The Depth of Our Life in Christ Yesterday I was crucified with Him; today I am glorified with Him; yesterday I died with Him; today I am made alive with Him; yesterday I was buried with Him; today I rise with Him. Having prepared ourselves during Great Lent in accordance with our Orthodox Church’s prescribed custom of prayer, fasting, spiritual readings, partaking in the sacraments, and attending as many church services as possible, we arrived at Palm Sunday, being at the beginning of the Passion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Hopefully we lived Holy Week with considerable contrition [...]

  And rose on the third day according to the Scriptures.   “ ‘Why do you mingle the ointments with your tears full of pity, O women disciples?’ Thus the Angel who was shining in the tomb cried to the myrrhbearing women, ‘See for yourselves the empty tomb and understand, that the Saviour has risen from the sepulchre’.” (Resurrectional Evlogetaria, Sunday Matins) Every Sunday morning, the hymnology of our Orthodox Church fills the ears and hearts of her faithful with an abundance of references to the central event of the Orthodox Christian faith; the glorious Resurrection of our Lord Jesus [...]

Christology- St Nektarios of Pentapolis   Saint Nektarios of Pentapolis, in his preface to Christology, writes that: “Our chief aim in compiling the book… was to strengthen the faith of Christians; so they may become firm and immovable in the faith, live worthily of the Gospel of Christ, being frightened in no way by the adversaries (Philippians 1:28); that they may live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.” This book does what Saint Nektarios sought for it to accomplish. First published in Greek in 1900, it has lost none of its relevance for a contemporary Western audience. In [...]

“I have begotten you from the womb before the morning star” (Psalm 109:3/110:3) We hear a series of prophecies in the often cited Psalm 109, many of which are sung on Christmas day. Verse 3 is one such example. It is chanted on Christmas day by way of prokeimenon in the matins service, and as the entrance hymn following the small entrance during the Divine Liturgy. Verse 3 proclaims the first birth of Christ, who is referred to as the “morning star.” It is not the only place in which this description is used. It also appears in Revelation 22:16: [...]