Sorry for my absence lately. I was traveling all over the country for over a month, largely for church-related actives. At any rate, it’s good to be back. I think I’ll start with some thoughts on Christmas – after all,
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Why Christmas Isn’t Complete without the Eucharist
Approaching the Awesome Eucharist, part 3
In part 1 (click here to read it) I encouraged active preparation to receive Christ in the Eucharist. However, it’s very easy to misunderstand the rules for communion preparation. Some ways people have misunderstood the rules include: A question of power A question
Read moreApproaching the Awesome Eucharist, Part 2
In part 1 (click here to read it) I encouraged active preparation to receive Christ in the Eucharist. However, it’s very easy to get caught up in the rules for communion preparation. In fact, some people asked me some very good
Read moreApproaching the Awesome Eucharist, part 1!
Last week I mentioned our tradition of being properly prepared for communion: arriving at least before the Epistle and Gospel reading, keeping the fasts of the Church to the best of your ability, and praying the pre-communion prayers before coming.
Read moreCan We Not Go to Church?
Some Sundays I don’t feel like going to church. On a typical Sunday morning, I have to get there 2 hours before everyone else. In that first hour, I have candles to light, entrance prayers to say, vesting prayers to
Read moreWEDDINGS AND WINE
Last Sunday I had the privilege of marrying a wonderful couple. At the wedding service, I read from the Gospel of St. John, chapter 2. You probably know this story, and you’re probably not surprised that this is the one
Read moreRINGS ON THE WRONG HAND?!?
This Sunday I will have the pleasure of performing a wedding. Weddings are always happy events, and I always look forward to performing them. Orthodox weddings are especially beautiful, and it’s actually composed of two ceremonies: the betrothal and the
Read moreBECOMING CHRIST!?!
Yesterday I had the privilege of receiving two people into Holy Orthodoxy. Since they had been previously baptized (outside the Orthodox Church), they were received by anointing only. This ceremony is called chrismation (it’s typically done as a part of the
Read moreExiled Into the Desert
Lately my time has been taken up by a capital campaign to rebuild the church I pastor, St. Elias Orthodox Church. About a year ago we discovered that three of the four trusses that hold up our building’s roof had
Read moreCOVERING THE GIFTS!
As I mentioned in my last post (click here to read), the priest prepares the bread, called prosphora, for the Divine Liturgy in a special serviced called Proskomedia. During that service he cuts out a section of the bread that
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