Pascha is eucharistic joy.   The Lord was not separated from us in the Ascension but left for us a connection with Him in the Holy Communion. In partaking of the heavenly bread and of the cup of life, we palpably feel the coming Christ and praise Him then with the hymn of the Resurrection: ‘O great and most holy Pascha, Christ; O Wisdom, Word, and Power of God! Grant that we may partake of Thee fully in the unfading day of Thy Kingdom’ (from the Paschal Canon, ode 9).  The Paschal triumph is already this unfading day, and the Paschal joy is akin to the j ..read more

  Dear Parish Faithful, CHRIST IS RISEN!      INDEED HE IS RISEN! Wherefore, enter you all into the joy of your Lord; and receive your reward, both the first, and likewise the second. You rich and poor together, hold high festival. You sober and you heedless, honor the day. Rejoice today, both you who have fasted and you who have disregarded the fast. The table is full-laden; feast ye all sumptuously. The calf is fatted; let no one go hungry away. - St. John Chrysostom ____ I believe that we are all familiar with the Paschal Homily of St. John Chrysostom: Its r ..read more

    Great and Holy Friday About the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is to say, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mt 27.46, cf. Mk 15.34)  Into thy hand I commit my Spirit, thou hast redeemed me, Yahweh, faithful God” (Ps 31.5, cf. Lk 23.46)  While agonizing in his last moments on the Cross, [Christ] experienced just what any one of us might experience, from a moment of despair and seeming solitude, to trust and joy that led him to praise Yahweh. The fullness and depth of his humanity, as revealed in h ..read more

  An Orthodox Christian Perspective on the Cross of Christ  by Archpriest Steven C. Kostoff We have reached the saving passion of Christ our God. Let us, the faithful, glorify His ineffable forbearance, that in His compassion He may raise us up who were dead in sin, for He is good and loves mankind. — Praises, Bridegroom Matins of Holy Monday The misunderstanding may still persist that the Orthodox Church downplays the significance of the Cross because it so intensely concentrates on the Resurrection, or on other such themes as transfiguration ..read more

  Holy Week at a glance Dear Parish Faithful, We have reached the saving passion of Christ our God. Let us, the faithful, glorify His ineffable forbearance, that in His compassion He may raise us up who were dead in sin, for He is good and loves mankind.   (Matins of Holy Monday) As Orthodox, we "live" for Holy Week and realize that it is the key week of our liturgical year, as it will culminate in the Lord's Death and Resurrection - the great paschal mystery. As Fr. Sergius Bulgakov once wrote: "Holy Week sweeps the Orthodox believer along as if on a mystic torrent ..read more

  Up to Jerusalem: Resurrection–Death–Resurrection Authored By Orthodox Christian Mission Center On this Thursday before Holy Week, Jesus’s friend Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary, has died and already been in the tomb for two days in the village of Bethany, about two miles outside of Jerusalem. Two days later, on Saturday, Jesus travels to Bethany and proclaims to Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25-26). He then proceeds to raise Lazarus from the ..read more

    Dear Parish Faithful, 'Glory to Thee, O God, Glory to Thee' (3x) When the soul enters into the trial of spiritual aridity, or dryness, for the first time, it becomes extremely dismayed. This is especially true if there was a disciplined devotion to worship in sincerity of heart. One begins to be troubled and to wonder why this has happened and to look for the faults that may be the cause. But spiritual aridity is not a sign of any kind of failure in a healthy relationship with God. It is only an important phase that the soul has to undergo, which may be regarded as a ..read more

  Dear Parish Faithful, People who grew up with phones—and even many older people who didn’t—can’t read a novel anymore, sit through a film without looking at their phones, sit through a TV show without pausing it to check their emails, finish an article online—in short, can’t really do anything without multitasking. There’s no moment of rapture in reading the first page of a book because the mind no longer expects to reach the end. The old tools of storytelling are obsolete; distraction supersedes even entertainment, let alone art. And because we can’t narrate our lives, “we can’t c ..read more

  Dear Parish Faithful, [Sunday’s] gospel (Mark 10.32–45) describes Jesus’ ascent to Jerusalem before his Passion. Jesus takes the twelve apostles aside and starts to tell them that he will be betrayed, condemned, and put to death, and that he will rise again from the dead. At the threshold of Holy Week could we be “taken aside” by the Savior for a talk in which he explains to us, personally, the mystery of Redemption? Do we ask the Master to help us understand at greater depth what is taking place for our sakes on Golgotha? Do we make it possible for Jesus to meet us in secret? Do w ..read more

    Dear Parish Faithful, Humility, in the Christian tradition, is called the mother of all virtues. It is the soil out of which grow faith, hope, love and all positive qualities of the spirit. The psalms proclaim that the Lord leads the humble in what is right and teaches the humble his way. They claim also, with proverbs and the prophets, that the Lord cares for the humble and gives them his grace. He listens to their prayers and vindicates them before their enemies. He crowns them with victory and clothes them with honor, giving them the whole earth as their inherita ..read more