Spy Wednesday
Spy Wednesday is what English Christianity traditionally calls the Wednesday of Holy Week, the day on which Judas betrayed his Lord. Adike, cries St Romanos, astorge, asponde: unrighteous, loveless, ingrate. And yet, O my…
St Columba Antiochian Orthodox Church – Lafayette Colorado
A Western Rite Orthodox Church
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A SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF ST TIKHON
Today we celebrate the feast of St Tikhon, Tikhon patron of our Vicariate, patron of the rite we use, a rite which, while not originating with him, was one with which he was well…
Lazarus & Dives
Today’s Gospel reading at mass was the parable of Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16, 19-31). There is a lot to say about this passage, but I will limit myself to two quotations….
What’s In A Picture?
March 25, nine months before Christmas, we celebrate the Annunciation, when, according to the Gospel, the Virgin Mary conceived the Son of God according to the flesh (Luke 1, 26-38). Often, this amazing event…
ASH WEDNESDAY
Ash Wednesday shocks some people. It shocks them, first, that we put ashes on our foreheads, for doesn’t the scripture teach, the very Gospel we read today, that when we fast, we should ‘be…
Death … And Resurrection
Last Sunday, we entered into the season of Septuagesima. The rubrics for this pre-Lenten period allow flowers on the altar – or not. As a compromise, someone suggested we use dead flowers. And what…
Black Masses
When I was a boy, there was a priest called Fr Michael Crowdy. He was a wonderful man, but a trifle eccentric – one of his idiosyncrasies being to announce, from time to time,…
Sister Death
Rejoicing at the death of someone we love may seem strange. But this is what St Benedict did, at the death of his sister Scholastica. ‘He rejoiced and gave thanks to Almighty God in…
Something Personal
February 2, the feast of the Presentation is always an emotional day for me, the day on which, now thirty-five years ago, I was tonsured into the clerical state. Even today, even after my…
Our Friends The Saints
One thing that surprises people about Orthodoxy is the place we give to the saints. The saints, though, are our friends, our fellow-congregants, one with us in love, one with us in prayer. Thus,…