by Fr. John A. Peck “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34). The following is an excerpt of a talk on Suicide in Christian History given at the 3rd Annual Orthodox Bioethics Conference held in Daly City, CA and sponsored by the Vicariate for Palestinian/Jordanian Orthodox Christian Communities in the […]
Elder Cleopas On Why Baptise Infants?
January 22, 2019 By
There are some who say Baptism should only be given to adults because we must first have repentance and faith. Earlier I was asked to comment on this subject and recently found the teaching of Elder Cleopa on this topic. The Elder begins his explanation by pointing out the precursors to Baptism found in the […]
Six Men Who Tried To Paganize the Origins of Christmas But Failed
December 26, 2018 By
by John Sanidopoulos Every Christmas season, the usual myths are hauled out and distributed for popular consumption. You know them. We’ve all heard or read them. That Christmas celebrations were stolen from the Romans The Christmas tree is a pagan hangover That other gods had virgin births That Yule and the mistletoe are all about […]
Why Love Cannot Exist Without Humility
November 12, 2018 By
By Fr. Stephen Powley “Take up the sword of humility and meekness, hold it always in your hand, and mercilessly cut off the head of our chief foe.” This incredible man of God, St. Theophan the Recluse (+1891), passed on many wonderful writings for us. Here are just a few on Humility and Love. Each […]
Church Canons: a Beginner’s Guide
October 16, 2018 By
What canons are there in the Church? What do they govern? Do canons restrict people’s freedom or do they help people to exercise their freedom? Why do those hair-splitting formalities even exist in the Church? Is it impossible to get saved without them? FOMA Magazine asked Archpriest Demetrius Pashkov, who is a professor in the Department of World and Russian […]
Why Did Jesus Have To Die?
September 3, 2018 By
by C. S. Lewis We are told that Christ was killed for us, that His death has washed out our sins, and that by dying He disabled death itself. That is the formula. That is Christianity. That is what has to be believed. Any theories we build up as to how Christ’s death did all […]
Caveat Emptor: Ware’s ‘The Orthodox Church’
June 5, 2018 By
This is a short post on changes in the book “The Orthodox Church” by Kallistos Timothy Ware regarding the Orthodox teaching about contraception. Natural family planning is acceptable, because it simply involves abstinence from sex during times when fertility is likely. Such is the teaching of the Church of Greece as expressed in her encyclical […]
The Ancient Western Way of Making the Sign of the Cross
April 17, 2018 By
The sign of the cross is a beautiful gesture which reminds the faithful of both the cross of salvation while invoking the Holy Trinity. The early Church Fathers attested to the use of the sign of the cross. Tertullian (d. 250) described the exceptional frequency of the sign of the cross being made: “In all […]
