Dear Parish Faithful, “Oh how did we not remember types of this tree! For of old they were shown forth in many and varied ways and saved the lost. By a tree, Noah was saved, but the whole world, unbelieving, was destroyed. Moses was glorified through one when he took a staff as a scepter, but Egypt, with the plagues that came from it, was drowned as though fallen into deep wells. What it has now done, the Cross showed forth of old in image. Why then are we weeping? For Adam is going again to paradise.” —Dialogue between the devil and Hades on their fall by the Cross, in S ..read more

    Dear Parish Faithful, But in order to be Christian, to be able to pronounce the words of the Creed, to say the Lord’s Prayer, to participate in the Liturgy, we must at least determine—not only to have a velleity, but a determination firm and clear—to live the words that we pronounce, to live our whole life on Christ’s own terms. Otherwise we are only spectators of the life, of the crucifixion, of the death of Christ. We are onlookers, interested listeners who may well be moved by one thing or another, but like the barren earth or the roadside of the parable we may well receiv ..read more

  Solar Eclipse, 4/8/24 - St. Theodosius Orthodox Cathedral, Cleveland OH   Dear Parish Faithful, More Response to the Solar Eclipse: Here is a fine poem written by our parishioner, Neal Tew, following Monday's total solar eclipse. Wonder thunders mutely in the heavens. The planetary gearing drops her veil. High in the sky the sun, abiding, hides, as clouds their evening hues adorn. The work-a-day world clogs and stills, birds hymn their pillows ready, and crickets their evensong intone. Man and beast assemble  in synagogue of earth and sky ..read more

  Dear Parish Faithful, The greatest offering we can present to the Lord is our self. We cannot do this without giving up our own will. We learn to do this through obedience, and obedience we learn through practice.... Besides fasting we have other teachers to whom we can show obedience. They meet us at every step in our daily life, if we only recognize their voices. Your wife wants you to take your raincoat with you: do as she wishes, to practice obedience. Your fellow-worker asks you to walk with her a little way: go with her to practice obedience. Wordlessly the infant asks ..read more

  Photo by Sarah Holiday, shared by Nuns of Holy Transfiguration Dear Parish Faithful, I have received two new reflections on yesterday's solar eclipse, and wanted to share them with the parish.  First, this from Erin Settles, a wonderful "first-hand" witness! I am further aware that others in the parish witnessed the total eclipse. I liked her description of the great difference between witnessing a total eclipse compared to a partial eclipse. We were impressed with what we saw, but we missed the "real thing!" Fr. Steven ____ Hi Fr Steven!  I just read your ..read more

    Dear Parish Faithful, "And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night."  (Gen. 1:16) “There was no sound. The eyes dried, the arteries drained, the lungs hushed. There was no world.”  — Annie Dillard, describing her experience of the 1979 eclipse from a vantage point in central Washington State "Most of our communal enthusiasms these days are human-made: the Oscars, the Super Bowl, the election, the new Beyoncé album. A total solar eclipse is a product of the natural world. It happens without elabor ..read more

  Dear Parish Faithful, The meaning of all this is clear. We are in mid-Lent. On the one hand, the physical and spiritual effort, if it is serious and consistent, begins to be felt, its burden becomes more burdensome, our fatigue more evident. We need help and encouragement.  On the other hand, having endured this fatigue, having climbed the mountain up to this point, we begin to see the end of our pilgrimage, and the rays of Easter grow in their intensity. Lent is our self-crucifixion, our experience, limited as it is, of Christ’s commandment heard in the gospel lesson of that ..read more

  Dear Parish Faithful, 1. Be always with Christ. 2. Pray as you can, not as you want. 3. Have a keepable rule of prayer that you do by discipline. 4. Say the Lord’s Prayer several times a day. 5. Have a short prayer that you constantly repeat when your mind is not occupied with other things.… From 55 Maxims for Christian Living by Fr. Thomas Hopko (of blessed memory) ____ To fulfill one of these "simple" maxims from Fr. Thomas Hopko during Great Lent (or for that matter, at any point in the year), would indeed convert our lenten effort into a truly fruitful endeavor!   ..read more

    Dear Parish Faithful, Anger is the result of people’s failure to do or say what we wish, or of things that do not go the way we prefer. Rather than adapt to circumstances by way of the practice of patience, we often succumb to the sin of anger. Paramount in the equation of anger is the “remembrance of wrongs.” … ...The pervasiveness of this sin warrants special mention. We live in an age where, though we have less and less direct contact with others, we seem so easily tempted by thoughts, feelings, fantasies, and injuries believed caused by our neighbor. Whenever we beco ..read more

    Dear Parish Faithful, “Do not fast to quarrel and fight, but loose every bond of iniquity” [Is 58.4, 6]. And the Lord [adds]: “Do not be gloomy, but wash your face and anoint your head” [Mt 6.16–17]. So let us acquire the disposition that we have been taught, not looking gloomy on the days [of fasting] we are currently observing, but cheerfully disposed toward them, as is fitting for the saints. No one crowned is despondent; no one glum holds up a trophy. Do not be gloomy while you are being healed. It is absurd not to rejoice in the soul’s health, and rather to sorrow over ..read more