Cheesefare Week: “kind of” like being in Great Lent

"Serving Suggestion " for Wednesday night dinner. Cheesefare week, the last full week before Great Lent begins, is an “in between” week liturgically in the Orthodox Church. Each day is “kind of like” Great Lent and “kind of like” outside of Great Lent. This is to provide a transition into Great Lent. Everything we do… Continue reading Cheesefare Week: “kind of” like being in Great Lent

O Lord and Master of my life… a few words about the Prayer of St Ephrem.

      The “Prayer of St Ephrem” is ubiquitous during Great Lent, and is used in all weekday services, and in prayers at home.       This prayer is much like the “Our Father”, in the following way. When the disciples asked the Lord to teach them to pray, He told them to… Continue reading O Lord and Master of my life… a few words about the Prayer of St Ephrem.

By the Waters of Babylon, The Great Fast, Our Exile

  by Fr.Seraphim (Rose) March 1965 http://www.orthodox.net/greatlent/by-the-waters-of-babylon-the-great-fast-our-exile.html       This weekend, at the Sunday Vigil of the Prodigal Son, we will sing Psalm 135.[1]       "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion".       In these words of the Lenten psalm, we… Continue reading By the Waters of Babylon, The Great Fast, Our Exile

Mystery photograph

  Do you know who these people are? Hint:This is a B&W photograph. 

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Sunday Of The Prodigal Son, 2009. The most important part of the parable.

LISTEN NOW   Other Homilies on this Sunday:   3rd Sunday before Great Lent (HTML format) Sunday Of The Prodigal Son 1997 Also in Format: Word DOC 3rd Sunday before Great Lent (mp3 format) The Prodigal Son 2007 3rd Sunday before Great Lent (mp3 format) Sunday Of The Prodigal Son The most important part of… Continue reading Sunday Of The Prodigal Son, 2009. The most important part of the parable.

The Sunday Of The Prodigal Son. How to repent in order to receive God’s forgiveness.

In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.[1] The Church gives us another example today, about repentance. It tells us another part of the story. This is the Sunday of the Prodigal Son, and is yet another Sunday that prepares us for the Great Fast. We are coming quickly… Continue reading The Sunday Of The Prodigal Son. How to repent in order to receive God’s forgiveness.

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St John Chrysostom on true fasting. WORTHY TO BE READ during a fast free week!

This is a long quotation, but very profitable to read. It explains the purpose of fasting, the proper attitude towards it, its effects on our spiritual state, and how fasting not done in the right spirit is actually injurious to us.   We also see from St John’s words the reason we have a fast… Continue reading St John Chrysostom on true fasting. WORTHY TO BE READ during a fast free week!