts. Everyone who sacrifices shall come and take them and cook in them. In that day there shall no longer be a tradesman in the house of the Lord of hosts.” In fulfillment of this prophecy, Mark records that Jesus, when he cleansed the Temple, “would not allow anyone … [Read more...]

by St. Photios the Great Such things the archangel was saying, drawing the spotless maiden to assent. But to this what was the reply of the honored virgin, the heavenly chamber, the holy mountain, the sealed fountain, kept for Him only who had sealed it? “Since,” says she, “thou hast clearly explained that the Holy Ghost shall come upon me, I no longer demur, I no longer object. Be it unto me according to thy word (Lk. 1.38). If I am judged worthy for the Lord, I will gladly serve His will. If the Builder desires the thing built to become a temple to the Builder, let Him construct a house unto Himself as He has pleased. If the Creator rests on His creature, let Him mold in me His … [Read more...]

By Jonathan Pageau There is no ass or ox in the Biblical narratives of the birth of Christ.  Yet, besides the Christ Child himself, the ass and the ox are the most ancient and stable elements in the iconography of the nativity.  In fact the earliest example of a nativity known to us contains only the swaddled Christ in the manger flanked by the ox at his head and the ass at his feet.  David Clayton, on the New Liturgical Movement blog, has written a detailed piece on the subject, and I will go through the basics while adding a few more aspects he does not mention. When reading comments on the nativity (for example in Ouspensky’s “The Meaning of Icons”) one finds that the inclusion of this … [Read more...]

By Protopresbyter Dr. George D. Dragas 1. The Pentecostal Period. The word, Pentecost means “the fiftieth” and is used to designate the great event of the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Epiphoitesis) upon the Apostles and the Church on the 50th day after the Resurrection of Christ, just ten days after His Ascension into Heaven. Before His Passion, the Lord spoke to his Disciples about the gift of the Holy Spirit, which they were to receive after the Ascension. The details are preserved in the Gospel of Saint John: “I will ask the Father to send you the Holy Spirit who will defend you and always be with you” (14:16). He also said, “The Holy Spirit can not come to defend you until I … [Read more...]